The days slowly turned into weeks as Eirik and his brothers finished the tasks ahead of them, The brothers gained back a lot of weight and muscle under the care of their parents and the work of Eirik. They were still a long way from fighting shape, but they no longer looked sickly and ragged. The spear shaft was finished, and the bow was fabricated and put in the process of being bent and treated with oil so it became flexible without breaking.
Eirik worked hard to make a spearhead that would be fit for a shaft made from a god tree. During the polishing of the finished spearhead, he heard knocking at the entrance to the forge. Turning around, he saw Las'Tai standing there.
"Come on in, Las'Tai." He said as he put the straw whisk he was polishing the metal with, away. "What can I do for you, oh scaly one?"
She had to suppress a smile at that. "I had a question I wanted to ask?"
"Shoot," Eirik replied.d
"When your mother was angry at you, she slapped you. How is it that she can get away with that?" Las'Tai wanted to know. Even despite bonds of familiarity, Kloxna would have retaliated if they had been struck in such a manner.
"She is my mother, Las'Tai. Without her, I would never have been born. For that, she has my undying loyalty." Eirik was blunt and honest.
"But she struck you. In a manner that seemed quite demeaning, if you ask me." Las'Tai pressed the issue. She needed to understand. Was Terran loyalty so absolute that they would willingly take such an insult if it was deserved in the eyes of their loved ones?
"She did. But according to the way she raised me, she had every right to as some of my actions actively rebel against the teachings she tried to impress upon me as a child." Eirik thought back to the more carefree part of his life. Food, playing, sleeping. Life was simple and good. He had much to be thankful for.
"I see." Las'Tai didn't know what to think. On one hand, she could easily follow the logic. on the other, it had been a shameful thing to be subject to in public. And yet, Eirik did not seem to care about the insult. He even seemed to sympathize. Terrans were a mystery.
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Nearly a month had passed when Eirik received a call from David informing him of an incoming shuttle, headed for his cabin. According to official flight paths, it was said to arrive 15 minutes later. While the legality of Eirik's ship having access to the global flight path database was questionable at best, it was a law he was happy to break. Knowing when something was approaching you was always a good thing.
He went into the cabin and got his hunting rifle, checked the magazine, and chambered a round before taking out the magazine and replacing the round. Having an extra shot was something you could use to throw off the timing of veteran soldiers. With a standard 30.06 hunting rifle such as his, a potential enemy would expect him to shoot 5 times and then reload. having that extra shot would often leave them out of cover when you used it, thinking you were in the middle of reloading.
He moved outside and waited for the unknown intruder to arrive. No one knew of this place. This was his retreat from the universe. So who could it be?
He noticed with satisfaction that his brothers, upon hearing the news, had spread out around the clearing and different buildings and were in the process of hiding where they could without compromising their ability to see what was going on.
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10 minutes later, the shuttle came into view and started landing in the clearing. Eirik was standing in front of his cabin, rifle raised to his shoulder, waiting for the ramp to lower. As it touched down and 2 soldiers jumped down, he called out, "This is private property. Get back in your shuttle and leave immediately. Consider this your fair warning!" He aimed the rifle at the furthest soldier as he spoke.
"Lower your weapon!" Came to the response from both the soldiers, but they didn't raise their own.
Eirik sent a bullet ricocheting off of the shuttle close to the head of the furthest soldier. "I don't miss twice!!" He called again as he worked the bolt of the rifle with experienced ease. "I don't care who you are or what you want! You will leave IMMEDIATELY!"
The closest soldier raised his weapon as Eirik reloaded his rifle and he snapped his aim towards him and put a round in his shoulder. The loud *PING* told him that he had not penetrated the armor, but the force of the impact caused the soldier to spin violently, sending the assault rifle flying.
Working the bolt again, Eirik snapped his aim back to the other soldier, but a voice cut through the action.
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE EIRIK, STOP THIS LUNACY!!!" His grandfather walked out of the shuttle at a brisk pace, both his arms waving in the air as he yelled.
"Granddad?" Eirik lowered his weapon in surprise and was rewarded with the standing soldier immediately raising his in response.
"STAND DOWN SOLDIER!" Colonel Benny barked and the soldier reluctantly lowered his weapon and moved to check on his fallen brother-in-arms who was slowly getting to his feet while clutching his shoulder. "What the hell are you firing from that rifle?" He grumbled at Eirik.
"220-grain slugs for big game and unwelcome guests with no invitation. You 2 wait in the shuttle." Eirik answered with a gleeful smile. Turning his head to his grandfather he asked, "How did you find this place?"
"I started using the resources available to me," Benny replied smoothly.
"So what do you want?" Eirik was radiating displeasure at the old man's visit.
"Were you successful?" Unable to hide the hope in his voice, his grandfather went straight to the point.
"He was!" Came the voice of Peter from behind the 2 soldiers, still standing in front of the shuttle. The 4 brothers had silently walked up behind them, watching their grandfather disembark. The man that left them, prisoner...
The 2 soldiers yelled in surprise and whirled around while Benny was more composed. "My grandsons! You're back!" He said with his voice threatening to crack.
"No thanks to you!" Jonas shot at him. "Where were you? And why didn't you inform the family we were still alive?"
"I see Eirik has chosen the route of honesty," Benny remarked dryly.
"I chose the route of integrity!" Eirik said harshly, "I leave the 5 of you to talk. I got work to do!"
With that, Eirik walked into the forge and closed the door. He walked over to the spear that was ready for use. He picked up another straw whisk and continued polishing the blade to the sound of the heated debate outside.
He was very satisfied with the spear he and Mads had made. The shaft was thick and strong and the spearhead gleaming with deadly purpose. Runes praising Ull, god of the hunt, along with runes of power were shining in the metal, the shaft being richly decorated by Mads with an intricate pattern
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Hours later, a frustrated colonel left in a huff on his shuttle, Eirik's brothers staying behind, exhausted and angry. Things had not gone well. Years of imprisonment turned resentment had built up a wall that would take a very long time to break down.
Eirik came back out when he heard the shuttle take off. With spear in hand, he walked over to his brothers.
"What is the result of the talking?" He asked.
"Nothing." Came the short reply from Peter.
"Then how about coming to the smuggle station with Lasse and helping me with my plans?" Eirik suggested. While on bad terms, they would not work for their grandfather.
"We need to talk to mom and dad first." Said Matthias.
"Alright, How about going home with mom and dad for a week while I get some things sorted on the ship? I promise to come by before I leave again." Eirik had already thought of this as a possibility and planned accordingly. He also knew his parents wanted to get home to the farm.
"Deal." The 4 brothers said together. "I will keep working on that bow for you, Eirik. And if I can use this forge, I will make arrows at a later date." Mads added.
"We'll figure something out, brother," Eirik said with a smile. That same afternoon they locked down the cabins before Eirik flew them to his parent's farm and headed to his ship afterward. It was time to get busy!