by James Somers
Return
Cole finished his business with the monks at Shalu Monastery. The mechanism of this transformation still eluded their investigation. They had been unable to determine what method had been used to cause the physiologic changes in the human assassin sent and killed by Adolf. Something at the molecular level, but the biological trail was cold. Maybe if he had still been alive, certainly then, but there was nothing that could be done for that condition.
Chetsune had been concerned about the body—who had been exposed to it and so on. Cole had tried to assure him that only he and Brody and the sprites had been near. As far as touching the man, none of them had. Telekinesis had made it unnecessary to handle the corpse.
“Still, I think it is best that we incinerate the body here,” he had insisted. “It’s possible, though there is no residual radiation, that such energy was used. Or maybe some sort of pathogen. At any rate, we should destroy it and not take the risk of exposing anyone else.”
Cole agreed easily with him. Chetsune assured him that they would take care of the matter. Cole thanked them for their help and the information they had gathered. They offered him a meal which he politely refused, relaying his need to return in a timely manner so he could share their findings. Cole departed from the Shalu Monastery and Tibet the same way he had come.