Chapter Summary: A long trip just to visit a library or two.
Chapter Word Count: 5,544
"So that's the plan," Andy said, looking at the others. "Ixchel and I will go through the Ring Gate to the first address, with the Guardian, get the galactic co-ordinates, and come back. Then we'll take the Lucia to that location."
"Will you do this for all of the gate addresses?" Romana said. "Would it not be faster just to take the gates?"
"This seems the safest plan," Andy said. "We can still use the Lucia for our home base, and only two of us are traveling through the Rings to potentially unsafe locations."
"Also, we only have two of us trained for suit combat if it becomes necessary," Ixchel said.
"All of us, well except for Lady Miranda and Lady Memo, have hard suits," Romana said.
"They aren't all the same," Dart said. "Those two suits are designed for actual combat, but the rest of us have environmental suits. That may provide protection during a boarding situation but they aren't armed and ready for battle."
"It's a different focus," Andy said, nodding in agreement. "We don't expect to run into problems on the other side, but if we do we'll be prepared."
"And the opportunity to get back into your hard suit and go for a 'run' had nothing to do with it," Miranda said, shaking her head in amusement.
"Well, there's that also," Andy said, shrugging. "There has been so little opportunity to go out for a run on this trip."
"So, tomorrow we go back to the library and tell the Guardian," Ixchel said.
"What happens to the city when the Lucia leaves?" Memo asked. "Won't it become inaccessible again?"
"That is exactly as planned," Garnes said. "We want to keep access to this city protected. We don't have a portable shield large enough to protect the entire city, but we can encapsulate the library and shield it. No one will know the city is here when we go."
"Good," Memo said. "Even finding other similar libraries, we don't want to lose any."
"Are you sure," Miranda said, as they stood outside the library the next morning.
"It's a simple scouting trip," Andy said. "Sure, we don't have the JJ's or the twins along this time but we're familiar with the technique. Go through the gate, take a look around to assess things, and return."
"As long as you come back," Miranda said. "If you don't I will find you."
"That's as expected," Andy said, winking. "Let's go find the Guardian and get this show on the road."
Andy and Ixchel walked into the library, and Andy called for the Guardian. "Guardian, we've made a decision."
"You are dressed oddly," the Guardian said, appearing before them. It circled them. "What is the purpose of these odd clothes?"
"Protective armor," Andy said. "Ixchel and I will go with you to the next Heart through the Ring Gate, get its co-ordinates, come back here and take our ship, the Lucia, to that location."
"As you wish," The Guardian said, "But it would certainly be faster to just use the Rings."
"We prefer to do it this way," Ixchel said. "If there is a ship-capable Ring Gate we will take it the next time."
"Yes, yes, of course," the Guardian said. "We will first travel to the Moons of Andor through the Ring."
"What is it known for?" Andy asked.
"Known for?" The Guardian asked.
"Why is there a Heart of the People there?" Andy asked. "What makes it special?"
"There was once a Fleet of the People stationed in the system," the Guardian said. "The Guardian in the Heart tells me that they have passed from there out into the Deep, never to be seen again."
"Okay," Andy said. She paused to notify Garnes over the short range comm, that their destination appeared to be in an old base. Or near one.
They went up to the Ring Gate on the upper level. Andy and Ixchel entered with the Guardian. The others stayed out in the hallway when the Guardian couldn't guarantee it would be safe for watchers.
"How do you enter the address sequence?" Andy asked, curious, as the Ring started to glow and slowly rotate.
"All guardians are linked to their Gates," it said. "the controls are accessible only to the Guardians."
"What about the Ship gates?" Ixchel said. "Do they also require a Guardian to operate?"
"No, but every Guardian can control them,' the Guardian said.
"Good to know," Andy said. "Are all of the Rings in the same place?"
"No," the Guardian said. "They are all in secure or protected locations, but not all are this secure."
"Where is this one?" Ixchel asked.
"In the Palace of the Night," the Guardian said. "The administrative center of this sector."
