There had not been much for Vreta to say as of yet. Even if there had been, he could read the room enough to realize that it was not the best time to put the scientists through a cultural crash course. That could wait until their journey had commenced. Until then, he supposed there was no harm in winding down for the day, and he did agree with Freyr that some dinner was long overdue. If nothing else, Vreta wanted to try and relax to put the mental images of those Cradle creatures out of his mind. He was going to have nightmares about getting dragged into the ground by those thorny vines. 

“I haven’t seen my quarters yet, though I do have a map to their location. But yes, I would certainly like something to eat. I skipped lunch, after that whole event in the Cradle.” Vreta answered. 

[hr]

Despite the size of the ship, its transit system did make traversing the vessel as quick and efficient as possible. Though, in any case, the civilian modules, like the lab, their quarters, and dining area, had all been placed in proximity to one another for convenience. That, and separating out the military and civilian components of the crew did tend to be better for both parties, or at least that was Vreta’s perspective. Among Rothians, there could be quite a disconnect between the lives of civilians and those in military service. 

In any case, as the dining area was intended for the civilian personnel, it was not quite so utilitarian as Vreta would expect from Human militaries. Again, the air was a bit cool for his tastes, but that would be true across the majority of the ship. He was pleased to see plenty of seating that looked like it could be comfortable, even for him, as well as a varied menu when he went to choose his dinner from the dispensary. Granted, a carnivore’s idea of variety was in the number of different meats available, and Vreta ended up with steak, chicken wings, [i]and[/i] a salmon fillet on his plate, along with a glass of red wine.

“Your military seems to be treating you and your fellow researchers well on this voyage. Is that a common treatment for you, or is this a special case?” Vreta asked.