Chapter Summary: A device to spy with is only useful if you know how to use it.
Chapter Word Count: 5,053
"Did you get what you wanted from your mother?" Miranda said, joining her as she went for a walk out past the barn.
"As much as I ever can," Andy said, sighing. "She agrees that I need to learn more about command, especially something like a small ship. I think she's planning to retire as soon as the Kraal issue is settled. She didn't come out and say it but I think she wants to go out there." Andy waved towards the sky.
"Your family has been stuck here for centuries," Miranda said. "Now that the Ring is fixed and the Canyon is connected to the rest of the galaxy I'm sure she isn't the only one who will want to explore."
"The Cousins will definitely," Andy said. "If I want to be any kind of influence I'll need to lead the way."
"Of course," Miranda said.
"She also said that we may be reading too much into that so called prophecy, and that it may not be an actual prophecy."
"Any suggestions for what it could be?" Miranda said.
"Speak Friend and Enter'?" Andy said, shrugging. "A password or passphrase. A secret code. Something other than a prophecy."
"That has possibilities," Miranda said. "But that does lessen the chance we'll find it recorded somewhere."
"Well, what do we have otherwise? We have 'Jewel of Mars' and 'Blessings of Time'," Andy said. "Those could certainly be a place. They could also be parts of a lock or device."
"What else did she suggest?" Miranda said, as they turned back towards the house.
"She doesn't think we'll find the Furling Gate that is supposed to be on Mars," Andy said. "It's been missing for a long time. But there's something there that she does expect us to find, though she won't say what it is. Not even a hint. Said she didn't want to bias us."
"Interesting," Miranda said. "Mars does seem to collect legends and myths."
"As long as we don't fall through some crack in reality and end up on Barsoom," Andy said. "Not really my thing."
"I'm sure you could easily beat John Carter," Miranda said. "But I would prefer there be no reason for that to happen."
"Rereading the whole series would be tempting fate, wouldn't it," Andy said. "Let's not then. And hopefully no one else has read those stories."
"Their tastes run to other things," Miranda said. "How much more time did you want to spend in Ohio?"
"Did you want to ask the girls to come here?" Andy said. "The Lucia still has several more weeks in dry dock, so we have the time."
"They are taking their finals this week," Miranda said. "No sense in distracting them."
"I'm sure they'd welcome the distraction," Andy said. "But not their grades."
"No," Miranda said, nodding.
They stopped in front of the house. Andy's mother was sitting on the porch swing, sipping from a steaming cup and humming to herself.
"Heading out?" she said, pausing.
"We haven't decided," Andy said. "But probably."
"You're welcome to stay longer," her mother said. "There's a meeting of the Cousins tomorrow, after lunch."
"I think we need to get going" Andy said.
"Thought so," her mother said, winking at her. "You can always read the transcripts. It's sure to be exciting."
"I'm sure if anything actually important is discussed you'll let me know," Andy said. "We'll probably spend a day looking through the Galaxy Viewer. Any suggestions?"
"It can see through a sandstorm but things tend to get distorted," her mother said. "There's a manual in the base library that covers the more esoteric uses of the viewer. Just ask the base Guardian for the Galaxy Viewer focal plane settings."
"Focal plane settings," Andy said, nodding. "Got it."
"Off you go," her mother said, waving them towards the launchpad entrance.
Miranda, Memo, and Ixchel joined Andy in the Viewer hall. Tyne was already there, doing something for the Council.
"It should be easy to use," Andy said, looking at the Galaxy Viewer. It was a simple panel with symbols on it.
"It is," Tyne said. "Each symbol designates a set of coordinates in the Furling system. Once you can translate them you can use it to find a specific location."
"So, we should be able to find Mars very easily?" Andy said. "Just need to find the right symbols?"
"Yes," Tyne said, tapping several symbols in a pattern. "This is it." A large rotating planet appeared floating in front for them.
"That's large," Andy said. "Do we know how to look for something specific? Like a shipwreck or base?"
"So far, we've just figured out how to get closer," Tyne said. "So we can find the training base like so," she said, tapping a symbol several times. The red planet rotated slowly and then the view seemed to dive down until it was hovering above a large collection of buildings half buried in the sand.
"And they can't see us, correct?" Andy said.
