Eirik spent another day, lost in the bliss of being newly in love once more before duties called him back to the ship. He found himself looking back over his shoulder the whole way, hoping to see her once more. When he arrived, Signe was waiting for him. "Captain, that ship you had us haul back is marvelous!! What kind of ship is it?" She said as soon as he was within earshot.

"It's an experimental prototype, Signe. I want you to map it out completely, and make a blueprint over it. And do the same for any parts you are not familiar with, it's the height of Kloxna warfare research in regards to battles in space." Eirik said with satisfaction, "And when you are done, put it back together in fighting condition. Improve it if you can. It's a nice ace to have up our sleeve. Whatever people you need, speak to my brother about hiring them. We are staying for a month."

"A month, Captain?" Signe said with a hint of mirth in her voice.

"Yes, a month. Our recent activity is sure to see the Kloxna increase security dramatically. Besides, I got business here on the station I need to attend to."

Signe snorted, "Yeah, I'm sure you do, Captain."

"Hey, I got other things besides Freja. I have infiltrators out and about, I got a weapons smuggler working on a special delivery, the ship needs an overhaul, I promised you a new engine, the list goes on."

"New engine?" Signe had perked up at the words. Of course, THAT was where her focus was at.

"Yes, a new engine. But we need to wait until I have sold the ship we took. Did you file through the research database of the ship by the way??" Eirik had to stifle her excitement, or the money was spent before the paycheck arrived.

"Almost exclusively research data related to that ship, and military intelligence. Should fetch a high price." Signe was smiling. She knew there was a big bonus coming.

"Hang on to the research. I want it kept secret for now. Leave the rest for the sale." Eirik continued towards the bridge after this, arriving only a short while later with no additional delays. Settling into his chair, he started the grind of getting through the backlog of problems to fix. A few hours of work later, the door to the bridge opened and Freja walked in with a duffle bag over her shoulder.

An out of breath Jimmie was following close behind, struggling to take his eyes off of her. "She insisted on seeing you, Captain. I couldn't stop her." He blurted out as he entered the bridge.

"Good thing you didn't," Eirik replied before getting up and walking over to Freja. "What are you doing here?" He asked her.

"Looking for your room so I can get settled in. You paid for a bounty hunter so I will be on standby here on the ship until my services are needed." Her eyes were alive with mischief and trouble. She was loving every moment of his struggle between work and pleasure.

"I can show her!" Jimmie said. a little too eagerly as his eyes roamed over Freja again. Eirik had also noticed the angry face he put up when he realized she was here for Eirik.

"No need for that Jimmie, return to your post. I'm sure Jesper is wondering where you are. He should be doing his rounds by now" Eirik had turned his full attention to Jimmie, making sure the upstart boy did as he commanded. He didn't like the way he looked at Freja. Another reason to dislike the rebellious young man.

David, once we finish the last of the reports, announce a 1 month docking period. Let the crew properly relax, take time to visit family, whatever they want. But warn them to make their pay last, even with the bonus once it passes. I don't want broke sailors under me, not when I'm this generous. "

"Follow me, I will take you there" Eirik then said to Freja who smiled at him and followed him out the door. Despite the more than adequate soundproofing on the bridge, he could hear the laughter from his command staff. "Let them laugh," He thought to himself, "I have found my happiness again."

They soon arrived at his room and he opened the door and walked in. He was almost halfway through the room when he heard the door lock click behind him. As he turned around, The look Freja sent him only left room for a single thought "I'm sure work can wait a little longer..."

___________

The next month passed in relative peace. Reports came in of skirmishes between Terran and Kloxna ships with increasing frequency. On the ground, Terrans held the definitive advantage, but in space, Kloxna ships were more advanced than Terran ships. Both species knew, like any predator fighting another, that the first to open with an attack also leave themselves vulnerable to a counter. So the main fleets kept avoiding each other and simply circled each other, metaphorically.

The few ground battles there had been had shown beyond a doubt, that Terrans were the far superior fighters. But also that the Kloxna had the numbers to almost cancel out this advantage. They were an older species with many more planets under their control. In a war of attrition, It is not certain who would win. A clear edge was needed for any side to commit to anything more than large-scale border skirmishes.

During this time, Eirik's weapons supplier came through with a total of 5 of the ordered 9 mystery crates. Only Signe, Jesper, and Eirik knew the contents, and they did not plan on revealing anything. Eirik received several updates from the Infiltrators he had hired, Each message narrowing down the possible location of his brothers.

He spent a lot of time with Freja. Eirik was like a man dying of thirst that had finally found a life-giving pool of cold spring water. Freja moving into Eirik's room on the ship DID help solve the issue of him losing focus during work, as he now knew she waited for him when he was done for the day. His mood was lighter, He laughed and joked more and even took a milder stand on minor offenses.

If the crew had been unaware before, they were now keenly aware of Eirik being a very different man when in the company of Freja and they had collectively decided they liked her, if only for the fact that she made Eirik less strict as a Captain.

Freja was happy. As angry as she had been at Eirik, she had missed what they had together, and she was happy to experience that the love between them was still there. She had never planned on being angry forever. But his self-destructive tendencies had forced her to intervene sooner.

Not that she minded. She had not looked forward to waking up again when going to sleep for 6 years. Now, she was excited to wake up next to Eirik again. To turn him into a drooling idiot right before work, waiting for the moment he almost kicked down the door and jumped her. She had found his passion again, and she would keep it burning if she could.

The sale of the ship to the Terran government went through and Eirik could consider himself an extremely wealthy man. The intelligence on the ship had contained everything from troop movements and planned invasion targets to logistical information about the readiness of the Kloxna armed forces as a whole. Amongst the most treasured were the combat flight patterns their ships used in combat. This would give Terra the ability to work out effective countermeasures against conventional Kloxna tactics.

The crew was paid their bonus, as per usual, and they spent the month turning the smuggler station into 1 giant, neverending party. Eirik's brother, Lasse, was as happy as happy could be. For every transaction of currency, the station took a small amount in taxes and he was currently raking in money like it was going out of style.

one of the last days before they headed back out, Eirik received a message from one of the infiltrators and promptly went out to meet with the agent.