Chapter Summary: When one Romana meets another... in a library
Chapter Word Count: 6,557

This is a brief crossover with another story of mine: Time Is Not Linear, which can be found on AO3 and Twisting the Hellmouth, starring Romana II, and a teen Joyce Summers, written for the Twisted Shorts August Fic-a-Day. (They are not likely to appear in any future chapters.)

"Where are we?" Joyce asked, looking around the strange room. The walls were lined with shelves, and there were rows of shelves filling the room, like some kind of store or library. "And what are these?" She asked, picking up a strange looking object from one of the shelves.

"They're crystal data storage modules," Romana said, humming to herself. "Haven't seen technology like that in a number of years. Can't say this place is familiar though."

"The ride here was a bit rough," Joyce said. "Like that time Missy was experimenting with the navigation nodes, and almost killed us, before Idris fixed her mistakes."

"Yes," Romana said. "It did have that feeling. I'll have to check with Idris when we get back inside."

"What do you think this is?" Joyce asked, again.

"I'd say a library or data storage, but very primitive," Romana said, examining one of the crystals. "But unless I am mistaken, they are actually in a linked matrix. Very unusual."

"Which means for those of us not a Time Lord?" Joyce said, sighing.

"With the appropriate interface, you could access the entire data store without having to access each one individually," Romana said. "It's a very ancient technique. There was a civilization that used it but we didn't spend much time on them in school. They were one of those mysterious early ones that came and went before Gallifrey became what it was."

"You are always saying that your people were unique, and the oldest civilization," Joyce said. "And there's the door."

"Well, I might have been slightly inaccurate," Romana said, leading the way up a set of wide stairs. "No one really remembers the other ones. They were victims of Gallifrey's success."

"Like the Indian tribe we saw who were wiped out and no one remembers?" Joyce asked. "If you hadn't shown me, I wouldn't have known that such a sophisticated people lived there in the past."

"Yes," Romana said, as they entered a large room. "It isn't always the best civilizations that are remembered by history." She looked around. "A lobby?"

"We're under water?" Joyce said, pointing at a set of windows on the ceiling. "Think it's like that other underwater city?"

"This is just a single building, possibly," Romana said, taking out her sonic and waving it around. "Built underwater for some reason. That city was a lot more than this, though there are some faint similarities."

"Who are you?" A squeaky voice said. "What are you doing here in a Heart of the People?"

"Who said that," Joyce said in a low voice, looking around the huge empty room.

"An avatar?" Romana said, turning slowly. "There you are." She stopped, facing towards a dark corner. A small figure floated out towards them. It looked like a miniature person, with slightly exaggerated features.

"One of the People," the floating creature said, slowly circling Joyce. "But not the anticipated one. The ears. Ears." It stopped between them. "How did you enter? You did not come through the normal entrance."

"No, we have our own travel method," Romana said. "Who are the People?"

"The People? The People built this! It is one of their Hearts," the creature said. "The center of their knowledge in this reality."

"This reality?" Romana siad. "You have awareness of others?"

"Of course," the creature said. "The People have gone back to where they first came from. Or possibly a different one? Communication is difficult across realities."

"Why do you say she is one of these People?" Romana said, nodding at Joyce.

"Because she is," the creature said. "Cannot you tell, Lady of Time?"

"How do you know what she is?" Joyce said, giggling at the face Romana made. "No one every knows."

"Is it not obvious?" the creature said.

"You have biologic scanners," Romana said, shaking her head. "That appearance of inscrutability is a little misleading."

"That's cheating," Joyce said, pouting.

"The defenses of this Heart and the Others is paramount," the creature said.

"Of course it is," Romana said gently. "We do not wish to imply otherwise. What shall we call you?"

"This one? Is the Guardian of the People's Heart, in the Oceans of Keorn," it said.

"Keorn? A planet or planetary system?" Romana muttered. "If this is in an ocean, how do others access it?"

"It has always been here," the Guardian said. "Long before the oceans rose."

"When was the last time you had visitors," Romana asked, stepping around the Guardian and walking towards one of the high windows. She took out her sonic and started examining the structure.

"Time is a meaningless measurement," the Guardian said. "The People last passed through this Heart many thousands of cycles ago. But another approaches along the roadways laid open for them."

