It took an hour to return to the ship and get stitched up by Knud. Another hour for Eirik to deposit the pelt with Old pan and go take a shower. He wondered if he should fool around with Freja first, but decided he had already pissed the diplomat off. He went out to meet the diplomats' honor guard which turned out to be a 30-man group of old soldiers. not ancient, but all in the late '30s or start 40's, none of them under the rank of Master Sergent.

The group leader, a Major according to his rank insignia, stepped forward and saluted Eirik. "Reporting for duty, Captain."

"At ease," Eirik said with a handwave, "I trust you have been briefed on all aspects of the mission?"

A conspiratory glint showed itself in the Major's eyes and he replied "Yes, Captain. We are briefed and ready."

"Good man. Our facilities will be available to you and you can consider yourself on standby for the duration of the journey. Dismissed." Eirik had no further need to speak with the soldier. He was a professional and would do his best to ensure his men were as prepared as possible for the time when Eirik needed them.

The diplomat who had been standing off to the side could no longer keep quiet, but his tone had taken on a mild and strictly controlled tone. "Captain, if we could get underway, I would greatly appreciate it. My mission is quite important, despite any delays I may have had in arriving here.". He had folded his hands in a reasoning gesture in front of him as he spoke.

Eirik looked him over. Despite his earlier outburst, the man DID possess the apparent qualities to be a good diplomat. But he was young. Maybe too young. "What did you say your name was?" He asked the diplomat.

"Andreas Jensen, though I would prefer to simply be called Jensen." The reply was courteous but strangely distant. There was no emotion behind the words.

"Jensen it is then. Now, Jensen, during the trip I would prefer if you kept out of mine and my crew's way as much as possible. I will hear no complaints about not living up to regulations because we are not a Terran Navy ship. We are privateers that happen to be Terran, not Terran privateers. As a diplomat, I am sure you understand the distinction. From your lack of knowledge about my relationship with the colonel, I can tell you didn't research me. Bad habit for a diplomat, not being updated on the people he is going to associate with.

Luckily for you, my ship's database is connected to the Terran Navy database. So I suggest you spend your time in your room, studying the Plyxii and their diplomats. Being of an ancient noble family is all well and good back on Terra. But out here, amongst the stars, It only counts for Jack and Shit. And Jack left town. Are we clear, Jensen?" Eirik spat his orders at Jensen with the authority of being back on his ship and having total control over his surroundings.

Jensen nodded in stunned silence. He was indeed used to be treated as royalty back on Terra, even at the academy. His family was from an ancient bloodline that could trace their roots back to seats of power over 1500 years in the past! So, being treated like a spoiled brat was a different experience altogether. He had been warned at the academy that this assignment would see him traveling with some rough people, but he had no idea it would be like this.

He was shown to his room by a rather short woman with grease-smeared overalls and a vintage hairstyle. When they arrived and he thanked her for the help, she prevented the door from closing. "Don't take it too seriously. What the Captain said, I mean." She said and stared him down. He found the intense stare of the short woman intimidating and he couldn't help but wonder if she had to face more hardships than others, being of lower than average height.

"What do you mean?" He asked her, not expecting this sort of conversation.

"You caught him at a very bad time. I take it he told you what happened before you arrived?" She continued to stare him down with those intense eyes and he squirmed inwardly.

"Yes he did, but He was fine, wasn't he?" Jensen could not understand the issue. The man had been up and moving by his own power. A bit pale, but who wouldn't be after such an experience.

"He came closer to death than he has since his duel with that Kloxna leader. Tai'Tanu I think." Signe finally blinked and Jensen felt the spell that had forced him to stare back being broken. he averted his eyes to the wall, gliding upwards to the ceiling as he spoke "He didn't seem that badly injured. But I remember that fight. The TV signal was hijacked all over Terran-controlled space. It took weeks to restore all the channels."

"Weeks, huh? Gotta improve the security on that Trojan." Signe said casually as she squinted her eyes.

"Trojan? Wait... YOU hijacked the TV signals?" Jensen's mouth was hanging open and his eyes were threatening to pop out of his skull.

"What? oh, yes, that was me." Signe said distracted before she noticed his staring and lack of response. "...What?" She asked

"I... You...How...I..." Jensen was at a loss for words. No way this young woman was the mastermind behind a trojan virus that had boggled the minds of a united coalition of all the hackers on Terra for weeks.

"You have fun with that. Happy studying" Signe and walked down the corridor mumbling to herself. Jensen just stood in his doorway, staring down the corridor, the way Signe had disappeared. Eventually, he came to his senses and hurried to shut the door, embarrassed beyond reason at his reaction.

_____________________

The following day as he was eating breakfast in the cantina, a tall blonde woman walked into the room and sat down at the Captain's table. "Figures," Jensen thought to himself. "A scoundrel like him has a woman like that." He continued to observe them covertly throughout his meal. They spoke together in hushed voices as they ate. Nearing the end of his meal, the Captain got up from his table and looked at the woman with a resigned look, but she slapped his thigh and pointed towards Jensen and the Captain made his way over to him.

