VANGUARD(30)

His seamed face broke into a grin, and he mussed her hair. Few people on the mission – on the face of the earth – could get away with that.

“I’ve got vehicles on standby to pick up anyone who can’t walk to the infirmary,” she continued. “Everyone should take a translator. Oh, and Commandant Jaros gave us extra guards to accompany you around the camp.”

“They’d probably shoot ‘em instead of sending them down to the infirmary,” Jim said in a low voice.

“The first person who fires a weapon on my watch is going to wish he didn’t.” Sophie smiled sweetly, and Jim cackled with laughter, turning to gather up his group. She could hear him organizing people into teams, dividing up the grid and getting down to business.

She returned to the office, ate lunch at her desk, and spent the next couple of hours securing the supplies Raj had requested. Between the satellite phone and the computer, she tracked down most of what he needed for immediate delivery to Kaliningrad. She’d send a truck the next day to pick it all up. They’d need more volunteers and staff from local NGOs too. She pulled the exec team together to make that happen through their local partner agencies. Jaros watched all of this closely, his beady eyes never leaving Sophie.

“You enjoy this,” he said after she disconnected from her last call and leaned back in her chair for a stretch.

“I do,” she admitted. She loved the excitement of being in the field. Her greatest regret now was that she couldn’t be with Anjali in the infirmary, working the problem hands on. But Sophie was charged with holding the mission together, and, as non-medical staff, she’d only be in the way. “I enjoy a challenge.”

“If there is a massive outbreak of a lethal disease in this camp, your mission will fail. You would not achieve your goal.”

She watched his face carefully for clues. “I will not fail,” she boasted. “I will find a cure for the pneumonia and save the camp. I will gain more accolades.” Sophie hadn’t told the Commandant how close they were to finding a proper drug. She preferred to let him believe the situation was less in hand.

“Some will die.”

“A price that must be paid.” She kept her tone nonchalant.

“I would be unhappy if many died,” Jaros mused. “This is Soviet Republic’s future workforce. They belong to me.”

“You will have your workforce, Commandant. Only the very old, young, and weak catch bacterial pneumonia. They aren’t useful to you anyway.” Sophie looked at him slyly. “As long as it does not spread to the healthy young men – the most valuable workers – you’ve no cause for concern.” For a second, she saw his eyes change. Then he went back to his usual smiling self.

Sophie had found Commandant Jaros’ motivation.





-





For the first time, the medical team spent the night in Parnaas. For security reasons, they usually left the camp at sundown to return to Soviet territory for the night. Sophie debated ordering them back, but there was no point. Anjali would not leave patients in this kind of a crisis. Will was beside himself with fear for his wife. Sophie took one look at him that evening and decided to give him a job the next day to distract him as much as possible.

She spent half the night reworking the mission plan and allocating the new staff they’d obtained from the local NGOs. Found a truck and driver to pick up the needed supplies in Kaliningrad. Paced the floor in her office. Stared at the agar plates, as if looking at them could somehow speed the culturing process.

Late in the night, she received an email from Alex. She stared blankly at the note, not understanding why he was writing with all this stuff about the quirks of Soviet patriarchal society. Then she remembered the question she’d sent the night before. Sophie reread his response with new interest, then did more research online. Very intriguing. She dragged herself to bed around 2 a.m., her eyes feeling like sand.

She slept badly, dreaming once again that the camp was empty. The door to the infirmary banged in the wind. Everyone was gone – the refugees, Anjali, Will, the Commandant. She screamed for Michael, but there was no answer. From anyone.





-





February 11, 2014





The next day was hell.

In the plus column, the new medical building was nearly complete. The workers they’d brought in the previous day had made great progress, and the winter morning rang with hammers. It wasn’t pretty, but it had a roof.