“I’m not sure I need it for this diagnosis. It seems rather obvious.”
“You might just as well forego any fanfare and simply enlighten me,” Sokolov said.
“He was exposed to the water from Lake Vostok when it backed up and shot through the drilling rig. I would speculate that he got some splashed into his mouth or eyes. The virus was present in the water and had direct access to his entire system at this point. Neither Pechkin nor any of the rest of us would have any natural resistance to it. And so it ran amok and caused great physical damage, the end results of which we now know.”
“No one else that was splashed has shown any symptoms, but I suppose there could be a plethora of viable explanations for that. You yourself have been working in close contact with the water and have shown no ill effects.”
“I didn’t drink it or splash it on myself.”
“So your theory revolves around direct contact for transmission. As such, poor Kuvayev has possibly contracted it through the same method.”
Hamlin nodded. “I assume the bite punctured his skin?”
“Yes, it was quite deep, as a matter of fact.”
“Damn.”
“Yes,” Sokolov said. “I suppose the only redeeming quality to your prognosis, if it is correct, is that we should be easily able to contain it. No direct contact, no further spread.”
Hamlin sighed. “Yeah. That’s it. It doesn’t help Kuvayev, regardless.”
“And that is a best case scenario based on an unproven theory. There is still one more unpleasant piece of business, unfortunately.”
“Carrying Pechkin’s body out in front of everybody?”
“No. Worse than that I’m afraid.”
Hamlin drew a blank.
“What is it, then?”
“Disposal. We can’t just store his body as we usually would. He is infected with what could possibly be a highly contagious disease. Your theory about the spread of it is only that—a theory. We can’t take the chance that you’re wrong. We can’t return him back home to his family, exposing civilization to this thing, and we can’t keep him here.”
Sokolov paused while the implications sank in.
“What do you propose?” Hamlin asked.
“Cremation. We have the means to do it. Again, I doubt it will be popular with the crew.”
“There’s a crematorium here?”
“No,” Sokolov said. “It will be nothing so dignified. We’ll have to construct a pyre out of pallets and other waste wood. There are several old tires we can position at the base. Then we soak everything with diesel fuel and light it up. It should work. The worst scenario would be for the body to partially survive the first attempt, which would force us to go through the process a second time.”
Hamlin envisioned it. He was repulsed. “Can’t we put him in one of the outer buildings that is no longer used? We can cover him up tightly, and you can alert the team that comes to retrieve him so they can be properly prepared for safe transport of the body. He’ll stay secure through the winter, and I think it’s safe to say that nobody will go in there in the meantime. Perhaps some testing should be done on this virus or whatever it is, anyway. Otherwise, research in Antarctica may no longer be viable. If you think about it, when word of this gets out, the whole world will be shaken.”
Sokolov stared. “The results of this conundrum could be life or death for all of us. We really have no proof at this point how it is transported from person to person. If it is airborne, many of us have already been exposed. We should consider some sort of isolation, at least temporarily. I’m just not sure how to make that happen in a manner that wouldn’t tip our hand and panic the others.”
Hamlin came to a decision.
“Listen to me. We can’t act like we’re above the rest of them in all of this. They have to know. They have to be part of it. They have to participate. If you insist on being furtive and clandestine with every move, then of course they’ll be suspicious. Why wouldn’t they? What’s the point of hiding or even sugar coating what’s happening here? These are all smart, educated people. They’re going to figure it out anyway!”
“What choices do we have?” Sokolov asked.
“Let me talk to them. Right now. Trust me when I tell you that if there is any lack of information, they’re just going to imagine the worst. I would bet the farm they have done that already. Let’s tell them everything so we can gain back their trust and support, at least to some degree. They all expect you to be sneaky about this. Let’s pleasantly surprise them. This is an emergency. We need them. We need them all.”
Sokolov shook his head. “I fear a mutiny of sorts if we shock them with the truth.”
“That’s exactly why they need to be included. They need to be a part of this, starting right now. That will build some semblance of trust. Let’s get them on board.”
Sokolov turned away and looked at nothing in particular while he thought about the proposal.
“The fate of every life here depends on my decision. Don’t make me regret this, Doctor.”
“All right, everyone, let me have your attention please,” Hamlin said loudly.
A thought occurred to him and he turned to Sokolov.
“Does everyone speak English?”
Sokolov shook his head. “Yes. But some of the drilling crew have only a very basic understanding of the language.”
“Should we, considering the importance of the moment, speak to them bilingually?”
“It’s conceivable.”
“Can you translate for them?”
“I can. As such, however, please try to keep your remarks as concise as possible.”
“Okay. I’ll try.”
The group had pushed two tables together and all sat together. Hamlin pulled a chair over from another table and then stood upon it.
“Let me have your attention, please.”
“Pozvol'te mne imet' vashe vnimaniye pozhaluysta.”
A hush fell over the crowd.
“We are in a serious situation.”
“My nakhodimsya v ser'yeznoy situatsii.”
“We need to work together.”
“My dolzhny rabotat' vmeste.”
“There’s no easy way to say this. For those who don’t know, Pechkin died last night.”
“Tam net prostoy sposob skazat', chto eto . Dlya tekh, kto ne znayet , Pechkin umer proshloy noch'yu.”
Hamlin collected his thoughts. The room was absolutely silent. “We must prepare and remove him. We will need your help.”
“My dolzhny podgotovit' i udalit' yego. My nuzhdayemsya v vashey pomoshchi.”
“We have another serious matter to attend to. Doctor Kuvayev has shown signs of a fever.”
“U nas yest' yeshche odin ser'yeznyy vopros , chtoby prisutstvovat' na . Doktor Kuvayev pokazal priznaki likhoradki.”
Various crew members were looking at each other now, but so far no one had spoken.
“We need to give him the best medical attention we can. But we also must try to maintain some isolation to prevent further spread.”
“My dolzhny dat' yemu luchshiy vrachu my mozhem. No my takzhe dolzhny popytat'sya sokhranit' nekotoruyu izolyatsiyu dlya predotvrashcheniya dal'neyshego rasprostraneniya.”
“We need your help, desperately.”
“Nam nuzhna vasha pomoshch.”
“Please. Let’s work together.”
“Pozhaluysta. Davayte rabotat' vmeste.”
“Okay, let me think. Wait a minute,” Hamlin said, and then added, “Don’t translate that.”
The ones who spoke English smiled slightly at his stumble.
“There is one more unpleasant task. Kuvayev needs to be restrained. He has agreed to this.”