"Somebody's coming?" Joyce said. "Do we want to be here when they arrive?" She asked Romana. "They might object to your poking around."

"I'm sure they'll be friendly, correct?" She addressed the Guardian.

"There has been some concern as to their warlike nature," the Guardian said. "But they have refrained from any destructive impulses."

"There you go," Romana said. "Perfectly harmless."

"You said that when we ran into those Goa'uld creatures," Joyce said. "That was an unpleasant experience."

"It was just racial memory," Romana said. "We were perfectly safe. We are both incompatible with their puppetry."

"It still felt like I was being undressed by some slimy creature," Joyce said. She looked at the Guardian, who had been silently observing them. "These others, when will they get here?"

"Unknown," the Guardian said. "They are traveling through the outer Gates. Their vehicle does not fit through the Heart Gates."

"How big are these Gates?" Romana said, curious.

"The Heart Gate is through there," the Guardian said, pointing at a large door. "But you are not dressed appropriately for using them."

"How should we be dressed?" Romana said.

"You do not appear to be a water breather," the Guardian said. "The Heart Gate is completely submerged at this time due to the planetary cycles."

"This Gate works while submerged?" Romana said. "Interesting."

"It is less efficient," the Guardian said. "But still functional. It was not intended to operate in such a location and did not until recently."

"I wonder how long ago it was built?" Joyce said in a low voice, standing next to Romana. "If it wasn't underwater when it was built but is now? How long would that take?"

"There could be many reasons for that," Romana said. "We would have to know the planetary geology. I suspect we will not be here long enough to need to know."

"You don't want to come back?" Joyce said. "It's a library, kind of, though the lack of Starbucks is disappointing."

"You'll survive," Romana said. "Who were the People," she asked the Guardian, turning away from the window. "You haven't really said."

"You appear to travel with one," the Guardian said. "What more do you need to know?"

"How can we be sure Joyce is one of these People?" Romana said. "We have not encountered any of these People in our travels."

"We haven't exactly been looking for them," Joyce said. "Everyone says they're extinct. Except my family."

"There is that," Romana said, nodding. "But maybe they are here somewhere?"

"Idris didn't recognize the co-ordinates," Joyce said. "That's why we were out here wandering around."

"For Idris to not recognize the co-ordinates, we must have slipped through a dimensional portal," Romana said. "One that does not contain familiar places."

"We should go then," Joyce said. "You said slipping through dimensional layers was not a good idea."

"It can be dangerous," Romana said. "Especially if it is one that is not compatible with your energy matrix. But Idris would have warned us."

"Idris said we couldn't take K-9 out here with us," Joyce said. "That seems like warning enough for me."

"K-9 is susceptible to a number of things that would not harm us," Romana said. "What can you tell us about your expected visitors?" she asked the Guardian.

"That information is unavailable," it said. "They have not trans-located through to the Gate in this system as of yet, and the information is not available."

"So, you scan energy matrixes and other things? How did you not detect our presence?" Romana said, humming to herself.

"Your vehicle, which has now been detected in the anterior storage area, is resisting scanning," the Guardian said. "That is unusual, and unexpected."

"That would be Idris," Romana said smugly. "She has a mind of her own and does not like other beings rummaging around in it."

"You can read our minds?" Joyce said, stepping behind Romana, without realizing it.

"Not thoughts," the Guardian said. "And the People are not scannable in that manner."

"I'm not thinking very complementary thoughts at the moment," Romana said on a low voice to Joyce. "It doesn't seem to be picking them up. It is likely our energy matrixes are foreign enough that it can't."

"That's good," Joyce said. "I don't like someone poking around in my head either. Even subtle ones like Missy."

"I find keeping Missy away from my thoughts to be exhausting," Romana said, grimacing. "But she is currently not our concern."

"You say that now," Joyce said, grumbling. "She keeps coming back."

"She's bored," Romana said. "Which makes her dangerous."

"She should go be dangerous somewhere else," Joyce said. "So, library that is contained on crystals. What do you think they say?"

"If they are written in your native family language? Idris refuses to translate, so I can't really say," Romana said.

"I know you can read it," Joyce said, pouting. "You don't need Idris's help. Some day you have to let me know what the big deal about it is."

"There are many things I don't need Idris for," Romana said. "I am in charge, after all."