"Sector?" Ixchel said.
"The six sectors ruled over by the People," the Guardian said.
The Ring started to rotate faster, gradually becoming a blur before the distinctive center of a Gateway appeared in its center.
"That is a different kind of gate," Andy said in a low voice.
"It is possible that the size of the ring affects the diagnosis parameters," Ixchel said.
"It would be very useful if one of these could be built into one of our ships," Andy said.
"I am not aware of any mobile Rings," Ixchel said, "but that does not mean there aren't any."
"I'm sure the Shadows are already researching that, but if we gave them proof they'd be very happy, I suspect," Andy murmured.
"Please follow," the Guardian said, approaching the Ring's event horizon. With a faint pop, it disappeared into the Ring.
"That answers the question of whether the Guardians are tied to a specific location," Andy said. Taking a quick step, she walked through the Ring, followed by Ixchel.
Even through her hard suit, Andy could feel the cold passage through the Ring. She'd become familiar with the feeling but had never really gotten used to it. There was just something about having your self turned into energy and thrown across unimaginable distances that caused a shiver to travel down her spine. Even a ship's high energy warp drives didn't have the same effect.
She stepped out of the ring and to the side to make room for Ixchel, her sensors going full blast to record everything.
"Good thing we went first," she said, looking around. They appeared to be in an airless, dust covered room. With no roof.
"Yes," Ixchel said over the comm. "It does not appear safe for casual travelers."
"Come, hurry," the Guardian said, its voice somehow traveling over their comm circuits.
Andy and Ixchel quickly followed, treading carefully over debris, until they came to a large door with odd designs on it.
"Airlock?" Andy said, looking at the door's strange appearance.
The door slowly slid open, reveling a small, white walled, room with another door on the other side.
"It appears so," Ixchel said. "Hopefully breathable on the other side."
They went into it and the door closed shut behind them. There was a quick hissing and Andy's sensors registered breathable air. "Some kind of oxygen rich atmosphere," she said, though she didn't open her helmet.
The inner door opened and they walked into a large ante-room, with large wall hangings and paintings covering the walls.
"Are these real?" Andy asked, frowning, unsealing her helmet.
"They are simulations," the Guardian said. "The originals went with the fleet when it left."
"So, they had some kind of sentimental value," Andy said, nodding. "Is there any place we can find the spacial coordinates of this library? Where is it in relation to the other libraries."
"This Guardian can provide such information," a lower voice said. A different looking chili-guardian appeared next to theirs. "This guardian stores the star charts of the People."
"That is very helpful," Andy said. "If you could show them to us?"
"Yes, Lady of the People," the local Guardian said. "You and your companion may examine the star charts." It turned and haded towards a large door.
The room they entered was large. Each wall contained star charts that seemed to change as they watched them. In the centered of the room was a large translucent rotating globe.
"Where is the other Heart in relation to this one?" Andy asked.
"These are all of the Hearts," the other Guardian said. Green lights appeared on the globe. "This is this one." One of the lights turned orange. It was on the edge of the globe. Another one, this time in purple, appeared nearby." And that is the one you came from."
:We need this location in standard Galactic notation," Andy said. "How do we convert this into that?"
"Your standard star map would be needed," the other Guardian said. "For comparison purposes."
"I can provide that," Ixchel said. "How do we give it to you?"
"There is an interface in that," the guardian said, pointing at a small podium. "It should support your communication device."
"Famous last words," Andy muttered. "Think you can connect your suit video to theirs?"
"Simple," Ixchel said. Stepping over to the podium, she made an adjustment to her external comm. A large uneven map appeared in the air above the globe. It slowly turned and stretched until the new one overlaid the older globe in several places.
"That's impressive," Andy said. "The Lucia isn't that far away."
"Two day's travel?" Ixchel said, stepping down from the podium.
"Possibly," Andy said. "The units aren't quite the same. But if that is accurate, we can bring the Lucia here easily. It also doesn't cross any Clan territory."
