Vreta was some distance behind Freyr, halfway across the room. The form of a brightly-colored Rothian woman loomed over her, watching her screen from over her shoulder. Though, of course, Vreta was the only one to see her. [i]”You’re actually worried about her.”[/i] Rhia remarked. 

By this point, Vreta had grown accustomed to avoiding giving any reaction to Rhia that an onlooker might notice. [i]”Even I’ve noticed that she doesn’t seem to be in a good place. Sure, all of this does have me worried, but it’s a lot more…personal for her.”[/i]

[i]”Yes, yes, that much is obvious. I wasn’t wondering why she was upset. I was wondering why it bothers you.”[/i] 

Vreta grunted…mentally, at least. [i]”What, are you not programmed to feel sympathy? I thought you were an AI, not glorified software.”[/i]

Rhia’s avatar quickly re-appeared just beside him. [i]“I can feel sympathy just fine. Sometimes it’s just better to stay detached on a mission.”[/i]

Vreta pushed himself away from the support column he was leaned against. [i]”Well, you can just ‘detach’ yourself from my field of view. We’re about to traverse, and things will probably move quick once we’re there.”[/i]

From the perspective of those inside the ship, away from any viewport, there was nothing at all to hint at the activation of the gateway. It warped spacetime to the point of punching a hole through it to a point many light years away, but from the perspective of the ship, they simply…arrived. The gateway had been brought into orbit around a gas giant in the same system as Outremer, though the Object itself would have been sent straight to the planet itself. The counterpart to the much smaller gateway it had used had already been assembled near to the Cradle, so an Outremer team could handle the start of its arrival. The Barbarossa and the Rothian frigate would not be far behind. Already they were calculating their jumps, so it would only be a few moments to their destination. It would take much longer to actually get down to the surface from orbit.

Finally, Vreta approached close enough behind Freyr to be noticed. Provided she was paying attention. “Need any help packing? I’m sure you don’t want to keep the shuttle waiting.”