Once we were at a safe enough distance away, David took out the self-destruct remote and activated the sequence. A timer switched on, indicating that the device would go off in five minutes. We continued to put distance between us and the dome until we were several miles away. The timer ran out of seconds and soon we could hear a massive explosion far off in the distance. David smiled and took a deep breath.

“Take that you Sarceastian bastards!” he exclaimed. Then, he high-fived both Jessie and myself.

After a while, we decided to go back to the site of the dome to make sure that the entire facility was destroyed. We peered out from the cover of the forest at the devastation. There was nothing left but scorched earth and a burning pit left.

“It worked!” Jessie cheered.

“Shh! There are probably still Sarceastians around in the woods. They may have fled for safety, but they’ll be back. Come on, back to the camp. This calls for a celebration!” David stated.

We went back to the camp and celebrated with a meal of fruit and Barbalot meat. Barbalots were small rabbit-like mammals found only on Padure.

As the night came on, Jessie and I went to our tent while David continued to guard the camp in case any Sarceastian patrols might still be in the area.

“I don’t know about you, but I say we leave tomorrow,” I said as I watched Jessie undress.

“Yes, I am ready. Having to worry about Sarceastian patrols and the eventual arrival of more Sarceastian ships is not something I’m looking forward to,” she agreed. I ran my fingers through her hair and gave her a small kiss.

"I'm in the mood for some mind-melding," she said, raising her left eyebrow suggestively. I nodded and took both of her hands. We both closed our eyes, and I felt the energy of her love flowing from her hands to mine. Soon, I was overwhelmed with pleasurable sensations that flowed throughout my body. Both of us began to moan with delight as we reached orgasm at the same time. We lay together afterwards, listening to the sounds of the night. I was trying to find a nerve to ask Jessie to form a forever pact with me. Forever pacts were similar to Earth marriages. The pact bonded a couple together forever unless the pact was broken by a holy Kerkola, the Karkastian equivalent of an Earth pastor or priest.

“Jessie, there is something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” I finally got the nerve to say.

“Sure, what is it?” she asked. I got up and stood in front of her, taking her right hand in mine.

“Jessie, for some time now I’ve known that you were the only one for me. I want us to always be together, to be bonded to one another forever more. What I am trying to say is that I want to form a forever pact with you. Will you take this pact and be by my side for the rest of our days?”

"Yes, I will! Oh, Yahn. It's like you're asking me to marry you!" she became very excited as a single tear ran down her rosy cheeks.

“What does marrying mean?” he asked.

“It’s very similar to your forever pact. When you get married, it’s like you are bonded with each other for eternity in the eyes of God, which is the higher being that many humans believe in.”

“Yes, that does sound like the same thing,” I admitted.

“Do you exchange anything? Humans give each other rings as a symbol of their marriage,” she shared.

“Usually, the Kerkola, a holy Karkastian, binds the two lovers with golden rope, but I don’t have any,” I stated.

“Hmm, I have something that might work,” she said as she went to dig through her purse. She got out a gold necklace and brought it over to me.

“Here, this will work,” she said, handing it to me.

“Will we still be bonded even though a Kerkola isn’t present?” she asked me.

“Yes, as long as we say the sacred vow. Repeat after me,” I instructed her.

“I, Yahn do agree to form a forever pact with you, Jessie so that we can roam the universe bonded by love for the rest of our days. Now you,” I said.

“I, Jessie, do agree to form a forever pact with you, Yahn so that we can roam the universe bonded by love for the rest of our days,” she repeated. Then, I took her hand and wrapped the gold necklace around both of our arms.

Jessie gave me a long and loving kiss and pushed me down onto the cot from the space cruiser that we were using as our bed. She took off all her clothes and let me gaze upon her gorgeous, naked body before climbing on top of me. We consummated our pact and fell into a deep sleep. I dreamed of a palace in the clouds where we sat in peace looking down on a fair city of floating buildings below us. I knew that this city was the place we were hoping to find one day.

The next day, we woke up at the same time and prepared to say our goodbyes and make the trek back to the space cruiser.

“I really wish the two of you would stay, but I can understand why you don’t want to. It’s not the ideal life having to look over your shoulder all the time to watch out for a Sarceastian patrol,” David said.

