The second wave of the allied attack broke on the executive army and hit them hard. The area around the cargo lifter was cleared enough for us to unlock its doors and get out. We advanced with our allies back towards the docking area. The number of guards seemed to have diminished, but there were still quite a few of them positioned in front of the executive cruiser.

“When I give the word, we go straight into those guards and take that cruiser!” I commanded. “NOW!”

The cries from our force were terrible to hear and must have chilled the blood of the executive guards. They did not expect to see another wave of attack. The pilot of the executive cruiser began to engage its engines.

“Oh no, we have to get control of that cruiser. I guess they have been given the command to leave. We can’t let them!” I cried out.

“I know what to do,” Yahn said.

“What are you going to do?”

“I am going to use my Karkastian talents to save your parents,” he answered. Right before my eyes, he transformed into a thin blue vapor and drifted up to the ship. The vapor drifted into the cracks around the door of the cruiser. Then, the ship took off. I wanted to stay and see what happened, but Feraka yelled out and interrupted my thoughts.

"We've got to get out of here. There is a military cruiser dropping more atomizer bombs!" Feraka grabbed my hand and pulled me out of harm's way. I looked around but could no longer see the cruiser or what had happened with it. The Sarceastian portion of the colony now looked like a war zone. It had turned into an out-and-out battle between the Sarceastian commoners and the Sarceastian executive guard. Now the main bulk of both groups were facing off in the center of the Sarceastian portion of the colony, which was laid out in an oval shape like so many Sarceastian communities. Slowly, the commoners were gaining the upper hand because of sheer numbers, but the casualties were great. Bombs were being dropped all around us and the Sarceastian guards had more advanced weaponry.

I moved up to the front lines with my laser cannon, my eyes searching the sky for the cruiser. I didn’t see it anywhere. We continued to fight. I began to take out one guard after another so that we could make our way back towards the docking area. I had to, in order to help save Yahn and my parents. Gradually, we pushed them back again, but the bombs continued to go off around us taking out lots of our men. Finally, the docking bay was in sight.

The next thing I knew, there was a deafening explosion and I had been thrown to the ground. I faded in and out of consciousness after that, not certain of what was happening to me. All of the faces around me were Sarceastian, and for a while, I hoped that I had been picked up and carried away to safety by my comrades in arms. Then, I remembered waking up and seeing Sarceastians dressed in silvery robes carrying me towards what seemed to be a ceremonial chamber. I wasn't quite sure if I was having a dream or if it all was really happening to me. The moment I looked up and saw Demarin's face, I wished I was having a dream.

I tried to move, but there was an invisible force field immobilizing all of my muscles, except for my jaw muscles. I was laying on a flattened platform facing a window that opened with a view of what looked to be the Andromeda galaxy. I knew that I was more than the likely inside Demarin's space cruiser, probably headed back to Sarceastium or on the planet itself. I was left with the ability to speak.

"Well, it seems that we have come to the end of our little conflict, Private Jessie. All of your meddling in other beings’ affairs will soon be at an end. I suppose when I'm done with you, I will dispose of your parents in a similar manner. Then, once I return to Sarceastium, I will make sure to punish everyone who was a part of the coup that you led."

"Your leadership in Sarceastium has come to an end. The Sarceastians will never allow another dictator to take control of their society. I can assure you of that. Things will go back to the natural order before your kind took over."

“And who are you, Earthling to tell me how Sarceastian society should be run? That has always been the trouble with Earthlings-never content to mind their own business,” Demarin hissed.

I began to laugh when he said this.

“What’s funny? You face certain death and you laugh?”

“I was just laughing because it’s funny that you would accuse Earthlings of doing what the executives are guilty of themselves. I have been to many places that have been affected by your tyranny. You even managed to destroy Yahn’s civilization completely.”

"We do what we have to do to maintain the power and wealth that our empire requires," Demarin remarked.

“What are you going to do to me?” I asked.

"Look at the screen to your left if you will," he said pointing to the giant screen hanging in the command center of the cruiser. I looked over and saw dust, light, and matter rotating around as if it were captured in the gravitational pull of some planet. However, there were no stars or planets anywhere in the vicinity. Then, I saw a hole of a sort- an empty spot where all the dust and light seemed to vanish into. I knew right away that I was looking at a black hole.

"Ok, so what's up with the black hole, doing scientific experiments, are we?" I teased.

