XVI

"There is no prisoner on record whose genetic markers match those of Kerry. I will tell you." Moros John was unyielding. " He did not spend any time in the Undercroft.

Numerous explanations had been offered to Luke. None of them were realizable. The location of Nyoka was chosen specifically so that any potential diseased wanderers could never approach. Outside the Dome, there was one hundred kilometers of frozen tundra in every direction. His entire interior was self-sustaining, and shuttles were only allowed to land twice in his lifetime. All female passengers had been invited from other biospheres to Nyoka Dome in order to keep the gene pool fresh.

Just as those who had left to perform the same duty on foreign soil would never return, those who came never left.

The new arrivals were thoroughly scanned. The gates could not have been opened to any unanticipated life form. Nonetheless, the most recent conversation had occurred nearly a decade ago.

Luke expressed his disagreement to the few remaining Master survivors gathered in secret. The man has Da'rin markings all over him. He worked long enough in the Undercroft, where he was branded by the gangs, to form an army of outcasts and construct numerous tunnels that had gone unnoticed throughout Nyoka.

Moros John seriously hated Enroll Luke. She had little patience for the young man. Next, elaborate on the reasons why he is not recorded.

The disease of corruption was one that the Dome was unable to eradicate. "Because someone threw him down there off record," Luke said with a stiff jaw.

Others would have known if that were the case. You cannot simply march through those tunnels with a man behind you. Only the security procedures would have been recorded. People would have noticed if a person had vanished. A massive conspiracy is required for what you propose."

Only one man in the room possessed the authority and clearance to know. Several people looked at Senator Suarez and demanded confirmation that no such atrocity could have occurred.

To put petty arguments to rest, the elderly man extended his hand. I wish I could say that it is impossible, but I can't. Similar to how it shouldn't have been possible for those in the Undercroft to emerge, for our government to be overthrown, or for our people to become insane. We don't know a lot about the insurgency. Identifying the fanatical leader of the Followers is less important right now than finding out where he has stored the virus."

Luke sighed as he spoke because nothing made sense. Kieran's attack on the Senate and the reason he has hung the bodies from the Citadel would be explained by Moros John's intelligence. It very well may be a demonstration of retribution."

Moros John's eyes got smaller. or simply the behavior of a psychopath..." Twenty-seven bodies that were in varying stages of decomposition polluted the filtered air with stench. Swinging in the updrafts were people who had served the Dome and were chosen by the people.

The final name that no one dared mention was the only one. There was still a complete lack of information regarding the disappearance of Premier Callas, the unelected head of the Nyoka government. The Premier's residence was isolated from the rest of the Dome by a steel barricade at the beginning of the breach, which was all that was known. It was just another closed gate with unknown gods on the other side, and citizens no longer kept watch there begging for safety. Kieran's followers ignored it.

Moros John had more to say, and the last subordinate she expected to back up her theory—to Luke, the female looked suspicious. However, neither how he acquired the Red Consumption nor how the disease was smuggled into Nyoka are explained.

Senator Suarez shook his head, his gray hair shaggy without the neat cut he'd worn while in office. The elderly man appeared to have difficulty speaking and coming up with an exact explanation. Several strains of Red Consumption had been collected for research before the doors were closed, and only the highest levels of government had access to their secret. In the laboratory where a vaccine was being made, there was an accident 34 years ago. The strain had mutated aggressively. A tech got sick. The entire lab was quarantined in a matter of minutes." Senator Suarez appeared completely depressed, as though reliving something truly terrible. I kept an eye on the security feed. Protocol for incineration failed. They suffered... before they died for the souls behind the gates."

The group was unable to speak for the look of horror on their faces.

"And the mutated strain... how did it get out of the lab?" Luke exhaled, attempting to comprehend that the very plague that had decimated humanity had been knowingly stored inside the Dome. How did it end up in the hands of Kieran?"