The Winter Station

Thirty people locked in an Antarctic research station for the winter. No flights until October. No rescue possible. When virologist Elena Vasquez arrived at Berkner Station, the assignment was straightforward: continue her predecessor's pathogen research through the long polar night. Seven months of quiet lab work. A chance to rebuild a career. Then her colleague collapses. The station's only doctor can't explain the fever. Within days, more fall sick. The symptoms don't match any known pathogen, and the samples Elena pulls from the afflicted don't behave like anything in the literature. The station commander locks down movement between buildings. Accusations surface. The crew splits into factions. Elena's research becomes the only thread connecting the sick to an answer, but the closer she gets, the more resistance she meets from people who should want the truth. Outside, the temperature drops to negative sixty. The satellite window narrows. The station's generator coughs. Someone at Berkner knows what's happening. Someone brought this here. And Elena has to figure out who before the winter takes everyone.