Chapter Summary: It's almost Andy's birthday and the gang take a break to visit her family. Leading to surprises all around.
Chapter Word Count: 5,542
It's been a while since I updated this story, hasn't it. The next 10 chapters were written way back in 2021 for NaNoWriMo, back when our current plague was at its height. I can't say that the stress of those years didn't affect my writing but hopefully not too badly.
Hopefully Y'all are still interested. And don't mind a 10 chapter update...
"Were you able to contact your parents?" Miranda said, watching Andrea poke around the ship's lounge. She noticed that Brittany was also watching her closely.
"Yes," Andy said. "They're expecting us in two days."
"All of us?" Miranda said.
"The entire crew," Andy said.
"Did you explain why?" Miranda said, frowning at her.
"No, just that you and my research team would be dropping by," Andy said innocently.
"How much do they know?" Miranda asked.
"Beyond my assignment for the Mirror?" Andy said. "That I'm doing a lot of traveling, often to places without any phones."
"That's suitably vague," Miranda said.
"Sneaky," Ginny said. "Take notes," she said to Harry, poking her.
"It's my thirty-fifth birthday," Andy said, sighing.
"Yes it is," Miranda said, nodding.
"They'll want to have a party with the whole family," Andy said.
"That will be acceptable," Miranda said. "The girls will meet us there."
"So, we'll get to see what a Winter Folk party is like?" Harry said, grinning.
"No, you'll get to see what an Ohio party is like," Andy said. "If you behave."
"What is the protocol for this birthday party?" Romana said.
"It'll just be an informal family gathering, with cake," Andy said. "Nothing special."
"How are we getting there?" Ixchel said. "Terran transportation seems overly complicated."
"I thought we could just take the Lucia," Andy said. "If it's alright with Garnes."
"I'll have to clear it with planetary flight control," Garnes said. "They can be picky about unofficial landings."
"Don't worry about it," Brittany said. "We have it covered. Just let them know you're on assignment for me."
"Friends in high places," Ginny said, grinning.
"Powerful people on our side," Harry added. "Think of the possibilities."
"Think of the brig on Flag if you get into trouble," Brittany said, shaking her head at them.
"That's what powerful people are for," Harry said. "But we see your point. Don't get caught."
"Don't attract attention," Ginny said. "We'll be good. Wouldn't want to miss Lady A's birthday party. The JJs will be so jealous."
"The JJs aren't going within a thousand clicks of my parents farm," Andy said. "They don't have that kind of insurance."
"You'll have to ask your parents where that North America Gate is," Brittany said. "It'd be really useful."
"You can come along and ask them," Andy said. "They'll probably tell you before they tell me, if they know."
"No, that'll just make them suspicious," Brittany said.
Two days later, the Lucia, and her crew, hovered high over the Ohio countryside.
"Where do you want us to land?" Garnes said. "There are several locations within 1 click that can support the Lucia." She pulled up a map of the area around Andy's parent's farm.
"You'll need to have the camouflage on," Andy said. "Those are all visible to the neighbors. But land there." She pointed at a flat area on the far side of the barn. "That's all bedrock."
"Sensors indicate it's hollow," Garnes said. "There's a large cavern."
"Really?" Andy said, clearly surprised.
"Maybe that Furling Ring gate is on your parent's farm?" Ixchel said.
"It's just a coincidence," Andy said. "I hope. How about over there?" She pointed to a spot on the other side of the house.
"That'll work," Garnes said.
"Old horse pasture," Andy said. "Not being used anymore. They got rid of the horses when I was in high school. Too expensive to feed."
"Horses?" Romana said. "There weren't any on this continent when we arrived."
"They came over with the conquistadors," Andy said. "But these weren't show horses. Just a couple retired race horses from my grandparent's horse farm in Indiana. They were a lot more work than I thought they'd be when I was growing up."
"The girls wanted horses," Miranda said. "A summer working at a riding stable cured them of it."
"Reality can do that," Andy said nodding. "I like horses but unless you need them, or really love them, they are a lot of work. And you can't use them to go shopping. At least not in any modern town or city."
"Horses aren't really a Serpent Clan thing," Harry said.
