He remembered Roselli saying that the proper name for a brood of rats of was a 'mischief', and how the Chinese revered the rat for its cunning and intellect, so much so that it earned top rank as the first of the twelve years in the Sheng xiao zodiac cycle. But this genetically enhanced batch of vermin would add a whole new meaning to 'Year of the Rat', thought Crawford.

In one year, the typical female black rat - s.e.xually mature at three months - gestated every twenty-four days, gave live birth to twelve pups and sp.a.w.ned 16,000 offspring. But thanks to Roselli's ingenious breeding technique, the birthing rate had been increased to an average of sixteen pups. Therefore, the growth algorithm for Operation Genesis conservatively a.s.sumed that each female in the initial set would account for an astounding 24,000 descendants in the first year alone. Naturally, the descendants would carry that trend forward exponentially.

Much of the epidemiological detail was lost on Crawford. But he remembered Roselli referring to the rats as a natural 'intermediate host' for plague transmission. Stokes preferred to call them a 'delivery system'. All Crawford knew was that once the brood had reached critical ma.s.s, they'd be released from the cave into the Zagros Mountains.

Once unleashed on their new habitat, the rat population would spread out in all directions. And all the while, they'd rampantly breed; just like they'd been doing in this cave - just like their cousins, the Asian black rats or 'ship rats', had done before spreading out from China centuries earlier to transmit the Black Death throughout Europe.

Highly intelligent survivalists by nature, the rats would evade capture by burrowing underground, hiding in the mountains' nooks and crannies, and building hidden nests inside the walls of homes and buildings. Even if they were to be spotted out in the open, the rats were virtually impossible to catch, because for their body size they were among nature's best athletes: able to sprint at nearly forty kilometers per hour, swim half a kilometre, climb vertically up walls and jump up to over a metre, even squeeze their rubbery bodies through a hole smaller than a quarter. Trapping them was no easy task either since their chisel-like teeth, with more crushing force than a crocodile, could gnaw through metal and wood. At the genetic level, rats were 90 per cent identical to humans - the reason they were favoured for clinical laboratory testing. But a rat's most important physiological similarity was its brain - nearly identical to a human's in its ability for spatial memorization.

These rats will be impossible to contain or destroy.

Throughout history, rats had been the carriers and transmitters of over seventy diseases lethal to humans, including typhus, salmonella, parasitic trichinosis and, of course, Yersinia pestis Yersinia pestis, commonly known as bubonic plague. Similarly, according to Roselli, there'd be numerous ways the rats would transmit the Genesis Plague virions to humans. Crawford could only recall the top three: contamination of food and water supplies via blood, urine, faeces, or saliva; primary contact through a bite (less likely); or most potently, through blood-sucking sand flies and mosquitoes (prolific throughout the Middle East), that would feast on the rats, then relay the virus to humans and livestock through bites. The perfect transmission vector.

Rats provided everything Stokes had wished for: efficiency, cost-effectiveness and anonymity.

At first, Crawford thought Stokes's plan to settle the score in the Middle East sounded insane. Now that the mission was nearing completion, however, he felt nothing but reverence for the man. Stokes was a visionary; a crusader; a saviour saviour. Stokes would rewrite human history.

And Crawford was determined to play his part - to make history right alongside Stokes. During the past critical hour, however, Crawford had been unable to establish further communication with Stokes. Ye t like every operational detail of Operation Genesis, there was a failsafe for this dilemma - a manual workaround. At this juncture, the mission's success hinged upon getting the rats out from the cave. Crawford had hoped that despite their neophobic tendencies, the rats would have already made their way outside. But the two blasts that had decimated the cave's entry tunnels had likely forced the rats to seek an alternative exit; the very survival mechanism that would account for their staying power in the outside world.

At this juncture, all Crawford needed to do was act the role of the Pied Piper and herd the critters out the front door. Though he wasn't counting on that being the easiest of tasks. With the rats having been down here breeding for over a year, he could hardly imagine just how many there might be inside. And since he recalled that rats evolved three times faster than humans, he wondered what effect the hormone infusions might have had on their behaviour and physiology.

If rats felt threatened, they would defend themselves. These rats, however, were likely far more unpredictable - exactly the reason Crawford had brought along the rodent repeller that had been designed for just such a snafu. The transmitter had been cleverly integrated into Crawford's walkie-talkie. After all, the simple technology could easily piggyback on the radio's circuit board. With the touch of a b.u.t.ton, he powered on the transmitter and a steady ultrasonic signal began transmitting in the 45,000 Hz range. For the rats, the high-frequency, pulsing waves - inaudible to the human ear - were like Kryptonite to Superman.

On approach to the cave, he could hear the horde's high-pitched drone. He wondered what the rats might be trying to communicate to one another. Were they coordinating an attack on Holt, Shuster and the Kurd?

