Council Leader Vorik lined up the injectors for the second time. He had cases of them all filled with truth serum.

He had a plan, but it wasn't going to be a very popular one, especially since this was the second time that he had to interrogate everyone.

He had a list of everyone in the city who was Ramesian. They were the only ones for whom the truth serum was safe to use on. He planned to question every Ramesian in the city, going off the list of residents. It was the only way he could think of to find Kaul.

He had spoken to all the Ramesians in the tunnel city, and all had agreed to go under the influence of the serum. Despite Medic Kaul disappearing from the hidden tunnel city, every Ramesian in the tunnel city agreed to be interrogated and was found innocent. None of them was part of the militia, nor did they help the medic, who was once his friend, escape his cell.

Now that the tunnel city was interrogated, it was time to question the rest of the population. The idea stemmed from the use of the serum on all the Ramesians in the other two domes. All of those were innocent, also. Since there had been no communication between the domes and fleets, it was safe to say that it stayed that way.

Knowing the innocence of those in the tunnel city, Council Leader Vorik and Guard Commander Drevick first enlisted several of the males to act as guards during the dome-wide interrogation. It took nearly three days to administer the serum to all the Ramesians in the dome. None of them was found guilty.

Council Leader Vorik watched the last Ramesian exit the council chamber. "Well, that's it. No one is guilty of helping Kaul escape. No one is in the militia. I don't know what else to do. Now what?" he asked, exhausted from constant interrogations.

Guard Commander Drevick leaned back in his chair. "If there is no militia, we can't keep the people in the tunnels. Everyone has been interrogated. I don't know what else to do. The gates have been watched. No one has entered or left the dome. We can still watch the gates, but I don't see any other choice. I think we need to let the people hiding in the tunnels go home."

Vorik nodded. "I know. We have no excuses left to keep them down there. I worry about Alice and the twins. Everything in me tells me that my family will be the prime target to retaliate against once everyone returns to the dome. The only thing I can do to keep her safe is to make sure no one comes in contact with her until I know it's safe. Obviously, we can't trust even some of our friends."

Drevick sighed. "Perhaps you should have Niki, Aleigha, and Jada train her. It would give you some peace of mind to know she can protect herself," he suggested.

Council Leader Vorik nodded in agreement. "I think your right. I'll talk to Aleigha about it. Aleigha is like a sister to her. They are very close, unlike the other two girls."

*** *** ***

Kaul woke up in darkness. His chains wrapped around his ankles and wrists. He could tell that the chains were attached to something, but he didn't know what.

The room was thick with darkness; there was no hint of light anywhere.

"Oh good! You're awake!" a voice sounded through a small speaker somewhere in the room. "I've been waiting for you to get over the tranquilizer injection. Looks like it finally wore off."

Kaul didn't know who spoke to him. The voice sounded distorted, like it had been altered.

"Who are you?" he called weakly into the darkness. He didn't bother trying to see. It was too dark in the room he was in.

The voice laughed. There was some kind of echo with each word. "Tsk,Tsk, Tsk," the voice started. "I ask the questions. Answer wrong, and you get zapped. Refuse to answer, and you get zapped. It's your choice. Do what you're told, and you won't get zapped. Don't do what you're told, and I get to use one of my toys on you."

"I don't know what that means," Kaul stated weakly. He didn't know what it meant to be zapped. He understood the rest, however. None of it sounded good. Something about the use of 'toy' was more sinister than the word would have been in any other context. He didn't want to find out.

As if he conjured his last thought, the altered voice spoke again. "You'll find out soon enough," the voice told him. There was a bit of laughter in the undertone of the distorted voice. Something about it made Kaul afraid.

There was silence. He heard a door open nearby and footsteps. Before he could react, his head was forced back, hitting the wall behind him, and a tube was shoved down his throat. Nutrients were forced into his stomach. Once done, the tubing was yanked out, and he was left alone again, the door banging closed behind his captor.

Kaul's throat burnt like fire. "You didn't need to do that," he said weakly, speaking through the pain in his throat. He needed to rub his throat, but his hands couldn't reach his face because of the way he was chained. He couldn't move.

"Didn't I?" the voice taunted. "We can't have you dying of starvation, can we? You'll die, of course, but only when I say you do."

There was silence for a while, leaving Kaul with his thoughts. He wanted to know how he got into this dark, cold room with the scratchy voice taunting him. The last thing he remembered was being interrogated using the truth serum. He woke up briefly, finding himself shackled to a bed with Shadick and Zack watching him. When they noticed he was awake, he got another injection that knocked him out cold. That was all he remembered. Something must have happened. Neither man would do this to him. Not even the human.

"Hurts, don't it?" the voice asked. "The feeding tube shoved down your throat, it hurts. You like using the feeding tube on others, not even giving anyone a chance to eat the traditional way. I'm just giving you a taste of your own medicine."