"Landing in ten," Garnes said. "Prepare for landing."
Everyone quickly strapped themselves in. By this time it was routine. There was no visible indication that they were approaching their landing spot.
"Andrea?"
"Yes, Miranda?" Andy said.
"How exactly did you tell your parents we were arriving?" Miranda said.
"I didn't," Andy said. "I thought we'd surprise them."
"You did," Miranda said.
"What do you mean?" Andy said.
"There's an energy shield, of some unknown type, over the house, barn, and that cavern," Garnes said. "The landing area is clear. But we won't be able to get to the house until they turn the shield off."
"Oops?" Andy said, sighing. "They never mentioned that, though they never seemed too concerned about tornadoes."
"The girls are already here," Miranda said, humming quietly. "They arrived this morning."
"Can you tell them it's us?" Andy said, hopefully. "It'll be a short visit if we can't go into the house."
Miranda briefly disappeared, returning with an amused look on her face.
"The shield is gone," Garnes said. "Unlocking the hatch."
"Okay," Andy said. "I guess we're here?"
"Ship's shields raised," Garnes said abruptly. "There's a storm system headed this way."
"So, stuck inside in a storm with the in-laws?" Harry said. "Do they like Lady P?"
"My mom gets along great with Miranda," Andy said. "I don't think she's met my grandparents or the others."
"Sounds like fun!" Ginny said, hopping up and down excitedly. "Like one of those sixties sitcoms."
"Hey Mom!" Andy said to her mother standing at the top of the porch stairs, and waving up at Cassidy and Caroline who were sitting on the porch swing.
"Did you forget to tell us something important, Andrea Sachs?" her mother said. She sighed, looking up at the sky. "You all should come inside before it rains. Is there anyone else?"
"Garnes and Dart are still in the ship," Andrea said. "Can you ask Dad if there's a better place to park it?"
Her mother stepped to the side, and her father came out onto the porch. Other than a raised eyebrow, he didn't comment on the crowd gathered at the bottom of the steps.
"The old hangar is empty," her father said. "Hasn't been used in a few centuries. Should be plenty of room. I'll need to give them the access codes."
"I'll take your father to the ship, Lady A," Harry said, grinning.
"No interrogating my father," Andy said sternly.
"Wouldn't think of it," Harry said, smirking. "Come on, Andy's Dad."
"Can we go too?" Cassidy said. "We haven't seen the inside of Lucia yet."
"Please, Mom?" Caroline said, giving Miranda a pleading look.
"Ooh. Puppy dog eyes," Ginny said, giggling. "I wonder who taught her that?"
"Andrea?" Miranda said, glaring at Andy.
"Who? Me?" Andy gave Miranda her best innocent look.
"If someone goes with you," Miranda said, sighing. "Ginny?"
"On it Lady P," Ginny said. "Come on Ladies. Your tour of the fabulous ship known as the Lucia awaits." Giggling, Caroline and Cassidy hurried to catch up to her, as she followed Harry, and Andy's father.
"So…" Andy said, glancing quickly at Miranda for an idea of something to say.
"Why don't you all come inside," her mother said. "Your cousins are coming this evening for the barbecue, so it's just us for lunch."
"Who else did you invite?" Andy said.
"Just family," she said. "It is your thirty-fifth birthday. We have things to discuss, though I suspect you already know some of it?"
"Possibly," Andy said, following her mother inside, followed by the others.
"Why don't you all take a seat," her mother said. "What can I get you to drink?" She quickly and efficiently took their requests. "Andy, you can help me in the kitchen."
"Yes, Mom," Andy said, sighing. She kissed Miranda on the cheek and followed her mother out of the room.
"Is she in trouble?" Romana asked. Memo looked around, fascinated. Ixchel leaned against Romana and just watched. "We aren't family. Aren't gatherings like this family only?"
Miranda shrugged. "Andrea is fine. If her mother hadn't wanted us here she would have said something. Like Andrea, she can be blunt when needed."
"Andy, who exactly is in my living room?" Her mother asked.
"Miranda," Andy said, opening a cupboard and pulling out glasses. "And my team."
