Chapter Summary: A forest. A library. A mysterious tower.
Chapter Word Count: 5,621
"So, what do we have?" Andy asked, leaning back in the Lucia's lounge, glad to be out of her suit. "What's the unique feature about this library?"
"It contains more historical data on the Furlings than the pervious two," Memo said. "The earliest records concern a project to build a series of Ring Gates across this galaxy."
"Do they include the co-ordinates of the Gates?" Andy asked. "There's one series of them that ends, or maybe starts, in our current Clan base."
"I have not seen any as of yet," Memo said. "I will look for that information."
"Anything else interesting here?" Andy asked. "Or is this just the archive of Furling projects?"
"I ran across a mention of a large Ring world," Romana said. "Garnes is cross referencing the co-ordinates but it appears to be the one encountered in our territory." Garnes nodded in agreement.
"Did the Furling build it?" Dart asked excitedly. "I was on the expedition to it several years ago. It's an amazing feat of engineering, that none of the Galactic civilizations have the resources or technology to build."
"It does not appear so," Romana said. "They explored it but it wasn't theirs."
"So, another mystery that still doesn't have an answer," Andy said. "Were there any references to all of those cross-dimensional portals we keep running into?"
"Nothing as of yet," Memo said.
"How much longer should we stay before moving on to the next library?" Andy said. "Is there anything here to help us on our quest?"
"It doesn't appear so," Miranda said. "There is material of historical interest but nothing specific to the current whereabouts of the Furlings who took the Prophets from the Wind Clan. It is very unlikely that anything will be found."
"Thought so," Andy said, frowning. "As an example of Furling stealth base construction it is certainly interesting, and we've made complete recordings of it for Sophia to take back with her, but I think we've rung this one dry."
"We will be leaving in the morning," Sophia said.
"Do you need an escort?" Ixchel said.
"It's a simple hop from here to the Clan border," Kirin said. "From there I've arranged an escort home."
"Good," Andy said. "I've convinced the Guardian to lock everything down once we leave. If you don't have its coordinates you won't be able to find it."
"What of the next library?" Romana said. "Do we know anything about it?"
"Ginny and Harry found the local Ring Gate and we will make a preliminary trip through it tomorrow before taking the Lucia through the Ship Gate to it."
As soon as Sophia and her ship were headed towards the border, they went to the Gate room, and dialed the next Heart Gate.
"Ready?" Andy said.
"Ready." "Ready." Ginny and Harry said.
"Engage the gate," Andy told the Guardian. The Ring started to glow and appeared to rotate before becoming solid.
"Go," Andy said. Ginny went through the gate, then Harry, and Andy followed them. After the timeless transit, she stepped out into a rainstorm. "Ginny? Harry?" She said through her team comm.
"Over here," Ginny said. Turning, Andy found them standing under a tree.
"This is different," Andy said. "Trees."
"Where's Jack when you need him?" Harry said.
"Hopefully staying safe from Goa'uld," Ginny said. "I wonder if there's a fishing pond?"
"Sight-seeing can wait," Andy said. "Let's find the library."
"This is the first one on a planet with living things," Ginny, "isn't it?"
"Yes," Andy said. "We've had desert, airless moon, and asteroid. This is the first forest."
"So, the entrance could be buried under centuries of dead things," Ginny said.
"Isn't that called oil?" Harry said.
"Let's hope not," Andy said. "We do have a limited time to find it, and the rest of them."
"Time limit?" Harry said. "Oh, right, those annoying Bugs."
"And if we take too long someone will come to rescue us," Andy said.
"That would be embarrassing," Ginny said. "Considering how hard it was to convince your Lady that it was perfectly safe."
"Miranda... Miranda is a realist," Andy said. "She knows none of these side trips are guaranteed safe."
"So, let's find it," Harry said. "What are we looking for?"
"The Guardian wasn't sure," Andy said. "It hadn't been here for a long time."
"How long is a 'long time'," Ginny said.
"Well, there wasn't a forest?" Andy said. She tapped the tree, which couldn't have been less than a couple hundred cycles old.
