Jada, Niki, Aleigha, and Hope lay in a tight row inside one of the rooms in the clinic the medics had dubbed 'the stasis' room. There was one other occupant in the room with them. It was a prisoner from the cells who had been the first human who the human truth serum was tested on.

The beds were covered with a plasma barrier, putting the five patients in stasis. The soft hum of their protected beds echoed in the room as it shot a chemical inside the protected barrier that kept them in hibernation, leaving a mint-green-colored layer of mist on those sleeping inside. They had to stay that way until they found a way to save them. There was something about the newly developed truth serum that was killing the five humans.

Medic Renn stood at the workstation beside the rows of beds, examining the injectors that were used on the five humans during the interrogations regarding the former Medic Kaul.

A door behind him slid smoothly open. Orik walked in with Seeran. They stopped at their mate's bedside and looked down on their pale faces. Their sleeping mates were covered in a fine mist with a mint green tint.

Medic Renn turned to the two Ramesians. "They will remain in hibernation until we can find a way to save them. If we take them out before that, they will die in a matter of hours," he told them. "The stasis puts their body in suspended animation. It's as if time no longer exists," he explained, then turned back to his work, ignoring them. He was too busy trying to find out what had happened and why so that he could save their life.

Both men looked down at their mates, watching them sleep. Their faces were pale, their eyes gleaming with unshed tears. They had been worried about their mates.

Medic Renn suddenly gasped, causing Orik and Seeran to look toward him. Medic Renn pulled out his comm link. His eyes were fixed on the panel in front of him. He had found something, but it wasn't good.

"Council Leader Vorik, I have something you need to see. I'm in the stasis room," he informed Council Leader Vorik.

Council Leader Vorik's voice came through the communication device. "I'm on my way," he stated. It sounded like he was running. He was worried about the girls. Anything regarding what was going on with them, he put at the top of his priority list. He was the one who authorized the use of the truth serum. He blamed himself for what was happening to them.

"What is it?" Orik asked. There was panic in his tone, and his features grew even paler, missing his mate. He was worried that the gasp meant there was something wrong. His first thought was that his mate could not be saved. "If it has to do with what's happening to my mate, I have a right to know."

"We have a right to know," Seeran corrected his friends, emphasizing 'we.' His mate was in there, too. Pertaining to their own laws, everything dealing with their mate, they had a right to know about. They felt that this was one of those times.

Medic Renn turned to the two men. "If Council Leader Vorik wants to tell you, then he will. I can not until he tells me otherwise. I was told to keep everything confidential. He did not specify anyone who could know, so I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything until Council Leader Vorik permits it."

Orik folded his arms in agitation, glaring at Medic Renn. Seeran did the same. Medic Renn ignored them, turning back to his work. There was nothing he could do to ease their minds until Council Leader Vorik permitted. He wanted to tell them, but was ordered not to tell anyone.

The door to the stasis room suddenly slid open, and Council Leader Vorik rushed in; both men turned to him, waiting for him to either allow them to stay or to kick them out.

Medic Renn pulled one of the injectors, plugged it into a socket, and then pressed a button. They all looked up at the screen. Lights flashed before the readout appeared on the shiny black surface.

"What am I looking at?" Council Leader Vorik asked Renn." Medic Renn pulled up another screen, pressing a few more buttons before a nearly identical readout appeared.

"That," Medic Renn said, pointing to the second screen, "is the bio-thread of the human truth serum. That one from the injector is not the same. See that marker," he explained, pointing to a change in the bio-thread from the truth serum's formula. "That is added to the original serum. The serums in the injectors have been tampered with."

Council Leader Vorik studied the two screens. "Can you isolate the substance added to the truth serum?" he asked. If they could isolate it, they might be able to figure out what it was and possibly where it came from.

After pressing several more buttons, the two screens melded together, everything identical disappearing from view, leaving the isolated substance. Medic Renn then ordered the computer to scan and evaluate the unknown substance.

"Well?" Seeran shot out. "What is it?" He was inpatient, wanting to get his mate healed and allowed to go home.

Both Council Leader Vorik and Medic Renn turned to Seeran, annoyed. "I will ask you to leave this clinic if you refuse to be patient. I understand your mates are here and in danger, but I need to do my work. You're not helping. The computer hasn't even finished with its evaluation," Renn told them both, even though it was only Seeran who spoke. Renn wanted to make sure that they both understood.

Medic Renn turned back to the station and watched the screen. After a few more moments, the readout appeared. Renn studied the readout. "It's a toxic poison. We can't siphon it out of them, or it will bind to their tissue and kill them quicker," he explained. "I've only seen this on only one other time before. It was when Keirn died. It was the same situation exactly."

Council Leader Vorik was quiet for a few minutes before he spoke. "It sounds like you're saying Keirn was murdered. That it wasn't a virus," Vorik said aloud, voicing his thoughts.

"Yes, sir. I believe that after seeing this, he was indeed murdered. The questions that we need to answer are how, why, and by whom," Medic Renn agreed. "Because nothing was collected to study during that situation, we don't know if the substance in the injector was the same one that was used on Keirn."

Council Leader Vorik thought for a moment before speaking. "The original serum was created on a fleet ship. Where did the injectors come from? Was it a fleet ship or in the replicators?" he asked, trying to figure out where the murder would have been located. If it were someone on the ship, they could have easily sent it. Yet if the tampered injectors were in the replicator, the murderer could be in the dome. It would help narrow things down a bit.

Renn turned to face the three men in his clinic. "The original injector came from the fleet ship. The five used on the prisoner, Aleigha, Niki, Jada, and Hope, were taken from the replicators."

"Pull a new replicated injector of truth serum out of the replicator and analyze it," Council Leader Vorik ordered. He wanted to get to the bottom of it and find out who was trying to kill the girls.

Medic Renn went to the replicator, ordered a truth serum injector, went back to his station, and plugged it into the socket. After having it analyzed, the readout confirmed that it was the tampered-with serum.

"Do it again; Only order this version," Vorik told him, pointing to the original formula that had not been tampered with.

Renn went back to the replicator and ordered the original formula. When he came back, he plugged it into the socket to be analyzed. The readout showed it was the original formula. There was nothing wrong with it.

"Do you want to test this one on another human prisoner?" Renn asked. "I suggest, as a precaution, you do it in here so we can treat them quickly," he continued. "I will set up another bed while you have one brought here if that's what you want to do." He didn't like testing the serum like that, but there was no choice. The only thing that eased his mind was the fact that they were preparing to treat the prisoner if something went wrong.

Council Leader Vorik nodded. "Do it," he stated evenly. "If this one comes out as working as it should with no dangers, I will wipe the other one out of the system as well as the isolated toxin in case it was programmed in the replicator as a separate substance."

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