The deputies were too far away to react to the dock worker flying through the air toward Eirik, knife pointed forward to slide in between the helmet and shoulder armor. Eirik had started turning around as the man yelled at him, but he was not fast enough and the man was approaching him too fast.

2 loud bangs followed immediately by 2 small explosions sent the attacking man crumbling to the floor, with most of his torso missing, sprayed across the floor behind him. He was dead before he reached the floor. The rest of the dockworkers stood still in horrified silence, unable or unwilling to accept the death of their friend.

Jesper stepped in front of Eirik with his shield arm raised, pointing at the dock workers. "Great security you have here, commander." The sarcasm was dripping from Jesper's voice. "I suggest you remove these men from my Emperor before I turn them into smear marks on the floor!"

"What the hell kind of ammunition are you using?" The station commander asked Eirik, completely ignoring Jesper's request. Not that it was needed, they were already sprinting away as fast as they were able to.

"High explosive shotgun rounds. I figured, if my men need to start shooting, I want them to be able to remove any and all problems present, regardless of cover." Eirik said, unable to keep humor out of his voice.

"How can you be so casual about the death of a man?" The commander continued. "I knew him! He had a wife and kids. We play dice after work!"

"Commander. If you really know who I am, you also know why I can be so casual about the death of a sentient being. Shit, my old unit more than likely terminated more sentient beings than there are present on this station. And while I feel for your loss and his family's loss, I feel nothing but gratification about him dying. He was an idiot that placed his own opinion above the law and attempted to attack a foreign dignitary And as a result, suffered the consequence." Eirik took the time to explain himself.

Not because he felt the commander deserved it, but he saw the advantage of not pissing the man off more than he already had. There was also his personal friendship with the late idiot to consider. Losing a personal friend could make even the most logical of men act irrational.

For a moment, the station commander was locked between avenging his friend and remembering his duty. In the end, Duty won the internal conflict and he looked at Eirik with disgust. "Get the fuck off my station!" That was all he said before he turned around and gestured to the deputies to follow him after they covered the body of the dead man.

With a deep exhale Eirik turned back to face Jesper who had not lowered his shield arm for the duration of the conversation. "I need to message Terra as soon as possible!" Eirik said and strode toward his ship. Jesper followed, watching the entrance for any threats that might poke their head around and try to attack them.

No-one turned the corner and they entered the ship without any more interruptions.

________________________

Back on the ship, Eirik gathered his command crew in the conference room to discuss their next move.

"Alright people, how did the search go?" Eirik asked as everyone got seated.

"Dalle bought significant amounts of military gear. Everything except weapons." Knud said with Jesper nodding in agreement.

"He was recruiting heavily during his stay here," Bjørn added.

"Good," Eirik said as he leaned back in his chair. "I stumbled upon some information that will help us greatly. I have found out which sector of space he keeps returning to. Admittedly, there are at least 35 different solar systems in the sector and he could go to any of them. but 35 solar systems to search is a hell of a lot better than literal billions of star systems.

So, we are setting a course for the Chiros sector."

"The Chiros sector?? Eirik, you know that intergalactic law forbids entry into that system!" Jeanette interjected."Even with your new title, you cannot ignore that law!"

"You forget, Jeanette, that law only applies to those that signed it. To my knowledge, I never signed the agreement, making our entry into the system technically legal."

"The galactic community will never allow that Eirik! By the gods, you cannot keep crossing the lines because it fits your agenda, Eirik!" Knud chimed in, "Even with your own Empire, it is still small and rather insignificant compared to the older and more established Empires. YOU ARE NOT A DEMIGOD, EIRIK!" Knud was resting his hands on the table as he loomed over it.

"...Do the rest of you feel the same way? Do you think I believe myself a demigod?" The question was innocent enough, but everyone present knew Eirik well enough to understand the tone of voice he was using. He was getting ready to decision, for better or for worse, and their answers dictated Eirik's response.

"'Rik, you know we don't. But you have to admit, some of your later ideas do raise questions about your intentions." David answered for the group. If anyone could tell Eirik the harsh truth without risking alienation, it was him.

"My intentions are the same as they have always been, David. The continued thriving of the people I love. If that means I have to become a darker person, so be it. I am no longer a Captain with responsibility for a few hundred lives. I now carry the responsibility for close to a million lives, spread out over 12 planets. And we continue to grow, according to the reports I get from Lasse.

Knowing this, I have to make choices that may seem extreme and hasty, but I make them with the interests of the people under my care, in mind. If you do not like that, tell me now, and we will find some way to fix it. I would hate to let anyone of you go. You have served me loyally and I consider you all to be dear friends. But if it rubs your sense of morality and justice the wrong way, I think it would be better to stop here and part ways. I do not wish to be the cause of your unhappiness."

