The Genesis Plague (2010)

a conflict of interest?’
    He chuckled. ‘Most would argue that bioweapons are a matter of national security. But you go ahead and write your senator, Brooke.’
    ‘So why would an archaeologist have been talking to these people?’
    ‘Probably wasn’t an archaeologist, is my guess.’
    ‘Wait. If samples had been sent to this agency for testing, there’d be a record of it, right?’
    ‘Maybe.’
    ‘Can you call one of your people to check it out … to see if tests were performed on samples from Iraq during that time? Maybe we can figure out who ordered them and why.’
    ‘That’s a good idea,’ he said. ‘But first, I need to call my guy in Iraq … let him know what happened back at the museum.’
    In the side mirror, Flaherty eyed the illuminated headlights of a Ford Explorer that had turned in behind him three blocks earlier. The SUV trailed at a comfortable distance, occasionally falling back two or three car lengths. Nothing to worry about … yet.
    Flaherty pulled out his sat-com and put a call out to Jason.

28
    ‘Hey, Jason,’ Flaherty said loudly into the sat-com’s microphone. The dense storm clouds over Boston made the satellite signal sputter like crazy. ‘It’s Tommy. Can you hear me?’
    ‘Yeah. What’s up, Southie. You’re a bit choppy … but … hang on a sec …’
    Flaherty heard crinkling static and squawking, as if Jason had stuck the phone in his pocket. In the slow lane, he continued cruising steadily along Huntington Avenue towards downtown. The snow had slowed to a sprinkle, but the roads were coated in briny slush, bringing traffic to a crawl.
    A few seconds went by before Jason came back on the line.
    ‘Sorry, buddy. Have to be super careful with these calls. I’ve got a real ball buster commanding the marine platoon that came to back us up. Doesn’t want me talking to anyone. Gotta keep everything on the down low.’
    ‘Understood.’
    ‘What do you have for me?’
    ‘Found your scientist in Boston.’
    ‘She as cute as her picture?’ Jason asked.
    Having overheard the comment, Brooke looked expectantly at Flaherty with raised eyebrows.
    ‘Eh,’ Flaherty said in a minimalist tone.
    She hit him in the arm and he smiled to let her know he was teasing.
    ‘Actually, she’s in the car with me,’ he explained.
    ‘Oh,’ Jason said in a confused tone. ‘Okay …’
    ‘So let me put you on speaker. That work for you?’
    ‘Sure.’
    Once the introductions were over with, Flaherty said, ‘Like I said in my text message, Brooke was there in 2003. Part of an excavation team that studied that cave you uncovered. She deciphered an ancient language … some writings found on a wall.’
    ‘There were also picture engravings,’ Brooke added.
    ‘I’ve seen the writing,’ Jason confirmed. ‘The pictures, too … carved into the left wall of the entry tunnel.’
    ‘That’s them,’ she said. ‘Beautiful, aren’t they?’
    ‘Um. What does it all mean?’
    ‘It’s a bit complicated. But it’s the earliest recorded specimen of ancient Mesopotamian mythology … a story about a woman who came from another land.’ At this point, having almost been murdered, she was comfortable with throwing her confidentiality agreement to the wind.
    ‘The woman who was decapitated?’ Jason asked.
    ‘That’s the one.’
    ‘Why did they kill her?’ Jason asked.
    ‘The story implies that many people died shortly after her arrival. Similar to a colonial witch hunt, I suppose,’ Brooke guessed. ‘She was different, came from a faraway place. They didn’t understand her.’
    ‘And they blamed her for the deaths,’ Jason said.
    ‘Absolutely.’
    There was another pause, and Brooke knew that Jason was trying to understand the military’s interest in this archaeological discovery. He was incredibly intuitive in sifting for the devil in the details.
    ‘What was her name?’
    ‘Actually, it wasn’t specified in the writings I studied.’ Evil didn’t really need a name, she thought.
    Flaherty jumped in, anxious to get to the juicy facts. ‘Hey, Jason, you’re not going to believe who brought Brooke and the other scientists over there, all expenses paid …’
    Brooke gave him a thumbs-up.
    Flaherty recapped Brooke’s story. He explained her role in the excavation sponsored by none other than the US military - the tight security protocols; the mysterious facilitator known only as ‘Frank’. Jason had plenty of probing questions, most of which Flaherty fielded,