Jody Shields - The Winter Station

The Baron squinted at the thermometer, and its red line was within the normal range. He swallowed the shot of vodka, then dropped the thermometer in the empty glass with a sharp ting . He nodded at the other man.

“Welcome back. Even if you were ill, I wouldn’t recognize your symptoms. I have no experience with plague.”

The Baron noticed Messonier’s slight hesitation. “So you won’t order me into quarantine?”

“ Dieu. You’re the only doctor who has the ability to do something here.”

“Now that you’ve cleared my good name”—he waved aside Messonier’s protest—“let me make a prediction. The deaths at Chalainor, Manchouli, Hailar, Puhudu, and south of us in Mukden were plague deaths. The infection must be spread by passengers on the train, station to station.”

“The corpses from all the stations should be tested. We could learn how quickly plague spreads. Maybe the dead men were acquainted. Or they occupied the same train.”

The Baron gulped another vodka. “Exhume the bodies. Freeze them. Ship them to Kharbin in lead-lined caskets.”

“Even so, it isn’t safe to transport them by train.”

“Agreed. It would be a disaster if one of the esteemed shipping clerks on the CER train was curious about the casket contents. Perhaps deploy soldiers to escort the caskets here.”

“You have General Khorvat’s ear. But I imagine that tracking the bodies is probably impossible by now.” Messonier looked stricken. “I just remembered Wu invited several men into his laboratory for a tour.”

“What? Who?”

“The dao tai, the magistrate, and the chief of police.”

“Holy Mother of God.” The Baron imagined the men crowded into the small laboratory, curious innocents carelessly touching everything with bare hands, politely marveling at bacilli under the microscope’s glass eye without comprehension. It was a fine theatrical show for Wu. A performing bear in a cage. “The men should all be isolated and watched.”

Messonier raised his eyebrows. “Tell me which official would be willing to issue that order.”

If the honorable officials had been infected during this foolish laboratory inspection, it would actually serve a purpose, creating alarm, bringing aid and money into Kharbin. If he survived, Dr. Wu would be elevated to prominence. Everything—rule of law, civic duty, a doctor’s oath—was expendable.

The Baron groaned aloud but didn’t realize it until he caught the concerned expression on Messonier’s face. “How could Dr. Wu expose anyone to live plague bacilli?” he said.

“He’s foolhardy. Or ignorant. Or a gambler. The new medical team arrived in Kharbin to counter the plague. Wait and see how it’s announced.”

“Doesn’t matter. The plague has the next move.” The Baron was swept by panic. He felt his jowls sag, mouth droop, brows join in a frown. He checked to see if Messonier had noticed that his features—eyes, lips, nose—had been pasted on a mask of fear. His next swallow of vodka was automatic, unstringing the tension in his body, and he experienced a momentary fleeting spaciousness from care, followed by dull apprehension.

For the first time the Baron sensed he was being watched. His calculations, the information he’d gathered in the laboratory, encounters with the sick, and rumors of the dead were known to others and had been tallied. Perhaps it was the dead woman in the inn who watched him. According to Chinese belief, those who were murdered, who were suicides, or who had no surviving male descendants to provide for them in the afterlife become gui, hungry ghosts condemned to wander for eternity.

Two bodies abandoned on the tracks at Central Station in Kharbin. A man’s corpse on the street by Churin’s department store. A partially clothed woman’s body at a Fuchiatien inn. A man’s body at the Railway Club. Some details of the corpses were similar: no broken bones, cuts, or visible injuries. Faces discolored. Clothing showed evidence of bleeding. Bodies may have been moved after death. All but one of them frozen. Cause of death: unknown ailment or misadventure. Only one body had been identified. No witnesses.

A massive red wax seal, blind stamp, and a tricolor ribbon were affixed to this official report. Without signing it, the Baron refolded the thick papers, careful of the wax seal, and gently returned it to General Khorvat. He’d been requested to review the document in Khorvat’s office. Now he understood the loophole that the general wanted closed. He placed his fountain pen on Khorvat’s desk to show he didn’t intend to sign the report.

Khorvat ignored this. “Baron le docteur, once you’ve signed the paper, it will be translated from Russian into English and delivered to Dr. Wu. I believe in full cooperation with the Chinese. Any objections?”

“Please explain how the bodies found on the streets disappeared. Where were they taken?”

Khorvat snapped, “I won’t rehearse my decisions with you. It’s not for you to judge.” His thick finger jabbed in the Baron’s direction. “The five deaths are mysterious but don’t merit extraordinary concern. Perhaps the dead were suicides. Took poison. Miscalculated a dose of opium. Or were drunk and froze to death. Not uncommon.”

The Baron couldn’t allow Khorvat to build a case for random deaths and then disagree with him. He’d risk insubordination and the general would look like a fool. His throat tightened with anxiety as he prepared to speak. “I visited Dr. Wu’s new laboratory.”

“And?”

“ Bacillus pestis . Plague. The dead woman at the Fuchiatien inn was infected with plague.”

“One infected woman. One. In a city of tens of thousands. A single confirmed death is sobering but not of great consequence.”

He’d had a forbidding sense of recognition before Khorvat had spoken, anticipating his answer. “Yes, one woman. But everyone around her, the guests, former guests, and workers at the inn, should all be examined for symptoms. Residents from surrounding buildings should be questioned.”

“We have no authority to investigate in Fuchiatien. No Russian soldiers, no officials are allowed in Chinese territory governed by the dao tai . It’s their problem. I have other concerns.”

“The residents of the Chinese district travel throughout the city every day. Fuchiatien is only two verst from your office. Anything contagious will immediately spread from there to here.”

“Baron, I’m a soldier. I have a grasp of what’s going on. I can recognize an ambush.”

“General, I don’t question your ability. I’m a doctor. I can anticipate the spread of infection.”

Khorvat resisted. “The most qualified doctors and disease specialists are now in Kharbin as a precaution. They’ll be apprised of the situation, and a plan will be unveiled. Everything has been considered. Once this sickness is identified—”

“General Khorvat, it is plague.”

“We can make a policy. Until then—”

“You put the entire city in danger. Your decisions are ineffective until we know how plague spreads and how to contain it.”

“You’re an alarmist. I’ve been told it is spread by rats.”

The Baron continued as if he hadn’t heard him. “How contagious is plague? How is it treated? Who’s susceptible?”

Without breaking eye contact, Khorvat lounged back in the chair, his confident posture enhanced by an unyielding uniform. “I simply cannot barricade everyone inside Fuchiatien. We depend on the laborers to run the city.”

“The only option is to enlist Chinese officials to help. Search for the sick, set up a clinic, distribute information.”

“No. We can’t hand over responsibility to the Chinese. It’s not our policy. A delicate situation. We must protect the balance of power. Better to avoid circulating too much information. It could cause panic.”