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A lone figure carefully wrapped in a dark green cloak with the hood pulled up walked down a massive and yet dimly lit hallway. The tap of each footstep they took echoed eerily along the long hallway. But other than to briefly tighten their grip on the cloak and thus keep their face hidden, the figure continued moving towards a set of lights in the distance flanking an equally massive door.

As if in anticipation of their arrival the massive doors swung open, without hesitation the figure entered the room heading straight for the stand in the center of the room. Floodlights from above illuminated the figure while leaving the rest of the huge room in darkness. The doors swung shut with a loud clang and a voice from an alcove in shadow spoke.

“Are you prepared?”

“I am.” The figure responded.

“Do you foresee any problems?” The voice countered.

“None,” the figure replied. “But I do have a concern.”

“Explain.” The voice demanded.

“Why do you permit Sandra to wear the colors of a candidate for the High Council? Her failure in regards to both Nathan and the humans who were taken from her ship is an indication that she is far from worthy.” The figure said.

“For the same reason we did not execute you for failing to realize that Nathan was a member of the resistance when he was under your command. Discarding one who is useful while they are still of use is foolhardy. You would do well to remember that.” The voice admonished.

The figure bowed in acknowledgement. “I understand, so when do you want me to start?”

“When Sandra, Jared and Crystal are finished, that will be your cue to begin.” The voice replied.

“Very well, I trust the necessary transfers have been made?” The figure asked.

“It has already been done.” The voice replied.

The figure bowed deeply towards the alcove in the shadows. “Then I will leave at once to get into position.” The figure turned and left, the doors once again opening automatically and then closing once they had left the room.

“Are you sure we aren’t rushing things?” One of the voices asked.

Another replied. “Of course, do you really want to let things continue the way they have?”

“Of course not!” The voice replied.

“Then stop questioning our decision and wait and see.”

The voices fell silent.

Sandra’s shift had ended hours ago but Jared was still up on the bridge reviewing the details she had sent him in regards to his assignment once they reached Earth. This time around it seemed that he had a time limit for completing his task. He pulled up the additional reports of the operatives that had been assigned to Earth a few months ago. Other than to confirm that Jason’s sister Sara was still there, they had been keeping their distance, so far they hadn’t detected any signs that the resistance had contacted her, but their final notes indicated that they couldn’t be positive on that.

Jared sighed at the obvious incompetence of the report. So many details were missing that it was like a child had written the report and not an agent. He pulled up a secondary file and quickly prepared a report and sent it off requesting more specific information. If those fools don’t answer those questions immediately I’ll be sure to correct their stupidity. He thought to himself. Jared hated dealing with operatives he himself did not select and train.

A beeping noise sounded alerting him incoming information. He shut down his reports and looked up to see what it was. The helmsman was busy checking information that was displayed on the panel in front of him. A moment later he spoke.

“Sir, long range scanners have detected another ship in hyperspace entering sector thirteen.”

Jared raised an eyebrow at that. According to Sandra’s information there shouldn’t be anyone cleared to enter this area of space.

“What type of ship is it?” he asked.

“It’s an independent merchant sir.” He responded.

“Hail them.” Jared said.

The helmsman sent out the message a moment later the main screen came to life. The commander’s seat was empty and only one person was on the bridge of the small merchant ship. Unkempt and dressed in plain clothes along with dirty blonde hair the man was obviously not a member of the merchant guild.

“Ah sub-commander, what can I do for you?” The man asked.

Jared narrowed his eyes and then spoke. “Drop out of hyperspace immediately and get your commander. I expect a full explanation as to why you are in a restricted area.”

“Restricted area? But..” the man started to say and then stopped. “Understood sub-commander, I’ll get Commander Darren immediately.” The transmission ended and the main viewer switched back to one of the ship traveling in hyperspace.

“The ship has dropped out of hyperspace sub-commander and come to a halt.” The helmsman spoke up.

“Bring us out of hyperspace and alongside their ship, in defensive posture.” Jared said.

“Defensive sir?” The helmsman asked puzzled. It was just a merchant ship wasn’t it?

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Jared said icily.

The helmsman paled. “Sorry sir, at once sir!” His finger faltering at first and then flying as he quickly issued the command that would bring the ship into position. Though why they were assuming a stance as if they were going to board the ship made no sense to him.

Jared ignored the helmsman once it was apparent that he was following orders and contacted Sandra. A moment later she appeared on the small screen built into the armrest of his seat.

“What is it Jared?” Sandra asked the moment she realized who had contacted her.

“An independent merchant ship has entered this sector.” Jared explained.

Sandra cocked her head to the side as if considering what Jared had just said. “Interesting,” she finally replied. “I’ll be there in a moment.” The screen went blank.

Jared looked back up at the main viewer and watched as their ship came along side the smaller merchant ship.

Darren groaned at the persistent buzzing coming from the computer terminal next to his bed. He looked briefly to see that it hadn’t quite been six hours since he initially lay down. With a snarl he threw the blankets off and sat up to answer the call, cussing under his breath. If this is another one of Mike’s pranks, he thought, I’m going to clobber him!

He opened up the channel fully prepared to give Mike an earful only to stop at his worried expression.

“I was about to come and wake you myself!” Mike said urgently. “We’ve got a big problem here.”

“What’s the trouble?” Darren asked.

