Orik stood in front of the tunnel entrance, Jada by his side as they waited to search the tunnels.

Shadick, Zack, and Guard Commander Drevick were walking up to them. Council leader Vorik and Trei were only several feet behind them.

When they all had arrived, they entered the tunnels as one. Moving as a group, they followed the corridors, looking into all the known rooms. All of them were empty.

They used a scanner to look for lifeforms. The only ones they found were rodents skittering along the tunnels.

"Do the scanners pass through everything, or is there something that can hide your target from being able to be sensed by the scanners?" Jada asked. "We need to make sure whatever substance can hide him is not hiding him," she added as if in afterthought.

Vorik looked over at her. "There is a material that the sensors can't penetrate. I believe your people call it mylar. I believe it's a thin plastic-like material that has a metal-like tint to it," he explained. "Although, I haven't actually seen what the human version looks like, so I could be wrong."

"Oh, like those shiny silver space blankets used for emergencies to retain body heat," she said, smiling. It wasn't a question; she was confirming what she knew about emergency gear. Her family were all preppers, so they all knew what space blankets were and what they could be used for.

Zack nodded to his little cousin. "Your right. I don't think there are any down here, though. There was in my bunker, but it's sealed up tight. You can find them in first aid kits sometimes, but I doubt they would be added around here. It's more for cold weather. It doesn't get cold enough here to get hyperthermia, so there is no reason to hold in body heat to try to prevent it."

"Yeah, I get it," she told him, sighing in relief.

The team did a complete sweep of all the known areas of the tunnel system. Then, they began to look for hidden rooms. They each picked a separate corridor to search.

"I'll go down here," Jada said, pulling out her bladed staff as she headed down one of the tunnels.

Jada looked behind her and watched as the team searched. She turned and scanned the tunnel walls, looking for unknown rooms that she hadn't already found. She didn't find any.

After she was done, Jada joined the rest of the team as they exited the tunnels.

Back inside the dome, Jada looked at the large metal door leading to the tunnel system. Her face tense as if made of stone.

"Are you okay?" Orik asked her. He was worried for his mate.

"We didn't find anything," she frowned, still looking at the closed door to the tunnel system. "Where do you think he is?"

Orik shrugged. "We may never find him," he admitted, taking her hand and guiding her away from the tunnel entrance. "We'll keep looking, though, I promise."

Orik and Jada followed the rest of the group to the council chambers.

Behind a dwelling not far from the tunnel entrance, a figure watched as the search team left. Smiling, they watched the team disappear around a corner before coming out of their hiding place.

When the search team all got to the council chambers, Vorik took his seat, Drevick, and Trei on either side of him. Orik sat next to Jada across from them, with Shadick and Zack beside them.

"There was no evidence of Kaul still being down in the tunnels," Zack complained. "The only life the scanner picked up was ours and rats. Lots and lots of rats."

Jada shivered, looking at her cousin. "I hate rats. They creep me out."

Council Leader Vorik scanned the small group. "I admit, I'm out of ideas. I'm open to input. I don't know what else to do to find him. We've searched the dome, the tunnels, even the hidden bunker," he groaned, frowning.

Trei's eyes rose. "Hidden bunker? What hidden bunker?" he asked, looking at the council leader. He didn't know about the bunker. He had only known about the hidden tunnel city.

It was Zack who answered. "The hidden bunker is where my home was during your people's invasion," he explained. "It was where we stayed until we heard about the hidden utopian city that turned out to be a trap for human survivors. We had my mate with us. We ran into Shadick on the way there, who turned out to be my twin sister's mate. The bunker is under Mikiel's current dwelling."

"Did Medic Kaul know about the bunker and where it was located?" Trei asked, fishing for information.

"Yes, that's why it was searched," Council Leader Vorik spoke up. "It hadn't been touched since we sealed it before Tosh came to the planet."

Trei nodded. "That's a long time."

