“Ok. Still getting the hang of this…” Dr Wetherall replied. Even through the interference, his voice seemed nervously excited by it all. He began sending pulses, referencing a Morse code guide.

“Non-threatening is our specialty.” Saddam chuckled from his post on the opposite side of the transit station. “There’s someone up there, watching us.” 595 reported calmly, pointing into the dark up the valley. “Where?” Thebes asked. “Let me try and mark it.” 595 replied. A waypoint appeared on everyone’s HUD at a point in the distance, but it quickly began jumping about, moving hundreds of metres each time. 595 removed it after a few seconds.

“Fucking hell, what is going on with our gear?” Carthage growled. “How can you even see that far anyway? I can’t visualise half that distance.” 595 shrugged. “My eyes are adapted for the Cradle.” was her opaque reply. She waved into the blackness at the faint figure high up the valley’s edge, beckoning for them to come forward. The figure promptly disappeared from view. 

“A few of them are leaving town.” Athena reported. “Which way are they heading?” Thebes asked. “Away from us. Looks like they’re riding something warmer. The rest are still milling around.” 

[hr]

“New message from inside: TS test in five. They didn’t respond to our last hail.” Freyr nodded in acknowledgement. She was deep in thought, planning out what would go over in the first shipment. The transit station area set aside in the lab was a four metre square. They could scan and send people and materiel much quicker this way than programming equipment into the harnesses. 

Freyr was using a datapad to simulate what they could fit into the transit station space; it was vitally important not to actually enter the area until it was confirmed to work. So far, with the help of a systems engineer, she’d sim-packed a third of the available space with spare parts and repair equipment for the comms mast and transit station, and more deployable cover, personal issue. Lab assistants had been running to fetch the required items and arrange them close by the transit plate. Freyr projected there was enough room for two Rothians and two Humans to squeeze in without touching each other.

Freyr looked up when Marae approached her. “Well, we need a wide variety of skills. My three so far span Genomics, Artificial Systems and Xenobiology, but they’re all trained how to survive in environments like the Cradle. They also all know to some extent how to maintain equipment and learn from their surroundings. I’m going to send in one of my other systems engineers in the next wave. It seems like the team are having some trouble with the equipment in there. My working theory is that this could be down to a divergence in language between this object and the Cradle over time. Oh yeah, and I’m also going to send two of my all-rounders to begin holistic study.” 

Freyr spoke quickly, trying to translate her complex thought process on the fly. There was still a lot to prepare, but first they needed to confirm the transit station actually worked. “There should be room for four Rothians. Who do you have so far?”