"I'd like to see you tell her that," Joyce said, giggling. "I think the Guardian isn't happy that we're ignoring it."

"It lives to serve," Romana said. "We've been ignoring it so it cannot fulfill its primary purpose." She shrugged.

"It recognized you as a Time Lord," Joyce said.

"Lady of Time," Romana said dismissively. "An archaic title."

"Of course," Joyce said. "But I don't think it actually comprehends what that means. It's just something it knows."

"Do you?" Romana said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Better than some," Joyce said, shrugging. "Not as much as my future self or Samantha, at the moment, probably."

"Possibly," Romana said.

"That is a very wet world," Ginny said, looking at the planet on the main screen. "I can see why the Guardian recommended not using the Heart Gate directly."

"It also might have been the idea that it might be under water," Harry said. "Can't say I like the idea of coming out of a gate in a few meters of cold water."

"We've done it before," Ginny said.

"And it wasn't pleasant," Harry said, "if you remember."

"It doesn't matter," Andy said. "This guardian will know we are here and will be expecting us. We just need a landing spot nearby."

"And a boat," Harry said.

"We can run a shield up to the main doors, if we can get close enough," Dart said. "Then no one will get wet."

"This is an interesting looking location," Ixchel said. "Why put a library here?"

"The records available say it wasn't like this when they built it here," Memo said. "There is no explanation for this now."

"So, ancient records of the Hearts are a bit inaccurate," Romana said. "It shouldn't be surprising. It has been many thousand cycles. What did it look like originally?"

"It was an ice planet," Memo said. "They were doing climate research."

"And now it's a water planet? Did it get warmer?" Andy said. "Or do we care what happened to it?"

"No," Miranda said. "It's a curious change but none of us are planetary geologists."

"Good," Andy said. "We can leave a message for the next visitors. Do we have a place to land?"

"We've received landing coordinates from the local Guardian," Garnes said. "We should be in optimal position for a landing approach in several minutes."

"Who's going?" Andy said. "The regular library crew?"

"Do you need us for this?" Harry said.

"Just the initial welcome wagon meeting," Andy said. "What did you have in mind?"

"It can't be the only facility on the entire planet," Ginny said. "If we can borrow the Lucia's scanners and probe, maybe we can find something interesting."

"More interesting than an empty tower and Gate in the North," Harry said. "Possibly."

"There are no indications of an additional Ring Gate," Miranda said. "It's just a wet planet."

"Fishing?" Ginny said. "That's a traditional activity when encountering a water world."

Andy sighed. "I don't object, as long as we can reach you in an emergency. I understand you aren't really along for the exciting reading opportunities."

"Landing commencing," Garnes said, interrupting their discussion. "It might be a little bumpy. There's a major storm approaching our landing area."

"Always a good sign," Harry said. "Landing just before a storm hits."

"Is that a spacer superstition?" Andy said. "I don't recall hearing about that one before."

"Not a spacer superstition, no," Garnes said. "Troopers do have some strange ideas."

"Superstition does have its place," Miranda said. "It can be a useful early warning system."

"Feet on the ground before a storm hits? I'm very much in favor of that one," Andy said. "But I trust the Lucia and her crew to get us there safely."

"The flattery isn't necessary, Lady A, but I'm sure Lucia doesn't mind," Garnes said. "And we're down."

"Very smooth," Andy said. "Are we close enough for Dart's shield trick?"

"We are, but it will have to wait for the storm to pass," Dart said. "Setting it up in the middle of a storm is not recommended."

"Can we see this storm?" Memo said. "I have never seen something on this scale."

"There isn't much to see from here," Garnes said. The front viewer switched to a view of a tall column of dark, almost black, clouds bearing down on the Lucia. "We're locked down to the landing pad and shouldn't notice it through our shields."

"A bit anticlimactic," Andy said. "Is it safe to move around?"

"Of course," Garnes said. "Now that we've landed, there is no need to stay buckled in."

"Can the probe fly in this storm?" Ginny said. "Can we get a different view of the area?"

"The short range probe does not have the mass or shields of the Lucia," Garnes said. "The long range probe cannot operate within a planetary gravity well such as this."

"So, that was a no?" Ginny said.

Everyone was gathered in the air lock, dressed in their EV suits or armor, while Dart worked her magic with the shields.

