Vorik stood at the window in the council room, looking down at the blue planet below. He was missing Alice. He was thankful rrick could finally tell him his mate was safe. It was one less thing to worry about. Vorik was also surprised that rrick had mated with a zombie female and that dic Kaul was able to cure her.
The thought of Alice being pregnant with twins made him smile inside. More and more, he thought as ti went by, he needed to do sothing about Council Leader Tosh. If he didn't, then all those pairs and their unborn children would suffer, including Alice and their twins.
It was becoming clearer and clearer that he was going to have to kill his leader to make everyone safe. It would be the only way, to avoid retaliation. He didn't know if he would die trying, but he had to do sothing. If he didn't try, he felt like more would die.
Council Leader Tosh ordered him to go to the surface so that he could re-check the border. Council Leader Tosh didn't believe that they fought zombies, and he didn't even ask co-pilot Renn, who had been injured by one of them and had almost been turned into one. Tosh was rely sending Vorik for busy work. Vorik didn't care. Anything to get off the mother ship and onto the surface. He wanted to find a way to see Alice. It had already been too long.
Sighing deeply, he headed out of the council room and toward his ship. He called rrick early last evening, letting him know they had an early day today.
When he entered the shuttle bay, he quickly scanned for Pilot rrick and his shuttle. He found him quickly. Co-pilot Renn was standing beside him, waiting for Vorik to approach.
Renn had a cast-like device on his arm where he was injured so that his injuries could heal and that he could still do his duty. Council Leader Tosh didn't seem to care that the co-pilot had been injured from the previous day as long as he could do his job.
Commander Vorik headed up the small ramp into the ship. Both rrick and Renn gave formal gestures of respect. rrick always did, but this was new for Renn. Vorik wondered what had changed.
Only nodding at Pilot rrick and Co-pilot Renn, he made his way to his normal seat.
After sitting down in the co-pilot's seat, Vorik looked out the window but spoke to rrick. "We need to check the border and figure out how the zombies broke through the do. They shouldn't have been able to do that."
"Yes, Sir," rrick stated formally and started the shuttle. He was wondering how his own mate had gotten in. He knew he needed to find out.
As they made their way down to the surface, co-pilot Renn spoke. "Am I to accompany you, Sir?" he asked. His tone was polite, formal.
Commander Vorik gritted his teeth; he was trying to maintain his temper with the co-pilot. "Are you able to do your duty with your injuries from yesterday?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," he stated. "I will do my best."
Nothing else was said for the rest of the flight. When they landed, Commander Vorik geared up, wearing his full set of black armor and his weapons at his side. He was always prepared in the event they had to fight zombies again. When he left, he noticed that rrick and Renn were both with him and wore their own armor. rrick always did, but this was Renn's first ti.
Renn had apparently learned sothing after he was attacked on the previous day.
They headed straight for the border, examining it all the way around. The breach had been repaired the previous day. There were no breaches today.
Commander Vorik stopped at one of the guards, who imdiately made the gesture of respect. They didn't do that on the yesterday.
"Have there been any more sightings of zombies or evidence that they entered the do?" Commander Vorik asked the guard.
"No, sir," he stated formally. "The breach has been repaired. It appears they broke the connection between the plasma do and the border walls. We have not figured out which substance can ground a plasma barrier," the guard continued.
Commander Vorik thought about it for a mont, not saying anything. The guard waited patiently. "Was there a residue of any kind at the breach point?" Vorik finally asked.
The guard looked surprised at that. "We did not think to look, sir. We have marked the breach point, however. If we go to the marker, we can look now for foreign residue," he suggested.
Commander Vorik nodded in agreent and headed toward the breach point. "rrick, go to the dic and bring back a scanner," he ordered.
Pilot rrick imdiately ran toward the dic, disappearing around a cluster of hos. Renn stayed quiet, watching, nothing else.
Monts later, rrick returned with a dical scanner. After handing it to Commander Vorik, Vorik set the scanner for the strongest setting and then slowly scanned the breach point of the plasma do. The scanner buzzed for a mont over one side of the breach. Vorik studied the readout. "This doesn't make sense," Vorik breathed.
rrick bent forward, looking at the screen. The readout stated that the residue was plasma. "Sir?" rrick asked. "Soone sabotaged the do, didn't they? Soone let those zombies in."
"It would appear that way," Vorik stated evenly. Then looking at the guards. "Was there a report of anyone near this area before the ti of the breach?" he asked them. "Or did you notice anyone near the breach point yesterday that shouldn't be there?"
One of the guards swallowed hard. It was clear that he saw sothing. He glanced over at Renn, who was looking toward the breach and not at the guards. The guard appeared not to want to speak in front of Renn. Vorik took the hint.
"Co-pilot Renn, take the scanner back to the dic. They may need it. Keep an eye out for zombies unless, of course, you want to get attacked again," Vorik stated.
Renn took the scanner and ran off toward the clinic, for once not disobeying orders.
Vorik then turned to the guard. "He's gone; now tell what you know. Whoever let them in put us all in danger."
The guard spoke quickly, glancing around, not wanting to be overheard. "There were two individuals at this breach point an hour before it was breached. One of them was Council Leader Tosh, and the other was Councilman Jak, Tosh's right-hand man."
Commander Vorik paled. "First, he floods the tunnel to kill the entire city of mated pairs, in which every single female was pregnant, and now he's letting zombies into the do. Is he trying to kill us all?" he hissed.
After taking a few breaths to calm himself down, he looked at the guard. "Do you have proven evidence? I can do nothing without evidence."
The guard shook his head. There was silence for a while; then, a resigned looked set firm in his features. "I will agree to a public interrogation. No one can dispute the truth serum."
"That would be pointless," Vorik began. "You may have seen them near the breach point, but did you see them let the zombies in?"
"No, sir," the guard stated, slightly shaking his head in defeat. His features showed he understood the dilemma.
Vorik took a breath, unsure what to do other than monitor the do and its grounding wall. "Monitor the boundary in pairs, at least. Continue to monitor the entire plasma grounding wall. Be on guard for zombies if you see anything that looks like a breach in the plasma do or its grounding wall. You were there yesterday, so you know about their scent. You also know that you have to take their heads when you kill them." Vorik ordered. It was more of an advisent than an order. They all knew it needed to be done. He was just reminding them.
The guards gave the gesture of respect. "Yes, Sir," they acknowledged his order. It surprised Vorik by their change in attitude from yesterday. In truth, he wasn't sure what was going one with them.
Behind him, Renn was already on his way back.
rrick had stayed quiet. His thoughts were on the girl with the erald green eyes and raven hair who waited for him in the tunnels and the fact that she had sohow gotten into the tunnels herself. He wanted to know if Council Leader Tosh let her in or did she find her own way. Whatever the case, he needed to find out how she entered the do. If she wasn't let in, getting in and out of the do was far easier than he and anyone else thought, making it dangerous. If one zombie entered the city undetected. That ant many more could do the sa thing.
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