Eirik felt sick. Multiple short-distance lightspeeds jumps with course corrections along the way never got easier. As the ship settled in after the final jump, he and the other men rose on unsteady feet around the Kloxna family who looked scared and confused.

"Are you all alright?" Eirik asked of the group in front of him.

"I understood you? How do I suddenly understand you?" The elderly female from before stepped forward, still holding the 3, now awake, children from before.

"My ship has built-in translators so everyone can communicate without much trouble. I ask again, are you all alright?"

She shot a look back at the group of Kloxna before turning back to Eirik. "We appear to be. But why are we on a Terran ship? Trasti, you said we were going to a place with safety and security!" She had whirled around and was staring daggers at the young male who seemed supremely unaffected by her tone. "Why would you bring your family to an enemy ship during wartime!! Do you wish death for us all?!?"

"Mother, look at me." Trasti finally said. "I have been here for close to 2 months now. Tell me what you see."

Trasti's mother stared him down and looked him over. "You look well-fed, stronger, more confident, and generally healthier." She said a moment later, stunned by what she was seeing. Then her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "2 months?? YOU JOINED UP WITH THE TERRANS!!" She screeched.

Eirik thought it best to intervene before this became a family drama. "HEY!" He shouted. "You will control yourself on my ship. Family drama is not on today's list of events. Yes, your son is working for me. No, we are not a Terran warship, I am a freelancer. Yes, you will be safe and secure here. No, you have nothing to fear from me or my crew as long as you do not attack us. Any more questions?"

The Kloxna female, Eirik suspected she was the elder female of the family unit, took a step back when he shouted at first but as he finished speaking, she looked him up and down. "You are the one that fought Tai'Tanu. Why should I trust anything you say?" She said after a moment.

"You can speak to her daughter about me if you want." Eirik proposed. Things would go a lot smoother if he could start an actual dialogue with this Kloxna.

"Las'Tai still lives?? Tai'Tanu claims you killed her!" The suspicion had not left the elderly female, but she was no longer openly hostile.

"How about this. I take you and your family to the cantina and treat you to a meal. The cook is asleep so I will make the food myself. Las'Tai will be present and you can speak to her while I cook. Can you agree to this?" Eirik was doing his best to be diplomatic. Sure, Old Pan would be kicking down his room door as soon as he woke up, but Eirik trusted in Freja to keep him safe. He just had to time it so he was in the shower.

"I... I cannot argue that. If Las'Tai lives, I wish to speak with her as soon as possible. And if we get food, I am not complaining." She replied.

"Good. I'm Eirik, Captain of this ship" Eirik held out his hand, forgetting that it was a Terran greeting. Trasti hurried to whisper in his mother's ear and she reached up and grabbed Eirik's hand and shook it up and down. "I am Krisnu, the matriarch of this family... What a strange way of greeting one another." She added the last words as an afterthought.

Eirik chuckled, "It's back from a time when it was common to carry a knife in your sleeve. The shaking of the hand would make it rattle or fall out of the sleeve, revealing any hidden weapons. Some cultures would grasp the wrists instead. You could feel if a weapon was hidden."

Krisnu looked up at him in surprise, "I had no idea that Terrans were this warlike in their history."

Eirik stared off into the distance for a moment. "Did you know that Terra has only experienced 22 years in total where no war has been going on, on the planet? Out of our entire history as a species, only 22 years collectively have not been spent killing each other. A quarter-life for a Terran back then. a mere seventh of a life of a current Terran." Eirik shook his head at the thought. "Nevermind that, Let's go get some food."

The magic word seemed to set off something in the small children and they started wriggling and writhing to get over to the Terran that had mentioned food. Eirik reached out before anyone else could react and one of them jumped from his mother's arm and grabbed a hold of Eirik's hand before it started scampering up his arm. Eirik reached over and picked it up with the other hand before cradling his arm around it. His body heat seemed soothing and the little Kloxna settled down once again.

This made the other 2 double their efforts to escape and Eirik reached over and picked them from the stunned mother before he walked down the corridor with the group, 3 Kloxna children cradled against his chest.

Eirik couldn't help himself, they were simply so cute. Then again, he always liked reptiles as pets so maybe that was the reason her saw no issue with taking the children for a short while. He knew they would enjoy his body heat, their parents carried them so they could leech off of their heat more than anything else. And Kloxna were cold-blooded by nature.

No one said anything but the Kloxna were crowding around him as they walked, anxious looks on their faces. It was late night and no other crew were around, but the corridors were still lit. When they entered the cantina, Eirik handed the 3 children, who had fallen asleep again, back to their mother and went into the kitchen. "Trasti, fried, scrambled, or raw?" Eirik called out and Trasti didn't hesitate with the answer, "Scrambled, for everyone!"

"Scrambled?? What does that mean and what is he doing, Trasti. What is going on?" Krisnu pressed the young man.

"A wonderful surprise, mother. And what is happening is that the Captain will take the family to a safe place. There will be enough food, heat, and shelter for everyone. There will be a future, further than *tomorrow*. And it does not lie at home. Not for now, at least." Trasti said as he gripped his mothers' shoulders tight.

Krisnu looked at Trasti for a long second. "My son is growing into a man. And I'm not sure if I like it all that much" She said with a mixture of pride and annoyance. "Okay, Trasti. If you say so, I will trust you.