"I wish to extend to you my deepest apologies for my behavior yesterday, Jensen. My day had been...stressful, and I was unnecessarily harsh in both tone and behavior. As a sign of my sincerest regret, I invite you to join Freja and me for dinner tonight. I shall have the cook prepare something special for the occasion." Eirik spoke in a formal voice and reached out a hand for Jensen to shake, should he accept.

Jensen reached out and grabbed the outstretched hand. "I happily accept, Captain. And I see no reason to hang upon the deeds of yesterday. Today is a new day and with it, a chance for us to both make a more pleasant impression upon one another." Jensen's tone was still a posh and British, but some genuine warmth had found its way in there. It seemed he was appreciative of Eirik's attempt to mend a truly horrible first impression. From both of them.

Eirik nodded and returned the handshake, "Dinner will be at my cabin at 7. I hope you are hungry." with that, Eirik returned to Freja and sat down, receiving a kiss for his troubles. "At least I can understand that part of him. I would have a hard time refusing that woman as well." Jensen thought to himself.

__________________________

At 7 he knocked on the door to Eirik's room, having waited outside for almost 2 minutes. He was nothing if not punctual. The door slid open and Eirik welcomed him with a smile. He was dressed in an old model of Terran Navy Captain's parade uniform, complete with a saber, that Jensen recognized. "That's an old Plyxii war uniform! Back before we followed the Universal standard of military uniforms!" His voice was slightly awed, despite his attempts to hide it.

"Yes, I fought hard in that war. Earned my Captaincy during that war. Also left the military during the war." Eirik still smiled, but his eyes had become both melancholic and hard.

"During the war?? How did you get out of the military during a war?" Jensen had never heard of this. It was supposed to be impossible as long as you were in fighting condition, at least according to every law and rule made on the subject.

"I left. I defied them to stop me. I guess my services during the war gave me some goodwill to draw on. I DID lead the strike force that killed the Plyxii Council." Eirik was not looking at Jensen. He was staring off into space, seeing distant memories.

"I have a hard time believing that was you." Jensen was skeptical. Eirik was so young to have been leading that team.

"Enough business talk, boys. Come sit down, Pan is on the way with dinner!" Freja's voice rang out as she walked into the room, a flowing summer dress underlining her natural beauty, so radically casual from what Eirik and Jensen, who was in a tuxedo, were wearing.

The rest of the evening went overwhelmingly well. They all seemed determined to make it a good evening and all told different anecdotes from their lives. Eirik and Freja huffed at the backstabbing and overall moral corruption surrounding the pillars of power and Jensen was awed by their tales of combat and conflict. During the 3rd bottle of wine, He asked to see Eirik's stitches, and Eirik, getting quite a buzz going, obliged.

"I had no idea you were this badly injured when we met. I would have never approached you like I did if I had known." Jensen said as he studied the stitches with a grimace on his face. The thought of suffering an injury like that was terrifying to him.

"That's nothing, you should see how I looked after my duel with Tai'Tanu. I died twice on the operating table. Knud, our resident doctor, is still angry with me for that one." Eirik told him and studied Jensen's face for a reaction.

"...You...Died. Twice." The disbelief was heavy in Jensen's voice, but not accusatory. He was simply unable to comprehend what he was being told.

"Ask Knud if you don't believe me. You can meet him tomorrow if you want."

"I'll choke that bitch to death by stuffing her tail down her throat" Freja said with extreme amounts of venom in her voice.

"In any case, to change the subject, I hope you enjoyed the meal, Jensen" Eirik hurriedly said. The dinner had gone so well!

"Yes, it was quite lovely, though I am unfamiliar with the meat we had. Perhaps you could enlighten me, Captain?" Jensen smiled as Eirik tried to keep the subject light and answered with delight. He had truly enjoyed the dinner. It had been simple, but very tasty and filling. Baked potatoes with butter, some kind of mystery meat that had a wonderful smoky flavor, and s mix of corn and fried bacon bits, topped off with a green pepper sauce.

"It was smoked moose. I killed it myself half a year ago. The smoking preserves the meat if done correctly." Eirik replied. He could tell Jensen had enjoyed the food and just like Old Pan, Eirik took joy in seeing people enjoying a good meal.

"I see. A shame, I would love to acquire some for myself. It had a truly amazing taste." Jensen was saddened to hear that it was made by Eirik, but perhaps it had been too much to hope for a store chain or official seller to carry it.

"Give me your address once I take you back to Terra and I shall send you something when I go hunting." Eirik declared.

"But, Taking me back to Terra is not part of the plan?" Jensen said. He thought Eirik wanted him off the ship as fast as possible.

"Trust me, after your meeting, it would be best if you had *sudden and urgent business back on Terra*. That is all I can tell you right now. I promise you will know everything before we return to Terra."

After a long time of thinking through the haze of alcohol, Jensen said. "I do not like this, Captain. Not one bit. But okay. I will go back with you."

"Thank you," Eirik said. Bringing the diplomat back with him would benefit everyone after his attack. No sense in leaving a person of importance to a new enemy.