Chapter Summary: The next Gate unexpectedly takes the quest team back home.
Chapter Word Count: 5,052
This is the last chapter ready to be posted, from NaNoWriMo 2020. The next series of chapters (written during NaNoWriMo 2021) are currently in very (Very!) rough draft form. They should begin to be posted starting some time in the summer of 2022.
Other Note: The first chapter of this story was first posted here 9 years ago yesterday. This 101st chapter is pushing this story into its 10th year. I certainly never expected to spend 10 or more years on this, and hopefully this story will end sooner rather than later but there are at least 30 more chapters to go before we hit the end. Hopefully y'all will stick around for the end, whenever that happens.
"So, five of these libraries so far, and what do we have to show for it?" Andy said, looking around at the others in the ship's lounge.
"Well, we added Lady Memo to our illustrious gang," Harry said.
"We know the Ice Clan are greedy, and claim things they didn't discover," Ginny added. "And we've explored a number of different Furling planets or bases."
"We have co-ordinates for a number of Ship Gates," Ixchel said. "I'm not sure we know how to use them to go other places, but we know how to find them."
"Shortcuts into other Clan territories are certainly useful," Andy said. "Lady Shadow will be happy to know about them. What else?"
"We know there are other Furlings out there in the multi-verse," Miranda said. "They may not be the same but they are not extinct."
"Well, we ran into one, and she's from Ohio," Andy said. "But I'll take it."
"We know of at least one time traveler," Romana said, "though we do not know if she is related to another person of the same name."
"And we can detect the kind of vessel she travels in, which may become useful," Miranda said.
"We can?" Dart said.
"Yes," Miranda said.
"Care to share?" Garnes said. "So we can update the ship sensors."
"It will need some work to add that ability to the Lucia," Miranda said, "but I'm sure it will become available as soon as we pass the information to the appropriate groups."
"We have a much better idea of who the Furling, the Winter People, were before they left," Lady Memo said. "Before all we had were legends scattered across the Clans. Now we have primary sources of information for those who wish to study them."
"Knowledge is always a good thing," Andy said, nodding. "Unfortunately, we don't seem to have learned anything that will help us against the Kraal, and we haven't found out what happened to the Prophets of Zircon Nine, after they left with the Furling."
"But we do have a possible explanation for the Guardian's fascination with your ears," Miranda said. "In at least one corner of the multi-verse Furling are able to change their appearance slightly."
"But we don't know how to cause the change, or if it is even possible for Furling in this universe," Andy said. "Wishing real hard while holding this ring does not seem to be a practical method."
"The girl was kind of cute with the ears," Harry said. "She looked sort of like a movie elf. But I think she comes from a very conservative culture."
"Early 70s Terra," Miranda said. "It was a different time from the one you are familiar with. Ohio would have been very conservative then."
"Still is," Andy said. "There's a reason my parents live on a farm, and not in the middle of a city. They prefer to not have nosy neighbors interfering in their business."
"Which is getting us off track," Miranda said. "Do you feel we have been successful? That is all that really matters. The Council wasn't expecting us to find a silver bullet for the Kraal. But until we pass all of our knowledge along to Lady Shadow and her predictive model we won't really know if what we learned will prove important."
"We have one more 'Heart of the People' to visit," Andy said. "When will we be ready to leave?"
"We have the co-ordinates for the next Space Ring," Garnes said, "and the unlock code. We just need to make the jump. Is there anything else you need from this library?"
"We've gotten everything," Ixchel said. "This one contained some interesting information but the main value was from the visitors we encountered."
"Do we know where this last jump will take us?" Andy said.
"Somewhere in Serpent Clan territory," Garnes said, "but it seems to be moving. The Guardian said there is something wrong with it. Its defensive systems appear to be stuck on, so we'll be jumping with full shields."
"Dangerous?" Andy asked.
"Only if we can't connect to it," Garnes said. "There are safety protocols that should reset it when we go through its space gate."
"Should?" Andy said. "What if they don't?"
"We end up in stasis until we clear it," Garnes said. "So, it might be a rough jump."
"If we get killed, I can think of at least a dozen people who won't be happy," Andy said.
"I won't be happy," Harry said, grumbling.
"If everyone could get into their crash seats we can jump in fifteen," Garnes said.
"Still nothing?" Santana said, joining her tech team observing the derelict ship. "How'd you manage to move it without shutting it down?"