Eirik got up as he spoke and when he finished, he moved towards the door. "I will leave you to discuss it amongst yourselves. My presence will more than likely prevent you from speaking brutally honest about this." With that Eirik left the room and they all fell silent as they heard his boots connect with the floor as they disappeared down the corridors.

"Great fucking job, Knud. Why don't you just call him serial killing lunatic while you are at it?" Jesper snorted, but Knud expected this verbal assault.

"Just because you have the empathy of a teaspoon and a bloodlust to match Eirik's, suddenly I am the bad guy here" Knud retorted.

Signe, who had said nothing during the short meeting, got up from her chair and walked over to Knud. "You were out of line Knud. This is the first time in all my years with Eirik that he has EVER left us to finish the meeting by ourselves! Just because he has faith, you accuse him of what is akin to blasphemy. And for what?? Answer me that Knud. What was the point of that little stunt?"

"Someone has to keep him in line when his ego gets inflated and he starts breaking the law left and right!" Knud was angry, but Signe had hit a sore spot. He had gone too far, but he refused to admit it.

"Bullshit!" The voice came from Jeanette and it made everyone freeze for a moment. Jeanette never cursed. "By saying he fancies himself a demigod, you indirectly accuse me of not only feeding that thought but actively worshipping him as a demigod, since his faith is mine, as mine is his." Jeanette rose from her seat and stared Knud down."So I have nothing more to say to you until both Eirik and I have been given a formal apology!"

"Not even in a medical emergency?" Knud said with a hint of mirth in his voice. Jeanette, who had turned away after voicing her opinion, stopped and slowly turned back to Knud.

"I would rather die, you nasty, horrible excuse for a Terran!" She snapped at him before storming out of the room. Knud sat with his mouth hanging open and stared at the remaining people in the room. Signe was the next to rise from her seat, followed by Las'Tai, who had been observing the entire situation with what could best be described as abject terror. Eirik had hidden it well, but Knud had hurt him badly.

"Knud, I am not Terran nor do I claim to understand you very well. But even amongst Kloxna, what you just did would be considered extremely dishonorable and unbefitting behavior for an adult. Your actions have shamed you, the Captain, and the rest of us in this room. At the moment, I can think of no reason to respect you as an individual." With that, Signe and Las'Tai left the room.

"Knud, I might not agree with Eirik's choices all the time. I might even go so far as to say, some of his more recent actions are downright disgusting to me. But I never doubted his intentions!! He has always kept our interests in mind when he did something, and don't you fucking dare say otherwise, old man." David had very uncharacteristically raised his voice. This, more than anything, seemed to shock Knud out of his righteous anger.

"You fucked up, Knud. You fucked up big time. And I am not sure I will forgive you for that. Eirik has treated us all well, you more than most. Or do you think it is by coincidence that you were allowed to stay after Eirik discovered that you were his grandfather's spy? All of us voted to throw you out of the nearest airlock and use the engines on your frozen corpse.

All of us, except Eirik. He overruled us and not only allowed you to stay but let you keep on doing what you have been doing all along. Shit, he didn't even revoke your access to the computer system, allowing you to keep spying on him. And now you repay him by calling him delusional to the point where he thinks himself godly. Do you even feel shame about this? or have your double life messed so much with your head that you consider this sort of accusation to be justified?? Normal?" Jesper was cleaning his nails with a combat knife while he spoke and he sheathed it as he finished and got up to leave.

"Jesper." Knud started by was cut off by Jesper. "YOU DO NOT GET TO SPEAK TO ME UNTIL YOU HAVE FIXED THIS SHIT OR SO HELP ME, I WILL SKIN YOU WHILE YOU ARE STILL ALIVE!" Jesper pulled the knife back out and slammed it down on the table to emphasize his words before turning back to the door and finally leaving. That just left David and Knud in the room.

Knud looked to David who slowly rose from his seat. Before he left, he raised a middle finger to knud. "Fuck you, Knud. Eat a buffet of dicks. Then go behave like an adult and clean up your mess!"

The silence in the room after David left felt constrictive to Knud. How could he have misread the others so badly? He just wanted Eirik to be a good and proper leader, not a lawbreaking idiot that was little better than a bandit king!

But for all his anger and fury, a tiny voice in the back of his mind was scolding him. Saying he had overstepped and instead of admitting fault, he had doubled down and chosen to die on a hill that was not worth defending.

Knud suddenly felt very old and very alone, sitting in the empty conference room.