“And they want to destroy,” he said. “They think if they succeed in spreading this virus there will be no hope. No reason for hope. From their point of view, they will have destroyed God’s creation. Paradise will be lost forever.”
Hawker thought about the situation. The world was staring down the barrel of a gun, but a gun has no power without a bullet inside it.
“We have to find the Garden,” he said. “If it exists, we have to find it before they do.”
She nodded.
It seemed an absurd quest. But Sonia and her father were trained scientists, not spiritualists or religious fanatics. If they believed the Garden existed and believed it could be found, then he had to give them the benefit of the doubt. And that meant great danger still hung over the world.
“I have to make a call,” he said. He stood, walked out of the library, and found his way back to the balcony, the phone to his ear.
Danielle answered.
“I haven’t figured it all out,” he said.
“I wouldn’t have thought you had,” she replied, sounding oddly surprised by his statement.
“But I know what we have to do next,” he said. “I know where we have to go.”
“If you say the Garden of Eden I’m going to throw up.”
“That’s their next target.”
“Hawker, it’s a dead end,” she said, sounding exasperated. “These people are fanatics. We need to focus on the virus, not chasing them all over the world.”
“I know what it means,” he said, thinking of the original threat. “We mete out your portion of suffering, we bring you down with us. They want the whole world to suffer, like the poor already suffer. Ranga said they would turn this place into hell on earth and he’s right, that’s exactly what they’re going to do, by granting everyone eternal life or something close to it.”
He explained what he knew and the conversation he’d just had with Sonia. Slowly, like him, Danielle came to realize the consequences.
“Well, believe it or not,” she said, “I think I know where to look.”
“Iraq,” he guessed, thinking that most scholars he’d heard of placed the Garden of Eden somewhere near the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
“That would be too easy,” she said. “McCarter has it located in western Iran.”
“Can you get us in?”
“No one will authorize us to go across the border,” she said.
“That never stopped us before.”
“And it won’t stop us now,” she said. “But we’re on our own. Can you meet me in Al Qurnah, north of Basra?”
“I need a place to stash a few people in Kuwait,” he said.
“Have you been picking up strays again?”
“Good people,” he said. “Sonia’s sister and aunt. I can’t leave them out in the open.”
“I’ll talk to Moore, find you a safe house,” she said. “See you in Al Qurnah.”
CHAPTER 35
Given the choice, Hawker would have connected up with Danielle, hired a few gunslingers, and made the run into Iran without Sonia along for the ride. But despite his insistence, Sonia would not give up the information she held. Whatever the final secret of the Tree of Life was, she kept it to herself. He was forced to take her along.
After stashing Savi and Nadia in an NRI safe house of sorts, Hawker and Sonia made the journey into Iraq by car. After a quick stop at the border they traveled northward, headed for the city of Al Qurnah.
Stepping out of the car at the prearranged location, Hawker spotted a familiar face, David Keegan, wearing desert camouflage and looking like the Royal Marine he’d once been. Turned out Keegan was the only gun-slinger Hawker could find on such short notice.
After a brief reunion, the three of them drove on.
“Just like old times,” Keegan said. “A road trip with nothing but trouble up ahead.”
“Yeah,” Hawker said. “It’s like we’re getting the band back together.”
Five miles down the road, Hawker pulled in beside a flatbed truck with a tarp over some large object in back.
“And who’s that?” Keegan asked, looking at the woman standing beside the front wheel.
“A friend of mine,” Hawker said. “Keep your hands off.”
Keegan chuckled. “It’s not my hands you should be worried about, mate.”
Hawker stepped out and introductions were made.
“I’m Danielle Laidlaw,” she said to Sonia. “I work for the National Research Institute.”
Sonia seemed a little confused. “You’re with the government?” She looked at Hawker as if she’d been betrayed.
“Nothing I could do,” he said. “The French grabbed me in Paris. The only way I could get out and help you is if I brought them along.”
“What do you want?” Sonia asked.
“The same thing as you,” Danielle explained. “To find these seeds and determine if anything can be done with them.”
“So you’ll take them from me,” Sonia said defensively. “After all this.”
“No,” Danielle said. “We’ll work with you. We’ll even fund your experiments. You’ll be allowed to do what you need for your sister and other patients like her, but only once we’ve altered the delivery virus and ended its ability to cause an epidemic.”
Sonia brightened but appeared uncertain. She looked at Hawker, touching his arm as she spoke. “Is this legitimate? Can I trust them?”
“As far as I know,” Hawker said, looking at Danielle. “So far they’ve honored what they promised me.”
Sonia turned back to study Danielle. “Okay,” she said. “If Hawker trusts you, I trust you.”
She squeezed Hawker’s arm again as if excited about the possibilities. And Hawker noticed what appeared to be very mixed emotions on Danielle’s face. He understood, but they had a job to do.
The deal made, Danielle shook hands with Keegan.
He smiled broadly. “Hawk here says you’re single and that you might be available.”
Danielle cut her eyes at Hawker.
He shook his head.
“I’m single for a reason,” she said. “Most people annoy me.”
“Funny,” Keegan said. “I know just what you mean. By the way, how do you feel about sushi?”
“Can’t stand the stuff,” Danielle replied, then turned and headed for the rear of the truck, ending all further conversation.
Keegan grinned. “That one’s a keeper.”
“Get in the truck,” Hawker said, holding the door for his friend.
As Sonia and Keegan settled into the cab of the vehicle, Hawker caught up with Danielle at the rear of the flatbed.
“Friendly little thing you’ve got there,” she said.
“Which one?”
She tilted her head like a puppy and opened her eyes, wide and innocent. “Oh Hawker, is this okay?” she said. “If you think it’s okay, it sounds okay to me. I thought I was going to gag.”
“It’s a good thing she likes me,” he said. “Since the cover you chose is so diabolically tricky. Nothing like telling people exactly who you are.”
He climbed onto the flatbed and looked under the tarp.
“No need for a cover,” she replied. “Truth works better here.”
“A little heads-up next time,” he said. “I don’t think that well on my feet.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Especially when you’ve been off them so recently.”
Hawker looked under the tarp. An airboat that might have been at home in the Everglades sat chained to the bed of the truck. “This looks good. We have weapons?”
She nodded, opening a locker. Four AR-15s sat in a rack, grenade launchers slung under two of them. A well-stocked box of clips sat to the left of the rifles.