Or maybe it was a half-truth. Maybe there was a risk of some kind of infection and the cholera story was the only cover she’d been able to think up on short notice. Obviously she thought she had her reasons. She was military. What the hell did he know about it? 42

She was standing silently, watching him, waiting.

What the hell, he thought.

?As you wish.?

Compared to the morgue the rest of the petrified, neglected complex was as bright and cheerful as an alpine meadow at high spring. Stainless steel cabinets lined one wall, bar codes taped to several. The tough laminated tile floor was chipped and cracked. Easy enough to repair, except that they didn’t have the equipment or the necessary skills, and nobody cared anyway.

The gleaming cream-white table in the center of the room was bare beneath the overhead lights. A masked and gowned Clemens bent over the prepped corpse of the little girl and commenced the initial incision with the scalpel, pausing to wipe at his brow. It had been a long time since he’d done anything like this and not only was he badly out of practice, he wasn’t at all sure why he was doing it now.

A saw sliced silently and efficiently through the undersized rib cage.

?You’re sure you want to go through with this??he asked the staring Ripley. She ignored him, watching silently, her heart cold, emotions stored safely away where they wouldn’t interfere. He shrugged and continued with the incision.

Placing both gloved hands in the opening he’d made, knuckles against knuckles, he took a deep breath and pulled apart, prying open and exposing the chest cavity. Concentrating, he peered inward, occasionally bending close and looking sideways for a different view. Eventually he straightened and relaxed his fingers.

?We have nothing unusual. Everything’s where it’s supposed to be. Nothing missing. No sign of disease, no unusual discoloration, no sign of contagion. I paid particular 43

43

attention to the lungs. If anything, they appear abnormally healthy. Hooded with fluid, as I suspected. I’m sure analysis will show Fiorinian sea water. Kind of an odd physical state for cholera, hmmm??

He made a final cross-lateral cut, inspected within, then glanced up. ?Still nothing. Satisfied??

She turned away.

?Now, since I’m not entirely stupid, do you want to tell me what you’re really looking for??

Before she could reply, the far door was thrown open. The two somber figures who entered ignored it as it smashed into the interior wall.

Andrews’s expression was even less convivial than usual.

?Mr. Clemens.?

?Superintendent.?Clemens’s reply was correct but not deferential. Ripley observed the unspoken byplay between the two with interest. ?I don’t believe you’ve met Lieutenant Ripley.?

She suspected that the burly super’s appraising glance lasted rather longer than he intended. His attention shifted to the operating table, then back to his med tech.