[IC] The Cradle

[Cath]

With one last clunk, their transport touched down and settled on its landing gear. After a few moments the ramp lowered; the sights, sounds and smells of an enormous hangar bay greeted the two of them. One side of the hangar was essentially a continuous opening to the vacuum of space, partitioned by a shimmering blue force field. Swarms of transport ships in varying sizes were entering and exiting via this opening at well practiced speed.

The floor of the hangar was humming with activity too. Deckhands retrieved cargo crates from the back of transports and loaded them onto trains of hovering platforms. Freyr could see dozens of these trains snaking through the hangar along set paths marked on the floor in fluorescent yellow.

There was so much going on that Freyr and Masgard must have looked quite lost as they wandered down the cargo ramp. Crewmen filed past them to begin unloading. Luckily, a voice called out to them. “Dr Lang?” Freyr looked toward the sound and saw a smartly dressed petty officer. “Welcome to the Barb, ma’am. The Captain would like to see you on the bridge.”

They followed the officer to a waiting buggy, where two more sailors loaded their luggage into the back. Once everyone was strapped in, they set off across the massive hangar space. "This place is huge…" Freyr whistled, looking up toward the distant ceiling. "She's state of the art, ma'am. The first of a new class." The officer proudly chipped in. Freyr was about to ask exactly how big the 'Barb' was, when a call request from Vreta'Sori popped up on her HUD. "Vreta's calling me." Freyr accepted the call before Masgard could respond.

"Hey, I'm aboard the Barbarossa. Heading to the bridge to meet the Captain now. Where are you? Are you all set up?"

[EliteCommander]

“Yes, I just finished my orientation to the ship.” Vreta answered Freyr. He stepped out into the hall out of the meeting room, though he stopped where he was until he knew for sure where he would be going next. “I had a meeting with the XO and gave him some starting advice on how to prepare the crew for Rothia. Customs always goes so much smoother when no one complains about the required medical treatments. I’m sure I’ll have plenty more to talk about with him before the trip is up, but I gave him plenty to do for now.”

“I know you’re on your way to the Captain, but perhaps after that, we might be able to finally get a meeting together?” Vreta continued. “Before the world around me started to turn into a living nightmare, I was going to suggest that we start laying the groundwork for how we are going to coordinate this venture. It would be best if we have a good understanding, beforehand, of how we are going to organize the Rothian and Human science teams. Would you like for us to meet somewhere?”

[Cath]

“Yeah, sounds good!” Freyr replied, glancing at Masgard who was mouthing ‘what’s he saying?’. She paused the call connection. “He wants to meet.” She relayed; Masgard nodded. Freyr looked next at the petty officer in the front passenger seat. “Is there some kind of lab set up for us?” Just then the buggy entered a wide cargo elevator which began moving upwards. “Yes ma’am, compartment A12 is being refitted as we speak. It’s near the bridge.” Freyr thanked him and resumed the call. “Can we meet at the labs? Apparently they’re in compartment A12. I shouldn’t be too long, is that alright?”

The buggy traversed the innards of the Barb at a steady pace. Everywhere they looked, sailors were getting the massive ship ready to go. “How many people are on this ship?” Masgard asked, his head swivelling as he tried to take in every detail. “Approximately seventeen thousand five hundred all told, sir.” The buggy parked in a garage with dozens of other vehicles and the soldiers dismounted. “Rest of the way is on foot. My men will take your luggage to your quarters. Come with me.” They both followed the petty officer through a maze of rooms and passageways until a big set of bulkhead doors greeted them. The doors hissed opened after a camera scanned all their faces.

The bridge was relatively dark, but floor lights marked a path for them to take. Freyr had never seen so many holo-screens in one place before. The walls were covered with them in place of windows; she supposed they must still be deep in the bowels of the ship. Officers walked between stations set into the walls, taking readings and instructing operators who sat at complex looking consoles. The centre of the room displayed a massive projection of Outremer, with military assets and other important things marked with a variety of shapes and colours. Consoles surrounded it, and hovering by one of these consoles they found the captain.

