The trip back to Earth was agonizing. All I could think about was the horrible fate that awaited us once we landed. As if these thoughts weren’t enough, the crew members would walk by my holding cell and give me a hard time. James, in particular, could not resist any opportunity to give me a piece of his mind.

“I want to make sure that I have a front row seat when they execute you,” he jeered. I sat there with my head between my knees and did not answer him.

“It’s too bad. I sure could have shown you a good time, but now, you had to have sympathy for a terrorist alien. I hope it was worth betraying your country and sacrificing your own life!”

“Yahn is not a terrorist! I simply stopped you from going against your orders. I couldn’t just let you kill him!”

“You did a whole lot more than that! By the way, all Karkastians are terrorists as far as I’m concerned. The only good ones are the dead ones, and soon their whole race will be extinct. I say good riddance!” He said as he spat on the ground and walked away. My only comfort was Wendy who came and told me that Yahn was working on a plan to free us once we landed on Earth. As long as we were both still alive, I had reason to hope and that was all that kept me going at that stage. Soon I could see the Earth below us through a nearby window. Its familiar blue glow and fluffy white clouds would normally be a welcome sight for me. However, under the circumstances, it was the last place in the universe I wanted to be. I put my head between my knees and began to cry again, thinking of the fate that awaited me once landed. I knew that I would probably get to see my parents one last time before I was executed, and I dreaded seeing the look of disappointment on my father’s face. Like most Earthlings, he thought that Karkastians were all evil and I knew there was no way that he would ever understand the love that I felt for Yahn.

Just before we started our descent towards Earth, Wendy came over to my cell.

“How are you, girl?” she asked, putting her hand up to the invisible barrier between us.

“Not so great. Look, I wanted to thank you for relaying messages back and forth between us. I know that puts you at risk, and the last thing I want is for you to get into trouble.”

“It’s the least I can do. Look, I don’t know how I know this, but I get the feeling that everything is going to be alright somehow. It’s just a hunch, but I thought I would share it with you,” she shared, hopefully.

I smiled. “Thanks. That actually does help. Where there’s hope, there’s life. Can you go and pass along one more message to Yahn before we land? Tell him I’ll be ready once he works out a plan to get us all free.”

“I will, Jessie. Like I said, I get the feeling that everything is going to be ok so keep the faith sister!” I smiled at her and watched her walk away.

A few minutes later we began our descent to Earth. As we came close to the surface, I was amazed at how bustling the traffic in Washington was. I had only been gone for a few years, but in that time, I noticed that new towers had been added to the skyline. There seemed to be more hover cars everywhere and here and there I could see people flying about with their jetpacks strapped to their backs. I longed for the quiet forests of Padure. As soon as we landed, two soldiers came and opened my cell. My hands were cuffed and I was led off of the ship. I saw Yahn up ahead being led by other soldiers. A crowd of spectators gathered along the landing ramp. As we walked past them, they began to yell at me.

“Traitor! I can’t wait to watch them execute you!” One woman yelled.

“There she is, the one that sleeps with aliens!” a younger man said. I didn’t look at them. I kept walking, holding my head up high with my eyes looking forward. I was led through a side building attached to the main military complex. I guessed that they took me this way to minimize my exposure to the public. Many of them looked as if they would murder me themselves if given the chance. I couldn’t believe how full of hate these fellow Earthlings were. I was taken up several flights of stairs and down several hallways until we came to the prison. There were two wings, one for aliens and one for humans. I was led into the east building where the other human prisoners were housed. As we walked through, the other prisoners began to shout at me. Some of them were saying things that I did not wish to repeat. Needless to say, they were very unkind remarks and some of them were quite vulgar. As I looked up all I could see were floors and floors of prison cells that stretched up to the ceiling. Down below me there were more cells. Although Earth’s technological capabilities had advanced significantly, they still hadn’t addressed the ills that plagued society. I couldn’t think of any planet I had visited that had prisons as crowded as the ones that I saw on Earth.

I was put in a cell off in a corner where there were no other cells around. I was thankful because I didn’t want to be stared at like a zoo animal. As soon as the cell door was closed behind me, I grabbed the bars and began to cry. I didn’t feel hopeful like Wendy did. I sank to my knees and took a deep breath.

