And Stokes was sure that Lilith’s plague wasn’t mere science - it was a mechanism put into play by God Himself to destroy the wicked early civilizations in the Middle East. He’d learned that from the man who’d given him the map to Eden.
‘When Lilith’s virus enters the host cell’s nucleus, replication can only occur when the viral DNA successfully binds to a matching gene sequence found on the male Y chromosome. And we believe that that gene sequence is specific to males of distinct Arab ancestry. In the absence of this specific Y chromosome gene marker, the virus remains dormant. So a female, or a male of non-Arab descent, can carry the virus, but not manifest its symptoms.’
‘Come on, Stokes. I’m no scientist, but that sounds a bit outlandish to me,’ Flaherty scoffed. ‘I’ve never heard of anything like that. There’s no “Arab” gene. That’s ridiculous.’
Stokes was undeterred. ‘The Y chromosome makes up less than half of one per cent of the male genome. But unlike most other genes, the strands of the Y chromosome do not recombine over successive generations. Quite simply, that means the Y chromosome is transcribed almost perfectly from father to son with virtually zero mutation.’
‘He’s right,’ Brooke said. ‘It’s how ancestral lineage is determined.’
This aspect of genetics, Brooke knew firsthand, had been widely adopted even by anthropologists. Human migrations out from Africa brought ancient peoples first into the Middle East. There, climate and other environmental factors caused slight adaptive mutations. The Middle East became a nexus for successive migrations pushing out across Eurasia and eventually across land bridges to the American continent and as far south as Australia (thanks to intercontinental land bridges resulting from dramatic drops in sea level brought on by the Ice Age). And every step of the human journey brought greater diversity - including slight changes both in the paternally transcribed Y chromosomes and the maternally transcribed mitochondrial DNA.
Stokes added, ‘Mapping the Y chromosome is how scientists know that 16 million men living today are direct descendants of Ghengis Khan. A distinct genetic marker unites 8 per cent of all men living in the former Mongol Empire. Similarly, the skeletons we found in that cave were among the earliest ancestors of modern Arabs. When we compared their Y chromosomes to modern Middle Eastern men, the similarities were startling. So that brings us to a most compelling crossroads.’ He held out his hands like a magician. ‘You’re a smart man, Agent Flaherty. So I’m sure you see where I’m going with this.’
Flaherty certainly understood what Stokes was implying, though he wasn’t buying it. ‘You’re hoping to recreate Lilith’s plague.’
‘Bravo,’ Stokes said, grinning.
‘You can’t be serious,’ Flaherty scoffed. ‘If you’re bitter about losing your leg, you might want to consider psychotherapy instead.’
‘I assure you this is no joke, Agent Flaherty,’ Stokes said.
Brooke, too, was incredulous. ‘You’re saying you’ve created a plague that kills only males of Arab ancestry?’
‘Give or take,’ Stokes said.
‘Give or take?’ Flaherty said, horrified. ‘So you’re playing around with a virus that you don’t even understand?’
‘It’s impossible to account for every mutation. We can’t anticipate every scenario,’ he admitted.
‘But you developed a vaccine, right?’ Brooke said. ‘I mean if this virus is from six thousand years ago, there’s no guarantee that
‘There is no vaccine, Ms Thompson,’ Stokes said. ‘And by the time one is developed, the balance of humankind will be reset, just as God intended when he sent Lilith over those mountains so long ago. Lilith had been snuffed out before her destiny was complete. We’re merely giving her another chance to finish what she started. It’s a perfect solution to solve the hostilities in the Middle East. No soldiers or weapons needed. We let Mother Nature do what she does best.’
‘The DNA would have degraded,’ Brooke said with conviction. ‘The DNA in those teeth wouldn’t have been any good.’
‘You’re missing the point, Ms Thompson. The teeth from the skeletons in the burial chamber only confirmed the genetic profiles of the plague victims. The teeth gave us a template for the Y chromosome marker. And you’re absolutely correct: the viral DNA found in those specimens wasn’t well preserved. However, thanks to those brazen Mesopotamians who managed to execute Lilith, some of the viral DNA
Brooke and Flaherty watched Stokes step over to the veil-covered display case in the room’s centre. ‘You see, it wasn’t only Lilith’s victims we discovered in that cave.’ Stokes pulled the veil away, revealing the most prized item in his collection, which was locked within a rectangular glass case. ‘It was Lilith herself.’
60
Mounted atop a cylindrical glass base inside the case was a translucent sphere, flat on top and bottom, and no bigger than a medicine ball. And frozen within it was a severed human head.
‘Exquisite, isn’t she?’ Stokes said, doting upon the severed head without utmost adoration. ”’Upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth.”’ He smiled. ‘Revelation 17:5.’
Cold prickles shot down Brooke’s spine. Lilith’s ancient head was both beautiful and ghastly. Wisps of golden hair intermingled with blood swirls spun through the honey-coloured sphere which resembled glass. The flesh remained intact so that even now, millennia later, the refined face seemed locked in time, a snapshot of death that bore testament to a most brutal execution. The morbid lips remained in a taunting smile. But it was the punishing, inescapable stare of the eyes that was most frightful. Like staring at Medusa, Brooke imagined herself being turned into stone.
‘As you can see, she has been perfectly preserved,’ Stokes said. ‘After the executioners cut off her head, they immediately sealed it away, hoping that Lilith’s evil would be trapped for eternity. Obviously, they were wrong, because it wasn’t Lilith’s soul that had been the source of her malevolence. It was her DNA. And you can see how we got to it … where we drilled through the resin,’ Stokes explained, pointing to thin bore holes that extended through the resin like invisible straws, and penetrated through the skull’s soft crown. ‘All we had to do was extract the dormant virions and culture them.’
‘So if it’s so simple, why are you so concerned about the cave?’ Flaherty said.
‘Come now, Agent Flaherty,’ Stokes said, feigning disappointment. ‘A virus in a dish is useless. For a plague to have any effect, it must be spread - widely and rapidly. It needs a catalyst.’
Then Flaherty remembered Jason saying how sick Al-Zahrani had been when they pulled him out from the cave. ‘You infected Al-Zahrani, didn’t you? Is he your catalyst?’
‘He’s infected, yes. But I certainly can’t rely on him. He’s only one man, after all. Let’s think of him as an experiment.’
‘Lilith was only one woman,’ Brooke countered. ‘And think of what she did.’
‘This isn’t 4000 BC, Ms Thompson. Things work much differently nowadays.’
‘So then what
Stokes enjoyed watching Flaherty stew the possibilities. He stepped up to the display case, pressed his hand against the glass, and stared at Lilith with deep reverence. ‘The inherent beauty of plague,’ he cryptically replied, ‘is that once it is introduced into a population, nature itself provides the most reliable and potent delivery system. It’s been that way since the beginning, just as God intended. Even the mightiest empires can’t stop nature.’
For a long moment, Flaherty ruminated on the phrase ‘delivery system’. ‘You aren’t seriously considering biological warfare,’ Flaherty said. ‘It violates every peace treaty. The United States can’t afford to—’
‘No missiles will be fired, I assure you, Agent Flaherty.’ Stokes’s breathing was getting shallower. ‘Once the infection begins, no one will be able to stop it. In under an hour this virus rips through cells … gets into the blood, the lymph nodes, you name it. In less than two hours, it strikes the lungs and becomes pneumonic.’
‘Nu-what?’ Flaherty said.
‘It becomes airborne. Someone can catch it just by breathing it in,’ Brooke said in horror.
‘Very good, Ms Thompson,’ Stokes said. ‘Suffice it to say, when all is said and done, an entire generation of
