We see it. Dont worry. Its not bad. Thats a sensitive machine youre carrying.

The clicks started to speed up and grow louder.

Swanns voice: In a few feet, turn right, then follow that hallway maybe thirty feet. It will open into a large square chamber. The containment vault is on the other side of the chamber.

When they turned right, the Geiger counter began to click loud and fast. The clicks came in a torrent. It was hard to tell one from the next.

Newsam?

Step lively, gentlemen. Lets try to do this in five minutes or less.

They moved into the chamber. The place was a mess. On the floor, canisters, boxes, and large metal drums were knocked over and left randomly. Some of them were open. Luke trained his light on the vault across the room. The heavy door was open.

You seeing this? Luke said. Godzilla must have passed through here.

Newsams voice came in again. Don! Don! Train your light and your camera on the ground, five feet ahead. There. A few more feet. Whats that on the floor?

Luke turned toward Don and focused his light in the same place. About ten feet from him, amid the wreckage, were sprawled what looked like a pile of rags.

Its a body, Don said. Shit.

Luke moved over to it and trained his light on it. The person was big, wearing what looked like a security guards uniform. Luke kneeled beside the body. There was a dark stain on the floor, like a bad motor oil leak under a car. The head was sideways, facing him. Everything above the eyes was gone, his forehead blown out in a crater. Luke reached around to the back of the head, feeling for a much smaller hole. Even through the thick chemical gloves, he found it.

What do you have, Luke?

I have a large male, 18 to 30 years old, of Arab, Persian, or possibly Mediterranean descent. Theres a lot of blood. Hes got entry and exit wounds consistent with a gunshot to the back of the head. It looks like an execution. Could be another guard or it could be one of our subjects had an argument with his friends.

Luke, Newsam said. In your utility belt, youve got a small digital fingerprint scanner. See if you can dig it out and get a print off that guy.

I dont think thats going to be possible, Luke said.

Come on, man. The gloves are cumbersome, but I know where the scanner is. I can walk you to it.

Luke pointed his camera at the mans right hand. Each finger was a ragged stump, gone below the first knuckle. He glanced at the other hand. It was the same way.

They took the fingerprints with them, he said.

Chapter 5