"Your team?" she said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, there's Romana, she's a member of the Serpent Clan Council. And Ixchel, her partner. And Memo, a member of the Wind Clan Council," Andy said.
"Your team includes three aliens?" Her mother said, raising an eyebrow. "And the others?"
"Well… Ginny and Harry are bodyguards, sort of. The Serpent Clan Council lent them to us," Andy said, turning around to face her mother. "We don't really need them but they insisted."
"And anyone else?" She asked. "That isn't just a small shuttle out there."
"The Lucia? It's a Serpent Clan Fleet scout ship," Andy said. "We have a pilot, Garnes, and an engineer, Dart."
"And that's it?" her mother said.
"Well, we might have picked up an AI at our last stop," Andy said.
"An AI? Do you trust it?" she asked, frowning.
"A baby AI, and as much as you can trust one, yes," Andy said. "He was bored and looking for something to do, and we had the room so…"
"You've been traveling to other places," her mother said. "Didn't you think we should have been told?"
"I didn't think you cared," Andy said defensively. "You never seemed to talk about the fact there are aliens running around changing the way our world works. Turning this planet from a sleepy backwater concerned with only local events to one with connections to a larger universe."
"It didn't seem to be a big deal," she said. "If we'd known your job would take you out there we would have said something before now. There are things you should know."
"Do you know who the 'Winter Folk' are?" Andy said, jumping right in.
"The Winter Folk were named that due to a misunderstanding," her mother said, sighing. "Where did you hear that name?"
"The thirteen Clans remember them, Mom," Andy said. "They're legendary. All of the Clans claim that the so called Winter Folk are responsible for them becoming the Clans, in some way."
"We never claimed responsibility for their creation," her mother said, in a low voice. "It was a simple misunderstanding."
"They don't think so," Andy said. "But we can come back to that later. What about the Furlings?"
"That's an ancient name," her mother said, raising an eyebrow. "Where did you hear it?"
"A Wind Clan prophet told us to find them," Andy said. "Said they could help the Serpent Clan defeat the Kraal. And Aunt Sue mentioned the name to me years ago."
"What do the Kraal have to do with you gallivanting around the universe in a rickety spaceship?" Her mother said.
"It's not a rickety spaceship," Andy said, offended on the Lucia's behalf. "It's one of the newest scout ships in the Serpent Clan Fleet. And don't call it that where anyone can hear you."
"And the Kraal?" her mother she said, frowning at her. "What do those space locusts have to do with anything."
"They're more like cicadas," Andy said. "And they're back. If the Serpent Clan doesn't stop them in the next year, before they get here, they'll wipe us out."
"That isn't good," her mother said, grimacing. "I'll have to talk with your father."
"No, it isn't good, and what is Dad going to do?" Andy said.
"At the moment? Nothing," she said. "In the future? Possibly nothing at all. We'll have to see."
"I learned to read that language on your cup," Andy said. "Did you know there are libraries out there that belonged to the Furlings?"
"How did you learn of that?" her mother said. "It's been millennia since anyone in the family could visit them. And the knowledge to access the libraries? How?" Picking up one of the trays and pointing Andy at the other, she went out into the living room.
"It appears we need to discuss some things," she said, as she handed out the glasses. "Why don't you introduce yourselves."
"Mom," Andy said, "I told you who they are."
"I would like to hear it from them," her mother said. "How someone introduces themselves tells you a lot about them. You know that."
"Miranda Priestly," Miranda said, smirking. "You know who I am."
"You'll have to tell me later where you picked up that Ancient teleportation trick, Miranda," Andy's mother said. "As far as we were aware, there aren't any Ancients here."
"It's a long story," Miranda said. "Maybe later."
"And you, my dear?" Andy's mother said, looking at Romana.
"I am Romana, the Mother of the Serpent Clan," Romana said, bowing slightly.
"I see," Andy's mother said. And it was clear she did. "And you?" She asked Romana's companion.
"I am Ixchel, a warrior of the Serpent Clan," Ixchel said. "You do not appear surprised by any of this."
Andy's mother shrugged. "Andy tends to bring home rare and unusual people, though usually not such illustrious ones. And you?" She nodded at Memo.
