As Eirik lifted the lids from the trays, a thick aroma filled the air with the smell of a hearty stew, baked potatoes, and steamed green beans.

Ulla made a delighted sound and sniffed deeply from the tray in front of her. "I don't usually get home-cooked meals. It's always meals at whatever truckstop café I'm at when I'm hungry. That "Old Pan" guy of yours seems like he would be worth tempting with a new job." She said with a smirk.

Eirik laughed. "go ahead and try it, he loves his kitchen here. Mostly because he gets to boss even me around in there" He said with mixed feelings.

"Now let's eat while it's hot. Stew is never as good when it's cold." They ate for a while in silence. As they neared the end of the meal, Ulla spoke again. "what's this with a personal war on the Kloxna, Whirlwind? what happened?"

Eirik swallowed the potato he was currently chewing. "Ülla, I know you always had a very light opinion on faith, but you remember how devout I am, right?". Ulla nodded in confirmation. "Well, I hit a rough patch a while ago and had to turn to a bit of piracy to get by until I could land a solid wage for me and the crew again. Nothing bad, we left them with fuel and supplies to get to safety and only killed them when unavoidable. However, the freaking lizards charged me as a murderous pirate and sentenced me to death. during my escape, I knocked down my guard in a fight, and only afterward did I discover that my guard that day was High caste for some reason.

I was faced with the option of leaving her for execution on account of failing to guard a death row inmate, or I could bring her along as a prisoner. I asked Odin and he chose for me. According to the little one, what I have done is Heresy in their culture so it's either my death or war, and I do not plan on dying any time soon. If it's my time, I cannot change it anyway. So now, as always, I live with the consequences of the god's hunger for entertainment. So far, I think I have put on quite the show, which actually reminds me-" He quickly rose and pressed the button on the intercom at the door, "Signe, are you in the Workshop??"

The reply came moments later, "Negative captain, I'm currently in the engine room, the old girl needed some maintenance"

"Received. I want you to schedule the release of the video to the Kloxna for midnight, which should give Terra's diplomatic corps enough time to prepare the excuses and apologies. Over."

"Received" came the grunting reply from Signe.

Pressing the button again, he resumed speaking "David, I know you are listening. I want you to get us out of here. Take us towards Mars, to begin with, we will drop off our guest and the kid in the morning. I will have new orders at that time." ¨Cutting the line, he turned back to the table, Seeing Ulla looking at him questioningly.

Eirik walked back to the table, filled both their glasses and said in a matter-of-fact voice, "Ulla, I know what you want from me and I cannot give you that. I have no such feelings involved in this. That weekend those years ago, it was great and fun, but it was no more than that."

He saw her face become darker. Damn, he didn't want to hurt her. "Look at it from my perspective" he quickly continued. "I'm about to embark on a personal war against an entire species. A martially driven species at that. Terra's government will have to denounce me, the Kloxna will seek my death whenever and where ever possible. anyone I know is a potential target, despite the diplomatic ramifications. My family is safe on account of my grandfather, but anyone else not on board my ship?? There is no way for me to guarantee the safety of anyone not under my immediate watch. To get into something serious at a time like this would be literal insanity."

He could see her understand the logic of his words, but he could also sense how angry she was at the rejection. "Ulla. I know that is the furthest thing from what you wanted, but how about this. We can spend the night together if you want, or not, it's up to you. And, when this nasty business is over with, provided I'm still alive, how about another dinner. Before I get mixed into some more weird fucking shit"

The tension only grew as she remained silent. Her clenched jaw and white knuckles told him she was in a state of inner turmoil and he suddenly became extremely aware of how dangerous she could be if she chose violence as a reaction.

Finally, she spoke. "You are right Eirik, this is not what I wanted, but I appreciate your honesty. I really do. As for spending the night, it would only make it harder for me to accept. Instead, you will treat me to dessert, we will watch a movie of my choice, you will swear a solemn oath about that dinner and then I will talk to the kid you need taken care of. I will leave when we pass by the closest point to Mars." her voice was hard and invited no debate. Continuing in a softer and more gentle voice "And you will send me a message once in a while, so I know you are still alive, yeah?"

"Of course, at least once a month" Eirik promised. "Now let me call Old Pan. I think he made Oldschool danish pastry"

The rest of their short evening continued in a good mood, despite the heavy emotions that had been at play.

Late at night, after saying goodbye to the kid and Ulla, Eirik was walking back to his cabin when David appeared in the doorway to the gym. "How on earth did you get out of that one," David asked, full of wonder.

Eirik simply glared at him and hissed "One of these days David. Revenge is best served cold" before he made the rest of the way to his cabin. He needed to take the edge off. The foreseeable future would take away every waking moment he had to spare and this was the last chance to truly relax. He found the wooden box in his bag from the trip to the woods, there simply had not been time down there. As he unlocked it and opened the lid, he smiled wide at the sight of the rolling gear and the amazing dried plant material inside the ziplocked plastic bag.

He quickly got to work at his desk, Turned on the air filter, and lit up the joint. The first inhale of smoke immediately made his brain release endorphins in response to the well-known taste and feeling of the smoke rushing down his throat, into his lungs and the absorption of the psychoactive materials in the weed started.

He leaned back in his chair, turned the music on, and started searching through the library before settling on Stevie Ray Vaughan - voodoo child.

Closing his eyes and inhaling more smoke, he drifted away amongst the waves of musical genius that was this Stevie's electric guitar.

He awoke many hours later still sitting in the chair, half of the joint still left in the ashtray, and someone knocking on the door. Quickly sitting back up he called out in a groggy and parched voice "ENTER". As the door slid open, Eirik made his way to the sink in the bathroom and started drinking water like a man dying of thirst. Then came the voice of the guard assigned to the prison "Captain, the prisoner wishes to speak with you now".

Taking a break between gulps of water, he answered "I'll be down as soon as possible."

"But sir, I have her here, she said she demanded to speak with you right away, said she was going to accept of offer of joining up" came the insistent voice of the guard.

Eirik started coughing violently for a moment as he swallows some water trying to breathe in... He did manage to let the guard know that it was fine and he could leave. Still coughing he made his way back into his cabin to see the little alien standing at the door, looking around curiously. Admittedly, he had collected quite a lot of trophies and memories he liked to keep around, but he noticed her eyes lingering at the axes and knife on the workbench. He was refining the carvings and writing, using his knowledge of the old runic alphabets to carve old runes of power into his new weapons. Whether or not they worked, who knew. He always seemed to be lucky when fighting though, so maybe there was indeed something about it.

"Those are for me and me alone," Eirik said as calmly as he could while trying to get the coughing under control.

"You didn't take as long to think about it as I thought you would. You also proved me wrong and cost me 50 credits. Guess that will teach me to bet against you." he finished with a slight smirk at his own expense.

"Before you join though, I need you to walk me through your reasoning for accepting. I want to know why you wanna join."

He sat down at the table and gestured for her to take a seat across from his. "Well?"