When they reached the second floor, Lance opened the door slightly and peered out. A scientist in protective clothing was walking down the corridor toward the main lab. He was about thirty feet ahead with his back to them. Lance motioned for the other two to follow and they crept down the corridor behind the scientist, careful to maintain their distance.

When the scientist reached the door to the lab, they saw that it was unlocked and unguarded. There were large viewing windows looking into the lab about two feet from the ground.

They crept along the corridor to the door, keeping below the windows. When they reached the door, Lance drew the pistol.

He made eye contact with Vasily and Sofia before opening the door.

“This is it,” he said.

He inched the door open. Inside, the main lab was huge, occupying almost the entire floor. Some of the equipment had been partially dismantled by the scientists as they tried to figure out how to safely transport the live strains. The space was divided into sections by screens which could be used for cover.

It looked like the scientists were concentrated at the far end of the lab. He could also see at least a dozen soldiers watching them work. The soldiers were only wearing masks and gloves.

Vasily said, “They should be fully suited.”

“We’ll be lucky if they don’t cause an outbreak,” Sofia said.

Lance looked at her. “Where are the isolation pods?”

“Those glass rooms along the back wall,” she said.

“It looks like they haven’t started to dismantle them,” Lance said.

“At least they’re aware of the danger,” Sofia said.

Lance nodded. “What about the light switches?”

“Over there,” Vasily said, pointing to the nearest corner. There was a panel of light switches on the wall, as well as a fire alarm and a hose.

“All right,” Lance said. He took the detonator for the explosives from his pack and handed it to Sofia. “I’m going to go shut out the lights. As soon as they’re out, you press that button. Then follow me to the corner. Stay very low. It will be dark so just follow the wall.”

Sofia looked startled but Vasily nodded.

Lance took a deep breath and entered the lab. He crept to the corner without being seen. He waited a few seconds to make sure no one was looking, then reached up and shut off all the lights. It didn’t make the room pitch black, there were emergency lights, but it was a lot darker than it had been.

“Hey,” one of the soldiers called out, “what’s going on?”

At that very moment, the entire building shook from the force of the explosion on the sixth floor.

Then the fire alarm went off.

Water started pouring from sprinklers and the emergency light was supplemented by flashing red bulbs in steel cages on he ceiling.