Mike scowled a bit, “It’s the damn military! The battle ship Crimson is claiming that we are in a restricted area. They’ve ordered us to stop and they’ve taken up a defensive posture, they’ve got their whole arsenal aimed right at us!”

What the hell? Darren thought. Why in the world would the Military attack them? And why did the name Crimson sound so familiar?

“Darren?” Mike asked after a moment had passed.

“Pull up the permits for this trip, then go and get cleaned up.” He ordered.

“You want me to go get cleaned up? What for?” Mike asked puzzled over Darren’s order.

“Just do it dammit!” Darren snarled before shutting off the transmission.

There was something important about the name Crimson, something that he had heard about a while ago. But he couldn’t remember what it was. Quickly he searched the computer for information on the battle ship Crimson. A few seconds later it pulled up an official announcement by the High Council naming Sandra, the commander of the battle ship Crimson as an official candidate for a seat on the High Council.

But that wasn’t what he was thinking of, he read further looking for information on who served on the Crimson. A name popped out at him, Jared. He winced. That was what he was thinking of. The cold-hearted sick bastard named Jared. He served on the Crimson. Darren swore. Of all the ships to run into why did it have to be the one Jared served on? There wasn’t a merchant alive who didn’t know about Jared.

He turned the computer off and quickly got ready, dressing in his best clothes, which wasn’t really saying much. A type of gray tank top that was high on the neck and sleeveless along with a pair of black pants that he only wore when needed. Everything else he had was frayed and worn. Darren took a brief moment to look at himself in the mirror. Other than the company badge on the collar of his shirt he didn’t look anything like a commander of a merchant ship. At least I took a shower before I went to bed, he thought.

Darren sighed as he left his quarters and headed towards the bridge. He entered to see that Mike had pulled up the information as it was displayed on the main terminal next to his seat. And just as he had said, the battleship Crimson was face to face with them the main screen also highlighted with the red tinge indicating that they had their weapons trained on them. He looked at the numbers that ran down the side of the screen, nearly everything on the Crimson was hot and ready to fire.

Darren took a deep breath and hailed the Crimson.


-------

OCC: I hope you don't mind that I gave your ship the name Crimson Crystia. If you had something else in mind just let me know and I'll edit it.

Daniel was about to leave the apartment he shared with Kim when a beeping noise came from his long-range communicator. Surprised he opened it up to see who was attempting to contact him; he wasn’t due for another update or check in for at least another week. Cleverly disguised as a portable DVD player Daniel opened it up and inserted the disk that would bring up the prompt for him to enter the password. A minute later the screen came to life. It was William, the one who was responsible for saving him from being executed and then recruited him to work for the resistance.

“Ah Daniel, I’m glad I caught you. I will be arriving at Earth in less than an hour.” William said.

“What’s happened?” Daniel asked.

“I have it from a reliable source that the Military is finished with the upgrade on the their encryption programs. Just the other day they placed sector 13 under a restricted status. Also, the battleship Crimson and the Tempest are both being sent to Earth even as we speak.” William explained.

“I see,” Daniel replied.

“There’s more, the High Council has issued a bounty for Jason’s sister Sara as well.”

Daniel swore. “Damn! We have to get her out of here before the ships get here.”

“Agreed, for now I’ve delayed the Crimson by hacking the approval system and giving clearance to an independent merchant ship on its way to sector twelve. At the moment it looks like they have taken the bait as they have stopped them for being in a restricted area. But it won’t take them very long to realize what’s happened.” William explained.

“I’ll go and get both Kim and Sara immediately,” Daniel replied.

“No, wait there for me, I’m bringing some help.” William ordered.

“Help? Help for what?” Daniel asked, puzzled as to what William meant.

William smiled, “Apparently Sara’s a bit of a spitfire and is more likely to make a scene and attempt to beat the crap out of you if she doesn’t feel like coming along. So I’ve brought some people with me who will convince her to come with us. So stay put and once we arrive we’ll go and pick her up.”

The transmission shut down. Daniel removed the disk and turned the power off. Just who was the help that William was referring to?

There was a message waiting for Crystal when she woke up. It wasn’t tagged as urgent so instead of immediately seeing what it was, she ignored it in favor of taking a quick shower to wake up. She sighed, since she had taken command of the Tempest she had quickly learned that quite a few of the messages sent her way could have easily been handled by her sub-commander. Maybe other commanders enjoyed handling all the details, but she did not. Once she was finished with her current mission she was going to make sure High Command knew exactly how much she felt her current position was a waste of her time.

Once she was finished and had gotten ready for the day, yes another boring day of sitting on the bridge instead of working in sickbay, she went over to the computer terminal by her bed to see what the message was. It was from High Command, puzzled as to why it wasn’t tagged as urgent she opened it up and began to read. Her eyes opening wide with surprise as she read it. They want me to do what? She thought. Are they stupid? Why her? And why Earth? Good grief!

“Stupid damn military idiots!” She muttered under her breath as she sent off her reply indicating she had received her orders. She thought about it for a moment and then sent another reply detailing the problems with the order they had just given her. If those idiots really want to do research along that nature, they need to let me pick the candidates to ensure a more broad and valid response. She thought irritably. Obviously who ever had issued those orders knew next to nothing about genetics. With a sigh she sent the second message and turned her terminal off.

