Chapter Text
They brought her into an interrogation room. She only relaxed a little when Doktor Kirch came in. The Imperials used truth serums, didn't they? Though what fucken secret intel they thought she had, she couldn't figure.
"Sergeant Demir, you are pregnant."
She didn't know that word. They both referred to the translating compad.
"Bullshit." She brought her hand up to her mouth unconsciously, but the cuff jerked it short. She corrected, "Impossible. It's not just a stomach bug?"
"All the tests--"
But she wasn't listening, but visibly counting on her fingers with widened eyes. She went pale. "Shit. Goddammit. Shit fuck goddamm fucking--"
The doctor waited.
"My implant expired six months ago," she finally said.
"Implant?"
"Birth control implant."
If she had been hiding it on purpose, she was a good actress.
"I haven't had a regular period in years." She was in shock, and she seemed to realize it. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing.
He tried to sound very gentle. "Do you know the father? Is he a Rebel?"
She didn't answer.
"The fetus is three months. You were taken at the Battle of Alviss."
She made a small move to touch her belly. It was sentimental, but the gesture touched him and he didn't feel like drawing this out further.
"Is the father one of your guards? Is it Kommandant Alban Seikert? We need to know to pursue a court martial. We can take a genetic sample, but I don't have the equipment here."
There was an abrupt knock a bare second before the door was forcefully opened.
"How do you know it isn't a Rebel?" demanded Flottillenadmiral Reier. "What are you doing, playing detective? Just take the sample and present the test results to the military police."
"Three months is too dangerous," Doctor Kirch retorted. "That child is likely a subject of His Imperial Majesty. I have a responsibility to ALL of them."
"Then what's the point of your pretty little drama? If Seikert is responsible -- stay the fuck out, Seikert!" He seemed to regret his swearing as soon as it left his mouth, but he still pushed the man at the doorway back.
"If that IS my child--"
Reier's anger surged back, "Are you admitting it?"
Doctor Kirch turned back to the girl. This was his first pregnancy, a meaningful change from his usual cases, and he did feel protective because of that.
"Was it rape?" he asked gently. Reier had all but slammed the door shut in Seikert's face, and he was a little glad of it.
She still didn't look at him, but said deliberately in Imperial, "It was not."
Reier looked at her over his shoulder. "He won't marry you, you know."
She read the translation and shook her head. "I don't expect him to. Even if he is the younger son, I doubt his family of nobles would allow it."
"So you know he is a noble's younger son?" Kirch said.
Reier studied her a moment, though she didn't meet his gaze. "If she claims it was not rape--" Reier shook his head. "I'm still cutting his pay."
"In the interest of justice, take that and put it in trust for the child," the Doctor said. "Even if it grows up in an orphanage, it should have some consideration."
"The hell it's going to an orphanage," she said abruptly. "MY child is a citizen of the Free Planet Alliance. MY child will be repatriated."
Doctor Kirch shook his head. "Think of the child. How will you care for it in an internment camp? A child that is an Imperial subject will be provided for. There are also many who would adopt. It is better this way."
If possible, she went paler.
Reier opened the door to leave, and Seikert was still standing there. "I will marry her."
"Ridiculous."
"I'll marry her. Put her under surveillance, but I won't abandon my child."
"Is it yours?" Reier almost sneered.
Seikert looked past him. "Anika? Is it mine?"
She looked up, spoke in Imperial, "It is." She looked to the Doctor but had to revert to Standard. "Do the tests. It's his."
"I made a mistake," Seikert said to the room, "but my child won't suffer for it."