It had been four days since the entire Kreq scout team was cured from the controlling serum that they had been injected with. After the soul bonding of Krem and Mia, and the serum that controlled them had been dissipated by the process, the eight Kreq scouts had cooperated fully.

Within those four days, there had not been any sign of the Kreq commander or further progress on their invasion. All had been quiet. Council Leader Vorik, as well as Krem, believed that there were still scouts, either on foot or hiding in their ship, in the same manner as Krem and his team were.

Once all the Kreq prisoners had been cured of the serum, they all chose to talk, telling them everything they knew. They had liked and even felt relieved that the Ramesian leader was going to try to save everyone on their people's disks. They still had families on one or more of the disks.

During the avalanche of information that the Kreq scouts had given him, Council Leader Vorik found that Commander Grev was still leading the people of Krogen. He had been controlling his people, separating families, and not allowing mated pairs.

Perhaps the most important information they received was that Commander Grev had taken all the Kreq people, the entire planet's population, from their dying planet and put them on the only three disks that their people had. There was no life left on Krogen. There were only the resilient insects that seemed to live through anything.

As for the scout team's mission, it was to spy on the main dome. All eight of the Kreq scouts told them everything, leaving nothing out. They didn't want Council Leader Vorik to change his mind about helping their people by freeing them from Commander Grev's control.

After each of the Kreq scouts gave a report, Council Leader Vorik moved them into the city. They were divided into groups. Each group consisted of two scouts. Each group had been given a home. Mia continued to stay with Renn. He was her caregiver, and Mia wasn't ready to go as far as moving in with her uncle. She refused to leave Renn. He had already gained her complete trust that he wouldn't do anything to her. Krem may be family, but she didn't know him well enough to trust that he wouldn't decide to hurt her.

Council Leader Vorik decided to allow the Kreq to go where they wished in the dome as long as they had an escort. Once the impending attack was resolved, they would no longer need to be guarded as they currently were. The Kreq scouts were okay with that. They understood the situation. None of them complained about being guarded at all times. It was expected.

Several of the Kreq scouts had expressed their worries about their families, who were still aboard the disks under Commander Grev. They worried that their families would pay for the scout team for being detained. None of them had a mate. It was their mothers and siblings that they worried about. They knew their fathers, if still alive, were working on a disk other than the one that their families were on. Grev made sure to keep families away from each other. After talking to Mia and then Krem as well as witnessing the bonding that cured the scouts, Vorik understood why. If they formed a strong bond, it would counteract the serum that controlled them. Commander Grev didn't want the serum counteracted. He would lose his control over the people.

It had been believed that it was only the mating bond could counteract it. If it weren't for Jada asking her questions relentlessly to Krem, they would have never known that it was all bonds. Mate, as well as familiar bonds.

Council Leader Vorik also understood that the serum didn't start dissipating the watching prisoners until the uncle and niece touched foreheads. He had asked Krem about it, wondering what exactly was happening when they did that. Krem had explained that it was a 'soul mingling' that cured his scout team. The 'soul mingling' cures those around, while the bond itself cures those bonded.

*** *** *** Outside the Dome*** *** ***

Nevle and his scout team watched through the pulsing plasma dome as the guards escorted the previous team to their homes. They noted that they were placed in the dwellings in pairs. Two scouts per dwelling. Each home they were in was next to the other, lined in a tight row, making a small neighborhood of Kreq prisoners.

Nevle studied what they were doing, noticing that the prisoners were not bound. Commander Grev would not have treated prisoners that way. They would be bound and beaten, nearly dead. Nevle frowned, turning to one of the other men in his scout team. "What do you make of that?" he asked. "They aren't even bound."

The young man beside Nevle shrugged, his features showing he was confused. "I don't know, sir."

Nevle turned back to the other team that was being held prisoner. One of their guards pressed a button, typing in a code that was too far away to see what numbers were pressed. The door slid open smoothly, then the guards ushered two of the Kreq into the small home and then walked in themselves. The door closed behind them once they were all inside.

Nevle waited and watched. After nearly thirty minutes of nothing happening, the door slid open again, and the guards came out, leaving the Kreq prisoners inside. The guards took their places, one on each side of the door, guarding the entrance. This showed that although the Kreq were not bound, they were still prisoners.

"I wonder what they did to our men?" One of the officers asked his scout leader. "They are clearly still alive since they are guarding the door of the home they are in."

Nevle looked at the man, asking. "I don't know. We can't report this. It tells us nothing. We need more data, or we will all be executed for not giving decent information to Commander Grev."

The young man's face paled, nodding in agreement. What they were seeing wasn't good enough information to stay alive. They needed to find out something that would make their leader happy. It had to be concrete information that would tell him exactly what was going on with Krem's scout team.

Nearly an hour later, the door of the home slid open, and the two Kreq exited. They spoke to the guards quietly. Nevle wanted to know what they were saying. The dome's barrier was too far away from the dwellings for them to hear what was said.

The guards nodded and pointed in a direction going further into the dome. The Kreg walked in front of the guards. It was clear that the guards gave them directions on where to go. Guards never walked in front of prisoners; they walked behind them, which coincided with what he was seeing. Nevle still wondered why the Kreq were not bound; this did not fit with the Kreq scout team being prisoners. Something was happening, and he needed to find out what. They were seeing things that said they were prisoners, yet other things that showed they were not. He didn't understand what was going on.

Nevle's communication device vibrated on his wrist. He looked down. His face paled. It was Commander Grev.

"Have you found anything useful?" The commander asked. His tone was irritated, laced with disdain.

"No, sir. We were able to find the scout team. They are prisoners to the Ramesians," Nevle stated, sure that's what he was seeing. "We have found nothing else yet."

"What did you see exactly?" Grev growled in anger. He wasn't hearing anything that could help him take over the planet and rid himself of the Ramesians.

The order caused Nevle to go stiff, his face slack. He had no choice but to tell his leader what he was seeing. "We have witnessed the scout team being escorted by two guards to small dwellings. They have been paired off and put into a separate home. There are two guards at each home guarding the pairs. All pairs are near each other in a small community setting. They are not bound but well guarded," Nevle intoned emotionlessly.

"Why aren't they bound?" Grev growled. "Prisoners are bound."

"We have not discovered the reason yet, sir," Nevle stated. The last statement wasn't an order. He relaxed, back to normal, no longer controlled. "The dwellings they are in are too far from the plasma dome to hear what is being spoken, sir."

There was a noise sounding like something was shattered against a wall before Commander Grev spoke again. He was seething in rage as he gave his next order.

"I order you to find out more!" Grev shouted in rage.

The entire scout team listening froze up, going stiff. Their faces were going slack. The Commander gave them an order, and because of their serum, they had no choice but to comply.

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