"I've been thinking about home," Antoine said.

"Yeah, me too."

"You suppose they're okay?"

"I dunno." Her voice trailed away.

Helen had never liked Antoine, and now that he was injured Adrianne supposed that she would like him even less. It was something irreconcilable between them. It was why Adrianne left with Antoine to go fight, leaving Helen behind. Truth be told, even without the war there was probably not a home to go back to. It didn't matter, though. Adrianne still dreamed of Helen.

"Try to get some sleep, 'Twone," she said.

Steven stumbled to Adrianne's bunk and shook her urgently whispering, "They caught the guys."

"What? Are you sure?"

"They're bringing them in now."

Adrianne and eight others rushed to the window. The four who had escaped were being marched into the yard. One of the four was Kim. Adrianne considered him a good friend, and he was only a kid. For a moment their gazes met. Adrianne imperceptibly lifted her chin so that watching eyes wouldn't notice. Kim understood the gesture's meaning and nodded in return. They were led to one of the empty barracks to await judgment.

"What are they going to do to them?" Antoine whispered, his voice shaking.

"I don't know," Adrianne said.

"I think they kill prisoners who try to escape," Steven said.

"They won't," said a-prisoner-who-didn't-talk-too-much. "They can't ... Can they?"

"I don't know if they would do that, Steve," Adrianne said.

"It's still possible," Steven said. "We don't know their rules of war."

The simple truth was finally stated. Their position finally uttered. They had no freedom. Their lives were completely at the mercy of these people who weren't people. Their prison, their rules. Any sense that they had any control over their situation was an illusion. They belonged to the krestge, and their lives were subject to their whims. Someone had tried to escape. Someone had to pay. Someone had to be sacrificed.

Antoine cried.

Two days later, in the middle of the night, Adrianne and the others were led into the yard. Nine prisoners stood at attention to watch. Two were more than friends. One had curly-red-hair-that-was-slowly-turning-auburn. One was Steven the brave. One was the krestge. One had gray-eyes-who-didn't-speak-too-much. One was a direct descendant of Dionne Maiter. The last were Adrianne and Antoine. They were a vigil in rags. The drizzle steadily soaked through what was left of their clothing, the rain commingling with the wetness already on their faces.

In the darkness lit only with powered torches, the prisoners were made to form a semicircle around four posts set in the middle of the yard. The wood looked new, as if cut recently.

No one spoke. Adrianne couldn't swallow as they watched the guys who had escaped hauled into the muddy open yard, handcuffed, wearing nothing but filthy underwear, exposing all their shame. They shivered from the cold and the fear. Antoine clasped Adrianne's hand. It was a high offense to try to escape. There was only one other thing a prisoner could do that was worse, and that was to kill a krestge guard.

Adrianne did her best not to seem scared for the sake of Antoine. Though if it were possible to run, she would. In her mind she was already running and running and running so fast no one could catch her. She was running and soaring up into the air far toward the horizon. She was the wind. She could take flight.

Human prisoners were ordered to lug the escapees out to the posts. Tommy was one of those who was forced to pull and pull at the struggling prisoners. He looked up at Adrianne with fear in his eyes as he helped tie the struggling prisoners to the posts. The sounds of them whimpering tore at Adrianne's insides. I'll fly away, O Lord. I'll fly away ...

"No, please, don't ..." someone on the pole shouted. There was no one to help. Everyone knew it. He knew it.

The forced human guards had to cover their mouths. This only made the four shout more, even as their mouths were gagged.

One great morning when the world is over, I'll fly away ... away, away, so far away I'd fly, and no one would ever catch me.

The krestge prisoner walked into the yard. It addressed the guards in their language. Adrianne couldn't understand but it seemed that it was pleading with them on the humans' behalf. The guards listened to it for a while then pushed it down and kicked it a few times. It limped away looking very hurt. Antoine began to cry. Adrianne tapped him in the stomach to tell him to stop.

The air was charged with static that pricked the skin. Adrianne had no idea what was going to happen next. Each guard stooped into the corner to pick up something. They reentered the circle and stood about six feet away from the posts. Adrianne squinted her eyes tight to make out the objects in their hands. They were leather whips. The whites of Kim's eyes glistened as a guard ripped off his rags, then the clothes of the guy next to him, then the next, and the next.

Adrianne began to sing - My homeworld, 'tis of thee ...

The rest of the prisoners joined in singing in shaking voices - Sweet land of Liberty ...

The first lash sent red rippling. The splatter of it stained the ground. A scream, even through the cloth tied around their mouths, pierced the ears. Adrianne sang louder to cover the echo - Of thee I sing ...

The second lash - Land where my fathers died The third - Land of the Terrans' pride The fourth - From every mountain side Lash after lash after lash after lash - Let freedom ring ...

Adrianne tore off a piece of a blanket to make a square of about a foot and a half on each side. She melted the boot heel from the discarded shoes of a dead prisoner and carefully traced out a nine-by-nine square checkerboard on her piece of cloth. Antoine watched quietly and wondered what she was doing. She spent all afternoon on her project, receiving only glances from her fellow prisoners and the guards.

After she was done, Adrianne went out into the yard and looked for rocks. There were plenty of small ones lying around. She showed Antoine the size rocks she was looking for - no bigger than her thumb tip. Together they searched for them, gathered them up, then sorted them: eighteen cream-colored rocks in one pile and twelve blackish ones in the other.

In the overcast sky, a few stars shined through. It took some time to find, but Adrianne's eyes spied the green dot. It was so small it was barely visible. Satisfied, she went inside the barracks with Antoine lumbering behind. She found the krestge lying on its bunk staring up at the ceiling and stood over it until it turned toward her. Its planar shift moved as it slowly sat up. It was eerie to look upon a creature that existed in multiple dimensions, shifting and changing, half in shadow even in full light.