"The shield walkway is now connected," Dart said. "The library is now accessible."

"Good," Ginny said. "Getting a bit stuffy in here. What if we want to go somewhere else?"

"Simple," Dart said. "There's a permeable gap between the start of the tunnel and the Lucia. Step to the side, instead of into the tunnel and you'll be outside. But it is a bit damp out right now. The landing pad is under a meter of water."

"So, go to the library and stay dry or go outside and get wet?" Harry said. "Choices... choices..."

"Library first," Andy said. "Then you can go play."

"It's been a while since we had the opportunity to take our suits out into knee high water," Harry said. "Everyone in the Troop will be so jealous when they find out."

"A rare training opportunity," Ginny said. "We get to test the depth rating on the suits."

"I'm sure they've been tested at different depths," Andy said. "Lady Hands is very thorough."

"Yes," Ginny said. "We had to certify in the new suits at one hundred meters."

"Having to certify at that depth without the suits was exhausting," Harry said. "Fortunately, we won't have to do that for a while."

"Ready?" Dart said. "Opening hatch."

There was a brief change in pressure in the air lock, and a brief spray of water obscured the hatch.

"That smells," Ginny said, grumbling, as she stepped through the hatch ahead of the others.. "Whose idea was the smellovision on these suits?"

"Only in normal atmosphere," Harry said, right behind her. "How far are we from the library again?"

"Less than a click," Ginny said. "A quarter of one?"

"And there it is," Harry said. "Let's get that open."

"Not without Lady A," Ginny said. "That's one of those high pressure locks."

"All you had to do was ask," Andy said, slipping between them to reach the door.

"Don't tease them, Andrea," Miranda said, her voice echoing on the comm.

"Yeah! No teasing," Harry said, leaning forward to get in front of her as the door slid in. "First," she said slipping to the side and taking up a defensive position.

"Second," Ginny said, taking the other side of the door.

"All clear," Harry said. And then her suit scanner beeped in warning. "Something is pinging," she said.

"I'm getting that also," Andy said. "Strange energy readings."

"Some new People scanner?" Ginny asked. "This does look newer than the other libraries. Maybe they have a different kind of scanner running?"

"Welcome. Lady of the People, and companions," a voice, the typical squeaky Guardian one, said. "Do not be concerned. Our other visitors are currently occupied."

"Other visitors?" Andy said. "Someone else is here?"

"That seems like a huge coincidence," Ginny said. "Do you get visitors here often?"

"And how did they get in through all that water?" Harry said. "There's no other ship outside."

"We understood that the Heart Gate here was not active," Andy said, while signaling on the comm to Miranda and the others to wait before joining them.

"It is not," the Guardian said. "The Youngster and the Lady of Time used alternate access methods."

"Lady of Time?" Harry murmured. "That's a curious title."

"Youngster?" Andy said.

"A young one of the People has accompanied the Lady of Time on her visit to this Heart," the Guardian said. "I am not privy to their purpose for visiting."

"Well, I guess we should meet them, before we begin our research," Andy said. "Where may we find them?"

"Their travel pod is in the lower Records level," the Guardian said. "But they are currently in the observatory on the upper level."

"There's another entrance in the Records level?" Ginny said.

"No," the Guardian said. "I shall inform them of your desire to exchange information." The Guardian disappeared with a distinctive pop.

"Well, this should be interesting," Harry said. "Never met a Lady of Time before."

"Or one of the People," Ginny said. "Besides Lady A here."

"It should be safe for the others to enter," Harry said to Andy. "The safety protocols seem to be fully engaged."

"I'd like to see this travel pod," Ginny said, looking around. "I wonder what it looks like."

"It landed inside," Harry said. "Must not be very large."

"We are not the first visitors today?" Miranda said, entering the library with Romana, Ixchel, and Memo.

"The Guardian seemed almost giddy," Andy said.

"This is the first time we have encounter any other beings making use of one of the People's libraries," Romana said. "It is likely that the Guardian is excited."

"And they have gone to inform these other visitors of our presence," Andy said. "I admit to being curious at what a Lady of Time looks like."

"That's a very archaic title," a firm voice said, "but the avatar refuses to use anything else."