"So, thousands of years. But that does help. If the forest hasn't been here for that long, the library can't be buried that deep in the vegetation," Harry said. "Did they give you anything to track it down with?"
"Other than, 'You will easily find it'? No," Andy said. "But it should be really close. None of the Rings have been more than a kilometer from their library."
"At least it's a forest, and not a jungle," Harry said. "I hate cleaning mold from my suit."
"The stains are the worst," Ginny said.
"How often do you go on maneuvers in the jungle?" Andy asked, curious, as they started searching for an entrance to the library.
"The Yucatan bases are in the jungle," Ginny said. "Everyone does a rotation through there, which means time in jungles."
"Oh, right," Andy said. "Don't spend much time there myself. I've been traveling or spending time in cities."
"Urban warfare has its own nasty surprises," Harry said. "But if we didn't like being troopers, we'd be out of a job."
"I've always wanted to work for the Memory," Ginny said. "Nice quiet office environment. And music. Start singing while out on patrol and people start looking at you funny."
"I don't think that's the music," Harry said.
"Maybe it's in a cave?" Ginny said, ignoring her. "Like that one?"
Andy looked where she was pointing. "Definitely a possibility," she said, heading towards the rock cliff.
"I don't think this is actually a cave," Harry said. "Looks like some really old stone building."
"Lots of moss," Ginny said, pushing away some small trees. "Yeah this could be it. How do we get in?"
"Let's clear away the plants first," Andy said. "What do you have? I don't have anything set up to deal with plants."
"A nice flame thrower setting," Harry said.
"Firebombs?" Ginny suggested.
"Flame thrower first?" Andy said. She and Ginny moved back several dozen meters, to give Harry room to deploy. There was a loud 'woosh' and smoke and steam filled the area, Harry disappearing in the smoke.
"Effective," Andy said, once Harry had stopped and a large area in front of the stone building was just charred plants and ash.
"That's the low setting," Harry said. "There's a melt through combat armor setting but it tends to get really hot."
"Looks like a door," Ginny said, stepping through the ashes. "How do we open it?"
"I have just the thing," Andy said, taking a small object out of an exterior pocket. She placed it on the door and there was a loud click before the door started to slide into the wall.
"That was quick," Harry said. "I wonder if anyone is home?"
"What brings a Lady of the People to this humble Heart?" A voice said over their comms.
"I really want to know how they do that," Andy said, in a whisper. "We have come to consult the Heart of the People about an issue that concerns us," she said to the Guardian.
"Consult the Heart?" Ginny mumbled.
"That's one way to put it," Harry said. "Much better than the always popular 'take me to your leader'."
"We don't want their leader," Andy said in a low voice. "All of the Guardians are semi-independent. We haven't found the one in charge, yet."
"Maybe there isn't one in charge?" Ginny said.
"No Monty Python quotes," Andy said. "It will just confuse the Guardian."
"I have been informed of your visit," the Guardian said. "However, I was informed that you also have a jump ship?"
"It's back at the last Heart," Andy said. "We are just confirming your availability before we bring it through."
"We need a landing zone for it," Harry said. "It isn't huge but it does take up space."
"Retrieving data," the Guardian said. "Yes, that is a modest vehicle. A space for it shall be cleared."
"Where?" Andy said. There was a loud humming sound. Turning around, Andy watched as a large swath of forest just disappeared, leaving behind a large flat surface . She scanned it with her suit scanners. "Well, that looks large enough."
"But no pool," Ginny said, pouting.
"Pool?" Harry said. "I'm sure there's a pond here somewhere. Forests and ponds seem to go together naturally."
"We shall return with our ship," Andy said to the Guardian.
"The hospitality of the Heart shall welcome you back," the Guardian said.
They left the entrance and Guardian, stepping back out into the forest.
"Back to the Baby ring," Andy told Ginny and Harry. "You can look for the recreation facilities tomorrow, if there is time."
"Yes, Lady A," Ginny said.
They turned and left the library behind, heading back to the ring.
