“This is why,” the old man concluded, “we shouldn’t beat around the bush. And let’s not haggle, either. I have only one condition; if you can treat it, treat everyone. No exceptions. If that condition is acceptable, name your other conditions. Any conditions. I will accept them without questioning. If not, you better stay away. We will all die here, of course, but you will have no life, either, as long as at least one of us is alive.
I keep quiet. I keep waiting for the headquarters to suggest something. Anything! But they, it seems, are as clueless as I am.
“I would like to remind you,” I finally say, “that I still have no understanding of your situation.”
“So ask your questions!” the old man barks.
“You said, treat. Are you having an epidemic?”
He tiredly leans onto th
