Chapter Summary: Next stop? Mars!
Chapter Word Count: 5,148

"So, it wasn't a complete failure," Andy said, from her seat in front of Brittany's desk. "We did find those Furling libraries, find out what happened to the Winter Folk, and get a clue."

"I would say there was a lot of positive," Brittany said. "It was a long shot, that you'd find something to deal directly with the Kraal. You're back and we know more than we did, and in the long run are better off."

"We have the prophecy from the Sixth Prophet," Miranda said. "It seems straight forward, but likely isn't so simple."

"We rarely deal with prophets or prophecies," Sophia said. "When I asked our goddesses about it they were not able to provide any insight."

"I've input your experiences and new knowledge into the model," Brittany said. "I agree with that Prophet who said if we can survive the Kraal we'll do very well afterward."

"There is that 'if' though," Andy said. "It's conditional."

"What of the Wind Clan Memory?" Brittany said. "When are you returning her to her clan?"

"She is in no hurry to return," Romana said. "She feels valuable as part of the Lucia's crew."

"And Lady Rachel isn't likely to let her go back any time soon," Sophia said.

"She'll have to go back eventually," Brittany said firmly. "So, what's the plan?"

"The Lucia is having some work done," Andy said. "Something about making her slightly bigger. She was getting a bit crowded towards the end. And having Sophia and her people in a separate ship was awkward. We have a month of downtime while that happens."

"I will be continuing with them," Sophia said.

"So, you'll be returning the Poe and her crew?" Brittany said.

"Dolly insists on coming with us," Sophia said. "Polly and Holly will be staying with the Poe. They say they have already been reassigned."

"The Fleet needs all of the experienced crew they can find," Brittany said, nodding. "So, that's how many on the Lucia?"

"Romana and Ixchel, Sophia and Cassandra, myself and Miranda, the Potter Twins, Dolly, Lady Memo, Garnes and Dart."

"You'll need another crew member," Santana said, leaning against the doorjamb. "Or two. It was pushing things before with only two spacers and everyone else a passenger, your pilot and engineer really need backup."

"Hey, Santana!" Brittany said. "What brings you here?"

"Dinner," Santana said. "After you're done with this." She waved her hand at the others.

"So. Backup Pilot and Engineer?" Andy said. "When do we get to meet them?"

"As soon as they've been assigned," Santana said. "Right now I don't have any spares. You'll probable get a couple ensigns. The next batch of spacers graduates in a couple weeks."

"For how long?" Andy asked.

"How long do you plan to keep needing the Lucia?" Santana said. "For however long that is, if they work out. And the Lucia needs a few more upgrades if you're going to continue wandering around in Clan space."

"Better shields and weapons?" Brittany said. "They'll need a tactical officer, or one of those ensigns needs to have a good grounding in ship tactics."

"We aren't turning the Lucia into a mini-cruiser," Santana said. "All of the changes will be defense related, along with the changes for a larger crew."

"I'd rather not be running around in a space going gunboat," Andy said. "Self protection is good enough."

"Contact my Architect about the Lucia tomorrow," Santana said. "Now shoo!"

They'd commandeered a meeting room in the Fleet offices while the Lucia was being refurbished.

"So, that's what the architect said," Andy said. "Roomier, though not a cabin for everyone."

"A little more room for each of us than before," Garnes said. "And more living space."

"How long do you expect us to be out there this time?" Harry said. "There's a small gym big enough for three people to use at one time. And a separate galley."

"But no pool," Ginny said. "Maybe next time?"

"We don't know," Andy said. "We were only gone for nine months on our last trip. I think Lady Shadow is setting us up for other things, once we solve this new riddle."

"A lot more storage," Dart said. "Some of which can be converted to cabins if needed. And a lot more scientific equipment. And longer range engines."

"The control capacity is being greatly increased," Oz said. "You'll be able to have a more mature AI crew member. And more capability."

"I think we're doing just fine with the one we have already," Andy said. "Unless you want to do something else?"

"No," Oz said. "If given a choice, I prefer to continue as part of the Lucia crew."

"So, we're happy with the plans for the Lucia," Ginny said. "But what's next?"

"This is what the Sixth Prophet said," Andy said, pointing at the large screen covering one wall.

