Council Leader Vorik looked at Krem. "We met your brother, Servin," he stated with no preamble. "We have reason to believe that Commander Grev is testing him. He was sent on a mission to collect the information box from your shuttle. We see no reason Commander Grev would need it. It gives information on issues during flight and communications between the mothership and the scout ship, and nothing else. Your scout team had no issues in flight. Your team was merely detained. We don't see a purpose in this situation for why he would need it. The fact that he sent your brother for it makes it even more suspicious."

Krem sucked in a sharp breath. "You spoke to my brother?" Krem asked, looking up at Council Leader Vorik. He was in shock. He hadn't seen his brother in years. Siblings were always placed on different squads. They were always kept apart. It was by design to prevent family bonding. Of course, now he knew why.

Council Leader Vorik sat back in his chair, studying Krem. "You haven't seen your brother in a while, have you?" he asked. He could tell by the way Krem was acting that he hadn't seen his brother in a really long time.

Krem shook his head slowly, his pale. "No, sir. I haven't. I haven't spoken to or seen him since I was taken from my home and sent to the training camp to work as a soldier. That was a long time ago," Krem said quietly. His eyes were pooling with unshed tears. He had always wanted to see his siblings, but once taken and sent to the training camp, he knew he wouldn't see them again.

Council Leader Vorik sighed, giving Krem a few minutes before he continued. "Your brother is no longer under the influence of the serum. He and a group of others are trying to find a way to take over the disk they are on and kill Commander Grev," Vorik explained to him. "If Commander Grev finds out about any of them, they and their families will most likely be executed."

Kem sat in silence, thinking about what was happening with his brother. He finally spoke. "If Servin is trying to take over his own disk and kill Commander Grev, that means that Servin is on the main disk. The one Commander Grev is on," he theorized. He wasn't really speaking to anyone, merely stating what he was thinking.

Council Leader Vorik continued. "Dreg is a spy for Commander Grev. Dreg is also Commander Grev's nephew. I believe he is the one who placed the listening devices in this room. I also believe he isn't the only spy among all the scouts. For all we know, one could be your roommate. We have to treat it like anyone or everyone can be a spy until confirmation of who is or isn't one."

Krem nodded in understanding. "It's safer that way. If listening devices were placed in this room, I also have to assume there are listening devices in our housing and perhaps even our clothing."

Council Leader Vorik nodded in agreement. Merrick stood beside Rask. They were leaning against the wall, watching and listening to the conversation. "I have an idea, Council Leader Vorik," Merrick spoke up.

All eyes went to Merrick, who had pushed himself away from the wall and stepped closer to the long table that Council Leader Vorik and Krem were sitting at.

"Go on, what is your idea?" Vorik asked him. Merrick was good at thinking of ideas. It was similar to Jada, who came up with excellent ideas all the time. He couldn't think of any ideas that either of the two had that were bad.

"Well... You just programmed those listening devices in the scanner, right? Maybe we should scan their homes. If any of them asks why we are scanning, all we have to say is that it's a medical scanner, which it is. They don't need to know it can be used for other things. We can also scan them. We know Dreg has a communicator on him. What if one of the others has one too? It could tell us who the other spies are," he continued.

Council Leader Vorik turned to Krem. "What would you suggest we do that wouldn't make them suspicious?" he asked. "We need to find any other listening devices as well as communicators that may be hidden amongst your scouts. They put everyone in danger, including those of you who are not working with Commander Grev. The listening devices could be placed anywhere that could tell Commander Grev what he wants to know."

Krem thought about it for a moment. He understood the situation and agreed with Council Leader Vorik's assessment. "You would need to scan all of them at the same time, including me. When you scan the dwellings, you would also need to scan all the homes around them. If you're scanning just Kreq's dwellings, it would show that you are looking for something associated with our kind, and any spy would report it to Commander Grev. They have to believe it is a generic scan, not specifically Kreq."

Council Leader Vorik pressed a button on the table, and the surface quickly lit up. His fingers flew across the hidden panel as he pressed several unseen buttons on the smooth surface. Merrick knew what he was doing. He was giving the order without speaking for Krem to hear. It would take place while he was still in the council chamber with them. For all they knew, even Krem could be a spy.

The council chamber was silent for a moment. The door slid smoothly open, and Medic Kaul stepped in with a scanner. Council Leader Vorik took the scanner he had used and linked it together. Once linked, Medic Kaul attached them to a wall socket and waited for several minutes. When a soft beeping sounded, he detached the scanners, separating the two, and handed Council Leader Vorik's back to him.

Krem remained silent, watching. He wasn't sure what they were doing. It looked like they were copying the information on one scanner and adding to another, but since he didn't know Ramesian technology, he couldn't be sure.

Medic Kaul left the room, the door sliding smoothly closed behind him.

Council Leader Vorik turned to Krem. "I called the Chief Medic to program the listening devices into the scanners so we can scan for them. Mine was the only one programmed. In order to do a sweep of the area, scanning all dwellings, we need more than one scanner that can detect the listening devices," Vorik explained.

Merrick suddenly spoke up again. "I think we need to scan Krem, too."

Council Leader Vorik turned to Merrick, a question in his features. "Why?" To Vorik, there was no way that Krem would be one of the spies. Everything about him told Vorik that Krem was against Commander Grev and not working for him.

"It would be easy to place one of those listening devices or communicators on his clothing without him knowing," Merrick explained.

Council Leader Vorik sighed, picking up the scanner.

Krem stood up for Vorik to scan him, showing no resistance. He wasn't worried. He wasn't working for Commander Grev, so he didn't have anything to hide. Once finished, the scanner showed there were no signs of listening devices or communicators.

"I think we need to make sure there is nothing on Renk, Renn, Mia, and Nevle also," Merrick continued. "The known spy knows they are around us a lot. They might have hidden devices on them as well."

Council Leader Vorik typed on the smooth table. The hidden screen lit up again as he gave more orders. Everything his pilot was saying was right. It would be easy for the spies to hide listening devices on any of them. Dreg was around them all since he trained with Jada.

Once finished, Vorik pressed one last button, and the surface of the table darkened, with no sign of a hidden control panel in front of him.

Rask suddenly stood up straight, no longer leaning against the wall. "What about Dreg? He is the spy that we know about. He could easily put a listening device on Jada since they have been training together. She and Orik need to be scanned, too. I know it may be overkill, but maybe we should do the entire dome after the Kreq and the surrounding dwellings, as well as all those who live in them, are scanned. Not to mention all of us. He would need a way to listen in on all of our conversations. Any or all of us could have one on us without even knowing about it."

Council Leader Vorik nodded. He agreed with his co-pilot. "I agree," he stated, then handed the scanner to Merrick. "Scan me, then, Rask. I will scan you," he told him. "After this, everyone in the dome gets scanned, as well as their dwellings and posts."

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