"Is there anything else we need to know?" Ixchel said, "before we head back to the Lucia?"
"A docking spot for the Lucia, and anything to watch out for, would be helpful," Andy said.
A map of the entire facility appeared, replacing the star globe. "Much of the base has become inaccessible over the last millennia," the local guardian said. "Exploring is not recommended."
"Understood," Andy said. "We'll be careful."
"If those are the official docking facilities, it doesn't look like we can use them," Andy said, looking across the debris strewn plain, after taking careful star chart readings, hoping that Garnes could make sense of them.
"It appears that they destroyed them when they left," Ixchel said. "They must not have expected to return."
"So, we'll need to find somewhere close by that the Lucia can land on," Andy said.
"It might be best to leave that to Garnes," Ixchel said. "She knows what Lucia needs for a landing area."
"Yes," Andy said. "But giving some choices wouldn't hurt." She turned, carefully overlaying the base map over what she was seeing. "There's a repair depot in that direction. That would work, if it hasn't been turned into rubble."
"Shall we check it out?" Ixchel said, before taking off at a run.
They spent several hours exploring, before returning to the library.
"We're ready to go back," Andy said, when their Guardian appeared. "We'll be back shortly, with our ship," she told the local guardian.
They left the library, traveling back through the airlock and into the chamber containing the Ring.
The Ring started spinning and shortly connected. Their Guardian went through first, followed by Andy and Ixchel.
Miranda was waiting for them when they stepped through the Ring.
"You waited," Andy said, smiling. "I'd hug you but it might be a bit awkward with the suit," she said.
"It will keep," Miranda said. "Are you satisfied with what you found?"
"Well, the library itself seems to be in good condition but everything else looks like it was in the middle of a war. To get from the Gate chamber to the library you have to wear an EV suit of some kind. But you'll see in the comm recordings later."
"It was interesting," Ixchel said. "It must have been a large base when it was in use."
"The People's Fleet called it home for almost as long as they were here," the Guardian said. "I must update from what I was given by the guardian," it said. "Please inform me when you plan to return."
"No sooner than tomorrow," Andy said. "But we will let you know."
"Where are the others?" Ixchel said.
"Memo is down in the lower data level," Miranda said. "Romana is out exploring the city, and Garnes and Dart are with the Lucia, of course."
"I shall find Romana before returning with her to the Lucia," Ixchel said. Stepping out of the Gate room, she disappeared with the quickness only someone wearing a command hard suit could manage.
"She's missing Romana," Andy said, "though we weren't really gone that long."
"Of course," Miranda said. "I also missed you, though it was not very long. We've been apart for much longer at times."
"Me too. babe," Andy said. "Shall we grab Memo and head back to the Lucia? I'm sure Garnes will want to review what we saw. It was very messy. Either there was a war or they destroyed much of their base when they left."
"But the library was intact?" Miranda said. "Any hints as to whether it will help us?"
"It wasn't clear from the brief time we spent there. It was more about getting the rest of you there," Andy said.
They all gathered in the ship's lounge.
"This is what we saw," Andy said, displaying a recording of their trip on the lounge view screen. "As you can see, much of it has been destroyed."
"Did you find information on what caused this?" Garnes said. "It looks like it was done by ship guns but in a methodical fashion, not during a battle."
"The guardian said the fleet rendered it inoperable before leaving and not coming back," Andy said.
"I can see that," Garnes murmured. "It could probably be put back into limited use fairly quickly but if you look at those larger structures, the ship handling equipment, for large ships, not much remains of it."
"The landing field is just a bunch of holes in the ground," Andy said. "If the library wasn't there I'd want to start from scratch and not try to fix it."
"How far is it from here?" Ixchel asked. "It wasn't clear from the library's star charts other than it is relatively close by."
"It's not in the dead zone," Garnes said. "It'll take Lucia's nav computer a few more hours to pinpoint it exactly, but if is deep in Ice Clan territory."