Crystal left her quarters and headed for the bridge, nodding politely to the crewmembers that greeted her. She could see it in their eyes, the same doubt she herself felt, wondering why a doctor was in charge of a battleship instead of a medical one. About the only good thing was that since she was no longer working in sickbay she could devote a lot of her time spent on the bridge to reading up on medical journals and all the current changes. In addition to reading up on tactics and other aspects of command as well, she didn’t think she would need it, but she’d rather not look totally ignorant to her sub-commander.

At the last moment she remembered she needed to stop by sickbay and talk to Alex before going to the bridge. She needed to give him some specific instructions from High Command and she’d rather tell him in person instead of simply forwarding the information. If nothing else it would calm her nerves to talk to him, as he would at least understand her misgivings in regards to her new assignment.

Royce was standing in the smoldering ruins of his home, mourning the loss of his beloved dog. Somehow the fire had started and spread quickly, killing not only his dog, but the many plants and birds that lived around the perimeter of his former shelter. Amazingly Royce's shed was stilll intact, and naturally Royce decided that the best thing to do right now would be the grab his shovel and give Buddy a proper sendoff to Heaven, because lord knew that that dog wasn't going to Hell.

"Well Buddy, it was fun while it lasted. I loved you as if you were my own son, but thankfully your now in a better place .. better than I could have ever provided for you."

He might have burst into tears if not for the excruciating noise that filled his ears, causing him to drop down to his knees and wrench his head back and forth as if he were being possesed. Royce had forgotten that it was almost 5:00, about the time that the Versilan's normally ran their scan of the planet, checking for god knows what. He wished that they used a less lethal system, but it had been this way ever since he was little. He was used to it by now.

"Ah, the benefits of living in Sector Twelve."

Royce would have been out of this hell hole by now, if not for the excuse that the only race capable of space travel were the Versilans. There used to be other races that had the technology, but alas, they had all been destroyed by the mighty empire. He shook his head in shame that he had let something like this happen, and then walked off into the woods in the direction of town, hoping to find somewhere to stay for the night. If he only knew how this fire had started, then he could do something about it. If only.

William waited patiently as his ship slid into orbit around Earth’s moon, in a few minutes they would be in position for the transport door to be opened. Not that they needed to hide behind the moon since the very nature of their shields would render their ship invisible to the technology of Earth, but there would be a small window where for a few seconds they could be spotted manually. In the past that wouldn’t have mattered, but now, any agent of the Empire would be able to put two and two together and realize what was going on if reports of a space ship were to be reported on Earth.

He sighed and got up to head to the transport room. He hadn’t bothered to tell either Jason or Celestia yet that he wouldn’t be coming with them. He had gotten a message earlier this morning that a number of his operatives in Sector twelve had been executed. A number of them had found some good potential members of that world to join the resistance and he needed to find out if they were still alive. He already sent a message to a merchant currently at that world to pick up any stragglers if they could do so without attracting attention to themselves. After all it wouldn’t do to expose them too.

Once he dropped off both Jason and Celestia he had agreed to go and meet them, he just hoped that the investigation by the Crimson took long enough for him to get back in time to pick up the others along with Jason and Celestia. He had been against them coming along in the first place, but both of them had insisted. And unlike the Empire, William wasn’t about to force them to do things his way. Especially since they had agreed to wait as long as they did before coming back to Earth.

William entered the transport room to find both Jason and Celestia waiting for him.

“Open up the door at this location.” He said giving the operator the coordinates. He turned back to Jason and Celestia. “I can’t go with you, something else has come up. I’ll be gone for at least a week before I can get back to pick everyone up. I’ve delayed the Crimson so there should be plenty of time. Get your sister Jason and then lay low and wait for my signal when I return.”

Celestia and Jason nodded, both of them knew better than to ask William for the details. He was kind to them, but never told them more than they needed to know.

“I understand, we’ll see you when you get back.” Celestia said. She took a hold of Jason’s hand and together they walked through the door of light that would transport them down to the planet.

The moment they were through the door closed and William pulled out his hand held device calling the bridge, “Set a course for Sector twelve immediately, maximum speed.”

“At once Commander,” the helmsman replied.

William shut the communicator off and headed back to the bridge. I hope I didn’t make a mistake by leaving them there. He thought to himself.

Jared pulled up the information on the merchant ship while he waited for both Sandra and the Commander of the other ship to contact him. It only took a moment to pull up the information along with the most recent photo of the Commander. He skimmed the report catching the highlights:

Darren Anderson, age 60. President and founder of Anderson Shipping took over his father’s position when he retired thirty years ago and broke off to form his own company. Along with his only employee Mike he mainly deals in shipping the crystals used for most of the basic equipment in Versilan goods. Darren is also known for occasionally handling special requests for shipping and has the necessary training to package and ship arms.

The rest didn’t interest Jared, what did was that he actually had clearance to handle arms. That type of permit was very difficult to get and rarely handed out to an independent merchant. He initiated a scan of the ship only to be met by distortions. But that was nothing to be concerned about. If he really were transporting the crystals essential to their technology, he would have to have a type of force field running to protect them from themselves as too many in one location would be an issue. If he really wanted to know for sure what his cargo was he’d have to actually transport over to take a look.

