[Hottentot]

EPILOGUE


"Come in doctor Rosenfeld. Have a seat."

"Thank you, Major. I have my report with me, as you requested. From Regina."

"Ah, good. So, what has your team discovered?"

"It is as we suspected sir. A platoon plus three tank crewmen, all dead with the same cause of death. This matches well with the intel we had from the area. No apparent survivors. But you were right. This is far more bizarre than anything I have ever seen."

"Give me the details."

"Well, first of all sir: not a single one of the enemy combatants has been killed by a bullet."

"Well, that Doltstein's report said he also used a few grenades."

"They are not shrapnels either, sir. As a matter of fact, the subjects show no external signs of injury, nothing you could expect from a death in a firefight."

"Are you trying to tell me they just died?!"

"Well, no sir, but the cause of death seems to be internal, not external."

"My God! Are you implying that the commies had chemical weapons in there? Maybe one of their gas canisters exploded and..."

"No, sir, we have ruled out that possibility. First of all, there are no signs of such experiments being conducted in there. Furthermore, the injuries on the subjects don't resemble any known chemical weapon, such as mustard gas."

"Well, what do the injuries resemble then?"

"Uh, I'm not sure if I should sir...maybe some further research is in order to..."

"I'm all ears, doctor."

"It appears some of them have tried to fight it and move, but most have just collapsed where they stand. Further field research indicates that some have died earlier than the others and the enemy has tried to bury them. The cause of death seems very quick, though, as some seem to have been infected right as they were burying the bodies.

"But what caused it? What killed those red bastards and how can we utilize it in the future?!"

"Well, sir, it appears that the subjects had sudden uncontrollable reactions in their respiratory organs. They seem to have been forced to inhale and exhale on such a rabit succession that their lungs couldn't survive it. Medical data shows that..."

"Doctor, save me from that. Just answer the question: why did these men die?"

"If I may be as bold as to suggest it sir: it appears the enemy has died from laughter."