Eirik slowly woke up with a pounding head and little recollection of what happened last night. He moved to get out of his bed but realized something was weighing him down, and he lifted the blanket for a second before ripping it down again, covering Sif that was still sleeping, laying halfway wrapped around him in the bed, and everything returned to him in a flash. A myriad of memories and still pictures invaded his brain as he recalled everything.

He had been unhinged, the alcohol removing any inhibitions he might usually possess, and Sif had kept up every step of the way. Judging from the happy look on her face, he had not been a disappointment, and that thought both excited and shamed him. Why had he not remembered that the report was in the prison before it was too late? Why did he get drunk with others? Why did he fall for the oldest of all tricks, the song of the siren?

He knew he would have to face the consequences of this. The only question was...When...

If he played his cards right, it would be long enough that his child had been born. Hopefully, that would cement his and Freja's relationship enough that the revelation would not drive them apart. He sighed and gave up on getting out of bed before Sif, hoping she would turn over in her sleep, allowing him to get out without waking her up.

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Bjørn was panicking. He had woken up late and he was set to take over the prison shift this morning. Running late was a sure way to get in the bad grazes of the man you replaced and no amount of previous good deeds could take away from the precious off-time they were losing.

He made it only a few minutes late, changed the guard, and started doing the rounds. He liked prison work. It was quiet and orderly, and he never had any issues with prisoners since he was larger than all of them. And now, since Sif had become a prisoner, it had become a job he would even classify as nice. If there were more prisoners with her looks, they would not be permanently understaffed.

He always saved her cell for last, making sure he ended his rounds on a positive note, so to speak, but this morning, something was off. There was more bulk in her bed than there should be. He rapped the keys against the bars and spoke loudly "WHO IS IN THERE WITH YOU, PRISONER!"

Eirik's blushing face with his hair in a haystack was the very last thing he expected to peek out from under the blanket. Sif's mane of red hair followed and where Eirik looked embarrassed, she looked very pleased with the whole situation. Bjjørn immediately continued on his way and Eirik took the chance to jump out of the bed and grab his clothes.

"Aww, no time for cuddling?" Came the voice of Sif from behind him, seductive and inviting. The memories flashed through his mind once more and he had to work hard to keep control of himself.

"I got a ship to run and a traitor to kill!" Eirik answered bluntly as he pulled on the shirt. He did not need her getting any sort of idea about what this was.

"That's alright, I understand. Make sure your new plaything stays where you can access it at will." She purred as she got up from the bed, a blanket draped around her.

Eirik all but ran from the cell, locking it securely behind him after checking that he had all his things. As he passed the table where Bjørn was sitting, he looked at the giant of a man that was currently very deeply engrossed in his datapad. "Anything to report?" Eirik asked casually, as he would any other day he passed through.

"Morning rounds completed with no irregularities, captain," Bjørn mumbled as he tried making himself smaller.

"Good man," Eirik said, before lowering his voice to a mumble. "I owe you big for this!" And kept walking. He needed a shower. David would smell the deed on him. Hel, he felt like he was walking in a cloud that smelled like perfume, sweat, and shame. He also needed new clothes. He hoped he did not have to burn these. If that smell lingered, Freja would be able to tell what he had done with a single whiff of those clothes.

He reached his room without meeting anyone else and drew a big breath of relief as he locked the door behind him and immediately undressed, threw the clothes in the washer and started it on the highest temperature setting it had, and jumped into an equally hot shower.

15 minutes later he emerged, red as a crab and almost asleep from the heat of the water, but he felt clean. He quickly got dressed in a new set of clothes and ran a brush through his hair before he felt ready to face the ship and the crew. "David is probably going to figure it out sooner rather than later, but, cross that bridge when we get to it." He thought to himself as he opened his door, expecting to leave, but he found the way blocked. He looked down and saw Las'Tai, staring daggers at him in a way she had not done since he originally took her prisoner.

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Las'Tai was angry with Eirik. even angrier than she had been when he had been the prisoner of the Kloxna and he had mocked her from his cell. Terrans and Kloxna shared the idea of monogamous relationships, something Las'Tai had learned when one of Eirik's crew members had cheated on another. She had walked right up to the man in the cantina and slapped him across the face. When he started protesting she repeated the action, turned around, and did the same to the woman he had been unfaithful with.

This would have led to an all-out brawl between the 2 women if the rest of the people present had not intervened. Las'Tai thought she had seen Terran anger on the battlefield and especially in the males of the species, but the cold fury these 2 women had radiated, had kicked her own aggression levels into action. It was the same cold fury you would find between 2 high castes, vying for the same male. Someone dying was expected in such situations, so the Terrans' choice to separate the 2 had been a good one.

And now, last night as they celebrated Narvik's return to the ship, while everyone thought she had gone to sleep she had gone to the sauna instead. coincidently, Eirik's path through the ship had brought him close enough that she could hear his whistling and had become curious. In his inebriated state, he never suspected that she followed him, but she had witnessed everything. She liked Freja, both as a fellow crewmember and a friend and Eirik's actions would hurt her greatly. And since she was not here to confront him, she would have to do it instead!

"Las'Tai, why the angry face? Did someone win in poker?" Eirik asked in a chipper voice, a broad smile on his face.

