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.Just keeping them alive was top priority.The worst were loaded onto waiting helicopters.The rest were packed on shelflike racks in the backs of waiting ambulances.Army choppers crisscrossed the gray-to-black sky, glaring searchlights illuminating wild patches of blowing scrub and frantic human activity.Sirens blaring, Army trucks adorned with crosses of red tore back toward the main base.The scene was one of utter chaos when Remo and Chiun arrived.They parked next to the row of twenty tanks.The desert was already growing cool as they stepped down from their borrowed jeep.They avoided the hustling stretcher-bearers and approached the last tank in line.Large sections of the tank turret had been blown away in the internal explosion.The main cannon had been ripped partially off and now lay against the nose of the crippled vehicle.Even so, most of what was below the deck structure remained intact.This was the area on which Remo focused his attention.He didn't need to search long."It was him," Remo announced instantly.He pointed to a spot above the big tank treads to a blackened area a foot in diameter.The armor plating within this zone had partially melted to slag.It had dripped down the side of the tank, solidifying once more in slender droplets behind the tread."That's not consistent with an explosion," Remo said with certainty."Something hit this thing from the outside."Chiun frowned as he studied the odd marks in the metal.They matched nothing known to him.Even so, the Master of Sinanju remained silent as Remo led him around the rear of the tank.They found a similar melted area on the opposite side."It came out here." Remo pointed.They stepped over to the next armored vehicle."It must have hopped the space between and slammed right into here," he said excitedly, pointing at yet a third melted section of armor.The surrounding area was scorched, as well."Now do you believe me?""It is odd," Chiun admitted."Damn right it's freaking odd," Remo said.The two of them went around to the front of the tanks.There were bodies everywhere.Hands were burned to shades of black and bloody purple.Blisters had erupted on the faces of some.Groans and sobs rose up in pathetic chorus from the remorseless desert sand.Remo's features could have been carved from granite as he surveyed the scene of carnage.He looked down at one soldier propped up against a tank.The man's flesh was smeared black.One arm was thrown across his face as he rolled in slow agony in the dust.With an effort, Remo tore his eyes away from the grisly sight.They used the side of the first tank to judge the angle from which the initial blast of electricity had come.When they reached the hurricane fence, Chiun was first to see the strange marks in the links."There," the Master of Sinanju said, pointing.Remo looked to where the fence was buckled outward very slightly in the direction of the desert.There were five black marks in the metal, consistent with the pads Remo had seen on Page 54ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlRoote's fingertips.They were about five feet off the ground.Another set of similar marks was visible much closer to the ground."It's electrified," Remo said.They had both sensed the thrill of power from the fence.To Remo, the sensation was an unpleasant reminder of his encounter with Roote.His nearness to the fence seemed to make his heart fibrillate.It was as if his body expected bolts of electricity to come leaping for him once more.He banished the uncomfortable feeling."He must be able to channel it somehow," he said.The frown Chiun had been wearing throughout their investigation grew deeper.The old Korean looked back toward the field of carnage.Flashing red ambulance lights and streaks of helicopter searchlights illuminated the macabre tableau.Someone had finally come to attend to the soldier they had seen on their way to the fence.A stretcher was brought forward."I will concede that it is possible," Chiun said finally.He almost sounded as if he meant it.Remo didn't allow his relief to be too great [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]