"Correct. We have been unable to detect when the viewer is being used. There seem to be no signs of it in use." Tyne shrugged. "It's the perfect spy tool."
"I can see why Fleet wants their own interface," Andy said. "There's supposed to be a manual for this in the base library that covers other uses of the viewer."
"We haven't found anything like that, so far," Tyne said. "Just basic viewer operations. Nothing that would turn it into a scanner for a specific item or condition."
"Okay," Andy said. "We'll be back later." Turning, she headed towards the base library. Maybe she could find the manual her mother had mentioned. Searching Mars inch by inch with the viewer if they couldn't look for something specific would take more time than they probably had to spare.
"The library has been searched," Memo said, as they walked. "We didn't find anything other than the basic viewer manual Tyne mentioned."
"My mother believes there's some kind of manual that would help us use it," Andy said. "We just need to find it."
They stopped in the library entrance. There were several people, dressed in the Shadow day uniform, huddled in a corner discussing something.
"What we need is a card catalog," Andy said, sighing. "Or one of those Guardians."
"The base Guardian doesn't seem to have much interest in the library," Memo said.
"That's surprising," Andy said. "So there isn't a dedicated library guardian here?"
"Not that has been found," Memo said. "We did ask the Base Guardian for assistance but we can search faster on our own."
"That isn't good," Andy said. "Where does one get a library Guardian?" She looked around, sighing. "Wouldn't hurt to ask, I suppose."
"Guardian?"
"Yes, Lady Andrea," the Guardian said, appearing in front of her.
"Is there a guardian available to assist with searching the library?" Andy said.
"Of course, Lady Andrea. A Guardian for the Library will be initialized."
"How long will it take?" Andy said.
"The Heart of the People Guardians are being consulted for the correct Guardian parameters, now." The Guardian said.
"Excellent," Andy said.
"That will be helpful," Memo said in a low voice. "The Guardians of the libraries understand data requests."
A second shimmering figure appeared next to the base Guardian.
"You requested a Guardian for this location," it said. "How may this Guardian assist?"
"At the moment we are look for a specific document," Andy said. "It would be a manual concerning the operation of the Galaxy Viewer. All we have found is the basic operations manual but we need something more advanced."
"Indexing this facility," the new Guardian said. There was a long pause. "There are several documents concerning advanced operation available. Both are in the Commander's office."
"Who has access to the Commander's office?" Andy asked the base Guardian. "Can you take us there?"
"There has not been a base commander since the last ship of the People passed through," the base Guardian said. "It has been placed in stasis until needed."
"Can it be taken out of stasis long enough for us to retrieve those documents?" Andy asked.
"Authorization is required," the Guardian said.
"Who can authorize access?" Andy said.
"Lady Andrea has been given authorization approval," the Guardian said.
"So, I can approve myself?" Andy said.
"Yes, Lady Andrea," the Guardian said.
"Then I approve myself for access to the Commander's office. Please take it out of stasis, and show us to it," Andy said.
"Yes, Lady Andrea. Please follow," the Base Guardian said, turning and heading for a dim passageway. When it reached it, lights came on.
"I guess we should follow it," Andy said, following the Guardian. Miranda, Memo, and Ixchel followed her.
They walked for a few minutes, going deeper into the base, passing a number of closed doors.
"Guardian, where do these doors go?" Andy said.
"Base personnel are allotted rooms for their activities," the Guardian said.
"Are any of them in use?" Andy said.
"There are currently no base personnel assigned," the Guardian said. "There has been no need for most base activities since the last Ship of the People traveled away."
"So, they are waiting?" Andy said. "Who can assign base personnel to these rooms?"
"The Base Commander," the Guardian said. The Guardian came to a stop in front of a door slightly larger than the others. There was a deep chime, the door opened and the Guardian entered. Andy and the others followed it in.
"Secretary?" Andy said. The room was small, containing a desk next to an inner door, and a bench along the opposite wall.
"Or assistant," Miranda said.
"The door to the Commander's office must be unlocked by one of the People," the Guardian said. "This unit is unable to do so."
"That would be me, wouldn't it," Andy said. She cautiously stepped up to the inner door, looking for some way to open it. As she stood there, there was a bright green light that quickly scanned her. When she stepped closer there was a hiss and the door slid to the side.
