Freyr couldn’t think of a plausible answer. Her mouth hung slightly open as she tried to come up with an excuse. Of course it would’ve been preferable to work with Marae and her team in person; Freyr had read of the Rothian lead scientist’s exploits in university. They hadn’t had loads of time to chat yet, but this expedition would hopefully change things.

But she didn’t need to answer right away. Freyr grimaced when the Datius made some point about Rothian military might. Andersen was obviously a prideful person deep down, because she bristled at the mere thought of her soldiers being excluded. Freyr supposed Andersen's explicit remit may have been to spread awe and admiration for Outremer’s state of the art war machine.

“With all due respect, that’s [b]not[/b] part of our deal. We’ve agreed to equal policing of these objects. It’s my job to ensure everyone gets out safely, and I can’t do that without boots on the ground.” The Captain turned to Freyr. “It’s non-negotiable.” She then turned back to Rareth. 

“And i don’t think [i]you[/i] realise Datius, how much our government has invested in this mission already. If Dr Lang wants to conduct this mission from aboard the Barbarossa, she has every right. Hell, she could say we’re conducting it from the Rings of Saturn and I’d plot a course right now. But I can’t allow anyone to delay this venture any longer when we have a perfectly viable config right now. It’s just too important that we proceed quickly.”

Andersen paused, her stentorian voice echoing around the cavernous space. Freyr glanced around and noticed 595 fixing her with an unblinking stare. [i]”Do the right thing. Prove yourself to me. Maybe I'll let you all play together again soon.”[/i] The Agent sent the message directly to her implant.

Freyr moistened her lips before rejoining the exchange. “It’s worth noting too, that the majority of our team will actually be entering the simulation. Our mobile command centre will allow us to monitor [b]harness connections[/b], sensory data and signals from the host with minimal latency.” She daren’t provide any more emphasis, but hoped that they’d get the idea.