"We'll need a reason to be there," Dart said. "They can be a bit prickly."
"I think the same reason should suffice," Miranda said. "We're looking for Andrea's ancestral family."
"It's even true," Andy said. "It's starting to feel like The People actually are the Furlings."
"Starting?" Romana said, lifting an eyebrow. "It has been clear since the Guardian appeared. It refers to you as one of the People, but with odd ears."
"Well, it could be wrong," Andy said. "And I'm not sure what it is about the ears."
"They aren't pointed like most Furlings," Miranda said. "That has been remarked upon on numerous times."
"Pointed ears? Like Elves?" Andy said, rubbing the top of an ear.
"I believe we need to have a long discussion with your parents," Miranda said. "They could have saved us time."
"You know how they are," Andy said, shrugging. "Off in their own little world."
"It's time they joined the rest of us," Miranda said. "This affects them also." "After we finish this trip," Andy said. "We can go visit them and ask a few questions."
"Of course," Miranda said.
"So, we'll wrap things up here tomorrow, and head towards that old base?" Andy said.
"Will the Guardian be coming with us?" Memo asked.
"A good question," Miranda said. "I don't believe it has said."
"We can ask tomorrow," Andy said, "though I suspect not. They introduced us to the next Guardian but otherwise didn't get involved."
"We're leaving in several hours," Andy said to the Guardian. "Are you meeting us there in several days or staying here?"
"I am the guardian of this Heart of the People," it said. "I do not have a place elsewhere. I shall remain here and continue to protect it."
"We've placed a portable shield in the lowest level to protect this part of the city when we are gone," Ixchel said. "It will remain powered for several hundred cycles, unless there are attempts to subvert it. But we should return long before it needs to be reenergized."
"It is unnecessary," the Guardian said. "Now that I am at full capacity, the Heart is fully protected. And communication with the other Hearts is currently being repaired."
"But it will make us happy to know that there is additional protection for the Heart," Andy said. "Think of it as extra protection."
"This Guardian will accept the extra protection from a Lady of the People," the guardian said.
"Good," Andy said. "It may be a number of cycles before we return."
"No other will be allowed access to this facility," the Guardian said. The Guardian then faded away with a small tinkling of bells.
"I guess that's it?" Andy said. "Do we have everything?"
"Yes," Memo said. "There were several interesting collections of history and legend that the Guardian provided."
After one last look around, the team exited the library, the doors closing behind them. They moved briskly through the city towards the Lucia.
"Was there anything in the city itself worth recording?" Andy asked. "Or was it all just old empty buildings?"
"We have an idea of how many residents and what they did in the city," Memo said, "but we were able to get most of that from the library records. After several thousand cycles there just wasn't much left."
"So, only the library is worth preserving?" Andy said.
"There are people who enjoy exploring old buildings and figuring out how old civilizations worth," Miranda said. "They are known as archeologists and anthropologists."
"Ha!" Andy said. "You aren't fooling me. You like digging into all that old stuff too."
"It is interesting, when we have the time for it," Miranda said. "But we don't."
"And how much value is there to digging up old building when we have actual written records of how things were?" Romana said. "Unless you are a Memory and then you're just placing it in the larger Clan context."
"I much enjoy learning about how our ancestors did things and their battles and triumphs," Memo said. "But these people might be interesting but there is not much of a way to connect them to us to provide the Clan context."
"If they are the Winter Folk," Romana said, "then there is a larger context that concerns all of us. Nothing is known of the Winter Folk beyond ancient legends. We know they influenced the migration of the Clans from planet bound to space travels but nothing is known about their reasons.
"It will be revealed in time," Miranda said. "No doubt."
"Home sweet home," Andy said, spying the Lucia in the distance. "This is much better than our previous trips through those Rings. Our own home base. Our own beds, no matter where we go. Much better than sleeping on the ground."
"It was an interesting survival exercise," Miranda said. "But this is certainly much better."