Andy stepped into the office. The others waited outside, looking in through the door. She spun around in a circle. There was no desk, or bookshelves. One wall was a view screen showing a view of the canyon. Several stools were scattered around. "Not what I think of as an office," she said. "What did the commander use it for?"
"For all functions requiring privacy," the Guardian said.
"Where are the documents we're looking for?" Andy said.
There was a beep and a section of wall became transparent, revealing a stack of viewer crystals on a shelf. On a shelf below it was a reader.
Ixchel stepped into the room, and wandered over to the view screen. "This appears to be a live view."
"We're underground, so it must be connected to a camera somewhere," Andy said.
"The view can be changed using the controls," the Guardian said. There was a hiss of escaping air and a slender column rose out of the floor, in front of the screen.
"These are Galaxy Viewer controls," Ixchel said, reaching out to run her hand across the surface. Leaning forward, she changed the view in the Viewer to a point high above Mars. "It is a flat surface, unlike the holographic one.
"So, there are two Galaxy Viewers in the base," Andy said. "Are there others?" She asked the Guardian.
"There are two viewers in the Canyon Base," the Guardian said. "All People bases and long ships contain a public viewer and the Commander's viewer."
"We'll need that tech manual," Andy said. "Memo could you look through those crystals and find it?"
"Of course," Memo said, coming into the chamber and heading for the shelves. "If you could open this, Guardian?"
The Guardian hummed for a second, and the wall opened providing access to the shelf containing the crystals and reader.
"What else is in here?" Andy said, looking around. "Seems a bit empty still."
"The Commander's personal rooms are accessed from here," the Guardian said.
"I don't think we need to see that," Andy said. "What else?"
"Work surfaces and seating accommodations can be accessed if there is need," the Guardian said.
"So, it's basically a meeting room, and an office," Andy said. "That could be useful."
"This appears to be one of the manuals," Memo said, holding up one of the crystals. Inserting it into the reader, she handed it to Andy.
Andy frowned and started looking through it. "I think I'm going to need this translated. I know some of the words but this is too technical for me to understand."
"This is the other one," Memo said, holding out another crystal.
Taking it, Andy swapped the crystal in the reader. "This is better. Galaxy Viewer usage for dummies." She slowly scanned the document. "This seems to be too easy, actually." She handed it to Ixchel. "See what you can do with that."
Nodding, Ixchel took the reader and started viewing the manual. "The concepts are simple," she said, frowning. "The more complicated usage may not work for everyone. Basic function will work for anyone with the correct physio-type. The advanced functions of the console requires something the manual calls 'shen'. I am not familiar with that concept." Ixchel frowned.
"Is this a console limitation or a part of the entire system," Andy said.
"Possibly only the consoles. The access console that Fleet is working on won't have that problem," Ixchel said. "If I understand this correctly."
"Shen is an ancient concept," Memo said. "It is believed to be a myth."
"So you need a myth to operate the galaxy viewer as more than a peeping tom?" Andy said. "What is it exactly?"
"It is a mental ability that requires a disciplined mind," Memo said. "It is one of the defining characteristics of the Winter Folk, according to the myths of the Wind Clan."
"Of course it is," Andy said, sighing. "Which means I probably have it, but have no idea how to access it," she grumbled. "Memo, please hand me that other reader, the one you aren't using." Taking the third reader, Andy slipped the technical view document into it. "This needs an index," she muttered, scrolling through it.
"Shen is likely a common Furling ability," Miranda said. "It could be something as simple as a physical characteristic."
"Without someone to explain it, we're just staring at a blank wall," Andy said. "My mother didn't mention anything like it."
"Please try this," Ixchel said, handing the reader containing the simpler document to Andy. "You can use this sequence to find all organic beings on the surface of a planetary body."
"Living, dead, or both?" Andy said, taking the viewer and reading it. "Hmm, anything organic. Shall I try it then? Where?"
"The training base sends out patrols into the deserts," Ixchel said. "Let's see if you can find one of them."
"That's a small target," Andy said, "but okay." Reading the entry again and fixing the sequence in her mind, Andy entered the sequence into the console. It went blank for a very brief moment and then the focus changed. Several hard suit wearing troopers appeared on the screen racing across a sand dune.