"You ever play checkers?" she said.

"What is~~check-ers?"

"It's a game. I'll show you."

Adrianne laid her makeshift checkerboard on the bunk and sat down. Antoine sat down cross-legged on the floor, and together they poured their rocks on the bed and neatly placed the checker pieces in their beginning squares. Antoine seemed so pleased to be helping and laughed when he was done. The krestge looked on as Adrianne explained the game and made her first move.

"In-ter-est~~ing," the krestge said after a time, then moved a piece on the board.

Adrianne leaned over and moved another stone, jumping over the krestge's piece.

"You have games like this where you come from?"

"We have~~games such~~~as this, yes - for child-ren.~~"

"Yeah, this is usually for kids on my world, too. But in this shit-hole we might as well do something."

They continued to move their pieces across the board.

"~~King me~~," the krestge said after making its latest move.

"Damn, you learn fast."

"Learn fast~~, yes."

Adrianne put one of her captured rocks beside the krestge's newly elevated rock. Antoine laughed.

"They really laid into you last night, didn't they?"

"Laid~~in-to~~me?"

"They kicked you bad. Howya feeling?"

"No~~need to~~wor-ry a-bout my~feel-ing. I~~will be~~~ well."

"I want to thank you for trying to stick up for my men."

"No need~~to thank. It~~~was my duty.~~A-buse~~~of hu-mans was~~in-cor-rect. I was~~ un-a-ware of such~~~harsh treat-ment. Now, I see~~for my-self. For this,~~~I apo-lo-gize for my~~people.~~~"

They finished their game then began a new one, carefully setting up the pieces together.

"Who~~is this hu-man~~~who always~~fol-lows you?"

"He's my brother."

"What is~~wrong with him?~~~"

"Nothing's wrong with him!" Adrianne said sharply. Then she added, "He got hit in the head fighting your people."

"I see.~~~For this, I am~~also sor-ry."

Antoine laughed.

Heavy thick drops of icy rain fell the next day. The men shivered with bent necks and bowed heads as they waited in line for their share of stew. No one covered the pot, so water fell into it. Jolly said that he thought it made the stew taste better, like seasoning from above. Adrianne squinted at the darkened sky, unable to find the green dot. Then, as a cloud drifted past, a patch of light came through, and the small dot of green reappeared.

"Hey, man, you okay?" Tommy said.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"How's Kim doing?" Adrianne asked.

"I don't know, man." He nodded in a way that said that he did know. Adrianne gave him her metal bowl and walked toward the bunkhouse for the sick. Antoine tried to follow.

"Stay with Tommy," she said. He sniffled but stayed where he was told.

Kim and the others who'd been whipped lay on their stomachs. Their backs, exposed to the air, were ripped crimson and orange flesh as if a great force had violently ripped their wings off. Kim labored hard to breathe through his mouth. He could barely open his eyes.

"Hey, kid, howya doing?" Adrianne said.

"Hiya, not too good, ma'am ..." Kim mumbled.

"Don't say that. You'll be right as rain in no time."

Kim grunted or something. Maybe it was an attempt at a laugh.

"Anything I can do for you?"

"No, Ma'am. Dank you ..."

Adrianne bent down and put her face close to his.

"Kim, I want you to listen to me real careful, okay son? This is very important. I want you to tell me what you saw when you were outside the camp. And I mean everything. No detail is too small."

Kim swallowed and closed his eyes. He wet his lips and whispered, "At first, it was all rocks and stones, den I saw green, ma'am, just green."

The effort to speak took a lot out of Kim, Adrianne could see. She wanted to ask him more but decided that she would wait and talk to him later after he had rested. But Kim died in the night, and the guards took the body away. To where, no one asked. It didn't seem like it mattered. Dead was dead. His friends slowly burned his things to stay warm. Everything that they tossed onto the flames was like watching him die once more.

Adrianne considered the new dynamics of the game. The krestge was winning. It had won all of the last few games. She moved her man at the edge of the board over one spot, then saw a clear opening the krestge had made for her to jump two times and get kinged. She bit her lip and said nothing, hoping the thing would not see its vulnerable position.

"You are~~not what~~~I expect-ed," the krestge said.

"In what way?" Adrianne asked.

"You~~are so much like~~~nave child-ren."

It made a move leaving its opening on the board. She wasn't sure if the thing did it because it felt sorry for her or because it truly didn't see. It didn't matter, Adrianne was going to use its lapse of judgment. She picked up one of her rocks and jumped over two of the krestge's pieces, then saw another opportunity to jump before she removed her hand.

"Hmm~~~," the krestge said. "I was~~not a-ware that this~~ you could do.~~"

"Now you know," Adrianne said. She collected three of the cream-colored rocks and put them with her recently diminished pile.

"You do know that we aren't actually here?" Adrianne said.

The krestge looked at Adrianne.

"What~~is it do you mean~~~by this?" the krestge said.

"I mean this place is not where we actually are."

The krestge put his four fingers on Adrianne's hand. "Yes~~, this I know.~~~How is~it that this~~you know as~well?"

Adrianne shrugged as if the confirmation of her theories didn't make her guts feel like melting and said, "I figure, we're in a projected environment of some kind."

"Hmm~~, may-be~~hu-man is not~~~so nave af-ter~~all."

"So how'd you figure out this place ain't real?" Adrianne asked.

"This~~~is a perfect repro-duction~~of the nor-thern contin-ent~~of my home-world. In this~~~period of time, my~~people have des-troyed~~most of this~~~land."

"Destroyed? Whaddaya mean, destroyed?"