Panic rippled through the sanctuary like a physical wave. Kael's raw, terrified cry – "Danger! Run! Gone!" – and the subsequent loss of connection to the reconnaissance team had ripped the fragile veil of calm. Survivors looked at each other with wide, fearful eyes, their hushed whispers turning into desperate questions.
Captain's voice cut through the rising chaos, sharp and commanding. "Secure the exits! Ready defenses! Nobody goes outside!" He moved with purpose, issuing orders, his face a mask of grim determination that barely hid his own shock and grief at the likely loss of Everla and the others.
Gus's voice, however, was louder, fueled by fear and righteous anger. "It's him! He did this! He drew them out! He's a curse, a magnet for the Void!" He pointed a trembling finger at Kael, who was now huddled against Elara, trembling uncontrollably, the Bedel from his last sensing attempt leaving him disoriented and struggling for air.
Elara shielded Kael with her body, glaring at Gus. "That's not true! He warned us! He tried to help!"
"Help?! He led them to their deaths!" Gus roared back, and other fearful voices joined in, echoing his accusations. The internal division, long simmering, threatened to boil over. "Get him out! Cast him out! Before he destroys us all!"
Captain spun around, his authority absolute, facing down Gus and the growing chorus of fearful survivors. "Enough! Silence! Your fear is a weapon the Void will use! We will mourn our lost! But we will not turn on each other!" His voice was a whip, lashing out at their panic.
He knew Gus was exploiting the situation, using fear of Kael as an outlet for the despair caused by the loss and the relentless pressure of their existence. But the fear was real, and Kael, huddled and vulnerable, was a visible target.
Captain glanced at Kael, seeing the child's terror, the physical trembling that defied his usual numbness, the struggle against the latest Bedel. He saw Elara's fierce, protective stance. He had sent that team out based on Kael's sensing. He carried the weight of that decision. The cost wasn't just on Kael.
He had to regain control, assert his authority before the sanctuary tore itself apart.
"The child sensed danger," Captain said, his voice calmer now, but still firm, addressing the survivors. "He confirmed their location. He confirmed their fate." He looked at Kael, then back at the crowd. "His ability gave us information. Painful information, but information nonetheless."
He didn't try to fully defend Kael's role in the mission's failure – he couldn't, not when the outcome was so grim. He focused on the utility, the desperate hope that Kael's abilities, however costly, were their only source of intelligence in the grey.
He ordered the standard procedures for a lost patrol – logging their last known position, preparing for a potential return (slim as the hope was), reinforcing defenses. He moved among the survivors, his presence a physical embodiment of authority, pushing back against the panic.
Elara held Kael close, murmuring reassurances he could only partially process through his Bedel-affected senses. Vispera's warmth was a small, steady comfort in the storm of panic and accusation. Kael felt the raw emotions directed at him – the fear, the anger, the blame. It was a heavy burden, one that added another layer to the voids within him.
The loss of the reconnaissance team was a brutal blow. But the internal conflict it ignited, fueled by Gus's manipulation and the survivors' desperate fear of Kael's power and connection to the Void, was an equally dangerous threat to the sanctuary's survival.
The chapter ends with the immediate aftermath of the reconnaissance team's likely demise, showing the panic, Captain's efforts to restore order, Gus's successful exploitation of the fear to turn survivors against Kael, and Elara's protective stance, highlighting the deep internal division now exacerbated by the loss.