"We used those magnetic grapplers on a couple tugs," Tyne said. "And very heavy shielding."
"What did you want me to see if there's been no change?" Santana said.
"That is not exactly true," Tyne said. "After we moved it out here, the radiation field contracted. As if something noticed."
"So, the radiation field is some kind of defense," Santana said. "But still no way through it?"
"No, but look at its orbit," she said. "It is automatically keeping in the least disruptive orbit. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was designed to be there."
"Interesting," Santana said. "Were you able to track it back to wherever it came from? With all of that radiation leaking from it, it should be easy to see."
"Nothing," Tyne said. "It's as if it was invisible, until we found it."
"So, not as derelict as it seems," Santana said. "Okay, keep an eye on it. A retractable radiation field might be useful. Did you get those improved probe plans?"
"We're using them now," Tyne said. "Much higher survival rate for the base Red Pirate probes when configured that way."
"Good," Santana said. "Keep me up to date," she said. Turning she left the lab and headed back to her shuttle, and Flag.
"Gate engaged," Garnes said. "Shields at maximum. Prepare for transition."
There was a hum and that timeless feeling they'd come to recognize as a transition through a Space gate. As they passed through the Gate into space on the other side, there was a red flash and alarms started sounding.
"Transition complete," Garnes said. "Gate shut down."
"Where are we?" Andy said, frowning at the planet on the view screen.
"That... appears to be Saturn?" Garnes said. "Locking on local nav beacons. Yes, we're now in orbit around Saturn."
"Can we see the Gate?" Andy asked. "Wouldn't someone have noticed it out here by now?"
"No one noticed that Stargate in the asteroid field," Ginny said. "If they don't have their scanners looking for it, it might be invisible."
"That's different," Andy said, as the main view scene rotated until it was pointing back the way they'd come. A large, heat scorched object seemed to have taken up orbit around Saturn and the distinct outline of a space gate could be seen between them and it.
"What is that?" Andy said. "Behind the Gate?"
"Incoming transmission," Garnes said. "It's from Fleet."
"Put it on the comm," Andy said.
"Lucia, this is Flag control, please confirm your location," a firm voice said.
"Flag, this is Lucia. We appear to be orbiting Saturn in the Sol system," Garnes said.
"This better be good," the unmistakable voice of Lady Air said, over the comm. "What are you doing here?" There was a pause "And what happened to the wreck."
"Wreck?" Garnes said. "Lady Air, we jumped here through a Furling Space Gate in Sector Zed Alpha Three. We don't know anything about a wreck."
"Of course you don't," Lady Air said. "Report to Research Station Ex-Theta-Seven."
"Yes, Lady Air," Garnes said. The sounds of the comm being disengaged echoed across the ship's comm. "Apparently we're going to Ex-Theta-Seven."
"That's a new one," Dart said over the comm. "Where is it?"
"Looks like we're several minutes away," Garnes said. "It's on Titan. Looks like it's designated for restricted research."
"Great. One of those kind of secret bases," Ginny said. "Our wills are in order aren't they?" she said to Harry.
"Before we joined the Lucia," Harry said. "It's all in order. I'm not an amateur."
"Aren't you being a little paranoid?" Andy asked.
"Secret Fleet research stations aren't as dangerous as Shadow research stations," Harry said. "But 'Here be dragons' is always a wise approach to entering one."
"I'm sure the Council doesn't experiment on Clan," Andy said. "There are Clan laws against that kind of thing."
"What you don't know doesn't need a law," Ginny said.
"Approaching Ex-Theta-Seven," Garnes said. "It appears to have enclosed landing pads. Stay buckled in until the all clear is given."
What followed was a long ten minutes of noise and bumps and shaking. At some point it stopped and there was a long hum, before several lights on Garnes' control panel went green.
"All clear," Garnes said. "Stay in your EV suits, this is a class seven facility."
"Ugh! Earthquakes!" Ginny said. "They couldn't build a base in space like any sane mad scientist?"
"Your escort is approaching," Garnes said.
"Anyone we know?" Harry said, peering over her shoulder at her control panel.
"Who would we know out here?" Ginny said. "Looks like the usual welcoming committee for a member of the Clan Council. Looks like they're here for you Lady Romana. Guess they aren't going to throw us in the brig for being somewhere we shouldn't be."
