Medic Kaul walked into the clinic to do his duty for the day. Working on the blood sample he received from Jada, he stood at his workstation and started his testing.

Nearly an hour later, Rai walked in with a medic from another clinic. Kaul looked up. "Where is Renn?" he asked, watching Rai closely. The fact that he wasn't there didn't feel right. He was once a spy for Tosh when he was in power, and Kaul wasn't willing to trust Renn yet because of it.

Rai shrugged. "I don't know, sir. Someone else was in his place when I went to the clinic's main office. This is Vik, sir," Rai informed Medic Kaul.

Kaul looked at the new medic in training and nodded, acknowledging him, then pulled out his comm link to call Renn. "Medic trainee Renn, why aren't you here?" he asked through the comm link.

Renn's voice came through the link. "Sir, Council Leader Vorik reassigned me. He told me it was a special assignment on the mother ship. I am forbidden to say more, sir."

Kaul closed the link and called Council Leader Vorik. "Sir, Renn is not at his post. He informed me that he was on a special assignment by your order. I am verifying if this is true, sir."

Council Leader Vorik's voice came through the comm link. "I assigned him to a special, confidential assignment. He will return when that assignment has ended. It is a long-term assignment, and I do not know exactly how long it will be. I will be in your clinic shortly. I am exiting my shuttle now."

"Yes, sir," Kaul stated, closing the link, then turning to Rai and Vik. "You two can get to work. The back room needs to be prepared."

Rai and Vik headed toward the back to prepare the private room while Medic Kaul continued to work with his samples.

A moment later, Council Leader Vorik entered the clinic. Kaul turned toward him and then gave a gesture of respect. "Good morning, Council Leader Vorik," He stated.

Vorik nodded, acknowledging his gesture. "Do no more experiments on the prisoners until further notice," he stated.

Medic Kaul studied Council Leader Vorik for a moment before responding. "Yes, sir." He didn't say anything more. Vorik may be his friend, but he was also his leader, and he still had to follow orders and show proper formal respect.

Vorik went to a shelf and took a scanner off the shelf, messing with the buttons. "I want to scan the prisoners," he stated. He then scanned himself and looked at the screen. Turning to see Rai, he gestured for her to come to her. She complied immediately.

Vorik quickly scanned her and then looked at the screen before walking over to Kaul and scanning him.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Kaul asked as Vorik studied the screen.

Vorik looked up. "Not that I can see. I was worried that the zombie in the last experiment contaminated all of us. I used Rai as a baseline. We seem to be fine. I need to check on the prisoners."

"Is there something specific you're looking for?" Kaul asked, curious.

Council Leader Vorik sighed. "I'm not sure," he stated. He appeared to be thinking, distracted.

"Do you wish me to come with you, or do you want me to send one of the trainees with you?" Kaul asked.

"You can come if you want," Vorik shrugged, acting like he didn't care either way. "I'm just going to scan them all."

Kaul studied Vorik, not sure what he was looking for. "I'll come. If you find something I need to look at, then I will already be there," he stated, grabbing his med bag. Then called for Rai to come too.

Rai quickly followed as they left the clinic and headed to the prison cells.

When they reached the cells, the guard opened the door for them, allowing them access to the halls filled with prisoners.

Rai scanned the cells. It was obvious she was looking for something. Both Kaul and Vorik noticed.

"Are you looking for something?" Council Leader Vorik asked her. He had his suspicions about what she was looking for, but said nothing. He wanted to witness the interaction if he was right, so that he could study Kaul's reaction.

Rai put her head down. "I was looking for the girl we worked with yesterday. She tried to speak, but it tore the incisions in her throat, making it bleed," she stated quietly. "Mia was her name."

Vorik inwardly smiled. His suspicions were correct. He wanted to know Kaul's reaction. Looking at the guards, it was a new shift. They didn't know what happened last night. This pleased him. The last group was sworn to secrecy.

"Why would you be looking for her here? She should be in the clinic," Vorik stated carefully. He was watching her closely and keeping Kaul in the corner of his eye.

With her head still down, her voice quiet. "She was sent back here last night."

Medic Kaul spoke up. "I asked her a question that she refused to answer. She is a prisoner. I sent her back."

Council Leader Vorik looked at Kaul. "She is not a prisoner. It was determined by her injuries from Travis and the word of Julian Cooper that she was a victim of him, not an ally."

Kaul's face paled as Council Leader Vorik continued to speak.

"When she was brought in, her vocal cords needed repair. She would not have been able to answer your questions until they healed enough to speak." Vorik continued. "What question did you have for her?"

"Her DNA is different. I wanted to know why," he explained. It was clear that he was holding something back.

"What was different about it that would cause you to send her back, even though her vocal cords were damaged?" Vorik asked, watching Kaul closely. He was waiting for Kaul to initiate the part that he was reluctant to speak.

"The scanner showed she is human, but she also has DNA similar to Kreqs," he explained. "If she is Kreq, then she is our enemy."

"Similar is not Kreq," Vorik reminded him. "Even if she is part Kreq, she was raised human."

"The Kreq destroyed our home," he said evenly. "I can't work with a Kreq if she is part one."

"You said her DNA was similar. You did not say that it was Kreq," Vorik pointed out. He knew Kaul spoke with what he was reluctant to say. Even if the girl had Kreq blood, she didn't deserve the treatment Kaul had given her.

"It is similar. I do not know if it is Kreq. The idea of it that it may be is what is bothering me," he stated firmly. He was being stubborn.

"Have you found any other with this variation of DNA?" Vorik asked, watching the medic closely.

Rai kept silent, watching the conversation.

"No, sir, she is the only one," Kaul responded.

"Someone else will treat her," Vorik told him. "I think she has suffered enough." Vorik then turned to the guards. "I need to scan all the prisoners."

The guards took Vorik around as he scanned each prisoner. Most of them stayed quiet, allowing it. There were a few that caused problems, yelling obscenities, but not many.

After Vorik finished, he handed the scanner to Rai and then spoke for both the guards and Medic Kaul. "The prisoners will no longer be taken to the clinic for experimentation. I will interview each one of them and decide their fate." Turning to Medic Kaul and Rai. "You two are dismissed."

Rai stepped forward. "The girl might need help," she said softly. Worried that the girl in question was suffering. She had left the clinic the previous night, injured and with blood seeping out of her mouth.

It was the guard who spoke up. "The last shift reported that the injured girl is no longer with us."

Rai's head shot up. "What exactly did they say?"

Council Leader Vorik allowed her to question the guard. He needed Kaul to hear it.

The guard looked from Vorik to Kaul, then Rai. "We came on our shift. They said that all prisoners were accounted for except prisoner 1192F; she is no longer with us."

Rai swallowed, and a single tear ran down her cheek. "They didn't say if she was taken or if she died of her injuries?"

"No medic," the guard stated kindly, seeing her pain. "Only that she was no longer with us."

Council Leader Vorik smiled inwardly. This entire conversation was misleading. Kaul will think she isn't here, which means she can heal in peace. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell Rai the reality of the situation because it might get back to Kaul.

Rai was going to remain upset, and he couldn't reveal the truth to her to ease her pain.

Medic Kaul left the prison, Rai behind him. Her face was pale from worry. Vorik needed to find a way to at least hint to her that Mia was okay.

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