Adventures of Eira

Chapter 5

As we enter the war room, the screens adorning the walls and central table flicker to life followed by the overhead lights. The hardwood table is surrounded by chairs with inflatable padding to provide long-lasting comfort during even the longest meetings.

"You may use the displays if you feel so inclined," I say, taking my seat at the head of the table. "By the way, would you like some coffee as well?"

"Water will suffice for now; coffee is a little too expensive for me."

"It's on me. Are you sure? Tea perhaps?" I say, leaning forward and hovering my hand over a button on the console in front of me.

"We both know that's even more expensive and reserved for nobility," Huffman says with a nervous laugh, before reaffirming that he just wants some water.

"Bring in a pot of fresh coffee and some water into the war room. Don't forget to bring the creamers and sager," I say while pressing the button before sinking back into the chair. "Feel free to start when you're ready."

After stumbling around with a terminal before getting text to pop up on the display across the room as well as the on in the console in front of me, which I pick out of the table.

"Alright I'll start with the cryo pods. We've recovered twelve in total with Lady Frieda predicting over half will have less than a two percent chance of revival so she will attempt them first. As for the others, she claims that they have anywhere from ten to fifty percent chance of revival."

"Do we have any clue who might be inside based on the design of the pods?" while I'm speaking a man steps in from outside, pushing a cart with the coffee and water into the corner before quickly leaving.

"All except one are of the same model and appear to be on par with our high-end models. That one remaining pod is slightly larger than the others and is made in an entirely different fashion," he says, pulling up a picture of the pods. "If I had to take a wild guess, that one has someone who was either rich or of high social standing."

I quickly get up and grab a cup of coffee before sitting down and look at the images being displayed. While they're both square with a semicircle glass window, the larger one was clearly more expensive, with remnants of decorative paint clinging to its surface and several stamped characters that I can't make out from the angle of the picture.

"Why would they have a personal pod? That makes little sense in an evacuation."

"I don't have any evidence for my theory. Other nations, when moving their nobility, like to provide more advanced pods for them compared to the crew," he says slightly defensively. "The rich will do the same thing if they have to get on anything but their personal vessel."

"Maybe we'll get a scientist of some kind," I adjusted myself a bit before asking "What about the hanger?"

"We found two AWGs of what look like different models, as well as weapons and spare parts. One is blocky and appears to have been standard issue for their navy, while the other uses a knight in armor as inspiration for its appearance." I take a sip as images of the units being transported flash up onto the screen, followed by loads of text describing how they were found and the likelihood that they could be brought into service, which Huffman reads off. "Attached to the hangar was a research department with an old android bed inside that we also recovered. Its specs and purpose are as of yet unknown and will be put on hold until we have the resources to spare."

"That would be for the best, as it could be an unfinished prototype at best, if not corrupted to the point of insanity. Did you try to pull the data from the department?"

"We received what we believe to be relevant drives," I say, moving on to the next talking point. "Moving on, we have the black box that we've just recovered. Once we get it aboard, we will start to decrypt and translate the data inside. Once that is done, we will scrub it for audio pertaining to the 'Siren of the Abyss,' as per the request of Division Leader Hutton."

"When did he send the request? While I don't disagree with it I would have liked to have known that it was made."

"we were talking after dropping down to condition II," he says as his face twitches a bit. "And I was told about the black box during that conversation. He overheard it and made the request."

"That's fine then," I say feeling a little annoyed. Clearly there was an Ai update for the npc and the devs decided that letting professionals, who should know better, break the chain of command was a good idea. It's a realistic guess. "Make sure the next time you talk to him, tell him he should also notify me when he makes a recommendation to another department."

"I'll make sure to remember that."

"So we went over drives, pods and the hangar space. Is there anything that you can tell me about the ship?"

"Not much; we assume that it was a frigate of some description, though it might not have been classified as such by its builders," Huffman says, reaching for a bottle on the cart. "Beyond that, we can't discern much more."

"Your Ladyship Eira," I man announces as he steps through the door, "Sorry to intrude but the Prince, Han Friedrich Von Eisesland has requested for you to call him immediately. He didn't say what for, only that it was urgent and that you should be alone when you do so."

"I suppose this meeting won't have a proper ending then," I say, pushing myself up from the chair. Why is he on tonight? I thought he was on campaign for reelection, so why has he hopped on tonight? "However his royal highness has called for me so I can't keep him waiting."