"Where do you think the Ship Gate comes out?" Harry asked. "Above or below?"
"Given the size of the last one, too big to fit on a planet, it's probably big enough for an entire fleet," Ginny said.
"And where would that be?" Harry asked.
"Below the system," Ginny said.
"I don't know how gravity affects Ring operation," Andy said. "But it is likely somewhere where it can access a lot of energy."
"So, near the sun?" Ginny said.
"Possibly," Andy said. "But that would make it obvious, and the last one was well hidden. Dart has some theories on where it was feeding itself from but nothing solid."
"So, we aren't going to find it from here," Harry said. "Hopefully it doesn't just dump everything into the sun. That would be a bit hot."
"The Lucia could handle it, for several minutes," Andy said.
"Wouldn't want to be aboard when it does that," Harry said. "all the ice cream would melt."
"We can always get more," Ginny said. "But more would have to be shared."
"I can wait," Harry said. "Maybe Lady A has some idea?"
"You lost me," Andy said. "What does ice cream have to do with the Gate?"
"It goes with everything," Harry said. "And I bet you could use it to predict the location of that Gate."
"Interesting idea," Andy said, shaking here head, "but unless we get back it won't matter."
"Back to the Lucia, then," Harry said, "and ice cream."
"Hungry?" Ginny said, laughing.
"Getting there," Harry said. "It's been an exciting day. Lots of calories used up."
"And there it is," Andy said, as they reached the large tree they'd taken shelter under when they'd first arrived.
"Doesn't look any different," Harry said. "Convenient."
"Ready?" Andy said, entering the return code. At affirmative sounds, she tapped the activate panel and they waited while the Gate dialed up and connected to the other gate.
"Is this like those other gates," Ginny said.
"In what way?" Andy said.
"Only four addresses. To and from each gate on the other side of the chain," she said.
"Can't answer that," Andy said. "We haven't had time to experiment. We know the Ship gates can handle multiple gate addresses, but they have to be activated by their paired local gates."
"Which, I bet, isn't actually true," Harry said. "That's just what the Guardians want us to believe. A security feature."
"If you want to argue with them, please wait until we finish," Andy said. "Don't want to get stranded or sent somewhere far away because you got in an argument with one of them."
"No ma'am," Ginny said. "She won't be doing that, unless we have the JJs along to share their luck."
Sighing, Andy stepped through the Gate, Ginny and Harry right behind her.
There was an anxious looking group waiting for them in the Gate room.
"That took longer than expected," Miranda said, once they'd returned to the Lucia, and were prepared to leave the asteroid behind.
"We had to hunt for the library," Andy said. "A forest has grown up around it since the last time the Guardian had traveled there. But its Guardian is expecting us. Even cleared a place for the Lucia to land."
"Big enough?" Garnes said.
"Plenty," Harry said. "Someone snitched on us. It knew just how much room we needed for her."
"We know the Guardians communicate with each other," Andy said. "The last one in the series probably already knows we're coming."
"Then they should have the information we are looking for ready before we get there," Romana said.
"You would think so," Andy said, "but I suspect they can't look for it until they are asked."
"So we should ask the next Guardian to ask the rest of the Guardians," Harry said.
"Prepare for travel," Garnes said. "We've received the unlock code and coordinates for the next Space Gate."
Everyone hurried to put away any loose objects in the lounge and get into their jump seats.
"This thing has an inertialess drive, doesn't it?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Ginny said.
"Then why are we strapping in? If we crashed into something it wouldn't matter," Harry said. "The stasis field would take over."
"Because," Ginny said. "It's just how they like to do things."
"Right," Harry said. "Forgot about that."
There was a brief moment of timelessness, as the Lucia went through the Gate.
"Feels a bit different when you're strapped down," Harry said, grumbling. "Not sure I like it."
"I'm sure they'll sell tickets like crazy," Ginny said. "Total helplessness with a dash of seeing eternity."
"If the peanut gallery is done, we're here," Garnes said. "Approaching planet now."