She was tall and well built, like an athlete. Freyr placed her as about fifty years old, with silky, shoulder length grey hair tucked neatly behind her ears. She was talking to someone Freyr recognised after a couple of seconds. The petty officer stood at attention to introduce them both on the bridge; both the captain and the black-uniformed woman she was talking to turned to face them. “Dr Lang, it’s good to meet you. I’m Captain Andersen; please allow me to welcome you aboard the Barbarossa. I believe you’re already acquainted with Agent 595 from Cradle Security?” Five Nine Five grabbed Freyr’s hand after the captain and shook it. “Very pleased to see you alive and well, Dr Lang. We have a lot to talk about!”

[EliteCommander]

Vreta agreed to Freyr’s suggestion. The labs were, naturally, one of the spaces he was permitted to visit as a guest of the ship, and there was no reason for him to wait around in the halls. The lab was deep within the ship, and certainly well-protected as a result. When he arrived, he found that the labs were not quite in a completed state. Many of the rooms inside the ship were modular in how they could be arranged and rearranged, so the Barbarossa could be equipped for its specific mission. For such a new, advanced, and expensive ship, it was a sensible design philosophy over something more specialized.

As he was awaiting Freyr, Vreta simply stood back and observed the scientists and workers preparing their labs. He did not do or say anything to any of the Humans in the area, though he was obviously a person who stood out, so his very presence could attract attention.

[Cath]

“Quite.” Freyr agreed before introducing Masgard. “Have you met Masgard Xandrus? He’s one of the expedition’s public representatives.” Masgard, 595 and the captain exchanged knowing nods as they shook hands. “We’ve set you and your team up down the hall - A12. I must admit it was a rush getting everything on board at such short notice. I hope everything is to your satisfaction.” Freyr smiled gratefully. “I appreciate the effort you’ve gone to. The list I sent was pretty extensive.” The captain waved away the praise. “I trust your team won’t delay in boarding? With everyone in place, I want to push forward the launch to early tomorrow morning, Outremer time.”

“They’ll all be aboard this evening, I assure you.”

“Good. Other government elements are still making their way in from the countryside, so I expect there’ll be a debrief this evening. Until then, I'll leave you to get settled in. Pleased to meet you both. 595, a word.” The blonde-haired agent nodded. “I’ll catch up with you both later.” She said, giving Freyr and Masgard another cue to leave.

“Wasn’t that woman arrested by the Rothians after the Skinners attacked?” Freyr asked after they’d left the bridge.

“Yeah. She got out as part of our deal with the Rothians.” Masgard replied.

“She was innocent, then?”

“Apparently, if she’s free. It’s best if we don’t discuss it; the details are not public knowledge.”

Freyr frowned. She knew something just wasn’t adding up with all these government agents, but she tried to put it out of her mind. Right now, she was excited to see what she’d be working with for the next few months at least. That was what mattered.

Compartment A12 was a big space, and it was alive with moving parts at the moment. Builder drones fizzed through the air, clutching everything from scientific equipment to partition walls. Human technicians wandered around making the finishing touches. Freyr saw some of her team from the Division in among the action, directing the layout of the lab; one of them waved to her as they entered. By a wall near the entrance, she spotted the unmistakable Rothian form of Vreta’Sori standing awkwardly watching the assembly take place. “I see you found the construction site! You remember Mr Xandrus?” Freyr shouted over the din as they walked over. “I think that might be a corner office over there, shall we go see if it’s soundproof?” She grinned, motioning with her hand.

[EliteCommander]

Fortunately for Vreta, the bridge was not terribly far from the labs, so he did not have to wait too long for Freyr to arrive from her short meeting with the captain. He did have at least some interest in watching the Humans at work, if only to better familiarize himself with their methods, as well as the capabilities of their machines. He was, after all, going to be working to facilitate cooperation between them and his own people. In his honest opinion, it could be difficult to reconcile the differences in their methods, but he could at least try to set the proper expectations for both sides.

