A/N – This story is set in the same universe as my 'Battlestar Hermes' series but is intended as its own entity so you don't need to know anything from the other series.

Hope you enjoy.

Aerilon
3 Days before 'The Fall'

Tommy sat in the corner of the small bar out of the way of the locals who regularly visited the establishment. The room was filled with the sound of a harmonica playing a slow and melancholic tune that seemed to linger in the atmosphere telling a different story to everyone who heard it. The woman on the stage, an attractive girl with a long mane of blond hair, played the instrument as though there were no one else for miles around and yet she seemed to demand the attention of everyone there.

Tommy drank from his bottle of beer as he watched her, mesmerized by her beauty like so many other men in the bar. Soon the song ended and she was applauded by the gathered crowd who had been left touched by the music she had produced. She took a bow and then disappeared from view behind the curtain. Tommy watched carefully in case she returned but he was left disappointed. The noise level in the room steadily rose once more until the voices were drowned out by a recorded song that burst from the speakers around the room.

Tommy stayed at the bar for a few more drinks all the while secretly hoping she would appear once more until finally his hope faded like the money in his wallet and he decided to call it a night. He therefore returned rather sullenly to his ship that sat in the spaceport on the far end of the rather rundown Aerilon farming community.

There were many who wouldn't consider the Arianrhod to be a ship. Indeed all its legal paperwork described it as an inter-colonial utility shuttle, a description Tommy Genoa despised greatly. To him it was as much a ship as a Star Liner or a Battlestar. It looked like someone had taken a standard cargo container and stuck engines on it at the back and a cockpit at the front. It was hardly a graceful design and its thirty year life had done little to improve on its looks. It was Tommy's entire life however. It was his home and it was his place of work. Tommy's life was a lonely one but he had chosen it. It was how he liked it.

He reached his ship and proceeded up the ladder that sat attached to the side of the hull leading to the main living compartment. He was half way up when he heard a voice call out to him in the cold Aerilon night.

"Uh…hello!"

Tommy looked down from the ladder, his eyesight a little blurred from the beer he had consumed. He saw a tall slender outline of a woman looking up at him her length of pure blond hair flapping over her shoulders in the gentle breeze. A single grey sports bag was slung over her right shoulder and she wore a thick denim jacket over her top half.

"Hello," he replied wrapping his arms around the ladder to tighten his grip. He was about twelve feet from the ground and despite the dusty surface he was sure a fall would not do him any good.

"Is this yours?" she asked him referring to the Arianrhod.

"She's my ship, that's right," he said focusing his tired eyes. "What of it? You work for the Port Authority or something? I have paid my travel permit you know."

"No I don't work for the Port Authority," she replied. "I was wondering where you were heading when you take off from here? Are you going to Picon by any chance?"

"I might be. Why?"

"I'm looking to charter a ride if that's possible?"

"Arianrhod aint no pleasure ship. You ought to try one of the Colonial Movers' boys on the other side of town. They occasionally take passengers."

"Arianrhod; that's the ancient Goddess of the sky isn't it? From the old Virgonese dialect."

"That's right," said Tommy with an impressed tone. "Not many people know that."

"So how about it then?" she asked.

"I tell you what, why don't you climb up and we'll talk about it?"

"Alright," she replied. The woman stepped forwards and reached for the ladder before climbing up behind Tommy who had by now disappeared into the ship. She reached the top of the ladder and climbed inside the ship as Tommy switched on the internal lights to reveal a rather untidy almost squalor-ridden interior. A single table occupied the centre of the small compartment positioned around which were eight bunks arranged in sets of two however only one had any evidence of having been slept in.

On the left hand side of the compartment was where the galley was located. Numerous plates with food stains stuck to them sat in the sink some three or four days old. On the right hand side of the compartment was a ladder that led up through a hole in the roof and into the cockpit. Behind the ladder was a hatch that was sitting ajar allowing the woman to look in and see what appeared to be a shower and toilet.

