“Oh.” Fortes looked at Sykes, who nodded. Fortes pointed at the back of his own neck. “Subcutaneous, between the third and fourth cervical vertebrae. The power source is pretty nifty, actually, a tiny nuclear cell. Like the kind on satellites, only much smaller.”

Nifty. Wolgast shuddered. A nifty nuclear power source in Amy’s neck. He turned to Sykes, who was watching with a look of caution.

“Is this what happened to the others? Carter and the rest.”

“They were … preliminary,” Sykes said.

“Preliminary to what?”

He paused. “To Amy.”

Fortes explained the situation: Amy was in a coma. No one had expected this, and her fever was too high and had gone on too long. Her kidney and liver values were depressed.

“We were hoping you could talk to her,” Sykes said. “This sometimes helps with patients in a prolonged state of unconsciousness. Doyle tells us that she’s pretty … bonded with you.”

A two-stage air lock connected them to Amy’s room. Sykes and Fortes led him into the first chamber. An orange biosuit was hanging on the wall, the empty helmet tipped forward, like a man with a broken neck. Sykes explained how it worked.

“You’ll need to put this on, then wrap all seams with duct tape. The valves at the base of the helmet connect to the hoses in the ceiling. They’re color-coded, so that should be obvious. When you come back through, you need to shower in the suit, then shower again without it. There are instructions on the wall.”

Wolgast sat on the bench to remove his slippers. Then he stopped.

“No,” he said.

Sykes looked at him and frowned. “No what?”

“No, I’m not wearing it.” He turned and faced Sykes squarely. “It’s not going to help if she wakes up and sees me in a space suit. You want me to go in there, I go as I am.”

“That’s not a good idea, Agent,” Sykes warned.

His mind was made up. “No suit or no deal.”

Sykes glanced at Fortes, who shrugged. “It could be … interesting. In theory, the virus should be inert by now. On the other hand, it might not be.”

“The virus?”

“I guess you’ll find out,” Sykes said. “Let him in on my authority. And, Agent, once you’re in, you’re in. I can’t guarantee anything beyond that. Is that clear?”

Wolgast said it was; Sykes and Fortes stepped from the air lock. Wolgast realized he hadn’t expected them to say yes. At the last instant Wolgast called back to them. “Where’s her backpack?”

Fortes and Sykes exchanged another private look. “Wait here,” Sykes said.