"Seek out the Jewel of Mars and the Blessings of Time."

"Once we have some idea what the means, we'll make plans," Andy said.

"Something somewhere on Mars?" Harry said, "or is that too obvious? Or is it referring to Mars, the Roman god of war?"

"Time? What about that Lady of Time we ran into?" Ginny said.

"If it's on Mars, that has been explored quite a lot in the past few years," Harry said. "One of our training and hard suit testing bases is on Mars."

"Lots of sand," Ginny said. "Gets in everything. And a couple mysterious artifacts, and wrecks. But if any of that is a Jewel someone is crazy."

"The prophecy came from the Wind Clan gods," Sophia said. "They were most likely speaking in metaphor."

"Mars is not a place or being known to me," Memo said. "And 'Blessings of Time'? Nothing in Wind Clan history matches that riddle."

"Name of a book or poem?" Andy said.

"I have searched the Confederation records I have access to," Oz said. "That is not known. None of the Terran records that are accessible contained information about this."

"So, whatever god was whispering in the Sixth Prophet's ear was trying to be clever?" Ixchel said. "None of the remnants of Goa'uld memory I have resonate with that phrase."

"What did Lady R say about it?" Andy said, looking at Miranda.

"She started humming some obscure song and wandered away," Miranda said. "She said it had the faint flavor of an old prophecy from before the Clans went into space but she couldn't recall where from. She'll let us know if she finds anything about."

"That's more than nothing," Andy said, "but doesn't really get us anywhere."

"And the Furling librarian Guardians?" Ixchel said. "What did they have to say."

"No result," Andy said. "Once I was able to get the question across to them, they claimed ignorance, so it is very unlikely related to the Furling Diaspora."

"What about other possible sources," Memo said.

"Another round of visits to the Wind Clan Seers or visiting all of the Clan home planets and asking there?" Andy said. "We haven't actually visited all of them yet."

"Partly because we were in a hurry, and we actually had some idea what to look for," Miranda said. "This is a riddle that no one has ever heard before and the only connections we are making are very unlikely to be correct."

"So, you don't think it's something time related on Mars?" Cassandra said. "Or a big clock somewhere? Didn't there use to be stories about seeing faces on the moon and some of the other planets, like Mars?"

"We got away with time travel once before, but I don't think the Confederation is going let us do that again," Andy said. "Paradoxes could be dangerous."

"Is there any way to contact that Lady of Time?" Ginny said.

"How?" Harry said. "They didn't leave us their comm number when they left."

"There are no connections between their reality and ours," Miranda said. "That they came into ours at all was an unrepeatable accident."

"So, do we find our own time travelers?" Harry said. "We can detect time travelers now can't we?"

"We can detect the kind of craft that they traveled on," Garnes said. "But that assumes all other time travelers who pass through our sector use the same kind of craft."

"So, no time travelers are going to pop up and rescue us," Andy said. "Can we go ask 'our' Sam what she thinks?"

"She really doesn't like playing with time," Miranda said.

"Also, we permanently closed the rift that led to their world," Dolly said.

"Hadn't heard that," Andy said. "Why?"

"I was on the team that closed it and a few others," Dolly said. "The risk of cross reality contamination was decided to be too large."

"So, the Goa'uld spooked someone?" Andy said, nodding. "Not surprising. Even if some of us are immune from being taken over by them, one of those parasites let loose could cause a lot of damage, no offense Ixchel."

"I am not offended," Ixchel said. "The Goa'uld are not pets. The less we deal with them the better things will be."

"Any other sources we haven't tried to tap?" Andy said.

"A multitude," Miranda said. "But in many cases we can't ask."

"Maybe we should have a contest," Ginny said. "Decipher this riddle, win a free vacation in Cancun? Or on some planet out there?"

"Couldn't be worse than what we have now," Harry said. "We might as well ask those Fox God priestesses."

"Wouldn't hurt," Andy said. "Does anyone have contact information for them?"

"Has to go through Lady Shadow," Ginny said. "They're under deep cover, sort of."

"Deep cover?" Romana asked.

"They travel as some kind of musical act," Ginny said. "No one knows anything about their true origins and just assumes it's all cosplay. But they do jobs for the Shadows that require subtlety."

