Well, I'm back from leave. Naturally, I took the Aedos... leave isn't leave unless you're flying your own ship. This leave is officially authorized, so technically I am allowed to go where I please...but I still don't like the idea of somebody tracking me. So, I went to planet Baden Baden and spent a day there. After that, I activated the Aedos's new jammer and configured it so that whoever has been tracking me would read that I was still there. It's a wonderful little gadget.
Since then, I've been exploring the edges of known space and beyond. This is life! This is freedom! Going where I like, exploring and trading. Still, I found myself coming back often to a certain beautiful planet deep in Omega space. Somehow, it has become a second home to me, dearer in many ways than even my own home on Manhattan. I love Liberty, and I'm still committed to defend it with my life from those who would destroy it. Yet it will never truly be home again. I don't belong there, surrounded by the noise and grime that pollutes both the planet and the space around it. I belong in the beauty and peace and hope on the edge of space. It's hard to explain, even to myself. If it were only about me, I would simply run off and join the Zoners. But it's not just about me! There are people in Liberty who need to be protected from those who would destroy them. I can't just stand by and watch pirates and terrorists assail them... I have to help how I can.
That's why I'm back. That's why I ignored the temptation that plagues me still, the temptation to leave everything and everyone behind and start a new life. I could never live with myself if I did. But as long as my haven is safe and waiting for me, I can bear to leave it behind and fight the evils that plague the free people of Sirius. But I will always go back for the double sunset and quiet, peaceful cafe where they serve wild prune-based drinks. And I will always come back to bask in the hope of a new and better life that shines in the eyes of everyone who lives there.
![[Image: aedos_mini.jpg]](http://students.cs.byu.edu/~sushi/aedos_mini.jpg)