Chapter 39: CH 39

A soldier disappeared from the SBS barracks tent in the middle of the night.

The cause or reason for this is unknown.

However, given the current situation, there are only two possible answers for this.

Either he was attacked by the enemy or he had deserted.

Either way, both answers were a serious problem.

Both his colleague who was sleeping in the same tent and the base guard testified that they didn’t notice the soldier’s departure.

[If he was attacked, we’re dealing with a very skilled enemy. If he had deserted, we’re dealing with an elite SBS-trained soldier. If he seriously went into hiding, it would be difficult to find them.]

The Captain looked as if he was chewing a bitter bug as he commended the skill of the attacker of the deserter.

[……So, what are you going to do about it?]

Dr. Fernando’s question made the Captain think for a few seconds, before he made a decision.

[We will divide the team into two groups! A search team and an investigation team. I will lead the search team. The search team will have four members. The investigation team will have three members, and Dr. Fernando will lead this team.]

[Eh!? I- I have never commanded an army before……]

Seeing Dr. Fernando being flustered by his words, the Captain repeated his request.

[If it’s a medical investigation, there’s no one here better than Dr. Fernando. The search for the missing soldier will just be for this day. I would like you to lead them, even if it’s just for today.]

[……Well, if that’s the way it’s going to be.]

Dr. Fernando couldn’t disobey the Captain, who is a veteran soldier, so he reluctantly agreed to take over as the leader of the investigation team.

[Us three will be investigating then.]

The two soldiers he’s with would just be there to protect him, so it was essentially a one-man investigation.

[Well, guess I’ll just have to carry on as usual.]

Fortunately, the corpses of the patients to be sampled were already laid out in a conspicuous place in the village.

He should be able to carry out the investigation on his own.

Just as they had done yesterday, Dr. Fernando and the two soldiers put on full-body protective suits, double gloves and boots.

It was still early in the morning, but they had to endure the tropical heat while they were within those suits.

The good news is that the protective suit checks will only take a short time because there are fewer people to check.

They also only had to move by one rubber boat, which was good.

[If we’re gonna end up with these few members, it would have been great if we’d come with a helicopter.]

As they moved across the sea on a rubber boat, Dr. Fernando muttered to himself.

It was a bit discouraging how their investigation team only has one rubber boat.

If they had come by helicopter, they might even have been able to use it for the search.

[If that were the case though, we would need a patrol ship with a helicopter deck or the construction of a helicopter base.]

One of the soldiers in the investigation team pointed out the hole in the idea of Dr. Fernando, who wasn’t familiar with military affairs.

[Hmmm…… I see. Then, what about using a drone for the search? I’m sure the navy should have tested out their use, right?]

The soldier laughed in response.

[There’s a reason why those drones are still considered toys. The navy did try loading them with a camera, but the flight time is less than an hour. It could also only be used for coastal search because it can’t see from above through the dense forests. It’s also vulnerable to bad weather. Can’t fly in squalls or typhoons. Ahh, it’s useful for finding fishing spots though.]

[That means it isn’t very useful huh.]

The field isn’t so easy of a place that an amateur in military matters can just come up with an idea and make it work.

While they were talking, Dr. Fernando saw a familiar sandbar.

After going around it, they would be able to see the fishing village where the investigation was to be conducted.

Dr. Fernando considers himself useful not as a military strategist with his layman ideas, but as a medical specialist.

Led by a soldier, Dr. Fernando landed from the same beach as yesterday.

[……What the……]

And soon, he undeniably perceived that the state of the matters in the village was unlike yesterday.

The corpses aren’t there anymore.

Among the corpses laid out in a visible spot near the village yesterday, not a single one of them could be seen anymore.

[Were they taken away by the waves……?]

[No, the village’s draining basket and poles weren’t washed away. This wasn’t because of the tide or the waves.]

A soldier who was looking around warned everyone.

With a click, Dr. Fernando heard him undo the safety lock on the rifle he was holding.

Leaving the soldiers to take care of the surroundings, Dr. Fernando crouched down where the corpses should have been.

[……What’s going on?]

Even without any further investigation, he found traces on the ground that looked as if something heavy had been dragged across the ground.

And all of the eight traces were heading in the same direction, that is, deeper into the jungle.

After informing the soldiers of his discovery, one of them took a perimeter watch, while the other laid down near the traces.

[They’re being dragged along while still in a prone position…… What’s strange though, is that I can’t find any footprints of whoever was dragging them.]

[Any chance they’ve erased the traces that they might be the one who dragged them?]

[No, doing that would usually leave footprints all around the area…… but I wonder, could they have covered them up very well.]

