The last shuttle was leaving, taking the mated pairs to the mother ship. Rask stood at the East Gate, watching the camp in the distance. They had a sentry on all sides of the dome to ensure that they weren't ambushed from a different location.

They had decided in their meeting to relocate all mated pairs to the ships. All of them agreed to go, with the exception of the Walker sisters, who demanded to stay behind. They used the excuse that they needed to protect Council Leader Vorik for Alice, considering she was carrying twins for their leader, who had to stay behind because of his position. He had no choice.

It was a flimsy excuse, but no one wanted to argue or fight with either of them, especially after seeing the challenge between Niki and Council Leader Tosh and his right-hand man, Jak.

Everyone at the guard stations around the dome kept a vigilant eye out for spies, who might be trying to pass information to anyone outside the dome. Everyone inside the dome kept an eye out for spies, doing the same thing through handheld communication devices. There had been no one suspicious, so they had no idea who they were. Anyone could be a spy, and there was no way to know who might be one.

The entire operation was implemented discretely so they could maintain secrecy to prevent the spy or spies from finding out they were moving all the mated pairs.

Rask's comm link went off as the shuttle exited the dome. The voice on the line came from the North gate of the border wall. "We have incoming."

Rask picked up the binoculars and scanned the camp. There was no sign of movement. "Nothing from the camp," he stated into the comm link. "How many are headed your way?" he asked.

The North Gate sentry took a moment to answer. The comm link finally buzzed. "There are at least sixty, sir."

Quickly calling Council Leader Vorik, Rask motioned for another sentry to take his place as he headed for the North Gate.

Running up to the Gate, Council Leader Vorik had already beaten him there. He was dressed in full battle armor, with a blaster at his side and large knives strapped to his back. His posture was tense as he looked through the binoculars at the incoming group.

Reaching Vorik, he looked into the distance. The group was on foot, but well-armed. "Do any of them look like Travis Nichols?" he asked, avoiding saying Hope's name.

Vorik responded without turning his gaze. "None of them looks like him. There might be another group coming from another angle."

Rask called the sentries of the other gatehouses. "There might be another group. Keep your eyes scanning outside the border for incoming. Tunnel guard, keep an eye on the tunnel entrance. There might be a way in through there."

"Yes, Sir," came the echo of voices from all the other sentry stations.

"Sound the alarm!" Council Leader Vorik ordered.

Lights flashed around the dome, and the plasma pulsated with extra power. It was at full strength with a shield layer: The sound of electricity crackling could be heard from the dome. If anyone tried to touch the dome's plasma barrier physically, they would be electrocuted.

All around them, soldiers pulled their blasters and activated their body shields. Many had long curved blades strapped to their backs, with daggers at their sides. They were all armed for battle.

Council Leader Vorik gritted his teeth as they watched the group continue to approach. "They must have been warned about the barrier trap," he theorized, his jaw clenched in anger.

Vorik and his men had set up a trap. It was large enough to fit Travis's entire camp if they weren't spread out too far. The plan was that as soon as they entered the trap's boundaries, they would activate it, trapping them in one spot. The barrier would prevent them from shooting at those outside with their weapons, regardless of whether those weapons were plasma-based or solid earth weapons. It didn't work if their enemy ended up coming from a completely different direction. The only explanation was that they were warned.

Council Leader Vorik's comm link buzzed. "Sir, we were unable to get the last shuttle through the dome before the alarm, sir," It was Renn, Merrick's old co-pilot.

"Which group is on board?" Vorik growled. He was frustrated. Nothing seemed to be going as they had planned it.

"It's Seeran's group, sir," Renn stated, his voice panicked. It was perhaps the most important group out of all of them.

Seeran's group was the main group, all those whom they were trying to keep safe. Seeran, Hope, Sasha, Van, Rai, and Kyle. They should have sent them first, but because of how fragile Hope was and the fact that Sasha was still recovering from Niki's blade, they had to wait to go last, for last-minute medical checks.

Council Leader Vorik looked back at Rask. "Have them go to the clinic. Make sure it's guarded. Let none of the humans go near it. We don't know who the spies are. Medic Kaul can stay with Hope and Sasha. His mate is already safe. She went with all the pregnant females along with Alice."

Rask nodded. "Yes, Sir," he said, turning and sprinting to the shuttle pad to follow Council Leader Vorik's orders.

The group heading toward the North Gate kept coming. They weren't close enough to see who they were yet. It would take only a few more moments for them to come into range, where the binoculars could see their faces clearly.

Council Leader Vorik's comm link buzzed. "Sir, there's a group coming from the camp, heading toward the East Gate."

"Activate the trap when they come into range!" Vorik ordered. His voice was loud, his anger bleeding through his command. Normally, he was calm and collected in situations like this, but with his frustration due to too much going wrong, he couldn't hide his emotions.

"Yes, Sir," came the response. Immediately, the comm link went silent.

Tension rose as the two groups approached the dome. Council Leader Vorik handed the binoculars to the sentry.

"Keep me informed," he ordered. "I need to see the group coming from the east," he informed before running toward the East gate.

As Vorik was heading toward the 'East gate' of the dome, Merrick could be seen in the distance as he came toward him in a small transport vehicle to pick him up. "I thought you might need to travel inside the city faster," Merrick shrugged.

Vorik nodded, grateful. "East gate." That was all he said. Merrick quickly changed course and headed for the east border gate. "Keep this ready; I won't have time to wait. I'm going to have to go between the north gate and the east one frequently."

"Yes, Sir," Merrick responded. He knew the situation. The dome was in danger; it was coming from two sides. Vorik could only do so much; getting him there quickly was what he needed at the moment.

When they arrived, Council Leader Vorik got out of the transport and ran up to the East Gate guard house, took the binoculars from the sentry, and looked through. The group was rapidly approaching. They had military-style vehicles loaded with high-power artillery. This group was ready for battle.

"Get ready to set the trap," Vorik ordered. "Merrick!" he yelled. "Find Dan Wilson; bring him here now!" he ordered.

Merrick sped off in the transport, toward the clinic to retrieve Dan; Vorik kept his eyes on the East group heading toward them.

Minutes later, Merrick showed up with Dan in tow. He was still bound. They still weren't entirely sure if they could trust him. Merrick was about to lead him up to Vorik, but was cut short.

"NO! He's coming with us to North Gate," Vorik called back, before Dan could exit the transport. Handing the binoculars to the sentry, "Keep me informed," he ordered.

After quickly getting into the transport, they sped off toward the North gate. The sentry was still watching the group toward the north as they approached the dome. Another sentry scanned the surroundings for more than the group they were watching. They were worried that another group would show up. Two was more than enough to deal with. Three would be nearly impossible.

Council Leader Vorik got out of the transport, pulling Dan with him. Once at the guard station, he took the binoculars from the sentry and peered through them, seeing where the group was. He still didn't know if they were part of Travis's group. Once he saw what he needed, he then handed them to Dan. "Are they part of Travis's group?" he asked.

Dan carefully took the binoculars. It was difficult with bound hands, but he managed. He knew they didn't really trust him yet. It didn't bother him. He figured one of the spies would kill him soon anyway. He planned on helping Council Leader Vorik as much as he could before then. He didn't care that he was still bound. It made no difference to him. When Dan peered through to the group, he gasped. "Yes, but something is different."

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