Seeran stood at the east gate watching the camp. There had been no movement from them since before Aleigha had vanished, then reemerged.
Seeran rested his hand on his blaster, staring at the small grouping of tents. "I don't think anyone is alive," he told his partner and friend, Trei, who was taking Mikiel's place while he worked as a guard for the guard commander.
Trei was one of the friends from his group with him when he and his friends went to Merrick to ask about Tosh. Thinking back, he remembered there were five of them, which included himself. The only female of the group, Rai, went to the clinic to become a medic. Mikiel worked the gates but was called to cover for a guard who was once a medic. That medic disappeared, taken by the guard commander. No one knew why or when. Yarven was the last of his four friends. He was part of scouting parties, looking for human survivors. He and a team were headed to the tents to see if there were any of them left in the camp alive.
Seeran watched his friend with his scout team as they made their way to the tents.
Trei sighed. "I don't think anyone is alive either. It's been too long. There's been no movement for a long time. I think they all died because they didn't want help from us," Trei told him. His own hand rested on a blaster as he looked toward the tents, waiting for a report from Yarven.
Both Seeran and Trei knew something was going on, but neither knew what it was. They didn't know where Mikiel was. They worried that he was one of the many who were disappearing. A lot of the humans were also gone. It didn't make sense.
Seeran watched the scout team enter the tents one by one, then head back to the dome. When they reached the gate, Seeran gestured for it to be opened.
Once open, the scouts entered, and then the dome closed again as soon as the scout team was inside. Yarven quickly made his way to Seeran, the gate commander.
"They're all dead," Yarven smiled. "They look like they've been gone a while. Weeks maybe for some of them."
Trei noticed Yarven's smile. "Death is never good," he told his friend. Why do you seem happy they are all dead? No matter who or what it was, I've never known you to be glad for death."
Yarven shrugged, the smile remaining on his face. "We know you don't have to watch the encampment anymore." He pointed out. "There is no reason to. The danger seemed to have righted itself."
Seeran's communicator went off. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it. "Gate Commander Seeran," he answered.
"Seeran, this is Council Leader Vorik. Your mate contacted me. You are needed in your dwelling," Vorik informed him. "Go there now."
Worry crossed Seeran's face only seconds before he headed quickly toward his dwelling.
Yarven smiled, watching Seeran leave before leaving himself, heading in the same direction.
Something about Yarven made Trei nervous. Something had changed about him. He left the east gate to follow his friends, trying to find out what was going on with Yarven.
As Trei followed, he noticed Yarven moving covertly from one structure to the next as he followed Seeran. A blaster in one of his hands.
Trei could feel something off. Yarven looked like he was going to shoot Seeran. Trei took his own blaster out and followed both of them.
When Seeran reached his dwelling, he rushed up the small steps; He pressed the pad to open the door. The door slid open. With one foot in the door, as he tried to step inside, Yarven shot his blaster, hitting Seeran in the shoulder.
Seeing that Yarven was going to shoot again, Trei immediately aimed his own blaster and fired, hitting Yarven in the head. Blood spattered out before his body limply fell to the ground. Pulling out his comm link he called Council Leader Vorik. "Sir, there was an attack on Seeran on the way to his dwelling. Yarven followed him. I didn't like the way he was looking at Seeran, so I followed him. When Seeran started to enter his dwelling, Yarven shot him. He went to fire on him again, so I shot Yarven. I'm willing to go under the serum. Seeran has been shot and needs a medic, sir."
Council Leader Vorik's voice came back through the comm link. "Go to Seeran and stay with him. We will be there shortly," he ordered before the comm link went silent.
Trei rushed to Seeran, hoping he was okay. The door was still part of the way open. Hope was on her knees, trying to stop the bleeding. She looked up at Trei; tears were in her eyes. She noticed the blaster in his hand. Her eyes instantly grew wide with fear.
"I didn't shoot him, Hope. Yarven did. I shot Yarven. I called Council Leader Vorik and let him know," he told her gently. "We need to get Seeran inside before someone else comes. Something doesn't feel right. I don't believe he was the only one after your mate," he explained.
Trei got up and started to pull Seeran inside. Before he could get a good hold and get him inside, blaster fire hit the side of the dwelling. Trei could tell by where the blasters were making contact with the dwelling that they were aiming at Hope.
"Go inside," Trei hissed. "They're after you, I think."
"Not without my mate," she spat at him. She was sobbing. Her voice was broken with anger and fear for her mate.