The tunnel walls fell away from his light, giving way to the cave's soupy black void. Without pause, Crawford stormed inside, machine gun raised high on his shoulder, ready to cut down any moving target larger than a rat.

78.

'Don't worry, Hazo,' Shuster yelled over the squealing rats. 'Ramirez made it. He'll get help. Just stay where you are.'

But Hazo didn't respond because he was still watching the light intensifying inside the entrance tunnel. He estimated that Ramirez had only gone into the tunnel less than a minute ago. Definitely not enough time to have a.s.sembled a rescue team. So why would he be coming back inside now?

The light flashed inside the cave and caught Shuster's attention. He turned, scowled at the light, shouted, 'Ramirez! Get out of here!' He motioned for him to retreat. 'Go and get the others!'

Hazo watched the sharp luminescent beam sweep side to side. Against Shuster's order, Ramirez advanced closer. If Ramirez didn't hear Shuster, he should certainly have understood the overt hand signals. Certain that the light would attract the rats, Hazo was confused when the writhing brood cowered back and curled into itself like ebbing surf. It looked as if an invisible wall were pushing out in front of the light to press them back, like some kind of fantastical force field.

'Ramirez!' Shuster shouted in an angry voice that echoed through the cave. 'Go back!'

But the corporal's plea quickly went silent as the swell of rats continued to retreat from the light. Like Hazo, he was trying to figure out how this was happening.

Advancing to within fifteen metres of the containers, the light stopped and swung up to spotlight Shuster. The corporal shielded his eyes from the glare while trying to discern the ident.i.ty of the man holding the light. It was impossible. His frustration grew. 'Ramirez, what are you doing? Get that f.u.c.king light out of my face!'

No reply. The light remained fixed on Shuster.

'Ramirez?'

The rats' squealing cries were suddenly drowned out by the clamour of automatic gunfire, and beneath the light, Hazo saw tiny white flashes spit in rapid succession.

In the same instant, Shuster's face ripped open and the back of his head exploded in a spew of blood and brain matter. The force from the impact threw him backwards and he tumbled off the container.

Dropping to his knees, Hazo flashed his light down at the body. The rats responded instantly, swarming over it.

Then the light shifted to Hazo.

There was nowhere for Hazo to go. He was penned in by the platform's railings. He scrambled for the handgun that Shuster had given him and sprang to his feet. Squinting in the light, he failed to make visual confirmation of a target, but blindly fired three shots. The light didn't budge.

'Drop the gun, Hazo!' the gunman yelled up at him.

Hazo wasn't surprised that it was Crawford's voice. 'No!' he replied.

'I'll shoot you dead right now if you don't drop the gun,' Crawford threatened in a menacing tone.

'Fine! You do what you must,' Hazo screamed. 'I'm already dead. Don't you see?'

A pause.

'Get off that platform,' Crawford yelled.

Get off the platform? Hazo repeated to himself. Why would Crawford want him to come down? If he had no problem shooting Shuster off the container ...

'Get off ... now!'

Having witnessed Holt's horrible demise, there was no way Hazo was willing to sacrifice himself to the rats. Best to take a few bullets and avoid the suffering, albeit the rats or the plague. Hazo turned his back to Crawford, raised his arms and shut his eyes tight. 'Shoot me!' he yelled out. 'Shoot me in the back like the coward you are!' He gritted his teeth and waited for the end - waited for Crawford's bullets to finish the job his microscopic a.s.sa.s.sins had already started.

No shots came.

Confused, Hazo eased his eyes open. 'What are you waiting for!' But directly in front of his face, he saw the answer to his own question. There, in plain view, a peculiar sticker was plastered on to the sheet metal housing covering a huge, tubular machine. The ominous symbol - a circle cut like a pie into six alternating yellow and black slices - carried a universal warning.

Radiation.

'This is your last chance!' Crawford screamed.

Hazo ignored him, as he tried to process this new information. He quickly a.s.sessed the huge machine. Why would there be radioactive material down here? Unless ...

Could this be a nuclear reactor? Normally a nuclear reactor was a huge thing that powered cities. And they were always shielded with thick concrete to protect against radiation leaks. But Hazo quickly determined that a radiation leak so deep inside a mountain probably made such safety precautions a moot point. Clearly, if Crawford wanted him to back away from the reactor, it could only mean that he feared a stray bullet might pierce its volatile core.

'Fine,' Crawford yelled. 'I'll come and pull you down.'

Hazo turned and pointed the gun directly at the reactor, the way an executioner might - the way a Saddam loyalist might threaten a Kurdish carpet retailer from Mosul. 'I don't think so,' he said. 'You move, I shoot.'

For ten seconds there was no response.