Andy shook her head. "Shall we ladies?"
"Coffee?" The midshipman who'd shown them to the conference room said, once they were all inside. "Or tea?"
"Tea would be welcome," Romana said.
"Coffee for everyone else," Andy said, smiling at the nervous midshipman.
"Good so far," Andy said. "I wonder who we're meeting with?"
"Well, you're a scruffy looking crowd," Lady Air said, appearing in the conference room door. "I hope they've been treating you appropriately, Lady Memory," she said. Memo hesitantly nodded. "Good. They aren't exactly diplomats."
"So, what brings you here?" Andy said.
"I heard Mother, and the Wind Clan Memory were visiting, so I thought I'd drop by for a chat," Lady Air said. "And a status update from the rest of you would be welcome."
"We can do that," Andy said.
"Also, Brit will be here shortly, so you'll have plenty of time to write up your reports before she gets here. My scientists are curious how you managed to appear where you did."
"We can explain, Lady Air," Andy said.
"I'm sure you can," she said, "But I'd be in trouble if Brit didn't talk with you first. And I don't recall the Potter twins being assigned to your crew?"
"Sophia was doing me a favor," Brittany said, slipping past her into the conference room. "She dropped them off after her trip to the Ice Clan ceremony."
"It's been an interesting trip so far," Harry said. "Never a dull moment."
"That's not what you were saying the other day," Andy said.
"There's a difference between dull and boring," Harry said.
"Ladies," Brittany said. "I'm sure it's entertaining, but let's discuss a few things. The Lucia's logs make for interesting reading, but just to be clear, did you have any idea that your last jump would take you to this system?"
"No," Andy said. "It was a complete surprise. We've been able to determine where some of the Space Gates between the Furling bases go but this one? No. It appeared to be damaged but the Guardian in the previous system couldn't tell us what was wrong."
"Damaged is one way to describe it," Lady Air said. "It was a very hot spot until you came through. That stopped, though we still can't approach it."
"It must have reset when we came through," Andy said. "We were told that might happen."
"We were not expecting the Gate to be mobile," Ixchel said. "It's the first one like that."
"The defenses must still be activated," Andy said. "They'll need to be turned off before we can access the library."
"It's a library?" Santana said. "A large one?"
"Well, there's likely a library in it," Andy said. "How big is it?"
"Moon size," Brittany said. "So, it's another of the Furling libraries?"
"The ones they left behind," Miranda said. "If it is inside a protective ship it likely contains valuable information."
"More valuable than the others," Andy said. "They've mostly included historical information. Nothing really advanced beyond the Gates themselves."
"And that Guardian," Ginny said. "It's like an AI but not quite."
"We'll have to talk with the one in it," Andy said. "Only it can turn off the defenses."
"How do you plan to do that?" Santana said. "We really need to see the inside of that ship."
"What's so special about it?" Andy said. "Other than the Ship Gate attached to it and the library? Every other Furling base or site we've encountered has been empty, stripped down so only the library remains."
"So, that base the Ice Clan seems to have found?" Brittany said, eyebrow raised.
"Empty," Ixchel said. "The Furling leveled it before they left. Only the Gate and library remain."
"And you have to be with a Furling to gain access," Miranda said. "So they will not be gaining access to it any time soon."
"So, who do we have who is one of these Winter People?" Britany said, winking at Andy.
"Well, yes," Andy said. "Isn't that the whole point of this? Finding out about my ancestors?"
"And what they did with the Prophets," Memo said. "The Wind Clan would like some closure as to the disappearance of them also."
"And that," Andy said. "And maybe the Prophets have some idea about dealing with the Kraal?"
"And a trip to Ohio seems to be in order," Miranda said.
"Ohio?" Santana said, puzzled.
"Andy's parents live in Ohio," Britany said. "I'm sure they can provide some input about this situation."
"They've never mentioned being aliens," Andy said. "I'm not sure they actually know."
"I'm sure they'll be glad to tell you what they know," Miranda said. "We can visit them after we deal with this last library."
"Yes," Brittany said. "Poor San here has been dying to get her hands on some of the alloy that ship is made from."
"It's similar to the metal used for that ring world," Santana said. "If we can make ships using that alloy we'll have a better chance against the Kraal."
"That's a coincidence," Andy said. "One of the data crystals we found in one of the libraries concerned that ring planet."
"And you brought it with you or copied it?" Santana said.