Jared turned to look at the sound of the bridge doors opening and closing. Sandra, complete in full uniform of the blue and silver only a candidate was allowed to wear, entered and sat down at her seat.

“So what’s the deal Jared?”

“I’m still waiting on the Commander of the ship to respond. Since the records indicate that there are only two crewmembers I am assuming that he was probably resting. Their current flight path would indicate that they came from sector six and are actually on their way to sector twelve. I would have chalked it up to bad timing to be passing through part of sector thirteen, but if they left immediately after getting clearance, that would mean they got clearance for their shipment at least ten hours after the restrictions were put in place.” Jared replied.

“I see, then they should have been diverted around sector thirteen instead of crossing though part of it. That means they are up to something, or just stupid enough to try and save a few days by bending the rules. What else have you found out?” Sandra asked.

“I sent off a request to the station in sector six that would have issued the clearance, but it will be a little while longer until they reply.” Jared paused as a beeping noise sounded indicating that the merchant ship was hailing them. He spoke again before the helmsman could indicate whom the message was from. “Put it on the main viewer.”

“Yes sir.” He replied as he opened up the transmission.

A man dressed in a gray type of tank top and black pants, his only indication of rank the company badge on his collar was standing in front of the commander's seat of the bridge of the merchant ship. The picture in his profile didn’t do justice to his striking good looks, full short wavy blonde hair and silver eyes so pale they almost appeared to be a light blue. He bowed deeply towards Sandra before speaking.

“Commander, how may I be of assistance?”

Sandra replied, “You can start by sending me a copy of the transmission giving you clearance to be in this sector.”

“At once,” Darren relied even as he sat down in his seat and then punched in the command to send over the information.

Sandra ignored him while she glanced though the information. It was as she thought; his clearance had been issued well after the restriction had been issued. Either he had been foolish and altered it, or someone had messed up. There just wasn’t any reason why an independent merchant would have been given clearance. She looked back up at Darren to see him patiently waiting for her answer. Carefully making sure to devote his attention to her and her alone.

“I’m going to send my sub-commander Jared over to your ship to check your cargo while I verify your clearance Commander Darren. You should not have been given clearance for this sector and I will be required to verify that you are indeed who you claim to be.” She informed him.

Darren paled at the thought and he controlled it well, but not enough that Sandra didn’t notice it. The question now; was it nervousness over Jared, or something else? She continued, “I trust you have no objections?”

“I do not Commander, I along with my crew Mike will signal you shortly from our transport room. I’d prefer to avoid a random transport due to the nature of my cargo.” He replied.

“Agreed, you have ten minutes to comply.” Sandra replied.

“At once Commander.” Darren replied before shutting down the transmission.

Sandra turned to Jared, “Take some security with you, my instinct is that Commander Darren is innocent, stupid perhaps, but something doesn’t feel right. I find it hard to believe that one who is so accomplished for their age would be so foolhardy to toss it away on the chance to save a little time.”

“Understood Commander, I’ll assemble a team at once.” Jared replied before getting up and leaving the bridge. He opened his handheld communicator and issued the request for a security squad of four. Then he made his way to the equipment room to pick up a portable scanner along with anything else he might need.

Sara watched the last of her students leave before turning back to ponder her reflection. She ran her finger along the scar on her left arm from a knife wound she received over a year ago. She had been attacked after attending a play with her brother. He had left for home and her attacker had been waiting for her near her car. Later Sara learned the man who attacked her had been stalking her for over 3 months. She had never understood why he thought she wouldn’t fight back especially considering her martial arts training. Oh well, she thought, at least he was easy enough to subdue.

Sara turned around when she heard the chime from the front door being opened. She smiled at Kim as she walked towards her. “You’re early.” Sara said.

“I know, I needed to talk with you before we joined the others for dinner.” Kim replied. “I wanted to hear the story about the new guy in the class that you’ve been watching.”

Sara blushed. “You never miss anything do you?”

“Well, if I wasn’t married I might go after him myself.” Kim said with a wink.

“He’s eye candy for now since I don’t know much about him yet.” Sara said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Kim chuckled. “Actually the real reason I’m early is there’s someone I want you to meet. If that's okay with you, I’ll call and let them know we might not make it to dinner.”

“Is he cute?” Sara asked.

“Oh definitely.” Kim answered. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

“Why not? Let me grab my things and we can go.”

Sara was surprised. Since she had met her Kim hadn’t talked about other friends and her husband was the only person she had introduced to Sara. This should be interesting.

You should not have been given clearance for this sector and I will be required to verify that you are indeed who you claim to be…the words still echoed in Darren’s mind as the transmission was terminated. But even more so the words I’m going to send my sub-commander Jared over to your ship were foremost on his mind. Angrily he slammed his right hand down on the console, swearing under his breath ignoring the sudden pain as the edge of the console dug into the side of his right hand where he had slammed it down.

Frustrated he got up to go and collect Mike and head for the transport room, resisting the urge to smash something else. He didn’t have to go far as Mike was just outside the door to the bridge on his way to join him. With yet another startled oath Darren managed to sidestep him to avoid crashing into him, reach out and grab Mike by the left ear, ignoring his startled yelp and drag him along a few steps before letting go.

“What the hell was that for?” Mike said angrily.

“Mike, how many times have I told you to pay more attention to politics?” Darren countered.

