The Genesis Plague (2010)

he sped off through the tunnel.

30
IRAQ
    The Blackhawk bounced to a rest in a grassy field just beyond the perimeter of the encampment. Hazo gazed out the fuselage window to the jagged cliff face. Surprisingly, during the three hours he’d been away, the debris that blocked the cave had been thoroughly cleared and muted light glowed within the passage. Mammoth boulders strewn at the base of the cliff had raked deep lines into the hillside.
    There was a lot of activity at the site - marines moving up and down the slope, snipers posted along a tight perimeter. He spotted Jason to the side of the opening, consulting a trio of techs huddled around a small tactical robot. They were preparing to infiltrate the cave, he surmised. Not just any cave, though, Hazo reminded himself. Lilith’s tomb .
    The photo of Michelangelo’s ceiling fresco scrolled through his mind’s eye again - the half serpent, half woman entwined around Eden’s forbidden tree. He still grappled with the notion that the opening page of the Bible loosely chronicled an ancient story linked to this very place.
    Not one to succumb to superstition, Hazo felt vulnerable to sudden dread. What if the enigmatic Lilith did exist long before written history? What if she had been some demoness who’d brought mass death to this place? Could her spiteful spirit still haunt this cave?
    They are only legends, he reminded himself.
    A marine crab-walked beneath the chopper’s slowing blades and slid open Hazo’s door. Hazo pulled off his flight helmet, unbuckled himself, and hopped out. By the time he was clear of the rotorwash, Jason had come down the slope to meet him.
    ‘Glad you’re back,’ Jason said.
    Before Jason said anything else, he hooked Hazo by the arm and led him past a dozen marines gathered nearby in a loose circle.
    In passing, Hazo curiously observed the marines. Some sat cross-legged, dutifully cleaning their weapons. Other sat on their helmets scooping rehydrated ravioli rations from foil packs. Four of the unit members were women, though he could tell they took great pains in downplaying their femininity when consorting with the men. A short male marine with close-set eyes - who looked more boy than man - seemed to be recounting an epic bar brawl.
    ‘After you left, Crawford sent them over the mountain,’ Jason told him, motioning to the group. ‘They came back just after sundown. Didn’t find anything.’ Once he had led Hazo safely out of earshot, he asked, ‘How did you make out?’ Glancing back to the command tent, he saw Crawford standing stiffly with arms crossed, leering over at him.
    ‘I discovered many things. Many disturbing things,’ Hazo clarified. ‘As I told you earlier, my cousin recognized the woman whose picture was on the ID badge.’ He expounded on the information he’d given Jason shortly after his meeting with Karsaz - the woman’s presence in 2003 and her apparent close association with US military personnel.
    ‘Not long after you left, my guy in the States found this woman. Had a talk with her. It all agrees with what your cousin told you.’
    ‘Oh,’ Hazo said, somewhat disappointed.
    ‘How about your visit to the monastery? Were the monks able to help you with the pictures from the cave?’
    ‘Oh yes,’ Hazo said. ‘Very much so.’ He told Jason about the shocking conversation he’d had with Monsignor Ibrahim - the incredible story of Creation and a wicked woman named Lilith. ‘Jason, the monsignor told me that this place … this cave … The legends say that it is Lilith’s tomb.’
    ‘Tomb?’ Brooke Thompson hadn’t mentioned this.
    ‘That is right. These monks … they are very smart men. They know many secrets, many hidden truths.’ He gazed warily at the cave opening. ‘The monsignor told me that she is buried beneath the mountain. The head … the body,’ he said in a whisper. ‘This place is evil, Jason. Cursed.’
    Hazo looked genuinely spooked and Jason had to struggle not to smirk. ‘Buddy, don’t let the monk’s stories scare you,’ he said, cupping a hand on the Kurd’s shoulder. ‘Last I checked, ancient tombs don’t have steel security doors. And the only evil inside that mountain is still alive and kicking and armed with a rocket launcher. All right?’
    Hazo nodded.
    ‘You did great,’ Jason said, giving him a gracious pat on the shoulder. ‘But right now, we’ve got a much bigger problem to deal with.’ But he could tell by Hazo’s downcast expression