"We were able to get a copy of the data crystal," Andy said. "Not sure if it has the answers that you want about it but there is a lot of data. And we do have a spare reader you can use to import the data into other storage."
"They spent several centuries studying it," Memo said. "Most of it is beyond my understanding but it's possible one of your scientists can understand it. You will need a very large amount of storage to copy it to."
"They are smart," Brittany said. "Smart enough to figure out Furling science? We'll find out."
"I'm sure we can find some spare data storage for it," Santana said.
They returned to the Lucia, with several additional people.
"The Guardian is expecting the Lucia," Garnes said. "Any other vessel would likely be refused entry. I've requested landing information from them."
"None of our ships have been able to get even this close," Tyne said, watching raptly as they approached the battered moon sized ship. "Even after that radiation field was lowered."
"They used that as defensive shielding in a couple of their systems," Ixchel said. "It even destroyed an old Kraal fleet."
"That could be useful," Santana said. "Tyne, make sure you investigate it."
"We weren't able to find any information on their defenses," Ixchel said. "There are certain things the Library Guardians didn't seem to want us to know."
"Not surprised," Santana said. "If aliens showed up and started asking about our defenses, I'd tell them to get lost."
"Landed," Garnes said. "And we're still moving down. It is apparently an elevator."
"Like the landing pads for Titan?" Santana said. "We've started converting all of our bases on airless or hostile territory to use similar ones."
"EV suits please," Garnes said. "There is adequate atmosphere but there are several trace metals that are a concern."
"You have brought others," the Guardian said, once they'd passed through the airlock into the entrance to the library.
"Yes, Guardian," Andy said. "Your vessel has arrived in one of our systems, and our leaders are curious."
"They share genetic markers with the others," the Guardian said. "What are you researching?"
"We continue to trace the last location of the People," Miranda said. "If you can provide us with information where they went from here it would be useful."
"Of course," the Guardian said. "What else?"
"This ship? That your facility is in," Santana said, speaking for the first time. "Where can we find information about it?"
"This Heart is primarily concerned with travel. That is restricted information," the Guardian said. "It is only accessible from the control center."
"How may we access that?" Andy asked. "While others visit the data crystals here?"
"It can only be accessed through one of the command Rings, or through the Ring Gate in the Heart," the Guardian said.
"Lead on," Santana said. She turned to the others, "Ginny and Harry, stay here, Andy and Ixchel will go with Lady Shadow and myself."
"I shall also accompany you," Miranda said, in that tone of voice that everyone who knew her had learned not to argue with."
"Of course, Lady P, wouldn't dream of excluding you," Brittany said.
"Guardian, Lady Romana is responsible for those who stay here researching," Andy said.
"Acceptable," the Guardian said. "I shall provide assistance until your return."
The Guardian then led them up a flight of metal stairs to a large room. A Ring Gate stood at one end.
"Which locations are accessible from this ring?" Andy asked.
"It can access any of the other Heart Gates," the Guardian said. "And the control center for the Hoosr. Other locations may be accessible from there."
"Hoosr?" Andy said.
"The vehicle this Heart is attached to," the Guardian said.
"Of course," Santana said. "How do we do this?"
"Ixchel and I will go through first," Andy said. "To make sure it's safe."
"And I will come back for you," Ixchel said. "If the Hoosr is as damaged as it appears, the other side may be open to vacuum."
"Please set the coordinates for the control center," Andy told the Guardian.
The lights on the control panel started flashing and then the ring started rotating before stopping. Andy and Ixchel stepped through the Gate and disappeared.
"That's unnerving," Santana said. "But I suppose you get used to it."
"These smaller rings linking the Furling facilities are much smoother than the others we've used," Miranda said. "The Furling seem to have improved upon the original design."
"What is the current thinking about the disappearance of the Winter Folk?" Santana said.
"At the moment, the assumption is that they left this dimension and traveled to another, though what they were looking for isn't clear," Miranda said.
"This is your sixth library visit, correct?" Britany said. "Has there been no real clue to where they went?"
"Nothing directly," Miranda said. "It's possible you may see something in our reports and the data crystals we've brought back that we haven't."
"Brit is good at making connections most of us miss," Santana said. "Why do you think they traveled to other dimensions?"
"In the last library we encountered visitors from a different reality," Miranda said. "Similar in some ways to ours, and the reality that Ixchel was originally from, but with enough differences that it was clear it was a different, distant one."
