Kaul sat in the darkness. His body hurt from the torture of the electrical current that was so frequently pushed through him. He wasn't sure how much more he could take.

His throat hurt from the feeding tube being shoved down his throat and then ripped out roughly repeatedly. The back of his head hurt from being slammed against the wall behind him to shove the tube inside his throat. Kaul didn't know how many times a day he was being fed. If he knew, he could guess how long he'd been in the freezing room, sitting in the dark and chained to a wall.

Kaul's limbs were sore from being in the same position for too long. Everything hurt. The shackles that bound his wrists and ankles rubbed the skin raw. He would feel the blood dripping to the floor.

Peering through the darkness, he tried to see where he was. He didn't know; It was too dark.

A sudden sound appeared. A squeaking sound that sounded like a vent was being opened, and something pressed through it. He worried about what the sound could be.

There was silence for several minutes after the sound stopped.

The sound of hissing echoed in the cold, dark room. He knew that sound. It was a gas being shot into the room at high pressure. He tried to hold his breath, even knowing it would be useless. When he finally breathed in, he gagged. His throat burned like acid had been poured down his throat. The gas burned the already raw tissue of his sore throat.

It took several minutes for the hissing of the pressurized gas to stop, leaving only silence.

The distorted voice finally spoke. "I bet that hurts," it said. It didn't sound like there was any emotion to it. "Burns, really. It's a unique gas that destroys the tissue. Your throat should be sore from the feeding tube, making it easier for the gas to penetrate the tissue. I know you know what that means because you were a medic. From what I saw, you were a good one until you chose to destroy lives rather than save them."

Kaul fought the pain in his throat. His lungs burned as he breathed. Even his eyes burned like they were on fire. It took the remaining energy in him not to scream from the pain. He knew he had to speak, or he would also have the electrical current running through him. He didn't know what to say.

He was surprised; the pain of the electrical current didn't start. Everything in him told him that his captor was bored with the electrical current. This made his fear spike. That means his captor had found a new way to torture him.

"I'm going to ask you a question, and you need to answer it. If you don't, you will experience pain you have never felt before," the distorted voice told him sharply. "Where did you put the bodies of your family?"

Kaul swallowed the taste of blood in his mouth. He knew his throat was bleeding. "All death must be incinerated. I incinerated them and spread their ashes outside the dome when we checked on the camp outside the east gate," he said quietly. He couldn't talk louder; his throat was preventing it.

"Next question," the distorted voice continued. "You murdered a fetus to prevent it from being born, and you falsified the records, so it looked like it was medically necessary. Why?"

"It was human. I didn't want another one to be born," he stated, fighting the pain. He knew he had to tell the truth. His captor knew everything. They would know he was lying if he tried. They seemed to want to force him to say it himself.

"And the girl's fetus you killed, we all thought she was your friend," the distorted voice stated. The evenness showed him that whoever it was, they were angry. "Was she, or was that a lie?"

"We were friends until the residue started infecting them. I thought it was going to kill us all. She was human. I couldn't be friends with a human who was part of those destroying us," he choked out. Blood started to drip from his mouth and onto the floor.

He felt tears falling down his face. They seemed to go too slow and be too thick. His heart sank when he realized there were no tears; His eyes were bleeding.

"And the other girl's infant? Finn? You did the procedure on him. I'm surprised you didn't kill him, also. Explain your rationale," the voice told him evenly.

Kaul swallowed the blood in his mouth again, then forced himself to speak. "Renn was there. He would have known what happened if I did something during that procedure."

"Walking through the dome, I discovered the power players close to Council Leader Vorik. Did you know you were one of them? Don't answer that; it was merely a statement. Merrick, Aleigha, Jada, Niki, Rask and you. Merrick and Rask are dead. Aleigha is hunted. Jada is grieving, and you're sitting in the dark, taking pain when I decide to give it to you, but I still need to keep you alive. The only person who is still completely functional is Vorik. He seems to be losing his friends, though, and it's all because of you," the voice seemed to muse.

Kaul listened to the long-winded speech, trying to figure out who it was. He couldn't. There was no way to find out if it was even male or female.

The room became silent again. Kaul hung his head. The burning of the gas was relentless. He wanted to scream, but it would make his captor give him even more pain. He was beginning to wish for death.

Kaul was losing track of time. Since there was no window, he couldn't tell when the sun rose in the ski or fell. A sudden thought occurred to him. Perhaps he could escape. Silently testing his shackles by twisting his limbs, he found no way to remove them. His limbs didn't touch; they were held in a stationary position with no leeway. His clothes were starting to hang from his body. He was not given enough nutrients. This gave him another thought. He twisted his wrists and pulled. One of his hands nearly slipped through the shackle. He smiled. He just had to endure a little more. He was losing weight rapidly. Soon, he would be able to slip out and get away.

After what felt like days, Kaul looked up as he heard the door open. It was too dark to see. Suddenly, his head was thrown back against the wall, and the feeding tube was shoved down his throat. His entire body ached.

Once the tube was ripped out of his throat again, his captor left. Kaul heard the hiss of the gas shooting through the vent again. His eyes started to burn. The open wound sores from the feeding tube began to burn as the gas was absorbed through the delicate tissue in his throat.

