It was the end of the day. It had been a long search of the dome for zombies. Merrick figured it was a ruse so that his new co-pilot, whatever his name was, could watch and see who Vorik seemed friendly with. It would force Commander Vorik to speak with everyone inside the dome. During their fake search, Vorik showed no signs of being friendly with anyone. He already knew that he was being watched. Being at the rank he was at, he also knew what the spy was looking for.

By the time they had finished, there was nothing that the co-pilot could report back to Council Leader Tosh except that Commander Vorik followed his orders exactly as given.

Now that the day was over, Merrick went back to his small home. He took out the secret comm link from its hiding spot and tried to activate it. He hadn't tried it since they completed the chemical incineration in the tunnel system. There was never an opportunity.

"Is anyone there?" he asked, keeping his voice low. He was unsure if there was even anyone on the other end of the comm to answer him.

After only a few seconds, Jamie's voice came over the line. "Yeah, we're okay. Shadick knew what to do to save us. We're still fighting to keep Alice from changing into a zombie, though." Jamie's voice sounded stressed and tired. He could tell that whatever was happening in the tunnels gave Jamie no time to rest.

Merrick worried aloud. "I don't think there are any zombies to experiment on unless they're in the dome. The chemical incineration would have killed them all, no matter where they were hiding. Medic Kaul might have to attempt to take the toxins out of the fetus as soon as it's big enough to get the device in it."

"Yeah, I'll let him know. How's Commander Vorik?" Jamie asked. Merrick knew that he probably wanted to know, so he could tell Alice.

Merrick sighed. "He thinks everyone in the tunnels is dead. We smelled burning flesh when they opened the door of the tunnels. He thinks it was all of you. He's in an angry grief. He looks a little sickly. I'm surprised he's even functioning."

Jamie sighed on the other end of the comm unit. "The smell might have been the zombie that attacked Alice. We killed it before we took her to Kaul. If you find a time when you guys aren't being watched, let Vorik know we're all right," Jamie said. " It should help him feel better. Use your own judgment if you want to tell him about Alice, the fetus, or the zombie bite. I know he has a lot on his plate right now."

"I'll call him when I can. Council Leader Tosh is putting his men all around the dome to keep watch of Vorik. Most likely me as well, since I am his personal pilot," he told Jamie. "I might have to get creative in telling him that the city down there is safe. He needs to know, but with all the eyes and ears on us. It's going to be difficult."

"Yeah, I get it. Stay safe. I got to go; Alice needs treatment again." Jamie replied before his end of the comm went silent.

Merrick tucked his comm link back into its hiding place and went into his kitchen for dinner.

Just as he finished eating, there was a knock at his door. He went to open it. It turned out to be several of Tosh's men.

"What can I help you with?" Merrick asked cautiously, trying to be polite.

"We want to talk to you, that's all," the one in the lead stated, looking around him as if he were worried about being followed.

"I don't trust you," Merrick stated evenly. "I'm the personal pilot to Fleet Commander Vorik. He may not be my friend, but that I am his pilot makes everyone question my loyalty to our people."

The leader of the group spoke again. "When the Council Leader first landed on this planet, we were with him. We saw Fleet Commander Vorik with his mate and several of our own kind, with human mates. We were recently told that most of them were pregnant. Is that true?" he asked.

Merrick decided it didn't matter if they knew the truth in that area. As far as anyone outside their small trusted group knew, those from the tunnels were all dead. "All of them were pregnant. Not some of them. Even Commander Vorik's mate. He didn't know at the time." Merrick explained. There was a hard edge to his voice. "He still doesn't know that she was pregnant. She found out after he left her here, thinking it would keep her safe. Obviously, it didn't."

Merrick watched as their faces paled. 'Maybe they weren't entirely on Tosh's side,' he thought. He couldn't take the chance, however.

"Why are you here besides trying to get information for Council Leader Tosh? It's not like it matters anymore, considering all of you killed the humans and their mates that were in the tunnels." Merrick spat out. He couldn't hide the anger and disgust in his tone.

One of the men from the back of the group stepped forward, disgust on his face. "You were there; you helped."

"No, I was controlling the crowd, so no one in the dome got hurt. I was protecting those I could. If I had known where the humans were hiding, I would have protected them, too. I don't like killing pregnant females and their mates." Merrick spat, getting angrier by the second. His fists were clenched, wanting to lash out. He knew they would report it if he did. He had to be careful.

"And what were you looking for when you were checking the dome early today?" the leader asked. His tone was suspicious.

"What? You don't know? Council Leader Tosh gave Commander Vorik orders to check the dome for a breach. He was trying to say that there were zombies in the dome. I had to go with him. Of course, my co-pilot followed. I saw him halfway through. His orders were to stay in the shuttle, but of course, he disobeyed. After that, I noticed he followed us the rest of the day."

Another in the group of men spoke up. "If you have a new co-pilot, where is the previous one?" he asked.

Merrick folded his arms over his chest, trying not to punch one of the men outside his house. "She was one of the ones who found her mate and went into hiding with him. If you're wondering, she was pregnant, too."

"How many mated pairs were there?" the leader asked again.

Merrick shrugged. "I never counted. I knew of about nine pairs when I first came down with Commander Vorik. It shocked him when he saw the pairs for himself. Then he met Alice. We were all in shock. We found out that even he had a mate among them. It felt like every time we brought humans here, more would find their mate. You lose count after a while. There were about two hundred patrol officers who had destroyed their comm units even before we discovered our mates were here. It turned out. They had found their mates, too. You can say that there were a lot of mated pairs down there. "

The leader paled further, then sucked in a breath. "What can we do to help?"

Merrick laughed outright. "Just like me, there is nothing you can do to help. They're all dead, remember? If you want to find a mate, then try saving all the other humans that Council Leader Tosh and whoever is unquestionably loyal to him try to kill. Besides, I don't trust you."

"Did you have a mate that was hiding?" one of the men asked.

"If I did, I would have been in hiding with them. From what I've seen. The mate bond is incredibly strong. I wouldn't have been able to stay apart from her."

"How was Vorik able to, then?" the same one asked suspiciously.

"First, it's Fleet Commander Vorik, not Vorik. The reason was that Vorik is the Fleet Commander. He couldn't go into hiding because of his position. He couldn't take her with him because Council Leader Tosh would have killed her in front of him. Commander Vorik had no choice but to leave her on the planet and send her into hiding. That backfired, though, didn't it?" Merrick spat out, getting angrier.

A figure in the back stepped forward. It was a female. She was twisting her hands nervously. "Did a lot of the females find human mates also?" she asked quietly.

"There were more than several. Half of the mated pairs out of the first nine that we found here were female with human male mates." Merrick told the girl. "They were very happy with their human mate. And before you ask, yes, they were all pregnant as well."

The leader spoke one more time. "Don't trust your co-pilot. He is a spy for Tosh. It is also likely that you are being watched. Don't let Fleet Commander Vorik show who he is friendly with. They will all be chemically interrogated."

After saying that, he turned and walked off, not saying anything else. His group followed closely behind him.

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