have surprised him like this.”
“Surprise being the key word,” Bulatt said. “Which is interesting, given the condition of these bullets — ” Bulatt nodded his head at the stainless steel bowl, “- which, I assume were removed from Sergeant Tongproh’s head?”
The pathologist — who was now standing beside Major Preithat — nodded silently.
“Why do you say that?” Preithat asked.
“They didn’t mushroom very much.”
“Is that significant?”
Bulatt shrugged. “Perhaps not; but nine-millimeter hollow-point rounds are usually high-velocity and do a good job of expanding after they hit a solid target. The fact that these didn’t suggest a number of possible situations: long-distance shots, reduced powder-loads, old ammo, or — perhaps more likely in this case — a silenced pistol; which could explain how Sergeant Tongproh and the others were all caught by surprise.”
“You’re suggesting Sergeant Tongproh, the corporal and the constable were shot by someone who came up behind them, to their left, by surprise,” Preithat said, “and Lieutenant Kulawnit — ?”
“- by the person he was interrogating,” Bulatt finished.
“Which would mean — ” Preithat started to say when a uniformed constable stepped into the mortuary, winced, and motioned for his attention.
“What is it?” Preithat demanded.
“You have a call, sir,” the young constable said, trying not to look at Tongproh’s body on the table. “The captain said it was important.”
Preithat excused himself and went outside with the constable. As he did so, Colonel Kulawnit turned to Bulatt.
“If I understood you correctly, you’re suggesting this might have been an ambush conducted by at least two people, at least one of whom may have been armed with a silenced pistol? Not poachers, but professional killers?” Kulawnit’s voice expressed his disbelief.
“It doesn’t make sense to me, either, Khun Prathun,” Bulatt said softly. “I’m sure your crime lab staff will be able to tell us much more, once they’ve examined the evidence; but — ”
“Excuse me, Colonel,” Preithat interrupted as he quickly re-entered the morgue room. “That was the police commander of the Surat Thani district. They’ve located Captain Choonhavan.”
CHAPTER 12
The Maximum Containment Facilities (MAX) at the Draganov Research Center
Although it hardly seemed possible, the raging storm outside had actually gotten worse. Nearly blinded by high-velocity ice particles, Draganov and Tsarovich staggered toward the nearby parked Sno-Cat, guided in good part by the noise of its idling engine.
Once inside the cab, the two men continued to shiver as Draganov carefully drove the treaded vehicle slowly up a long snow-covered gravel road toward a distant dimly-lit structure barely visible in the storm that was known by everyone at the research center simply as MAX.
“How can Borya stand to be up there in this cold?” Tsarovich whispered through chattering teeth.
“With his vodka.” Draganov snorted. “How else?”
As the Sno-Cat approached the top of the hill, all of the MAX lights suddenly went out. Draganov quickly brought the Sno-Cat up to the high metal shed structure that comprised MAX, headlights reflecting off the thick metal bars of the padlocked gate and surrounding fence, set the brakes, and then swung his head around, staring out into the whirling blizzard.
“Did Borya do that?” he demanded.
“No, I don’t think so,” Tsarovich replied, turned around in his seat to look back down the hill, “it looks like all of the Center’s lights are out. Must be another power failure.”
The two men look at each other, their unease apparent.
“Let’s go back,” Tsarovich said. “I don’t like this. The creatures here frighten me.”
“No, it’s all right,” Draganov said firmly. “They are all tightly contained, and we must check on Borya.”
The two men stepped out of the Sno-Cat with powerful torch lights in their shaking hands. Tsarovich nervously swept the fence line with his light beam as Draganov fumbled with the heavy gate padlock. After unlocking the door padlock, the two men cautiously entered the shed.
Inside the MAX structure, the torch beams revealed a wide gravel walkway with nine six-foot-high, metal- barred and concrete-walled cages on the left, and three wider, triple-height cages on the right.
The aggressive rustling sounds of disturbed creatures both large and small began to fill the shed.
“Quick, shut off your torch and activate the emergency lights!” Tsarovich whispered urgently.
The interior lighting of the shed changed to a very dim battery-powered glow, and the rustling sounds ceased.
“Borya, are you here?” Draganov called out.
After a long silence, a deep gravelly voice answered: “Yes, Sergei Arturovich, I am here.”
“Where?” Draganov demanded.
“In the middle cage — number five.”
Draganov and Tsarovich stared at each other in shocked surprise, then cautiously and slowly approached the middle cage on the left. They could see that the metal-bar door was closed and secured like on all of the other cages.
“Don’t turn on your torch,” Borya warned as the two men came up to the cage front.
“No, we won’t,” Draganov replied, trying to sound calming and reassuring. “We won’t. We just wanted to make sure you’re not sick like Tanya.”
“I’m not sick. I’m fine.”
“Yes, I’m sure you are,” Tsarovich agreed, “but as the senior medical officer at the center, I need to see for myself. Please come out so that — ”
“No. Go away. Leave me alone.”
Before he could catch himself, Draganov yelled out in an angry voice: “Borya, why are you in — ?!”
The whimpering sounds of a frightened creature somewhere near Borya — and a very upset big animal in the middle large cage across the way — caused the two men to freeze. They look at each other, wide-eyed.”
“It’s okay, Borya,” Tsarovich said in a gentle, soothing voice. “We’re not angry. We just wanted to make sure you’re okay. We’ll leave now and talk with you later.”
The two research scientists slowly walked back to the shed door.
As Draganov and Tsarovich exited the shed and carefully shut and locked the heavy doors, the emergency interior lights went out. Immediately, ten pairs of bright emerald animal eyes flashed open inside the left-side cages.
In cage five, one of the two eye-pairs was clearly human.
CHAPTER 13
Surat Thani, Thailand
It was nearly ten P.M. by the time Bulatt, Kulawnit, Preithat and the bodyguards finally arrived at Yak’s palatial estate. The rains had mercifully stopped, turning the exquisitely landscaped gardens into a steaming outdoor sauna festooned by dripping lengths of bright yellow scene perimeter tape that provided — among many other things — a safe pathway to the first body.
The scene commander waited patiently for Kulawnit, Preithat and Bulatt to negotiate the designated route, introduced himself, and nodded respectfully as Preithat made the introductions.
“The bodies were discovered by the resident chef’s son who came here looking for his father,” the scene
