Urim's departure left Josephine more frightened than ever. The fact that he had told her to find a safe place to hide meant the war would begin soon and he didn't expect it to go well. He didn't think she was safe with the Pura. There had been a small space in time when she had imagined the whole conflict blowing over. She had been sure that both sides would see the consequences of war and call a halt to the aggression. At that time, she would resume her job as the medical advisor for the Pura until her ride back to Earth appeared. Reality set in when she had shown Urim the army of androids, and he had kissed her goodbye as if she would never see him again. She had stayed on the mountainside and watched him run down one mountain, across the water, and up the other side. Her eyes never left him until it became too dark to see.

Josephine climbed down into the camp, not caring if the Pura noticed where she came from. They might be angry that she had wandered into their crop, but as long as they didn't know Urim had been with her, it shouldn't matter.

Ixia came striding out of Josephine's shelter. He didn't try to hide the fact that he had been searching it. Her anger exploded, "Get away from my tent! You have no business inside it. Everything in there is mine. If you needed something, you should have asked me for it. Don't ever go in there again!"

Her outburst didn't phase him in the least. He stated, "This planet belongs to the Pura, and I am the leader while we are on this expedition. Anything on it is part of our domain and subject to a search. You did not see fit to explain your departure, so we sought to find a reason for it. Otherwise, we must assume that you were taking information to the Milisarian camp. We would consider that treason, as you were hired to work for us."

She gritted her teeth and replied, "I wasn't hired. I volunteered to help you. There isn't any form of payment involved, so I am not your employee. Everything in my shelter came from Earth. It does not in any way belong to you. I am not a slave either. I'm not required to explain every move I make. My patients are well tended. I have fulfilled my duties for the day. Spending the afternoon away from this military encampment was a relief to my system. You know as well as I do that I could not have made it to the Milisarian's camp and back on foot in so little time. All of your precious hovercraft is now locked away, so you had no reason to suspect me of treason. Stay out of my shelter!"

Ixia shrugged his narrow shoulders. "I have no reason to enter your quarters again. I have thoroughly searched it already. There is nothing of significance in it. However, from this point forward, you will remain under guard. One will accompany you each time you choose to leave the tent, and remain at your side until you return to it. Two will be stationed at its door at all times."

"You intend to imprison me?" she shouted. "For what? You're all males. How am I supposed to bathe? I refuse to put on a show for the crew's benefit. Earth will not stand for this. You will lose them as an ally."

"I will tell them it is for your own safety. A war is about to begin. We will protect this camp and thus, you will be safe. If we allowed you to wander unheeded, wherever you please, you could be harmed. You will be taken to the cove to bathe on every third day, if I consider it safe. Four of my crew will be spared from the battle on those days to guard you. Their backs will be turned as you wash, but all four sides of the cove will be guarded against your escape. If you refuse their service, there will be no bathing." Ixia didn't give Josephine a chance to argue. He turned his back and swiftly walked away.

Two of the Pura crew took their stations on each side of the metal door. Josephine entered her shelter and slammed the door shut. The whole structure shook, startling a squeal from her guards. Good, she fully intended to scare them as often as possible. How dare the pompous little blue creature imprison her and try to claim it was for her safety! That was utter nonsense. He didn't care about her safety. He just wanted her here to care for any injured Pura and to keep her away from the Milisarians. No way would she allow that to happen. She would definitely find a way out of this mess.

Exhausted from anger and the encounter with Urim, Josephine fell asleep and didn't rouse until the sun shone through the open hole in the roof of her shelter. The ground around her was shaking. Did this planet have earthquakes? Tossing her blanket aside, she climbed out of bed and opened the door. Her guards turned in unison. Oh right, she had forgotten about them as she slept. When she showed no signs of coming outside, they turned back to their posts. Josephine's eyes searched for the cause of the trembling ground. She found that the battlebots were on the move. Their huge, heavy feet were shaking the entire encampment. The gigantic machines marched toward the farthest mountain range. They were headed for the Milisarian Knight's spaceship. The wait was over. Ixia was going to attack. The war was beginning.

Fear and sadness rippled through Josephine. She had tried her best to stop this from occurring, to no avail. The hovercraft that carried the crew controlling the battlebots inched slowly behind the giant machines. The huge monsters were slow and loud. Thankfully, Urim and the knights would hear them approaching and have time to prepare a counterattack. The androids remained in even rows, unmoving beside the waterway. It would seem Ixia had a strategy of his own. He must be using the battlebots to destroy as much as possible before sending in his mechanical army. It was an intelligent move on his part, though she hated to admit it.

