5 minutes later Jensen was laying sitting on the bed next to Eirik's holding a bloody piece of cloth to his broken nose and an icepack to his black eye.

"Receiving medical treatment from the same man that was vailing on you a minute ago is an experience I will never forget," Jensen said, shooting an angry look in Knud's direction.

"Then you should not have touched my patient!" Knud responded sharply before adding "Just be thankful I was not holding a scalpel or you would have lost an ear."

"He's joking, right?" Jensen asked Eirik, who had managed to sit up in his bed. The look Eirik sent him radiated more coldness than inland ice. "Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't call Jesper right now and have him eject you from the airlock, while I spend the rest of the trip coming up with a plausible excuse. I'm certain my grandfather would accept almost any excuse, considering how naive you are!" Eirik's voice was low and monotonous, a sign, to those that knew him well, that he was well beyond the point of caring about consequence.

"You call me naive, but was still handpicked for this diplomatic mission!" Jensen defended himself.

"Of course you were!" Eirik retorted, "My grandfather was looking for an excuse to send me some armed backup during the rescue mission where I got the wounds you were so gleefully using to cause me pain. Tell me, what was your mission about?? The Plyxii staying neutral during this war?"

The look of disbelief on Jensen's face told Eirik he had hit the nail on the head.

"If you really think a diplomatic meeting was required for such a thing, " Eirik continued, "You are more naive than I thought possible. Something like that could have been handled over a call. What could NOT be handled over a call, was getting me access to the planet without a heap of trouble for both me and the Terran Government. So, to solve said problems before they rose up, my grandfather went and got me one of the most idiotic and egocentric diplomats I have ever met, so he could secure my passage and make sure I had reinforcements nearby for the rescue!"

"And why would the colonel be so interested in 4 prisoners from a war that has been over for almost a decade?" Jensen sneered, his ego now bruised and battered, as he tried to find a logical way to excuse all of this.

"Because," Eirik said and started to slowly stand up from his bed. His body was screaming for rest and his legs were shaking under him, but he wanted to stand for this. "Those 4 prisoners are my brothers!! Which makes them the colonel's grandchildren!" Eirik was delighting in the look of shocked realization on Jensen's face. The man had nothing to say, his mouth opening and closing without making a sound.

"Some diplomat you are," Eirik went on, determined to show this paper-pushing idiot just how insignificant he was. "Only around 30 lives unaccounted for after that war, all of them publicly available for anyone to look up, and you didn't even make that connection, Did you do ANY research, on me or the Plyxii?? Or did you have your head so far up your own ass on account of having being given a task to complete as a diplomat, that you could not be bothered with something so trivial as research??? Perhaps you were wondering why you had not been given underlings you could command around to do all the work for you?

Is that why the meeting took 3 days?? Because, as the bumbling idiot you are, you figured your status as a diplomat would secure the answer you wanted, and upon discovering you had to actually work, you had to cram in time for study by making excuses and *Not feeling well after the journey*? Or perhaps you were busy living a luxury lifestyle and just couldn't be bothered to remember that people around you also have things to do?"

Jensen visibly shrank with every sentence Eirik spat out until he was almost folding in on himself.

"Eirik, back to bed!" Came Knud's voice from the door. "And you, Jensen. Get out. I have done what I can for you, the rest is up to your body and time."

Jensen slowly rose from the bed and dragged himself out of the room, eyes fixed on the floor. When the door closed behind him, Freja piped up, "You were hard on him Eirik. Even though he did revel in seeing you so wounded, you were still hard on him."

"I know!" Eirik growled. He HAD been hard on the young man. But his behavior had been so far out of line that Eirik could not let it stand. He just regretted that Knud got to work him over instead of him. "I'll talk to him tomorrow, love. I promise" He said as he saw the look in Freja's eyes.

