Las'Tai was laying in the sauna, enjoying the clouds of steam floating lazily around the ceiling right above her. She looked half asleep as she always did in hot and humid enviroments, but the sauna was radically different than the jacussi. In the water, she was indeed half asleep most of the time, but on the dry wooden bench of the sauna her mind was sharper than most other times. An indicator of the natural state of their true home enviroment. She was thinking about her life, about the massive change that had taken place and the way it had happened. She had been a runaway high caste daughter, prison guard, prisoner and now a part of the security detail on a Terran ship crewed by a captain with a weird sense of honor. His words made sense and his logic was sound, but there was still something off about him. Like he was following a completely autonomous set of rules that only he knew and to hell with everything else. She would have to ask him about that. She would also have to thank him accepting her among the crew, even if she was forbidden from certain areas. She could understand his reasoning, though his comment about it changing confused her greatly. She was a potential threat no matter how you looked at things? So how could her status as a security risk ever change?

She stretched out and scampered across the top bench, chasing over to where the clouds where thickest. Her head started bopping aback and forth in amusement as she thought about the shock and surprise Terrans showed when she moved quickly, down on her arms and legs. The Kloxna could be surprisingly fast, but moving on all 4 appendages was seen as either childish or undignified, but she had learned that the Terrans had no such opinion about it, besides getting scared when she started moving fast after being still for a long time.

Her mind drifted towards her conflicting feelings about being on the ship. The captain had declared a personal war against her people, for a reason she could not fully comprehend, but she was hesitant to ask, fearing the captain might get angry. But her Loyalty to her people was also tainted by doubt about their entire way of life. She didn't believe in keeping slaves or having your life set out for you by tradition. She believed in the freedom to do what you feel like, despite your heritage, despite expectations, despite anything. And it felt like she had a chance to live just like that on this ship, weird as the crew were. She already figured out that these Terrans were not average. These were misfits, damaged individuals, and they seemed to all be brought together by a single uniting factor. Captain Eirik, the strangest being she had ever met, even if the madness seemed to make a twisted sense.

".... I need to write to mother. Let her know the human is being truthful in his promise. Perhaps she would settle for single combat if she knows he has the honor to stand by his given word."

As she was contemplating getting up and writing the dreaded message, the door to the sauna was opened and she heard the giggling of a human woman as a male and female entered the sauna. They had met before, but she couldnt remember their names.

"Get out scaly, we need the sauna" The male said aggressively.

"..What..??" Las'Tai said, not understanding the sudden aggressive behavior, before she was litterally picked up an unceremoniously tossed out the room. Tangled in the human sized towel she suddenly heard stomping boots on the floor but didnt manage to get her head free of the damnable fabric before she heard the door open again and the same male voice that had thrown her out could be heard "What did i just fucking-" before being cut short by what was obviously the captain shouting, "WHAT THE HAPPY HORSE SHIT IS THIS?!!? CLAIMING SHARED AREAS BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GET YOUR DICK WET WITH A KINK??? SAVE IT FOR THE FUCKING NIGHTSHIFT WHEN IT'S EMPTY!!! 2 WEEKS OF DOUBLE SHIFTS FOR BOTH OF YOU!!"

Protests were heard and the female voice cut through, "But captain, i didn't do anything to her!!" She pleaded.

"you did not stop him either! the punishment stands, keep complaining and im adding another week for every complaint! Now, get out!!"

the pair quickly made their escape. Las'Tai was surprised at the amount of clothes they had managed to remove in the short moment they had been alone.

Without a word, the captain stomped out again and turned down towards the infirmary. Thinking it the best chance to get a few words with Eirik, Las'Tai quickly dried off and get into her new clothes. She had been given free choice of relaxed clothing when not at work and she had went with modified leather pants and shirt, another luxury she had not expected. the extra layer of leather meant she could keep heat for a long time even when out in the cold weather. The fact that she also thought it looked amazing on her had nothing to do with the choice at all. No, really, it didn't!!

She arrived in order to see the captain taking off his shirt, revealing the bandaged arm and a nasty looking blue and black bruise that covered most of the left side of the torso.

"Captain." She said, noticing the large amount of scars that seemed to cover every part of his body, a weird mix of cut wounds, burn wounds, stab wounds and what looked like small impaling wounds. "Might i ask a few questions??"

Turning his head, Eirik noticed Las'Tai in her new clothes. "Aahh, Las'Tai, you got the standard kit and some spare clothes. I hope you are satisfied with it, because we cannot change it at the moment. Anyway, go right ahead and ask your questions."

"..Why did you declare a war on my people?? I do not understand your reasoning"

"....Thats a tough one Las'Tai. Please close the door. Knud, is the doctor, patient confidence still active?"

"Of course captain." Came the reply from the doctor

"Las'Tai, i believe in the freedom of choice. I hold that freedom above all else. I might wholeheartedly disagree with your choice, but i will still defend to the death, your right to make it. That being said, at first, you were my prisoner. Then you became my crew mate out of your own free will, by the way, i would appreciate you messaging your mother, telling her that you joined us freely, it might defuse the situation. But I declared war on your people in advance so they could not declare war on my people. By doing what i did, i made this a personal war instead of a species war. That is what needed to be done to reduce the fallout from saving your life. I hope that satisfied your curiosity, because that is all you are gonna get" Eirik said, his face a blank mask.

"It did captain. It also answered my second question, if i could contact my mom. 2 more questions. Is that damage from the conflict with the Plyxii??" She gestured to his torso and arm as she spoke.

"Yes, some minor damage and a bit of bruising, nothing serious. At least not until tomorrow" he said with a grimace.

"Final question. Those scars.." She let the sentence hang in air.

"...Those are many different stories, involving many different people on many different worlds. Those stories are not for now. In time, you may hear some of them. Now let me get treated by the doctor. We can talk more later, when im done salvaging our prize."

With that, he turned back towards the doctor and undid the bandage. Catching a glimpse at the deep cut in his arm and the rudimentary staples that had been used to hold it together and stop the bleeding made her wince in horror on the way out. Such wounds would be crippling to a Kloxna warrior. A veteran might be able to fight on, but it would be the hardest they had ever pushed themselves.

;Lost in her own thoughts, she found herself back at her cabin and decided to get the worst and most difficult task over with. Sitting down at her resized table and chair, she wrote the title of the message. "Hi mom."