"Decoding finished. Progress: None. Alpha Three diagnosis unable to decode the voice lock. Any further orders?" was the response of the computer. Cursing, Liam slammed his fist down on the desk, nearly sending his coffee flying. He had been working on this damn thing for nearly four days now. In five hours, the ship would exit hyperspace in the Curzon system, ready to make the final jump to Clotho. Liam had spent the better part of those days in his office or quarters partly trying to decode the bloody message, but mostly to avoid Lynn. After the search through the database, Liam had tried every hacker trick he had learned and had created seven decoding sequences just trying to break through.

"Computer, execute decoding sequence Lisan Five," he said wearily. He sat back in his chair and sipped his coffee. Over the last three days, Liam had thought on the fight in the mess hall. Lynn Harding was a spoiled diplomat and no more then a child at heart, but the insult had left him speechless. She had no idea what it was like to be an Ares. Liam's thoughts took him back to his history lessons when he was seven. Since he was not wealthy, he was taught at home by his parents.

The Ares family had been historically one of the most important families in the history of humanity. When Earth colonized Mars in 2058, when the wars on Earth ended, the Ares' had been among the first to live there. They had also produced much effort in the event of FTL ten years later. They had been first to colonize Landfall and New Britain, and although they were never wealthy, they were figures in history. But as they had been always loyal to the Terran government, the Ares' clan had more people off of Earth then on it, and they considered Mars home. When Earth declared Mars should pay higher taxes and put them in martial law, Mars had revolted. Ares had broken ties from Earth and Luna and came to the aid of Mars insurgents, thus sparking the first flames of a six month-long war.

By its end, over sixty-thousand lives had been lost. In such, Mars surrendered, wishing no more loss of life. A garrison was put planetside and those responsible for the war's start were stripped of rank and land. The Ares name, which was once proud and strong, was now useless and known only as traitors. In the two hundred years since the war, little had changed. Such was the price for insurgence and rebellion.

"Decoding complete. Progress: None. Unable to bypass voice lock. Are any further orders required?"

The computer's voice woke Liam from his reverie. When he fully took it in, he just sighed. Looking at his wristcom, he saw that he had been asleep for nearly two hours; it was now 21:00 hours. Taking a sip from his now cold coffee, Liam stood up and stretched. Taking a breath, he replied, "Computer, select classic song Minri three, medium output, my office only." Walking to the replicator, he ordered a fresh cup of coffee. When it appeared, the captain took it and sipped it eagerly. His thoughts were many now. Although still mad at Lynn, his thunder had mostly faded down to a very distant rumble. In two days, she would be off this ship and he would be jumping from the system.

Yet something inside of him did not want this. Despite her somewhat limited view, Lynn was a person one could talk to. She was also a very good bargainer. During the first two days with her aboard, Liam had checked the ship's database for any records. Lynn Harding had been part of the Mars Deal a year ago, making some effort to bring Griffin Technologies to fore as a primary trade partner with Mars and the Merchants' Guild. She was a person who could be trusted, and when someone bore the Ares name, there were few people to trust completely.

As the music gained tempo, the voice plunged from loud to a whisper and one could hear the sound of a waterfall in the background. Closing his eyes, Liam waited for the middle of the song, his favorite part in this one. But it never came. Liam opened his eyes and frowned. He was about to speak when a voice spoke. "Message lock bypassed. Recognizes voice and chosen word of Minri Linori. Do you wish to view, Captain?"

What the hell. What were the odds of this. The scientist must've had good taste in music. Without any further hesitation, Liam came round his desk and sat down, viewing the data. It appeared to be a summary of a special disturbance. Why would one try to encode something so unimportant. Then he gazed at something else. It seemed that this disturbance was a jump point to a previously unknown system. Selecting a section, the captain saw that it was theorized that it would take a specific harmonics wave to break a barrier. No wonder why this was so thoroughly encoded. An unexplored system could mean new worlds and perhaps for the Empire, a slight possibility for new source of slaves. Reading further, Liam found that the disturbance appeared just above the Clotho system. Might be worth checking out, although he knew that it was unlikely he would find anything. There were numberless harmonic waves that could open the link.

Checking the time, Liam found out that the Aeris was to break into realspace in twelve minutes. Enough time to plot the course into the autopilot. Shutting off the desk computer, he exited the office and into the bridge. The place was quiet and still, as it had always been. Liam shook his head, he would get over this. Reaching the helm, Liam set in a course that, after taking off from Clotho Prime, would take him to the NGC-3120 system. As soon as the calculations were set in, a beep came from the console, indicating that there was six minutes to realspace. Liam sat back, enjoying the last glimpses of hyperspace from the view screen.

Lynn paced her quarters, thinking of the recent few days. She had gone to great lengths to avoid the captain, by staying her quarters, the holodeck, or in the mess. She took the towel that was in her hands and dried her hair. She had taken a bath earlier, and had gotten out a few minutes ago. She had thrown on a night gown and she was getting ready for bed. Yet Lynn couldn't sleep much during the past three days. She had been mad at herself for hurting the captain, and mad at Liam for making her feel miserable.

In two days, she would hopefully never see him again. By that time she would be on Clotho negotiating the terms with the system's government. It was perhaps the best thing to hope for, now that Liam had proven her theory right. He was like every other Ares since the Mars Rebellion, loyal to know one but themselves.

Yet Lynn felt something else. Liam Ares may have seemed like others of his clan, but he had made a point. Every Ares had never accomplished much. Liam had been acknowledged as a noteworthy pilot, having come through many fights with pirate ships. And he was honest, even if it was tainted with a somewhat hostility. He was also cordial and polite, if it was somewhat extreme. Not to mention cute, too. And yet there was something more to this man then most would see; there was a sort of loneliness and sadness to him. True, he had made many friends in his time, but he had no one to back him up, no one to come to his rescue.