"Don't worry mother. Did you not see the way he handled the young ones? Terrans are warmblooded, they generate heat themselves. He made them fall asleep in less than 2 minutes." He stopped his tirade for a moment and hugged his mother tight. "I missed you dearly, mother. All of you. The Captain has promised me to take you somewhere you will be safe during the war. That is all that matters."

"At least I raised you right. Family first" She responded, returning the hug. "Now, take the time to be with the family again. They missed you as well and they all despaired when they heard you were taken, prisoner. Let them see and feel you are okay"

Trasti let go of Krisnu and turned back to his family and spread out his arms for a big hug and the table became a mess of flailing limbs happy exclamations as Trasti became a pile of Kolxna of all ages, the older ones being the more restrained ones.

During the next 20 minutes, various sounds could be heard from the kitchen, but Trasti was busy with his family and none of the other Kloxna dared go near the Terran. Eventually, Eirik popped his head out of the kitchen. "Trasti, can you go get Las'Tai while I finish up the food?"

"Of course Captain, but don't you think it's cruel to have food in front of her without her getting any??" Trasti asked.

"Don't worry, I made enough for the eating machine. Just hurry, will you?" Eirik smiled at him and popped back into the kitchen. The family of Kloxna had started noticing the tantalizing smell coming from inside, though they still huddled around the table, even closer as Trasti left.

"Krisnu, do the little ones require any specialty food?" Eirik called out from the kitchen.

"No, they eat the same as the rest of us. They are old enough" Krisnu called back. This Terran was confusing. The local leaders back home had painted a picture of bloodthirsty aliens from a world even harsher than their own, Cruel creatures that lusted only for combat and death. Entire books of their history are dedicated to glorifying the unspeakable acts of death and destruction they had inflicted upon themselves in lack of other enemies to fight.

Now, she was sitting with her family in a cantina aboard a ship belonging to one of these Terrans, and he had just asked her if her youngest children had special dietary needs. Her son claimed he was taking them somewhere safe from this horrible war, that on top of all of this, was started by the very Terran that was the Captain of this ship. She was happy to get food, as long as the nutritional value could be found. But the smell that came from the kitchen told of high energy food. Something that would make her children grow strong.

Long life of hardships and surviving on the barest of minimums had culminated when she became a mother. Her children had always come first. She was one of the few Kloxna that could boast of never having lost a child to hunger. If Trasti was right about there being enough food where they were going, she could stop worrying all the time. With 3 new mouths to feed that were not yet able to contribute to the family, things had been looking grim.

She was taking a massive risk, but her son's trust in this Terran seemed to be absolute. He had become assertive and carried himself with far more confidence than she would have ever thought he would gain in life. If that had happened as a result of him being taken to this ship... She needed to have a long and serious talk with this "Eirik".

Eirik walked in, carrying a small tower of bowls which he placed neatly on one of the tables. "Please sit, I will bring the food," He said and walked back to the kitchen. He came back with a large steel bowl and a ladle and started scooping scrambled eggs into the bowls. The children and young ones of the family did not know the significance of the smell of eggs as the adults did, but they were stopped in their advance on the table by the adults who simply stared at Eirik.

"Is something wrong? Is the food not to your liking?" Eirik had a devastated look on his face. He had worked so hard to make this meal a good one.

"We had no idea that several high caste Kloxna would be attending. What are we to eat?" Krisnu asked as casually as one would ask about the weather.

"Oooh, I see. No, THIS," Eirik pointed at the bowls with scrambled eggs, "Is the food I made for you"

The stunned Kloxna let go of the young and the children who each hurried to find a place at the table and picked their bowls. Eirik saw the enthusiasm with which they dug into their bowls and immediately filled more into them. The rest slowly came up to the table as the children were not ushered away and even the 3 little ones were woken up so they could eat as well.

Las'Tai and Trasti arrived shortly after Eirik had started to look worried at the contents in the steel bowl, but more and more of the Family members were putting their bowls down, bellies bulging.

Trasti must have not told Las'Tai because she stopped when she entered and stared at the chaos at the table. Dirty bowls littered everywhere, Eirik with a big smile, wearing an apron for some reason, and a small army of Kloxna of various ages, in different stages of food-induced slumber. "What the fucking hell is going on in here?" She uttered, she had started adopting certain Terran words, and *fuck* was just so applicable.

Trasti looked slightly guilty as he nudged her with an elbow. "We came here to rescue my family. The Captain is relocating them to a safe place."

"We were successful, Las'Tai. Krisnu here thinks you are dead. Your mother claims it so." Eirik said and looked carefully at Las'Tai to see her reaction.

Las'tai leaned back against the wall. Her mother had declared her dead... She was truly free to choose her way now.

Eirik could see how shaken she was and tried to defuse the situation. "Las'Tai, I made scrambled eggs. Sit down, have some food, and digest the information along with it. Then, and only then, will the 3 of us speak together, okay?"

"The 4 of us" Trasti interjected. "I also have words I wish to speak to you in a formal setting, Captain."

"Well, alright. The 4 of us it is then." Eirik relented. This was the first time the young male had directly inserted himself into a situation and he had done so with respect. He would allow it.

Las'Tai mechanically moved to the table and took a bowl and Eirik hurried to give her a large scoop of eggs to take her mind off of the news. Being disowned was not something one took lightly and likewise, Her attention on the food was only partial. Her heart was not in it, lost deep in thought as she was.

When she finally emptied the bowl and set it down, Eirik sat across from her and tapped the table with his knuckles. She looked up at him and he smiled a warm and gentle smile.

"How do you feel about it, Las'Tai?"