"I am Lady Memo, Memory of the Wind Clan," Memo said.
"You are far from home," Andy's mother said, nodding. "I hope my daughter and her people are treating you well?"
"Yes," Memo said. "They have shown me things I could never have imagined."
"You have an underground base?" Harry said.
"Our last fleet passed through this area more than a thousand years ago," Horace said, as they walked towards the Lucia. "Our records say it didn't stay in the area long. This system was too busy. But we've kept a small base ready, big enough for a family shuttle, when we had one. Your ship…"
"The Lucia," Harry said.
"The Lucia should fit with no problems," Horace said. "We'll want to move it inside before the Cousins get here."
"The Serpent Clan wasn't active at that time," Harry said. "But there have been Red Pirates. And a few others. Did they know?"
"We prefer to not be noticed," Horace said. "Life is quieter that way."
"The Cousins?" Ginny said, as she, Caroline and Cassidy caught up to them.
"Some of them know, some don't," Horace said. "We don't tell family until they're adults, on their thirty fifth birthday."
"In the Clans, eighteen is considered adults," Harry said. "Is thirty five a Terran thing or Winter Folk?"
"Winter Folk?" Horace said, startled. "That's an archaic term, based on a misconception."
"Really? What do you call yourselves?" Ginny asked. "Furlings?"
"No," Horace said. "That was a political entity. We were just the People, which somehow was translated into Sachs centuries ago."
"Really?" Harry said. "We ran into someone who claimed to be a Furling, though they had pointed ears."
"The Guardians kept mentioning ears," Ginny said. "It was driving Lady A crazy."
"You've been to the Hearts?" Horace said. "We lost the ability to visit them a long time ago."
"What about the Ring Gate? Don't you have one?" Harry said in a rush. "There's supposed to be one around here somewhere."
"It hasn't worked since the last ship left," Horace said. "Or at least that is what the family journals claim. And we don't have the knowledge to fix it."
"Oh," Ginny said.
The hatch swung open, with Garnes standing in it. "Back so soon?" she asked.
"There's a better place to park the Lucia," Harry said. "This is Lady A's father, Horace. He'll get us there."
"There's a ship dock on the other side of the barn, below ground," Horace said. "It needs to be opened but you should fit right in it."
"And you?" Garnes asked Ginny and the twins.
"I'm giving them a tour," Ginny said. "Lady P approved it."
"Make it quick," Garnes said. "You'll all need to be buckled in if we're moving."
"How do we open it?" Garnes asked Horace, once they were in the control room.
"You need to send the access code, using the following frequency," he said, handing her a piece of paper.
"Furling?" Garnes said. "We don't use the same system. Oz?"
"Yes, Garnes," a voice said.
"Can you translate this into something we can broadcast?" Garnes said.
"That looks like a quad hex gamma coded frequency," Oz said. "Where'd you get it?"
"This is Horace, Lady Andrea's father," Garnes said. "We need to send a signal at that frequency to open a docking station for the Lucia."
"So, that cavern is a docking station?" Oz said. "The comm is now configured to that specification."
"You need to send this on that frequency," Horace said, handing Garnes another piece of paper.
A minute later, a squeaky voice said, "Accessing"
"This is Sachs, designation Horace. The Clan ship, designation Lucia, has been given clearance," Horace said. He then said something in a language that neither Oz or Garnes recognized. "That should do it," he said.
"Attention all passengers and crew, prepare for movement," Garnes said into the ship's comm. She strapped herself into the pilot's chair after showing Horace how to strap himself into the other chair. Harry took the remaining chair, strapping herself in.
"Ready," came over the comm a minute later.
"Activating engines," Garnes said. There was a low hum and several lights turned green on the command console.
The Lucia floated up above the height of the barn and moved smoothly until it was hovering about the entrance to the underground ship's dock. Garnes then gently lowered the Lucia down into the cavern.
"Very smooth," Horace said, nodding in approval. "There's a bay to the left."
"Plenty of room is an understatement," Garnes said, the underground dock displayed on the main view screen. She carefully put the Lucia down, and disengaged the drive engines. "All hands, commencing shutdown." There was brief loud hum and then silence. She leaned back in her chair. "The roof?"