"And why is there another ship parked next to the Lucia?" Ixchel said. "I do not recognize it."
"Long range scout ship? Think I saw one once while visiting the Fleet," Andy said. "But I don't recognize the insignia."
"What brings the Weaver to us?" Romana said, frowning as the new ship.
"The Weaver? You mean Sophia?" Andy said. "I didn't ask for a priestess. Did anyone else? And how did she find us?" She looked at the others for an answer but didn't get anything.
"Someone must have had a vision," Ixchel said, sighing. "That's the only thing that would get a Weaver to travel from the Clan conclave into non-Clan territory."
"I guess we'll find out," Andy said.
"It could be a good thing," Miranda said. "The Winter Folk are a sensitive issue for some."
"Some not being us," Andy said. "You'll like her," Andy said, turning to Memo. "Very calming presence. Normal in fact."
"As normal as a Weaver can be," Ixchel said, frowning. "Her companion is a bit odd."
"Her companion is an artist," Miranda said. "They often are different. But that doesn't explain why the Weaver's craft is here."
"Lady Sophia, this is a surprise," Andy said, entering the ship's lounge ahead of the others. "What brings you here, to this out of the way corner of the universe? We were just about to leave."
"You will need assistance for the next stage of your quest," Sophia said.
"The Ice Clan is in the middle of their thousand cycle celebration of their survival of the destruction of their home planet. Their borders are closed to all but a few."
"And that few is you?" Andy said. "How'd you find out about this?"
"Their Weaver invited all Clan Weavers to the celebration," Sophia said. "I had not planned to attend but our goddess indicated that my presence would be helpful for your quest for the Winter Folk."
"We were planning to travel through Ice Clan territory for the next stage of our journey to some ancient ruins," Andy said. "But it isn't occupied or near any Ice Clan systems, that we're aware of."
"I'm not aware of your destination," Sophia said, "but you will need an official escort of some kind to get there unless you are willing to hold off visiting this ruin for another year. Right now, the only option is this."
"That's an added complication we hadn't expected," Andy said. She turned to look at Miranda. "Thoughts?"
"We don't have the luxury of waiting," Miranda said. "Either we include Lady Sophia in our plans or we leave the Lucia behind to catch up much further away."
"Which we can't do," Andy said. She turned back to Sophia. "Okay. Welcome to the Winter Folk Quest."
"Perhaps you can introduce your companions?" Sophia said, looking at the others gathered in the ship's lounge.
"That might be a good idea," Andy said. "You've already met Garnes, our Ship's Pilot and Clan spokesperson ambassador. Dart, who isn't here, is our ship's Engineer. Multi talented. You know Romana and Ixchel, of course. And myself and Miranda. That leaves Memo here, otherwise known as Lady Memo, Memory of the Wind Clan."
"I'd been warned by Lady Shadow that your team was rather eclectic," Sophia said, "but how did a member of he Wind Clan Council end up on your team?"
"That's a long story," Andy said.
"I was bored," Memo said, "and when I heard what one of our Prophets said about them, I asked if I could join."
"Well, that's the short version," Andy said, shaking her head. "But her presence is very welcome, providing an alternate viewpoint.
"Now that that is out of the way, what are you really doing out here?" Sophia said. "My ship's pilot said this is a restricted area."
"A Dead Zone, I believe the term is," Andy said. "We were looking for the Prophets of Zircon Nine, and one of the Wind Clan Prophets said they'd been taken away by the Winter Folk. The Galactics and Clans don't really have much information on the Winter Folk, so when Memo here mentioned an ancestor's encounter with an ancient library that predates the Confederation or Clans, we decided to look for it to see if it mentioned anything about the Winter Folk."
"The library was indicted in my ancestor's journals from the last Kraal war to be in the dead zone between the Wind Clan, Ice Clan, and Blue Clan territories. I requested that I be able to come along," Memo said.
