Pilot Merrick walked to Tosh's shuttle, hoping it wasn't Council Leader Tosh himself. Now, he had to worry about obtaining a zombie so they could save Alice and her baby's lives. If he wanted to help them save her and the baby, he had to take the initiative to help obtain one of the zombies. Even though he knew that she would have already been dead right now if she had gone to the ship with Vorik, he felt guilty because he was the one who sent her down there into the tunnels in the first place. It was like a double-edged blade; there was no way not to get cut.

He stopped at the landing platform and waited for the shuttle to complete its sequence. It had already landed. It just needed to open the shuttle door and let those inside the shuttle out. Finally, after a few minutes, a sharp hiss sounded before clouds of steam shot out. Then, the door finally opened.

Merrick waited for the ramp to lower. Once it touched the ground and the clouds of steam dispersed, a small group slowly walked down the ramp.

One of the men in the group was Fleet Commander Vorik. He was surrounded by Council Leader Tosh's men, acting like they were his personal guards. In a sense, they were, although they were there not to protect him, but to find a way to get him killed.

Merrick watched as Commander Vorik stopped at the bottom of the ramp and scanned the surrounding area, his eyes landing on him. Then Vorik stiffly headed toward him.

"Pilot Merrick," he said formally after stopping in front of him.

Merrick knew that the men surrounding Vorik were all Tosh's men, so he had to be mindful of what he said or did around them.

Merrick put his fist over his heart and bowed. "Fleet Commander Vorik," he stated, then awaited his orders.

Commander Vorik was stiff. His face was pale, his eyes hard. Merrick could tell that something was wrong, but he couldn't ask what it was, not in front of Council Leader Tosh's men.

Fleet Commander Vorik looked at Merrick. His voice was even as he gave his orders. "There has been an infestation of zombies in the tunnels. The soldiers found one while in the tunnels, looking for the human survivors and their mates. They did not find the survivors, only a lone zombie; they believed there were more, so they wished to burn out the entire tunnel system using a chemical incinerator," he explained. "I need the residences closest to the tunnel entrance to be evacuated to ensure their safety," he ordered.

"Yes, Fleet Commander Vorik," Merrick stated formally, his fist at his heart and bowing in respect. Then, turning sharply, he headed for the residences to evacuate those who lived inside.

Once he was far enough away from Council Leader Tosh's men and out of sight, he pulled out his hidden comm link. "They are flooding the tunnel system with a chemical incinerator. Take precautions if there are any," he stated.

Jamie's voice came through the comm link, "Thanks for the warning," before it went silent again.

Merrick quickly hid his comm in its hiding spot and evacuated all the residences near the door to the tunnel system. Some of those residents were Keirn, Vernisa, Rask, and Van.

It was clear that they weren't using the chemical incinerator on the zombies. They were flooding the tunnels because they didn't find the humans and their mates. Council Leader Tosh was using the zombies as an excuse.

"What's going on?" Vernisa asked some of the other residents who were being evacuated. She knew already because Merrick had warned them. Her asking was for show. Everyone was asking. They needed to appear clueless, like all the others.

The evacuees stood in a cluster, watching as Council Leader Tosh's men headed toward the tunnel system. They had a large cart with coils of wide hose and a machine with them as they approached the tunnel entrance. Once at the entrance, the men stuck a thick hose inside the tunnel, then sealed it with a strange-looking device, preventing the chemical incinerator agent from escaping its confines.

Fleet Commander Vorik was off to the side, still surrounded by Tosh's men. His face was grim. Several of the men surrounding him watched him carefully as the incinerating process was being implemented. They were watching him to see if he would signal anyone. He didn't, because even he didn't know who all Jamie had enlisted to help save everyone. Their plan excluded him, knowing full well that he would be interrogated with the truth serum.

Vernisa moved closer; she needed to ensure she was within hearing distance of Commander Vorik, "What are they doing?" she asked loudly. She wanted Tosh's men to hear her.

Merrick was loud enough for all to hear. "Nothing to worry about. There are zombies in the tunnel system, and to protect the city, they are being incinerated. "

"Zombies?" Vernisa gasped. Her features showed shock. "Does that mean they're in the city?" she asked in fear, looking around her, showing fear that some might be nearby. "That will kill them, won't it?" she asked, sounding hopeful, yet still scared.

Gasps throughout the crowd made it look like no one knew about the city inside. That was the point of Vernisa's outburst. She even clung to Keirn, who pretended to comfort her while she cried in fear.

It was all fake, of course.

Merrick noticed that Fleet Commander Vorik was stiff, his jaw clenched. His eyes showed his worry for his mate, who was inside the hidden tunnel city. Vorik didn't know there was anyone to warn them of the impending doom.

Some of the evacuees pushed forward to try to see what Tosh's men were doing. This was Van and Rask's cue. They followed what the others were doing, acting like they wanted to see. They were pushing and shoving to get closer to the action. They needed to show they were part of the clueless crowd.

On cue, Merrick did his duty and pressed them all back. "Back up," he called. "You all need to be far enough away." Rask pressed further, making it look like he didn't care, wanting to see what was going on at the tunnel. Merrick shoved him back. "Stay back!" he yelled.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Tosh's men, who were not watching Vorik, were watching the crowd. He believed they were watching for signs of distress and that they knew the survivors and their mates were in the city in the tunnels. They weren't going to find any.

There were only a handful that knew anything, all of which were showing they were just part of the crowd, while Merrick played crowd control.

They all watched as the chemical incinerator was powered on. They could all hear a loud hissing sound from the tubing as heat and acidic fog swept inside the tunnel system. Keirn, Vernisa, Rask, Van, and Merrick didn't dare look worried. They all were, however. They had to ensure they weren't discovered as accomplices in keeping the survivors and their mates safe. In other words, they had to fake it.

Commander Vorik's face was getting paler and paler the longer the incinerator burned through the tunnel system. He was unaware that they had been warned. As far as Vorik was concerned, only Merrick knew of the tunnels, and Alice had gone into the tunnels to be safe. He didn't know about Van, Rask, Keirn, or Vernisa helping to keep everyone informed and safe as well.

Everyone watched Tosh's men use the chemical incinerator inside the tunnels with interest. No one gave any indication of fear for those inside.

"How long do we have to stand here?" Keirn complained loudly. "When is it safe to go home?" He was making sure that Commander Vorik and Tosh's men heard.

Merrick rushed over to Fleet Commander Vorik. "Sir, they are asking when it is safe to return home," he stated, making sure his demeanor was formal, detached.

Fleet Commander Vorik looked at Merrick; his eyes were hard. "We," he said, scanning Tosh's men with his chin, "will dismiss everyone back to their homes when it is safe to do so. So do your job and keep them from breaking the line."

"Yes, Fleet Commander," Merrick stated formally, and rushed back to the crowd before they got out of hand. Merrick wondered if Vorik was acting or angry that it was his fault that Alice went to the tunnels when she wanted to stay at Vorik's side. He won't find out unless Tosh's men stop following Vorik.

"You'll be dismissed when it's time," Merrick called. That prompted others in the crowd to complain and to yell that they wanted to go home and that it seemed safe enough already to go home since the chemical to incinerate the tunnels was contained in the special tubing.

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