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Despite his objections, his orders on the matter had been made clear and he had allowed them onto the base. But, any further level of cooperation had ceased shortly after their arrival when one of the flight crew on the C5 that had transported the staff out of Atlanta turned up ill and was found to have contracted the virus. Even though they had all been screened before boarding the plane, the flight crew itself had not gone through the same process. The plan had called for the entire crew to be equipped with bio-hazard suits and self-contained oxygen sources so it was not exactly clear where the crew member may have contracted the infection. The man had died within four hours of landing in Cuba and the body and plane had been incinerated before he had a chance to reanimate. That incident had prompted MG Brookover to completely reevaluate his orders. What should have only been a brief quarantine period had instead turned into an indefinite confinement under armed guard.
    It had taken Dr. Woods hours of pleading, threatening and coercing to finally get MG Brookover to agree to speak with him about the matter on the phone.
    "Dr. Woods, I really don't care what you feel is acceptable or not. My first and primary concern is the protection of the men and woman on this base. My orders were clear about allowing you and your personnel access to the base. But I assure you, the conditions of your quarantine were left solely to my discretion. If I feel, and mind you I do, that you or anyone with you presents a threat, I am authorized to take whatever measures I deem necessary to ensure containment is maintained."
    The General's tone made it clear that he was a man not accustomed to having to explain himself to anyone and it was obvious to Dr. Woods that the only way he would get through to him was appealing to his common sense about the position they were all in.
    "General, I understand your position, really I do. If the roles were reversed I would have similar reservations about allowing anyone suspected of carrying the illness access to the base. I am not asking for access though, I just want you to consider allowing us to move into the facilities being constructed specifically for our work to continue. If we are not allowed to continue the work we have started, and soon, we may nev er find a cure. For the moment, Cuba is safe from the virus, but that is not to say that at some point that could change. Consider if one a single zombie happened to wash up on shore somewhere along the miles of coastline where it goes undiscovered." Dr. Woods said with a mixture of pleading as well as a sense of urgency in his voice.
    There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment and Dr. Woods had the impression that the General had muted the call, when he returned to the line his voice still held the same gruff and firm demeanor but his reply was not what Dr. Woods had expected, "Ok, doctor, I have just received the final report from OUR medical staff clearing your people. You will be permitted to take control of the research facility before the end of the day, but, I want to make something crystal clear to you and I want you to make it clear to your people. The entire facility will be ringed with a heavily armed detachment of American and Cuban forces. Their orders will be simple and not up for i nterpretation or debate. Any attempt by any personnel to move past the barbed wire barrier erected around those buildings will be met with deadly force, no warnings and no exceptions."
    The General paused at that point, probably for some type of dramatic effect, "I want to be clear on this doctor. I am not comfortable at all with what you and your people are doing here. While I accept the need for continued scientific experimentation, I will not compromise the security of this base or the personnel on it. Is that understood?"
    The threat of deadly force against his personnel as well as being ringed in with barbed wire and under guard had never been