Olga looked at her. “Why are they doing this?”

Sofia didn’t know, but she intended to find out.

Her cell phone was dead but there was a landline in the store office. She went to it and dialed the number of Vasily’s cell.

There was no answer.

“None of this makes any sense,” Olga said.

“It makes sense to the military,” Sofia said.

“If they’re trying to orchestrate a cover up, they’re being too heavy-handed. They’re only drawing more attention.”

“This is what they do,” Sofia said. “They’re keeping us afraid. They want us to know they’re up to something. And they want us to know they can get away with it.”

Olga went to the window and peered out at the street. The entire neighborhood was deserted.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” she said again.

Sofia knew this was difficult. Olga had done nothing wrong. Unlike the research Sofia had published about smallpox and paleo-pathogens, Olga had never done anything to draw the attention of the Kremlin. She hadn’t been plucked from civilian life and forced to work in the underworld of national security and bioweapons. She was still innocent.

Or at least, she had been. Now, the life she’d known was over. They’d never let her back. She’d be lucky if she survived this without being executed.

“Olga,” Sofia said. “They want the world to know what they’re doing. They want every citizen in Russia to know that they can be killed, at any moment, right in front of the eyes of the world, and no one will ever lift a finger to stop it. Not the Americans. Not the Europeans. Not NATO. This is how they maintain power.”

Olga shook her head. “But they’re shooting people down in the middle of the street.”

“That’s why you’ve got to stay here,” Sofia said.

“What? Where are you going?”

“I’ve got to get back to the institute. I’ve got to speak to Vasily.”

“You can’t go alone,” Olga said, horrified.

“There’s less chance of me being spotted if I go alone.”

“No,” Olga said, and Sofia knew she meant it. “I’m coming with you.”

Reluctantly, Sofia agreed. The truth was, she didn’t want to face what was ahead of her without Olga. She didn’t think she could do it.

“Thank you,” she said, quietly.

Olga nodded.

“It’ll be dark soon,” Sofia said. “We’ll leave then.”

They went back to the apartment and checked the closets for civilian clothing. Their doctor’s scrubs would be a giveaway.

Whoever lived there was similar in size to both Olga and Sofia, but also clearly older. She dressed the way their mothers would have.

Olga grinned when Sofia presented herself. “You look like one of my old school teachers,” she said.

“You look like my father’s secretary,” Sofia said.