Lasse's face went through several different shades of red before starting to turn purple.

"Breathe, brother," Eirik said softly and Lasse drew in a mighty breath. He looked like he was about to speak, but Eirik lifted a hand in the air to stop him. "Leave it be, brother. It's the reason I am going to talk to granddad. I want a definitive answer. And the old man WILL provide me with one!" The evil glint in Eirik's eyes showed the lengths he was willing to go to for the answers he wanted.

The minutes dragged on in silence, Las'Tai still feeling the after-effects of the chili. Finally, Old Pan came out of the kitchen with a plate held high enough to hide the contents from Las'Tai.

"Here you go, a whole tenderloin, just for you. And Eirik told me how much you love eggs, so I made you 2 hard-boiled eggs on the side." The old cook's voice was kind and warm and the smile on his face when he saw the light in Las'Tai's eyes made the usually grumpy old cook look like a loving grandfather. She took the plate from him with a polite "thank you" and got up to follow Lasse and Eirik that had started moving towards the door.

As she caught up with them, careful not to drop her precious food. She had tried slices of this meat before and had been almost impossible to drive away from the cantina after the meal, and now she had a whole one to herself!! And eggs!!

Once inside Eirik's room, she settled at his desk with her plate and ate in silence while the brothers talked.

A few moments passed before Lasse spoke up, "I am coming with you. If our brothers truly live, I am getting them back with you!"

Eirik shrugged, "You are welcome to come talk with granddad, but I will get them myself. I need you here securing a safe harbor for us. Most likely, I will be returning with unwanted company on my tail and the firepower of the station will be my saving grace. There is also the matter of training soldiers. How far along are we with that??"

"30 candidates are in the late stages of training and will act as instructors for future recruits. Give it a few months, you will have all the soldiers you could ask for." Lasse was very satisfied with himself at the prospect of delivering on his promise.

"Do you have that amount of applicants??" Eirik was surprised, he had not expected things to move along this smoothly.

"Overwhelmingly so. It would seem that being part of a private army is something that appeals to a lot of people coming our way. Apparently, the Terran Government's offer for enrollment is abysmal. Low pay, no benefits and you have to pay for your own equipment."

"Are we really that unprepared for a war?? Well, fuck!"

"Not so much unprepared. Just, lacking equipment. We have plenty of manpower and ships, but we do not have everything needed to keep them running in a prolonged conflict."

"That would make smuggling for the right people a very lucrative business, eh brother??" Eirik could practically feel the smugness of his brother as it dawned on him what his brother was planning.

"Funny you should say it, I just happen to have a list of Kloxna smuggler ships that passed through with a lot of the supplies that an undersupplied army needs." Lasse handed Eirik a datapad, "I see them as targets of opportunity, it's up to you what happens to them."

"I'm going to go through the list to find targets that suit my own purposes. The rest will be sent to Terra as an information package. Might as well help out where we can."

"So it is settled then. I stay here after we meet with granddad, run this station with an iron grip, function as your spy against the Kloxna, and provide a safe haven for you to return to whenever you need it. And what are you going to do, brother?"

Eirik's smile was strangely sad as he replied, "What I do best brother. Cause chaos and destruction wherever I go. By the way, at some point, an old man will contact you about some weapons for me. Please receive them, but do not open the boxes. The less you know, the better."

"What are you getting into Eirik?" Lasse's voice had become sharp in an instant.

"Something that will let me get our lost brothers back! I told you, brother, I am going to tear my way through the universe, leaving only pain and suffering in my wake, until I find our brothers. Once the infiltrators locate them, I will give their captors a single chance to hand them over. Should they refuse, I will turn them to a bloody paste on the ground before I go get them out myself."

He slowly rose from his seat and looked at Lasse, "Let's go get ready to meet granddad. We leave in a few hours."

A plate hitting the desk reminded them that they had another being in the room and they looked over to see Las'Tai leaned back in the chair, an empty and completely clean plate on the desk, and a bulging belly on the small alien. "Best. Meal. Ever!!!" She croaked out before the 2 men burst out in laughter

_______________________

The travel time back to the Sol system, back to Terra, was uneventful and lasted almost a week. Upon arrival, the *Void Wolf* positioned itself near Cyllene and waited.

_______________________

Eirik was standing on the bridge, looking out of the large front window. He had been standing there for hours, waiting. His brother was sleeping in Eirik's chair, but he didn't care. all that mattered was when granddad arrived. This was the 10th day.

"What if he doesn't show up?" Lasse suddenly asked, putting words to thoughts that Eirik had carefully avoided.

"He will come. He must come! If he doesn't, I swear by Odin that I will hunt that old man down and force him to look me in the eyes as he explains himself, and he bloody well knows this!!" Eirik was tense and it made him snappy. Lasse just shrugged. "Well, torture yourself if you must, I am going to sleep again."

He had barely closed his eyes before he heard a low chuckle from Eirik.

"Don't tell me" Lasse groaned.

"He has arrived. Alone." Eirik looked like a cat that had been given a giant fish, "Let's go greet him, brother. Let's go get our answers."