Trei quickly pulled Seeran inside trying to avoid the blasts from the blaster being shot at them.
Seeran looked at Trei. "There was something in that blaster. I can't move."
With the dwelling's door open, more shots were fired, hitting the dwelling. Once shot, breaking through the window. Trei went behind the wall and glanced out of the shattered window to see who was shooting. It was three Ramesians that he didn't know. Trei aimed his own blaster and began shooting. He hit one in the arm and the other in the head, killing him. He was a good shot, but they knew to keep moving to avoid getting hit. He felt that it was good that he at least hit them. Even injured, the one he hit in the arm continued to fire at the dwelling. Trei kept shooting as they made their way to the door.
Trei fired again, hitting one in the neck. It hit with such precision that it took off his head. "Two down, one to go, he whispered to himself."
The last one, his arm still dripping blood, aimed his blaster and fired. The blast hit the side of the broken window, barely missing Trei. The remainder of the glass fell to the floor inside the dwelling.
Behind the shooter, two figures came into view, stepping from out behind a dwelling. One pulled his blaster and shot the shooter. The man fell to the ground, blood spreading out around his chest.
At closer inspection, the figures were Council Leader Vorik and Guard Commander Drevick. Vorik had a medical bag strapped to his back as they made their way to Seeran's home. Trei noticed they watched their surroundings as they approached confirming something was going on.
When they made it to the dwelling, Trei let them in, and they rushed through the door. Drevick quickly closed the door and peered out the window, using the wall as cover, making sure he was not a target to others outside.
Guard Commander Drevick looked at Trei. "Who shot Gate Commander Seeran?" he asked.
"It was a friend of ours. Yarven," he reported. "He and his team were looking inside the tents outside the dome. He said the humans in them were all dead. I thought it was strange that he seemed happy about it. Council Leader Vorik called him here. When he rushed off to see his mate, I saw the look on Yarven's face. He was still smiling. After Seeran was a few feet away, he followed him. I didn't like what I was seeing, so I followed. I witness Yarven pull his blaster and fire at Seeran. He went to shoot again, so I shot him first."
"I didn't call him," Council Leader Vorik stated evenly as he scanned Seeran. Once he was finished, he pulled out a siphon and stuck it in Seeran's arm. Seeran screamed as the siphon did its work, cleansing his blood from the unknown toxin.
"Sir, it sounded just like you," Trei explained. "I was standing next to him when he got the call. Whoever called him here sounds exactly like you."
Guard Commander Drevick looked at Trei. "You will go under the influence of the truth serum."
Trei smiled. "It's the only way to prove my innocence."
Before Guard Commander Drevick could say anything else, Vorik pulled the siphon out of Seeran's arm. "Collect the blaster of those three shooters," Vorik ordered.
"Four," Trei corrected. "The fourth one is behind the dwelling toward the east gate. It's Yarven. He's the one that shot Seeran."
Drevick rushed out to collect the blaster. When he came back, he had four in his hands. His own was in his holster, unable to carry more.
"Set the blasters here," Vorik stated, pointing to a spot on the floor. "I need to scan them."
Drevick lined the blasters up on the floor, leaving a space between each one. Vorik took the scanner, changing the setting before scanning all four of them one by one. When he looked at the scanner's readout, he frowned. "These are normal blasters. Nothing is in them." He stated, confused.
"Can I see that scanner for a moment?" Trei asked. "I have an idea."
Vorik handed him the scanner. Trei opened the door and stepped out, careful not to touch the outside of the door or any part of the front of the dwelling. He scanned from top to bottom.
The scanner suddenly beeped when it hit the keypad to open the door. He handed the scanner to Vorik, who looked at the screen.
"Don't touch the keypad. It has a toxin wiped on it." Vorik told them, then looked at Trei. "How did you know to check that?"
"I followed Seeran from the east gate. He didn't touch anything until he got here. The only thing he touched when he reached this dwelling was the side of the door and the keypad. I had been with him all day. The only thing he touched that I didn't was the front of this dwelling. If it wasn't in the blasters, then it had to have been on the dwelling. It was the only explanation." Trei explained. Then looked at Guard Commander Drevick. "You can ask that again when you administer the truth serum."
"Who was the male outside that you killed before the other three attacked?" Vorik questioned.
Trei looked uncomfortable. "Up until a few moments ago, he was our friend. I was surprised when he shot Seeran. I thought we were all better friends than that."
Guard Commander Drevick nodded, "Then it was an attack and a friend's death?"
"Yes, sir," Trei confirmed.
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