The Genesis Plague (2010)

vertigo further consideration, he spotted movement on the monitor and his heart skipped a beat. Though hard to make out through the dust, a dark form was cutting swiftly through the passage. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone. Nerves ablaze, Stokes’s eyes moved from frame to frame hunting for the runner. ‘Come on … come on …’
    The figure appeared two seconds later, slower now. It was one of the Arabs - which Arab was still unclear. On the periphery of the frame, the man stopped and pressed his back against the tunnel wall, panting. Stokes still couldn’t make a positive identification since the man was using the tail of his headscarf to shield his mouth and nose from the dust. But with the air in this section much cleaner, he let his hand fall away and the scarf dropped to his shoulder. However, he immediately crouched and directed his eyes to the floor.
    ‘Look up …’ Stokes grumbled. ‘Look at me, you son of a bitch.’
    Then the Arab dropped to his knees and prostrated himself along the floor, hands pressed to the ground.
    ‘What are you doing?’
    Then the Arab began a familiar-looking ritual. Stokes immediately cranked up the audio level.
    The chanting came through loud and clear: ‘ Allahu Akbar …’
    Praying? ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ Stokes said.
    Only one way to get a fast answer. Stokes clicked on the control module window, resized it to long strip, and moved it to the bottom of the screen. Then he waved the mouse pointer over a square control button marked with a light-bulb icon.
    ‘Smile,’ he said. He clicked on the control button.
    There was a slight delay as the command bounced through satellites. Then halfway around the world, the camera’s bright floodlight activated and lit the praying Arab from above.
    The effect amused Stokes. The astounded Arab screamed out in fright. He seemed to think that Allah was shining his brilliant countenance inside the cave. His head snapped up and the dark eyes squinted into the blinding light.
    With the runner’s face now in full view, Stokes smiled.

41
IRAQ
    ‘For the love of God!’ Crawford yelled. ‘Someone tell me what the hell just happened in there!’
    The combat engineer held up her hands. ‘Everything’s clear here,’ she said, pointing to the PackBot’s remote display.
    ‘Damn it all,’ Crawford growled, crouching to confirm her observation. Sure enough, the bot’s feed remained unchanged. The cave was clear, the bone piles undisturbed.
    ‘Sounded to me like it came from the other side of the tunnel,’ Meat yelled over from the cave entrance.
    Jason folded his arms and said nothing. He was tiring of Crawford’s whipsaw moods.
    ‘All right,’ Crawford said. ‘Let’s back that lawnmower up and send it down the other passage.’
    The engineer went back to the controls, spun the bot 180 degrees, and guided it out from the cave. It took less than three minutes for it to backtrack through the winding passage.
    ‘Here she comes,’ Meat called over. ‘I can see the light.’
    The engineer saw light spilling in on the screen’s left side, indicating the spot where the entry tunnel joined the passage. She kept it moving straight.
    ‘Yeah, there she is,’ Meat said, peering to the end of the entry tunnel. The bot came in and out of view before disappearing to the left. He kept reeling in the slack fibre-optic cable.
    ‘Keep in on night vision,’ Crawford instructed the engineer.
    ‘Yes, sir,’ she said.
    The bot roved through the tight, rocky walls that glowed dull green in night vision. There wasn’t much to see, but then the audio began to detect activity.
    ‘Wait,’ Jason said. ‘Hear that?’
    The engineer brought the bot to a stop. The sounds became more pronounced.
    They all listened intently. It was a voice.
    ‘Someone’s definitely in there,’ she said, adjusting the audio level. ‘Sounds like he’s …’ She tried to decipher the singsong chant.
    ‘He’s praying,’ Hazo said to them. ‘He’s reciting the Maghrib . The Muslim prayer that follows sunset,’ he specified.
    ‘Well, it’s a little late for that,’ Crawford said. ‘Let him pray all he wants. He’s gonna need it.’
    ‘Let’s get visual confirmation,’ Jason suggested. ‘See what we’ve got. Use gas to root him out, if necessary.’
    Crawford nodded. ‘You heard the man, private,’ he said to the engineer. ‘Forward march.’
    As the engineer advanced the bot again, a bright white light flashed from