"That's interesting," Andy said. "Does anyone recognize them?"
"No," Miranda said "but that isn't important. We should be able to confirm this with the Training base."
"What else can we search for?" Andy said. "What other search sequences are there?" She looked through the document on the reader. "By size? Or material?"
"You need to use Furling measurement units," Ixchel said. "I do not know what they use."
"I don't either," Andy said. "We'll figure that out later. How about a specific material? Could I find any wood on Mars? And what happens if it's a very common material, like sand?"
"This," Ixchel said, running her hand on the console, entering another sequence. "Sand on Mars." The view pulled back until the entire planet was once more in view.
"That's interesting," Miranda said, leaning forward to examine the console. "I wonder what would happen if you pointed it at the Grand Canyon and told it to find all of the donkeys?"
"That's an interesting idea," Andy said. "But how do you tell it to find a donkey? Is there a symbol for that?"
"No," Ixchel said. "I believe you must first find a single instance of that creature and then tell the viewer to find all examples in a certain area."
"From specific to general," Andy said. "Got it. I wonder if it stores those? Can we look at what other people have searched for using this console?"
"A history? Like the Gates?" Miranda said. "Very likely. It seems like a basic function."
"But we need to know how to pull it out," Ixchel said. "A hidden history is less useful than a visible one."
Andy scanned through the manual, stopping to read interesting entries. "Not seeing anything that looks like history. It must be a technical term I don't know yet."
Memo looked up from the reader she was using. "Here's a log entry describing looking for a crashed ship on a barren planet. They were able to narrow the search by looking for a specific artificial element used in ship construction. If we knew what the Gates are constructed from, we could use that to search Mars for the Furling Ring Gate."
"How about that trick?" Andy said. "Can we point it at a ring we know exists and then use that as a parameter for the one on Mars?"
"We would need an easy to find Gate," Ixchel said. "It isn't clear how deep the viewer can go below the surface, if at all."
"The Furling tech can do some amazing things, according to what I've read, but I'm not sure it can go below the surface of a planet," Andy said.
"It must have some ability beyond the visible range," Miranda said.
Ixchel entered multiple sequences, eventually displaying the Gate in the Canyon base. "It can go to some depth," she said. "But this may be because it is within a Furling base."
"It's magic," Andy said. "How does it even work?"
"None of us have the background to understand it," Miranda said. "But it's possible most Furling didn't understand it either and just used it."
"But there should be rules that can be explained," Andy said. "It might be breaking our rules of physics but it is following rules the Furlings have discovered about how the world works."
"Here is the sequence for capturing the essence of a material, I believe," Ixchel said, entering another sequence of symbols.
"Like a copy and paste in a word processor," Andy said. "I understand the concept, just not the science behind it. Can you take that and then search Mars for all possible Gates?"
Ixchel frowned and entered another sequence of symbols. The screen dimmed, and Mars appeared again in the center of it. She leaned forward and looked at the console. "It is saying it found it but can't display it? Or show it's location?"
"That is curious. Guardian, can you explain?" Miranda said.
"The location appears to have been locked out of this console," the Guardian said. "You may need to use a different console."
"Great," Andy said. "Someone doesn't want that Gate to be found. That raises some questions."
"There may be a valid reason for that block," Miranda said. "We will have to attempt this from one of the other three consoles."
"We only know of two others," Andy said, "where's the third one?"
"The two in this base, and the two on the Hoosr, if our understanding is correct," Miranda said.
"That's right," Andy said. "But a second one hasn't been found yet. Do we need Lady Air to send a team to find the Commander's office on the Hoosr?"
"Yes," Miranda said. "They haven't begun exploring it yet."
"This will certainly give them incentive," Andy said. "Okay, so that Gate can't be found with this Galaxy viewer. Is there something else we want to see before we leave?"
"No," Miranda said. "If there is anything on Mars that we need to see, we'll have to go there. The viewer is a useful tool but we've tried just pointing it at Mars and it doesn't provide useful information beyond maps of sand and old shipwrecks."
"We need a way to automate it," Andy said. "Or maybe someone can read that tech manual and figure out something from that."
"You need us to find the Commander's office on that moon size wreck of a spaceship?" Santana said over the comm.
"Yes," Andy said. "The Galaxy Viewers can be used to pinpoint things, if you know the correct sequence of symbols to press."
