“Maybe I will.” Vreta commented as he was climbing into his shuttle. “You should come for a visit, though. Like I said, we can get lunch. Besides, there was something I wanted to show you. Still, it’s not like I can force you to do anything. I just hope you will think on all you’ve seen. With what you saw, it’s fair to say that you know me better right now than anyone else, except perhaps Eti’s team. You’re not the one in charge, I know, but that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. Your people don’t have to stand alone.”

[hr]
At the very least, the team did not experience any more complications to their plan. Every part of their plan, from the gateway’s arrival at Outremer to the Object’s return from its orbit of the void star, had been calculated down to the minute. The Object, which was currently slotted inside a specially-built frame with gravity thrusters for propulsion, was moved into position within its gateway’s transit zone. 

As for the Barbarossa, it was finally cleared to move into position to transit to the larger gateway the Rothians had brought to Outremer. It was accompanied by a Rothian frigate outfitted to the Rothian science team’s specifications. Though, much of the lab equipment on-board was intended to be transferred to the Rothian cruiser already on-site eventually. The science team had grown larger over the past few days as more specialized experts were assigned to join, but all of the faces that the Humans were familiar with would still be joining them. Naturally, Rareth’Jharn was given command of the Rothian contribution to the operation, and even Nirann was able to come along, in a manner of speaking. His AI core was still vital to Threria’s infrastructure, and it was not practical to remotely puppet an avatar across light years. But, just as he could copy his mind to enter the Object, so too could he send a copy to join the team.