The Legacy of Lehr by Katherine Kurtz Page B

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.
    â€œGo ahead. I’m listening.”
    â€œAll right. Let’s suppose—just suppose—that we’ve never heard of Lehr cats.”
    â€œI wish I hadn’t,” Shannon muttered under her breath as she pulled on surgical gloves.
    â€œI know. Just suppose. We’re provincial doctors. We’ve never been off-planet, we’ve never heard of Lehr cats, we’ve never seen them—we have no idea that such creatures might exist.”
    â€œOh, they exist, all right,” Shannon said, rolling a cart with surgical instruments closer. “Just ask Gustav Fabrial.”
    Wallis ignored the younger physician’s comment as she, too, gloved and resumed her inspection of the body.
    â€œNow,” she continued, “this 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, you’ve never heard of a Lehr cat. Fabrial could have been the victim of anyone or anything.” She gestured toward Shannon with a probe. “Now, who killed Fabrial?”
    Shannon, cutting away the dead man’s jacket with a pair of surgical scissors, only shook her head. “This is pointless.”
    â€œNo, don’t quit on me already. Who killed Fabrial? What was the physical cause of death?”
    Shannon gave a stubborn smile. “All right, just offhand, I’d say he died of shock, contingent upon massive loss of blood induced by trauma.…”
    â€œGood. Go on.”
    â€œHe has multiple lacerations of the chest and forearms”—she looked shrewdly at Wallis—“perhaps from claws—”
    â€œWe don’t know that yet.”
    â€œVery well, then, Doctor—not necessarily claws, then. Let’s say multiple parallel lacerations, approximately six to ten centimeters apart, in groups of four to five.” She threw down her scissors. “Oh, come on , Doctor! From claws! What else could make wounds like that?”
    Wallis bowed her head and worried her lower lip briefly with her teeth.
    â€œAll right, I’ll accept that for now, if you insist. Go on.”
    â€œAnd multiple throat lacerations, especially along the lateral aspects,” Shannon continued sourly. “From teeth , Doctor Hamilton! Long teeth, sharp teeth— fangs , if you will!”
    Wallis leaned both hands against the edge of the table and nodded slowly. “I 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.”
    Shannon’s jaw dropped and she stared at her colleague dumbly for a few seconds. “You mean,” she finally managed to reply, “you’re still not convinced? You still maintain that your cats didn’t do it?”
    â€œDo 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 ship’s security on three decks, and then killed Fabrial and got back without anyone being the wiser?” Wallis countered.
    â€œThe screamers-in-the-night can do thus,” 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.
    â€œI know that the demons were responsible,” Muon continued, walking farther into the room and staring expressionlessly at the bloody body on the table. “Did I not tell you that the demons would devour us all? And now it has begun.”
    The cats were screaming even worse than the night before when Mather reached Deck Six and headed toward their hold. Four confused ship’s security guards came to attention