“Darren,” he replied with a whine in his voice, “You know I hate that stuff!”

Darren turned his back on Mike and began to head towards the transport room.

“Hey! Don’t be mad!” He called out as he hurried to keep up with Darren. “Come on! Talk to me!”

“Jared Scorer.” Darren replied.

“What?” Mike replied confused.

Darren sighed, “Why do you think I’ve asked you to pay attention to politics idiot? There’s only one Jared I would be referring to.”

Mike was still confused as to what Darren was referring to. Sure he knew who Jared was, what merchant didn’t? He was a cold-hearted, sick bastard that every merchant hoped they never met, at least the guys that was. Running into Jared was a death sentence if he took a fancy to you. Mike shuddered a bit at the thought. Guys like him were the reason he steered away from the military.

“What has that sick bastard got to do with any of this?” He finally asked Darren.

Another sigh escaped Darren as he responded, “Jared is the sub-commander of the Crimson and he will be transporting over shortly to check our cargo.” He ignored Mike’s sudden intake of breath and continued. “Apparently someone screwed up and gave us clearance to go through part of sector thirteen when we aren’t suppose to be here.”

“Damn!” Mike exclaimed as they entered the transport room.

“Exactly, whatever you do, no smart remarks, no goofing off, and above all, do not make any of your usual cracks about the military. This guy won’t have a sense of humor and the last thing I want to do is piss him off. Got it?” Darren said as he started up the equipment for the transport door.

“I got it, but hell! Guys like that aren’t supposed to look good!” Mike said with a final protest, “They’re supposed to be ugly or scruffy or smelly or something like that!”

Darren couldn’t help himself; he snickered a bit at what Mike had just said. Then taking his most formal stance he sent the signal indicating they were ready. A moment later Jared along with four security buffoons armed to the teeth came through the transportation door. Darren ignored them as if he had been expecting such a display of force and instead bowed deeply to Jared.

“Sub-Commander, the cargo is this way,” he said indicating the direction they needed to go.

“Lead the way Commander,” Jared replied with what sounded to Darren like a hint of coldness in his voice.

When William had said he was sending Daniel some help he would have never guessed that the help would be none other than Jason himself and Celestia. It took him a moment to recognize them since Celestia now had waist length light brown hair instead of strawberry blonde and brown eyes instead of the mixture of silver and blue eyes she had gotten when she had been genetically changed along with Jason.

Jason even had his hair changed to a light brown instead of the black hair he once had, it was a bit longer and pulled back into a ponytail. They looked more like a young not quite hippy couple instead of the sleeker professional look they had when he had first met them. He wanted to be happy to see them, especially his daughter Celestia, but damnit! William should have known better than to let them come here. It was far too dangerous!

“What the hell are you two doing here?” He demanded once the transportation door had closed. “And where the hell is William?”

Celestia let go of Jason’s hand and wrinkled her nose at Daniel and then laughed. “It’s good to see you too father.” She said as walked over and reached up to give him a kiss on his left cheek.

“William had to leave and didn’t tell us why. He said he would be back in about a week.” Celestia finally answered him.

“That damn idiot!” Daniel snapped. He pulled out his smaller communicator and contacted Kim, ignoring both Jason and Celestia for the moment.

“What is it Daniel?” Kim’s voice could clearly be heard by everyone in the room.

“Can you get Sara to come to our place? Both Celestia and Jason are here.” He explained.

“Ah, so that was the help he told you about,” Kim laughed.

“I understand, it would be better if they stayed put, I haven’t spotted any agents of the Empire here, but if they are keeping their distance I wouldn’t see them. I’m about to go meet her for going to dinner with the girls, I’ll call you back to let you know if I can convince her to come to our place instead.” Kim broke the connection.

Celestia giggled, “You really are a worry wart. Besides, Jason and I decided to come and though William wasn’t happy about it he finally agreed to let us come.”

Daniel started to object yet again, but Jason interrupted him. “You don’t know my sister, she may seem harmless but she can be quite interesting if she feels threatened in any way.” He looked away, “Besides I don’t want her to experience anything that I did, being taken somewhere against your will is something I hope she never experiences, she’s already had plenty of bad things happen to her. I don’t intend to add to it even if it means sacrificing my own safety.”

Daniel's protests died at the intensity of Jason's voice and he gave in. “ I understand.”

A beeping noise interrupted them. It was Kim.

“She’s agreed to come with me, Sara thinks she’s coming to meet a cute guy,” Kim said with a giggle.

“Kim!” Daniel protested.

“It was her assumption, I said I had someone I wanted her to meet, it’s not my fault she assumed it was a guy! Anyway, we’ll be there in just a little bit.” Kim closed the connection.

“I’m surrounded by idiots.” Daniel said to himself.

William was on his way to sector twelve when he received an incoming transmission from the merchant who was working for him. He transferred the transmission to the small conference room just off the main bridge and after locking the doors and encrypting the message he opened it up.

“What is it?” He asked the merchant.

“I went through the list of people your agent was in the process of recruiting. He must have talked before they executed him because the military burned down the homes of every single one of them earlier today.” He replied.

“Damn!” William swore, all that work for nothing!