"Such as?" Brittany said, staring intently at her.
"One of the visitors was a young Furling. From Ohio," Miranda said. "And she was accompanied by a time traveler."
"Well, that is concerning," Santana said. "Not the Furling, but the time traveler. We don't really need time travelers wandering around interfering with things."
"The time traveler was very reluctant to become involved in our plans," Miranda said. "She seemed to be concerned that any action by her would lead to catastrophe here." Miranda shrugged. "I cannot say she was wrong. Her time vessel, which seems to be run by a form of AI, certainly felt they shouldn't stay in our reality."
"So, hopefully no other visits from these strays?" Santana said, nodding. "Good. I don't really want to tell my scientists to figure out how to keep a time ship out."
"I was able to secure information to help with that," Miranda said. "But there was one other interesting incident. The time travel had the same name as Lady Romana's Hearth father."
"So it's possible she'd been here before?" Santana said.
"She claimed no knowledge of such a visit but admitted that time travel could lead to events being out of order. Or that it was someone else."
"So, we might have a time traveler running around, but not the one you've met. We'll have to keep that in mind," Santana said.
Ixchel appeared, stepping out of the ring. "There isn't much to see," she said. "It appears to have been given the same treatment as that abandoned base."
"My scientists are some smart kids," Santana said. "I'm sure they can figure something out. Let's take look."
"The atmosphere is very thin," Ixchel said. "You'll need to keep your helmets up."
Santana, Brittany, and Miranda activated their helmets and followed Ixchel through the gate.
"I don't think we're going to get much from this," Andy said, waiving at the empty chamber. "And everything around it is like this."
"So, large, empty, derelict spaceship, with a library and a couple of those gates in it," Santana said. "What can we do with it?"
"Turn it into a base," Brittany said.
"We'd need to figure out the Gates first, Brit," Santana said. "We don't have anything to cut through the hull yet."
"We'll figure it out," Brittany said. "The Gates will be useful if we can change their coordinates. But we'll need to convince this Guardian to let us have it. I don't think they'll agree that it is salvage."
"No problem," Santana said. "We have dear old Andy here to negotiate."
"The control panel for the Stargate appears to be active," Ixchel said, tapping several places on the control panel. "It appears to allow additional addresses, besides the addresses for the Heart Gates."
"We don't actually know any coordinates for any gates," Andy said. "Does it have any saved?"
"Like 'favorites'?" Brittany said. "Or preferred destinations?"
"Four," Ixchel said. "Including the last one used, which is the library, and three others.
"Have your scientists made any progress in figuring out what the coordinate systems the Gates used mean?" Santana asked, looking at Brittany.
"The larger, planet bound ones are positional," Brittany said. "I would suspect the smaller ones are the same, but that set of symbols doesn't look like the others."
"The Furling Rings appear to be a later design," Miranda said.
"We were able to take the Lucia through the last Space Gate to this one, even though it is likely that it moved," Andy said. "Do we know where this one originated before you stuck it in orbit here?"
"There's no way to tell," Santana said. "It didn't leave behind a trail we could follow with our instruments. We still aren't sure what powers it or how its engines work. If it even has engines."
"Do we just try these addresses?" Andy asked. "Maybe one of them will tell us where the Furlings went?"
"Not today," Santana said. "Unless that Guardian of yours can give you good addresses. Or tell you where these go."
"Right," Andy said. "Do we get to keep Ginny and Harry?"
"You're still on mission, so yes," Santana said. "You aren't done until you find those prophets and the Furlings, right Brit?"
"Yes," Brittany said. "It's not over yet. You just happened to be passing through here."
"This is the last of the Heart libraries," Andy said. "Not sure where to next. We'll have to search the library for clues."
"Well, get to it," Santana said. "The Kraal haven't gone away."
"What she said," Brittany said. "You still have your team, and your ship, and your goals."
Ixchel spun up the Gate and they went back into the library.
"We'll need a ride back to Flag," Santana said. "Tyne, you can stay here, but don't go running off with them when they leave."
"No, Lady Air," Tyne said.
"Garnes hasn't gone anywhere," Andy said. "The Lucia is still out there."
"What did you find?" Andy said, looking up from her viewer, and the rather dry daily log of an early captain of the Hoosr, to an excited Memo.
