Her voice trailed off in a gasp of terror as they heard a new burst of gunfire, very close. Tchassen dodged aside, pulling Tynia behind a tree. Sergeant Briggan fired blindly into the night. His dispersal beam danced across the face of a frame building and the house exploded into flame. In the red glare of the fire, Tchassen saw a band of savages, dressed in animal hides—no that was impossible!—fleeing into the darkness beyond the village.
Corporal Drein staggered toward them. Blood spilled from a gash torn in his chest. He saw Tchassen, Tynia and the Sergeant standing together. Like a man in a daze, he began to raise his dispersal ray.
In Tchassen's mind there was no longer any room for doubt; the truth was clear. Drein was an Earthman; Drein had betrayed the station; Drein now intended to kill off the only survivors. The Captain acted with military decision. He pressed the firing stud of his weapon. Drein screamed in agony as he died.
Tynia buried her face in her hands. Briggan put his arm around her. In the flickering light, Tchassen saw the Sergeant grin.
"You didn't have to kill him, Captain," Tynia whispered.
"After what you told me—"
"Don't blame me; I didn't do anything!"
"He was going to fire at us, wasn't he?"
"You don't know that for sure. Maybe he was asking for help!"
Tchassen shrugged; there was no accounting for the emotional inconsistencies of a woman.