“I wouldn’t get too comfy. From what I hear you’re to be executed in the public square tomorrow!” the guard hissed at me before walking away. I ignored him.

After a while, I decided to try and reach out to Yahn, mentally. I knew it was a long shot because more than likely they still had him hooked up to a neutralizer to keep him from using telepathy.

Yahn are you there? It’s me, Jessie. Are you alright? Where are they keeping you? I waited hopefully for a response.

I’m here my love, I have managed to free myself. I am still in the cell block, trying to get to you. I am in a vaporous state.

How did you manage to get free?

One of the female guards tried to have her way with me. I managed to convince her to take off my neutralizer. She didn’t seem to know too much about the powers of Karkastians, luckily. I managed to turn into a vapor and disappear, but they are looking for me everywhere. Jessie I am going to free you, I promise you that I will find a way.

Well, you are going to have to try something fast because they are planning on executing me tomorrow in the public square.

What? Aren’t they going to give you a trial?

I don’t think that’s going to happen. Traitors usually don’t get such treatment. I have to go, someone’s coming. I felt better knowing that Yahn was free as the guard approached my cell with two people. As they got closer, I realized that the two people behind the guard were none other than my father and mother! My mother looked so much more shriveled and gray than the last time I saw her. Her brown eyes were hollow and I could tell that she had been crying. My father’s nostrils were flared and his brow was furrowed. He too looked older. His hair was thinner and grayer than before.

Tears filled my eyes as my mother came up to the cell and I reached out her hand through the bars. I grasped it as tightly as I could.

“Mother, how I’ve missed you!”

“Oh, my dear Jessie how I’ve missed you too! Are they treating you alright?” she asked.

“I’m ok, but they are going to execute me tomorrow if everything goes the way they’ve planned it.” I looked over at my father who was keeping his distance, still staring on with a distant, angry glance.

“Jessie, I just want to know what you were thinking,” he finally said.

“Dad, I don’t expect you to understand what’s happened, but I will try and explain things the best that I can. First off, I watched as one of my fellow soldiers tried to unlawfully execute Yahn, a Karkastian. Our mission was to take prisoners, not execute people. I stopped the soldier from killing Yahn by injuring the soldier. After that, I had to escape in order to keep from being declared a traitor. I managed to stay at large for a very long time and visited several planets. I fell in love with the Karkastian and we tried our best to find a place where we could live in peace. Finally, the expedition crew caught up with us and here I am.”

“How could you fall in love with one of…. them?” He asked in a disgusted voice.

“I don’t know, dad. It just happened. Yahn is very kind and would never hurt anyone unless he had to. He is as kind and loving as any human man I have ever known,” I explained, but I could tell the explanation was falling on deaf ears.

“You’ve thrown everything away. You were just supposed to be in the army long enough to earn money for college. Now, I have people at work saying my daughter is a traitor to her country and her planet. Now, I have to try and keep them from executing my only daughter. Did you not think about how all of these choices of yours might affect us?

“Honey, she has been through enough without all of this. What she needs right now is our support, not our criticism. What’s done is done. I can’t say what I would have done in her position, but we have to assume that she did what she felt was best at the time. You can’t fault her for that!” my mother fired back at him.

“You baby her too much, as usual. She has made some bad choices and it is going to cost her, her life!”

“If this is the last time I’m going to speak to either of you, I don’t want to spend it arguing. I just want both of you to know that I love you and that I’m sorry,” I pleaded as the tears began to flow again. My father’s expression began to soften somewhat as his eyes began to fill with water.

“Jessie, I tried everything I could to save you, but I have gotten nowhere. I made an appeal to the head judge and begged the governor to grant you a trial. My request was denied. I’m sorry that I couldn’t help you,” he told me as a single tear streaked down his face.

“Thank you for trying father,” I said. A guard came walking up a second later.

“Alright, that’s all the time that you are granted. Now say your goodbyes and you must leave!” The guard barked.

“Goodbye, mom and dad. I love you!” I told them in a pitiful voice.

“Goodbye Jessie, we will always love you!” my mother said as the tears streamed down from her eyes.

“Let’s go,” the guard said in a detached voice.