He acknowledges her apology with a half shrug. “Our lab in Geneva received the genomic data NATO sent us on those plague bioweapons,” he says as he sits up straighter. “We’ll hear if there’s a match within forty-eight hours or less.”

“Good.” But two days strikes her as far too long.

“All right, say we assume for a reckless moment that terrorists have gotten into the bioweapons business. How would they possibly get their hands on the plague?”

“Central Asia would be their best bet,” Alana says. “We’ve been keeping our eye on the region for years because it was once home to the major Soviet biological warfare program.”

“That would’ve been thirty years ago or more.”

“Maybe, but when the Soviet Union collapsed, the Russians were negligent in cleaning up the mess. There’s this place in the Aral Sea called Vozrozhdeniya Island. It straddles the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. You should see it.”

“Have you?”

“Yes. Last year. We were invited by the Kazakh government, but they had to sneak us in, since the Uzbeks didn’t want us there. The island was the nerve center of the old Soviet bioweaponry program for developing anthrax and the plague. The Russians abandoned it in the early nineties with minimal containment effort. There’s still equipment and discarded canisters—I even saw one marked with a biohazard symbol—scattered around the site. They buried some of the most sensitive material less than six feet underground. And what concrete they did pour is less than six inches thick.”

“Guess they figured it wasn’t going to be their problem anymore.”

“The worst part? It’s not even an island anymore.”

“Did the Russians take the water with them?”

“The Soviets originally chose Vozrozhdeniya Island because it was so close to land. Around the same time, they started damming the rivers that fed the Aral Sea, which is really just a big lake. Predictably, water levels dropped. Eventually a natural land bridge formed to the island.”

“You can’t dream this stuff up.”

“Maybe the Russians assumed the water would act as a permanent natural barrier. Who knows? But ten years after they left, poof.” She snaps her fingers. “The lake dries up. And lab animals are free to roam right off the island. Rumor has it that strange illnesses began to pop up soon after. I spoke to one local doctor who swears that it caused an outbreak of an unusual respiratory infection that’s resistant to any and all treatment.”

“Are there any Islamic extremists active near this . . . this non-island?”

“Not officially. At least, not according to the Uzbek and Kazakh governments.”

“But?”

“We know there are factions active in the region. My local sources confirmed it. In fact, that’s why I was sent there in the first place. To assess the risk of any bioweapons being found and stolen.”

“This Yasin Ahmed who’s gone missing. I assume you’ve already checked into his background?”

“Brussels doesn’t have anything on him. Neither does Interpol. In fact, as far as we can tell he’s not known to any national security service.”