A nod. “I have photographs of Talas that you should already have in both of your e-mails—aerial photos of Talas taken over the last two weeks. It’s possible by looking at the sequence to determine where this disturbance began: in the hospital on Appasovoy Street in the city. You can see fog spread out from there. That must be the center: that hospital. I am certain that someone, or something, there has caused this.”

Barbara glanced at Jayewardene. The Secretary-General said nothing, but his lips pressed together tightly. “Thank you, Representative Bondarenko. That will be an immense help to all of us. I’ll have Ink relay that information to Lohengrin and the aces via satellite phone, along with the photos.”

“And I will let Brussels know so that the UN is aware as well,” Jayewardene added. “As Ms. Baden said, this is excellent information. If there’s anything else that you find out…”

“Then I will tell you immediately,” Bondarenko said. “That I promise. This horror that has been unleashed on my country has to be stopped. Too many, far too many, have already died.” The sadness in his eyes, the exhaustion on his face, all pulled at Barbara.

“Representative,” she said. “Your family. Do you have pictures of them?”

The trace of a smile slid across his face, and he pulled out his wallet, sliding out a snapshot from a pocket there. Barbara looked at them: a woman holding three children and smiling at the camera. She could see Bondarenko’s features echoed there, especially in the eldest, a daughter. “You have a beautiful family,” she told him. “And you must be terribly worried about them.”

His eyes shimmered at that, and he took a long breath. “Very much so,” he said. “They’d gone back to visit family, then this thing happened. I don’t know…” He stopped, giving Barbara a wan smile. He started to reach for the photo, but Barbara tapped a finger on it.

“May I have my assistant scan this? I want to send the photo to Lohengrin and the aces—that way, if they see your family, they can send word back here immediately.”

Bondarenko blinked hard. “Yes,” he said. “That is kind of you, Ms. Baden. Yes. Thank you.”

She smiled at him. “There’s no need for thanks,” she told him. “We both want the same thing, Representative Bondarenko. We want this carnage ended, and we want those we love and care about back safely with us.”

Olena was alive, that much was certain, but it was all they knew. She lay on her back on a low cot in one of the villagers’ humble homes. Sleeping. Marcus sat beside her, his tail coiled and bulky in the small room. The verdict was still out on everything: if Nurassyl’s power had overcome the poison, if she’d wake up, what she’d say if she did, and what the villagers were going to do with him. They let him be alone with her, but only after a lively debate, not a word of which he could follow. As far as he could understand, they were giving him the benefit of the doubt for the time being, waiting for Olena to recover so they could hear what she had to say.