"So, you're human," Kaul whispered. "Only a human says that. 'A taste of your own medicine' is a human phrase."

"Speaking of humans, why did you kill your family? The mating bond is supposed to be stronger than that," the voice responded. There was a slight tinge of disgust and hatred to each word that was spoken.

Kaul tried to hear the voice behind the distortion, not answering the question, and couldn't hear it. He had no idea who was speaking to him.

A sudden jolt of electrical current shot through him. His body vibrated in response. When it stopped, he was sweating and breathing heavily. His body was still shaking from the violent shock that went through him.

"I told you if you didn't answer my questions, you would get zapped," the distorted voice spat angrily. "Answer the questions! Why did you kill your family!" the voice yelled.

"They were human," he responded, still heaving from the electrical current.

"Not good enough," the voice hissed. "Try again."

Another electrical current shot through him. His body shook in response as he struggled to remain conscious. When it stopped, he was sweating profusely and breathing heavily. His body still shook, unable to stop.

Kaul sucked in the air before responding again. "Humans are a plague. They may be fine at first, but then they start to cause everyone distress and problems. They are a danger to us all. She may not have done so yet, but she would have eventually."

"Should I remind you that none of the problems were the humans' fault? Your people would have done the same thing if the places were reversed. Your people invaded this planet, destroying billions of people. All those outside the dome know that you killed everyone they know. Of course, they're going to fight back. Your people are the ones who caused the zombie virus. It was that shit you all put in your blasters. After the Humans were cured of it. Your virus created the residue. Again! It was your people's fault! Every problem you had with humans was because of what your people did! Can't you understand that? Or is it one-sided?" the distorted voice yelled. "Humans weren't the problem, Ramesians were!"

Before Kaul could say anything, the voice continued.

"If humans were the invaders, your people would have done the exact same thing. If what humans used to invade with caused the virus, your people would have done the exact same thing. Wouldn't they have?" the voice yelled out.

Kaul sighed, finally understanding what he hadn't seen before. "Yes," was all he said.

"Do you even regret killing your family? One of them was an infant. Half of your kind?" the voice taunted.

Kaul didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. Not after his captor's words.

A sudden electrical current shot through him, making his body vibrate in response. This time, it felt like it lasted longer. When the fire stopped, he was dripping wet with sweat, his body trembling as it tried to recover.

The voice waited only a few seconds for him to recover before it spoke again. "Do you regret killing your family?" the voice asked again.

"I don't know," was all he could say. He was undecided. He felt the pain of the bond severing as Julie's life left her. The infant was asleep when he killed his son. He used something to put him asleep before he suffocated him. He had suffocated both of them. Hearing the argument from the unknown voice, he regretted a lot of things. He wasn't sure if that was one of them.

"You lead the militia. Are they going to come after you?" the distorted voice suddenly asked. It sounded like a taunt to him, but the words themselves weren't taunting words. Only the tone of the distorted voice.

"No, most don't even know who leads it," Kaul wheezed. He hadn't yet caught his breath from the last episode of being given the electrical current.

The voice was silent for a moment, allowing Kaul to recover from his punishment.

"They're all dead. Every one of them. There was a mandatory meeting, and they found out where and when it was taking place. Your recruits were all slaughtered. If we're going to have peace trying to share this planet, those who cause friction and fear, like your militia, all have to die. All of them. All those you recruited died because of you," the voice told him evenly.

"I didn't kill them. It's not on me!" Kaul yelled into the darkness. A sudden grief entered his soul. He knew what he just said was a lie. He just didn't want it to be true.

"If you hadn't recruited them and sent them killing, they would all be alive. They even went after Mia. She is weak and helpless. They went after Hope, too. Neither one of them ever did anything wrong. It has always been done to them." The distorted voice continued.

"Then I know you," Kaul whispered weakly. "If you throw Mia and Hope at me, then I know you, and you know them. Who are you?" he asked.

Kaul scanned the darkness. It was pitch black. The electrical current shot through his body. His body shook as it wrapped around him. There was a sudden smell of smoke around him before the current was removed. He shook in pain. This one was far worse than those before it.

"I ask the questions!" the voice shot back. There was a pregnant pause before the voice spoke again. "How did you kill your family!"

Kaul took a deep breath. "Suffocation," he wheezed, his head hanging in pain and exhaustion from the electrical current. His body trembled, unable to stop.

The figure silently opened the door and looked inside. Kaul was hanging his head. The figure smiled, but he didn't see it through the darkness. The door closed again. The figure left the hidden room and walked back to the dome. "Kaul will stay alive for a while. He deserved the torture. He had destroyed too many lives and caused too much fear. He has to die, just not until it is time," the figure whispered.

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