Then the light beam shifted.

Hazo hesitated.

Still no reply from Crawford.

Hazo called down to him: 'This is a nuclear reactor, is it not?'

Again, Crawford didn't answer.

Without warning, something hurled out from the light - glinting in fast bursts as it pinwheeled directly towards Hazo. Before he could react, it struck him in the chest like a fist, pushed him back against the reactor. He crumpled down on to the platform. All feeling to his right hand instantly turned to pins and needles. Involuntarily, his fingers went limp. The gun slipped out from his ruined grip and skittered to a stop, close to the edge of the platform.

This time, Hazo found it impossible to catch his breath. He looked down and saw a black handgrip, buried to the hilt, sticking out beneath his right clavicle, close to the shoulder. When he tried to move towards the gun, bolts of pain shot down his arm and over his chest, making him see pure white. He screamed out in agony.

Then he could hear Crawford's boots clanging up the ladder rungs.

79.

It hadn't taken much effort for Jason to persuade Crawford's disenchanted marines to step aside so that he and Meat could get into the tunnel.

After squirming through the opening above the debris pile, they'd progressed quickly through a series of interconnected tunnels. Tight winding pa.s.sages had widened into a subterranean corridor with a lofty ceiling joined at a point, which in turn, fed them through a tunnel that looked as if it had been dug by a huge gopher. Halfway through the gopher hole, where a sharp bend yielded to a lengthy straightaway, Jason abruptly dropped to one knee with his M-16 directed straight. He immediately signalled to Meat to halt his advance.

With no words exchanged between them, Jason leaned sideways and shone his light low to the ground less than ten metres ahead to emphasize a contorted body in desert camouflage blocking their path. The dead man was on his stomach in a pool of blood that looked purple against the dark limestone. Though the face was turned away from them, a glinting gold crucifix dangling from the corpse's neck left little doubt as to the marine's ident.i.ty.

'It's Ramirez,' Jason whispered softly to Meat.

Meat's face gnarled with disgust.

Jason eased back to a standing position, listened intently for any activity. He turned to Meat. 'Hear that?'

Meat nodded. 'Sounds like rusty wheels.'

Jason proceeded forward and Meat followed close at his heels. As he stepped over the body, he caught a glimpse of the dime-sized red hole drilled through Ramirez's temple.

Crawford, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You're going to pay for this. All of this.

The tunnel curved yet again. After cautiously rounding the bend, Jason saw the slightest trace of light softening the darkness. He also heard screaming over the growing din of tinny squeals. One of the voices belonged to Crawford; the other, tinged with an accent, unmistakably Hazo. The exchange wasn't pleasant. It sounded as if the two were arguing about something.

Jason looked back at Meat and said in an urgent tone, 'Let's do this.'

80.

Hazo was amazed how quickly Crawford had made it up to the platform. It seemed like mere seconds had elapsed since the colonel threw the knife into his chest. Not enough time for Hazo to muster the strength to make a play for the gun. But even the slightest movement tweaked the blade against nerves and zapped him like a taser.

Sneering and wild-eyed, Crawford gave the handgun a swift kick and it sailed off into the darkness to disappear below the rats. 'Nice try, Haji. But your aim was lousy.'

Hazo's gaze burned with contempt. 'You are an evil man,' he said. Wincing, he tried to prop himself up against the reactor.

'Don't be such a bad sport. You're no match for me. None of you Arabs is a match for me.'

'I am a Kurd Kurd,' Hazo couldn't help point out.

Crawford shrugged. 'You all look the same to me - Kurds, Saudis, Egyptians, Palestinians, Kuwaitis, Jordanians, Iranians, Afghanis ... Call yourselves whatever you want. But you all popped out of the same f.u.c.ked-up mould.' He reached out and gave the knife a good twist and Hazo screamed out. 'Don't take my word for it, though. That virus inside you knows the difference ... only likes A-rab DNA. And it looks to me like you're one dead A-rab.'

Just when Hazo looked ready to pa.s.s out, Crawford relinquished his grip on the knife's hilt. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a foot-long plastic zip-tie. Tugging at the Kurd's limp arm, he strapped the wrist snugly to the rail.

Hazo screamed in agony, coughed up a wad of mucus and blood.

