Urim was beneath a hovercraft, cutting through wires that would bring it down, when the first explosion came. It shook the entire planet and knocked him off his feet. Android parts came down the mountain like a mudslide. Metal arms and heads slammed into the hovercraft. They sped forward to escape the pounding pieces, leaving Urim flat on his back. His troops were in the same shape. Without a target, he rounded them up and sent some up to help the colonists and others to guard the ship. He was halfway up the mountainside when the second explosion came. It was closely followed by two more. The planet rumbled in protest.

Urim climbed faster and higher. Among the metallic pieces, he began to see flesh and bones. These were the remains of the colonists who had set the charges. Urim fought back nausea and continued to climb. The familiar sound of swords striking metal rang out from the summit, along with the sound of screams as the androids found a target. He pulled himself the last few feet and joined the war. He cut off an android's head, but it continued fighting. He skewered it on his sword, and it shot a colonist. Anger exploded from Urim, and he became a killing machine. He tossed the android off the mountain and waded into the melee. In one hand he held his sword and in another a gun. His second pair lit explosives and tossed them among large groups of the enemy.

All around him, his people were dying, knights and colonists alike. Bloody corpses and body parts littered the ground. He regretted his decision to stay and fight. He could hear Josephine in his dream so clearly saying, "You could have stopped this." If only he had heeded the warning, so many would still be alive. Covered in his own blood and that of others, Urim continued to fight. Until they struck him down, he would not stop. His knights would not die in vain.

He was still swinging his sword, though all his bullets and explosives were gone. A man's voice shouted, "Urim stop! There are no more." His anger and pain still raging, Urim turned in circles. His chest was heaving and his head pounding. Twenty or so colonists and warriors remained standing. All were bleeding from wounds, himself included. He knew this was just a lull in the storm. The Pura had hundreds more of their androids in reserve to take the place of the broken ones. Urim had not been able to take out the computers. Continuing to fight was futile and stupid. He announced, "Retreat to the ship. All who remain alive must board it and go home. We can no longer hold back the enemy. We have lost."

Milisarians were streaming into the encampment from all directions. Those able to walk were carrying or dragging the wounded. There were knights who had lost arms and eyes. Colonists were badly burned from the explosives. Urim was bleeding from laser cuts and a bullet wound in his leg. He had held back the pain during battle by focusing on his anger. Now, he was feeling every injury. Those who could, washed off the blood and dirt before they sought out Josephine's aid. Urim immersed himself in the pure, cold water numbing the pain momentarily. He wanted the comfort of Josephine's arms. When he had kissed her goodbye that morning, he had not expected to return alive.

The knights were shouting for Urim. He didn't want to rise from the freezing water. It would be so much simpler to just float away and forget everything. The death of his comrades and the destruction of the planet weighed heavily on his mind. He rose wearily to answer the call of his men. He would uphold his duty despite his lagging spirits. If the androids were invading, he would face them alone if necessary, allowing the others to escape in the ship.

Only his men were in the clearing. He didn't understand why the knights were shouting at him. "What is wrong? You should be retrieving everything from camp and boarding the ship. The wounded can be tended as we fly home. There is nothing left here for us. Heed my words. We must go before the androids return."

A colonist, with blood running from his ear and dragging his leg, approached. He said, "The nurse is not aboard. We went to the infirmary for help, but she is gone. There are knights slaughtered on the floor. The remaining patients are in pain. There has been no one to care for them in hours. The guards lie dead inside the ship's doorway. The patients keep repeating that he took her."

Urim bellowed, "No! She was supposed to be safe in the ship. I promised her that she would be protected! I must find out what happened." He turned to dash into the ship in order to question the eyewitnesses. "Care for your wounds the best you are able. There are bandages and medication in the infirmary."