“Of course, it is good to see you both again.” Vreta replied with a friendly smile before readily following Freyr towards the office. It was a fairly small room, and like much of the rest of the ship, the air was just a bit cooler than he would prefer. Being that he was the only Rothian on board, though, he did not expect anything but his own room to accommodate his preferences. At least, he expected that his room would match the preferences of Rothians. He had not actually been to it yet.

In any case, Vreta began right away as soon as they were in the room. “Here’s hoping our conversation is not interrupted by mortal peril this time. How have you been, since we last spoke? Before today, I mean. I myself have been…somewhat relaxed back on Rothia. I decided it was time for me to retire from my corporate life. I considered retiring entirely for a century or two, but then the Rothian government came to me, specifically, with an offer for this position. I guess my experience made me a perfect fit, and as much as I have come to despise the Cradle, I suppose I can admit some curiosity towards understanding it.”

[Cath]

The corner office was small and boxy. But it did have Freyr’s name on the door, a desk with a small bottle of Angjuskian Scotch wrapped in ribbon atop it, and views of the entire lab through plate glass windows. She was pleased to see the office was soundproofed; when Masgard closed the door behind them the noise of rapid assembly outside lowered significantly. “Ahh, the good stuff. Complements of the captain; very nice. I don’t drink Scotch, myself. Do you?” Freyr studied the label before placing the bottle back down on the desk. She sat down and ran her fingers through her hair. It’d been another really long day.

“Well, i’m sorry you’ve been dragged back into this.” Freyr chuckled humourlessly upon hearing what Vreta had been up to. “I’ve been working nonstop, to tell you the truth.” She continued. “Masgard, what can i say?”

“We have an operational partnership with the Rothians, so whatever you think will be useful to the mission.” Freyr nodded gratefully.

“Then i can tell you that things are bad. We’re making good progress in developing weapons and structures that can combat the Cradle’s creatures. But so far we haven’t been able to stop this gradual encroachment on the occupied zone. The Border is currently consuming about 1% of the occupied zone per week. There are signs that may increase, too.” On a whim, Freyr grabbed the bottle of Scotch and opened it, taking a sniff. “It’s hard to predict what we’ll find on Rothia, if anything. But my hope is it’s something we can use to communicate properly with the Cradle. Negotiate peace with it; if it’s capable of rational thought.”

Freyr took a small sip from the bottle, and wrinkled her nose immediately. “Eurgh, that is strong.” She offered the bottle to Masgard, who took a gulp and seemed to quite like it. He offered it to Vreta.

[EliteCommander]

Vreta took the bottle in hand and gave it a quick sniff. The strong scent of alcohol was familiar. Even being alien to him as it was, ethanol was a fairly common compound on worlds with life, and it affected many living creatures in the same ways. Regardless, he cautiously took a drink, if only because he was not sure about the taste, but he was not disappointed.

“I shall be honest with you, many of the scientists I spoke to on Rothia are not confident that we will find anything at all.” Vreta said, placing down the bottle on the desk in the middle of the three of them. “Since we learned about this, we have scanned our whole planet a few times over and found nothing unusual. Though, it is our understanding that you have specific coordinates for us to search. Once we have those, hopefully we will be able to find something.”

Vreta took a moment to think on the situation Freyr had described in the Cradle. The Rothians had strongly suspected that the situation was not under control, but now he was getting confirmation of it, with concrete numbers. And certainly, this news was not encouraging. “The gravity of your situation may be lost on some of the other Rothian members of the team, but I know how connected Outremer has become to the Cradle. I know that your planet cannot just…stop using it, as some might suggest. It’s a problem we have to solve, not one we can just give up on if things do not go our way.I do hope we can find that solution, if not on Rothia, then with the combined efforts of our scientists when we come to Outremer. Our technology is similarly advanced to that of the Cradle, so, and I mean no offense with this statement, our scientists may be better able to understand its intricacies. I am not disparaging your species, I mean only that our scientists will have hundreds more years of technological and scientific advancement to draw upon.”