"Well, more that they can sneak into a town, as musicians and no one suspects them," Harry said. "And while there they can do investigations for the Shadows."

"I'll ask their Elders," Brittany said when they contacted her. "But they are very unlikely to know, they keep to themselves and rarely interact with anyone outside of their communities. I had to trick them into letting those three priestesses out into the world. And even then it took some heavy negotiations with their Fox God."

"It wouldn't hurt to ask, though would it?" Andy said. "We've really come up empty on this one. We don't even have a clue as to where to start."

"I think the obvious place to start would be Mars," Brittany said. "You said there was a Furling Ring Gate somewhere on Mars, that we haven't found. The only Ring we know about on Mars is one of those older Crystal ones in that bomb crater. Find the Furling one and take it from there. A Jewel and Ring have a lot in common."

"We did think of Mars, but we're not equipped for that kind of exploration," Andy said. "Unless you have some idea for finding it."

"Set Oz on it," Brittany said. "He's not there just to provide a chess tutor. We wouldn't have sent him to you for something as trivial as that."

"Okay," Andy said. "But we still have several weeks before we get the Lucia back."

"Visit your parents, take Miranda on a date," Brittany said. "Do something with family. You could be out there for another six months."

"I'll think about it," Andy said. "It seems like a distraction. You are all out there working on the Kraal problem and we're just wandering around in a space ship."

"It's a group effort," Brittany said. "We're all working on different parts of the problem."

"She said she would ask them but don't expect much," Andy said, later that afternoon. "She's pushing the idea that Mars would be a good start. Oz?"

"Yes, Lady Andrea?" Oz said.

"Could you find out everything you can about Mars? If there's a trooper training base there there must be a lot of data about the planet and what's been found there. See if you can find anything that we missed. There's supposed to be a Furling Gate on Mars somewhere, so why hasn't anyone found it yet?"

"Yes," Oz said. "I shall research Mars and get back to you on it."

"That should take him an hour tops," Dolly said. "So you think Mars should be our next step? Look for some kind of Jewel?"

"Lady Shadow suggested Mars, and she isn't going to suggest something that would waste our time." Andy said.

"Mars is huge," Ginny said. "Lots and lots of sand. And space wrecks."

"But they've all been identified," Harry said. "Except for some weird demolished base, I think."

"I hadn't heard about that," Andy said. "Is it a secret that Mars has a lot of space junk on it?"

"I don't think so," Garnes said. "No one really talks about it. I believe they just assume it's trash left behind by the Red Pirates."

"There is a lot of that floating around also," Ginny said, smirking. "Helped make some of it ourselves. But that is easily identifiable."

"I have not finished analyzing the Mars data," Oz said, "but there are some interesting anomalies that should be investigated."

"Anything that jumps out and says 'here's the Furling Gate'?" Andy said. "It's not one of the big ancient Crystal ones. We know about one of those on Mars already."

"Nothing obvious," Oz said. "But Mars has only been forty-five percent explored at this time."

"That's a lot of sand," Harry said. "Maybe the Terra Furlings, Andy's folks, have something that we can use to make this easier?"

"We asked about that prophecy," Andy said.

"But did you ask about Mars?" Ixchel said, thoughtfully. "We know a Furling Gate is on that planet, somewhere, but shouldn't they know exactly where it is? They built it."

"I don't recall discussing Mars with any of my family," Andy said. "Did you, Miranda?"

"No," Miranda said. "Curious. I don't think the subject ever came up."

"How accurate is that galaxy map anyway?" Harry said. "I know Lady Air was impressed by it for getting a good look at the Kraal Fleet. But what happens when you point it at something close like Mars?"

"The distance to Mars shouldn't matter," Dolly said. "The reports I've read about it say the sensor design is currently unknown but it is very high resolution for anything within range."

"How it works isn't known, by anyone?" Andy said. "Wasn't there something in the Canyon base library about it?"

"Not about the sensor web design," Dolly said. "There was documentation on the interface in the base."

"It's like having a window," Ginny added. "With the right tech we can look out the window but we can't control the photons bringing us the light."

"That is an awkward metaphor," Harry said.

"Do you have a better way to describe it?" Ginny asked, frowning at her.