"It closes automatically," Horace said.
"Can we come up?" Ginny said, poking her head into the command center.
"As long as you don't touch anything," Garnes said.
"Your ship is awesome," Cassidy said, looking around the control center. "Do you think we can get a ride, a real ride, some time?"
"Can we go with you on your trip?" Caroline added. "We're of age."
"I don't have that authority, and neither do they," Garnes said. "You'll have to ask Lady A, it's her mission."
"Don't you both have classes next week?" Horace said.
"Grandpa, that isn't helping," Cassidy said. "And you've been keeping secrets from us."
"Some secrets aren't mine to tell," he told them. "Just like you've never said anything about your father being Wind Clan, there are things I can't speak to you about."
"How did you know that?" Caroline said.
"The shield around the house appears to scan anyone or anything going through it," Oz said.
"Who's that?" Cassidy said.
"That's Oz," Garnes said. "He's the ship's AI."
"That's so cool," Caroline said. "I didn't know any of the Fleet scout ships had their own AIs."
"Strictly speaking," Oz said, "I am an AI, and I am on the Lucia. I am not a member of the crew in the way you are saying."
"Oops, sorry," Caroline said. "But you still get to travel with them."
"Yes," Oz said.
"Oz just joined us," Garnes said.
"I suspect an AI of some kind controls this facility," Oz said.
"Gramps! You've been holding out," Caroline said. "Do you and Grandma have your own AI to help around the farm?"
"The base docking station has an intelligent assistant, but it is not the same thing as an AI," Horace said. "It does not really have the ability to think for itself. I would assume that Oz is a sentient entity?"
"Correct," Oz said.
"Are you done with your tour?" Horace said. "It's getting close to lunch."
"I think we've seen everything," Cassidy said.
"Everything you are allowed to see," Ginny said. "Private crew quarters are off limits."
"The Lucia is bigger on the outside," Cassidy said. "I thought it would be bigger on the inside," she said, frowning.
"It's a long-haul scout," Garnes said. "We have a full crew complement and carry enough supplies to keep them reasonably happy."
"Not enough candy," Ginny said.
"No booze," said Harry. "And they wouldn't let us bring our own."
"We're still part of the Fleet," Garnes said. "The only alcohol allowed on the ship is whatever we make ourselves."
"Mostly gin," Ginny said.
"Without the bathtub," Harry added.
"It gets a bit old on long trips," Ginny said. "You can only drink so much of the stuff before it kills you."
"They're making that up," Garnes said. "Dart makes excellent gin, and other things."
"So, lunch?" Horace said, shaking his head.
Cassidy and Caroline rushed up the stairs and into the living room. "We got to take a ride in a real space ship," Cassidy said excitedly. "And Grandpa showed us his secret base."
"Did he," Miranda said, looking at Horace as he entered the room followed by Garnes and Dart.
"It's huge," Caroline said. "Not as big as that place off the Yucatan coast, but it's a real base, not sand and shuttles."
"So, there's a tunnel into the basement?" Andy said, raising an eyebrow at her father. "Were you ever going to show it to me?"
"On your thirty fifth birthday," her father said, shrugging. "It's nothing special. I'm sure you've seen more exciting things in your travels."
"But none of them in the house I grew up in," Andy said, pouting.
"Horace, Andy was telling me she can read the Sachs family writing," Andy's mother said. "Though she didn't say how she'd learned it."
"It came to me in a dream," Andy said, grinning.
"Really?" Her mother said. "That's unusual."
"It was similar to the Clan training pods," Miranda said. "Virtual reality of a sort."
"Oh," Horace said. "There are journal entries about that kind of teaching method. Unfortunately, it's a chicken and egg problem. To learn the family language you have to know enough of the family language to enable the training system."
"And no one remembers your family language?" Harry said.
"The last person to know it fluently passed away before they could pass it along," Horace said. "That was a number of centuries ago."
"How'd the underground ship dock get here?" Andy said.
"It's been here for a very long time," Horace said. "The continent was uninhabited at the time, according to the journals."
"That was a long time ago," Andy said. "So the family has been here a very long time. Are there records?"
