Fleet Commander Vorik froze, then looked at rrick, shocked. "What did you say?"
rrick spoke quietly. He didn't know if anyone was hiding, listening in on their conversation. "I have been trying to tell you since I found out, but every ti I am near enough to tell you, Tosh's n have always been following you. The tunnel city and its population survived the chemical burnout. Shadick knew what to do. After you gave my orders to evacuate the ho, on the way to follow my orders, I called and warned Jamie, and he went to Shadick. They're fine." He started. "They're all fine."
Commander Vorik looked at rrick in shock. His heart lifted knowing that all those people were safe. He had thought they all had been killed by the chemical burnout. He could say nothing due to the shock. He only looked at rrick and waited for him to tell him more.
rrick continued, while scanning the area for signs of soone listening. "When Alice went to the tunnels, a zombie attacked her. A zombie bit her on the leg. dic Kaul treated her injury and has been draining toxins from her bloodstream every few hours so that she wouldn't turn into one of them. When Kaul scanned her, she was pregnant. He said that the fetus was too small to take the toxins out." rrick Continued. "They realized the fetus was a zombie after multiple toxin evacuations and that it was infecting Alice, trying to change her. The other night, I spotted a young female zombie in the area we searched today. When I looked at her, she was my mate. She didn't bite . She acted timid and scared. I took her to the tunnels. Kaul took the toxins from her bloodstream; now, she's an ordinary human. dic Kaul used that knowledge to take the toxins out of Alice's fetus. That's when Kaul told her that her twins would be fine. We didn't know it was twins until after he cured Alice of the toxins."
Fleet Commander Vorik's face paled. "I wish I had known."
"We couldn't tell you. You always had Tosh's n with you. If they had figured out the people in the tunnel city were safe, they would have done sothing else to them. Maybe sothing even worse," rrick stated. "I'm worried, too. You're not the only one separated from his mate. Mine is down there, too," rrick told him.
Commander Vorik heard nothing else. He only heard Alice was safe. "Alice is safe?" he asked. His mind needed it to be confird. He had thought she had died in the burnout. He was now learning he had been wrong all along. He needed to make sure he wasn't dreaming and would wake up with no mate in his future.
"Yes, Commander Vorik. They are all safe." rrick confird, seeing the look on his friend's face.
With the confirmation, relief washed over Vorik. "How long have you known?" Vorik asked.
"I don't know, maybe two days after the chemical burnout. Every ti I tried to tell you, Tosh's n surrounded you or followed you. I couldn't say anything without them finding out that the burnout never worked."
Vorik nodded in understanding. There was a long silence before anyone spoke. "There is a lot you didn't tell before Tosh arrived, isn't there?" he asked. He understood the situation. He knew they hid a lot from him. Not to hide things from him, but to protect him and the people in the tunnel city.
"It was part of the plan, sir. We knew they would use the serum on you. The less you knew, the better," rrick explained. "I am the communication between the city and the do. The bunker is being protected. No one knows about it. If you need a safe place to go, go to Keirn's ho. He and Vernisa are acting as a couple to hide Zack and Carrie's bunker."
Vorik listened to everything rrick was telling him. He chose not to speak, only to listen. His mind was reeling that his mate was safe and she was carrying twins. His twins.
"There are others that are trusted that surround the bunker to keep it safe and to keep an eye on the tunnel," rrick continued.
Vorik sucked in a breath, holding up his hand to stop Marrick. "Do not tell anymore. They could still use the serum on again. I can't stop what I say. They will know everything you tell if they use it again," Vorik stated slowly. Even though he wanted to know all this, he knew that knowing too much was too dangerous for all the others involved. If Tosh decided to use the truth serum on him again, it would put them all in danger. Just from the little that rrick had divulged, it was already too late. He didn't want to make it worse.
rrick and Fleet Commander Vorik continued along the border of the do. With each stop they made, they investigated the do, looking at every inch for a possible breach. They found no breach anywhere along the boundary.
rrick wondered how the zombie girl got into the do. There had to be a way if she had gotten in. They had swept the entire area before building the do and after ensuring there were no threats inside the city. He worried that if she was able to enter the do, others could too.
They had watched the tunnel for a long ti. No one entered or left it after they chemically burned the tunnels out. rrick needed to talk to his mate and try to get her to tell him. He wanted to know her na as well. He didn't even know that. She had refused to speak.
When rrick and Commander Vorik finished their search, they went back to the shuttle. The young co-pilot, Renn, was there. He did not see them return. He was talking to Council Leader Tosh as they were walking up.
rrick and Commander Vorik stood several feet out of Renn's view and listened to their conversation.
It was clear to them that Renn was upset that they sent him back to the ship.
"What did you do to be sent back to the ship?" Council Leader Tosh barked out. His anger could be felt through the comm link.
"I got caught following them, Sir," Renn complained. His tone was shaky.
"Did you find anything out? Anyone they are intimate with. Good friends? Anything?" Tosh asked the co-pilot.
"No, Sir. They only did their job. They were both distant from each other and everyone they ca in contact with," he continued. "I don't think that there is anyone working with the Fleet Commander, Sir." Renn Continued. "Pilot rrick treats him like he does all of our superiors, sir."
There was a long pause before the council leader spoke again. "You found no evidence?" he asked the co-pilot. It was as if he was trying to confirm.
Renn sighed. "If I knew what I was looking for, perhaps I could find sothing, sir."
"I need to know if he is working with anyone. That's it!" Tosh snapped. His anger seethed as he spoke. He seed to be easily angered.
"Fleet Commander Vorik doesn't seem to be working with anyone, Sir," Renn started. "And Pilot rrick stays away from everyone. He just follows orders."
"Good!" Tosh snapped. "I don't trust Vorik. He wants to protect the humans of this planet and our people who form a mating attachnt with them. It's disgusting!"
Co-pilot Renn's comm link went silent, and he went back to work, getting the shuttle ready for departure.
rrick and Commander Vorik waited for a while before entering the shuttle. They didn't want Renn to know that they had been listening in on his conversation with Council Leader Tosh.
In front of co-pilot Renn, Vorik called Council Leader Tosh on his comm. "Sir, we found no evidence of zombies, sir. We spoke with all the border guards and searched for a breach ourselves. We found nothing. What are your orders, sir?" Vorik asked Council Leader Tosh formally.
"Try again tomorrow and take co-pilot Renn with you when you go," Tosh barked out. He was still angry, which was sothing that Vorik was already used to. All the man did was yell.
From the reflection in the glass, both rrick and Vorik noted the smug smile spread across Renn's face.
"Yes, Sir," Vorik stated, not even flinching at Tosh's order to take the co-pilot.
After he closed the link with Council Leader Tosh, Fleet Commander Vorik turned to Pilot rrick. "I need the shuttle ready first thing in the morning. It looks like we're searching again. It may take longer since we have to babysit your co-pilot."
"Yes, Sir," rrick stated, noting that Vorik was trying not to smile. rrik then turned to start the shuttle, trying not to smile at Vorik's 'babysit your co-pilot' comnt.
The young co-pilot, Renn, didn't like the comnt about having to be babysat. They saw his scowl through the reflection on the glass, making both rrick and Vorik smile.
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