The next few days passed uneventfully. Jack continued his physical therapy, but without the need to focus on his motor functions any longer, he found that he had more free time than before. He briefly entertained the idea of going back to the village, but S'haar let him know under no uncertain terms that she would not forgive him if he endangered himself by traveling through the wilds alone for a second time for anything less than life or death stakes. Furthermore, she instructed both Angela and Em'brel to stop him from attempting that kind of stupidity through "any means necessary!"

Realizing that he was stuck here for the foreseeable future, Jack let himself genuinely relax for the first time in a long time. He still had some muscle mass to build, but Angela was pleased to note that he was getting near the condition he'd been on before his injury. In his free time, Jack taught Ger'ron several board games and wiled away several pleasant afternoons while Em'brel continued her studies with Angela.

Jack also showed Em'brel a few simpler video games they could play together late into the night after the old guard had fallen asleep. It reminded Jack of simpler times when he'd played computer games with friends long past the point that their reaction times began to collapse under the strain of sleep deprivation. He found it interesting that Ger'ron seemed to enjoy competitive board games where Em'brel seemed more interested in co-operative computer games. She particularly liked the ones you could go wild with your imagination and build things in. After watching enough movies, she was really interested in designing her own castles and loved taking Jack on virtual tours of her creations.

They also watched several movies. After he got past the impossibilities of what he was seeing, Ger'ron particularly liked one called "Second Hand Lions." He seemed to really connect with an old and grumpy Robert Duvall.

On top of all that, they spent time cooking and eating positively decadent meals, at least in comparison to any of their recent meals. Though both argu'n had to take Jack's word for it that chocolate was as good as he claimed, since they couldn't taste "sweet," it just had an unappetizing bitter flavor for them.

Despite everything, Jack found he couldn't really settle into a groove and enjoy it. He felt antsy because there were too many things weighing on his mind. Angela's power needs, managing a larger and more populated outpost, the political arena they now found themselves in, the raiders, trading, and perhaps most importantly to him, the relationship that he and S'haar seemed to be falling into that was frustratingly put on hold because they were separated from each other by a single day's journey.

It was Em'brel who suggested that they go out and tour the camp. The snow had mostly receded, and they could show Ger'ron around while inspecting everything to see what new complications they might face once the workers returned, ready to renew the progress on the outpost.

It was still unpleasantly chilly for the argu'n, but with a couple jackets and a single heating pouch each, they were reasonably comfortable in the chill afternoon air.

This was also Jack's first time getting to really see how far the camp had come since he'd been injured. They'd told him about the progress they'd made, and he even got a few good glances at it as they'd passed through to the village, but there had been no time to stop and sightsee. That was how the three of them found themselves stepping out of the cave on this warm winter morning. Em'brel translating for Jack as necessary.

Ger'ron did his best to avoid the muddiest spots with his crutches but had mixed results at best since the whole place was basically one giant mud hole at the moment. This led Jack to the bright idea that they needed to lay down some cobblestones for better walkways. Though he admitted, that wasn't an immediate objective.

Jack took in a deep breath as they walked. "There's just something invigorating about a lungful of crisp winter air! It makes me really feel alive!"

Em'brel helped Ger'ron steady himself after he found a deceptively slick spot of muddy grass when she shot Jack an exasperated glance. "I'll take your word for it. After all, you've flirted with death more than anyone I know, so it makes sense you'd know what being alive feels like."

Jack couldn't help but see the face of Not-S'haar at Em'brel's words, but a quick shake of his head banished the image from his mind. With a grin, he turned to face Em'brel. "Yeah, well, I've had enough of being the hero. I'm perfectly content to live a long and healthy life behind these walls with my friends and family at my side!"

Ger'ron was shooing away Em'brel now that he was steady on his crutches again. "Wise words from one so young. Usually, men your age are eager for more adventure in their lives!"

Jack shook his head with a rueful smile as he looked off into the distance. "Well, I've been through enough excitement in the last six months to last me two lifetimes. Hopefully, we'll get the palisade finished and have enough guards on hand to deter any trouble before it begins. Then the young men can go back to wishing for adventure while I return to hiding from it!"

