Rick looked at the oil lamp hanging from the wall. “How do you have email?”

“I have a small generator. I used it last night when we operated on Sergeant Sanders. But fuel is precious, so I only charge my laptop once a week. I can connect to a satellite interface during certain hours. My father made some arrangements for me when I first got here.”

He put a hand on Sanders’s shoulder. His friend didn’t move. “Will he be okay?”

He focused on her face as she formulated her answer and got the impression that whatever she said, it would be the truth. “I am an OB, Captain. I have facilitated thousands of births. I am neither a thoracic nor a cardiothoracic surgeon. I drew from my experiences as a medical student and can promise you that they’ve received my best care. Beyond that, I don’t know. God will have to intervene.”

He processed that affirmation along with what she’d said last night. “The longer we sit here, the more likely Chukuwereije finds us. Are you still thinking a week before we can move them?”

The pleasantness slid off her face, and her eyes hardened. Suddenly he was facing the woman he’d sparred with last night. “Can you keep them out of the village?”

He lifted his hands out to his sides. “Or die trying, Doctor.”

With a huff, she started to walk past him, but Peña stopped her. “Doctor, it’s important that only you take care of these men while they’re on narcotics.”

She gestured at Ozzy. “He’s not on narcotics.”

“Fine, then we’ll discuss Sergeant Sanders alone,” Peña said. “He has knowledge, information. You never know exactly how someone will respond to medication, and we’re in the middle of a highly sensitive mission. A word here, a word there, and the balance of power in this nation will shift in a direction that would hurt everyone involved for years to come.”

She waited for several moments, just staring blankly at Peña, then said, “I am one person. Sergeant Sanders requires twenty-four-hour care. If you don’t want anyone but me taking care of him, then you need to have someone else here with me. I can assure you that my nurse Tadeas—”

“Could very well have ties to Chukuwereije, even remotely.”

Doctor Myers closed her eyes, shook her head, and took a deep breath, clearly gathering patience before she spoke again. “—is not from this country. He graduated from McGill University in Quebec and is here on a three-year contract.” She glanced from Peña to Rick and back again. “Do you not have a file on him too?”

Rick pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. The look on Peña’s face made him wish he had a camera in his hand.