Free Risking the World by Dorian Paul

mentioned her to Dr. Strong.  She doesn't work with TB, but she's first rate with vaccines.  Been working on a lung cancer vaccine. He said you could count on her to give you whatever you need."
    Bobby Keane obviously had his own plan and already cleared it with Don.  It wasn't a battle worth fighting.
    "The place is set up for Level 4 containment, the whole works, from the other project her lab did with the British Intel people. Strong thinks this makes sense, and says he'll be in touch as soon as we get him out of the Congo."
    "He'll come to London, right?"
    "If that's what you want, Dr. Ashe.  You're in charge."
    Maybe, but It sounded more like Bobby Keane was in charge. "Who exactly are you?"
    "CIA.  Let's just say I'm on your team, Dr. Ashe."
    "Well, I need a place to stay.  I don't mind a dorm room if the lab's attached to a university."
    "It's hooked up with University College, but afraid a dorm room won't do.  You need someplace secure.  You've seen inside Black's lab so we gotta protect you 24/7."
    She felt queasy, and it wasn't from the sickly sweet smell of the disinfectant hospitals used in a futile attempt to curb the spread of hospital-acquired infections.
    "David Ruskin's got a house here in London that's safe.  State-of-the-art security.  That's where the two of you will stay."
    The names on the list became a blur.  "The two of us?"
    "Yep.  Varat's got it in for both of you.  Keeping you together kills two birds with one stone."
    She blinked and wondered if she heard him right.
    "Sorry, Dr. Ashe.  Didn't mean it the way it sounded."
    Her arm was throbbing, her head splitting, and she wasn't exactly pleased at the thought of staying with Tiger . . . David . . . whoever he was.  As far as figuring out Tivaz TB . . .
    "I know this is gonna be rough on you."
    Rough?  He had no idea.
    "Look, I wanna help.  Anything I can do for you?"
    "Can you get the things from my apartment in Casablanca?"
    "Your place was pretty torn up.  Something special you were looking for?"
    Only her past.  Photos of her parents, and her wedding day with Ben.  "Pictures."
    "I'll have somebody take a look.  And I'll send a girl from the embassy over to get you set up with clothes and all that.  You gotta concentrate on building your team."  He opened his briefcase again and extracted a thick sheaf of papers.  "Here's the resumes that go with those names. Check 'em out.  Circle the names of the ones you want."
    He left and she swallowed more pain pills, stared where the pink wall met the white ceiling, and gritted her teeth.  She'd been here before:  spared from death, hurting, and facing a new life on her own.  But was she ready to step up to leading a research effort against a bioweapon that risked the world, even if Don had confidence in her?  She'd watched him build teams before, but watching a master and doing it yourself wasn't the same thing.  Still, if she added redundancy in critical areas, and chose good bench people as well as those with strong theoretical backgrounds, she might not go too far wrong.
    She read the list again, ignoring Roscoe's name for the second time.  She circled a few obvious individuals, reviewed the rest of the resumes in depth, and calculated whether she could get by without Roscoe.  But she had to get this right.  Dr. Black's work was beyond cutting edge, and she needed the best minds to pursue him to the outer limits of scientific knowledge.  She'd be a fool to exclude Roscoe Smartz.  Whatever baggage was between them, no one excelled in the rapid development of prototypes like Roscoe.  To defeat Tivaz TB she had to have the right talent, not ignore someone because she didn't want to face him.
    She circled Roscoe's name.
    A hospital aide hustled in with a lunch tray.  Why did they insist on using paper and plastic everything these days?  Disposable plates and cutlery might be more hygienic, but eating off it was depressing, no recipe for recovery.  Nor was she