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“That’s settled,” he said “How soon can we leave?”

The captain glanced around at his officers, wanting to give them one last chance to pitch in

“Gentlemen?” he asked

Receiving no response, Dixon reached for a phone to pass along his orders But by that time, Austin had already sprinted for the door

WHILE KURT AUSTIN WAS debating strategy with Dixon and hisbehind a table and staring at a blank screen

“Just talk to the ca a chat with an old friend,” the coin any second”

Lee clipped the tiny ed her hair as best she could The officer made a call to inform the other participants in the teleconference that all was ready, then he left Lee alone in the room

The screen fuzzed f

or a second and then an i at a wooden table in a dark-paneled roo froers to her A silver-haired reenish brown uniform of the People’s Liberation Army asked Lee if she could see and hear him

When she replied in the affirood, Dr Lee Thank you for thisSince tiht down to business

“This coroup that we are working with in the United States I have been asked to be the spokesman because the Army is at the forefront of the effort to contain the epidemic”

“I have been out of touch,” Lee said, “so I know only that quarantine has been ian”

“That’s correct,” Ming said “The Army was able to contain the epidemic for a tiht The virus is winning”

“How bad is it, Colonel?”

Ming had expected the question, and a square appeared in the upper-left-hand corner of the screen showing a map of China’s northern provinces Red dots were clustered around one village, with a few stray dots outside its perimeters