"In either case, I want you back in that bed and resting, Eirik!" Knud said and gave Freja a look. For the first time since Eirik had been brought in here, she got up to leave the room. "I only leave because I now know he is going to survive!" She said fiercely as she walked out with deliberate slowness.

"I know, Freja. And I also know better than to try and convince you otherwise." The scowl on Knud's face could not hide the mirth in his voice and he approached Eirik with a syringe.

"No, no, no, no, you are not going to shove that thing into my arm!" Eirik pulled back in his bed. he HATED needles.

"A shot or suppository. make your choice, Captain" Knuds was smiling now, a devilish smile full of sadistic glee.

Eirik's eyes widened in fear. "Alright, give me the stinking shot then!" He relented, not in the mood to have an oversized pill shoved up his ass.

Laughing with glee, Knud made a show of getting the needle ready. Eirik turned into such a child when he had to get a shot. just a shame it was so rare, Knud was loving this.

After much whining and complaining from Eirik, the shot was finally administered and Eirik spoke up. "So, Knud. What's the damage?"

Knud sighed heavily before he responded. "No broken bones, which is more than a fucking miracle. You had internal bleeding in several places, but your organs are intact. Your eardrums were ruptured, but a little micro-surgery took care of that. The blow to the head is one of the things that worry me. Jesper said you were completely unresponsive until he gave you adrenaline, despite not being knocked out. You have 3rd-degree burns over most of the right side of your body. The armor took most of the explosion, but not all of it.

You had a minor whiplash injury when you collided with the wall. And then there are all the regular injuries, bruises mostly, from regular fighting. Honestly, Eirik, you are not getting younger. Your body cannot heal the same way it could 10 years ago!"

"That's why I have you, Knud. I need a sawbones for when my antics get me into trouble" Eirik tried laughing it off, but Knud's words had hit a bit of a nerve. He WAS getting older. He was past his prime. 34 years old was not young. Sure, he still had a fair few decades ahead of him before he had to start thinking about retirement, but being unable to lead from the front was unbearable to think of.

"Please, Captain, you know how I feel about that title." Knud was annoyed. Sawbones was not a nickname he liked.

"Alright, Knud, Alright. How long do you plan on keeping me here?" Eirik said.

"Technically you can leave now, but I would prefer to get you in for daily checkups and treatment of those burn wounds. I have an ointment I need to apply to it." Knud was back to being the doctor, professional and calm.

"Can't you just give it to me?" Eirik asked.

"No, it is under heavy regulation concerning its use. Giving it to you would be enough to have my medical license revoked, effective immediately." Knud sounded like he was listing the ingredients of a tv dinner as he spoke.

"Fair enough, I was only asking. Though I will direct Freja to YOU once she hears that. I am not dealing with that garbage fire!" Eirik smiled at the thought. He could well imagine the shouting match between Knud and Freja. Eirik got off the bed again and limped towards the door while Knud still had his back turned. At the door, he called out to Knud behind him, See you tomorrow, Knud!" Before he closed the door and limped down the corridor.

He could hear Knud curse in the sickbay and the running steps that brought him towards the door. Eirik limped faster. No way in hell was he staying in a hospital bed any longer than he had to.

5 minutes later a wide-eyed Knud came sprinting into the cantina, "HAS ANYONE SEEN THE CAPTAIN?!?" He exclaimed, but before anyone could answer, they all heard a voice further into the ship, crying out in triumph, "FREEDOOOM!". "How the hell can a wounded man with a limp be that fucking fast!" Knud cursed, spun around, and started sprinting towards the noise while the laughter of the entire cantina echoed through the corridors. Moments later, Knud heard the sound of 2 sets of claws gaining on him. Looking backward, he saw Las'Tai and Trasti in pursuit.

"We want to see the Captain as well!" Trasti happily exclaimed as they passed Knud in the corridor, making the old doctor curse loudly as he fell behind. "MAKE SURE HE STAYS PUT!" He yelled to the 2 Kloxna, rapidly disappearing out of view.