The Genesis Plague (2010)

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 shell 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 godforsaken 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 can’t do such thing.’
    ‘I can do anything I damn 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 button 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 damn mercenaries; the Goliath-sized guy they called ‘Meat’. ‘Don’t you assholes know when to die?’ He opened fire before the man could raise his weapon. But Meat managed to duck for cover into the tunnel. ‘Fucker,’ 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,