“Not stressed, just...thinking. Lets go to the lab; i need to try something.” Freyr confirmed, wading out of the shallows to her clothes. She quickly unrolled her trouser legs, put her shoes and socks on and folded her jumper over her arm. “Can you send your records on to the lab?” The team might need a little bit of time to work through them.
[hr]
Freyr power walked back through the ship, her mind buzzing with possibilities. She called ahead to briefly outline her theory and what she needed to test it. So when they walked back into the open plan lab area, she didn’t even need to say anything. Dr Hou just ran over and handed her a swab set. 

Freyr deftly primed the swab while turning to Vreta. “Open your mouth, please.” She commanded. Her stomach tightened when she got a full, uninterrupted view of all the sharp teeth in Vreta’s long snout. Waiting a moment to ensure it was locked in place, Freyr carefully rubbed the swab long the roof of his mouth.

Satisfied she had a good sample, Freyr gratefully retrieved her hand. “Thank you, Vreta. Sequence this for me, please.” She handed the swab in a test tube back to Dr Hou, who took it and ran back around the lab to a console several more colleagues were clustered by.

“The question I want to answer is this - how did the Cradle know to ping that very specific location on Rothia?” Freyr began, gently leading Vreta toward the console. “Did it remember something from the distant past, or did it obtain new information? Either answer has big implications for our understanding of the Cradle's history and capabilities.”