“There might be one left if he wasn’t taken into custody already. It was the last house I checked and there wasn’t a body among the smoking ruins. It seems that someone came along and even took the time to give the guy’s poor dog a proper burial. It could have just been a friend of the guy, but it’s possible that it was the Royce Athlazar who was living there. He’s a woodcutter so there’s a good chance he wouldn’t have been at home when the military paid his home a visit.” He explained.

“Is there any way you can check further without drawing attention to yourself?” William asked.

“I’m staying in the town closest to where he lives since I’m picking up a shipment tomorrow. I understand he usually carries his huge axe everywhere so I’ll try to get to him before the military does. I’ve already got the papers for exporting a slave to another planet, so if I can just find him I’m all set.” He finished.

“I’ll keep coming to sector twelve then, let me know if you manage to find him or not. We can’t afford to keep losing potential members like this.” William said.

“Understood.” The merchant said as he signed off.

William sighed and leaned back, reaching up with his hands to massage his temples before finally getting up and going back to the bridge. Every day it just seemed to get harder and harder to stay ahead of the military, he wasn’t a quitter, but sometimes it felt like he was doomed to fail. He took a deep breath to regain his composure; the last thing he wanted was the others to see him like that.

-------------

Once again cloaked in shadows those who oversaw the Versilan Empire were gathered in the massive room where they had addressed a figure wrapped in a cloak. This time the one facing them was not hidden but wearing openly the uniform of one of the elite military unit Commanders. Unsure as to why he had been summoned he waited patiently for them to speak.

“We have a traitor among our midst.” One of them finally spoke up.

The man facing them waited patiently for them to continue.

“We want you to deal with it as the necessary proof needs to be gathered.” They continued.

“What do you wish me to do?” The man finally asked.

“First you must test the one who will replace him. Who would you recommend?”

The man thought about it for a moment and then finally replied. “If you are looking for a replacement Kiva Salqarian would be a good choice. She excels at hand-to-hand combat and with the HM-SS.7. She’s also a skilled hacker and has a good track record of exposing would be resistance members. I have already been considering her for a promotion.”

“Test her then, the suspected traitor is Ryan. Our information indicates that he is selling military goods on the black market. Tell her that someone is doing so and see if she can figure out who it is. If she succeeds have her execute Ryan, if she fails, execute her instead and find another candidate.” They finished.

“Isn’t that a little harsh? And wasn’t Ryan working for Jared who serves on the Crimson?” The elite military Commander asked.

“Jared is the one who informed us of Ryan’s suspected activity. If he were not already assigned elsewhere we would have had him deal with Ryan.” They answered.

“I see, I’ll give Kiva Salqarian the assignment immediately. I assume that the knowledge that this is a test of her abilities remains between us?” He asked.

“You assume correctly.” They replied.

The commander bowed and said before leaving. “I’ll see to it at once then.”

Any other time Jared would have found watching Commander Darren’s attempts to be calm amusing, but not today. Even his good looks weren’t enough to keep Jared from feeling irritated at the delay. If they weren’t quick enough the resistance would get to Jason’s sister Sara first. He was even more irritated that he couldn’t hand over this mess to Ryan since he had turned out to be unreliable. Jared had handed the matter in regards to Ryan over to the High Council, but they had yet to resolve the issue and he had not found a replacement to take his place yet.

It pained him to admit it, but lately the military was spread a little to thin. A number of battleships along with troops had been called elsewhere leaving the rest of them picking up the slack. There literally was no one else he could hand this task over too. Commander Crystal had been called to this area, but she was a doctor and hardly qualified for this type of investigation. Just what the hell is the High Council up to? Jared thought, he had suspicions, but he hoped he was wrong, because if he was right, it would be a stupid move on their part.

With a sigh he pulled his attention back to checking the cargo, they had been at it for hours since each section of the crystals had to be stored in separate containers and then separated by containment fields. Which meant he had to scan each section manually. Two of his security crew were off with Darren’s only crewmember on the bridge checking through their computer records. They were tied in with the specialist over on the Crimson making sure that the clearance data was indeed genuine.

Jared finished scanning the final container. A quick check on his handheld device showed that the information he had been given in regards to the cargo matched. He contacted Sandra, ignoring Darren altogether.

“What is it Jared,” she asked.

“I’ve finished checking the cargo and everything is in order. Have you gotten a response from sector six yet?” He asked her.

“No but we have gotten a message for you from Earth, do you want me to forward it to you?” She asked.

“Please do.” Jared replied. “What about the team checking their computer records?”

“So far everything matches in that area as well, I’ll let you know when they are finished.” Sandra said before terminating the connection.

A moment later the data with the message from Earth came up on his handheld device. He could see Darren out of the corner of his eye waiting for instructions. Jared ignored him in favor of reading the report from the agents who were suppose to be keeping an eye on Sara. It included all the videos they had taken of her with various people she was acquainted with and more importantly a file with each person’s picture together with her listed in the order that they had initially take the picture. Much better than the lame summary they had sent him before. That had been completely useless.

He quickly tabbed through the different pictures only to pause a few times as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He pulled up another file and then compared the pictures with one another. There were slight differences, but it was them. And if the dates were correct they had been on Earth for nearly four months.

Jared turned to address the two remaining security with him. “Take Darren to the bridge and join the others, I’ll be along in a moment.” He watched them leave and then opened up the channel with Sandra once again.

“What is it Jared?” She asked.

