Chapter 17
"What have we got?" Lea asked as she entered the Russians ship. The ThunderGuard parted like the Red Sea and she was easily directed to the Captain in charge. A young, handsome litah by the name of Pau was looking over the scene before he quickly bowed to the ThunderCat and current planetary leader.
"Princess," he said.
"Captain," she nodded before continuing, "What have you found?"
"We have two dead and two injured Russian Presidential Security Service agents and President Kostoff is missing. His phone was smashed and there is blood in his office. It's too early to know whose blood it is but I have the crime scene techs working with their Russian counterparts to figure it out," Pau explained.
"No one saw the President getting dragged off of the ship? I mean its broad daylight for cripes sakes," Lea shook her head.
"The Russians refuse to give us complete access to the ship but my guess is that Kostoff and his kidnappers are somewhere still on the ship. As you pointed out, someone would have noticed the President being dragged away in broad daylight," the Captain said.
"Pardon my interruption," a Russian dressed in a very snappy grey suit spoke up.
"You are?" Lea asked.
"I am Deputy Director Alexei Pozdnyakov of the FSB. We have secured our Director in a safe location and I am here to offer my assistance," he bowed to Lea.
"It is good to meet you sir though I wish it was under better circumstances," the lioness smiled slightly.
"I would agree Princess. If you'll forgive me, I am surprised you are visiting the crime scene," Alexei said.
"I may be a Princess but I am also a ThunderCat and leader of the ThunderCats while my brother and his wife are on Mars. Acts such as these garner my full attention," she told him.
"Then the Russian people are most happy you would do so. President Kostoff is a good man and I find his disappearance more than disturbing. My investigative team has dug up some information which I was to give the President but I never got the chance," Alexei frowned.
"If you could help us make a thorough search of the entire ship and find witnesses that would be most helpful. We find it odd that no one saw anything," the lioness said.
"I will make sure the ship is open to the ThunderGuard. As for witnesses, they might be hard to find. I am not sure of how your people view the police but the Russian public is still skeptical of them. Hundreds of years of corruption and public incidents have made them wary much of which stems back to a time when speaking ill of ones' political leaders could get one shot," the FSB Deputy Director frowned again.
"Given that no Thunderians were allowed past the housing construction zone, I'm afraid someone in your ranks has committed this crime and if President Kostoff cannot be found on this ship, he could be anywhere on this planet. Things may look calm but for those that do not know the areas outside the city, it can be very dangerous," Lea warned.
"I understand. Can we get vehicles in the air for scanning purposes?" Alexei asked.
"I ordered them just before I left the Lair. If there is anything to find from the air, we've got it covered," she told him.
"Princess! A call from King Lion-O is being patched through to your transport ship!" An excited private announced.
"If you gentlemen will excuse me," Lea bowed her head slightly and headed back out to her ship, eager to hear what her brother had to say.
To Be Continued…