27 Degrees, 42 Minutes and 7 Seconds North by -72 Degrees, 24 Minutes and 13 Seconds West
Ah'Chet Moon, orbiting Geraia, Sirius System
January 17th, 3---

Arjana of the L'eauzu clan sat cross legged on her Vein Hunter skive, bobbing in just one of many, many lonely stretches of ocean on her home planet. Her skive was a gift from her last birthday, less than a month ago. She had thanked her family excitedly and then set about improving it, as they had known she would. The base, the surf board like piece of fiberglass was several inches thick and sturdy. The fin at the rear steadied the craft while it was in water. Unlike a surf board the rear of the craft was flat rather than curved, and a small water tight engine was mounted on it, with a hinge that allowed her to pull it up when landing in the water (no sense in tempting fate when it came to engines, water tight or no). A collapsable sail made of solar cell cloth was folded behind her back and she leaned on it just a little. It was windy today, just like all days on Ah'Chet, but Arjana paid it no mind. Instead she finished retying the knot on the small grappling hook and gave it a few tugs just to check.

She stood and stretched her small nine-year old form. She was young in the eyes of her clan, but even the young had to do their part to help the clan. As long as the littles could sail, they were encouraged to do so and spend their free time vein hunting. Since all the clans on Ah'Chet survived by the fuel crystal trade, harvesting the precious stones was the center of her culture. And each clan was always looking for new veins of the stones to mine, which gave rise to Vein Hunters.

Arjana ran a hand through her hair, feeling the familiar texture of the salt water soaked strands. She was dressed sparingly, only a pair of shorts and a short tank top that didn't cover her mid-drift. Around her hips rested a belt with loops that secured her glow rod, small, slim crowbar and long, thin pole for testing for deposits underneathe shifting sands. She also had a short knife in a sheath belted around her right calf for those sharks that didn't like 'no' to questions of dinner. She lifted the goggles that were resting around her neck and fixed them over her eyes, and then reached for the Gill Oxygen Processor that had its own string around her neck as well. The Gill Processor was a handy half-moon shaped device that was held in the mouth and converted the oxygen rich water into breathable air. However, no one could use it for very long, pure oxygen eventually made people heady and drunk but it still gave people an extra ten to fifteen minutes under water which was plenty for what Arjana and hundreds others like her had to do.

After securing the GOP in her mouth, Arjana took the grappling hook in hand, double check that the other end of the rope was fastened to her skive, and dove into the crystal clear blue water. It didn't look so from the surface, but the bottom was actually a few dozen feet down. Once she made it, Arjana secured the grappling hook on a lip of the reef and then took off in search of a good place to start her hunting.

She swam a little with some sea turtles, and patted the side of a nurse shark that was lazily swimming along the bottom. She twisted gracefully in the water and found what looked like a good spot to start. She took the long thin pole from her belt and began to stab the sand, looking for anything under the white sand of the sea bottom.

Time passed slowly but leisurly for Arjana. Every fifteen minutes, when her head began to feel like it was full of cotton, she resurfaced and laid out on her skive for a few minutes, breathing the normal air. Morning waned, and she paused for lunch which was just an energy bar she'd kept in the small belt purse. She took some grateful gulps of water from the bottle that was strapped to skive and dove back into the sea. It was getting on towards mid-afternoon when she discovered something.

Her pole hit something, and she immdiately began shifting sand slowly, digging deeper. Once she was close, she returned her pole to her belt and pulled out her crowbar. It was hard to build up any kind of momentum in water, but she did her best. It took several hits, before she felt something break off, and her excitement increased. Rock did not shatter easily, but crystal did, the fact that something gave way after only a few weak hits boded well. She felt her head lighten, and she knew she had to resurface soon. She used a quick hand to grab up whatever had broken off, along with a handful of sand. Arjana glance around at her surroundings, the reef was off to her left about ten feet away. She looked for anything strange or rare on that part of the reef so that she might find it again, she succeeded, there was a rare kind of orange coral growing on the reef outcropping called Helatch. She crouched and pushed off from the bottom, shooting for the surface in a flurry of bubbles.

Arjana broke the surface, spitting out the GOP and gasped in fresh air. Her head cleared after a few breaths, she turned in the water, faced her skive and swam for it. It was a good fourty feet away, but she swam that distance quickly and hauled herself up onto her skive. She rested, gasping a little and pulled off her goggles letting them rest on her forehead. Then she lowered her hand into the water just a little and let the sand wash away. What was quickly revield was a piece of crystal, long and thin, about the size of her pinkie finger.