"It's like early computer communication," Harry said. "If you can figure out the API, the interface, you don't need to know how the data is generated on the other end. We know the API, and a couple Fleet teams are working on connecting to it."

"Huh," Ginny said. "That works."

"Garnes, is the Lucia going to fit in either my parent's underground dock or the one at the Canyon base after it is done?" Andy asked. "Or do we need to borrow a shuttle?"

"It won't be much bigger," Garnes said. "Several hundred tonnes. It should fit in both underground landing pads with no problem. We've also added hookups to match so we don't have to run on internal power if we're there long enough."

"As long as we don't bankrupt my parents, that's fine," Andy said.

"Their base systems can support several ships the size of the Lucia without noticing," Garnes said.

"They must have something better than the solar panels I helped install on the barn when I was in high school," Andy said, frowning.

"Classic misdirection," Miranda said. "If the power goes out due to weather, or other reasons, their neighbors will assume they're getting power from the solar panels and backup batteries."

"Oh," Andy said, blushing. "That's obvious when you think about it. Are we going to do the same thing for our house, when we build our next one?"

"We can," Miranda said. "But it is unlikely to be necessary."

"My mother is going to want us to live at the farmhouse when she retires," Andy said. "Not sure I want to do that. Snow can be fun but not Ohio winters."

"There's lots of room in Cancun," Ginny said. "When I retire, I want to run a bar near the beach, with all the cliche goodies."

"Only if we get those fancy wall-to-wall view screens that just came out," Harry said. "Mario Kart on one of those would be awesome."

"If I get my art boards and pool tables, you can have your gigantic eye-burins view screens, just not in the same room," Ginny said.

"Too soon to plan retirement," Dolly said. "I plan to be a Shadow for the next few centuries. There's still so much to see and do out there."

"Well, life expectancy for Shadows is a lot longer than for troopers," Harry said. "A hundred years is probably the limit with all the hard suit usage. It wears your body out."

"That is still a lot longer than non-Clan expect to work," Andy said. "Most of them don't live such long lives."

"That's one of the things we will be bringing to the people of our planet," Sophia said. "Gradually increasing their lifespans. It won't be as long as Clan, but at least double or triple. But a lot of other things like a stable food supply for everyone, and dealing with the Kraal, has to happen first."

"It's all long term," Miranda said. "Right now we need to solve this riddle."

"I feel a trip to Ohio in my immediate future," Andy said. "Are we waiting for the Lucia? And who wants to go?"

"I'll stay here if we aren't taking the Lucia," Garnes said.

"Me too," Dart said. "The Furling tech is interesting but is really beyond anything we can do. It's a bit depressing at times."

"Some day our tech will be at that level," Ginny said.

"We may not be alive when that happens," Harry reminded her. "It's so far above our tech some of it feels like magic."

"Not something to worry about now," Andy said. "So, wait for the Lucia or not?"

"Wait," Miranda said. The others nodded in agreement.

"Does the Lucia need to go through any tests when completed?" Andy asked. "I know water navy vessels have to go through trials after a refit. Do we before we drop in on my parents?"

"Not necessary," Garnes said. "But we won't be doing anything out of this system for several weeks while everything is tested. The Fleet dockyards are good but they prefer a break-in period before resuming regular ship duties."

"Okay," Andy said. "You're the Pilot. Just let us know when that is complete. We'll probably want to head to Mars after seeing my parents."

"The girls are busy with school and their internships so we won't likely see them while we are there," Miranda said.

"Next time," Andy said.

"There's a request from Lady Q that we take some refresher courses, before running off to see the galaxy," Ginny said, looking up from her personal pad. "That includes you, Lady A, and Lady Ixchel."

"It's optional for them," Harry said. "Not for us."

"You're doing it right?" Ginny said. "It'll be fun. And the Master Chief has been bugging her about our hard suits. They have some upgrades for us."

"How soon?" Andy said.

"If the Lucia isn't ready for several weeks, and we plan to visit the Furling Canyon base then... we can do it next week. It's three days in real time and a month in pod time."

"And a couple days for the upgrades," Harry said. "They can do that while we're in the pods."

"That's okay with you, Miranda? I know we hadn't planned on anything for next week," Andy said.

