The Genesis Plague (2010)

the bend in the passage.
    Then came a startled scream, presumably from the same man who’d been praying.
    ‘Now what?’ Crawford grumbled. ‘Where’s that light coming from?’
    ‘Don’t know, sir,’ she said.
    By the time the bot rounded the bend, the mysterious light had gone away. And the audio had picked up the distinct echoing of fast footfalls.
    ‘He’s running,’ the engineer said. ‘Should we release some gas?’
    ‘Not yet, keep moving. And for Christ’s sake, speed it up.’
    On the monitor, the bot accelerated. A few metres ahead, it began sharply rising and falling over heavy debris strewn about the tunnel floor. Dense dust began swirling around the camera lens.
    ‘It’s a real mess in there,’ the engineer reported.
    But Crawford was tuned into the audio feed - the footsteps. They were close now. Very close. ‘Keep moving.’
    Then the audio picked up the sound of the man again. He was coughing.
    ‘Forget the gas … Seems the dust will do the job for us,’ Crawford said, leaning closer to the screen.
    ‘How’s the air quality in there?’ Jason asked.
    The engineer peeked at the sensor readouts. ‘Nothing toxic. But he’s going to suffocate himself with all that dust.’
    The footsteps abruptly stopped.
    The coughing intensified.
    Then the camera detected movement up ahead.
    ‘I think we should stop there and shine some light,’ Jason said. ‘Let’s see what we’ve got.’
    Crawford told the engineer to do it.
    When the floodlight went on, a figure sharpened onscreen, three metres from the camera. It was a man huddled in a fetal position beneath a pile of rubble that completely blocked the narrow passage from floor to ceiling. He was using his headscarf to shield his mouth and nose from the dust.
    ‘Looks like he’s not going anywhere,’ Crawford said. ‘Is he armed?’
    The engineer zoomed in on the bloody hands, down along the body. ‘Doesn’t appear to be armed, sir.’
    ‘Good.’ Crawford stood and called over to a pair of marines posted near the cave entrance. ‘Holt … Ramirez … Put your respirators on, get in there and pull him out!’

42
    Tensions were high as everyone waited for Crawford’s marines to emerge from the cave with the first captive.
    Jason’s anxiety was particularly acute. Five hostiles had gone into the cave. Only one was in the process of being extracted, the fate of the remaining four unknown.
    The images staring back at him on the PackBot’s viewing screen showed that the mysterious explosion had resulted in a complete collapse of the second tunnel branch. Was this an accident, or had the Arabs decided to buy more time by covering their tracks? Burying themselves in the cave seemed foolhardy. If there truly wasn’t an alternative escape exit, the oxygen might not last very long.
    ‘Miss me?’ a voice interrupted.
    Jason looked up. It was Camel. He was wearing a marine flak jacket and helmet so as not to be confused for a hostile. In his right hand, he gripped a night-vision monocular. ‘Did you see anything up on the ridge?’
    Camel spat tobacco on to the rocks and wiped some dribble from his lip. ‘Nah. Walked the entire ridge. Nothin’ there. Couldn’t really see much on the other side. Lots of rough terrain.’
    ‘All right. Good work,’ Jason said. Where could the watcher have gone?
    ‘Was that an explosion I heard?’
    ‘Yeah,’ Jason sighed. ‘Something went off in the tunnel. Take a look.’ He pointed to the screen and Camel studied the image for a few seconds.
    ‘Did they shoot off the RPG again?’
    ‘Not sure,’ Jason said. A commotion started up behind him. He looked back and saw the snipers shouldering their weapons.
    ‘We have visual!’ one of the snipers reported.
    ‘What’s going on?’ Camel asked in a low voice. ‘Visual on what?’
    ‘One of the Arabs,’ Jason replied.
    ‘We caught one of them?’
    Giving Camel a shushing gesture, Jason inched forward. He considered: five went in. One’s coming out. A 20 per cent chance … He watched the snipers’ weapons shift slowly upward as the target drew nearer.
    ‘Looks like we’re about to get some answers,’ Jason said. He stood and crossed his arms.
    ‘Let’s give ‘em some room!’ Crawford barked at the snipers: ‘You two … fall back!’
    Forced to the sidelines, Jason felt like a paparazzo roped off from the red carpet.
    ‘Should’ve been us going into that cave,’ Camel grunted. ‘This prick Crawford shouldn’t be getting any