"This gas is very effective. Did you know you're completely blind?" the distorted voice asked. "I'm sure you felt it burning your retinas or whatever your kind have. I used the scanner during your feeding, and it showed that what makes you see is completely disintegrated. I bet I can turn on a light, and you would never know the difference."

Panic shot through Kaul. If he couldn't see, there was no way he would be able to escape this nightmare. Out of panic from hearing he was blind, he pulled and twisted his wrists as he tried to get them out of the shackles.

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk," the distorted voice taunted. If you continue trying to escape, I'm going to have to remove your feet so you can't walk."

Kaul froze in fear, realizing that his captor could see him. He had been watched the entire time. He tried to peer through the darkness, but he could see nothing. He had no idea if his captor was merely taunting him or if it was true that he was blind. All he could do was sit in the darkness and wait for whatever pain would come next.

*** *** ***

Jada stood in front of the door, waiting for the door to slide open. When it finally did, she walked into the council chambers. She wanted to know if Council Leader Vorik and Guard Commander Drevick had found any leads.

Jada had a lot invested in this situation; she not only wanted to know but needed to know if they had found any leads.

Council Leader Vorik was sitting at the long council table in his normal chair. Beside him was Trei, Niki's new mate, and Guard Commander Drevick, who was apparently Aleigha's new mate.

"Any leads?" Jada asked, scanning the three men in front of her. "Anything at all?"

Vorik shook his head in disappointment. "Not yet; it's as if he disappeared. We found no trace of him. Our labs are working on a truth serum that can be used on the Kreqs and another one on Humans. Neither of the two serums is ready yet, so questioning is useless unless someone comes forward, which is not likely to happen."

"So, what can I do to help?" she asked, her gaze going to each of the men in turn as they all watched her.

"There is nothing really you can do unless you want to keep your eyes and ears open to see if you see or hear anything that pertains to him missing or if there is evidence of there still being someone left in the militia. Right now, we're at a loss until the serum is complete. We're still looking. We're going to do a sweep in the tunnels tomorrow morning just in case," Vorick informed her.

"What type of a sweep," she asked cautiously. "You said I could kill him for what he did to me. He killed my son. If you burn out the tunnels, it could kill him if he's down there somewhere."

"We're not going to do a chemical burnout. We're going to send a team of guards to scour the tunnels for evidence that he's down there. If we find him, we'll put him in the cells, and then he's all yours to deal with," Vorik told her. Not liking the fact that she was so intent on killing him herself. He didn't think it was healthy for a girl so young.

Jada nodded. "Just so we're clear. He's mine." She sounded satisfied by what Vorik had told her.

"Yes, Jada," Vorik told her quietly. "We promised. You can have him when we find him."

Jada nodded and quickly left the council chamber.

On her way out, she saw Orik heading to the tavern. She ran up to him. "Can I join you?" she asked sweetly. The conversation in the council chamber was forgotten. Orik always lightened her heart. His presence made her feel better whenever he was near.

Orik grasped her hand, smiling. "Always."

"Are you part of the team going in the tunnels tomorrow?" she asked, smiling up at him.

"How did you know about that?" he asked, chuckling. "Yes, I am. There will be several of us, hand-picked by Vorik, who he trusts. Why?"

"No reason, just curious. Don't let them kill him if they find him. Kaul still owes me his life for killing our baby," she told her mate as they walked into the tavern.

"I wouldn't think of it," he smiled.

They sat down at one of the booths. The server walked up to them, and they ordered a jug of a strong beverage.

"Can I come with you when you do a sweep of the tunnels?" she asked sweetly. She loved her mate and knew he would give her anything she wanted. She wanted to help search the tunnels with her mate.

Orik smiled and nodded. "If Council Leader Vorik allows it, you may come with me," he told her, smiling.

The server set the jug on the table with two glasses and walked off. Orik filled her glass, then his own.

Jada picked it up and sipped it, not downing it like before. She needed to think clearly when they went down into the tunnels to search for Kaul.

She noticed that Orik smiled, seeing she wasn't downing her drink as she had been for the last week. She knew he was worried about how much she had been drinking. Some days, she needed to. If she didn't, she wouldn't have the strength to do what she needed to do.

After they finished their drinks, Orik led her out of the tavern. "I need to go back to work. I'll be home in a few hours," he told her, kissing her forehead.

"I'm going to walk around the dome and see if I can hear someone talking about Kaul or the militia. I want to find out who took him. We already determined he didn't escape. Someone took him. Vorik told me to keep a lookout for information on who," Jada told him, smiling. "I should be back before you get off work."

Orik nodded. "Be careful. Make sure you have your staff with you. I want you to stay safe. We don't know if more militia members are in the dome hiding. If there are, you might be attacked. Stay armed and defend yourself."

"I'll be careful," Jada said, smiling, then kissed her mate.

Jada and Orick each walked away in a different direction. She needed to listen to anyone who knew what happened to Kaul. Flipping her cloaking device on, she headed toward the small groups that were standing around talking in front of the clinic.

*** *** ***

Kaul sat in the darkness. Pain radiated from every inch of him. His eyes and throat burned from the gas that was forced into the vents. He wanted to escape but knew he was being watched. He didn't particularly want to lose his feet.

The sound of the door creaking open made him look up. He only saw darkness, nothing more. He felt the sharp pain of an injector as it was shoved into his neck. Kaul felt the tranquilizer as it worked through his system just before he passed out, the pain leaving him as he fell unconscious.

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