“No, it isn’t the life for us, and you are more than welcome to come with us if you wish,” Jessie added.

"No, thank you for the invitation, but my place is here. I am going to re-build my home and defend it against the Sarceastians for the rest of my days. That is my destiny," David answered.

"We understand. We will miss you quite a bit, David. You are a true friend to us, and I hope that we might meet again one day," I said, shaking his hand.

“Whenever you wish to return, I will be here.”

"Goodbye, David," Jessie said, hugging David.

“Goodbye. Look out for each other!”

Just a moment after we entered the woods, we heard the sound of an approaching Sarceastian patrol. We hid behind the trees and drew our weapons, but we had been spotted. The forest lit up with red light from their laser fire. Several trees around us were set ablaze.

“They are behind the trees!” one of them shouted to the others. We returned fire from behind the trees, taking out several of them, but there were ten or so, and they continued to move in our direction.

“What are we going to do?” Jessie asked me.

"Just keep firing back, we are going to make it through this," I reassured her. Then, I fired a few more shots and killed another guard. There were now about six of them and they were almost upon us. From out of nowhere, David came up behind them, firing as he went. One by one he killed all of the guards except for one who was mortally wounded. The wounded guard fell to the ground but managed to fire one last shot at David near his heart. He let out a cry of distress and fell to the ground. I came out from behind the tree and shot the guard before he could lift his laser cannon again. Jessie and I ran over to David to check on him. He was barely breathing when we came over to him and knelt down.

“I am not going to be for long in this world. That guard managed to shoot me near the heart. You two must go on and leave me here. You have your whole lives in front of you. Leave this place and go somewhere that the two of you can truly be happy and live in peace. There is no peace here as long as the Sarceastians continue to return,” he said as he gasped for air.

“David, you need to save your breath. We are going to save you,” Jessie said, as her eyes filled with tears.

“There is no saving me. Please, leave before another patrol spots you. I’m certain that there are other Sarceastian patrols out there, and they will be looking for the humans that blew up their colony.”

“David, I want to tell you how grateful I am again about your help and your friendship. I will never forget you or the things that you have done for us. Go now to your eternal rest,” I said as I knelt down and took his hand.

"Thank you, Yahn. I would never have lived this long if it wasn't for the two of you. May God look out for you both for the rest of your days." David began to gasp for air and soon, he stopped breathing. I shut his eyes as Jessie put her arms around David and began to cry.

“No! You can’t die!” she exclaimed. I allowed her to shed her tears and hold him for a moment. Then, I took her by the hand and lifted her head up to face me.

“Jessie, he’s gone. We must leave soon before we are spotted by the other Sarceastians.”

“We have to bury him and give him a proper memorial,” she stated. I wasn’t sure what this meant. When Karkastians died, they were shot into space. However, since David was a human, I wanted him to be honored in the way that humans honored their dead. I helped Jessie dig a large hole near the site of the rubble that was once David’s house. We wrapped David’s body in material from his cot and placed him in the hole. Once we had covered him with dirt, Jessie said a few words in his honor.

“Lord, take David into your heavenly kingdom and reward him for a life of care and service for what he believed in. David was an honorable man who died defending his home planet against those that would pillage and destroy it. Be at peace, my friend, amen,” she stated, solemnly.

“Be at peace,” I repeated.

With heavy hearts, we walked back to the space cruiser and uncovered it. Luckily, there were no further signs of the Sarceastians. I comforted Jessie as she broke into tears again, holding her close to me.

"Come, my love, we must be on our way. Our journey doesn't end here. We must say our final goodbyes to Padure," I said. We stood for a moment on the ridge looking over the forested landscape that was interrupted here and there by the clear cuts the Sarceastians had caused.

We turned and got inside the space cruiser and began the launch sequence. As we began to lift off, Jessie took my hand and looked me in the eye.

"I vow right here and now to never leave your side. For David's sake, we will continue to live happy and free lives together for as long as we can." Jessie's eyes began to cloud with tears again as we looked down on the beautiful green landscapes of Padure. Soon it became a green ball in the distance as we moved through the stars into the vastness of space. Jessie began to look through the navigator at the nearby planets for a possible destination.

“Well, where to now?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter to me as long as we’re together,” I said, feeling hopeful despite everything we had just been through. However, the loss of our friend still pervaded our mood.