The girl sat on her cot. She kept her head down so that no one could get a good look at her face. They had discovered that she was vegan. She had refused everything but plant-based food. She refused to let anyone touch her or take her clothes to give her new ones. She liked the ones she had.

Medic Kaul went to the girl to scan her. He had been scanning Alice and the girl every couple of hours to ensure that neither one of them was still toxic. All scans turned out normal, with no evidence of toxins in their bloodstream. Alice's babies were doing well and also tested normal.

Jamie stood next to the girl's cot. He still wasn't sure about her. She looked familiar, but he couldn't place her from where he'd seen her before. He knew it would come to him, eventually. It was like an old memory, nagging at his mind.

Jamie's comm link buzzed. "I'm coming down to see my mate. Bring a blindfold. I don't want to know where you're at." It was Merrick's voice, and he sounded tense.

"Sure thing," Jamie told him and headed out with Shadick and Zack right behind him.

"It's not safe for Merrick to be coming down here like this; what if someone sees him heading into the tunnels?" Zack asked. He didn't like visitors. There were too many people watching the tunnel entrance. He knew that Tosh had too many spies who could report their presence. One visitor could get them all found and killed.

"That's why he wants a blindfold." Jamie shrugged. "If they see him, he won't be able to lead anyone down here." Jamie wasn't concerned. He trusted Merrick and knew he wouldn't take chances unless there was a good reason. Because of the danger, he wouldn't even come to see his mate. There had to be something that prompted his need to visit her.

Zack still didn't like it. There were too many lives at stake. If anyone found out they were still alive down in the tunnels, they would find another way to exterminate them.

They found Merrick inside the entrance to the tunnels, waiting for someone to retrieve him. He had a blaster at his side and was wearing full body armor. His features were tense.

"Everything okay, Merrick?" Jamie asked carefully, eyeing Merrick's appearance.

Merrick didn't waste time. He was in a hurry. "There was a breach in the plasma dome; we had to fight zombies. It turns out Tosh and his right-hand man, Jak, let them in. I need to know how my mate came into the dome. I need to know if someone let her in or if she found her own way in," Merrick explained.

Without another word, Shadick put the blindfold on Merrick, and they escorted him into the city. They didn't take the blindfold off until the door of the hidden city was closed.

Once Shadick removed the blindfold, Merrick went straight to his mate. He bent down close, speaking in a whisper so he didn't scare her. She still appeared fragile and timid.

"I need to know how you got into the dome?" he asked her earnestly.

She didn't say anything, nor did she look up at him.

"I need to know if someone let you in. There was a breach, and someone got hurt. Will you tell me how you got in?" he asked again. He was one step away from begging her. He needed to know, and she was the only one who could tell him.

His mate still didn't speak. She didn't even look at him. She knew the human who recognized her was still watching, trying to figure out who she was. She still didn't want him to know. She wasn't ready.

With his mate not speaking, he decided to change his tactic. "Will you show me how you got in the dome?"

His mate stood up and waited. It appeared that she was willing to show him how she got into the dome. Merrick was relieved. It was a start.

"We have to go through the tunnels blindfolded. I'm going to pick you up. Once we're outside, you can show me. Okay?" Merrick stated. His voice was calm, and he spoke quietly.

She moved closer so that he could pick her up. Once they were at the city's door, Shadick blindfolded them both, led them back through the tunnel, and to the tunnel entrance, then removed their blindfolds.

Outside, Merrick set his mate down so that she could walk on her own and go to wherever she had gotten into the dome.

The girl led him down a path weaving between the two homes, where he found her. Seeran stuck his head out. "Do you need backup in case someone sees her?" he asked.

"That would be great," Merrick told him, not slowing down his steps. He was still following his mate, who was heading to the dome's grounding wall.

The girl went all the way to the dome's grounding wall. When they reached the wall, she pulled a silver stick out of her boot, then slid the stick against the grounding wall. It passed the barrier easily. Once it had passed the barrier, she twisted it so the entire stick aligned with the wall.

Pressing it up, it looked like she had opened a glass panel. There was a hole the length of the silver stick and the height she held it; The perfect size to squeeze through.

After the girl pulled the stick back out, the plasma reformed into the dome with no evidence that the plasma dome or the grounding wall had ever been breached.

Merrick took out a small scanner from a side pocket of his armor and scanned the area where she had opened a portion of the dome.

"Nothing," Merrick breathed. Shock radiated from him. There was no evidence that the dome was ever breached.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" Seeran asked. He sensed something important and potentially dangerous was going on.

Merrick looked at Seeran. For some reason, he trusted him. He didn't tell anyone about Alice, the city, or his mate. He figured he could trust him with this issue as well. "We have reason to believe that Tosh and his right hand, Jak, let the zombies into the dome. The ones that injured Renn."

"What makes you say that?" Seeran whispered, his eyes scanning around them, not wanting to be overheard.

"Someone saw Tosh and Jak at the border at the breach point of the dome less than an hour before the zombies attacked," Merrick stated evenly.

"We need to get you back to the tunnel," Merrick told his mate quietly. "It would be bad if anyone saw you."

The girl turned and walked toward the tunnel entrance, not saying anything. Merrick and Seeran followed. When they got to the tunnel, Merrick opened the door, and they all stepped inside. He called on his comm link, letting them know that they needed three blindfolds.

Shortly after, Jamie and Shadick escorted them to the city.

When Shadick removed their blindfolds, Jamie spoke. "What's going on, Merrick? First, you show up in full battle gear needing your mate, and you come back with Seeran. What's happening?"

"My mate let herself in the dome. The way she did it left no traces of anything for the scanner to pick up, which is more confirmation that Tosh and Jak let the zombies in," Merrick started.

"How does that prove anything?" Shadick asked, eyeing Merrick and giving Seeran a dirty look. He didn't trust him.

"Whoever caused the breach and let the zombies into the dome used plasma to open the dome and cause the breach. When we scanned the breach with a scanner, it showed trace amounts of opposing plasma," he explained.

"I don't get it. Opposing plasma?" Jamie asked, confused. These were all new terms for him. It was technology that Earth hadn't yet realized. If they did, the government kept it all under wraps.

"It's like a magnet. Two magnets push each other away because of their opposite polarity. Plasma can do the same thing. The plasma that opened the breach is like the two magnets pushing each other away," Merrick explained.

After hearing Merrick explain it, Seeran's face paled.

"What?" Shadick snapped, still eyeing him. It was clear that Seeran realized something important. Something that wasn't good.

Seeran breathed in. "The plasma he's talking about is only available to the Council Leader or the Fleet Commander. In the event that someone accuses Tosh in public, he will point out that he isn't the only one with access to the plasma."

"Are you saying that someone might try to frame Fleet Commander Vorik?" Jamie asked in shock. He never thought of anything like that. That would be really bad for all of them.

"I think it's a real possibility," Seeran stated evenly. "From what I just heard, it might have been his goal all along."

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