"Did we give her the planetary location?" Harry said. "I don't remember doing that. How are we going to find the library?"
"I did, as soon as we went through the Gate," Andy said dryly. "You must have been too busy looking at the trees."
"That must have been it," Ginny said. "It's a good thing you're in charge , Lady A. This one would be totally lost."
"I'm not the one who got us lost when we went to Boston as backup for the cute Fox God gang," Harry said.
"Anyone could make that mistake," Ginny said. "Who knew that there actually is a bar called Cheers that doesn't look like a cheesy TV set."
"And everything is normal," Ixchel said. "How long until we land?"
"Four hours," Garnes said. "We have to circle round the planet to get to our landing spot."
"Smooth landing," Andy said, nodding thanks at Garnes.
"All part of the door to door service," she said. "We need to do maintenance on several ship systems while we're here, so we aren't going anywhere for at least five days, so no need to rush."
"Thanks," Andy said. "I'm sure we can find things to do, and if not I'm sure Harry and Ginny can help you."
"We don't know anything about ship maintenance," Harry said, looking horrified.
"I'm sure there are heavy things you can move for them," Andy said.
"I take back what I said," Ginny said. "You aren't the fun boss."
"We appreciate the offer, Lady A, but I'm sure they can be better put to use elsewhere," Garnes said.
"No one wants us," Harry said, pouting.
"I want you," Ginny said. "My day wouldn't be complete without your insanity."
"That's sweet," Romana said.
"We're hard nosed Troopers," Harry said. "We don't do sweet."
"If you say so," Romana said, winking at her.
Andy, Miranda, Ixchel, Romana and Memo headed for the library, while Harry and Ginny made themselves scarce claiming a need to explore the area surrounding the ship, for their safety.
"Welcome to the Heart of the People," the Guardian said, after they entered the library and were standing in the main lobby. "How may this Guardian server you?"
"We're looking for information on the last Fleet of the People to travel through here," Andy said. "And would like to browse your data banks," she said, in a formal tone.
"Of course," the Guardian said. "This Guardian shall retrieve all records requested. Access to the archives has been enabled."
"Thanks," Andy said, as the others scattered to explore the facility.
"You are welcome, Lady," the Guardian said.
"Do you have any personal records in your collection?" Andy asked the Guardian.
"Personal?" The Guardian said, its little chibi face blank.
"I would like to research my personal family, not just the overall travels of the People," Andy said. "My parents are very tight lipped about that."
"Hmm," the Guardian murmured, looking at her with interest. "I admit to curiosity about your appearance. You are clearly one of the People but your ears do not match any known families of the People."
"When you, and the other Guardians say that, how are you determining it?" Andy said.
"All who enter the Heart are deep scanned to determine level of admittance," the Guardian said. "All of your companions carry trace markers of peoples associated with the People, but deep scans reveal you are one of the People, even with the oddly shaped ears. It is speculated that it is camouflage."
Andy looked over at an amused Miranda. "Non-round ears would certainly attract attention where we currently reside," she said. "But I was unaware of the need."
"This Heart does not contain the family histories of the people," the Guardian said. "Nor does the next one in the Oceans of Forn. You will have to travel to the Red Heart for that. Following your current path that is the last of the Hearts you will visit."
"There are other paths to follow?" Andy asked. Miranda drifted over to them.
"There are an infinite number of paths to gain the Wisdom of the People," the Guardian said. "Though most have been inaccessible until you freed the Guardian of the Desert."
"Will others be using the Hearts?" Miranda asked.
"That is unknown, Lady of Power," the Guardian said. "The People no longer have need of the Hearts but others may."
Miranda frowned but didn't say anything, although Andy poked her and whispered in her ear.
"What is this Heart known for?" Miranda asked the Guardian. "Each Heart appears to have a specialty in addition to general information."
"We store the entirety of the natural science records of the People," the Guardian said. "Everything the People learned about the worlds they visited or lived in is here."
"So, how do we search for something specific?" Andy asked. "Or how do we get a list of places visited by the People in their journeys?"