"Welcome aboard," declared Tommy as he opened the refrigerator inside the galley and took out two small bottles of beer. He opened one of them by slamming the top against the corner of the counter and offered it to his guest who politely refused it. "Suit yourself." He decided therefore to drink it himself and he thrust the bottle into his mouth before taking down several large gulps of the brownish gold liquid inside.

Now that they were both cast in light the two of them could see each other properly for the first time. Tommy appeared to her in his late forties with a layer of short bristly hair covering his head and face thin enough to see his darkened dirt stained skin underneath. He was shorter than her being just six foot in height. By contrast she was at least ten years younger than him and had bright blonde hair that ran down the length of her back. Her physique was surprisingly athletic for a woman in these parts of Aerilon and she was quite tall.

Tommy yanked out a chair from under the table and sat, or perhaps fell was a more accurate term, onto it before swigging from the bottle once more.

"I hope you don't drink this much when you fly," she said to him.

Tommy smirked in amusement. "Well it's no fun flying sober."

The woman looked suddenly dissuaded. "Is it just you?"

"Yep, I am both Captain and crew. So why do you want to go to Picon then Miss…Miss?"

"Miss Kylen Hellena," she explained. "I have family there that I am trying to get back to."

"Things on Aerilon didn't work out for you huh?" She looked at him in a way that inquired as to how he knew she wasn't a local. "The accent gives it away."

Kylen put her fingers into her trouser pockets as she braced up. She was clearly a little uncomfortable talking about this particular subject.

"I came out here with a man I loved," she explained. "Only he turned out to be-"

"An asshole," he interjected.

"Yes," she uttered. "Now I just want to go home. Can you take me?"

"I am heading out to Odin station tomorrow. It's in orbit of Picon but it's a long way and as I said this aint no pleasure ship."

"I'm sure I could…" started Kylen uneasily, "earn my passage somehow."

"What did you have in mind?" he asked although he had an inkling as to what she was referring to.

She dropped her bag onto the deckplates and slowly reached up to start unzipping her denim jacket. Tommy became excited as the jacket opened to reveal her tight fitting tank top underneath. His eyes broke away from her body and upto her face. His excitement quickly waned. She was clearly hating herself for doing this and Tommy quickly realized that despite his inebriated state where his own inhibitions were lowered he was not that kind of man.

"Stop!" he instructed holding his hand up. "You don't need to do that. I'm sure we can come up with something else."

"Like what?" she asked, her voice betraying her relief that she wasn't going to have to sleep with him for her ride to Picon.

"Well in case you aint noticed this place could u-use a woman's touch from here to there," he stammered.

"Alright," she said clearly happier about doing household cleaning chores as opposed to sexual favors. "I can do that. So we have a deal then?"

"We have a deal," he confirmed before finishing off the bottle in his hand.

"Well, when do we leave?" she asked with renewed excitement.

"Not tonight," he said curbing her enthusiasm where she stood. "I'm too drunk for that, no, first thing in the morning."

"Ok," said Kylen. "Well then, where should I put my things?"

"You can put your things in that bunk over there," he said pointing to a bunk on the right hand side of the compartment. There was just a plain mattress placed down on it. "There are some blankets out the back."

"Thank you," she said as she walked over to it and placed her bag down on the bare mattress before starting to unpack.

Tommy's eyes began to lower as the alcohol he had consumed began to take over him. Soon they were closed but his ears were still detecting the sounds in the living compartment of his ship. The rustling sound of Kylen going through the bag soon subsided and silence filled the room.

It did not last long as suddenly the room filled with the sound of music. It was familiar music. It was the sound of a harmonica being played. The beautiful tune slipped into his ears and made its way to his heart. He seemed to sober quickly as his head automatically tilted in the direction the music was coming from. His eyes opened and he saw the woman he had watched in the bar playing away. He had found her and she had just arranged travel on his ship.