“Whatever we do, it may not make a difference. It may be too late.”

“It’s definitely too late for Diana,” Luther said softly.

Today, the scleral hemorrhages had appeared in Diana’s eyes.

She was now confined to the Russian service module. A plastic sheet had been draped over the hatchway, and no one was allowed in without a respiratory mask and goggles. A useless exercise, thought Emma. They had all breathe the same air, they had all touched Nicolai. Perhaps they were all infected.

“We have to assume the Russian service module is now hopelessly contaminated,” said Emma.

“That’s the only livable module with full power. We can’t close it off entirely.”

“Then I guess you know what we have to do.” Luther gave a weary sigh.

“Another EVA.”

“We need to restore full power to this end,” she said. “You’ve got to finish those repairs on the beta gimbal assembly, or we’ll on the edge of catastrophe. If anything else goes wrong with our remaining power supply, we could lose Environmental Control next. Or the Guidance and Nav computers.” It was what the Russians used to call the coffin scenario. Without the power to itself, the station would begin to spin out of control.

“Even if we do restore power,” said Luther, “it doesn’t address our real problem. The biocontamination.”

“If we can contain it to the Russian end—”

“But she’s incubating larvae right now! She’s like a bomb, waiting to go off.”

“We jettison her body as soon as she dies,” said Emma. “Before she sheds any eggs or larvae.”

“That may not be soon enough. Nicolai coughed up those eggs when he was still alive. If we wait till Diana dies…”

“What are you suggesting, Luther?” Griggs’s voice startled them both, and they turned to look at him. He was staring at them from the hatchway, his face gleaming in the shadows. “Are you saying we shove her out while she’s still alive?”

Luther drifted deeper into the gloom, as though retreating from attack. “Jesus, that’s not what I was saying.”

“Then what were you saying?”

“Just that the larvae—we know they’re inside her. We know it’s a matter of time.”

“Maybe they’re inside all of us. Maybe they’re inside you. Growing, developing right now. Should we jettison your body?”

“If that’s what it takes to stop it from spreading. Look, we all know she’s going to die. There’s nothing we can do about it. We’ve got to think ahead—”

“Shut up!” Griggs shot across the hab and grabbed Luther by his shirt.

Both men slammed into the far wall and bounced off again. They twisted around and around in midair, Luther trying to pry off Griggs’s hands, Griggs refusing to release him.

“Stop it!” yelled Emma. “Griggs, let him go!” Griggs released his hold.

The two men drifted apart, still breathing hard. Emma positioned herself like a referee between them.

“Luther’s right,” she said to Griggs. “We have to think-ahead. We may not want to do it, but we have no choice.”

“And if it was you, Watson?” Griggs shot back. “How would you like us discussing what to do with your body? How quickly we can bag you up, dispose of you?”

“I’d expect you to be making those plans! There are three other lives at stake, and Diana knows it. I’m trying my best to keep alive, but right now, I don’t have a clue what will work. All I can do is pump her full of antibiotics and wait for Houston to give us answers. As far as I’m concerned, we’re on our own up here. We have to plan for the worst!”

Griggs shook his head. His eyes were red-rimmed, his face haggard with grief. He said softly, “How can it get any worse?”

She didn’t answer. She looked at Luther and read her own thoughts in his eyes. The worst is yet to come.

“ISS, we have Surgeon standing by,” said Capcom. “Go ahead, ISS.”

“Jack?” said Emma.

She was disappointed to hear Todd Cutler’s voice instead. “It’s me, Emma. I’m afraid Jack’s left JSC for the day. He and Gordon took off for California.” Damn you, Jack, she thought. I need you.

“We’re all in agreement down here about the EVA,” said Todd.

“It needs to be done, and soon. My first question to you is, how’s Luther Ames? Both physically and mentally? Is he up to it?”

“He’s tired. We’re all tired. We’ve hardly slept in the last twenty-four hours. The cleanup is keeping us busy.”

“If we give him a day to rest, could he manage the EVA?”

“Right now, a day of rest seems like an impossible dream.”

“But would it be enough time?” She considered it for a moment. “I think so. He just needs to catch up on his sleep.”

“Okay. Then here’s my second question. Are you up to an EVA?” Emma paused in surprise. “You want me to be his partner?”

“We don’t think Griggs is up to it. He’s withdrawn from all communication with the ground. Our psychologist feels he’s too unstable at this point.”

“He’s grieving, Todd. And very bitter that you won’t let us come home. You may not be aware of this, but he and Diana are…” She paused.

“We know. And these emotions seriously undercut his effectiveness. It makes an EVA dangerous. That’s why you need to be Luther’s partner.”

“What about a suit? The other EMU is too big for me.”

“There’s an Orlan-M suit stored in the old Soyuz. It was tailored for Elena Savitskaya and was left on board several missions ago. Elena was about your height and weight. It should fit.”

“It’s my first EVA.”

“You’ve gone through WET-F training. You can handle it. Luther just needs you out there to assist.”

“What about my patient? If I’m outside doing the EVA, who’s going to attend to her?”

“Griggs can change her IVS, see to her needs.”

“And if there’s a medical crisis? What if she starts to convulse?”

Todd said quietly, “She’s dying, Emma. We don’t think there’s anything you can do to change that fact.”

“That’s because you haven’t given me any useful information to work with! You’re more interested in keeping this station alive! It seems you care more about the goddamn solar arrays than the crew. We need a cure, Todd, or we’re all going to die here.”

“We don’t have a cure. Not yet—”

“Then get us the fuck home!”

“You think we want to leave you stranded up there? You think we have a choice? It’s like the Nazi high command down here! They’ve got Air Force assholes posted all over Mission Control, and—” There was sudden silence.

“Surgeon?” said Emma. “Todd?” Still no answer.

“Capcom, I’ve lost Surgeon,” she said. “I need comm link restored

“ A pause. Then, “Stand by, ISS.” She waited for what seemed like an eternity. When Todd’s voice finally came back on, it was subdued. Cowed, thought Emma.

“They’re listening, aren’t they?” she said.

“That’s affirmative.”

“This is supposed to be a PMC! A private loop!”

“Nothing’s private anymore. Remember that.”

She swallowed hard, suppressing her anger. “Okay. Okay, I’ll dispense with the ranting. Just tell me what you’ve got on this organism. Tell me what I can use against it.”

“I’m afraid there’s not much to tell you. I just spoke to USAMRIID. To a Dr. Isaac Roman, who’s in charge of the Chimera project. His news isn’t good. All their antibiotic and have failed. He says Chimera has so much foreign DNA it’s now closer to a mammalian genome than anything else. Which means any drug we use against it kills our tissues as well.”

“Have they tried cancer drugs? This thing multiplies so fast, it’s behaving like a tumor. Could we attack it that way?”

“USAMRIID tried antimitotics, hoping they could kill it during the cell-division phase. Unfortunately, the doses they needed so high they ended up killing the hosts as well. The entire gastrointestinal mucosa sloughed off. The host animals bled out.”

The worst death imaginable, thought Emma. Massive hemorrhage into the bowels and stomach. Blood pouring from both mouth and rectum. She had witnessed such a death on earth. In space, it would be even more horrifying, giant globules of blood filling the cabin like bright red balloons, splashing onto every surface, every crew member.