"No one can read them," Horace said. "They require a special reader, and the last one broke a long time ago."
"I think we have a spare, if it's what I think it is," Andy said. "And there are a bunch more where that came from."
"They've been to the libraries," her mother said.
"They have a Ring gate," Ginny said to the others.
"It's broken," Horace said. "No one has been able to access it to fix it. You need to speak the passphrase in the family language."
"That shouldn't be a problem," Andy said. "The Fleet has some clever techs. But if it's here, you're going to have a lot of people wanting to use it."
"It isn't," Horace said. "This is only an outpost of the main base. Room enough for a family ship and crew in an emergency. The directions to the base are in the family language."
"Which you need a reader to access?" Memo said.
"It's another thing lost over the years," Andy's mother said. "The last ship through is supposed to have put it in stasis but no one has been there in a very long time to confirm that."
"The directions aren't on that cup, are they?" Andy said. "I was able to read it but it didn't look like directions to anywhere."
"It's a clever bit of poetry," Andy's mother said. "You gave to be holding the cup. It's a rare metal."
"That explains it," Andy said. "We had a replica that Miranda made. What was it made from?" she asked Miranda.
"Just a simple silver alloy," Miranda said. She held out her hand and the cup appeared on it.
"Interesting," Horace said. "The Ancients were reputed to have a similar ability. May I?"
Miranda nodded, holding it out to him. He took the replica cup and examined it closely.
"It looks like the real thing, but doesn't have quite the same density," he said. "The original has some interesting properties."
"Explain the ears," Harry said, when he paused to looked closer at the cup replica.
"The ears?" Horace said. "You mentioned something about that earlier."
"The library Guardians all mentioned Andrea being of the People but that she didn't have the correct ears," Miranda said.
"I like my ears the way they are," Andy said, glaring. "I don't care what that Furling from an alternate reality looked like."
"She was just a kid," Harry said. "With a serious coffee habit."
"Alternate reality?" Andy's mother said.
"Space is very thin in this sector," Garnes said. "We've had a number of visitors from other realities. Mostly harmless."
"The Goa'uld aren't harmless," Ixchel said.
"That's why I said 'mostly'," Garnes said. "When we were visiting one of the libraries, several other visitors were there. A time traveler, the Guardian called her a Lady of Time, and someone who claimed to be a Furling."
"She looked like a Lord of the Rings refugee," Andy said. "Not very tall. Skinny. Pointy ears. She claimed to be from Ohio, in the Seventies."
***[time lord reference? Continuity Error! Fix Me!]***
"If there are any mentions of time travelers, they're in the ancient journals that the family can't read anymore," Andy's mother said. "As for the pointed ears? I can't say."
"There was a mention in one of the old journals we can read of different physical forms," Horace said. "But no instructions on how to access them."
"I like my ears the way they are," Andy said.
"But you'd be so cute with elf ears," Cassidy said. "Wouldn't she, Mom?"
"I much prefer her to be herself," Miranda said.
"They gave me a ring," Andy said, taking it out of a pocket to show her parents. "Said it helped changing forms. But I like the way I look now and have no wish to change."
"They mentioned a Sam Carter," Ginny said. "But not the one we know, from a different reality."
"The Shadows have a theory about the Swiss cheese reality we live in. It doesn't make sense to me," Harry said. "Gives me a headache just trying to understand them."
"Shadows?" Horace said.
"The Lady Shadow is a member of the Serpent Clan Council," Andy said. "She runs their intelligence service. She's sponsoring our trip. Aunt Sue works with her."
"She must be very trustworthy then," Andy's mother said. "Your Aunt Sue is hard to impress."
Horace turned the ring over in his hand, squinting at the inside. "There's some writing on it," he said. "It feels like it has the same denseness as the real cup."
"It just looks like random letters to me," Andy said.
"You all must be hungry," Andy's mother said, standing. "Lunch and then you can continue your discussion."
There was a round of agreement from everyone in the room.
Lunch was an informal affair, eaten out on the wrap-around porch while they watched the light rain turn the ground muddy.
"Explain the Winter Folk name," Andy said. "You said it was a misunderstanding."
