cynicism, Shannon set the medical sensors to scanning for data and pulled a disposable lab gown from a shelf, tossing another to Wallis before putting hers on.
âGo ahead. Iâm listening.â
âAll right. Letâs supposeâjust supposeâthat weâve never heard of Lehr cats.â
âI wish I hadnât,â Shannon muttered under her breath as she pulled on surgical gloves.
âI know. Just suppose. Weâre provincial doctors. Weâve never been off-planet, weâve never heard of Lehr cats, weâve never seen themâwe have no idea that such creatures might exist.â
âOh, they exist, all right,â Shannon said, rolling a cart with surgical instruments closer. âJust ask Gustav Fabrial.â
Wallis ignored the younger physicianâs comment as she, too, gloved and resumed her inspection of the body.
âNow,â she continued, âthis man, this Fabrial, is brought in dead, and you, as chief medical officer, are asked to perform the autopsy and form a hypothesis as to cause of death. Remember, youâve never heard of a Lehr cat. Fabrial could have been the victim of anyone or anything.â She gestured toward Shannon with a probe. âNow, who killed Fabrial?â
Shannon, cutting away the dead manâs jacket with a pair of surgical scissors, only shook her head. âThis is pointless.â
âNo, donât quit on me already. Who killed Fabrial? What was the physical cause of death?â
Shannon gave a stubborn smile. âAll right, just offhand, Iâd say he died of shock, contingent upon massive loss of blood induced by trauma.â¦â
âGood. Go on.â
âHe has multiple lacerations of the chest and forearmsââshe looked shrewdly at Wallisââperhaps from clawsââ
âWe donât know that yet.â
âVery well, then, Doctorânot necessarily claws, then. Letâs say multiple parallel lacerations, approximately six to ten centimeters apart, in groups of four to five.â She threw down her scissors. âOh, come on , Doctor! From claws! What else could make wounds like that?â
Wallis bowed her head and worried her lower lip briefly with her teeth.
âAll right, Iâll accept that for now, if you insist. Go on.â
âAnd multiple throat lacerations, especially along the lateral aspects,â Shannon continued sourly. âFrom teeth , Doctor Hamilton! Long teeth, sharp teethâ fangs , if you will!â
Wallis leaned both hands against the edge of the table and nodded slowly. âI know. And long blue hairs clenched in his fist, presumably from the murderer. Ergo, something with long blue hair, fangs, and claws killed Fabrial. And that something could only have been a Lehr cat. I have to admit, it looks bad.â
Shannonâs jaw dropped and she stared at her colleague dumbly for a few seconds. âYou mean,â she finally managed to reply, âyouâre still not convinced? You still maintain that your cats didnât do it?â
âDo you want me to assert that I think the cats broke through plasteel, a force lock, and the regular door of the hold, evaded regular shipâs security on three decks, and then killed Fabrial and got back without anyone being the wiser?â Wallis countered.
âThe screamers-in-the-night can do thus,â said a familiar voice.
They turned to see Muon and Bana standing in the doorway, swathed in their fur-lined robes and shaking with cold and dread.
âI know that the demons were responsible,â Muon continued, walking farther into the room and staring expressionlessly at the bloody body on the table. âDid I not tell you that the demons would devour us all? And now it has begun.â
The cats were screaming even worse than the night before when Mather reached Deck Six and headed toward their hold. Four confused shipâs security guards came to attention