Ger'ron chuckled at Jack's statement. "Not quite how I would have said it, but I suppose you get the point across well enough."

Em'brel was excitedly uncovering the well and drawing up a bucket of freshwater. Jack watched the mechanism's she'd designed with interest. "I see you incorporated several of the concepts Angela taught you, including pullies and even some basic gears. This is some first-rate stuff! It's most likely the best well on the entire planet!"

Ger'ron watched, surprised at the ease with which the young woman could draw up such a large bucket of water. She showed him how the pullies made everything lighter and how the gears could lock the bucket in place when needed. "This is amazing! It will save my poor old back the strain of lifting water every day! And you said you designed it, young lady? This isn't some other new fancy human machine?"

Em'brel demured. "Well, this is based on human ideas that Angela and Jack taught me, and honestly, it's not much compared with the kinds of things they are capable of..."

Jack ran roughshod over Em'brel's self-deprecating line of reasoning. "Nonsense. You designed this and helped make it from scratch! Not one in a hundred humans could do what you've done here! This is something worth taking some pride in!"

As he spoke, Jack grabbed the bucket and tilted it up enough to take a generous drink from it, spilling a little onto himself in the process. The water must have been barely above freezing, and Jack felt a strong shiver work its way from the top of his spine down to his toes. Gasping for air after the pleasant shock to his system, Jack exclaimed, "Now that'll wake you right up!"

Looking over at the two horrified argu'n, Jack amended his statement. "Well, that woke me right up. It would probably put either of you into a cold coma. You might want to warm up the water before drinking it..."

Em'brel shook her head. "No, thank you. I'll wait to get a drink when we're back inside, like a sane person!"

Jack chuckled as he re-sealed the well. "Your loss!"

Next, they wandered over to the palisade. Jack was amazed at how far they'd already extended the wall. There was still a long way to go, but somehow it felt like they'd made far more progress in the time he'd been out than he thought they would have. Em'brel merely laughed at his surprise. "This is what happens when you work rather than getting nearly killed every five minutes. You should try it sometime!"

Inspecting the wall, Jack was pleased to see that most of the wall was still solidly in place despite the storm and resulting mud. It was only at the end of the wall that a few wooden stakes had loosened enough that they'd need to be re-set in the ground.

Jack was checking out one of the guard towers when Angela's voice came over the headset, filled with equal amounts of fear and urgency. "Jack, I'm picking up several life signs at the edge of my scanning range. They're moving toward you in a far too direct a manner for it to simply be animals, get back to the ship immediately!"

Jack looked over the railing. Seeing Em'brel and Ger'ron near the base, he shouted down to them. "We've got incoming. Get back to the ship now!"

Ger'ron looked around in confusion for a moment. "What's he shouting? What's going on?"

Em'brel didn't ask questions. She merely grabbed the old man's shoulder and lightly but firmly shoved him around to face the right direction. "We need to get to the cave quickly. Someone's coming!"

Having learned from his mistake last time, Jack always kept his gun at his side whenever outside the ship's safety. As he half-ran down the guard tower's stairs, he drew the firearm and chambered a round. Reaching the bottom, jack could see Ger'ron and Em'brel ahead of him, but the crutches mixed with the soft mud was significantly slowing the pair down.

Looking back at the forest, Jack could just see the form of several argu'n clearing the tree line at a run. They were still too far away to clearly make out, but he was confident that no one with good intentions would be charging at him the way these ones were. Every second, another argu'n seemed to be running out of the forest, making right for Jack's position.

Aiming a little low, Jack fired two warning shots into the ground ahead of the lead argu'n. When his pace didn't slow, he raised the gun a little further, took aim, and fired. His first shot went wide, his second merely grazed his target's arm, but his third landed square in the torso, dropping the warrior.

Jack was half a magazine down, and still more argu'n were rapidly clearing the tree line. He could make out enough to be confident these were raiders, similar to the one's he'd faced before, but this time they were wearing coats. The coats bore more than a passing resemblance to the one's he'd gifted the workers, though even from here, Jack could tell they were more crude in design and material.

