‘Smoke came out of it?’
‘Not smoke; gas. There was something inside the meteorite, a substance that doesn’t occur naturally on earth, that reacted with the air.’ He turned to Anna. ‘Anna was a chemist and biochemist for the CIA — she can explain it.’
‘It was a pyrophoric material,’ said Anna. ‘Something that ignites spontaneously when it comes into contact with oxygen. It burns at a high temperature, judging from the effect it had on the ceramic containing it’ — she indicated the fragment inside the cabinet — ‘until it’s completely consumed. But as it burns, it gives off an extremely toxic by-product.’
‘A yellow cloud, like sulphur,’ said Cross solemnly. ‘It kills almost instantly. I had protective gear, but the Arab rebels didn’t. They all died in agony, as if they were being eaten alive by insects, after just a few seconds.’
Nina gave the statue another look, this time considerably more nervous. ‘So this material, part of the meteorite… it’s inside the angel?’
‘Yes. The twenty-four Elders managed to contain pieces of it.’
‘How? If it burns on contact with air…’
‘Water stops the reaction,’ Anna told her. ‘Or at least slows it.’
‘It poisons the water, though,’ said Cross. ‘Exactly as Revelation said in chapter eight. “The sea became blood”, and then three verses later, “and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter”. The fragments must have poisoned the water supply around the crater. But the Elders figured out a way to make them safe.’
‘Seal them in clay while they’re still in the water, then harden the outer shell in a kiln, I’d guess. The wings were a way to reinforce it?’ Nina said, lowering the statue slightly for a better look. Cross nodded in confirmation. ‘And over time… the story of what happened turned into folklore,’ she realised. ‘The meteorite became a burning mountain, the locusts were the toxic gas, all inflicted on humanity by an angry God — and the statues became angels, based on existing mythology. I’ve seen the same four heads representing angelic beings before, in the Garden of Eden.’
Cross stepped closer, holding out his hands. ‘Put the angel down, Dr Wilde,’ he said. ‘If you destroy it, we won’t be the only ones who’ll die. The cloud will spread over the entire Mission. There are almost a hundred people here — do you want to be responsible for their deaths?’
‘Whatever you’re planning, they’re in it with you,’ said Nina, but with uncertainty.
The former CIA agent picked up on it at once. ‘You think Miriam’s in on it? She’s a sweet, innocent young girl who’s following her heart. She’s never hurt anyone in her life.’ A firmer tone. ‘Just like Macy.’
Nina’s jaw clenched at her friend’s name. ‘You son of a bitch. Don’t you talk about her.’
‘I know what you think — that it’s your fault she died,’ he pressed on. ‘And the guilt over that’s been eating away at you ever since, hasn’t it? That’s why you went into therapy. Because of the guilt.’
Tears stung the corners of Nina’s eyes. She angrily blinked them away. ‘Screw you.’
Another step nearer. ‘If you smash the angel, you’ll murder a lot of innocent people. Including Miriam.’
She looked at the heavy steel door. ‘Not if you close that. The only people who’ll die will be in here.’
‘Mr President?’
‘Yeah?’ said the sweating Dalton.
‘Leave the room, please. Norvin, Anna, Simeon — you too.’
Nina hefted the statue again. ‘I’m warning you!’ But Dalton made a hurried exit, Cross’s followers doing so more reluctantly to leave the pair alone.
‘I know you won’t do it,’ said the cult leader. ‘You can’t accept more innocent people getting hurt because of you. Especially not the most innocent of all.’ He looked down at the bump marking the presence of the new life inside her.
She felt a hot tear run down one cheek. ‘Son of a bitch,’ she hissed. But the statue remained in her raised hands.
‘Give it to me.’
Nina drew in several angry breaths… then slowly lowered her arms. Cross reached out to take the statue. He had to pull it from her grip, her fingers refusing to surrender, but then it was his. ‘I should have done it,’ she whispered, but she knew he was right.
‘I’m glad you didn’t.’ He placed the angel in the case and closed the lid. ‘But it proves what I told you. God kept you alive as part of His plan.’ The statue secure, he called out: ‘Simeon! It’s okay. You can come back in.’
Simeon hurried into the lab. He aimed his gun at Nina, but Cross signalled for him to lower it. The others followed, Dalton last to enter after peering nervously around the door. ‘Is everything safe?’ he asked.
‘It’s safe,’ Cross replied.
Nina wiped away another tear. ‘So you got your precious angel,’ she said bitterly. ‘Is that your plan? You’re going to break it open and claim that all the victims died because it was God’s will? Poison Mecca or somewhere to start a religious war?’
Dalton looked momentarily startled, but Cross shook his head. ‘This isn’t about war, Dr Wilde. It’s about fulfilling a prophecy — and it’s about knowledge.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I was a CIA operative — a spy. It was my job to find out information about America’s enemies, to discover their secrets. But when I went to Iraq, when I found the temple and the first angel, I realised there was a way to discover the secrets, the most important ones in all creation. The secrets of God Himself!’
Nina stared at him, unsure how to respond to his sudden messianic shift. ‘God’s secrets? What…’
‘It’s written in the Book of Revelation!’ Cross continued, as if offended that she didn’t know. ‘Chapter ten, verse seven — “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” Do you know what that means? It means that as the seventh angel sounds his trumpet, all of God’s secrets will be revealed to his prophets. And I am one of those prophets!’
He turned to his followers, who watched enraptured even as Dalton seemed faintly uncomfortable. ‘Seven angels are given a task in turn by God. The sixth angel is ordered to loose the four angels that were bound at the Euphrates. These are those angels!’ He stabbed one hand at the fragment behind glass, the other at the closed case. ‘One has already been released, in Iraq. We’ve found the second angel — so there are only two more to locate.’ He whirled back to face Nina, his pale eyes wide and terrifyingly intense. ‘Two more for you to locate. When we have them, they’ll be released. President Dalton will get his war, but I’ll get something more important. Once all the statues have been loosed and the sixth angel’s task is completed, the seventh angel will sound — and God will reveal everything to me. His plan, His secrets, the meaning of everything. I’ll know it all.’
Nina was speechless for several seconds, the sheer madness of his plan almost too much to process rationally. ‘So you think,’ she finally said, ‘that loosing the angels, releasing this gas and killing who knows how many people will persuade God to let you into his inner circle? You’re insane!’