Absalom West is feeling miserable after he and Maxine Vasser broke up, so he is drowning his sorrows in booze and telling his fellow bar patrons a story of when he and Max were still together... The SS Rocinanté has landed on the Klingon colony planet Kol'chak. West heads off to the see if he can scare up some work, while Max is left behind to babysit Gromit, who has been acting extremely cantankerously. Gromit promptly escapes and Max gives chase, but a Klingon animal control officer catches Gromit, who is acting viciously, and takes him to the processing center.