"An index has been added to the viewers you carry," the Guardian said. "It can be used to inquire about a specific location or element in the archives." Saying this, the Guardian faded way as they tended to do after throwing a major hint their way.
Andy excitedly dug her viewer out of a pocket, and enabled it. "What do we want to know?" She said, looking at Miranda. "Want to see if they ever visited Terra?"
"Does it matter?" Miranda said.
"Nope!" Andy said, pulling up the search function. "This looks easy," she said. "Just like Google." Frowning, she entered a search term. "It doesn't say." She pouted.
"And just like Google, if you don't know what to ask, you won't retrieve anything useful," Miranda said. "Possibly look for something unique, some plant or animal you know can't be found elsewhere."
"That would be a brilliant idea," Andy said. "Assuming I had any idea of such a thing."
Sighing, Miranda took the viewer from her. "Birds. Search for a bird. They are a uniquely Terran creature, given their decent from dinosaurs." She entered several phrases, shook her head and tried something different.
"Won't I have to know the People's name for them?" Andy said, taking the viewer from Miranda. "I'm sure they didn't call them 'birds'. I can't just ask it where they saw owls."
"Honestly," Miranda said, forcefully taking it back. "Flying creatures with feathers."
"Do we know their word for feathers?" Andy asked, poking her to get her attention.
"We do now," Miranda said. "And apparently they have encountered owls, though there is this notation for some of the entries."
"A hint system would be extremely helpful," Andy grumbled. "They just assume everyone knows what they mean."
"Yes," Miranda said. "You would find the same thing in a Terran library. The assumption is that someone using a library is aware of the terminology used."
"Well, they'd be wrong," Andy said. "Good librarians would provide a key."
"It appears they have visited Terra since birds appeared there," Miranda said, "though I am not familiar with that species."
"Yeah, that's more dinosaur than bird," Andy said looking at the picture. "What about one of those other entries."
"This appears to be an actual owl," Miranda said, puzzled. "But the other words used to describe it do not make sense."
"You mean the big whopping reference to magical creature?" Andy said. "Yeah, that is different. But maybe they traveled through one of those dimensional portals and ended up somewhere where magic is real? We know there are several places like that in the multi-verse. We just avoid traveling to other dimensions unless it's unavoidable."
"Lady Shadow is likely not avoiding them," Miranda said.
"Well, she's the exception, on the Clan Council," Andy said. "She probably considers magic a useful tool, even if it doesn't work in our dimension."
"No magic of the kind most people think of has been found to work in our dimension," Miranda said.
"Well, yes," Andy said. "There are people with unusual talents that seem like low key versions of magic. Like those Fox God priestesses. There aren't any explanations for some of the things they can do other than to call it magic, even if they don't themselves."
"We are getting off track," Miranda said. "From this it is apparent that the People did visit Terra at some point."
"A long, long time ago," Andy said. "I wonder if they saw that asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs?"
"Here," Miranda said, handing the viewer back to Andy. "Look."
"Thanks," Andy murmured, already buried deep in searching for something in the library. "I wonder if the other Hearts have the ability to let us search for things ourselves?"
"We did not think to ask," Miranda said. "It is possible, but we will not be able to ask."
"Do you think it was a good idea to ask about my family?" Andy said, as she and Miranda headed deeper into the library.
"There may be a good reason why your parents have been untalkative about this," Miranda said. "But it doesn't mean you cannot find out on your own."
"Or maybe they just don't know anything," Andy said. "I would like to know what the deal is with the ears. I don't want to be surprised if they suddenly turn me into a Lord of the Rings extra."
"We are in agreement that The People are the Furlings, yes?" Miranda said, as they wandered into a long, dark room. The lights came on as soon as they'd stepped past the threshold.
"All evidence, what little we have, points in that direction," Andy said, nodding. "The book on those birds is here."
"I admit to some curiosity," Miranda said. "If you may recall, there was a children's series where owls played a prominent part."
"Hard to forget when Harry and Ginny Potter are on this trip with us," Andy said, snorting. "But the chances of that being a real place? Slim, I'd say."