Lynn had come to think that she had been harsh to the captain. "Snap out of it, Lynn. He was asking for it. He may have been kind and polite at first, but Mead was right. Liam Ares is unpredictable. Who knows what he is capable of doing," she whispered to herself. Yet something still stuck in her gut. Coming to a conclusion, she decided to apologize to Liam. Throwing the towel onto the chair, she walked out of her room and into the corridor, heading for the bridge.

The ship broke out of hyperspace, entering the outer edge of the Curzon system, a system full of asteroids filled with basic ores. It held no importance and was considered to be desolate and nothing but a buffer between worlds. Liam looked at the console and it indicated the ship was low on fuel. The ramscoop would take thirty minutes to generate enough to jump, so he would have a good wait. Unclipping a vidpad from his belt, he downloaded the data from the crystal to read.

Ten minutes into his reading, he was disturbed by the sound of the main doors opening. Must be a malfunction, he thought. Turning the chair and looking up, Liam expected to see the doors opening and closing, but instead saw Lynn. His jaw nearly fell when he saw her. She was dressed in a nightgown, one that clung to her like a second skin. Her hair was wet, obviously from a bath. She was indeed beautiful. When he found he was staring, Liam shook his head and steadied his head. "May I help you, Ms. Harding? If there is, I'm sure the computer can help. I'm busy at the moment," he stated in a polite but cold tone. He was still mad from three days ago.

Lynn's face started to become red, but calmed herself. She would not let him get to her. Leaning on the rail behind the command chair, she said, "Please, Captain. I've come here to say something. That is if you would hear me out."

"Ms. Harding, with all due respect, I think I've heard all you had to say seventy hours ago. Now please, if you've any questions, my ship's AI can help you with any problems." Turning his chair around, he continued reading, expecting his passenger to leave the bridge.

He was wrong. Lynn felt her face turn red, but she didn't leave the bridge. "Why is it, Captain, that you do not here me out. Are you ignorant of what I have to say, or are you just simply to arrogant to act like an adult."

Liam turned around and stood up, anger in his eyes. "Me act like an adult! That's a laugh. Listen up, lass; this galaxy has more to it then luxury and diplomacy. It is ruled by a corrupt Empire who would gladly wipe out all life if it could rule all of it absolutely, who already have four alien races under their heels; there are bands of pirates who kill for thrill pleasure alone, and there is the purification patrols that seek to wipe anything out that doesn't fit the Terran Empire's views. It's time for you to stop looking through a child's eyes and grow up. Else you might end up in slave camp or on New Alcatraz. There are worse things then death, Ms. Harding, and the Empire knows all the tricks."

Lynn was around the rail and in front of the captain inside ten seconds, her eyes blazing. "Child! Captain, I am twenty, nearly twenty-one years old. I haven't seen through a child's eyes in six years. Why is it so hard for you to listen to what I have to say? This loneliness you live with must get to you. I think you're the one who needs to grow up!"

Liam was about hurl a retort when beep from the console sounded. Turning away from his passenger, the captain rushed to see what it was. He was in the chair in a second. A light flickered in on the console, indicating a message. Lynn slipped up behind him, curious. Finally she asked, "What is it?"

Somewhat annoyed, Liam nonetheless answered, "It's a message operating on all known frequencies, audio only. Strange, I didn't detect any when we jumped into realspace." Hitting the flashing key, Liam accepted the message.

A crackling sound was heard, then the message. "This is the Freedom's Cry to any ship. We're under attack from hostile a Empire ship. We require aid from any vessel. I repeat we are..." The message went dead. Liam wasted no time. Hitting a few keys, he scanned the area. When the results came up, Liam cursed.

Lynn paled. Then speaking up again, she asked, "What is it? What did the scans say?"

Without looking at her, Liam replied, "There's a ship bearing an IFF code of a Non-Aligned vertigo; being assaulted by a Faralon-class destroyer. It's a Purification ship."

"What would a Purification Patrol ship want with a neutral ship." Lynn looked at the vertigo's signature. It was a modern one, so it wasn't a pirate vessel masquerading. "The only reason would that they would attack a defenseless ship would be because they're ferrying pirates."

"Whatever the reason, that ship only has ten minutes left. It can't withstand an Empire warship, much less a Patrol ship." Opening a link to the Terran ship, Liam spoke, "Terran vessel, this is the ship Aeris. Break off attack or be disabled. You have no right assaulting neutral ships."

Lynn's face went white when she heard Liam's words. "Are you insane? That is a Terran warship! They outmatch us in firepower and man power. Are you trying to get us killed?"

Liam ignored her. Seconds later, the face of a burly man appeared on the view screen. "Aeris, this is Commander Jerid of the Terran ship Crusader. Captain, you are in direct violation with Terran laws. Please be on your way before I am forced to open fire. It would be a waste of good firepower. This is your only warning." With that, the screen went black.

"Well, you heard the commander. Let's get out of here. Let them capture the ship," said Lynn. She was frightened. The Purification Patrol was renowned for their ruthlessness and zealot loyalty to the Empire. They could and would destroy this ship.

Liam turned around and looked up at the diplomat, anger in his face. "Listen to me very carefully, Ms. Harding. I will not allow that vertigo to be assaulted and her crew captured. The Patrol is well known to torture all they capture, innocent or otherwise. If there is a pirate on this ship, my brig will hold them until we get to Clotho. But I will not allow innocent civilians to be killed. I apologize for this, but I will help that ship."

With that, the captain turned back to the console and accelerated the ship to its maximum thrust. It was going to be a bumpy ride.

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