[Cath]

Freyr shared a quick glance with Masgard while Vreta was just finishing his piece. He gave her an ...ok look before reaching for the bottle of scotch again. Freyr absently opened the top left drawer on her new desk, and was rewarded with the sight of four durable Navy tumblers tucked away in there. She quickly pulled three out and slid them across the metal desk toward the bottle and Masgard’s outstretched hand. “I mean, it is the weekend. And we’ve had something of a day.” Freyr explained to Masgard, her hands raised at her sides while she nodded to Vreta. Her lawyer grinned guardedly, his head tilted downward as he poured a double measure in each glass.

“I hope you are able to figure the Cradle out.” Freyr replied solemnly as she got her glass back, filled now, from Masgard. “Because, there is a distinct possibility we’re travelling all this way for nothing. But on the off-chance we do find something, it could change our relationship with the Cradle forever. Our saving grace, if we don’t find anything, is that we’ll still be able to work on the Cradle problem from our new lab. We can call it a very expensive cultural exchange mission.” She took a drink from her newly charged glass, and recoiled at the intense mix of flavours. “So, what would you say we need to keep in mind for our interactions with Rothia in general?” Freyr asked when she had recovered.

[EliteCommander]

Vreta did not respond immediately, instead taking a drink from the glass he was given as he collected his thoughts. Even for a larger being like himself, who was accustomed to somewhat stronger spirits, he still showed a strong reaction to the scotch. Still, he did not remain distracted for long. “If I am being honest, there will be some hurdles to overcome if we are to make this a truly cooperative venture. And many of those will come from my people. As I mentioned, the Rothians have centuries of scientific advancement ahead of Humanity. There is a perception among my people that Humanity, and indeed many other species we have met in this galaxy, are a ‘young’ species.”

There was another pause for another drink from Vreta. He knew he was approaching a delicate subject, and so he needed to be careful in how he approached it. He expected that Rothian scientists would be doing the heavy lifting in terms of their research, but he certainly wanted to avoid any more tension than necessary, and if the Human teams could legitimately help, that would be all the better. “I would say to try to imagine what it would be like to work with a scientist from hundreds of years ago in your own past. Say, a scientist from before your species left your home solar system. If your people are anything like mine, you have probably improved your understanding of science considerably in that time, and that scientist would be operating on theories and assumptions you know to be incorrect. I expect that some Rothian scientists may feel frustrated about this, and they may feel that they are going to have to spend much of their time just ‘catching you up’. I hope to prevent that issue. I know that your people are capable, and I think that your years of experience with the Cradle will be valuable. Going back to that analogy of working with a scientist from your past, how do you think you would go about working with them?”

[Cath]

Freyr frowned and cleared her throat, invoking a surprisingly pleasant aftertaste from the scotch. She leaned forward slightly, cradling her tumbler in both hands, and smiled sweetly at Vreta. “By the end of today, there’ll be twenty of the foremost minds on the Cradle aboard this ship. I’m privileged to lead them. Between us, we have about four hundred and fifty years of hands-on experience with a machine intelligence that’s almost certainly older than both our civilisations. The rest of my division is just a conference call away; at least another six hundred years of experience to apply to this problem. If anyone is going to be ‘catching up’, it is your team.”

Freyr leaned back and took another sip of her scotch, arms resting lightly on the arms of her seat. Masgard gave her an approving look from where he leaned against the plate glass window. “Your improved understanding of the natural world will come in useful, for sure. It may be that working around the Cradle may yield some kind of breakthrough. But let’s be clear - while the Cradle environment shares similarities with the outside world, it’s also infinitely more complex. We underestimated it before, and it took my family. I'm determined not to underestimate it again. We should prepare for all possible outcomes to this expedition. What kind of resources do we have at our disposal while on Rothia?”

