“Hell, I . . . I . . . Tell me what the hell love is, Dina.”

The marine’s lips bent into an amused curl. “My call? You and I will walk around the compound. A Supervisor with her marine guard. Then you’ll go back to your quarters, take a cold shower, and you’ll go back to work.”

“That simple, huh?”

“Oh, hell no. But a hell of a lot simpler than jumping in that aircar of yours and whizzing over to Two Falls Gap. If what you’re telling me is true, you’re not up to pouring reaction mass into a rocket you’re not sure you want to ride.”

“Wrong guy, huh?”

“Like I said. You’re not Talina Perez. Those of us who watch, we know. That man looks at her in a whole different way.”

69

Over the radio Raya Turnienko’s voice said, “The fact that all the children are suffering from the same painful edema, that it presents as a glandular swelling that starts under the angle of the jaw, suggests that it’s some kind of contagious disease. Maybe something unique to the maritime environment you’re in. But we’re not going to know until we can isolate the pathogen responsible.”

“All right,” Michaela agreed. “It’s too late today. We’re looking at flying little Toni into PA tomorrow morning at the earliest. If we’re out of here at first light, can you have someone meet us at the shore landing pad at around ten tomorrow?”

“Roger that. That gives us time to prepare an isolation unit here. If the child is contagious with something new, we’re going to want to treat it as a potential public health hazard.”

“Roger that. We’ll take precautions on our end, too.”

“Director, we can only assume the worst. Chances are that this will turn out to be a novel virus. The fact that none of the adults has come down with it suggests that it’s going to have a simple explanation and cure.” A pause. “Nevertheless, I’d like to limit the risk. Only bring the one little boy. Maybe I can figure out his coma at the same time and send him back with a vaccine or procedure that would cure the rest of the children.”

Michaela glanced sidelong at Dik Dharman. The man just shrugged his shoulders, looking worried. She said, “Doctor, before I commit to this let us all discuss this. These are other people’s children. It’s bigger than just my decision.”

Dharman looked even more worried, if that were possible. Hell, they all looked worried anymore.

“All right. My preference, for quarantine purposes, is one child, but if you and your people feel differently, we can deal with it on this end.”

“I really appreciate it, Doctor.”

“You’ve got it. Call if you need anything. I’ll have someone monitoring your special frequency all night.”