"Your Clan Council didn't object? The discussions that occurred to allow these four to go on their quest were epic," Sophia said. "Our Memory wasn't allowed to go on this quest. Letting our Mother go on a quest took much discussion."
"The argument between Lady R and Lady Hands about this quest is legendary," Garnes said. "We heard about it even out in the Fleet."
"Yes," Sophia said. "So how did your Council accept your partaking in this quest?" She looked quizzically at Memo.
Memo grimaced. "Being the Memory of the Wind Clan is not a very important position. We have the Prophets to guide us. I suspect they hope I don't come back so they can select a new Memory who isn't so curious about things."
"Which isn't going to happen," Dart said fiercely. "We'll keep her safe and return her in one piece."
"The experience will be invaluable," Miranda said. "Are you joining us or just provide the leverage for us to continue?"
"Did you find the library?" Sophia asked. "Of some ancient civilization?"
"The Furling," Romana said. "They had a chain of systems connected together by Ring Gates. This is the oldest. Abandoned many cycles ago."
"We passed a derelict Kraal fleet on the way here, according to my pilot," Sophia said. "Did they have anything to do with this?"
"No," Ixchel said. "That Kraal fleet seems to have run into one of the Furling protections for their systems they left behind. Unfortunately, it isn't something we can use."
"There's a hundred thousand cycle time difference between the two," Andy said. "We explored the library here, and plan to follow them through until we find the information we need. If the Winter Folk took the Prophets somewhere it should be recorded in one of their libraries."
"And the Prophets should have information we'll need to defeat the Kraal," Ixchel.
"There's a connection between these Furlings and the Winter Folk?" Sophia said. "Even our records contain almost nothing about the Winter Folk. Anything we have was likely destroyed centuries ago."
"It appears that the Furling and Winter Folk are the same civilization," Andy said. "Why the two different names? We don't know. The AI running the library here just calls them the People."
"Many ancient civilizations referred to themselves in that manner," Sophia said. "They must not have encountered many other civilizations. So you're basically searching ancient libraries for information on where the Furlings went?"
"Yes," Andy said.
"Is there anything else I need to know?" Sophia said.
"The AI's running the libraries believe Andrea to be one of these Furling," Miranda said. "Though her ears seem to be an issue."
"No idea," Andy said, shrugging. "That's one reason for our hypothesis about the Winter Folk being Furlings. But we don't have a connection otherwise. They didn't call themselves either Furling or Winter Folk."
"I am unable to go with you on this quest to the end," Sophia said. "I would like to see this library, but I can't just disappear on your quest."
"Understood," Andy said. "It could be months before we find these Prophets."
"Who came with you," Romana asked. "Other than Cassandra, that is."
"Yes, Cassandra came with me," Sophia said, blushing. "I also have a pilot, Kirin, and an engineer, her twin Janna."
"And body guards?" Romana said. "You should have them, as befits your station."
"It's a small scout ship," Sophia said. "There isn't a lot of room for a large contingent of bodyguards. So we have several to share with you."
"Which means?" Andy said.
"I was asked to bring additional crew for your quest. When we leave they will continue with you," Sophia said. "We will still have one of Lady Hands troopers."
"Who?" Andy said. "We don't exactly have a lot of room either. Whomever is added will need to live in some cramped quarters."
"The Potter twins," Sophia said. "I was told you are familiar with them."
"Harry and Ginny?" Andy said. "Yes. They were with us on a project several years ago. They have experience with similar Ring Gates. They'll be a welcome addition."
"How long is this celebration?" Garnes said. "How long will we need to stay?"
"It's a month long," Sophia said. "But we are expected to only be there for the final ceremony."
"When do we need to get there?" Garnes said.
"The borders close in thirty days," Sophia said.
"I will work with your pilot," Garnes said. "This will require some synchronization to get us all there on time."
"And then we'll need to plan our trip to the library," Ixchel said. "We will likely be unable to hide our visit there from the Ice Clan fleet, if they are locking down their borders."