[EliteCommander]

Vreta gave a grin and leisurely took another drink. The taste was growing on him, though it still took him a moment to recover and reply. “One thing I do admire about your people is your confidence. You are experts on the Cradle, and don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise. If any of the Rothian members of the team try to be dismissive of your contributions, then be adamant about proving your capabilities. Some of them may enter with the notion that you are too far behind to be helpful, but if you prove otherwise, they will come around. They won’t deny the reality in front of them.”

“That said…” Vreta continued, interrupting himself by taking another, small sip. “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I did not prepare you for what my people will be bringing to the table. I would highly caution against downplaying what they can do. The Rahn’Saki themselves have decided to devote considerable resources to this endeavor, and they may commit even more once I inform them of the dangers your people may be in if this problem is not solved. Once we have the coordinates from your people, we will have our best scanning equipment to investigate the area. From there, the resources we have will largely depend on what we find, but if it is underground, which we suspect it must be to have not been detected, then my people will provide excavation equipment to uncover it. Our research team is being led by one of our most senior AI researchers, a woman named Marae’Ano. And I do mean senior. She invented the first true AI. Many Rothians, myself included, move between careers throughout their lives, but she seems content to simply move between fields of study. In any case, I would recommend forwarding all of the relevant information you intend to share about the Cradle to them as soon as we arrive at Rothia, so that they can get a head start on familiarizing themselves with it while we are still searching the planet. In fact…perhaps you can start teaching me about it? It has been a whle, but there was a time when I was involved in the research of cutting-edge technology, AI included. That is one of the main reasons I was hired by the Zuraxi’Synkuur corporation; I do have experience. If I can learn more about the Cradle myself, I might be able to better prepare our researchers.”

[Cath]

Freyr discreetly checked her watch as Vreta spoke; the evening was drawing steadily on. She noticed through the glass windows of her office that half a dozen more people on her team had just arrived in the lab, luggage in hand. Some of the people already working in the lab rushed over to greet them. She should probably address the team soon.

“Well, a full debrief would require data visualisations that i haven’t prepared for Rothian consumption yet. But you’ve already seen first-hand what the Cradle is. It’s a practically infinite virtual landscape, with varying geography just like in the real world. As we all know, it’s not a particularly welcoming environment, but nonetheless we’ve cultivated and occupied an area of the Cradle’s surface for many years. We’re able to tap into the Cradle’s processing power, and use it to power all kinds of things in the real world.”

Freyr took a last gulp of her drink and placed the tumbler gently back on the desk. “What you may not know much about is the physical form of the Cradle complex.” She cleared her throat again; the scotch sediment was irritating her mouth. Communicating with the lab’s database via her comms implant, Freyr pulled up an archive photo of the Sphere and projected it in 3D above the middle of the desk. “It’s buried deep beneath Babylon. We think there is organic and synthetic material inside, but it’s almost impossible to pin down. The Sphere distorts all our scanners and the exterior alloy is practically indestructible. Even if we were able to get inside, with everything that depends on the Cradle...It’d be like conducting brain surgery in the dark.”

Freyr leaned back and massaged the bridge of her nose. The scotch was making her sleepy, which was probably a good thing as she hadn’t properly rested in days. “That creature pinging a precise spot may have just been a mistake. But you can’t help but wonder if there are more of these objects floating about.”

[EliteCommander]

It was easy to see that Vreta showed a great deal of interest in the object that Freyr projected above her desk. He initially leaned in to get a closer look, though disappointingly, there was little to learn from the model other than the fact that the object was a sphere. Certainly, there were no obvious notable features, and based on what Freyr was saying, they did not know much more about its interior. “Now this…is something we did not know. What is the scale of this thing?” He asked, though it was more of a rhetorical question as he checked and converted the units listed in the projection a moment later.

