"I am not granting you your life as it is not mine to control!" Eirik responded with clear annoyance.

"But... We must place our lives in the hands of the prophets! So decrees your messenger!" Narvik said nervously. This was not how he envisioned the race of the prophets to act. He thought his burning faith in their divine superiority would please them, but they seemed more annoyed than happy with him. Had he done something wrong?

"Who is this messenger you keep referring to?" Eirik demanded. He wanted answers and he wanted them now, but this unenlightened idiot in front of him made it severely difficult with his constant raving about a prophetic messenger. Pinching the bridge of his nose and breathing deeply, Eirik tried calming himself. It was not the.. Glorpil's.. fault that someone had broken the rules regarding pre-FTL species. Contacting and interfering with species at a premature time could ruin their cultural development forever and wash out any trace of individual traits the species might be had an inclination toward. "Listen, Narvik. I need to know who this *messenger* is. Can you tell me that?" He said in a softer tone.

"...He.. Is the messenger, Prophet. He has named himself after his purpose amongst the prophets, as is custom. He made sure to tell us all about it so we could be properly educated!" Narvik said hesitantly. This was not how it was supposed to go!! The messenger had promised him!!

"Can you describe him to me? And please, call me Eirik." Eirik said, trying hard to keep his irritation in check. This conversation was going in circles!

"Well... He is like you, but his face is different and his body has significantly more fat deposits. His hair is shorter and a different color. So are his eyes. hm... And he has a scar running here." Narvik traced a manipulator limb along Eirik's collarbone and up over the shoulder as he explained and Eirik's eyes narrowed.

"Dalle! Thank you, Narvik. However, I fear I might have to correct some mistakes in the way you see us. Fuck, this is going to be a headache I could really do without!" Sighing heavily, he looked down at Narvik again. "What were you even trying to find back there?"

"This!" Narvik said hurriedly and pulled out a piece of paper with a drawing on it. Eirik took it and recognized the technical drawing of an explosive charge. "I was supposed to find it and bring it to the room with the large glowing construction!!" Narvik was enthusiastic and happy as he described his horrible purpose. Planting an explosive charge on the ship's generator, setting off a chain reaction in the other ships parked on the dock. The resulting explosion would have torn the station in half, ensuring the death of most, if not everyone, on board.

While Eirik could appreciate the cold precision with which Dalle would have wiped out the threat Eirik represented, he could not ignore the potential loss of civilians. They had always disagreed on that, Dalle and Eirik. Dalle believed in *acceptable collateral damage* while Eirik refused to move on a target where civilians would die. He had only broken that rule once, and after he did that, Dalle had sold them out during the same operation.

"Narvik, were you informed what would happen after you completed your task?" Eirik said with a shaky voice.

"The messenger told me that I would be uplifted to the realm of the gods if I managed to do it. but you caught me... I can never ascend now..." His joy of talking to another prophet dimmed in the realization of his situation. He had failed. He would not be uplifted...

Eirik watched the strange alien change expressions several times before he started shaking uncontrollably and collapsed in a shivering heap on the floor, mumbling the same words over and over. "I failed... I failed..."

Eirik and the guards around him looked at each other in confusion and just waited for the people Eirik had summoned to arrive.

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Many hours later Eirik was sitting at a table with Las'Tai, Jeanette, and Knud."What is the situation with our new friend, Knud?" Eirik said tiredly. He just wanted to tour his ship before leaving again, not deal with first contact with a species that was nowhere near ready for it.

"As best I can tell, he seems to be fine, physically. Mentally, I am not so sure. From what you have told me and from his repeated words I can only assume Dalle has played upon some part of their religion, effectively establishing himself as the ultimate authority amongst their people by the role of a divine messenger. And from, Narvik did you call him? From his reaction, we can assume that getting caught have some dire consequences for whatever divine reward they are set to receive. I am at a loss as to what I can do here, Captain." Knud said.

"What about you, Jeanette? You had success in getting through to Las'Tai. Could you do the same here?" Eirik pleaded.

"I can try, Captain, but I make no promises," Jeanette said, sounding, as always, as if she was not fully present.

With another sigh, Eirik leaned back. "Put him in the ship's prison for now. We still leave tomorrow. Nothing is changed. Since we are going to find Dalle, and Dalle is the one that caused his being here, I think we will find his people when we find Dalle." Eirik rationalized before standing up. "Get some sleep everyone. Get ready to leave." With that, they left for bed, eager to get some sleep.

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The next day Eirik handed the control of the Empire over to his brother while he was away and gathered his crew. At Jesper's request, He had pulled Bjørn from the commando group and put him on Jesper's team while they were out. Freja had brought a long cloak to cover the plethora of knives she had arranged around her armor. Eirik had opted to bring his spear with him, He would make it a personality trait. Not being seen anywhere without it. would make him easily recognizable in the future. And, easier to disguise himself.

He gathered on the bridge with his command staff, now containing Las'Tai as well, mostly for her input and different way of thinking. Eirik could always use new approaches to problems. The smile on his face was infectious and everyone was excited to get out amongst the stars once more.

"Let's take her out. Fast and reckless, as always, David. We have been cooped up here for too long!" Eirik could not sit still and stood up from his chair. As they pulled out from the station, a collective cheer rang through the ship. They had all missed the void.

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Narvik was sitting in the prison cell if you could call it that. Compared to the wooden hut he was used to back home, this was... indescribable. The furniture was made of perfectly cut wood and a hard, cold material he had only seen on the messenger of the prophets. The food they had brought him had been very different as well. A mix of cooked roots and meat saw him satiated. Not that they went hungry back home, but this was a lean cut of meat. extremely tender and not at all like the meat back home. He would have to ask the secret behind it if he got the chance to speak to another prophet.

His meal was delivered by a very different creature, compared to the prophets. Shorter, skinnier, covered in gleaming scales and with a long maw filled with white sharp teeth. It seemed peaceful enough though and he was surprised that he was able to understand it when it spoke to him. Another wonder of the prophets, surely!

Eventually, he felt movement in the floor and saw the sky outside his window move. He was on a flying wagon with the prophets!! Perhaps he would be taken to their heavenly homeworld even though he failed!

He had come to terms with his failure but was still disappointed in himself. He had been trained better than that, but the excitement had prevented him from hearing the approaching footsteps. As he was munching on the food and staring at the star-filled sky outside in awe, he someone approaching his cell. Turning around, he saw the prophet that had caught him.

"proph--... Eirik.." Narvik caught himself "How may I serve?"

"Narvik." Eirik's voice was serious and he had a dark look on his face. "Do you know what would have happened to you, had you succeeded in your task?"

"I... I would have been ascended, to live on your heavenly homeworld!" Narvik stated after a moment of hesitation.

"You would have been killed, Narvik. Not by us, Not by anyone else, but by the very action you were trying to accomplish. You would have destroyed the station, the sky city. Killed everyone inside, including yourself. And you would never have known, as your death would have been faster than you could register." Eirik said, trying his best to communicate the seriousness of the situation.

"But.. No, that cannot be... The messenger would not.... Why would he want the destruction... You are lying.. this is a test of my conviction!!" Narvik started rambling to himself before clutching on to the only other possible explanation he could think of.

"Let me show you if you will not believe my words," Eirik said and held out a hand for Narvik to take through the bars of the cell.