Both women had cars in the hospital parking lot but going back for them now was out of the question. As soon as it got dark, they left the building on foot, avoiding street lights and any open spaces where the soldiers might spot them.

It was relatively easy to get out of the immediate area without being seen and once they’d done so, they were able to hail a cab.

“I have to go back to my apartment,” Sofia said. “I’ve got papers there. Computer files. Research. I don’t want the government to find it.”

“We can’t go back,” Olga said. “It’s too risky.”

“I have to,” Sofia said. “The government has done enough harm with my research. I have to put a stop to as much of it as I can.”

“What if they’re already there, waiting for you?”

“We’ll have to be careful.”

They told the driver to let them out a block from Sofia’s apartment. She lived in one of the most expensive buildings in the city, right downtown, and as they walked down the busy street, it was hard to believe that the atrocities at the hospital were happening just a few miles away.

Here, everything was going on completely as normal. The fancy restaurants were full of diners. The streets were full of expensive cars. It was as if the airstrike had happened in another country.

The truth was, the people in this area, the lucky ones with high-paying jobs and security, were on the same side as the government. These were the ruling elite, and their loyalty had been purchased long ago.

These people didn’t want to know about airstrikes and soldiers gunning people down in the street.

They just wanted their waiter to open another bottle of expensive wine.

The doorman at Sofia’s building recognized her.

“Dr. Ivanovna,” he said as they approached.

“Petr,” Sofia said. “Has anyone come looking for me?”

“I just got here,” he said. “They called me in. It was supposed to be Mikhail’s shift but his wife works at the Empress Catherine.”

“I see,” Sofia said.

She felt a wave of guilt as they hurried past him into the elevator.

“What happened wasn’t your fault,” Olga said when the elevator doors shut.

Sofia almost couldn’t see the numbers on the buttons through her tears.

“Yes it was,” she said. “These germs were in the middle of the permafrost, thousands of miles from the nearest town. There’s a reason God left them in such a remote place. They should have stayed out there forever, and they would have if people like me didn’t go out searching for them.”

“You did what you had to do,” Olga said. “They gave you no choice.”

“Mikhail’s wife never should have been within a thousand miles of those pathogens.”

Olga said nothing.