Chapter 24
"On first glance I can't see anything special. No infection, no drugs. Maybe I could say more, if I had the corpse."
The man in the neat lab coat was one of the best M-Psy in the world right after Ashaya Aleine. He couldn't see down to the DNA level like the defected scientist. But he could analyze the composition of any biological tissue or fluid faster and more accurate than most scanners. Nothing less would have done for Kaleb Krychek – who was slightly surprised by the man's answer to his request.
"The corpse?" he asked showing none of his surprise.
"Of the woman whose blood is on that tissue."
Kaleb just raised his eyebrows in incomprehension.
"Oh, I see. You didn't know she's dead."
"No, that is indeed new to me. How can you be sure?"
"The hormonal levels in this blood indicate serious stress or trauma. The cortisol levels alone are alarming. And then there are certain endorphins that are almost exclusively released when someone dies. The combination suggests a very violent death."
"You said there was nothing special." Kaleb felt a wave of scorching impatience at the obvious incompetence of his best M-Psy. His blood had started to race at the suggestion of Alja being dead even though he could sense her mind unmoving in her rooms. He had kept a psychic eye on her ever since this morning. Although his medic was wrong about her being dead, when he took the tissue from her, she hadn't seemed alive in every way either.
"I apologize. I assumed you already knew the condition of the subject. I can have a closer look at it if you give me more time."
"No that's enough for now." Kaleb took the tissue out of the man's hands before he could even react. Whatever else Alja hid was his to uncover. No one else had the right to know. Although he had expected the result to shed at least some light on what was happening between Alja and him. Give him a clue whether she was destabilizing him on purpose or not. Instead it only made him worry more about her. Maybe the other piece of evidence was more promising. "Anything new about the head?" he asked, referring to Marino Ghetty's head that was being processed in the same lab.
"The brain tissue is mostly destroyed. It looks like someone tried to take something out of his mind via aggressive Tp."
"Tried?"
"I can't be sure, but from the spread of the damage I'd say it was a self-destructive mechanism similar to those used by certain branches of our armed forces in case of capture." Branches like the Arrow Squad. The new question was: What kind of knowledge had Marino Ghetty died to protect?
"That's all for now. Thank you."
The man in the lab-coat blinked and was alone again. He returned to his usual work without hesitation. Working for the Councilor he was used to the strangest requests.