“Our scans did not detect anything nearly like this on our planet, though you did say it disrupts scanners…in what way exactly? Or do you have any way of knowing? And how certain are you of the presence of organic material within? If the exterior is indestructible to you, then I can assume you have not sampled it, so that idea must have come from scans. Can you be confident that it is truly there, or could those results be the product of the interference? I know you have not broken through it, but have you performed any material analyses of the exterior alloy?” Eventually, Vreta forced himself to stop. He had asked her plenty of questions, with plenty of enthusiasm, but he did realize that it would be prudent to allow her to actually answer them.

[Cath]

“Fifty two metres in diameter.” Freyr answered as she saw Vreta working it out. “It floats, we don’t know quite how, and it’s completely impossible to move. Believe me, we’ve tried. Which means that for all intents and purposes, the Sphere is weightless.” She stared up at the hologram above her desk, taking in the object’s featureless, off-white exterior.

“We think it actively counters all signals we fire at it, like some kind of defence mechanism. I believe the only way the hypothesis about organic matter came about was by analysing the signals that leak out of it every decade or so. They're so faint that you’d miss them unless you monitor the Sphere all hours of the day like we do. But they're rich with incomprehensible data when we unpack them. I used to think the team in the Vault were overly dramatic for describing the signals as ‘wails in the night’, but now with everything else I've seen, I'm not so sure…”

“Freyr, the rest of your team just showed up. ” Masgard jumped in while Freyr was mulling over the next of Vreta’s questions. He was looking over his shoulder at her from where he stood at the window. “Ah, great. I should address them.” Freyr looked back at Vreta. “How do you want to do this? Do you want me to introduce you now, and give you a chance to explain your role in the team?”

[EliteCommander]

Vreta appeared more and more focused the more Freyr described the object. He could understand the reasons why the Humans had yet been unable to discover the mysteries contained within the object’s shell, especially considering how important its continued functioning was to them. They could not risk damaging it, though ideas were coming to mind about how they could learn more even with all of those restrictions.

“Let’s see…weightless it might be, but that would not remove the object’s mass. An analysis of the local variances in gravitational forces, compared to the natural gravitational field produced by the planet around it, could allow us to calculate the average mass of the object as a whole. The gravitational field would be affected if it is being suspended in place by artificial gravitational fields, but we my people can easily detect artificial gravitational fields, and we should still be able to work backwards to find the object’s average mass. A material analysis of the outer shell could at least reveal the alloy’s density. With that, and the average mass of the total object, it would be a simple matter to calculate the upper and lower bounds of the shell’s thickness. And if we were to take very granular observations of gravitational fields at different distances from the shell, maybe…”

Vreta’s train of thought was interrupted when Freyr addressed him directly. He had his neural implant keep a note of his ideas so far, then nodded to Freyr. “Oh, yes. As the leader of your team, it would probably be best for you to introduce me.”

[Cath]

“Come then; we can pick this back up later.” Freyr got up and led the way out of her office. The cacophonous racket from the builder drones had subsided now. Just a couple remained now with Human technicians to make the finishing touches to their new lab. At a glance, Freyr could see many of the main pieces she’d asked for. The captain had done very nicely in the short time available.

Freyr traversed one of the primary walkways around the edge of the lab from her office to the exit, Vreta and Masgard in tow. She could see a few of her team had already got stuck into the equipment, hooking up data pads and continuing as normal. However, the majority of the new arrivals had congregated in a break-out area with sofas and potted plants. So she called out to attract everyone’s attention. “Good evening, everyone! Welcome to the OSC Barbarossa. Could i please speak with you all over here please?” The scientists in the lab area obediently dropped what they were doing and made their way over.