"So, you've found instructions then?" Brittany said. Andy could hear her eagerness over the comm.
"Yes," Ixchel said. "One very technical document and another that contains basic symbol sequences."
"It's going to take a real genius to understand the technical manual," Andy said. "Maybe one of your wiz kids can figure it out? A lot of the technical words don't have a translation. Trying to understand them was headache worthy."
"Send us a copy and I'll have someone take a look at it," Brittany said.
"Memo is making a copy for you now," Andy said.
"Good. And the other manual? The simple one?" Brittany said.
"That one also," Andy said, the 'of course' implied. "But apparently there's a way to block some locations from being visible. We were able to scan Mars, and see some interesting things, like Lady Q's troopers out training, but the Furling Gate that is supposed to be on Mars somewhere? Not a sign of it."
"So, you just asked it to show you the Mars Gate?" Santana said.
"Not quite," Andy said. "Ixchel pointed at the Gate here to generate some kind of sensor image thing, and then told it to find everything like that on Mars. It says there's one on Mars but can't point at it."
"Still useful," Santana said. "No idea if that is a viewer limitation or the sensor network is blocking it out?"
"No," Andy said. "That's why we need another viewer to check with. The secondary one on the Hoosr would be a good test, but we need to find the Commander's office where it should be."
"All of the rooms and larger chambers that my search teams have found have been stripped bare," Santana said. "How do we know it's the Commander's office?"
"Except for the wall sized viewer screen? Probably have to ask the Library Guardian, though they aren't the Ship Guardian so they may not know," Andy said, sighing.
"Tried that," Santana said. "It doesn't appear to know anything about the rest of the ship, other than the command center."
"We'll have to come up then," Andy said.
"The Lucia should be ready in a couple days," Brittany said. "Come out to the Hoosr as soon as you've settled back in. A couple days won't make any difference in your search."
"Okay," Andy said.
"Having instructions on how to use the Galaxy Viewer makes a big difference," Brittany said, meeting them in the Library on the Hoosr. "Santana and Quinn have already revised their battle plans extensively."
"Glad to be of help," Andy said. "Still no Commander's office?"
"Unless you have a way to find it that we don't know about?" Brittany said. "It'll take years to completely explore and map the Hoosr. Whatever damaged it destroyed most of the internal control systems. All of the rooms show up on the functional damage control systems as unlabeled."
"We were able to activate a Guardian for the Canyon base library, maybe we can do the same thing here for a Ship level Guardian," Andy said.
"As long as it doesn't try to kick us off," Brittany said.
"Just need to make sure you are authorized to be here," Andy said. "Assuming my Canyon Base authorization applies. Otherwise we'll have to get my mother or one of the Cousins up here."
"Let's try you first," Brittany said. "No need to make things more complicated. My impression is that these Cousins of yours are very independent."
"Well, they'll listen to my mother, eventually," Andy said, grimacing. "But I've always found them annoying, with an odd sense of humor. Some day I'll have to deal with them."
"It isn't clear where your mother's authority ends," Miranda said. "If the Library system is included in her remit it should be simple to activate."
"It's possible she doesn't know," Andy said, "but let's try it before we drag her out here. I don't know if she's ever used something like an EV suit."
"That can wait," Brittany said. "Go ahead."
"Right," Andy said. "Guardian?" She said, raising her voice.
"Yes, Lady Andrea?" The Guardian of the Hoosr's Heart said.
"What happened to the Hoosr's Guardian?" Andy said. "We have had no contact with it."
"Investigating," the Guardian said. It was gone for several very long minutes. "It appears to have been deactivated," it said.
"Do you know why?" Andy said. "Or what happened to put the Hoosr in the condition it is in?"
"Unknown," the Guardian said. "It has been inactive for a large number of planetary cycles."
"We were able to get materials from storage to repair one of the planetary Gates," Andy said, "but many areas on the Hoosr are either empty or inaccessible. We would like to activate the Hoosr Guardian," Andy said.
"That can be done," the Guardian said. "Under what authority is this activation requested?"
"Who can authorize this activation?" Andy said.
"Consulting sources," the Guardian said. It faded from view.
"Sources?" Memo said in a low voice.