"I can visit with the girls, and check on Emily while you do that," Miranda said.

"I wanted to go see Emily," Andy said, sighing. "Can you save that for the following week? Maybe after Ohio?"

"Most likely," Miranda said. "I'll have to check with the girls for their schedule and with Emily's assistant."

"What was that?" Andy said, climbing out of the training Pod. "That wasn't a refresher!"

"You have to start somewhere," Santana said, leaning against the entrance to the pod room.

"But that was a Fleet command course," Andy said. "When will I ever be in charge of a cruiser or anything like that?"

"Brit thought it might be useful for you to take it," Santana said. "Your mother agreed."

"My mother agreed?" Andy said, staring at her. "Why were you asking my mother what kind of training I need?"

"Because your aren't just 'Andy, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist' anymore," Santana said. "You are the future head of this sector's Furling. You need to know as much as we can shove into your head about command, and managing people. Like your Cousins."

"Nobody really manages my Cousins," Andy said. "They're very Slytherin-like."

"And you can't afford to Gryffindor it when your parents decide to retire," Santana said.

"That's not for centuries," Andy said. Sighing, she started stripping off the goop coated pod suit. "Why does the Serpent Clan Council need me to be ready like that when it's centuries away? And I can't believe I'm thinking of my life in centuries..."

"That's why," Brittany said, joining Santana in the doorway. "Your mother doesn't mind how her life turned out. She sits in her house in Ohio, ruling the Sachs Furlings from her porch. But you aren't going to be happy with that. You've spent too much time adventuring, as the Potter Twins call it."

"I'm sure I can get used to centuries stuck in Ohio," Andy said, grimacing. "It's not like there's anything for me to do."

"You represent the Winter Folk to the Clans," Brittany said. "You have until your mother retires to get to know all of the Clans and for them to know you."

"Why?" Andy said.

"Word is going to spread through the Clans," Brittany said. "When they find out there are real live Winter Folk running around now, they are going to want a piece of you, some kind of connection. You need to be proactive. Get to know the Clan leaders."

"And be prepared for a request, not an invitation, that you appear at the next Council of Clans meeting. Where we want you on our side for whatever nonsense they come up with trying to keep us from taking our place there," Santana said.

"You really think they'll do that?" Andy said. "You're going to stomp all over the Kraal, and are better prepared than any of them are."

"Politics," Brittany said. "We have plans and the aren't going to be happy with us. We need the Winter Folk on our side. Which means you need to be ready for it."

"It's not like I'd side with any other Clan," Andy said, frowning. "You're even from Ohio, and Aunt Sue would be really disappointed."

"Yeah, disappointing Sylvester? Not a popular move," Santana said, grimacing

"Okay," Andy said. "Is there an actual plan or are you going to keep throwing me into things like this?"

"Many plans," Brittany said, "Once we deal with the Kraal. But until then, go find that Jewel of Mars. It's going to be important at some point, if you can find it."

"And the entire Council would be very happy if you found that Furling Gate on Mars," Santana said. "It's likely not big enough to throw a ship at but more ways of connecting the sector together that the Kraal can't touch is always good."

"Got it," Andy said. "And now I need to go talk with my mother for not warning me she was scheming against her own daughter." Grumbling, she turned and headed to the locker room for a shower and change of clothes.

"That didn't go too badly," Santana said, leaning against Brittany.

"Because she can see how useful the training will be," Brittany said. "Especially when she has her own ship."

"We aren't giving her the Lucia," Santana said. "That's too valuable just to give away."

"No, but when she does want her own, Furling built, ship, the Lucia will be her starting point. And she'll need our help."

"So, we build her a ship to her spec, and get access to all that Furling tech? I like how you think," Santana said, smirking.

"We'll see. It may not be the hottest Furling tech, but it will be centuries ahead of even our tech," Brittany said.

"When were you going to tell me?" Andy said, sitting on the porch swing next to her mother.

"Tell you what?" She said, giving her an innocent look.

"That you've been scheming behind my back with the Serpent Clan Council," Andy said. "You could have just told me what you need me to know."

"And you would have procrastinated," her mother said. "You get comfortable with something and keep putting it off. And this can't be."

"I don't procrastinate," Andy said, protesting. "I'm very organized and good at my job."

