“Especially Vitsin. Give me a break.”
“Very well. In that instance, I believe we can bring this inaugural meeting to order. What do you have to say for yourself, Dr. Hamlin? You look like a child who just caught the tooth fairy.”
“I had another epiphany while driving the Cat. It seems to bring out the thinker in me, by the way. You know how I speculated that Sokolov left us the code because he had changed the original one?”
“Yes. Make the American’s ask for it when they arrive as leverage. I remember.”
“I had a different thought. What if he didn’t change the combination? Maybe he couldn’t even if he wanted to. You would think somebody on the American side would have anticipated that and provided a cabinet where that wasn’t an option. It would or could ruin everything for them, if the rest of our theory is correct.”
“I’m not following. If he didn’t change it, what would be the point of giving it to you? You could only mess things up even if you did figure it out.”
“Which we did.”
“Yes. Very impressive. Zoya, tell him how smart he is so we can proceed.”
“You are very smart, Francis. A genius, really.”
“Oh, thank you for those unsolicited and authentic sentiments.”
“Francis, please proceed with your new and improved theory.”
“Of course. Well, what if Sokolov, who knew he was on the way out, either by his own hand or the disease, stepped back and looked at the big picture. There was no rich reward in American dollars in his future now, nor was there a house in Cuba. The whole motivation for selling out his country and countrymen, if that was in fact what he was doing, was now gone. So, maybe he had a change of heart. Maybe he didn’t want to exit to whatever eternity had in store for him with the guilt of a now pointless betrayal on his heart. Or maybe he just remembered that he was a human being like the rest of us.”
“So he gave you the code because…?”
“So we could open the cabinet and remove the weapons before the hit team or whatever it is arrives. We would be heavily armed and they theoretically wouldn’t be. Even a bunch of old farts like us could hold them off if we knew they were coming and stole their cache.”
“My God,” Lena said. “This might be even worse than your first theory. According to you, they could be out there arming up as we speak. Damn!”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s all speculation. But there has to be a reason for that locker. It isn’t there by mistake or coincidence. Somebody put a great deal of effort into getting that thing here at the end of the world without being seen, then setting it up with power and everything. I just can’t imagine how the Russian government knew anything about it. Why would they agree to it? I can’t come up with an answer to that question. So that leaves us with deep intrigue and the potential for espionage.”
A deafening, uncomfortable silence fell over the room.
“What do we do?” Zoya asked. Hamlin was glad she verbalized his thoughts for him. He was tired of being the one to ask the questions that came out leaning toward dumb.
Lena supplied the answer, such as it was. “I don’t know. I’m just not sure.”
More silence ensued.
“If this is even close to being true,” Hamlin said, “then when is it likely to happen? Soon? Or do we still have some time to work this out?”
Lena rolled her head around as if trying to work some kinks out before answering.
“I would think it would happen fairly soon. Why wait until near the time when the first flight from Moscow arrives here? That would be a totally unnecessary and easily avoidable risk. And an ambush works better now under the cover of darkness. Why wait for the sun to reappear? Who could absolutely guarantee that none of us wouldn’t see them arriving?”
“Do you think,” Hamlin asked, “that Sokolov gave them a status update shortly before he left us? Would they know we had confirmed samples of the virus? Would they know some of us contracted it and what the results were? Because if he did, then they would have no real reason to wait, would they?”
“What about the weather?” Zoya asked. “If they waited maybe a month or so, it would start improving.”
“Would that matter to them?” Lena challenged.
Hamlin jumped on the bandwagon. “If they have to drive from the nearest station, they’re going to be a long time on the ice. Maybe better weather would be a factor.”
“It would be a long and perilous trek, no question about that. They would have to travel as fast as possible, and that would put them at risk for hitting or dropping into some unforeseen obstacle. If they went slow and cautious, it would take forever to get here. And then they still have to face the return journey.”
“Maybe they’d use multiple vehicles. Otherwise, if they had only one and it broke down they’d be totally screwed.”
Lena decided to turn a corner in her reasoning process. “We could go around in circles for some time with this. What if we just asked ourselves one question—are there any negative implications in taking the weapons right now and sharing our suspicions with the crew?”
“Ah, very good,” Hamlin observed. “Now we have a simple yes or no question. We no longer have to be absolutely certain of anything, nor do we have to have all the answers to every question figured out.”
Lena smiled. “As you would say, Francis, I’m a genius.”
“I want to vote now,” Zoya said. “I say we take them. What legitimate reason could there be for them being here? And is this station not considered sovereign Russian territory anyway? Would our government not support our actions? If anything, we would be heroes of the state for doing this.”
“If our theory is correct,” Hamlin lamented.
“I say do it.” Zoya wasn’t often this forceful.
They both looked at Lena.
“Well, it really doesn’t hurt anything that I can see if we do. If we’re completely wrong about all of this, then we return the weapons and smile sheepishly once it is all straightened out. That is better than getting gunned down by a team of foreign mercenaries. The only thing is, if we proceed, then we must tell the others about our potential folly and reintroduce them to the still fresh memory of what it’s like to live constantly with the stress of having your very life threatened.”
“They should know,” Zoya said.
“I think we’ve reached the point where we have a responsibility to tell them. Anything else would border on negligence.” Francis figured this was the time to speak his mind.
Lena stood up front her seat and stretched. “Well then, we have much to do. Just as things were starting to settle down, too.”
The rest of the crew surprised Hamlin by immediately engaging in a spirited debate about the veracity of their theory. They split down each side, pro and con, and away they went. After an hour, they compromised on agreeing to get the weapons and store them in the barracks whether they agreed with the premise of international espionage or not. If they were wrong, it couldn’t hurt much. If they were right, it could save their lives.
Lena suggested that the other researchers simply return to their duties, while she, Zoya and Hamlin fetched the weapons and brought them back. This was easily agreed upon.
So after a quick lunch, the three of them dressed in their heavy outdoor gear and piled into the Cat. Zoya drove, which didn’t bother Francis much considering the amount of time he had spent behind the wheel in the last couple of days. Lena reached over and patted him on the knee through numerous layers of clothing.
“So, Mr. American researcher, is this the adventure that you thought it would be?”
“No, not really. I’m not exactly sure what I expected, but this ain’t it. I guess I thought it would be quiet, predictable and cerebral. I pictured months of sitting quietly in front of a microscope or something like that. It was supposed to be therapeutic.”