This is the story of a legendary starship. It was made out to be a pirate vessel, but was it really?Memories of the truth had faded over time and the people of Benara-3 had forgotten the truth.But the Jatarians did not forget ...With the advent of the timequake ships, mankind spread so rapidly out into the galaxy that chaos and corruption soon became the order of the day. So Union Fleet was formed to defend and protect mankind from his worst enemy — himself. To keep the peace, Union Fleet enforced the laws on all of the planets of the Union. For the most part, the people of Union Fleet were good and decent folks. For the most part, this all worked just fine on all of the civilized planets, but in the outworlds … well, that was another story. In the outworlds, where civilization was thin, evil thrived. Pirates plied their ancient trade in the outworld spaceways.Even so, the pirates were not the worst that mankind had to face. The Jatarian Alien Group was mankind's worst nightmare. But there was one ship that fought them off and saved the people of Benara-3 -- the Crystal Dragon. It defeated the whole Jatarian battle group and sent what was left of them back to their own with a message -- don't come back!Created with alien technology, this ship single-handedly did what a whole fleet of Union starships could not. But that was a long time ago. The people of Benara-3 forgot and went on with their lives. Corrupt Union Admirals tried to confiscate the Crystal Dragon to steal its secrets. When it slipped their grasp, in spite, they declared it an outlaw ship. As time went on, everybody forgot the Crystal Dragon and got on with their lives.But the Jatarians did not forget ...

Life has an energy all its own. It thrives where no one would ever believe. It clings to the smallest toehold. It flourishes given any chance at all.Jane Markett was an up-and-coming exo-archeologist.. She was not about to let a bunch of stodgy, slow colleagues slow down her search for Zat-Mat-Kut, an ancient alien religious site. What happened, though, was not what anybody expected.Life has an energy all its own. It thrives where no one would ever believe. It clings to the smallest toehold. It flourishes given any chance at all.Jane Markett was an up-and-coming exo-archeologist when she first set foot on Zari-Kut-3 over a year ago. She was not about to let a bunch of stodgy, slow colleagues slow down her headlong search for Zat-Mat-Kut, an ancient alien religious site.The best android on this planet, Zack was the key to it all for Jane. He was more than just a strong back, his sensors were second to none. He was the latest in artificial intelligence. He was the key to her fast-track career path to fame and glory. All she had to do was convince Chuck, the Head Researcher in charge of this dig.What happened, though, was not what anybody expected.