Arjana's eyes widened, and heart sped up. She held the piece up to the light, which filtered through it in a wash of clear sparkles. She swallowed and finally managed to speak, "Rakal ya Rasut..." she whispered in awe. She could scarcely believe it, because she never imagined it possible. This kind of find was one in a lifetime, or more like one in a generation...

The young girl cradled the piece of crystal close, her hands shaking a little. Her eyes fell on the map etched on the surface of her skive board. Her route from her clan barge to where she was now was mapped out in wax pencil. She swallowed, her mouth dry. With a still shaking hand she reached out and used her thumb to wipe the line of red wax off the map, obscuring both her location and the way there. She was familiar with this stretch of reef, it was one of her favorites and it was just far enough from the clan barge that few others came out this far. She looked at the crystal again, making sure again that she hadn't been dreaming or hallucinating thanks to the GOP.

But no, in her hand she still held a piece of Skaa Crystal.

She gave herself a good shake. "'Nough net gatherin', 'Jana, think, what now?" She mumbled to herself in Commons. She couldn't recall any traditions or orders that applied in this situation. Skaa Crystal was that rare. Usually, if a Vein Hunter found a vein of crystal that he or she felt would be worth mining, he or she took a sample of it to their family head who in turn went to the clan head if they too felt that the crystal would be worth mining. Arjana had only been a Vein Hunter for less than a month, so she hadn't found any crystals yet. But now...

Arjana closed her eyes and listened to the soothing sounds of her home. The constant motion of the sea benethe her, the strong wind that whistled through her ears and teased her rapidly drying curly brown hair. The touch of the sun in the sky. She opened her eyes and looked to the west where Mother Geraia hung in the blue, blue sky. Her world. Nothing had changed. She slowed the rapid beating of her heart and calmed her breathing.

Skaa Crystal was the highest grade of fuel crystal that could be found on her home planet and was ranked amongst the highest in the galaxy as well. One small piece, like the one she held in her hand could power a space station with clean and steady fuel for a couple of decades. It could power one of the GP's battle ships for half a century and a regular space ship for well over 75 years. But the crystal was very, very rare, and was never found in any great quanity anywhere on the planet.

But the crystal wasn't just vaulable in the monetary sense, Skaa Crystal was also sacred to her people, and all the clans around the moon. According to legend, they were the bittersweet tears of Mother Geraia when she gave birth to her moons eons ago. The pieces were highly prized and said to offer protection to all who owned them.

Arjana closed her fingers around the crystal and stopped to murmer a prayer of thanks to her gods before getting up. She carefully stuck the crystal in her belt purse and made sure to close the flap securely and buckle it tightly. She pulled her goggles back on and dove back into the water, not bothering with her GOP this time. She swam for the bottom, reaching it quickly and unhooked her anchor. She looked through the water once more, over towards where she'd found the crystal. She could just make out the bright orange of Helatch.

She braced her feet on the reef and pushed off, hook in hand. She broke the surface with a gasp and pulled herself back up on her skive. She quickly coiled up the rope and secured it under the elastic band that also held her bottle of water. She patted her belt purse, and felt the lump of crystal there. Then she picked up her sail, the thin metal snapped up with little encouragement and the wind instantly filled the sail, pushing the craft forward without any ado. Arjana swung the craft around and put the sun to her back. Then leaned on her sail and coaxed as much speed as she could from it. Soon she was cresting the waves, catching several seconds of air before landing smoothly back in the water. She timed her next jump, leaning back for a higher angle and greater jump. As she climbed through the air, she used her foot to kick her engine back with one easy move. It swung on its hinge, and kicked on taking power from the solar cells in the her sail. The engine pushed her forward, propelling her into the air - and she was flying.

Arjana let out a scream that had nothing to do with anything but the thrill of flying. She leaned forward, and twisted a handle on the arm of the sail that she used to steer, feeding more power into the engine which roared in response. Free and loving it, Arjana began to do more and more stunts in the air, even flying up high and collapsing the sail going into a free fall. Just before the hit the water she flung her sail back up, righting her craft and sending up several feet of spray on either side.

Two hours later, her clan barge came into distant view, nothing more than a pinprick on the horizon. She smiled in both joy and anticipation. As she got closer she saw that there was a strange craft moored at the docks. She didn't recoginize it, and it had no clan colors flying. As she got closer she realized it was a space craft. her curiousity instantly soared. It wasn't often any clan got visitors from space (a/n: *snicker. snicker*) Usually crystal trading was done at one of the Neutral Barges around the planet inbetween the clan waters. It had to be important for someone to seek out a particular clan.