"The other Heart Guardians?" Andy said. "Who else is there?"
"Authorization authority has been confirmed for the Sachs Family of the People leadership council," the Guardian said, reappearing.
"Leadership council?" Andy said, frowning. "We have one?"
"Or the designated representative," the Guardian added.
"Do you know who that is?" Miranda asked the Guardian.
"Processing," the Guardian said, humming. "The Lady Andrea has been designated the current representative."
"Good. Good," Andy said. "So I can authorize activation of the Hoosr Guardian?"
"Correct," the Guardian said.
"Can the Guardian be given instructions during the activation?" Brittany said. "We are currently exploring the Hoosr and would rather no harm comes to our exploration crews."
"This concern shall be passed to the Hoosr guardian on activation," the Guardian said. "Activation commencing."
A second chibi-like hologram appeared next to the current Guardian. "Activation in progress," it said, becoming more solid over the next few minutes.
"Activation complete," the Hoosr Guardian said. "Status of Hoosr being determined," it said next.
"Progress?" Andy said.
"Or something," Brittany said, frowning.
"Four exploration teams have been identified," the Hoosr Guardian said. "Origin Designation - Serpent Clan of the Clans of the Way. Is this correct?"
"Yes," Andy said.
"Their communication devices have been patched into the Hoosr general system," the Hoosr Guardian said.
"That's useful," Brittany said. "Pardon me." She stepped back and became very still while she communicated with the Fleet and exploration teams.
"The Hoosr appears to be orbiting a planet in a system currently occupied by the Serpent Clan. Gathering information."
"Serpent Clan authority over this system, and sector has been determined," it continued. "Accessing Sachs Family of the People records. Primary authority has been determined."
"That's good, right?" Andy said, frowning.
"Initialization complete," the Hoosr Guardian said. "How may this Guardian assist the Family?"
"The Serpent Clan would like to make use of the facilities aboard the Hoosr," Andy said. "The Family has agreed in principle."
"This is not a military vessel," the Hoosr Guardian said. "Its purpose is primarily as a service vehicle for the Hearts of the People. Armaments are for self defense only. It is currently at five percent functionality."
"How long before full functionality is restored," Brittany asked, returning to the discussion.
"Without a crew of the People, functionality cannot be restored beyond twenty-five percent," the Guardian said. "Available members of the People with sufficient knowledge for crew duty is insufficient. Once crew are available, it is predicted that the Hoosr can be fully operational in one hundred planetary cycles."
"That is a long time," Andy said. "If Serpent Clan resources are made available?"
"Unknown," the Guardian said. "Evaluating Serpent Clan technology level, and knowledge." The Guardian faded from view.
"Well, that's a bummer," Andy said. "A hundred years if there was a crew that knows how to fix it up? I don't think it's happening any time soon."
"Well, hopefully this Guardian can tell you where that other Galaxy viewer is," Brittany said.
"Mars awaits," Andy said, nodding. "Even if we don't find that Gate, there might be other useful things on Mars. My mother was hinting that there might be."
"No time like the present," Andy said. "Guardian? Hoosr Guardian, I mean..."
"Yes, Lady Andrea?" The Hoosr Guardian said, reappearing.
"We need to find the Commander's office so we can use the Galaxy Viewer there," Andy said. "Can you direct us to it?"
A map appeared floating in the air. A green dot appeared and a blue line leading down a hall ended with a red dot. "It is here," the Guardian said. "Follow the blue path from the command center to the Commander's office."
"Thank you," Andy said. "I guess we're taking a long walk."
"I need to get back," Brittany said, sighing. "Let me know if you find the Mars Furling Gate. I'll talk with Santana about resources needed to refurbish the Hoosr. We are unlikely to be able to provide more than a minimal presence until the Kraal are dealt with."
"Unless we need a lifeboat, the Hoosr probably doesn't have a role to play in that," Andy said, nodding.
"Later ladies, Guardians," Brittany said, turning and leaving.
"Is there anything preventing correcting the environmental issues on the Hoosr?" Andy said, as they headed towards the Heart Ring. "The atmosphere is a bit thin."
"Environmental integrity of the Hoosr shall be given priority," the Hoosr Guardian said.
"Good," Andy said. "Not having to wear an EV suit everywhere on the Hoosr will make things easier."