About 10:00, Orba Organics research centre, somewhere in the Pacific, Wednesday the 14th of April, 2055.

About 10:00, Orba Organics research centre, somewhere in the Pacific, Wednesday the 14th of April, 2055.

In an attempt to establish how far the AV-4 had come, its fuel level is checked. It's about half-full which means it could have flown at most a couple of hundred miles to get to the island. Which, in turn means that it must have had a 'mother ship' of some sort.

I keep myself out of the way in the foyer area while things get sorted out. Anthony wanders by, his arm in a sling, on the way to talk to the captives. He agrees that it looks like it was a simple corporate extraction that met unexpectedly heavy resistance.

Paul wanders over a little later for a chat, and tells me how he heroically received his 'flesh wound'. I know he's talking himself up, but it's been a rough experience for everyone involved and we all deal with the release of tension in our own ways. He also seems to be enjoying all the attention he's getting. Yuki's tender ministrations seem to be particularly welcome.

The incident is reported back up to HQ and some of the group put in requests for some extra equipment and supplies. They're told it should all be here in about 4 days.

By 11:00 all necessary first aid and medical attention has been given and thoughts turn back to Janet's autopsy. We need to get on with it before the body starts to decay further and any substances that may be present in her body break down to the point where they cannot be detected.

Preliminary investigation shows here organs to all be in reasonable health and there's no evidence to suggest that they were in any way responsible for her death. She enjoyed a drink and her liver attests to that, but that is the only thing out of the ordinary.

It's only when we turn our attention to her head that we begin to find evidence for the cause of her death. It appears that her head was simultaneously struck from behind and squeezed from the sides. There are 4 finger-like depressions on one side of her head and 3 on the other. At the back of her head are 2 more depressions that could be where the heels of two hands have struck her.

The back of her skull is riddled with stress fractures and her brain shows signs of having been placed under pressure. There is also evidence of a whiplash type injury at the top of her spine. All this is familiar to Maureen from her examinations of the dead chimps, as they all showed similar damage.