Arjana poured on some more speed, twisting in the air and dropping several dozen feet in altitude with little more than a though. She soared past the docks heading for her home quarters that had its own small dock where her family kept their crafts. Several people looked up at the sound of the engine and waved when they saw the craft. Arjana waved back and concentrated on landing. She flew past her docks and over open sea. Then she made a sharp u-turn and dropped to just above the surface. She stopped the flow of power to her engine and it cut off with a small cough. Momentum carried her forward through the air for a few more feet, and Arjana aimed for the back of cresting wave, hitting it just right, then flying through the air again, just like she had before she'd taken off. By the time she approached the docks she was letting most of the wind slough from her sail so she could keep a slow speed. She pulled up against the docks and dropped her sail, surfing the last few feet to the ladder. She grabbed it with one hand and bent to pick up her grappling hook with the other. She tossed the hook on the dock and clambered up the ladder. She made sure to secure her skive before making her way up the dock and to her familys' quarters. The top of the barge was taken up almost entirely by greenhouses where the clan grew plants for food and medicines. The only other structures on top of the barge were the laundry lines and the docks.

Arjana came to the trapdoor that had her father's name carved it to the wood, above that was her grandfathers, and her great-grandfathers going back five more generations. She pulled it open and quickly decended the ladder there into the bowels of the barge. The barge had several levels, that were dedicated to different things. The top few levels were living quarters that had been divided up amongst the families. Below that were the common grounds where people met, played, traded, spoke, gossiped and many other things. Those levels were full of various comfortable rooms, playgrounds for the littles and a great hall that was the market place. Below that were the working quarters where people worked on pieces and parts for crafts, or worked on the barge itself. The boiler rooms were down there, along with the water purifiers. Everything on the barge was run off solar power, the solar cells in the glass of the greenhouses on the top level.

Arjana came to her family's quarters and look around for anyone. It was late afternoon so it made sense for them to be down in the common grounds. So Arjana made her way to her small room, that boasted its own port window, that had been left open to let in fresh air. That was one of the few drawbacks of the barge. Fresh air was in short supply. Even though the ventalation system was opened at night to circulate cool air, the barge was alway stuffy. During the hottest months, it wasn't uncommon for the clan to sleep in their crafts rather than below in the barge. Arjana splashed some water on her face to rid herself of the tight feeling in her skin before stripping bare and putting on some cotton pants and a tunic shirt. Then she opened her belt purse with trembling fingers and pulled out the piece of rough crystal. She held it up to the light again. The crystal glowed with a bright clear light. It hadn't been a dream. She took a deep breath and put the crystal deep into her pocket and went looking for her father.

She climbed down a couple of levels and came to the common grounds. She instantly recognized one of her second cousins playing with his younger sisters on one of the playgrounds.

"E!," she called making him look up in surprise from the sandbox he was ankle deep in with his sisters. He smiled brightly at her.

"'Jana, back from the hunt?" he asked. Edwin wasn't much older than her, only two years making him eleven, but he was always very mature for his age making him seem older. He had a twin that looked nothing like him, where Edwin was dark, dark hair, dark eyes, Ric was fair haired, blue eyed and somehow, despite the constant sun of her moon, fair skinned.

"Ya, I'm back, where's my da? You seen him?" Arjana asked.

"Why? You find something?" E asked a sly smile playing across his lips. Arjana rolled her eyes at him.

"That's my business as you well know," she retorted. He laughed.

"Fine, fine, ya I've seen him, everyone has. Some Spacers are here to talk to him too. He took 'em into one of the private rooms at the back," Edwin said thumbing over his shoulder towards the rear of the ship. Arjana raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"The Spacers are here to talk to him? Why?"

"No one knows, they wouldn't say. But your da took them back there about half an hour ago. They were very offical looking. Had a couple of GP officers with them so I imagine they're from the Galactic Congress."

"But why talk to my da? Wouldn't they want to talk to the Headman?"

"Well, grandda's been getting up in his years, everyone knows that he'll name your da headman soon, maybe the GC's just jumping the craft."

"Well that's stupid of them. They won't make any friends doing that..." Arjana answered. "I'm going go to wait for him, I'll see you later, ya?"

"Ya, ya, go on," he answered, waving her off.

Arjana made her way through the common grounds to the few private rooms at the back. Usually they were used to family gatherings that were too big to hold in the quaters. Arjana had had a few birthdays there, and been to a few parties there as well. She walked until she came to one that had a small gathering outside of it with a bunch of whispering family members all crouched by the door trying to overhear. In the lead was none other than Arjana's little sister Sophia, hissing at her fellows to be quiet so she could hear. When she spotted Arjana she waved the older girl over excitedly.

