Eirik and Lasse sat in silence after Benny had left and they soon heard the muffled sounds on a shuttle leaving the ship.

"I will never understand how you speak to granddad that way." Lasse finally said.

"What way?" Came the reply from Eirik.

"The way where you speak to him like he is inferior to you. How do you do that??"

"I never really thought about it," Eirik sounded unsure as he spoke, "But I guess it's because I focus on the part where he is morally inferior. I think that's also why he lets me get away with it. Because he knows that he has become morally bankrupt."

"Might be, but never let him hear you say that" Lasse said, trying to hold back a chuckle, "His moral bankruptcy is the reason we are such good soldiers after all."

"Yeah, that's true. Honor the one who should be honored, and all that. "Eirik got up from the chair, shaking his legs to get the blood flowing again. "Let's get you back to the station. Las'Tai has got a meeting she needs to attend and I'm curious if I'm right about the Kloxna she is going to meet."

The trip back to the station was as uneventful as the trip out, and they made it back with no problems. After dropping off his brother, Eirik had the crew gather up and get ready for departure. After getting the ship underway he went looking for Las'Tai, eventually finding her in the entertainment room, in the middle of a poker game that was stripping some of the new crew of their credits. As the round finished, he pulled her aside to a quiet corner of the room.

"Our next stop is Amsilon Prime, where we will meet up with the Kloxna that send you a message. What are you gonna say?" Eirik chose to be blunt and direct. no reason to dance around the bush.

"I am going to refuse. I like being here, No traditions to uphold, no rules imposed on me because of my birth, no political intrigue to constantly watch out for. It is as you said, here I can truly live. The way I want to, no matter what anyone else thinks." Las'Tai answered as straightforward as Eirik had asked.

"I am happy to hear that. I was worried you might not fit in amongst the crew or would find it difficult to live a life without so many expectations. I understand that the Kloxna people usually have a difficult time away from the culture they know. That the uncertainty of true freedom can be overwhelming to you."

"Not to me Captain. But yes, a lot of my people would not be comfortable here, not without considerable effort."

"And you are still okay with being on my ship in the war against your people?"

"As long as you keep me on internal security I can justify any killing of other Kloxna as self-defense. That is enough for my moral qualms. But do not ask me to join in any offensive action against them." She had thought a lot about it and had reached this decision. As long as she was only fighting on the internal security force, she had no problem being on, what her people would consider, an enemy ship. It of course carried the chance of being blown up in a ship-to-ship conflict but that would be the same no matter what ship she was serving on.

"I promise I will not pit you against other Kloxna if I can ever avoid it. So, what will happen once you refuse to go back?"

"Depending on who is present, I might be set upon by however many guards this communications officer has been given as an escort, to force me back to my people. Or I might be allowed to leave. Or any other number of things could happen. I have no way to tell until we are there, Captain."

"Hmm. Seems I might have to make plans, just in case something goes wrong." Eirik said thoughtfully.

"I would appreciate if you avoided harming any Kloxna that might be present at the meeting, Captain."

"Of course, but I still want some security measures in place. It is going to be a very long time before I forget what happened last time I had an agreement with your people" Eirik's voice took on a sour note as he recalled the betrayal at the duel.

"Most of my people will resent what my mother did, Captain. If only you can get the video recording around the Kloxna propaganda machine."

"That is quite a bit tougher than one might initially think. Say what you want about your people, Las'Tai, they know how to control information. I think the only possible way to do it is to hijack their satellites directly. And we need to be physically present for that to happen, which is not going to be a reality any time soon."

"The Kloxna will never believe the word of any other species above their own, Captain."

"I know, Las'Tai, which is why I plan to have you record an introduction to the video, to make sure the Kloxna people know that there is validity to my claims of your mother acting in a cowardly manner."

"I am not sure how I feel about that, Captain." Las'Tai was irked at the thought of making a video message that would be seen by the entire Kloxna population.

"What do you say we let that idea rest a little, let you think it over, and if you still do not feel like it, we drop it. How's that?"

"I can live with that. Though, I'm not sure my feelings on that idea are going to change much."

The conversation ended after this and Eirik left for the gym to run some laps. He had been neglecting his endurance training in favor of muscle and reflex training, and it was time to make up for the lost opportunity.

On the way, he ran into Knud.

"Captain, I was just looking for you. I need your approval on a new research project." The old man said excitedly

"What kind of project?" Asked Eirik.

"Well, back at beginning of the 21st century, they made discoveries in the medical field making the regeneration of lost limbs a possibility. By making a powerful medicinal cocktail and putting it on the fresh wound, they would trigger a regrowth process in frogs, which did not have that power given to them by nature. Over 18 months the frogs were able to successfully regrow their lost leg.

I am hoping that by refining the method and I can make it possible to regrow limbs within a more reasonable time period. But it does require extensive research."

"Permission granted," Eirik said without hesitation. If the good doctor was successful, millions of lives could be improved. not only for Terrans but for species all over the universe.

Now in a great mood, he went to do his running laps.