Freyr waited until everyone was in front of her before speaking, standing in the walkway with Vreta and Masgard at her sides. She smiled. “It’s good to see you all in person for a change. I trust you made it here without incident?” A few people nodded their heads, but most were just waiting patiently for what she had to say. A few eyed up the tall lizard alien next to her. “We’re about to embark on a two week journey to Rothia, to follow up a lead on a potential exo-Cradle object. I know some of you have family at home, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this sacrifice. I wouldn’t have asked you if it wasn’t vitally important to the whole of Outremer.” Freyr’s throat was bone dry after the scotch, so she gulped to try and moisten it. Most of the scientists had figured out this was going to be an extended trip, space voyages often were, but none of them would’ve known their destination until now.

“To help prepare us for our time on Rothia, we have Vreta’Sori with us. He’s going to coach us on Rothian culture, capabilities and overall condition over the next two weeks. Once we’re on Rothia, he will be our primary liaison with our Rothian co-researchers. Any questions so far?” One of the more junior scientists piped up immediately. “Does that mean we’re supposed to share our research with the Rothians?” Masgard’s hand quickly touched Freyr’s arm, prompting her to stop with her mouth half-open as he answered. “Right this moment, that won’t be necessary. But once we know what we’re up against, we’re to collaborate with the Rothians on any details that may be pertinent to the potential...exo-object.” Freyr nodded quickly and turned to Vreta. “Vreta’Sori, would you like to say a few words?”

[EliteCommander]

The Humans did seem to be making impressive progress on assembling their lab. Although it would not help them arrive on Rothia any sooner, it did seem that the scientists did not want to waste any of the time they had. That was something Vreta could appreciate, though he supposed it should not have been surprising. The Humans obviously did not want to let on to the full severity of the situation, but this deal they had made spoke to the desperate situation they were in. He doubted they had many more leads than to follow the threat of what that creature had lead them to. And if this was a desperate bid to save their planet, Vreta supposed he should be sure to approach the situation with the appropriate gravity.

Vreta had not had much time to prepare to speak, but he could adapt. With a glance and a nod down towards Freyr, Vreta quickly addressed the scientists. “I know that…many of you did not necessarily want to send yourselves to a world alien to you in a time like this. Outremer is the home you are trying to protect, and I do respect that. I will do what I can to make this transition painless. Rothia is a very different place from your home, I will say that, but as the heart of my people’s civilization, it is also a safe place. We will provide all of the experts and resources we can to help solve this problem your world is facing. With our combined efforts, I am confident we will be able to return your world to a state of peace and stability. I will be distributing informative guides on the primary differences you should expect from Rothia, but if you have any questions for me, any of you may feel free to ask.”

[Cath]

All of the scientists watched Vreta intently as he spoke, but none spoke out with any immediate questions. Freyr thought they looked tired, just like her. After a pregnant pause, she jumped back in. “Thank you, Vreta’Sori. Now, I'd imagine you all want to find your new quarters and unpack your luggage. As a matter of fact, i’d quite like to know where we’re staying too…” Freyr looked behind her at the lab. Just two technicians were left, fixing a wall divider/storage unit.

“Excuse me?” Freyr called to them. They didn’t respond, so she tried a bit louder. They both looked up. “Where are our quarters?” The standing one pointed over his shoulder, to another set of blast doors on the other side of the lab. “If you have a comms implant , the ship should feed you a map, ma’am.” One of them offered helpfully. Freyr thanked them and turned back to her team. “Let’s get settled in and start fresh in the morning. Thank you all.” The scientists began drifting off toward the blast doors with their luggage in hand.

A sudden hunger pang in Freyr’s stomach reminded her that she’d hardly eaten today. “Have they shown you your quarters yet? I’d quite like to find some food.” She asked Vreta, pulling up a map of the ship using her new clearance code to look for the nearest dispensary. “It seems our dorms have hot food and a dining area. Masgard?” Her lawyer shrugged. “I’m exhausted, but i suppose i could eat.” Freyr grinned sleepily. “That’s the spirit! Vreta?”

[EliteCommander]

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.

---

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, and 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.