"The question of how a Terran author seemed to know enough about some other dimension to be able to tell stories set there is not something I'd like to contemplate," Miranda said.
"Um, yeah," Andy said, pulling a data crystal off of a shelf. "To you want to stay ignorant or find out what the Furlings know about magical owls?"
Miranda looked at her for a moment, and then sighed. "I m going to regret this, aren't I?"
"It'll just be between us," Andy said, grinning, "Unless it leads to some awesome bribery material."
"Go ahead," Miranda said.
Grinning, Andy inserted the data crystal into her viewer. "Definitely an owl," she said, looking at a picture of a bird. But why the claim of magic." She frowned and started to read. "Huh. They speculate that the creature is not native to this universe, but not how they encountered it or why they said it was magic."
"How long ago?" Miranda asked. "We know it was several thousand cycles before now, at least."
"A long time ago," Andy said. She tried to calculate the amount in her head. "A very long time ago. If the owl was from some place with magic, either the time stream is very different, or it has nothing to do with the stories we're familiar with."
"There was a time difference when we went to the Goa'uld dimension," Miranda said, "but it was not by much."
"Yes, and not by enough for this," Andy said. "I don't know how old the wizarding world was or when they started using owls, but it would take an astronomical difference for this to work. If the owls they encountered are from an equivalent world the chances of there being familiar characters from those books running around? It's virtually impossible."
"So, we agree the Furlings encountered owls, but that may just be a coincidence," Miranda.
"Agreed. We'll let Lady Shadow know in our final report, but no one else needs to know," Andy said. "It would certainly be an interesting place to visit, if true."
"I shall not be joining any expedition to a fictional magical world," Miranda said.
"If you say so," Andy said.
"Anything interesting?" Andy asked the others when they met for lunch. "Other than lots of data on plants and animals all over the galaxy?"
"Dragons?" Romana said. "Apparently they encountered a creature that resembles Terran accounts of dragons."
"Really?" Andy said, glancing at Miranda. "Did they say where?"
"There were co-ordinates," Romana said, "but I am not aware of how they translate to our current system."
"We'll have to get Garnes to keep an eye out for that," Andy said. "I'm sure we don't want to deal with a real fire breathing dragon."
"No," Miranda said dryly.
"What else?" Andy said.
"Nothing that really relates to your quest," Ixchel said. "Biological life in this part of the galaxy is very varied. There were several data crystals containing lists of worlds and the metals that can be found on them."
"We'll want copies of those, definitely," Andy said. "Knowing where to get some rare metal is always a useful bit of information, even if we don't need it for ourselves."
"It uses the People's coordinate system," Ixchel said. "So it is only useful if you can translate it."
"Which we can," Romana said. "I think they could be interesting to observe, but only from a distance."
"I'm sure a scientific expedition would welcome your presence," Andy said, "Some time in the future when we have time for such things."
"The People had several well known explorers," Memo said, when there was a quiet moment. "There are numerous accounts of their exploits."
"Anything interesting?" Romana asked her.
Memo shrugged. "One expedition seems to have spent considerable time in the Ice Mountains of Gert, in Ice Clan territory, though it would have been before the Ice Clan existed. They encountered a number of unique creatures that I do not believe currently exist in those mountains."
"There will likely be a number of accounts like that," Miranda said. "Wild creatures rarely survive encounters with young civilizations. If we are lucky, the People would have preserved some of these creatures."
"There is no indiction that they preserved anything," Ixchel said. "They are likely long gone."
"Those dragons are probably extinct also," Andy said. "There are tales of a number of varieties of them on Terra, but I don't think anyone has ever actually encountered any. They'd have to be very well hidden if they still existed."
"This location seems to be a treasure trove for scientists," Miranda said. "But for our purposes it is mainly idle interest."
"We still have four days to find something useful," Andy said. "The Lucia is down for maintenance until then."
"Or the Potter twins will find something interesting," Ixchel said. "The library can't be the only reason for the Gates in this system."
"If they find anything they won't keep it quiet," Andy said. "So we'll know soon enough."
