remains.’
‘In that case, I’d go so far as to say that the very fact they’re alive is something of a miracle.’ Oxern seemed quite well acquainted with many aspects of how various addictive substances work. When he heard what the two strangely behaving soldiers might have taken and looked with distaste at the sealed vial, he knew immediately what he would have to deal with. Given the surgeon’s general demeanour and his abilities, which far exceeded those of an ordinary medic, Darius suspected that the shehed’s story was not at all as simple as it seemed. Once again in Bushtabhar, it turned out that everything had a hidden side, a secret, or God knows what else. ‘Perhaps it’s down to the purity of the drug.’ The surgeon pondered. ‘It completely destroyed their minds, but it didn’t kill them.’ He shook his head as if trying to deny reality.
‘I'm more concerned about where they got it from,’ the pale-faced lieutenant interjected. Ever since he’d found out what they were dealing with, he’d carried out every order related to the investigation without a murmur.
‘We won’t be able to ask them anymore,’ Oxern said sarcastically, but his fiery gaze made it clear that wasn’t his intention.
‘We’ll have to question the rest of Murphy’s men,’ Darius felt his head begin to throb at the very thought of endless interviews and extracting bits of information.
‘I doubt they know anything.’ The surgeon sighed heavily. ‘The ones from the outpost, perhaps… If they were sober for even a moment.’
‘If we put the pressure on them, they’ll have to start talking.’ Bleist gritted his teeth.
‘They probably would, but they won’t know anything.’ Oxern gestured behind him. ‘They’re our own, after all.’
Both Darius and Al-Satar looked at the shehed in surprise.
‘They've been to see me a few times with... various problems,’ the surgeon continued. ‘Unfortunately, often enough that I've remembered them. It’s a shame about them.’
Earl hadn’t asked earlier which unit the two belonged to and had assumed they were among the governor’s mercenaries. There were therefore three soldiers
