"Oyin, what are you looking at?"
Harry had been about to discuss the next stage of their expansion plans with Oyin in the room, but he noticed that Oyin's attention seemed to be elsewhere.
"Sir, today is the day the Hyacinth sets sail," Oyin replied.
Harry paused. The Hyacinth?
Seeing Harry's confusion, Oyin pulled up the information on the Research Ship.
Though classified as a Research Ship, it was considerably larger than the Osborn Group's standard model. It was a refitted vessel.
Because he needed control of the Rhine to construct a wormhole leading to Nidavellir, Harry had reached an agreement with the European Union. The Osborn Group had allocated three spacecraft to them ahead of schedule, one of which—the Hyacinth—would depart today.
The spacecraft had been converted from one of the first obsolete Research Ship models retired by the Osborn Group. Originally a compact, sophisticated design, it had a more comprehensive range of functions than the current, highly specialized Research Ships, and it was indeed quite a bit larger.
To carry as many people as possible, the European Space Agency had specially fitted it with a large passenger compartment and the corresponding life-support systems.
A standard Research Ship was designed to carry only a research team, with a maximum capacity of twenty. Instead of traditional private rooms, each person slept in a latest-model Framework World access pod.
Lying in their pods, they could interact with family and friends on distant planets in a way almost indistinguishable from reality, while also enjoying better sleep. This saved space aboard the ship for communal facilities such as small gardens, gyms, and dining halls.
If they had enough people, they could even play six-a-side soccer aboard the ship. Their lives were hardly lacking in variety.
But the Hyacinth was another story... They had