“Let me ask you a question. It’s a thought that I’ve been repressing. How can we be certain that this virus can’t be transmitted indirectly?”
“Respiratory?”
Hamlin shrugged. “I’m just asking.”
“My question back to you would be if that is true, why isn’t everyone showing symptoms by now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Nor can you control it either way. I suggest you hold on to as few stressful thoughts as possible. And please feel free to join me later for a drink. Perhaps even a cigar. But for now, I have more plans to make. If you could see yourself out, I would be appreciative.”
Hamlin stood. “Sure. I have important places to go and important things to do.”
“Oh Doctor, before you go, there is just one more thing.”
“Yes, of course. You forgot to put the icing on the cake, no doubt.”
“Thank you.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“I appreciate who you are and what you’ve brought to us down here. I really feel like you are the one person I can truly trust.”
Hamlin was caught off guard. “Okay. Well, I’d say you’re welcome, but in truth, if I had a way to leave, I’d be out of here so fast you wouldn’t believe it.”
“As always, I appreciate your candor. Goodbye Doctor.”
Hamlin was happy to leave.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The kitchen cleaning wasn’t done, so Hamlin relieved Lena of his bucket and supplies. It had progressed quite well, however. It had a nice, clean smell. Perhaps a hint of pine in the air?
“So, now you are Sokolov’s little assistant. Did he expose himself to you or ask you to bend over and pick something up off the floor?”
“No, and don’t be a jerk. I hate it when he calls me in there. I want to blend in, not stand out. Why doesn’t he call one of you in when he wants to wax nostalgic about this station?”
“Oh? Is that what he was doing?”
“Amongst other things, yes. He was telling me that Russia has problems back home. Who knew?”
“I might have had some idea.”
“Let’s concentrate on the work at hand. What’s left to be done? I’ve had enough depressing talk for one day.”
“How surprising that American men can be so accommodating and helpful, especially in the kitchen. Perhaps there is some potential for your country. I believe the counters are ready to be washed down.”
“That I can manage. Stand back and watch me go.”
“Perhaps I will watch you. That is a nice change of pace.”
“Awesome. You can regale me with stories of your life to distract me from the tedium of my task.”
“Really?” she said. “I thought you would be tired of hearing my voice. What could be left for me to say?”
“Honestly? All of it. We have never really talked. We were either distracted by our physical exertions or you were saying something designed to encourage my efforts. I really don’t know the first thing about you.”
She looked at Francis and then a strange expression came over her face. Her mouth was frozen in the open position but no words were forthcoming.
“Are you okay or has my awesome physique taken your breath away?”
She smiled a little and the spell was broken. “No, sorry. I just can’t get used to all the strange things that I’ve seen down here. And to think initially I expected it would be very dull.”
Her attention was still clearly focused somewhere over his shoulder. Hamlin spun around to take a look. The door to outside hung open pointlessly. As soon as he saw it, he fancied that he could feel the cold air coming in.
“That is weird. But I can fix it. I’ll just shut the door. See how effective creative thinking can be?”
He took one step and felt Lena’s hand on his shoulder.
“What is it?” Apart from the door, he had seen nothing else amiss. Yedemsky, who was in charge of security, also seemed quite comfortable with the situation. Or so it looked from this distance.
“It was Sokolov. He just walked out.”
That didn’t set off any alarms. “Okay. Maybe he’s coming right back in.”
“I hope so, for his sake. He was only wearing that short sleeved black shirt. He’ll freeze in a few moments out there.”
Now bells and whistles were going off in Hamlin’s mind. Big time.
“Really? Just the shirt?”
“Yes. I saw him clearly.”
“Wait here.” Hamlin started moving toward the door.
A single gunshot cleaved through the soft drone of conversation, exploding in their ears as it echoed through the building. The speed of its assault was stunningly fast and totally unexpected. Everyone jumped. In its wake came the contrast complete silence.
“No, no, no. What have you done?” Hamlin rushed to the door, hesitated only briefly before running outside with only his shirt and pants on. He was careful to choose a straight heading, and counted off paces as he went. He was nowhere near one hundred when he saw Sokolov sprawled on the snow. There had been no time for the drifting powder to cover any of the carnage. There could be no doubt of his fate. The evidence was sprayed in a terribly large and graphic pattern over the otherwise pristine white. If nothing else, the man knew how to handle a firearm. Hamlin wondered why that thought had formed in his mind.
He walked over to where the now former leader of the station lay. He bent over and pulled the pistol out of his limp fingers.
“I guess you weren’t feeling so good after all.” Tears formed in his eyes and not from the wind. Now he was feeling the cold. “At least this is over for you. I hope you don’t end up being the smart one in all of this.”
Hamlin couldn’t take any more and returned to the barracks. He was shaking violently when he stepped back in. He had everyone’s attention now, whether he wanted it or not.
“Are you crazy?” Lena’s voice was angry and concerned all at once. “Somebody get him a blanket. And close that door!”
She suddenly exuded authority and people immediately responded.
“Why would you do that? And where is Sokolov?”
“He’s dead,” Hamlin stammered through quivering lips. “He shot himself.”
“What?” The others had all stopped what they were doing. You could have heard a pin drop.
“He told me that if he contracted the disease from Kuvayev’s bite, that he would kill himself before he transformed. He told me how and where so that I could find him and so we would all know for certain and not have to speculate. I…I just didn’t realize it was going to happen this fast. He told me he was feeling fine.”
“Probably not the first and only time he lied,” Lena said in a softer voice. She pointed at one of the bystanders. “Get a shot of whiskey. There’s some left in the cupboard. Bring it over here.”
She took the pistol from Hamlin’s hand. He offered no resistance. She observed it carefully.
“It’s clean. Good.” Another crew member was singled out. “You. Take this. I want two people on guard at all times. And how long until the patrol comes back? Anybody?”
“Another forty-five minutes,” Yedemsky said.
“Okay. Let’s focus on the task at hand. I’m going to get Hamlin here warmed up. Yedemsky—you and Grebenshchikov keep watch until the patrol returns. We’ll figure out a new schedule then. The rest of you, finish cleaning and put all that stuff away.” She looked for, and then made eye contact with the Zoya, the only other female in the group. “Zoya, when this is done, pick a volunteer and make something for lunch. We will get through this, friends. Everyone stay calm.”
She observed Hamlin as he stood shaking. “As for you, come over here. Let’s get you sitting down. Where is that blanket?”
Hamlin found himself drifting off. Things that were happening around him began to softly fade. He transformed back to his classroom at the university. Sights, sounds, even smells made the experience seem almost real. He recalled many of the individual students, their strengths and weaknesses in his courses, and the different personalities. His fondness for teaching returned; the daily opportunity to do or say something that could have a lifelong effect on someone’s life. And then the scene was gone—replaced instantly by a vision of Deborah smiling and waving him in as he returned home from work. He heart leapt for joy.