'Sounds like you've got a hairball in there. Oh, sorry ... that's just the plague. Same plague these rats are going to spread to every one of your Arab brothers.' Crawford stood and eyed the huge generator. 'You aren't as stupid as most Arabs, I'll give you that. You see, this sure is is a nuclear reactor. World's most efficient battery. But a couple of puny bullets won't do it much harm.' Then he squatted beside a luggage-sized olive drab box bolted to the base of the reactor, saying, 'But this baby, here, can pack enough punch to vaporize everything inside this mountain.' Crawford patted the boxy sh.e.l.l that protected the W54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition, feeling both affection and respect for what was inside it: the plutonium equivalent of twenty-two tons of TNT. 'Before that happens, I'm going to push these rats out of here, using my little whistle here.' Crawford tapped his walkie-talkie. 'That way they can swarm over this G.o.dforsaken sandbox you call a country to set things straight once and for all.' a nuclear reactor. World's most efficient battery. But a couple of puny bullets won't do it much harm.' Then he squatted beside a luggage-sized olive drab box bolted to the base of the reactor, saying, 'But this baby, here, can pack enough punch to vaporize everything inside this mountain.' Crawford patted the boxy sh.e.l.l that protected the W54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition, feeling both affection and respect for what was inside it: the plutonium equivalent of twenty-two tons of TNT. 'Before that happens, I'm going to push these rats out of here, using my little whistle here.' Crawford tapped his walkie-talkie. 'That way they can swarm over this G.o.dforsaken sandbox you call a country to set things straight once and for all.'

Horrified, Hazo watched the colonel unhinge the bomb's lid to access a control console. When Crawford inserted a keycard into a slot on the panel, a digital display illuminated.

'Please, think about what you are doing,' Hazo pleaded. 'Destroy the cave ... me ... That is fine. You can leave this place and no one will ever know. But you can't spread this disease. Please. Think of all the innocent people. Even you you can't do such thing.' can't do such thing.'

'I can do anything I d.a.m.n well please,' Crawford replied coyly, entering an eight-digit code on the console's number pad to override the remote arming system linked to Stokes's computer halfway around the world. 'And don't you worry about my conscience. After all this is done, I'll sleep like a baby.' He pressed a b.u.t.ton and a digital display illuminated with numbers: 00:20:00. He looked at Hazo and grinned.

'Please. Don't.'

'Let the games begin.' Crawford hit another key and the countdown began. 'You've got less than twenty minutes. Plenty of time for some fond memories and a few prayers. Then it's off to reunite with your papa. In the meantime, I've got some work to do.'

'Crawford!' a deep voice bellowed out from the darkness.

The colonel's bravado instantly turned to alarm. He wheeled and drew his M-16 - all in one motion. His light lanced the darkness and found the target near the entrance tunnel: one of those d.a.m.n mercenaries; the Goliath-sized guy they called 'Meat'. 'Don't you a.s.sholes know when to die?' He opened fire before the man could raise his weapon. But Meat managed to duck for cover into the tunnel. 'f.u.c.ker,' he grumbled.

Meanwhile, with Crawford's attention focused on Meat, Jason crept up the ladder leading to the platform. He glanced down at the unbelievably huge brood of rats - all those gleaming red eyes filled with malice staring back at him. Crawford's tirade filled in many of the blanks as to what Stokes's master plan entailed, making it perfectly clear that the rats themselves were to be what Flaherty had dubbed the plague's 'delivery system'. All this sophisticated equipment Stokes had installed was no doubt designed to increase the rats' numbers, while pumping them full of virus.

As he'd advanced through the shadows, Jason had seen Crawford tap the device on his belt and refer to it as a 'whistle' - the tool he'd be using to drive the rats out from the cave. Judging from the way the rats stayed far away from Crawford's position, he guessed it was a variant of an ultrasonic transmitter commonly used by the marines to ward off critters and pests from camp provisions. He could see that the rats were trying to break through the invisible barrier that kept them at a distance of ten metres. A wave of rats would spill into the void, cower against the ultrasonic blast and scrabble back in retreat. Then another bunch would test their mettle with the same result. Fortunately, the natural bottleneck at the cave's centre contained the rats. But they needed to be destroyed - every single one of them.

Near the top of the ladder, Jason peeked up over the edge of the platform. Crawford was facing sideways, using his light to probe the entryway for Meat. Though Crawford was wearing a helmet and a flak jacket, Jason could easily put a bullet through his face. However tempting that might seem, he'd need to try to take him alive. With Roselli and Stokes out of the picture, Crawford was the lone survivor of the twisted cabal who'd masterminded Operation Genesis. And there were plenty of questions still unanswered.

'You are finished, Crawford,' Hazo whispered, smiling grimly.

'Not even close, Haji,' he said, turning to face Hazo. Glowering, he pressed the M-16's muzzle against Hazo's head.

It was exactly what Hazo expected Crawford to do. And it drew all the attention away from Jason, who was now quietly stepping up on to the platform.

At the last instant, however, Crawford was alerted to Jason's presence by the subtle shift in the metal grating under his feet. By the time Crawford turned, Jason had lunged forward like a linebacker, burying a shoulder into Crawford's abdomen and thrusting him back against the safety rail that looped in front of the reactor.