“I’m sending you something I want you to take a look at.” He said even as he entered the commands to send the pictures to her. Then he waited patiently for her response.

“Interesting, Ryan was the one who put those operatives in place for you correct? " She asked.

“Yes, if I hadn’t already turned the matter of his duplicity over to the High Council I would take the time to pry the information out of him myself. He should have forwarded the information to me immediately.” Jared said angrily.

“We need to get to Earth before it’s too late, I don’t want those two escaping us yet again.” Sandra replied and then hesitated at the beeping sound indicating another message was coming in. “Just a moment Jared, I’ll tie you in as it seems the reply from sector six has finally arrived.”

Jared waited a moment and then read through the information once it come through to his handheld device. He clenched his hands in anger when he realized what had happened. This was far more than a simple mix up and there was no way he could ascertain whether or not Darren was innocent of any wrongdoing, at least not without a lengthy investigation.

“Have you finished reading it Jared?” Sandra asked once she was done.

“I have Commander,” he said still furious over the deception.

“Good, I want you to round up both Commander Darren and his crew and place them under arrest, we need to get to Earth and I don’t intend to be delayed by the investigation. It’s just a little to pat for my comfort that this sort of thing happened just at the right moment to interrupt our assignment to Earth. Assign a helmsman to Commander Darren’s ship and have them bring it along, we can sort this out after we’ve picked up the criminals on Earth.” Sandra ordered.

“Understood Commander,” Jared replied. He closed the handheld device and headed towards the bridge, if Darren wasn’t innocent, he would make sure he regretted getting in his way. With a snarl of irritation he kicked some empty containers that were near the door to the cargo bay, scattering them across the floor as the door opened and then closed behind him as he left to head for the bridge.

So much for getting a bonus for delivering before the deadline, Darren thought as he sighed inwardly. Even though his ship was a smaller transport ship, he had modified it and installed automated loading and unloading equipment making the need for a full crew of twenty redundant. And then to make up for the expense, he had sixteen of the twenty quarters removed and changed into another area for storing cargo. No he thought with resignation, this is going to take hours and hours to scan each and every section of crystals. I’ll be lucky to break even after this delay.

When they got to the point where the corridor branched in three directions, Jared sent Mike along with two of the security personal to the bridge with instructions to work with someone over at the Crimson on verifying the information in his main computer. Then showing that he had already looked at the layout of his ship, Jared took the lead with Darren and the security struggling to keep up. He went first to the modified section and then to the main hold to finish up. Ignoring Darren completely other than the occasional question or two.

The whole experience was a bit surreal. Darren was use to working with inspection personal in the military that were to be frank inept. Taking hours to do what he could do in a fraction of the time. But Jared was another matter; he had never seen anyone as quick and as though as he was. If he were anyone else, Darren would have been impressed. The last check he had been required to go through had taken nearly half a day, Jared was close to wrapping up and it hadn’t even been three hours yet.

It just didn’t add up. Usually someone with a reputation like he had was anything but efficient, depending upon their position to take advantage of others. It made him wonder if the rumors were actually true. Though the few times their eyes had met he had felt uneasy. I wonder how Mike is faring? He thought. His attention was brought back to the immediate present as Jared finished and after checking his handheld computer/communicator he contacted the Crimson, but Darren could not hear what was being said.

Another few minutes reading something on his handheld and Jared ordered the others to take him to the bridge. Darren winced when their eyes met again. This time there was no mistaking it, he was annoyed. Darren didn’t get a chance to find out what had annoyed him since the security personal made it clear he was to go with them to the bridge immediately.

The eerie silence as they walked through the corridors towards the bridge along with the faint clicks and jingles from their equipment as they walked was a bit unsettling. And when they walked into the bridge it got worse. Mike was sitting at the helmsman position at the front near the main viewer with the two other security personal standing behind him. Another person on the viewer was asking Mike questions that were obviously designed to catch him in a lie. They think we modified our clearance! Darren winced inwardly. I just hope Mike hasn’t said anything stupid.

Mike tended to get flustered a little to easily and was fond of making cracks at the military in general. Something that could all to easily be taken out of context as it had happened in the past. The others turned to see who had entered and then went back to what they were doing. Darren took that as an indication that he was not needed and sat down in the other seat next to Mike.

He didn’t have to wait long; Darren had only been on the bridge for ten minutes when Jared entered the bridge, his expression one of anger. Then without any form of explanation he ordered his men to arrest him and Mike. Darren stood up to protest only to halt at the look of fury in Jared’s eyes. But Mike didn’t even catch it, in a flash he was up and striding towards Jared.

“What the Hell?” Mike exclaimed his fists clenched in anger, “We’re being arrested when it was your own damn military goons who screwed up our clearance?”

Darren moved to stop Mike only to come up short at the sound of the security officers preparing to fire their disruptors. “Mike!” He said through clenched teeth. “Shut up!”

Mike turned to look back at Darren. “Shut up? You’re telling ME to shut up?” Mike asked with disbelief. “If anyone needs to shut up it’s these damn stuck up pigs who think they can walk all over anyone they please!”

“You’re not helping things Mike!” Darren barked. “That’s enough!”

Mike stood there stunned at being ordered by Darren to shut up. But when the closest security guard took that as an indication of surrender and reached out to take Mike’s arm, Mike instinctively turned and slugged him in the face, knocking him down.