Urim sadly stepped over the dead bodies of his knights. He would mourn them later. The living needed him now. He tried to ask questions of the patients, but they could not focus. Their pain was too great. Josephine had kept a written record of each man's injuries and the medications they were to be given. The dosage for the pain medication was there also. Urim carefully drew out the correct amount for every man, including the ones who had followed him inside. As their pain eased, they explained, "The leader of the Pura came. He had an android with him. He spoke inside our minds, though his lips never moved. He wanted Josephine. Some of the knights tried to fight. The android cut them down. He would have killed us all if she had not gone without protest. She is to be executed as a traitor."

Urim's roar shook the walls. He could not lose her. He knew that Ixia was using her to lure him in. It would give the Pura leader pleasure to make him watch Josephine die, and then have Urim executed as well. The alien was small and intelligent, but he had a cruel, vindictive streak to go with it. Walking into a trap, even when you knew it existed, was a foolish thing to do. The correct thing to do, as the Milisarian commander on this mission, was to leave Josephine and take his remaining people home. He could not do it.

Ixia herded Josephine, hands tied behind her back, through the blood and bones of the Milisarians to his hovercraft. She stopped several times to throw up from the horrible sights and smells. The Pura leader showed his disdain for her weakness by pointing out the heads of warriors she recognized, men she had treated for cuts and bruises. It was like he wanted to twist a knife in her gut. Ixia shoved her over and over, often causing her to fall in the bloody mess. He would then yank her up by her long hair. Tears streamed unchecked down her face, but she made no sound.

Her lack of response to his cruelty fueled his anger. He slapped her face once, just to remind her that he was in control. Blood squirted from the lip she split with the slap. She spit it at him. He used the android's laser to open a cut on her leg, laughing when she finally screamed in pain. He forced her into the hovercraft and took her back to the Pura spaceship.

Josephine gazed longingly at her metal tent. The Pura crewman pushed her past it and up the ramp of the ship. She left a trail of blood down the winding halls, past the infirmary, and was stopped in front a narrow door. The crewman opened the door with a swipe of his hand, shoving her into darkness. Her head hit the wall, making her see stars. She slid to the floor. The room must be a storage compartment, she realized. With her back against one wall, she had to keep her knees bent with her feet flat on the floor. Her shoulders barely fit between the side walls. The darkness was so complete; she couldn't see her fingers when she held them in front of her face. How long would Ixia keep her here before the execution? Would anyone save her? Was Urim still alive? Her throbbing head swirled with questions. The cut on her leg was sure to become infected from the gore covering her body. Was that what Ixia wanted? Did he wish her to suffer from fever and chills before he put her out of her misery?

Josephine rested her head on her knees and waited in the darkness. No sounds reached her, and no one came to get her. She had no way to tell how much time was passing, so she gave in to her depression and fell asleep. In her dreams, she could escape her fear and the smell of blood. It was a far better place to pass the hours while she waited for death.

Bright light awoke her and burned her eyes. The door to her tiny prison was open. She was jerked to her feet and screamed out as her injured leg gave way. Uncaring hands dragged her down the hall. She saw pity in the eyes of her former patients when she passed the infirmary. They reached out as if to stop her captor, but quickly drew back their hands. They couldn't defy their own kind for a human.

A circle of land was cleared beside the water, near where the bonfire had been. In the center, two battlebot arms were stuck in the ground like posts. Between them was the large case that had once contained her medical equipment. A Milisarian sword leaned against it. This was the sight for Josephine's execution. Too weak and heartsick to fight, she allowed her arms to be spread out and her wrists tied to the robot arms.

Ixia's evil voice entered her head, "You will suffer the pain of the damned before you die. You betrayed me for the giant. I want him to come and watch you die, and then I will execute him too. Your screams will bring him and those he commands. None will leave. I will finish my plans despite your interference. I cannot allow any planet to know what really happened here."

Josephine remained defiant. She replied, "Urim will not come for me. It would be suicide. He is a better leader than you. He will take his knights and leave. Their lives are far more important than mine."

Ixia said, "We shall soon see." The first laser blast hit her back, slicing a shallow cut across it. She could not hold back her scream, though she valiantly tried. In her mind, she beseeched Urim to stay away from harm and go home to Milisaria.