Where are the rods?

One of the neat things about writing a novel is that you know how it ends so it easy to sprinkle in hints and goodies early. I know how they intermingle but you, the reader. do not. This keeps you on your toes because the hints and clues are there and you cannot ignore them. The main characters are trapped in a linear progression so they cannot know either. So here we have Rome and Rei, back at The Cathedral, getting ready to look for cracked gray sarcophagi. We only have five possible Darwin members running around. For each dead one, that whittles down the number:

     Rome pushed past MINIMCOM and Rei and walked to the back of The Cathedral to a tunnel leading even deeper into the cavern. She waited until MINIMCOM caught up to her and passed her, leading the way into the darkness. Rome held out her hand which Rei took and they continued on.
     They came upon another gigantic cave that dwarfed The Cathedral. This was the cavern that the Ibbrassati had used to build the equipment that was going to start their rebellion. They also used it as the staging area when they first brought the crew back from the Ark II still frozen in their sarcophagi. Captain Keller’s red-striped sarcophagus was sitting near the front, just off to the side. Farther back to the far left were stacks and stacks of the white coffin-like chambers and to the right were the gray. The fact that they were segregated was probably a byproduct of the order in which they were retrieved from the crew compartment of the Ark.
Rei pulled his hands free of Rome and walked over to the stacks of gray sarcophagi. He started counting. Finally he spoke.
     “105,” he said. “I’ve counted them three times. Not enough. We’re still short three.”
     “Where do you think they put the others?” Rome asked.
     Rei turned in place and pointed off to the far right. “I remember seeing at least one cracked sarcophagus over there. Those catacombs were where Captain Keller set up shop.”
     Rei started to lead the others across the length of the cave when he stopped suddenly.
     “What is it?” Rome asked.
     Rei whirled in place. “There’s something wrong,” he said. He looked back at the stacks and stacks of sarcophagi and stared at them intently. He returned to the nearest one and stooped down low, being very careful to bend only his knees and not his back. He cocked his head.
     “They’re all missing their power rods,” he said after a bit. He pointed at the twin circular holes in the base of each of the sarcophagi.
     “Is that important?” Rome asked, coming over to him.
     “Only that they are radioactive,” Rei said. He straightened up. “I wonder what they did with them.”
     Rome looked at them and then back across the cave. “Is it germane to our search right now?” she asked.
     “No,” Rei said, shaking it off. “It’s just odd,” he said. “Let’s see if we can track down the missing chambers. We’re still missing three.”

Let's go find those last three and see if the people in them were dead or alive. That will determine the final count. As for the missing rods? You'll find out later.