"You will need a much better excuse than you gave the Wind Clan," Memo said. "Some of us didn't believe your reasons."
"Something simple," Miranda said. "Once again."
"Simple and hopefully believable," Andy said. "Keep with the quest idea? It is true, in some ways."
"Just don't mention prophets," Sophia said. "The Ice Clan claims a wandering prophet gave them the warning that saved them. If you mention searching for prophets to defeat the Kraal they'll want to send several ships with you."
"Sounds like someone already warned you," Andy said.
"Lady Shadow," Sophia said. "Her briefing warned us about certain topics that would cause you problems with the Ice Clan."
"The Wind Clan prophets are occasionally useful," Memo said. "But we are aware of their fallibility. Any prophecy is analyzed by specialists before being released to the public."
"Not so the Ice Clan," Sophia said. "They believe all prophetic announcements are direct messages from their Gods. Our goddesses don't normally give us prophecies for guidance."
"Except this time," Andy said, wryly.
"But it wasn't a prophecy," Sophia said. "It was clear communication as to the value of providing your quest with assistance. There was nothing prophetic about it."
"Okay, so not a prophecy," Andy said. "Not some vague pronouncement about the future."
"Your goddesses are eminently reasonable," Miranda said. "They agreed not to provide vague, easily misunderstood advice in dreams."
"Is that what happened?" Andy said, smirking. "I thought you just read them the riot act."
Miranda shrugged. "They don't claim to be all powerful like some. Once they saw my point they were more co-operative."
"Please don't mention to the Ice Clan Weaver or anyone else we meet that you have some influence over our goddesses," Sophia said, wincing. "They wouldn't understand our relationship."
"I find it fascinating," Memo said. "The Wind Clan gods are rarely heard from. Our Weaver is a prophet who rarely partakes in Council deliberations."
"We were going to have dinner and then prepare to leave," Andy said. "Did you want to join us, and have your crew come over?"
"Of course," Sophia said.
"Hey Lady A, Lady P!" Ginny said, plopping down next to them in the galley. Harry sat down across from them. "You found more Ring gates!"
"Ladies," Andy said. "It's not so much that we found them as they found us."
"Do we get to go through them?" Harry aid.
"They aren't the same kind of Gates," Andy said. "I suspect they are more modern. Just big enough for two people at a time to travel through them. There are six that connect the six known Furling libraries. We've only been through one of them so far, Ixchel and myself."
"Is that the one that is in Ice Clan territory?" Ginny asked.
"There's one in the city here, and it connects to an old Furling base in Ice Clan territory," Andy said. "There's also supposed to be a ship sized Gate somewhere near that base but we aren't certain if it is working. There used to be one out in this system but it apparently was destroyed."
"That must have taken a large bomb," Harry said. "The large ones we've seen looked indestructible."
"The city Guardian wasn't very clear about what happened to it," Andy said.
"So, go through the gate, visit a library and then go to the next one?" Harry said. "That sounds simple."
"Somewhere along the way we expect to find out where the Furling disappeared to," Andy said. "We'll probably follow them."
"So, travel through some gates, visit a library or two, and then a new civilization," Harry said. "Sounds like fun."
"The Furlings have been called the Winter Folk," Miranda said quietly. "We do not know what will happen when we encounter them."
"So, a visit to an ancient civilization," Ginny said. "You guys always go on the most interesting trips."
"We try," Andy said. "The main concern is going to be Lady Memo. She has no experience with this kind of thing."
"Dart seems to have her well in hand," Ginny said, smirking. "But we can keep an eye on her, and the rest of you."
"Yes," Harry said. "No foolish feats of heroism now. That's what you have us for."
"As you are well aware," Miranda said. "Some people are prone to such things unintentionally."
"Yes, Lady P," Ginny said, grinning. "But we can keep such occurrences to a safe level. We've had a lot of practice, after all."
"I can take care of myself," Andy protested.
"Of course, Andrea," Miranda said.