"I can give you many examples," her mother said. "Do you want me to?"

Andy grimaced. "No, that's fine. But what about the Cousins?"

"What about them?" Her mother said.

"They aren't going to listen to me," Andy said. "They never have before."

"Give them a reason to and they will," her mother said. "They aren't going to ask you to lead them on the warpath, if that is what you're worried about. They like their lives to much to ask for such a big change."

"I'm not going to marry a Cousin," Andy said.

"Of course not," her mother said. "I'm sure Miranda would object loudly."

"You married a Cousin," Andy said.

"Who else would I marry," her mother said. "With rare exception we don't marry outside of the Family. For many reasons."

"You aren't getting any grandchildren," Andy said.

"I already have grandchildren," her mother said. "And you're still young. You and Miranda can still give me more."

"Miranda isn't Furling," Andy said. "Isn't that a problem?"

"Why would it be a problem? You're married to the first person in this reality who has Ascended. You both will have extraordinary lives," her mother said.

"Still not happy about the scheming," Andy said. "Still not sure why I needed to learn ship command. We don't have any ships. And if we did what would we do with them? There aren't enough Cousins to man one."

"Not at the moment," her mother said. "But someday."

"You're still scheming," Andy said, putting her head on her mother's shoulder. "Please stop."

"I'm still in charge of the Family," her mother said, hugging her. "Now what is your other reason for coming here?"

"Just visiting," Andy said. "And we need to use the galaxy Viewer in the Canyon base. Looking for something on Mars. One of our Gates. There's one of the older Ancient Crystal Gates but it doesn't connect to anything."

"I suspect the Mars Gate won't show up on it," her mother said. "It's been lost for a long time. It doesn't even show up as inactive. We have looked for it over the centuries but without a ship we have had no way to get to Mars to search."

"What exactly is on Mars that we, meaning the Family, care about?" Andy said. "Now that the Hoosr is accessible we can travel to all of the Hearts of the People, though an EV suit is necessary to get to a few of them."

"Just legends at this point," her mother said. "I'd prefer that you discover whatever is there without trying to prove or disprove an old myth."

"So, there is something there besides the Gate?" Andy said.

"Possibly. But it's one of those myths that couldn't possibly be true, but if it is, it's safer to not know anything about it," her mother said.

"That's a rather convoluted explanation. But sure," Andy said. "We won't go looking for some myth we don't know anything about."

"Good," her mother said.

"But that prophecy means nothing to you or Dad?" Andy said. "We just keep coming up empty on it."

"Maybe you're looking at it wrong?" Her mother said. "Is it really a prophecy or something else?"

"What else could it be?" Andy said, frowning. "We got it from a Prophet."

"Did they say it was a prophecy?" Her mother said. "I can think of at least one example of a phrase that was mistaken for a prophecy when it was something else."

"Like?" Andy said.

"There's a story my grandmother told me," her mother said. "Back when we lived elsewhere, a member of the Family found themselves in the company of a true prophet. Which in itself is very unusual. Prophecies tend to short circuit around the Family. But the prophet spoke an odd phrase to them, and disappeared without explaining what it meant. And they couldn't find the prophet once they realized they'd been given a prophecy. They disappeared.

"This being then spent the next two centuries looking for someone who could explain the prophecy. They must have gone to every planet with a civilization, but never found anything. And while they were searching, their family had moved on, leaving them behind."

"That must have sucked," Andy said. "Hey!" She said rubbing her side where her mother had poked her.

"Language!" Her mother said. "Anyway, they returned to an empty home, which had been empty for years. And waiting for them was a message from their Family. They'd left directions to where they'd gone, but it required a special phrase to open."

"I can see this one a mile off," Andy said. "So, what the prophet had told them was important, but they had completely misunderstood what it was for. And you think we're thinking too hard about this?"

"Yes," her mother said. "I would investigate what else the phrase could be besides a prophecy. Maybe it's like 'Open Sesame'? And opens some secret place. Or is the password you didn't know you needed."

"We'll keep that in mind," Andy said. "Is that a true story?"

"No idea," Her mother said. "It has the awkwardness that a true story does. If it was made up it would have been much longer."

"Definitely," Andy said.