"Good you're here! Move out of the way Luc! 'Jana, da said that you were to go inside when you got here. What do you think's goin' on?" Sophia said quickly in one breath. Arjana frowned in confusion.

"He wants me?"

"Ya, ya, that's what he said. Ma's already in there, along with grandda. They've been talking for half an hour. Da said the moment you got home you were to go in too!"

Arjana had no idea what was going on, but she wasn't about to disobey her family head so she walked over and knocked on the door. There was a pause then the door was opened by her ma who looked down with a strange forced smile.

"There you are 'Jana, come in," her ma said opening the door so she could walk in. Ma said nothing to the others that were crowded around the door, just slowly closed it back. Arjana looked at the strangers in the room. There were four of them, three were dressed in GP uniforms, one standing out from the other two because of his increased finery. Arjana guessed that he was of higher rank. Th the last man was dressed in a smart suit that screamed to Arjana's humble senseblilties of money and prestige. The higher rank officer and the suit man were sitting in the forefront across the table from her da and grandda while the other two GPs had pulled chairs to the wall and sait at attention there.

"Good timing, Arjana," her da said quietly, not taking his eyes from the men opposite from him at the table. "Did you have a good hunt?" he asked conversationally.

Arjana heard his reserve in his tone and answered in the same manner, "Same old, Father, but I'll get lucky soon, I can feel it," she answered. She glanced at her grandda, the headman of her clan, he also looked at her from the corner of his eye and gave her a warm smile. Her ma put a hand on her shoulder and steered her to one of the chairs. Arjana sat in it and pulled it up to the table. She sat there, waiting for whatever it was to happen.

"Arjana," the officer at the table said his voice measured, "I am Lt. Colonel Grimes and I work at the Galatic Police Academy as one of the Vice Principals. I'm here to offer you a place at our Academy starting next term in August," he said his steely grey eyes fixed on her own. Arjana was hard pressed not to look away or focus on his chin or anything but those intense eyes. She swallowed and took a steadying breath, struggling not to show her shock.

"W-Why?" she asked, internally wincing at the way her voice squeaked a little. Grimes smiled a little at that.

"I was at the Rim Races four months ago, imagine my surprise, along with everyone else, when an eight year old won the children's competition, beating several other contenders that were much older than her and had much more experience," he said.

Arjana felt her face flush. She had been just as surprised as everyone else that she had won that race. It had been her third time off planet, her grandda, father, had taken her and Edwin and Ric with them to the Rim Races which were a perfect place to make connections with the racing world in order to sell crystals. She, Edwin and Ric had all entered into the children's competition for fun, bored with all the adult talk. It wasn't that hard or dangerous, it took place on a made up course, rather than in one of the stretchs of asteroid belt that floated outside the space station where the Races were held that year. There had been about fifty other children in the race, some of them children of other races with some impressive crafts. But in Arjana's opinion the entire race had come down to reflexes. The course was riddled with rocks and obstacles to keep the little from going to fast. But Arjana knew her father's skimmer like her own hands, indeed she'd done a great dealof work on it herself for her father. The craft was built to handle to high winds of Ah'Chet and as a result had great balance and was perfect to taking those corners. Still, it was still down to reflexes, and Arjana had known since she was a young little, that she had quicker reflexes than most.

Even though she'd won it hadn't been by any large margin. Several others had come across the finish line on her tail.

"I don't understand...that wasn't a real serious race, it was just for fun..." Arjana said carefully, looking to her da who still sat staring at the men.

Grimes smiled again, "It may have been 'just for fun' for you, but that race is taken seriously by many children racers and their parents. It is representative of your talent that you won that race. We also learned that you worked on the skimmer you flew yourself. Which for your age and education is also impressive."

She and the rest of her family bristled at the implication left in that statement. Grimes continued however.

"We at the GPA search for your kind of natural talent. If you were to join the Academy you would be given full schooling, and after you graduated there would be numerous job opptunities for you around the galaxy. We would teach you the cutting edge of engeineering and piloting, and you would be with children your own age," he said, sliding a holoscreen across the table to her. She looked to her da for permission when he gave in the form of a nod, before picking it up and switching it on. Pictures filled the screen of uniformed littles and teens smiling and playing and sitting in classrooms listening to a teacher. It also showed a lab of computers, and a hanger filled with space crafts. Arjana felt her heart twinge in the wanting of such a chance, but she made sure to keep her face as blank as she could. She had a feeling it wasn't working very well because Grimes continued speaking.