Jack didn't have time to wonder what that meant. Instead, he sighted in on the next runner. This time he hit his target in the leg, severing it completely.

Turing his aim, Jack hit another raider in the shoulder, but when the raider kept coming, Jack shot him again, this time hitting center mass with predictable results.

There were still six raiders rapidly approaching, and Jack didn't have enough bullets in the magazine or enough time to reload, and this time S'haar wasn't here to save him. Jack shot down the next two closest raiders before turning to run, even though he knew there was no chance he'd outrun an argu'n over this short a distance.

Jack was fumbling with his next magazine while running when a raider ran past him. It took Jack a moment to realize who his real objective must be. He had just enough time to shout out, "EM'BREL, RUN!" and slam the next magazine in place before he was tackled from behind, resulting in both him and his assailant tumbling end over end.

-

Em'brel was doing her best to help Ger'ron stay upright, but she was barely strong enough to help steady him, so every slip in the mud set them back a precious second or two. They were more than halfway to the cave when she heard Jack's shout. Looking over her shoulder, Em'brel felt her heart sink. There was no way they'd make it in time.

Ger'ron must have come to the same conclusion because he placed his hand on over the one she'd been using to steady him and shoved her away. "Run, girl! I'll See to these witless pups!"

Em'brel looked at his missing leg and was about to argue when he snarled at her. "Don't pity me! I'm a guard! If I can't fight to protect a young female like yourself, why'd Jack even heal me? Now, RUN!"

As he shouted the last, Em'brel hesitated half a second more before nodding and running. Ger'ron smiled and mumbled to himself. "That's a good girl!"

The old guard then turned and drew his knife. The small blade looked pathetic in comparison to the swords and spears of the raiders, but he'd be damned if his blade didn't taste blood once more before he died.

-

Jack had lost his gun in the tumble, but the raider also lost his sword. Now the raider had a firm grip on Jack's ankle, preventing him from slipping away.

Rather than try and feebly fight the raider's overwhelming strength, Jack drew his knife and leaned forward, slashing at his captor's eyes.

Evidently, the raider had not been expecting this move and reacted too late to block the strike, but he was still fast enough to turn his head so that Jack was only able to cut deep into his forehead instead. Nevertheless, this had the favorable outcome of forcing him to release his grip and disrupt his vision since the blood was dripping over his eye ridges and into his eyes.

Jack took advantage of the distraction to strike again, driving his knife into his opponent's head. Even two-handed, he could only bury the blade a few inches through the thick skull. However, it seemed to be far enough since the raider sunk into a boneless heap, taking Jack's knife with him.

Taking advantage of the momentary lull, Jack started searching around for his gun, only to feel a sharp pain piercing through his right ankle. Looking down, he could see a spear sticking out of his leg. Looking back up, he could see a triumphant looking raider charging toward him.

With no gun or knife, Jack tried grabbing the spear and pulling it out of his leg to defend himself. He thought he'd been prepared for the pain he was about to feel, but nothing could prepare a person for this level of agony. Jack only blacked out for only a second, but that was long enough to end up lying on the ground with a spear still stuck in his leg while the raider lept through the air to finish what he'd started.

-

As the raider chased after Em'brel, Ger'ron lowered himself into a one-legged crouch. The raider smirked and shifted his gait to the side, intending to run past the old cripple. However, he wasn't prepared for Ger'ron to throw his knife then leap after it.

The raider hesitated only a second to knock the knife away, but that was enough for Ger'ron's leap to catch him. A wrestling match ensued for possession of the spear the raider had been carrying, Ger'ron had surprise on his side, but the raider had the strength of youth. He rolled the old guard onto his back and tore the spear from his hands. Then steadied himself as he stood over the cripple and prepared his finishing thrust.

However, the raider hadn't noticed when they'd rolled closer to where Ger'ron's knife had fallen. The guard quietly grabbed it while the raider righted himself and now waited for his moment.