"I saw everything!" She hissed and the effect of the words was remarkable to behold. One moment, Eirik was standing in front of her, his usual confident and unshakeable self. and before she could blink his face drained of color and his body stiffened like prey trying to blend into the background. Even his fingers started trembling slightly. She could smell the adrenaline flooding his system, drowning out the smell of endless terror.

The silence dragged on as she finally realized he was waiting for her to continue. He had no plan and was caught completely off-guard.

"How could you! And so soon after you announced that you are going to have a child with Freja!!" She said, pointing an accusatory claw at him. She expected rage, denial, pleading, and begging. What she didn't expect was him slumping his shoulders and getting a distant look in his eyes.

"I do not deny that what I did was wrong. But I also accept that I cannot change it. And to be completely honest, I needed it. I needed to get her out of my system. Better it happen while I'm drunk and my ability to make a rational decision is heavily impaired, rather than making an active choice to cheat on Freja... Then again... From children and drunk people shall you hear the truth. And the truth is that I desired her. I wanted her, Las'Tai. And how I have had her. Drunk or not, I got it out of my system, at least enough to maintain a proper distance from this point forward.

My brothers also recovered the last information we need, according to their report, so there is no reason for me to interact with her further until we drop her off in prison." Eirik said, almost folding in on himself as he spoke. What he said was true, or at least as close to true as he could get without leaving himself completely exposed. He still desired her, but he was also confident that as long as he stayed sober, he was in control of the situation.

"And that makes everything okay?" Las'Tai protested. She was not going to let him off the hook that easy!

"No, not at all. Nothing about this is okay, but it is what it is, Las'Tai. I will face the consequences of my actions, of that you can be sure. But I will do so at my own time and place! This whole business is my dirty laundry to wash, and I wash my clothes in private!" Eirik's voice had taken a sharp edge as the color started returning to his face. "I will not excuse myself and I will not lie to Freja. But there is a time for everything, and while pregnant she does not need the mental stress of this whole situation!"

Las'Tai was not intimidated, she knew Eirik well enough to understand he was just being defensive about her getting into his business. "Do I have your word, as a warrior and emperor, that you will own up to this mistake when the time is right?" She demanded, stomping her foot as she did. Her tail was swaying dangerously back and forth behind her, like a cat waiting to strike.

Eirik straightened up and extended a hand- "You have my word that I will own up to my actions when the time is right!" He declared as she grasped his hand with her claw. "Alright, but I still don't have to like this, or what you have done!" Las'Tai said full of defiance. She was disgusted by what Eirik had done and she wanted him to know that.

"Nor should you. I know as well as you, how horrible my actions are. But I regret nothing. And you will not mention this to the crew either. As I said, I was my clothes in private!" Eirik retorted and Las'Tai nodded slowly.

Letting go of each other's hands, Eirik spoke again. "Las'Tai, judge me all you want, but please do not treat me differently. It is not you I have wronged and you have no reason to treat me differently. How you feel and think is your business, but I still consider you my friend. I hope you still see me like that as well." With that, he pushed past her and walked toward the bridge with determined steps.

Still seething with anger, Las'Tai begrudgingly had to admit he was right. He had not wronged her, only a friend of hers. A friend that Eirik had a much more intimate, and older, relationship with. She was just disappointed. She didn't expect him to have that kind of petty flaw in his personality. But then again, the man was also bloodthirsty in combat, unrelenting when hunting, merciless if you cross him, and downright murderous when you threatened those he cared about.

Las'Tai was beginning to understand why he had sought to create his own empire. Only by being the ultimate power in his environment could he truly be himself. Being restricted by any rules that were not of his own making would slowly make his spirit wither. Most beings could live just fine in society, uncaring about who made the rules. Eirik was not such a being. He needed complete freedom to follow his own path.

It struck her just how complicated an individual Eirik was. He was a walking contradiction. He lived for battle, but valued family and peace above all. He wanted merciful justice across the galaxy but was ready to provide a swift death to anyone threatening the peace of the general population. He trained all his men for combat but demanded they were used for escort of convoys only. The more she learned, the more questions she wanted to be answered.

She decided not to spend any more time thinking about this and wandered off towards the entertainment room. She needed a reason to smile and there was always someone that thought they could win in poker against her.

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Sif was smiling as she got dressed. Eirik was running now, but he would return. They always did. For now, she would have to be patient. Not that there was much else to do in this accursed cell! She couldn't wait for Eirik to move her into his room instead of staying in this miserable place!

Lost in daydreams, she didn't notice the ship started moving.

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Eirik had finally found the hiding place of Dalle. FINALLY! 10 years of searching, hunting, bribing, torturing, and killing for information about the man was at an end. A small planet under Kloxna control, completely unremarkable on account of its lack of... anything, really. The only noteworthy thing was the large moon in orbit around the planet. Close enough for large weapon emplacements on the planet to fire effectively at any force attacking the growing defenses on the moon in question.

For the longest of times, Terra military command had thought the moon a staging point or training facility. But the only buildings that rose up were more bunkers, fortifications, and trenches. The few compounds that dotted the planet were spread far, each with their own growing rings of defenses. The perfect place for a coward to hide!

He had entered the coordinates, briefed the crew, and was not sitting in his chair on the bridge, making every effort to get them there as fast as possible. He had been denied completion long enough!