They all turned towards the voice, to find two small women standing at the base of a stairway. The one who had spoken was dressed in something vaguely familiar to Andy's eyes, while the other seems to be dressed like a Terran teen of a different era, in bell bottoms and a tie dyed t-shirt.

"You haven't exactly corrected it," the other, younger looking woman said.

"There seems to be no point," the older woman said. "I am Romanadvoratrelundar. You may call me Romana," she said to them.

"I'm just Joyce," the other woman said. "She's in charge. I'm just the peanut gallery."

Andy frowned, and looked at the Clan Mother. "This will get confusing."

"How so?" The new Romana said.

"I am also called Romana," Romana said, giving her a puzzled look.

"Interesting," the woman said, frowning. "In that case, to avoid confusion, you may call me Fred."

"Fred? Is that your name?" Ixchel said, giving her a look.

"I've always wanted to be called Fred, but the Doctor never quite understood," Fred said. "Fred, Romana, either works."

"Missy never calls you Fred," Joyce said. "Of course, I don't think she has ever called either of us by our actual names."

"Names are not needed with her," Fred murmured. "She'd just forget them."

"What brings you to this Heart?" Andy asked, noticing the woman in the jeans had pointed ears.

"Heart? Oh you mean this data storage facility? It was an unintentional stop," Fred-Romana said."Navigation error. It is an interesting design. Haven't seen anything like it in centuries. What brings you here? If I understand the avatar correctly you are just passing through also."

"The avatar? You mean the Guardian," Andy said.

"They didn't introduce themselves," Joyce said. "We've met friendlier."

"We're searching for information on a group of the People who passed through here many cycles ago," Romana said. "They have information we may need."

"Who are the People?" Joyce asked, when it was clear Romana-Fred's attention had wandered. "That seems like a very generic name."

"They created this place, along with several others connected through their Ring Gates," Andy said.

"Gates?" Romana-Fred said suddenly paying attention again. "Big circular objects made from an unusual metal?"

"These are small," Ginny said, saying something for the first time. "Just big enough for two of us to go through at a time. We've seen bigger ones, besides the ones big enough to take a cruiser through."

"Stargates," Romana-Fred said, nodding. "I've encountered them. There's a vast network of them out there."

"Out where?" Andy said. "There can't be more than twenty in this galaxy, mostly in inaccessible locations."

"Really?" Romana-Fred said. "What planet are you from? You didn't say."

"Terra," Andy said. "Most recently."

"What year is this?" Romana-Fred said. She pulled a slim device out of a pocket and shook it before staring at it. "2021CE? Your armor is not period appropriate for that planet."

"It doesn't look like anything I've seen either," Joyce added. "Though I can't claim to be an expert in whatever you are wearing. Looks cartoonish."

"I believe they are," Romana-Fred said. "And Earth does not have armor like it for several thousand years, when they develop nano-machines."

"We've had armor like this for a long time," Harry said. "And we've been based on Terra for a while."

"The Serpent Clan arrived back in 2012," Miranda said, joining them. "I find it curious that you are not aware of them."

"Serpent Clan? The planet I'm familiar with does not have a Serpent Clan, especially not with those markings," Romana-Fred said. "They look like variation on Mayan glyphs."

"Do you have the Pan-Galactic Confederation?" Andy said. "The Clans are associated with them, as their sector police forces. You can't travel in this galaxy without knowing this."

"No," Romana-Fred said. "That's a new one." She turned to Joyce. "l suspect the bumpy ride was more than an out of balance motivator."

"Every trip there's something," Joyce said, sighing. "Now what?"

"I need to check Idris," Romana-Fred said. "You can stay here, if you wish."

"I need coffee," Joyce said. "If there isn't a Starbucks, I guess I'll have to make my own." She frowned. She turned to the armored women. "I'll be right back."

"Starbucks?" Andy said. "Where exactly are you from?"

"Ohio," Joyce said. "Though it's more when than where."

"You have coffee?" Ginny said. "The Lucia's generators can't get it right."

"When?" Andy said in a low voice to Miranda. "When they're from?"

"Lady of Time seems to be an important distinction," Miranda said.

"And they aren't from this galaxy," Ixchel said. "Visitors from another dimension?"

"Very likely," Andy said. "We were bound to run into a dimensional visitor out here at some point."