"There's a technical treatise of the Furling Gates," Memo said. "It assumes you're familiar with how the older gates work, but it does explain the navigational system they used, and why they didn't use the older one, created by beings call the Ancients."
"The Ancients?" Miranda said, humming to herself. "They only exist in the Goa'uld dimension. We aren't likely to run into them here."
"Does that mean the Furling were originally from there or that they visited there?" Andy said.
"Likely they were originally from there," Miranda said. "So, we can figure out how to set the coordinates for the Gate in the command center. That will be useful."
"What we need is one in the Titan Base so they can come and go without getting a ride from us, or blowing a hole in the hull," Andy said. "Do they include instructions on how to build a Gate?"
"Only in the vaguest terms," Memo said. "Someone with a deeper science background may be able to figure that out from this but it is beyond me."
"We'll want to give a copy of that to Tyne," Andy said. "She's a good person to start with. But does it include a description of their coordinate system?"
"Yes," Memo said. "Though it seems to be based on things only they know. It isn't just a physical coordinate but time based also. And there's some other component that doesn't translate."
"So we can use it to travel through time or does it not mean that?" Miranda said.
"I can't say," Memo said. "This is all theoretical."
"But if we gave you the addresses we know, you can tell us where they are?" Andy said.
"Yes, though it may take time to translate." Memo said.
"We have time, though not a large amount of it," Andy said.
"Can you teach one of the AIs how to translate the coordinates?" Ixchel said. "We do have access, now that we're in the Sol system, to spare AI power. They might be able to do it faster and more reliably."
"We can ask for one to be assigned to the project," Andy said. "I'm not sure the Lucia has the capacity for one to travel with us."
"I have just the AI for the job," Brittany said, when they contacted her that evening. "We had several participate in a recent project and one of them would like additional work."
"What about core capacity?" Andy said. "Doesn't the Lucia need a larger capacity to host an AI?"
"Normally, yes," Brittany said. "But that was one of the design parameters for the Lucia design. The AI just needs to transfer their base to the Lucia. I'll notify them and Garnes can bring the Lucia in for the fitting."
"Okay," Andy said. "What's this AIs name?"
"He prefers to be called Oz," Brittany said, giggling. "Interesting character."
"We look forward to meeting him," Miranda said.
"So, Oz, you've looked at all of the information we have on the Gates?" Andy said.
"Yes," Oz said, laconically. "Fascinating material."
"So, are you able to translate the Gate addresses?" Andy asked.
"Based on the known addresses, yes, of course," Oz said.
"Where do they go?" Ginny said, excitedly.
"There's the address to the library on the Hoosr," Oz said. "You should be able to use that address from any of the other Library gates back to it. And the address of the Gate in the Hoosr control center."
"And the others?" Andy asked.
"One leads to a Gate somewhere on Mars," Oz said. "Though where it is exactly isn't clear. It appears non-functional."
"Can't wait," Harry said. "Mars is always fun."
"The other Gate appears to go to the planet Terra," Oz said. "Somewhere on the North American continent if I am correct."
"Of course it does," Andy said. "If there's a gate in a barn in Ohio, I think I'll be extremely annoyed with someone."
"It's unlikely to be in their barn, Andrea," Miranda said. "According to Tyne, these small Gates do give off distinctive power signatures when running. It would have been noticed if used in the last decade."
"We'll still need to make a visit," Andy said. "Sooner rather than later."
"Of course," Miranda said. "But let's not intentionally surprise them."
"That wasn't what I had in mind," Andy said, pouting. "Maybe just a small surprise."
"We need to know where the Gate is first," Ixchel said. "Wouldn't want to surprise the wrong people."
"No, that wouldn't be good," Andy said. "Are there any other saved coordinates? Or coordinates you found while researching?"
"There was a Gate in the Sol asteroid belt," Oz said. "But it doesn't appear to be accessible at the moment."
"Hmmm," Andy said. "There's a regular size old style Gate out there, that we've used. "Maybe it's near there?"
"That's on an asteroid," Ginny said. "Unless the smaller gate is on the same asteroid, and we'd have seen it if it was, it's probably lost."
"Something to look for later, perhaps," Miranda said.
Bonus Character Note: It has no bearing on this particular part of the story but the character of Oz, an AI, first appeared in the Yucatan Job: Fox Metal part of this story in the Sunnydale Simulation.