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“Houston has ordered us not to evacuate.”

“Houston can go fuck themselves,” Sergey snapped. “I will get you home,zvezda moya. I swear it.”

“Seryozha…what about Iakov Zeytsev? What’s happening in Russia?”

“Don’t worry about that,lyubov moya. None of that matters. Only you matter.”

“Sergey—”

Static filled the channel again, and Sasha’s voice faded away, disappeared. Sergey shouted, screamed into the radio signal. “Sashunya!”

Static, and then Sergey’s soft sobs, filled the recording. At the back of the jet, Lindsey’s tears counterpointed Sergey’s, echoes of heartbreak running full circle.

Sergey ended the playback. “What is infecting them up there?”

Jack watched all eyes turn to Dr. Worrell, who sighed and pulled off his glasses. He squeezed his eyes closed, pinched the bridge of his nose. “I would need a career to understand what they described,” he began. “There are things they said that don’t make sense, not biologically. But…” He glanced at Jack. “With what I learned from President Spiers-Reichenbach… This isn't any kind of pathogen we’ve ever seen before. It’s biologically engineered to cause maximum devastation and loss of life. Only man could come up with something so horrific. Not even Mother Nature is so cruel.”

“How do we save them, Doctor?” Sergey asked. He rubbed his palms against one another, palms sliding, jaw tensing and relaxing over and over.

Dr. Worrell grimaced. “Without any data, I can only make guesses. But it appears to spread through bodily fluids. Blood. Saliva. It’s directly attacking the nervous system as well as causing massive hemorrhage. I think the hemorrhage is how it’s spreading. Like Ebola and other viral hemorrhagic fevers, it destroys the hosts’ blood cells and organs, turning the host into nothing more than a carrier full of virus. Simultaneously, it destroys a person’s nervous system, activating the autonomic response and triggering a massive fight and rage response. It’s as if the limbic system and amygdala have gone wild. The brain stem keeps the body going for a time, but with the amount of devastation inside the infected host, even that won’t last long. Their purpose seems to be furthering the infection, spreading the virus as far as possible. Through biting. Attacking the uninfected.”

“So anyone bitten is infected?” Sergey asked.

A murmur went through the group. Sarah. If Dr. Worrell saidyes, he had just pronounced her dead. Her body only had to catch up to reality.

“Yes, I believe so,” Dr. Worrell said. Pain filled his voice.

“And anyonenotbitten isnotinfected?” Sergey pressed.

“I cannot say that. Jim and Rafael weren’t bitten. Neither was Michaela. It’s being transmitted some other way. Is it airborne? How much bodily fluid is required to pass along the infection? The calculated r-naught is higher than any disease on the planet. Maybe being exposed to an infected person is enough. Being in the same room. And, in a closed environment, the odds of all of them having been infected by now—”

“But you cannot say for certain that is the case.” Sergey glowered over the video screen, as furious and ferocious as he’d ever looked.

“I cannot,” Dr. Worrell said. “But I cannot rule it out either. And if we’re talking about risk… This is the most deadly and dangerous infectious agent I’ve ever seen.” Sweat beaded on the back of his neck. “As a physician, I want to do everything I can to help our people. But I would be lying if I didn’t say there was a part of me that is terrified of this thing and wants to keep it as far from the planet as possible.”

“We arenotabandoning our people,” Chris Slattery snapped. “NASA does not give up on our own.”

“If this virus gets out in the world, it could be the end of humanity. We have to think about the big picture. The whole reason this virus is infecting the station is because of a terrorist. A terrorist who now has control over the Russian nuclear arsenal, I might add.”

“Iakov Zeytsev is being dealt with,” Sergey growled.

Dr. Worrell kept going. “What if this gets into the wrong hands? What if—”

“Mr. President, when will the satellite you’re using to communicate with the ISS come back into range?” Roxanne took over, one hand on Dr. Worrell’s arm, shutting him down with a look. “When can we expect to regain contact with our people?”

“Twelve hours, my people tell me.”

“We should be on the ground by then. We would like to speak directly to Sasha and Mark. We’re all on the same side here. We want to get our people home. We’re not willing to accept a no-win scenario.I’mnot willing to accept it. So anything, everything we need to do, we’re prepared for.” She held Sergey’s stare, not blinking.

Sergey nodded. “You will land at Sheremetyevo Airport. A convoy will pick you up and bring you to Roscosmos straight away. I will meet you there.”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Roxanne said.

“This is all I care about. Bringing my Sasha home.” Sergey ended the video call, plunging the jet into silence, save for Lindsey’s quiet cries as she sobbed into her hands.

* * *

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