Nearing the Hangar bay, Eirik could feel his heart sink with every step. He could faintly hear her voice, she must have already disembarked. Then he heard David answering what must have been a question and started running down the corridor in a panic.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck, how did he beat me to it!!!" was all he could think while sprinting towards the hangar bay.

Stumbling inside from trying to slow down, he looked up and saw his entire command staff in front of Ulla's ship, doing the meet and greet.

"David you sick, twisted bastard, you are gonna paaay," He thought, as he righted himself and walked the last few steps over to the group.

There she was. 2,1 meters tall (6 feet 10 inches American) built like a truck with arms larger than most men's legs. She had grown her hair out again, which DID admittedly improve her looks quite a lot. The old buzzcut she had sported had not done her any favors. He still did not want to go through with his though. He knew.....

"Whirlwind!" she exclaimed, her voice a mix of gravel and silk, her attention and focus becoming that of a predator laying eyes on long-sought prey. He forced a smile and said "Ulla, how nice to see you again. How long has it been since we last met in person, 2 years??"

"3 years and 2 months, but who is counting" came the reply, sugar sweet and flirtatious

Desperate for an excuse not to engage in her flirting he grasped for a life straw "Signe, I need you to set up a secure line to Terra, I need to send them 2 video files that cannot be intercepted. I will also need to record the second video as soon as possible."

"It's already done and ready captain, the camera is in my pocket, and I'm ready to record it at any time. David's orders in your absence captain." Signe said, professional as always, though that twinkle in her eye told him she was having a great time right now.

Cursing inwardly, he turned to David and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't want to pull you away from your guest any longer than I have to captain, so I took the liberty of getting everything ready for you. I even cleared the conference room for your dinner. We must keep to traditions, letting weary travelers at our door rest up, feed and water them, and keep them entertained." David said with a smile going from ear the ear. "yes, of course, you are right David, thank you." Eirik replied, his left eye twitching slightly "better get that video over with. quickly then."

Eirik moved over to an empty section of the wall and gestured to Signe, but stopped her before she started filming.

"you know what, this is bigger than a video to the government. I'm gonna call them. How long?"

Signe looked confused, then said " 5 minutes captain. We can do it here."

"Very good, I'll wait. Oh, and call direct to military command. I don't have time for a politician."

5 minutes later and he was staring at a room full of very angry Generals and Colonels.

"You want to tell us what the hell this breach of protocol is Eirik??" The words came from a hard-looking older man. Heavyset on the muscular side, clean-shaven and clear blue eyes betraying a sharp intellect and indomitable will, the 4 thin blue stripes on each shoulder betraying his rank of Colonel in the Danish navy. As one of the many founding members of the Terran government that ended up uniting the people of Earth under a single ruling body, having members from every nation on the planet, each with their own unique area of responsibility. During the unification of Earth, Having the largest trade fleet amongst the founding members and the 5th largest in the world, the Danish responsibility was fleet-related issues of any kind. During later times, when space travel became possible and other species were met, they were once again selected for the task of fleet responsibility. this now included the collective space-faring forces of humanity. This particular individual was responsible for the wartime fleets. This explained the Colonel's harsh tone and aggressive demeanor in the current situation. such actions were punishable, even during wartimes.

"I fucked up royally sir and I needed to send a file to someone far enough up the rank to prepare you for the diplomatic shitstorm I have unleashed upon you. I currently have a Kloxna High caste member as a prisoner on my ship, to the extent of my knowledge, the Kloxna is preparing to declare war on me, and I'm planning to beat them to it by making a public announcement declaring war on them personally. WIthout the Terran government's approval and against its orders."

The room of military high command was dead silent during Eirik's explanation but at the last word the Colonel moved in his seat to stand up but Eirik continued "The reason is my own and any explanation will not be given, so it should not be expected." He started tapping on a datapad in his hand, "I am sending you the video file that I plan to release to every media known in the universe, along with pirate broadcast on every channel I can get my grubby little fingers on. I am only doing this to avoid dragging humanity into a full-blown war"

The colonel had finally gotten out of his chair and stared intently into the camera. Eirik felt the old man staring into his soul. He quickly added "the file has been sent to you personally, it should be there already, I got shit to do and a war to win...... and. Sorry grandpa, I'll explain at some point in the future. Hopefully"

He cut the connection right as the angry voice of the Colonel started yelling and walked back to his command staff and guest, all of them slack-jawed.

He stopped and looked around at the stunned faces. "..what?"

Ulla broke the silence. "Colonel Holm "bulldog" Hansen is your grandfather?? seriously?? The hero of the Drumixa wars and mastermind of the Plyxii offensive?? THAT MAN IS A LITERAL LIVING LEGEND AND YOU ARE RELATED TO HIM!!!!! why are you not shouting it from the rooftops!!??"

"That is only for me to know and you will all keep this secret for me. It was a slip of the mind because of this situation, but it won't happen again. Forget you ever heard anything!!!!" Eirik all but shouted at the stunned group of people before grabbing Ulla's wrist and dragging her away from the group. "Now, Dinner. I'm hungry and so is my guest. we are not to be disturbed!!"

halfway through the hanger with a (for once) silent Ulla in tow, he suddenly whirled around, walked back, and stuck a finger in David's face. "Next time you wanna "help", DONT!!!"

with that, he walked back to Ulla and ushered her onwards, towards the conference room. As he left the hangar, he used the intercom by the door to tell Old Pan to bring the food to the conference room.

They walked the ship in silence, Eirik and Ulla, and when they arrived at the conference room, everything had already been set up for them.

"David really went all in," Eirik thought as he looked around. This could easily pass for a nice restaurant back on Terra, with Candles on the table, an intimate setting, expensive cloth draped over the table and the silverware laid out. A carafe and 2 bottles of wine in the back of the room and crystal glasses. Of course, David had known for years that Ulla had had a crush on Eirik and that she was not the type of lady to take no for an answer. So he had taken a sick delight to find ways of leaving them alone. This was the crowning jewel though. Points for effort.

"sit down, let me get the wine," Eirik said, his voice once again soft and calm.

",,,, Eirik, I didn't mean to pry back there. I was just surprised.."

"It's fine Ulla, you didn't know. You cannot be mindful of what you do not know. I'm sorry for reacting as I did. It's a sensitive subject for me and I would rather we drop it, ok?"

"Sure! Of course, already forgotten. So... what's for dinner??" Ulla quickly said.

Eirik smiled and grabbed the lids to their plates, "Let's find out what Old Pan has cooked up for us"