Hamlin frowned. “What possible motivation could there be for me to promise you that?”
“The very survival of this station and the people living here.”
“For crying out loud. Fine.”
Sokolov broke eye contact, swiveled on his chair, and stared toward the bookcase.
“I have called Moscow over the radio. They are aware of our situation and will send a team in should the weather ever present an opportunity to do so. This is not likely, but it is a straw to grasp.”
“That could come in handy.”
“All right. What do you need to know? First of all, I suppose I should tell you that the research here has progressed so rapidly and successfully that there really isn’t any overwhelming reason to even continue. We can always strive for some new, unexpected revelation—but mostly the motivation is just to keep everybody busy; to add the structure that I know you appreciate, Doctor. Circumstances dictate that we are going to be staying here in Antarctica whether it is now necessary or not.”
“Doctor,” Hamlin said, “I’m already stunned. What could you possibly mean? What have we discovered that has made the rest of our work virtually obsolete?”
Sokolov continued to stare at the books. “Why, this virus, of course.”
Francis felt time grind to a halt.
“What do you mean?” His voice was low, but there was an obvious undercurrent.
“Why do you suppose the American government was willing to fly you down here in the first place?”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“You haven’t answered mine.”
Hamlin felt his blood pressure rising. “Our two countries work cooperatively on projects like this. I just assumed it was a gesture of goodwill.”
Sokolov still wasn’t making eye contact. “It’s not unprecedented.”
“What are you insinuating?”
“I am beyond insinuations. We are both looking for answers to a serious problem.”
“A serious problem?”
“Look around the world, Dr. Hamlin. How has it changed?”
He had only a glimmer of understanding as to where this was supposed to be going.
“It’s changed in many ways. It continues to change almost daily.” Francis opted to be purposely evasive.
“World War One, World War Two, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, The Gulf War—these were the wars we fought, sometimes on the same side, sometimes on opposites. The world has always been a violent and dangerous place.”
“What’s that got to do with Antarctica?”
“We fight different wars now. Our enemies don’t mass together on the battlefield—they hide wherever they can. They don’t die with honor—they send others to do the dirty work for them. They don’t go after strategic targets—they attack the weak and vulnerable. A bus load of school children is a preferable target over a piece of artillery. They won’t fight back.”
“You’re building up to justify something terrible, aren’t you?”
Now Sokolov swiveled so that their eyes met.
“Oh yes, there you stand on the moral high ground, feet spread apart and planted firmly. You were slapped in the face on 9/11, and what a horrible thing that was. But you have no idea what it is really like. For all the thousands of miles of border you have, you only share them with two countries. Canada, which would apologize for a single candy wrapper blowing across from their side; and Mexico, with whom you have a decent relationship, and which has more than enough internal problems to ever give credence to the notion of attacking you, even before you compare the size of your respective militaries.
“We share our borders with fourteen different countries, including some that are experiencing great political turmoil. Surely you have heard of our Ukraine issues. Separatists and religious zealots tend to be the most dangerous, because sometimes their ideologies simply border on insanity. You cannot reason with them because they are innately unreasonable. And they don’t fight fair. They know they can’t win that way, so they fight dirty. And that leaves us with a problem. Here, at the ends of the earth, we may have found a solution.”
“You’re scaring the hell out of me.”
“Imagine it, Doctor. An area over-run with extremists, all of whom would be thrilled to murder your grandmother, best friend, or the mechanic who services your car, for no logical or justifiable reason. They hide while they chuckle with glee over the death and despair they are spreading. And no military can target them when they cannot be found.”
“So what do you propose?”
We give the general population in the region a fair warning, and then we expose the bastards to our little virus. We both know what happens after that.”
“Are you insane?” Hamlin was starting to feel a little ill.
“Your government is also interested, before you get too high and mighty. That is how and why you came to be here. Just imagine the deterrent value. Leave us alone or get ready for a regional apocalypse.”
“So, let me get this straight. You were looking for something like this all along?”
“What else could possibly be down there in Lake Vostok’s frigid waters? It is highly unlikely that any higher life forms are there due to the harsh conditions. Your discoveries eclipsed what we had anticipated. And also, as expected, we discovered a virus that modern man has never been exposed to before. Which means, no immunity. And no, originally this station was created to study changes in the environment through analysis of ice cores.”
“I feel sick.”
“That is the next topic of conversation.”
That was equally scary. “Are you feeling ill?”
Sokolov shook his head. “I feel wonderful. Maybe a little stiffness in my neck, but I suspect that is a side effect of Kuvayev crashing into me.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Yes. But that could change. And if it’s going to, the transformation should happen soon. I want you to be fully aware of what is going to happen if I develop symptoms comparable to Pechkin and Kuvayev.”
“You’re a fount of good news.”
“You need to know. In that most unfortunate event, I am going to walk out the front door, pace off exactly one hundred meters, then blow my brains out.”
Hamlin couldn’t even think of a response.
“You need to be able to find my body so you can be certain of my fate. Also, you will want to retrieve the pistol, as it may be a handy tool to have in the midst of all this. That eliminates any fears over my ultimate end. I will not be knocking on your door, reanimated, in the middle of the night. Frankly, I don’t really care if you just leave me there. Should you feel compelled to do otherwise, a cremation ceremony would be acceptable. Just be careful handling my remains.”
“What about the plane?” Hamlin asked. “If it is by some fluke able to arrive, they are going to take all of us out of here, correct?”
“Of course. There is no conspiracy to cover any of this up. Once it is properly studied and perfected, we’ll be bragging to anyone who will listen about how great this discovery is. Why not let our enemies know what they are in for if they continue to be a problem?”
Francis had never felt so dejected. “This is one of those moments when I’m embarrassed to be a human being. Is there anything else?”
“I think not. You’ve absorbed enough damage to what remains of your coping mechanisms. Let me quickly summarize with some of the good news.”
“Good? Did you say good?”
“In some aspects, yes. You will easily have enough food and supplies to sustain you until spring. The station is sufficiently armed to put an end to the Pechkin and Kuvayev problem. There is no reason to risk any further exposure to the lake water, so spread of the disease should stop. Finding ways to keep people busy and in good spirits may be the biggest challenge to face you going forward.”