A few hours go by, and I find myself standing in the middle of a grassy field. We took a circular path, crisscrossing and back tracking to get here. When I asked Amancia about it, she said it was to make sure the princess wouldn't be able to lead her people back to our city. The Talfarian princess was also blindfolded as a precaution. But now we stand, in the field, watching the Talfarian ship land. We are lined up in a half circle, fifty of us, with the General and the princess in the center of the line. A few down from them stands Amancia and then me. We watch as a door appears in the side of the ship, disappearing into the side, leaving a gaping hole. Soon, twenty Talfarians march down the ramp and onto the grass, stopping a few feet from their ship. They form a straight line, and one of them, a female, steps forward to talk to us.

            "Hand over the Princess." She says.

            One of the Copaie guards takes off her blindfold and marches her forward. He lets go of her arm, a few feet away from the Talfarian line.

          "You will find that no harm has come to her." The General calls out.

          "Good." The female Talfarian says. "And you will find the requested galaxy has been emptied of Talfarian occupation."

          "If you return to the galaxy in question, you will have declared war on Saltu and all Copaie. We will retaliate by destroying several of your own planets, including your homeworld." He warns.

          "There is no need for threats. We, Talfarians, are good for our word. You can fully trust what we are saying."

          The General grunts in response before continuing. "You will also find that we are nowhere near the Copaie capital city. That your princess there will have no idea of how to find it. We took every precaution. And, in case you were thinking of betraying us, nightfall on this planet is dangerous." He points to the setting sun. "Many a soldier has lost his life when the sunsets. I highly suggest you make a hasty retreat. But if you do not believe me, feel free to find out for yourself. Just don't expect that ship to offer you any protection. And don't think I will come rescue you, your people decided a long time ago that we were inferior to you." With that he turns around and marches off, the rest of the Copaie turning and following behind him.

          I stay a moment longer, studying the Talfarians, a few of the faces are familiar from my days on Talfar. They seem to ignore me, instead forming a small circle and talking amongst themselves. Probably to see how much of the General's words are true. I turn and see the rest of the Copaie far behind me. I give the Talfarians one last look, and chase after the group. No way am I being left behind on this strange planet. There's a good chance the General was lying about how dangerous this planet is; but I have no reason to doubt him. I don't want to find out for myself.

           I catch up to the group, easily, but I do find myself winded. Even on Talfar, I trained rigorously, causing my body to be in amazing shape. I may not have been good in school, but I would always join the Talfarian Guards during their training. I've never been winded before; I've always been able to control my breathing while running. I guess that's a side effect of being pregnant. Pregnant. Hmph. There's that word again. I'm still not fully sure if I believe that health check. Afterall, it was given by a mirror. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask Amancia to show me where the medical doctors are. Get a real checkup. I just don't know if I'm ready for this all to be real. It's one thing for a mirror to tell you, that you are pregnant; it's a whole other thing for a doctor to tell you that you are. I can easily ignore the mirror, but not the doctor. I'm so engrossed in my own line of thinking that I don't even notice the group has stopped until I run into Amancia. "Oops, sorry." I say, backing away a few steps.

          She turns around. "What are you doing?"

            "I was lost in thought and not paying attention." I look around to see where we are. I have to squint in the dying sunlight to see anything. But we appear to be in the middle of the jungle; a rocky cavern stands off to our left. "Where are we? Why did we stop? I don't remember that cavern, before."

           "We are stopping for the night, that rocky cave will provide us with a little shelter. We are still too far away from any city." Amancia says.

           "Don't we have lights, so we can walk in the dark?" I ask.

           "You heard what daddy told the Talfarians about this place being dangerous at night. We wouldn't survive the trip."

          "I thought the General was making that up so the Talfarians would leave."

           "No. He was genuinely trying to warn them. This is a dangerous planet, it's the main reason we built all of our cities underground." She explains.

           "Oh. I thought they were built underground to keep anyone from attacking and destroying the cities." I say.

           "Well, that was just an extra benefit."

          "But you said..." I start.

          "I know what I said."

           "If it's as dangerous as you say, why did we wait until sunset to meet with the Talfarians?"

          "To keep them from getting too curious about ourplanet. Now come over here, we will sleep in the middle of the camp. Me, you,and daddy, will be side by side

            Now come over here, we will sleep in the middle of the camp. I don't want anything to happen to you or my grandchild." She says.

            "Wha? How did you know?" I ask, surprised.

          "I'm not stupid. I was just pregnant, myself. I know the signs. The sickness, the tiredness, uncontrollable emotions. Don't worry, I think it's exciting news. I'll take you to the medical doctor as soon as we get back." She says.

            I wake up with a start, something woke me up. I sit up and strain my ears, listening for anything out of place. I hear the soft snoring sounds coming from many different Copaie, and nothing else. I squint in the dim light, looking around, everything appears to be normal. It was a tight squeeze, all of us, lying close together in this small cave. Amancia said it was to keep us from being attacked from above. I look over and see her fast asleep beside me. I can feel the hot breath of a few different Copaie, breathing deeply in their sleep. I must have imagined the noise. Or maybe it was the last pieces of a dream. I lay back down and close my eyes, when I hear it, again. This time I am fully awake, so the sound registers. It sounds like claws scratching on rock, followed by a quieter skittering noise. The little hairs on my arms stand up, and I feel fear flooding my veins. "Amancia." I say, gently shaking her arm.

         She moves a bit but doesn't open her eyes. I hear the scratching and skittering again. "Amancia!" I say, a little louder. I shake her harder and am rewarded with a grunt. I shake her again, and this time her eyes open.

          "What?" she asks, yawning and sitting up.

          "Besides the fact that you are a heavy sleeper; there is something out there." I whisper. "Listen."

          We quietly listen, our ears straining to hear any little sound. At first there is nothing but the snoring, but then we hear the scratching and skittering noise. "That's it. Did you hear it?" I ask looking at her.

          Even in the dim light I can see the fear in Amancia's face. "We need to quickly wake everyone, or we won't survive to see the sun rise."