"And the girl? With the pointed ears?" Miranda said.

"You noticed," Andy said, watching the girl, Joyce, head towards the stairs, following the other Romana. "Ginny, go with her."

"Yes, Lady A," Ginny said.

"You're coming with me?" Joyce said, looking at the tall armored person. The helmet retracted into the suit revealing a woman with a mischievous smile.

"You said the important word, coffee," she said. "I'm Ginny."

"I'm Joyce. Which you already know," she said, blushing.

"Have you been traveling with your Romana very long?" Ginny asked.

"Maybe a year?" Joyce said, stopping at a landing and entering the room at that level. "It's hard to tell with time travel. Romana says time is very fluid but I find it occasionally confusing. A week ago we were back in the 50's. Tomorrow we'll probably be on the Moon in the 30th century. It' hard to predict. Idris can be a bit quirky."

"Where are you from?" Ginny asked. "I've never seen anyone with pointed ears on Terra, except in some old movies."

"I'm from Ohio," Joyce said. "Born and bred, as the saying goes. And I don't exactly look like this at home."

"Lady Andrea is from Ohio," Ginny said, tilting her head. "She doesn't have ears like you."

"It's a family legacy," Joyce said. "They aren't normally like this, but there was an accident and I got zapped by a stray energy wave and have been stuck like this for a while. Can't go home until I can change back."

"You can change your ears?" Ginny asked, following her into the back of the large room.

"Usually," Joyce said. "It's a Furling trait, according to someone I know."

"Furling?" Ginny said. "That sounds familiar."

"I don't know much about them," Joyce said. "Other than my family are descended from them. And it isn't common knowledge. Samantha says they were one of four ancient races in our galaxy, but not a lot is known about them."

"Samantha? I've met a Samantha," Ginny said. "An explorer, and rocket scientist, Very smart."

"Apparently a future me is involved with her," Joyce said. "Sure, she's gorgeous, and smart, but I'm not sure of the attraction. It's not really a public thing when I'm from."

"Sounds like the Samantha I know, except she's really close to her Jack. We traveled with them for a while, a long trip through Gates," Ginny said. "Most of the Serpent Clan are women, so that kind of thing isn't a big deal."

"If they're the same Samantha, it's probably a different time line then," Joyce said.

"Or we're in a different reality," Romana-Fred said, waiting for them at the TARDIS. "You have Star Gates, apparently, but Joyce's Terra, Earth as they call it, doesn't have aliens such as yourself. There are the Goa'uld, and others the Samantha and her team fight but nothing like your clans."

"You have Goa'uld?" Ginny said. "Nasty little things, with their whole puppet master thing." Ginny grimaced. "The Samantha I was talking about is fighting them also. Ixchel, who is also upstairs, used to have one in her. It's not a pleasant experience according to her."

"We are definitely in a parallel reality," Romana said. "Different Samanthas, and if I understand correctly, your Lady Andrea is a Furling, though with round ears."

"How'd you guess?" Ginny said.

"She's smart like that," Joyce said. "I think it's the whole Time Lord thing."

"Time Lord? Lady of Time?" Ginny said. "What does that mean?"

"Welcome to my TARDIS," Romana said, opening the door.

"TARDIS?" Ginny said.

"Time and Relative Dimensions in Space," Romana said, leading them inside.

"It's her time and space ship," Joyce said. "We travel in it."

"It's bigger on the inside," Ginny said, looking around. "This is so amazing."

"I'll be right back with the coffee," Joyce said, slipping around to a door on the other side.

"We seem to have slipped sideways coming here," Romana said, examining a readout on the center console. "You can let your leader know that we will be leaving as soon as Idris regenerates. It would not be appropriate for us to stay long."

"I'll pass your message along," Ginny said. "She'll likely have questions."

"We can do that before leaving," Romana said, nodding.

"Here you go," Joyce said, handing Ginny a large thermos. "It's some fancy blend from the Peruvian mountains. I thought you might want to share, or need a larger sample for your duplicator."

"This is excellent," Ginny said, opening the thermos and taking a sniff. "We haven't had coffee this good in months, out in the fleet. Not much room for it in a war zone."

"War zone?" Romana said. "You're at war? With who?"

