Roban la cepa maestra del virus y huyen en un vehículo militar. Una tormenta de nieve los obliga a refugiarse en un pueblo abandonado. Allí son atacados por un francotirador del KGB. Mikhail resulta herido.

Kessler tracks Ivan to the satellite array. A fight atop the icy dish ends with Ivan falling into a frozen gorge. Kessler retrieves the codes and destroys the uplink. Yelena survives but is airlifted out by a CIA drone extraction (Margo’s backup plan).

The novel opens in Langley, Virginia, 1994. Sam Gaddis, a veteran CIA analyst, is called into a meeting with his boss, Frank Tully. A former Russian scientist, Dr. Yuri Volkov, has defected and claims that a secret facility in Siberia—code-named Zarya—is developing a weaponized strain of smallpox. Volkov was part of the team but fled when he realized the danger. The CIA is skeptical, but Tully wants Sam to investigate.