Four months. [A chillingly pair of words. The world world, changed forever in less than half a year. His whole life gone in a matter of minutes....] When it started, it was remote, handfuls of cases.... I hadn't even heard of it when the orders came in, sending us to the Arctic.

[Here, he makes a noise. Not a snort, not a laugh. Almost a cough. A low, dry, tried sound.]

'Training mission,' we were told. With a couple CDC doctors tagging along for some bird research. We were ordered radio silent. We had no idea.... Not until the Russians hit us, looking for the cure. Then the docs finally clued us in as why we were really there. [He drops his fork down and leans back in his chair, shoulders hitting the back of the frame harshly.] After it was already too late.