Choi had dedicated her life to stopping illness before it got out of control. She'd become renowned in her field and a celebrity face at the CDC. It was almost on a daily basis that she was approached by a newspaper, magazine, television news show; even the FBI and CIA had tried to recruit her. But the strangest offer she received was from the GEC. She had laughed when Nancy Heintz introduced herself over the phone.

"What does the Global Exploration Corporation need with an infectious disease specialist?" Choi said with a note of sarcasm.

Choi remembered Director Heintz's next words perfectly. They had changed her life. "I am well aware of your achievements Dr. Choi, and I commend your work. The world is a safer place because of you. But new threats arrive at our doorstep every day. The Global Exploration Corporation's work places our staff at the outer reaches of the global frontier. Did you know that over seventy-five percent of new infectious diseases are first encountered by GEC employees?"

Choi had heard of several cases involving the GEC, but had never totaled them, and would have never guessed the percentage to be so high. Her interest was immediately piqued, though still reserved.

Nancy continued, "Working with us will give you first access to these diseases as well as provide a measure of safety for our scientists, who are some of the brightest minds on the planet. We would place you on the forefront, where your talents could be used to stop these diseases before even one human life was lost."

"But the GEC doesn't have the resources I would need to—"

"Dr. Choi, you will have all the resources you require. Even more than the CDC provides."

Choi was speechless. She'd been made the best offer anyone had yet to make. And it was from an organization that had nothing to do with infectious disease. Or did they? Choi's mind spun through the possibilities.

"What aren't you telling me?" Choi said.

Nancy was silent on the other end.

"Tell me now, or the answer is no."

What Nancy told her next sealed the deal. The human race was going to other worlds and if life was discovered it would almost certainly first be discovered in the form of microscopic germs, viruses and bacteria. The GEC was exposing the world to a vast spectrum of new dangers, and Choi, it seemed, was their chosen leader in the defense of humanity from the extraterrestrial sniffles.