As the spear flashed downward, Ger'ron rolled just enough to one side for the spear to merely graze along the plates on his ribs, planting itself into the mud beneath the guard. Then, wrapping his arm around the spear, locking it in place, he rolled the other direction, forcing the haft of the spear down onto the ground.

The raider stubbornly refused to let go of his weapon and was brought just low enough for Ger'ron to grab hold of his shoulder, off-balancing him sufficiently that even a one-legged man could kick his legs out from under him.

The guard wasted no time taking advantage of the raider's momentary disorientation to gain a position of leverage and bring his knife down onto his opponent.

The raider, unable to gain any traction in the mud, realized his predicament. His arms shot forward to grab hold of Ger'ron's wrists and attempted to force the knife back. He had the advantage of the strength of youth, but Ger'ron had the benefit of leverage.

Slowly, the old guard brought the knife down toward the raider's neck. As the raider realized the inevitability of what was happening, his eyes filled with fear and disbelief. However, Ger'ron was a veteran of far too many life or death battles and had far too much blood on his hands to relent. And he continued slowly, forcing the knife closer to his victim.

There was a moment when the knife finally pierced the skin, and the fight went out of the raider. With the sudden absence of any opposition, the blade sunk to the hilt, and the younger man died with barely a sigh.

The old man took a moment to close the raider's eyes before struggling his way to a seated position to get a better view of what was currently happening elsewhere.

-

Time slowed for Jack as the raider lept at him. He wondered just how angry S'haar was going to be that he broke his promise to her. He hoped she, Angela, and Em'brel would stay together as a family. They'd need each other now more than ever.

That was when Jack heard a scream he'd heard only once before. It was a scream of pure hate and defiance. It was immediately followed by a bolt of rage that struck the raider mid-air and became a blur of teeth and claws that tore into its victim.

It took Jack a moment to realize it was Em'brel who had come to his rescue. She fought like a demon child. There was no thought or plan in her movements. Just pure unadulterated hate for anything that would threaten her family once again. This time there was no hesitation as she clawed, kicked, bit, tore, and stabbed at her prey. The raider never stood a chance. He was probably dead by the time he hit the ground, but Em'brel was taking no chances and continued attacking the body until it barely resembled the man it had once been.

As soon as the rage passed, it was replaced with feelings of pride and accomplishment. She'd done it! She'd saved her family! She's set her fear and hesitation aside and did what had to be done! She looked over at Jack, her face beaming with pride.

What she saw on his face was a look of pure terror.

In an instant, she realized she must look like a monster, covered in her victim's blood and viscera. Her heart tore itself in two to be the cause of such a look on the face of a member of her adopted family. Jack was so horrified he couldn't even look at her. Instead, he was looking over her shoulder and shouting. "Behind you!"

Em'brel turned just in time to see a massive fist swing into her face, and then there was nothing.

-

Jack screamed in impotent rage as the raider picked up the unconscious form of Em'brel and threw her over his shoulder. He shouted challenges and insults. When that didn't work, he begged and pleaded, but nothing slowed the retreating raider.

That was when Jack finally saw his gun lying nearby. Unable to stand, Jack started dragging himself over to it in a desperate frenzy. Every time the spear in his leg lightly bumped or rubbed the ground as he moved, fresh waves of agony shot through Jack's body, but he willed himself to stay awake this time.

With a final desperate lunge, Jack reached his gun. Grabbing it, he spun around and took careful aim. They were far enough away he couldn't be sure of his shot, and he didn't want to hit Em'brel by mistake, but he also knew this was his last chance.

Not daring to delay any longer, Jack slowly squeezed the trigger, only to hear the hollow click of an empty chamber.

With a sinking realization, Jack remembered he'd loaded the magazine before he'd fallen but never chambered the round. With desperate speed, he did so now and took aim again. The raider had used every second he'd been given to escape to the forest. They were too far for Jack to shoot without risking Em'brel, so he shot into the trees off to the side, hoping by some miracle he'd startle the raider into dropping Em'brel.

Instead, the raider continued his escape past the trees and into the forest, and with that, Em'brel was gone.