For Josephine, the day was uneventful but nerve-wracking. She couldn't see or hear anything once the battlebots reached the path into the far mountains. Not knowing what was happening proved to be difficult to handle. She left her shelter only once to tend to her patients in the Pura ship. Her guards stayed so close, she could feel their breath on her neck. It frustrated her so much that she had been snappish with her patients. They had inquired, "May we go outside for a short time? We will be careful. It has been so long since we saw the sky and felt fresh air."

Josephine had replied, "Do you feel the need to watch the results of your ignorant stunt? The battlebots have set out to destroy the Milisarians because you had a childish fit and ran over their equipment. I hope you will be happy when the dead of both worlds cover this planet. Of course, you may go outside. No ones made you prisoners, especially not me. I am only here at the convenience of Ixia."

"We did not mean to start a war. We are sorry for our actions. No one told us the battlebots had been deployed. We truly are just lonely and tired of being inside." Their sincere apologies had made Josephine ashamed of her tirade. She had allowed them to go outside for a very short time. They had been very appreciative.

Darkness fell once more. A rumbling in the distance made Josephine unsettled. The battlebots were too slow to have reached the Milisarian camp. If what she was hearing was a battle, it meant Urim and the knights had met the Pura at the halfway point. Urim was doing his best to protect his ship and the colonists that were in his care. She paced the floor and worried. How many of the knights would die tonight? Would Urim live to see another sunrise? Unable to calm herself, she decided to find a way to escape. She would much rather die with Urim than stay here with the Pura. If she could help only one side, then her loyalty was with the knights.

Her day guards had been replaced with a fresh set as night had arrived. They remained awake and alert, so she couldn't leave by the doorway. There were no windows to sneak out of either. She looked up at the small opening in the roof. Even if she could reach it, there was no way she could squeeze through it. The tent was made of a lightweight metal, instead of cloth. Tearing or burning a hole in the back wasn't possible. She required something sharp to cut through it. She had no knife or scissors. The gun was still in her medical case but she couldn't bring herself to shoot her guards without provocation.

Josephine considered her options while she stuffed the cloth bag that had held her extra clothes with food and medical supplies. She couldn't take the large case. It was too heavy to carry. Her fingers came into contact with the cold metal of the handgun. Shaking with nervousness, she added it and ammunition to her pack. There might be a time she would have no choice but to defend herself. Under the gun was a scalpel. Would she need it for surgery on the wounded? She started to toss it in the bag and then realized it would cut through the thin metal like butter. She had finally found a means to escape! She finished packing the bag and picked the most logical spot to start cutting a hole. It took a long time to do it quietly and not raise the suspicions of her guards. When the opening was large enough, she sat back and rested. Could she really do this? The camp was filled with Pura. She would have to sneak across the entire camp and make it to her cove unseen. She could follow the route that Urim had taken. He had told her it was a shortcut to his ship. It would also keep her out of the middle of the battle. If she was caught, what would happen? Ixia might execute her as a traitor. She had come this far with her plans, and just like Urim, she wouldn't back down now. If she died, it would be by her own terms, not locked up in a metal prison.

She shoved her bag out of the hole first and then listened to see if the guards had heard anything. All was quiet out front, so she lay down on her stomach and wriggled through the opening. She bent the metal back down to hide her escape route. They would find it eventually, but it might give her a few extra seconds to reach safety. She needed every one she could get. Once she was on her feet, she began to inch her way across the camp. She stayed clear of the spaceship and its occupants. She circled the androids, staying in the dark shadows cast by the mountain. The most treacherous spot was the bonfire where Ixia sat with the crew that had not gone to control the battlebots. She would be very close to the group as she came around the final line of androids. Holding her breath, she plastered herself against the rocks and moved inch by inch toward freedom.

Josephine froze in place when she heard Ixia say, "Once the battlebots have done their job and the Milisarians have overcome them, I will allow a short respite from the war. They will see it as a chance to gather their dead and treat their wounded. When they are grouped together in the camp, the androids will swarm them and destroy the entire group, including the colonists. We must not let any remain alive to report our actions to the interplanetary community. We will begin sending small groups of the androids into many different parts of the mountain at sunrise. When they are all in place, and the Milisarians have let down their guard, I will give the signal to destroy them. Surrounded by our army, they cannot win."

Having heard enough to cause a panic in her heart, Josephine moved as quickly and quietly as possible past the bonfire. She could breathe freely once more upon reaching her little cove. She spent ten of her precious minutes smearing mud over the message she had left for Urim to warn him about the androids. If a search party came for her, she didn't want them to know Urim had been told about the Pura's mechanical army.