been achieved. Conduits in the cement floor allowed natural water from the surrounding mountains to pass through the cavern. There were operating rooms and offices off the main chamber and cleverly designed latrines that allowed effluent to flow away from the ward. Then the beam of her lamp caught a shape in the center of the vast concrete floor. It was a body. Its limbs were bent at impossible angles. As they walked toward it, they could see that she had been a woman in her early twenties. From her state they could tell she'd been dead more than twenty-four hours.
Directly above her, weeds dangled from one of the ventilation shafts, a perfectly round hole some two meters across. Siri knew the vent angled upward to a spot on the mountain slope, invisible from the sky, where fresh air would be drawn into the hospital by means of a pump. The pump was long gone, and all that remained was a hole, an almost invisible hole into which some unsuspecting woman collecting berries might drop.
Santiago bent over the body and looked at the dead woman. Dtui translated the words he spoke.
"The doctor's very impressed. He really wants to know how you were able to find her. But he's sorry that you were too late to help Miss Panoy."
"No," Siri said, strafing his beam across the cavern. "This isn't Panoy. The spirit of this woman spoke to us through the old Hmong, but she wasn't talking about herself. She had to be dead already to communicate in that way. There must be someone else here."
Dtui passed on the message to Santiago, who joined them in a continued search. The water in the old aqueduct had been diverted to the village at the foot of the mountain but the open drains still remained. Water still trickled through them. In some spots they were a meter deep, and that was where Santiago found Panoy. He called her name and dropped down into the channel beside her. She was about four years old. She was seriously injured and weak from hunger, but miraculously she was still alive.
Santiago called up to the others that he believed she could be saved. He climbed from the trench with the girl in his arms and walked quickly through the blue door. Dtui and Siri couldn't keep up with him. They stood at the entrance and watched the energetic old Cuban scurry down the slope to the new hospital. Dtui put her arm around Siri's shoulder and smiled at him.
"Nice one, Dr. Siri. How do we explain all this to Santiago?"
"Much as I appreciate the benefits of a good lie, I fear we may have to tell him the truth."
"You sure? Lying might be easier."
"Oh, I don't think that skinny old lion will have a problem with this. I get the feeling he's seen it all before."
She turned her head and her light beam drilled into the metal door beside them. "Tell me something. What color is this, Doc?"
"Green."
"You're color-blind, aren't you?"
"If this isn't green I suppose I must be. I dread to think what else Mrs. Nuts might have passed on to me."
Panoy was remarkably resilient. There wasn't much they could do about her cracked ribs but they reset both of her arms and an ankle, stitched a couple of large gashes, and put her on an intravenous drip that would slowly replenish her lost energy. Meej stayed with her to check her vital signs through the night.
Siri, Santiago, and Dtui sat beneath the night sky. It was cold enough for jackets but not so uncomfortable they needed to light a fire. The rice whisky worked well enough to keep the blood flowing. Siri was a bystander while Dtui, with her hard-worked dictionary and a flashlight, attempted to explain Siri's connection to the spirit world. She told Santiago about the thousand-year-old shaman called Yeh Ming he unwittingly hosted. She told him this spirit was patiently waiting for Siri's peaceful and natural death so he could retire from the shaman business. She told him about the teeth and the dreams and the white talisman he wore to keep away the evil spirits. During this explanation, Siri watched the reaction
Directly above her, weeds dangled from one of the ventilation shafts, a perfectly round hole some two meters across. Siri knew the vent angled upward to a spot on the mountain slope, invisible from the sky, where fresh air would be drawn into the hospital by means of a pump. The pump was long gone, and all that remained was a hole, an almost invisible hole into which some unsuspecting woman collecting berries might drop.
Santiago bent over the body and looked at the dead woman. Dtui translated the words he spoke.
"The doctor's very impressed. He really wants to know how you were able to find her. But he's sorry that you were too late to help Miss Panoy."
"No," Siri said, strafing his beam across the cavern. "This isn't Panoy. The spirit of this woman spoke to us through the old Hmong, but she wasn't talking about herself. She had to be dead already to communicate in that way. There must be someone else here."
Dtui passed on the message to Santiago, who joined them in a continued search. The water in the old aqueduct had been diverted to the village at the foot of the mountain but the open drains still remained. Water still trickled through them. In some spots they were a meter deep, and that was where Santiago found Panoy. He called her name and dropped down into the channel beside her. She was about four years old. She was seriously injured and weak from hunger, but miraculously she was still alive.
Santiago called up to the others that he believed she could be saved. He climbed from the trench with the girl in his arms and walked quickly through the blue door. Dtui and Siri couldn't keep up with him. They stood at the entrance and watched the energetic old Cuban scurry down the slope to the new hospital. Dtui put her arm around Siri's shoulder and smiled at him.
"Nice one, Dr. Siri. How do we explain all this to Santiago?"
"Much as I appreciate the benefits of a good lie, I fear we may have to tell him the truth."
"You sure? Lying might be easier."
"Oh, I don't think that skinny old lion will have a problem with this. I get the feeling he's seen it all before."
She turned her head and her light beam drilled into the metal door beside them. "Tell me something. What color is this, Doc?"
"Green."
"You're color-blind, aren't you?"
"If this isn't green I suppose I must be. I dread to think what else Mrs. Nuts might have passed on to me."
Panoy was remarkably resilient. There wasn't much they could do about her cracked ribs but they reset both of her arms and an ankle, stitched a couple of large gashes, and put her on an intravenous drip that would slowly replenish her lost energy. Meej stayed with her to check her vital signs through the night.
Siri, Santiago, and Dtui sat beneath the night sky. It was cold enough for jackets but not so uncomfortable they needed to light a fire. The rice whisky worked well enough to keep the blood flowing. Siri was a bystander while Dtui, with her hard-worked dictionary and a flashlight, attempted to explain Siri's connection to the spirit world. She told Santiago about the thousand-year-old shaman called Yeh Ming he unwittingly hosted. She told him this spirit was patiently waiting for Siri's peaceful and natural death so he could retire from the shaman business. She told him about the teeth and the dreams and the white talisman he wore to keep away the evil spirits. During this explanation, Siri watched the reaction
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