"Our Academy has all the best of the best in teachers, technology and supplies. The GPA is, hands down, the most prestigious school in the galaxy, beating out several high end, expensive elite private schools by a wide margin."

"Would Arjana have to serve in the GP after graduation?" her grandda interrupted smoothly with his gravelly voice. Arjana was thankful when Grimes attention and grey eyes were directed elsewhere. She looked down at the holoscreen and flicked through some more pictures as she listened.

"Yes, but only for five years. Then she can resign and persue a job elsewhere. Or if she enjoys the service she can join up on a permanent basis and work 'til retirement which is at 60. If she puts in more than 15 years of service, including that first 5, she will recieve a pension from the GP for the rest of her life. It is very generous."

"I though I had to be a citizen of the GC to go to the Academy," Arjana interjected suddenly.

The suited man fielded that question, speaking for the first time since Arjana came in.

"That is why I am here. My name is Jonathan Cording; I am from the Visa office in the GC. You don't have to be a citizen of the GC to go to school within the Confederation. We will give you a student visa that will have to be renewed every year. Or, if you wished, after three years of GPA schooling we can offer you dual citizenship within the GC that way you don't have worry about visas anymore. Most students do this, because once they graduate and resign the service it is harder to get work visas and keep them."

Arjana nodded and went back to her holoscreen. There was a close up picture of an older student in a fighter skimmer, grinning from the small cockpit as the picture was taken. She ran a calloused finger over the smooth sleek likes of the skimmer in admiration.

"I think that we will have to discuss this in detail with Arjana, gentlemen. So is it possible for us to have some time to think on your offer?" her da finally spoke. The two men shared a glance before facing her da again.

"Of course, take your time. However, we will need your answer by the end of March, for that is when registration for the next term begins and we do first years first. Contact information is on the last slide in the holo," Grimes said. He and Cording stood, an action which was echoed by everyone else. Her grandda and ma offered to take them back to their craft, which the four accepted. They left, not even glancing at the small cowd around the door. The last officer shut the door without having to be asked, he looked over his shoulder, and gave Arjana a wink. It made her smile and feel better, she'd been worried that the soldiers that the GPA turned out were emotionless drones.

In teh quiet that followed the door being shut, Arjana and her father looked at each other.

"Well," her da said, running a weary hand through his hair, "that was unexpected, Arjana."

Arjana swallowed, suddenly reminded of what she had in her pocket. Knowing that it had to be now, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the crystal carefully. Then she reached out and put it on the table in front of her da.

"I found that today, da. And I think..." she took a deep breath, "I think it might be...Skaa Crystal."

Shock rolled over both of her parents features. Her da picked up the piece of crystal and pulled out his flashlight from his pocket. He shined the white beam of light on the crystal, and in response the crystal lit up in pure white. He let out a breath in an explosive whoosh.

"Rakal ya Rasut," he swore softly, just as she had a few hours ago. "Where-?" But before she could answer he cut her off, "Iya, don't tell me. Don't tell anyone yet. I will tell grandda tonight. You hold on to this, and let no one know you have it alright? Not Edwin, not Ric, not Sophia, do you understand?"

She took the crystal back from him when he offered it to her, "Yes, da, I understand."

Her father looked at her shrewdly, "Clan wars have broken out over this, Arjana. Wars that have lasted generations. I'll not have such a thing be our legacy."

Arjana looked up at her father, "I understand, sir, I swear I won't mention it until you give me leave too," she said.

Her father leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his black hair. "Good, now what are we going to do about this?" he waved at the holo in her hand. "Do you even want to go? Wait, that's another silly question. You'd love to go and fly those craft. Not to mention learn to build them." He sighed.

"Would you be alright with working for five yeras for them? Pledging your loyalty to them? Because that is what they will ask of you. And they will take nothing less than your best, just as we do not, can you serve two masters, daughter?"

Arjana stuck out her chin stubbornly, "I can learn to," she answered.

Her father chuckled, "Good answer. It'll take some convincing on your part with your mother. You're still her baby, you know."

She frowned petulant, "I came of age last month," she said stubbornly.

"Yes, you did, but your's is a special case. You learned sailing so quickly that we couldn't afford to keep you in. And our laws clearly state that any child who is ready to sail on their own has earned the rights of an adult. The only one who earned it earlier than you did was Edwin, but he too was a special case, being so mature for his age." he sighed again.

"Well, it'll take some work, but if you want to go, then we'll get you there. As for your crystal, I'll speak to grandda and we'll go from there okay?"

Arjana nodded, her fingers closing around the crystal.

The next couple of months were going to be interesting...