“You could say that. I don’t believe we have ever attempted to do what we are going to do today,” Demarin said, pushing a button. As he did, a coffin-like structure appeared above me and began to lower itself towards me.

“Oh, no, you aren’t going to do what I think you’re going to do,” I replied.

“Yes, I think it should be apparent what your fate is now,” Demarin said with a smile.

“I suppose that a duel is now out of the question,” I joked.

"Very funny, Jessie. You are charming to the last. I'm going to miss that about you. We will get to see what happens to you, so you could say that you are contributing to the scientific community with your death. For it is highly improbable that you will survive a trip into a black hole, although nothing is certain," he teased.

The coffin lid lowered itself down over me. I struggled but I was still immobilized by the invisible force field. A robot cam flew over and attacked itself to the screen of the coffin lid. It lowered itself down on me and I could hear it lock in place.

“NO!” I yelled. “Please let me out!” Demarin smiled. He looked at me and then looked at the camera, which showed my terrified face.

“You monster! Stop this!” I yelled.

“Oh, one minor detail I almost forgot,” Demarin said. He went over to the control panel and pushed the button on his communication device.

“Guards, please turn on the cameras so that Jessie’s parents can witness this. I’m sure they will want to be close to their daughter during her last moments of life- just to show that I’m not completely cruel.” A second later, the screen showed two guards standing on either side of my parents. My mother was crying hysterically and my father was crying out for them to stop. All of this fell on deaf ears. Demarin went back over to the control module and began to start a launch sequence. The platform that the coffin was sitting on was now beginning to tilt upwards.

“I hear that on Earth they allow people to say some last words before they are executed. It seems rather pointless to me, but I suppose if you have any last words, I will allow you to say them,” Demarin teased.

"You will soon meet your fate. You may think that you have the upper hand, but it is only an illusion. I promise you one thing, Demarin, I will live to see you put to death!" I threatened. Demarin laughed out loud and then continued the launch sequence. Part of the dome above our heads began to open and the thrusters at the rear of the coffin began to fire.

I screamed out in terror. Just as a computerized voice began a countdown, I heard the sound of a laser gun being fired. My parents fell to the ground and one of the guards was hit with laser fire and fell down as well. Suddenly, Yahn appeared on the screen and he was helping my parents to their feet.

Yahn, you’re here I reached out to him mentally and he answered.

Did you think that I was going to let him take you away from me again?

"Quickly guards- the Karkastian is here. Kill him, and while you're at it, kill Jessie's parents too!" Demarin added. Several guards ran off in one direction.

"As for you, don't think for a second that you have been saved by your blue boyfriend. Your fate is still going to be the same!" Demarin called out. He went back to the control booth and commenced the launch sequence again. Now, we were down to the last twenty seconds. I thought back on everything that had happened since I first met Yahn on his home planet. I thought of how alien, yet attractive he seemed- how he seemed vulnerable, yet powerful. I realized in what I thought were my last moments of life that I had loved him since I first laid eyes on him. I closed my eyes and felt thankful for the moments of happiness that we had managed to enjoy in the midst of all of the battles, the running, and the chasing.

A moment later I opened my eyes as the sound of laser fire filled the air. Yahn came charging in the control room, taking out almost every guard in sight. The remaining guards all set their sights on Yahn who managed to hide underneath a stairwell and pick them off one by one. I turned towards Demarin but realized that he had vanished. It angered me to think of him slipping through our fingers again, but I knew right away that's what was happening. Now the launch sequence was down to the last ten seconds.

"Ten, nine, eight…." The countdown was stopped by a sudden blast as Yahn took an energy beam and sliced right through the control panel of the launch mechanism. Sparks shot out and the countdown drew to a close.

“Get back from the door as far as you can!” Yahn instructed me. I squeezed in the back as far away from the door as I could as Yahn shot the lock with a laser blast. After two shots, it came open and Yahn managed to open the door of the coffin. I jumped out and threw my arms around Yahn. I felt compelled to throw him down and take him right there, I was so full of love for him. However, I resisted, knowing that we needed to catch Demarin. We ran out of the main control room towards the escape pods, but they had all been activated.

“Damn it! He’s gotten away from us again!” I shouted.

Yahn turned towards me and took my hand. "At this moment, I don't even care about Demarin. I'm just glad that I made it in time to look into your beautiful hazel eyes once more."