Reaction to Mike’s attack was swift as the other guards mowed him down before he could react; the effect of the stun blast knocked him off his feet and into Darren. Instinctively he caught him and then let go as two of the guards came forward and took Mike’s unconscious body from him.

Darren narrowed his eyes in anger; “Just what are we under arrest for sub-commander. I’ve done everything you’ve asked and complied with all the necessary rules and regulations pertaining to my cargo. You owe me an explanation.”

Jared walked over until he was standing less than a foot from Darren. Without warning he punched Darren hard in the stomach knocking the breath out of him. He started to buckle over from the pain only to be brought up short by Jared grabbing him by the neck with his right hand and his shirt with his left hand, pulling his face towards his until they were mere inches apart.

“You are in a restricted area Commander,” he said icily. “The moment you crossed that line you lost any rights to an explanation.” He paused a moment as Darren gasped for air and then let go only to punch him in the stomach again, ignoring Darren’s grunt of pain as he fell to the floor.

“Your clearance was obtained by someone hacking into the system and not though one of those stuck up pigs as your fellow crewmember so colorfully put it. By law I could execute you right now, but instead I’m taking your sorry ass along with that fool you call Mike with us.”

Darren tried to get up only to have Jared backhand him into the console behind him. He slid to the floor on his left side half curled up into a fetal position fighting to stay conscious. He had been in a few fights in his life, but no one had ever hit him so hard before. He could see Jared’s boots as he walked towards where he was lying on the floor. He cringed and closed his eyes expecting the worst.

“The next time you open that pretty mouth of yours, you would do well to remember to think first.” Jared said coldly. “I intend to get to the bottom of this and see who is truly responsible, any further outbursts from Mike or stupid demands for explanations will not be tolerated.”

Darren opened his eyes again when he heard Jared moving away from him and breathed a sigh of relief. He could taste blood in his mouth where he had accidentally bitten the side of his cheek when Jared had backhanded him. He was wondering what to do next when Jared beat him to it.

“Put him in with the other one.” Jared ordered his men.

Darren offered no resistance when they came over to get him.

Kim followed Sara to her house so she could take a shower and get changed. Kim was watching TV while she waited for Sara to finish. How boring Kim thought. These humans focus so much on irrelevant things. She had tried to watch a couple of their idea of reality shows, but it was so transparent and downright fake that it was almost nauseating to watch. She turned the TV off and turned her attention to the books shelves lining the living room wall instead.

It had been a long day for Sara. She stepped out of the shower and wiped the fog off the mirror. Her long dark hair cascaded down her back as it went just past her waist now. Sara sighed. It was probably time to cut it. She took the towel hanging on its rack and dried off. Kim was probably ready to go by now. Sara had taken longer than she meant to. She went into her bedroom to get dressed.

She headed straight to her closet and pulled out a nice pantsuit in several shades of blue, her favorite color. Quickly she got dressed, pulled her hair back into a barrette to keep it off of her face. Then she took a moment to apply a little makeup. She started to look for some jewelry and changed her mind. She had already taken far too long.

Sara walked out into the living room to find Kim looking at the books on her shelves. “I’m ready, sorry I took so long.”

“That’s alright, shall I drive?” Kim asked.

Sara nodded in agreement and followed Kim out of her home. She couldn’t think of what to say as they drove over to Kim’s place. She was still wondering about the person Kim wanted her to meet. Finally the superficial chatter got to her and she turned to Kim.

“Are you going to tell me about this guy or do I have to pry it out of you?” Sara teased.

“We’re almost there, be patient.” Kim replied with a wink as she pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex she lived in.

Sara got out of the car and turned to follow Kim, “Is Daniel going to be there too? It’s been a while since I’ve even seen him with his work and all.”

“He will.” Kim replied.

Sara continued following Kim up the stairs to her second story apartment, as they got to the door, “You’re just a bottomless pit of information tonight Kim,” she said her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Kim opened the door and motioned Sara through first and then followed her in shutting the door behind them. Before Sara could wonder where the person she was to meet was a familiar voice greeted her.

“You look good Sara.”

Sara turned to look at the person coming inside from the balcony. “Jason?” She said hesitantly. His hair was brown and slightly longer than before. She had never seen him wear it in a ponytail before; something that she remembered him telling her was sissy for a man to do with his hair.

He walked over until they were a few feet apart and replied, “Yes Sara Beth?”

“You’re supposed to be dead!” She said in disbelief.

“I know, but as you can see I’m not.” Jason replied.

Sara found herself clenching her fists in anger. He let me think he was dead all this time! “You bastard!” She cried as she started to pound on Jason. But her anger was gone as quickly as it had come and she dissolved into tears. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She said as she still half-heartedly continued to hit him. “How could you let me continue to think you were dead?”

Jason just stood there holding her while she cried, waiting patiently for her to calm down. Sara finally stopped and pulled away. “Can you at least tell me where you’ve been all this time? And what happened to Celestia? Is she still alive too?”

Jason motioned to someone else to come in from the balcony, Sara was shocked yet again when she saw that Celestia was also alive and well, she too was different as her hair was now light brown and down to her waist and she had brown instead of blue eyes.

“How about we show you where we’ve been all this time?” Jason asked Sara.