Several times during the first hour of their nightmare death watch over Kabon, the astronauts and Galen had heard noises suggesting that the gorilla soldiers - or at least some of them - were still quite close. As Kabon was in no shape to move, they'd simply hunkered down and hoped for the best. Luckily, the sounds they'd heard had been the last of the gorillas moving off, having assured themselves of the devastating results of the fire.

Unknown to the trio, Urko had sent search parties in pairs spiking outward from the burnt village in search of the three fugitives. Urko himself had moved on to the closest village out of Chandar to regroup and map out a new plan in his search for the three, not realizing that the trio had already doubled back before he'd destroyed the village. It was, however, a welcome reversal of the three's recent fortunes that only one pair in the gorilla search parties had chanced upon their path back to Chandar, and had been so easily avoided.

The people of Chandar, now homeless, had faded back into the surrounding territory where they could no longer see and smell the overwhelming results of the fire - and the total loss of everything they'd owned in the world. Galen, Virdon and Burke also left the ruins of the village after their repeated offers of help had been received in silence and in some cases, outright hostility. The three finally realized that the best thing they could do for the villagers was to leave them alone and let them deal with the devastation as best they could. The realization left a sick and impotent feeling lurking in all of their stomachs and guilt weighing heavily on their conscience.

Virdon, Burke and Galen tramped a little over five miles south of the village before making camp late that evening. They were too dispirited to go any further. None of the three companions had eaten since their departure from Chandar early that morning, yet no one complained. They dared not build a fire for fear of being detected, and sat on the ground exhausted, except for Galen who perched atop a rock. They were silent for a long while until Galen finally spoke.

"I feel just as badly as you two do about this," he said, nodding his head at the others. "Having said that, I think it's extremely important to understand exactly what happened today. I know we all agree that if we hadn't been at Chandar, none of this would have happened. At the same time, do you really feel that we are to blame for this tragedy?" he looked at the astronauts in turn, wrinkling his snout.

"Yeah, well, who else would you blame?" asked Burke tiredly.

"The gorillas set the village on fire, Pete. I think you need to remember that. The gorillas killed Kabon and…and Liska. Not us," Galen answered.

Virdon looked at Burke. "And not you, Pete," he said firmly.

Burke ran his hand through his hair, agitated. He shrugged, plainly wishing to avoid this discussion.

Virdon continued. "I feel like hell, too, Pete. And frankly, Galen, I'm not so sure we shouldn't shoulder the blame…partially, anyway."

"Shoulder the blame?" Galen quizzed.

"We were the root cause of what happened today. You can't deny it." Virdon paused. "Maybe we could have been more careful. Maybe we shouldn't have stayed as long as we did. I don't know…but I do know that we'd never have harmed those people intentionally."

Burke kept his eyes to the ground for a moment, silent, then raised them slowly to meet Virdon's. "Intentionally, huh? Intentional or not, those people's lives are ruined. And Liska and Kabon are dead."

Virdon's face twisted. "You think I don't know that?" he said in a low voice.

"No, let's tell the whole truth," Burke continued, voice rising. "nothin' but the whole truth. I got Kabon and Liska killed. I left the damned disk there in plain sight, and they paid the price."

"Yes, you left the disk there," Virdon countered, voice intent. "You didn't set the fire! You didn't beat Kabon to death! You didn't shoot Liska!"

Alan stared at Pete, blue eyes filled with compassion. He knew Pete, knew the torture he could put himself through. Would put himself through. Pete stared back, eyes flat. "Quit worrying about my feelings, Alan. My feelings on this don't count. What counts is that they're dead."

He stood abruptly and walked around the camp as if he couldn't bear to be still. Virdon turned and looked at Galen helplessly, and Galen shook his head. Finally Burke sat down again, arms propped on his knees. Galen opened his mouth, but Burke put his palm up in a stopping motion. "No more, Galen. I'm tired, okay?"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore than you do, but we have to. Or we never will," said Alan firmly.

Galen looked at Burke sadly. "Your finger didn't pull that trigger, Pete. Anymore than Alan or I did. Can't you see this is something you did not do?"

Pete buried his head on his arms and said, faintly, "Liska trusted me."

Galen's eyes met Virdon's worried look. He moved next to Pete and patted his arm awkwardly, but Burke jumped up as if he couldn't bear to be touched.

"Can't you just back off?" he shouted, glaring first at Galen, then Virdon. They gazed back, mute.

Burke began to pace the small area again. "Okay…okay, Galen. You really want to talk about it? Let's talk. Alan. You still want to get that disk back, don't you? After everything that's happened."

Virdon looked him straight in the eyes. "Yes."

"How much is it worth, Alan?" Pete said softly, clearly shaken. "Is it worth our lives? Was it worth theirs?"

"I understand if you don't want to try and get it back," said Alan just as softly, looking up at Pete. "I don't expect you to. But it's something I have to do."

"What are you talking about?" exclaimed Galen scornfully, jumping up. "We need to stay together, especially right now!"

"Don't worry, buddy," Burke said to Galen, then turned to Virdon. "Oh, I'll get it back for you, Alan," he said, lips twisted into a sarcastic smile. "It's priceless, I know. And it's my fault it was lost in the first place. No matter the cost - I will get it back."

Alan stood, blue eyes aflame. "Pete - that's enough!" They stood eye to eye.

"I can't believe you two! Are you really going to let this split you apart?" Galen scolded, furious. He exhaled loudly, exasperated, and continued in a softer tone. "We are not going to lose our friendship over this! It's the most important thing I have."

Burke turned from Alan and studied Galen for a long moment, considering. "Hell, it's the only thing you have," he said, and smiled unexpectedly. Virdon and Galen paused for an instant, startled, then laughed aloud.

"We'll talk about the disk later, okay?" Virdon said. "We're not going to split up over this or anything else. Right, Pete?" and at Burke's nod, added, "Nobody's going to go after the disk that doesn't want to go after it. Okay? Now let's get some sleep. Or try to, anyway," he added, glancing at Burke again.

Each of them searched for a comfortable spot to sleep under the dark shelter provided by an huge, overgrown tree. Not long after, Burke got up from his make-shift bed and walked away. Galen and Virdon heard the unmistakable sound of Burke's stomach trying to give up a non-existent lunch.

"Oh Alan, what can we do?" Galen whispered, knowing even before the question left his lips that there was no answer.

"I wish to God I knew. We'll keep a close eye on him for a while," Alan answered, then turned quickly away as Burke walked back to his resting place.

They lay there, none of them sleeping. Finally Burke spoke softly. "A little advice, guys. I may not have a lot of things, but ears…that I got."