"It is," Horace said. "Before coming here, and heading back where they came from, a fleet of the Furlings, which was the governing body of the People's families, encountered a large planet, in a system that had two suns. The people on the planet had just reached one of their moons. But their suns were very unstable, leading to constant natural disasters. The only place they could safely land was at one of the snow covered poles. To avoid confusion or frightening them away, they introduced themselves as the People from Winter, meaning pole."
"It can't be that simple," Andy said.
"Afraid so," Horace said. "By the time the Furling linguists realized what the people on that planet were calling them it was too late. The Clans couldn't be convinced otherwise. And they were really reluctant to tell them the People were Furlings, because that was a specific political body and not the whole people."
"I don't think we can tell anyone," Andy said, shaking her head. "Not that they'd actually believe us without proof."
"They liked to document everything," Memo said. "I'm sure there's a long document in one of the libraries explaining everything."
"I like Furling," Cassidy said. "Saying 'Sachs Family' sounds weird. And there are other related families out there aren't there? Grandma and Grandpa aren't that closely related are they?"
"There were originally five families of the People who settled here to keep an eye on the gates and other family facilities," Horace said. "Very few of us survived the purges after World War II. There are only two families left. Us, and the Yamatos who attached themselves to one of the smaller clans. The Fox Clan I think?"
"Really?" Harry said. "We've met some Fox Clanners. Most of them never go anywhere but there's a band. They aren't half bad."
"Interesting connections," Romana said. "A lot of the non-Terran natives are interconnected. The Serpent Clan is the primary Clan in this sector but there are other Clans also, like the Fox Clan, and Wind Clan."
"One big clan melting pot," Ginny said. "Though it's really our pot."
"Except, until the Serpent Clan returned, none of the other clans knew anything about their non-native neighbors," Andy said. "Have to wonder how many people on this planet have Clan blood of some sort in them."
"We do know," Caroline said. "At least in rough percentages. The Clan did that study to find out who was Serpent Clan or not. Lady Shadow said the results were more varied than she'd expected. I can't remember the exact words, but more than fifty percent of the Terran population has some kind of non-native ancestry. And there was another percentage that didn't fit either, such as Andy." "And now we know why," Cassidy said.
"There is very little native clan in the People." Horace said. "Though there are so few of us now that it will have to change or we'll die out."
"Well, don't go dying on us any time soon," Andy said. "You haven't even given me the 'Now that you're thirty five' talk. I've been dreading it for years."
"You already know a lot of it," Horace said. "I suspect the rest of it won't be a surprise."
"Until you tell me, I won't know," Andy said. "I know we're aliens. I even know what aliens. I don't know where we came from or why we came to this planet or what is so special about it, except to the people who live here."
"Where we come from?" Horace said. "Somewhere far away from this reality. Family legend has it that we were looking for somewhere we could just be, and not have to constantly fight for our existence." He sighed. "You should already know why we ended up here."
"The thin borders between this reality and others in this system," Miranda said, nodding. "It's the perfect place to stop before leaving it all behind."
"Wouldn't that Ring World have been a better place for that?" Harry said. "It has plenty of room."
"But it's occupied," Memo said. "We found the records of the Winter Folk investigation of it and they never discovered who built it, but something still inhabited it. Some intelligence that never engaged with them."
"The journals mentioned it, but it wasn't considered safe for the family's purposes," Horace said. "I'd like to see it some time."
"So, why are you still here?" Romana asked. "If the rest of your people, Furlings, Winter Folk, whomever, left, why is your family, Andy's family, still here in this sector?"
"Someone had to stay, in case someone came back or stragglers showed up," Andy's mother said. "Yes, it was lonely until the different civilizations became large enough that we could join them without sticking out, but there were ways to deal with waiting."
"Stasis?" Garnes said. "If you have that, you'd only need to come out when needed."
"Something similar," Horace said. "Hiding the energy usage needed to do that has become an issue over the years but we still have the technology."
"Why didn't you say something when the Serpent Clan appeared?" Andy asked.
"There didn't seem to be any point," her mother said. "It hasn't changed our plans in any way. The family will still be here to provide support if any of the People need it as they pass through."