Page 85 of Lethal Game

“Are you good, Sophia?” Con asked. The smile was gone, replaced by a frown.

“Yeah, shoo.” She swallowed hard and forced herself to focus on what she could do, not what she couldn’t. “The sooner you go, the sooner you get back.”

Con took one last look around, nodded at her, and followed Len out.

Sophia stood, duffel bags behind her, sick people in front of her, with one Special Forces soldier and four Marines who looked like they were holding on to their cookies by the skin of their teeth.

“Hello,” a voice called from behind her.

She turned to see a man in his early thirties with brownish hair hanging in dreadlocks and a full beard. His blue eyes and fair, sunburnt skin told her he probably wasn’t a native of the area. His surgical mask, gloved hands, and clear plastic rain poncho told her he was with the medical aid group.

“I’m Dr. Nigel Blairmore,” he said stretching his neck to look behind them. “Are you the promised military medical team?” He frowned as he finally met her gaze. “Where are the rest of your people?”

“Dr. Sophia Perry, Biological Rapid Response Team.” She gave him a professional nod. “This is everyone.”

Dr. Blairmore glanced at the bags around her, his frown growing deeper. “Is this all the medical supplies you’ve brought? We need more of just about everything.”

“One of my escorts and your Len have gone back to bring some of the food supplies here for your patients.” She pointed at the bags. “Most of this is my portable lab and other medical equipment. Now that we’re here, I’m going to make a list of the most urgently needed items and request more be brought as soon as possible.”

Dr. Blairmore crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. “Just supplies? That’s not what I was promised. I was told I’d get personnel as well as equipment. Nurses, doctors, medical supplies, food, and water.” He practically snarled the list of things she didn’t have with her.

“I don’t know who you talked to, but your requests would have gone through a whole list of people before they got to me,” Sophia snarled back. “I came here with everything I was allowed to bring. Including water filtration units and purification tablets.” She grabbed the right bag and opened it so he could see.

“Well, at least that’s something.” He gestured at one of the local men hovering around their conversation. He took the bag and carried it over to a large plastic tank that sat about twenty feet away from the medical tent, inside a tent of its own. The tank was about half full and wouldn’t be enough to keep a large number of people alive for long.

“Where does your water come from?”

“There’s a well in the older part of the camp,” Dr. Blairmore answered, his tone a little less hostile.

“Everyone in the camp drinks the same water?”

“It’s the only source.” When she continued to stare at the water, he added, “It’s been tested for parasites and bacteria. Other than a high iron content, the water was safe enough to drink short term. Still, that filter will definitely improve the quality.”

One possible infection source removed, Sophia turned her attention to the interior of the tent. “Where can I set up my lab?”

“We’re a little cramped for space. We’ve had thirty-three new cases in the last hour and we’re running out of cots, as well as space.”

“And everything else, it seems.”

“There’s probably a tent you can use.” He frowned as he studied her. “A lab? What kind of lab can you set up out here?”

“It’s a prototype portable lab with it’s own solar powered batteries. I have everything I need to identify the pathogen.”

He stared at her, his jaw slack. “You’re not a trauma doc are you?”

“I have a dual specialty in hematology and virology. I’m here to determine the cause of all of these people becoming sick and—” she glanced out at the mound, easily visible from the hospital tent “—dead.”

“We need that, absolutely,” Blairmore said, his tone cajoling, he even tried to smile, but the expression never rose past his nose. We also need frontline healthcare workers. Nurses, doctors, anyone who can help. If you put a good word in, maybe...” he left the sentence open.

“I’ll make the request, but your isolation here and the unknown status of the pathogen most likely means air drops only. Nothing and no one else is going to come in until I have identified the bug.

“Will that include nurses?”

“Doubtful,” She shrugged. “But I’ll ask.” She crouched down among the bags and pulled out her satellite phone.

Max answered on the first ring. “Colonel Maximillian.”

“Sir, it’s Dr. Perry. We’re on the ground and I’m at the camp’s hospital. Food, medical supplies, and trained hands to help with the sick are desperately needed.”

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