"Dodged that bullet," Harry said, in a low voice, even though only Ginny could access their shared comm channel.
"You really didn't want to learn ship maintenance?" Ginny said, giggling. "Where's your adventurous spirit?"
"Not deep in the bowels of a long haul space ship," Harry said. "Got enough of that when we spent that year with the Fleet."
"Not my favorite assignment," Ginny said, agreeing with her. "I'd much rather be out in the woods like this, exploring a planet. Or in battle."
"We're missing the fighting," Harry said. "I bet they've already had several battles with the Bugs. And we're missing them."
"There will be plenty of action for us when we get back," Ginny said. "You saw the plan before we left."
"Well, there's more action out there than here," Harry said. "And we aren't likely to find anything. You remember all of those planets we saw through the Rings. Almost everything was gone, except the Rings themselves."
"But these aren't as old," Ginny said. "Or they've been used for longer and not abandoned."
"Yes, they are different," Harry said. "But unless there's a hidden civilization here we aren't going to find anything, except for a lot of trees."
"The trees are newer than the Ring," Ginny said. "They can't have covered everything up in a short few cycles."
"Well, it's better than getting stuck in a library for five days, so there's that," Harry said. "Maybe we can find something to blow up?"
"Like that?" Ginny said, pointing at a white tower far off in the distance.
"Let's check it out first," Harry said. "If it's empty we can try blowing it up, but if it's like other artifacts we've found near other Rings it's probably indestructible."
"Very likely," Ginny said. "Race you!" Not giving Harry any time to react, she took off at full speed towards the tower.
"Hang on!" Harry shouted, before chasing after her.
When they reached the tower, they were both laughing. They hadn't had a chance for running just for the joy of it for months.
"Doesn't look as impressive up close," Harry said, looking up at the moss stained tower, that seems to reach the clouds. "Door?" She asked Ginny who'd completed a circuit of the large tower.
"Not that I can see," Ginny said. "Probably need one of those control bands like Andy has."
"Or there isn't a door," Harry said, cautiously tapping the side of the tower. "Doesn't seem to be stone."
"Stone would have been more worn with normal planetary weather," Ginny said. "This looks dirty from age, but otherwise it could have been built yesterday."
"But no door," Harry said, grumbling. "Let's see what else we can find around here. A tower by itself would be unusual."
"Which way?" Harry said. "This doesn't ping on my sensors except as a faint shadow. I'm not picking up anything else."
"This is directly north of the library," Ginny said. "Let's try the same distance from the library but to the south."
"You have an idea?" Harry said.
"Just a faint one," Ginny said. "Let's see if we can find any other towers and prove it."
"There it is," Harry said. "So, are you correct?"
"North, south, east, and west towers? Ten clicks out from the library?" Ginny said. "I'd like to see what is in them but I'd bet they are part of some kind of defense of the library."
"A shield of some sort?" Harry said. "That'd be awesome. And very big. I don't think we've ever seen one that large."
"The shield over the Yucatan when the Council took over was much larger," Ginny said. "Or so I've heard."
"There are pictures of it," Harry said, agreeing with her. "And I've heard some of those Shadow secret science bases have something similar."
"But not something like this, in the middle of a forest, on some distant planet," Ginny said. "Should we keep looking?"
"If we can't get in any of them?" Harry said. "Maybe Andy has an idea, or Lady P can do her thing."
"I'm sure they are bored with all of the books by now," Ginny said. "Probably could use a break about now."
"So, back to the library?" Harry said. "Do we need to get cleaned up first?"
"That Guardian seemed to be the type to be unhappy with dirt being dragged into their library, even though there aren't any real books," Ginny said. "So, definitely need to wash up first."
"Hey guys," Ginny said, wandering into the library foyer, Harry on her heels.
"You're back early," Andy said. "What did you find?"
"How do you know we found anything?" Ginny asked.
"Because you have a lousy poker face?" Harry said.
"I have a great poker face," Ginny said, protesting.
"Only when you're playing poker," Harry said.