Or perhaps, it was as if those corpses had crawled away on their own……

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The soldier almost said such a thing, but he shook off that delusion that had involuntarily popped into his head.

Nevertheless, for all those corpses to disappear……

Dr. Fernando’s field research unexpectedly failed before it even started.

★　★　★　★

Meanwhile, the search party began fanning out through the jungle around the base camp on the coast.

It wasn’t an area that could be covered by just two teams of two people each, but the Navy soldiers who had set up by the base camp weren’t trained to move and fight in the jungle.

If they were forced to mobilize, there was a danger of another disaster happening again, and if the guerillas were skilled enough to kidnap an SBS member, they would just be easy targets.

[If they kidnapped that Silva, the guerillas must be pretty good. They didn’t even leave a trace.]

[Yeah. Good grief. I couldn’t even find a trace of blood anywhere. Did they throw him into the sea?]

[On a beach this shallow? The navy in the camp would have found him soon enough, and in the morning, he’ll be washed up on the beach.]

[……Then, what if that guy actually betrayed us and deserted?]

Unexpectedly, one of the soldiers voiced a suspicion that no one had ever voiced out before.

Given the circumstances though, it was reasonable that they would come to that conclusion.

[I trust the men in my unit. There’s no way he would desert. Stop saying nonsense!]

The Captain roared out upon hearing the soldiers’ chatter.

Thereupon, the soldiers became silent again and went back to searching.

Just like that, when they resumed their search around the inland, the search team found something they didn’t expect.

[That is…… What in the world……]

★　★　★　★　★

Do they give up on the field investigation? Or perhaps, follow the trail of the dragged body?

Just as Dr. Fernando was torn between the two options, a soldier radioed to him.

[Sir, we received a radio call from the search party.]

[What’s it about?]

[A military rubber boat has been found. However, it doesn’t belong to our army.]

Hearing that they found a military rubber boat that doesn’t belong to the Sri Lankan army isn’t calming news at all.

This means that there are other troops who have landed in this place besides theirs.

[From which army is it?]

[Seems to be unknown. They apparently also found guns, bullets, and cartridges. They’ve also found traces of a battle.]

[What kind of guns did they find?]

Another soldier asked.

Hearing his question, Dr. Fernando understood his meaning. Would they perhaps be able to tell where the soldiers belonged by the type of gun?

[It was apparently an M4. The rusting on the guns suggests that they were just here very recently.]

[D*mn it…… What the hell!]

Dr. Fernando wonders if there’s anything bad with an M4 gun, so he asked the soldier, who clicked his tongue, to explain.

[A poor pirate would have been able to use an AK. But when it comes to M4s, they would either be a rich guy’s smuggler group or a neighboring army……]

A neighboring army.

There is only one neighboring country to Sri Lanka.

[No way, this was military support from the Indian army? They were sending military supplies to the north, right?]

[We aren’t sure about that but……]

A nation as vast as India isn’t a monolithic country.

There had been rumors since the civil war that some influential people in Southern India were of Tamil descent and were supporting the Tamil independence movement.

[That being the case, the rumor that BC weapons were used on those corpses may not necessarily be false. I have never seen a corpse in that condition.]

The hypothesis that the blackened corpse might have been the result of an unknown biological or chemical weapon rather than a disease suddenly became convincing.

The reason why the corpses hadn’t decomposed could also be reasonably interpreted as the sterilizing effect of a chemical weapon.

Even the fact that those corpses were dragged away was probably to conceal the use of weapons in violation of international conventions.

[However, would they do such an inhumane thing to their own kin, the Tamils?]

[You don’t know what kind of people they are, Doctor. They will do anything to win the battle. Perhaps, they may have wanted to make an example to the villages that weren’t cooperative.]

[……What a disgusting story.]

Even though it has been 20 years since it ended, the memory of the civil war still divides Sinhalese and Tamils.

[However, I would have liked it if we could recover at least one corpse. If we have evidence, we can prove the war crimes they committed.]

[……However, if they were able to drag those eight corpses with them, they would at least have more than eight units with them. Wouldn’t our numbers be too small to deal with them?]

When Dr. Fernando expressed his concern, the soldiers seemed to be sneering under their protective suits and masks.

[Who do you think we are? We are the SBS, intimidating enough to quieten a crying child. If it’s just a guerilla of 10 men, us two can easily win against them.]

[For the time being, I’m just going to do some reconnaissance. If they burn the bodies, there will be no evidence. Doctor, please hide by the rubber boat on the beach and meet up with the search team.]

[……Alright. Be careful.]

The two soldiers returned with a salute before disappearing soundlessly into the jungle.

That was the last time Dr. Fernando saw those 2 soldiers.

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