"If you aren't from around here, you probably aren't familiar with them, but there's a race called the Kraal," Ginny said. "They travel through this galaxy on a regular basis, destroying everything in their wake. They're the reason the Clans co-operate with the Galactics. They made us their enforcers."

"The name is not familiar," Romana said. "But there are a number of races that behave in that fashion, like locust, so it isn't surprising."

"So we can't help?" Joyce said. "There must be something we can do."

"It'll be another hour before Idris is ready to go," Romana said. "We can at least discuss their options."

"Ginny said you need to leave," Andy said, when they were all back in the central chamber.

"Yes," Romana-Fred said. "Although it is unlikely, our presence here may lead to an unstable timeline. It's best if we don't stay."

"We have questions," Andy said.

"That's expected," Romana-Fred said. "We will answer them if able."

"Joyce is a Furling," Andy said. "What can you tell us about them?"

"One of four ancient races," Romana said. "They seem to be semi-immune to much of the problems other races have with time travel."

"Not that it feels like it," Joyce said, grumbling.

"The Furling in our universe seem to have the ability to take different forms. Human looking, what you see Joyce as here, and another that we haven't seen. There is speculation as to the reason but it appears to be camouflage," Romana-Fred said.

"We're hiding from something," Joyce said. "Possibly the Goa'uld though we've been avoiding them for other reasons."

"The Goa'uld appear to think the Furlings are extinct," Romana-Fred said.

"How do you change?" Andy asked.

"It's all in my head," Joyce said. "And there's a metal that makes it easier. Naquadah?"

"Correct," Romana-Fred said. "Unfortunately we don't have any samples."

"Well, Idris gave me this for you," Joyce said, handing over a metallic ring. "But I can't really tell you how to use it. It controls the change but I don't understand the way it works. Put it on and concentrate? Maybe?"

"Your name is Romanadvoratrelundar," Romana said. "That is also the name my mother gave me. It was the name of her hearth companion, though in my faded memory she looked nothing like you."

"I am not sure what you are asking," Romana-Fred said. "I have not been here before that I recall, though time can be a finicky thing. It's possible another with my identity was here, how long ago?"

"A thousand cycles," Romana said.

"If it is me, it has not happened in my personal timeline yet, but I will keep it in mind," Romana-Fred said.

"So she's not your long lost father," Ixchel said. "We still like you."

"I'll have to remember this," Joyce said, smirking. "Good blackmail material is hard to find."

"You don't know anything about the Kraal," Andy said.

"No," Romana-Fred said. "Sorry. They do not appear familiar in any way."

"Any suggestions?" Andy said.

"Without knowing anything about them? My advice would be worthless," Romana-Fred said. "I would suggest you continue to follow the path you are on. Find your Furlings. The technology exhibited here? It's a lot more sophisticated than it looks on the surface."

"We suspected as much," Andy said. "Our Clan tech is much more advanced than the other Clans but this makes ours look so simple."

"That was strange," Joyce said, as the TARDIS left, taking them back to their home universe.

"In what way?" Romana said.

Well, there's another Romana out there, somewhere, and she has a daughter, but you don't think it's you," Joyce said.

"Extremely unlikely," Romana said. "The navigation error that took us here shouldn't happen again."

"And that Andy is also from Ohio," Joyce said. "Though we don't know if she has the Furling ears."

"Possibly," Romana said. "She should talk with her parents. Apparently they've been keeping secrets from her."

"And there's nothing we can do about those Kraal," Joyce said. "Are you sure?"

"Not without risking the integrity of this universe," Romana said. "They seem to already have integrity issues, if I understand it correctly. They seem to be littered with portals to other realities."

"Do you think that's how we ended up there? Through one of their portals?" Joyce asked.

"Possible," Joyce said. "But there isn't enough data to determine that. Idris was not aware of its existence until now."

"We know their Samantha isn't ours, right?" Joyce said. "Theirs is married to Jack, but ours isn't."

"It could be an alternate time line," Romana said. "That is as likely as being an alternate universe, but again there is not enough data to make that determination."

"Think we'll come back some day?" Joyce asked her.

"Unlikely," Romana said. "This was a navigation error, that is unlikely to reoccur."

"Oh," Joyce said. "I was hoping to meet more of them. They have an interesting outlook on things."