Guard Commander Drevick sat back in his chair. "I don't know what to do either. When the truth serum is finished, we can start interrogating the rest of the dome's population. I can't think of any other way to find him. We can still listen around and hope we hear something pertaining to his whereabouts, but I don't really know what else to do other than that."

Shadick nodded, agreeing with Guard Commander Drevick. "I will watch for signs of his whereabouts and those who may know something, anything about him or his militia."

Everyone nodded except Jada. Her arms were folded around her body, a frown on her face.

Trei watched her with interest. Then, finally, he spoke. "Do you know where Kaul is?" he asked her quietly.

Jada flinched at the question before looking up. "If I knew where he was, I would say something," she spat. "Don't accuse me of something unless you have proof!"

Trei's brows raised. "I wasn't accusing you; I was merely asking you a question," he said calmly. His eyes didn't move away from her.

Orik took her hand. "I did not hear an accusation, my heart," he told her quietly.

"It felt like it," she told him evenly. "Why would I help to try and find him if I already knew where he was?"

Trei spoke again. "Perhaps to hide the fact that you know where he is," he told her quietly. "I don't know if you know where he is. Your emotions do not match your actions. It feels like you're hiding something. Not knowing makes those around you think the worst."

"I just want him found!" she yelled and rushed out of the council chamber.

The entire room watched her go, not saying anything to prevent her from leaving.

Council Leader Vorik turned to Trei. He knew Trei was good with deduction. He was able to see the smallest change in things around him. "What are you seeing that we're not?" he asked.

Trei looked at Orik, who was giving him a death glare. "I know she's hiding something. I don't know what it is. When it's obvious someone is hiding something so profound that their emotions do not match what their actions are, that is very suspicious. Perhaps you should find out her secret. If she is the one who took Kaul, then she can have him, in my opinion. If we know it's her, we can stop looking. There is no crime since he was given to her to do as she pleases."

Orik sat back in his chair, his face relaxing. "She has been insistent on being involved with finding him. Perhaps she's worried that we will find him before she finishes whatever she's doing to him," he said, scanning everyone in the room. "I'll try to find out for sure so we can stop wasting resources on finding him," Orik told them. Trei had made a good point. It was worth going to her and finding out what she was hiding.

Jada ran to the tunnel's entrance and stared at the large metal door. She frowned before turning away and heading home. When she got there, Orik was waiting for her in the main room of their dwelling.

"I believe Trei is correct that you're hiding something. I don't know if it has to do with Kaul, but I need to know what it is," he told her quietly. "They don't care if it was you who took him. He was yours to do with as you see fit. So, if it was you, they need to know so they can stop looking and let you handle your own business."

Jada stayed quiet for a moment before going to the shelf and pulling a scanner off of it. She flipped a few switches and then scanned herself. When it beeped, she handed the scanner to Orik.

Orik took it and looked at the small screen. His eyes went wide. His jaw clenched.

"I can't have children because of him. Not only did he take our child, he made it so we can't even try again," she told her mate. Tears were pooling in her eyes, threatening to fall.

Orik sat the scanner on the counter and pulled her into his arms. "We'll be fine. We will find a way to fix this. Maybe Renn knows how," he told Jada, trying to comfort her.

Jada nodded, tears beginning to fall onto her mate's chest, soaking the fabric of his shirt.

*** *** ***

The figure smiled, looking at the unconscious Kaul. "They didn't find you," they whispered to themselves. "I get to play with you a little longer."

Kaul was wrapped in a silver blanket, the kind used in emergencies to hold in body heat. For today's use, it was to hide his body heat. He didn't have much to begin with, but whatever was left, the team's scanners didn't pick it up.

As the figure watched, Kaul stirred. He was beginning to wake up. Pulling the silver sheet off of his body, the figure took it and left the dark room.

Switching off the dim yellow light, they left. "I'll be back to play some more; after all, I was taught by the best," the figure told the unconscious Kaul. Then, left the hidden room.

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