"Make sure we are not disturbed." Eirik's voice rang out and Jimmie wondered what it could be this time. He had not seen Eirik in many days, and to be frank he didn't miss the company.

The cell door rattled and Jimmie heard steps enter. He didn't care. Without removing his eyes from the window, he spoke. "What is it this time, Eirik? Torture? That would be pointless as I told you everything I know already.

Recruitment maybe? I would be no good as a spy, my life was forfeit the moment I gave you the first clue to finding Dalle. At this point in time, he will know you are on the trail.

Hmm., Could you be so petty as to engage in simple mockery? I would have put that beneath you, Eirik. Somehow, I thought you better than that. But if you must, then you must." With a theatrical sigh, Jimmie lifted both his hands in a defeated gesture.

"Shut up, Jimmie! I did not come here to suffer your bad humor!" Eirik snapped and sat down on the cot. "I came here to ask you a few questions."

"What questions could you have of relevance to me?" Jimmie snorted.

"What do you think will happen to you, once we return to the empire?" Eirik asked in a light tone.

"I will either be locked up forever, be handed over to Terra to be locked up forever, or be executed to have my remains buried forever. Not really a promising future." Jimmie counted his choices off on his fingers as he spoke and let his hand hang in the air when he finished. '

"Fatalism. I did not expect that from you, Jimmie. I would have thought you turning more towards unbridled rage." Eirik kept his tone light as if this was a regular casual conversation.

"What do you want, Eirik? I don't have the mood for your games." Jimmie said tiredly.

"Aww, you are no fun!" Eirik pouted for a moment- "Alright. I come to offer you a different punishment option. One that would lend you a certain...degree.. of freedom." Eirik said, watching Jimmie closely.

"And what kind of punishment would that be?" Try as he might, Jimmie could not hide the sliver of hope that crept into his voice.

"...Indentured servitude for life. You would be free in every sense of the word, except you cannot leave the planet unless under escort by soldiers I pick out myself. Otherwise, as long as you do your allocated work every day, you will be free to enjoy time outside of work however you please. Even earn a bit of pay on the side. I know how you like to live it up a little." Eirik laid out the offer and waited for an answer.

"..What is to stop me from leaving the planet unsupervised. Or from just not showing up at work?" Jimmie asked. Might as well be honest with Eirik, for once.

"You will be implanted with a tracker, to make sure you are on the planet. As for showing up at work, I doubt you want to mess with your overseer. She has grown into quite a personality, ever since she got her family business up and running. And you can trust me when I say they would run you down easily. And for good measure sake, the tracker WILL be outfitted with an explosive charge strong enough to rip you in half, if anyone tampers with the tracker." Eirik stated the facts plainly as if discussing the specs of a new tv.

Jimmie finally turned from the window and looked at Eirik. "You have given this a lot of thought. Why?" He demanded.

"Because, Jimmie, I do not believe that the way to punish people is to lock them away. It serves no greater purpose and the only breeds resentment in the guilty. I believe in serving the community. I know it is not much of a step up, Jimmie, but let's be honest here. Anyone else would have spaced you the moment they caught you. I believe you are very aware of the fact, that the only reason you are alive is because of my good graces alone. I also understand that what I offer is barely an offer at all.

But I offer you the chance to still be able to move around outside. Have a beer at the end of the day. Find a woman, fall in love, settle down with a family. I offer you a chance at life, Jimmie. Do you honestly prefer life in a cell, to that?" Eirik had gotten up and started pacing as he spoke. He would never admit it, but he was worried. Jimmie was reckless by nature. There was a fair chance that he might refuse, just to refuse.

"And who would be my guardian?" Jimmie asked after a long silence.

"Good, he is not against the idea," Eirik thought to himself. To Jimmie, he said; "Trasti's family. You would become a permanent worker on her farm, with the possibility of promotion, should you prove good at it. This will also make it easy to ensure I hear about it first thing if you step out of line."

"...I accept," Jimmie said, before turning back to the window and continuing to stare outside.

"Just like that?" Eirik said incredulously. The silence was his answer and Eirik spoke a final time. "I know it may not seem like much of an improvement, Jimmie. But maybe, you can find some sort of peace in life on a farm. It's a slow life, the same thing day in and day out. But it is very fulfilling for the soul. It gives a sense of purpose to living. I also ordered mandatory physical training for the rest of your imprisonment." With that, Eirik strode back out of the cell and locked the door behind him.

"Hate me all you want, Jimmie. But remember this. Instead of killing you, like I would have had all right to do, I chose to spare you AND grand you a certain level of freedom in your life sentence. I have treated you better than most people would treat a dear friend. Some appreciation would be nice!." Eirik called out as he walked down the corridor, and the words hung in Jimmie's mind.

Eirik was, of course, right.

_____________________________________

Narvik was waiting outside the prison area, having seen Eirik enter earlier. His curiosity had gotten the better of him and he had listened in on the conversation between Eirik and the prisoner.

imprisonment was not unknown amongst his people, though banishment was the common punishment. Only in extreme cases did they put others in prison. Murder and the like. He wondered what the prisoner had done to deserve such harsh words. When Eirik said he should have killed him, Narvik felt ill. What kind of crime could warrant such a punishment?

He was still standing next to the door when Eirik came back out. He didn't see Narvik, just rubbed a hand over his face and fished a small rectangular package out of one of his pockets, and withdrew a white stick with what looked like dried plant matter inside, before placing it in his mouth and lighting it.

"What is that, Captain?" He asked and Eirik, who had not seen him yet, got startled, inhaled sharply, and immediately went into a coughing fit, which caused Narvik to start panicking. Eirik tried getting it under control but failed several times. Finally succeeding, he wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at Narvik.

"Please, Narvik. Never scare me like that again. Especially not when I'm lighting a smoke." Eirik gestured to the white stick held between 2 fingers.

"But what is it?" Asked Narvik again, calming down slightly since Eirik was not about to die. He hoped.

"It's called a cigarette. It is dried tobacco leaves, wrapped in paper and lit on fire for Terrans to inhale the smoke. Very addictive and helps remove stress... once you are addicted. In all honesty, It's a bad habit I have when I feel stressed or confused. Changing the subject, can I help you with something?" Eirik smiled as he finished speaking.

"I was wondering, Captain. What had the being in there," Narvik pointed to the prison, "Done to deserve such harsh punishment?"

Eirik took a deep drag from the cigarette before answering, "In the near future, I will introduce you to a collection of Terrans. They will happily tell you what happened. I will not, as it is not something I speak of often. If you cannot wait, Go ask Las'Tai. She discovered it by mistake and I gave her the whole story. Just know, that his punishment is well deserved. He does not deserve the mercy I have shown him, but I have my reputation as an Emperor to think about. And executions are always a messy thing for a leader, something to be avoided. You want to be seen as merciful and forgiving. Someone the people can put their trust in."

Eirik stopped himself, realizing he was going off on a tangent. He sighed at himself and spoke again. "Swing by my room after dinner. I will explain more at that time. For now, I need to get back to work." Eirik started moving but stopped again. "Come to think about it, so should you." He said casually, before winking at Narvik and disappearing down the corridor. Narvik hurried to his next lesson with Jeanette, silently cursing himself for letting time go by without his notice.