"They're an alien culture that grew up around the Mayan culture on your planet," Romana said. "I would say that as cultures go they are certainly unique."

"And almost all women," Joyce said. "A matriarchy of sorts. Aren't those rare?"

"The Amazons, on several planets, are a matriarchy," Romana said.

"Amazons? Can we go see them?" Joyce said. "You never mentioned them."

"It didn't seem important," Romana said.

"Are you going to try it?" Miranda asked her, watching her fiddle with the ring the girl Furling had given her.

"What purpose would it serve?" Andy said. "The Guardians already recognize me as one of the People, without the ears."

"Of course," Miranda said.

"Besides, what if I get stuck in whatever form that is?" Andy said. "Like she is."

"My impression is that it is a very temporary thing," Miranda said. "She's a teenager having an adventure. Once the adventure ends she'll solve her problem, whatever it really is."

"So, that wasn't Romana's father," Andy said. "As far as we know."

"She's a time traveler," Miranda said. "With the ability to travel between realities, which I suspect was not as accidental as she was claiming."

"What makes you say that?" Andy said.

"Their time ship, Idris, is very chatty," Miranda said. "She was happy to talk with some being who could actually communicate while wide awake."

"You're multi-talented," Andy said, hugging her. "What did you learn?"

"This Time Person has the ability to change physical appearances, but only when they are close to death. So it still might have been her."

"Interesting," Andy said. "What else?"

"This Romana is from a much more distant reality than it appears. She ended up in the reality of Joyce purely by accident, and seems to be alone. Her people appear to have died out in Joyce's reality. Except for some mad creature called Missy."

"So, she has experience dealing with alternate realities," Andy said. "Think she was really concerned about the stability of this one or was that just an excuse?"

"It's hard to tell," Miranda said. "There is some truth to the fragility of the dimensional walls of this reality, but whether her presence would have a negative effect? There is no way to know except by experiencing it."

"I don't think it's worth the risk to test that idea," Andy said.

"No," Miranda said. "It was safer to let them go, not that we could have stopped them."

"We could have stopped them," Andy said, "Not that we would try."

"Their ship, Idris, their TARDIS, can withstand a supernova," Miranda said. "I don't think our weapons would have any effect. And just entering it, any weapons are disabled."

"That's a clever trick," Andy said. "Why don't we have that? Not necessarily our weapons, but any weapons anyone else carries onto the Lucia?"

"You'll have to talk with Garnes and Dart about that," Miranda said.

"They have the Goa'uld also, don't they," Andy said. "And they're not one reality away from them."

"No, they are dealing directly with them," Miranda said. "But they do have the extremely talented Samantha Carter so it isn't hopeless for them."

"We should find our Sam Carter," Andy said. "I bet she would have some ideas to share about defeating the Kraal."

"I'm sure Lady Shadow has warned them already but we should suggest it just in case," Miranda said. "We don't want to accidentally open a portal to their universe and send the Kraal through to there."

"That would be bad," Andy said. "Inflicting the Kraal on our nearest dimensional neighbors would probably be considered unfriendly."

"Very unfriendly," Miranda said.

"But maybe she can give us some ideas? I'm sure she's seen some things," Andy said. "And we can confirm that our Sam is different from theirs."

"Joyce did seem slightly embarrassed at the idea that her future self is involved with a woman," Miranda said. "Possibly because of her Ohio upbringing."

"We're not all prudes in Ohio," Andy said. "But did you catch that this Joyce is from the 70s? She thinks Starbucks is the height of coffee."

"She'll learn better," Miranda said. "The coffee sample she provided Ginny is certainly welcome. We can finally get a good cup of coffee out here."

"Maybe," Andy said. "That machine seems to be designed to intentionally create the worst cup of coffee in the galaxy."

"It's intentionally set to the favorite coffee of some engineer in the Fleet," Miranda said.

"An engineer with no taste," Andy said, turning over and burying her face in her pillow.

"Or an engineer who hates coffee and those who drink it," Miranda said. "It's pointless to speculate. Dart has promised to use the sample to recalibrate the extruder."

"You don't need the coffee," Andy said, staring up at her. "Why the effort?"

"Because you do like coffee," Miranda said. "And a good cup of coffee will make you happy."

"Okay, point taken," Andy said. "I would like a drinkable cup of coffee also."