Part 15 (2/2)

His expression didn't change. Levinson froze, one hand in his pocket, the other clutching his laptop. n.o.ble had shut up. Levinson shut up too.

For a moment, n.o.body moved.

I said, quietly, 'Colonel. We need him.'

Without turning Samran said, 'We need his data.' He pressed forward on the gun, keeping the pressure on until Levinson was forced to sit down.

'The computer.'

Levinson didn't move. n.o.ble took it from him and held it out to Samran.

'Give it to her.' He nodded towards me. I took the laptop. 'Thanks.'

n.o.ble just looked disgusted. It matched the look Levinson had for her.

Samran pulled the gun back from Levinson's face. 'Now take your hand out of your pocket.'

Levinson did as he was told.

'A SAT phone. Please put it on the ground.' Levinson did it. _ 'Now stand up.'

He did as he was told. I couldn't look away. I was sure Samran was going to shoot Levinson in cold blood, as an example to the rest of us.

Samran placed his gun back against Levinson's head. n.o.ble seemed about to speak. Samran just looked at her. 'Move away.'

She obeyed.

Samran returned his attention to Levinson. His finger tightened on the trigger.

'Now stamp on it.'

Levinson stared at Samran for a moment, then ground his heel into the phone.

'Again?'

Levinson obeyed. From the look on his face you'd have thought it was Samran himself he was crus.h.i.+ng.

'Good.' Samran holstered his pistol. 'You see, Mister Levinson, how easy it is to do as you are told?' He glanced around at the others, watching silently, then issued instructions to the soldiers. 'I have told my men to collect all other satellite telephones and minifaxes.' He turned to me. 'You have one hour to collate your data and bring the results to me.' He turned and marched back to his tent.

It didn't take me long to put it together. The question was: would Samran believe me?

A few minutes before the hour was up, I got one of the soldiers to take me to Samran's tent. He received me about as graciously as an invading soldier could. At least he offered me tea. That was as far as the pleasantries went, however?

I sat crosslegged in the tent and sipped tea.

Samran waited. I tried to work out how to begin. The evidence wasn't as much of a surprise to me as it was going” to be to him. '

'You're a soldier,' I began. He nodded. 'Career military?' 'Is there any other kind?'

I gauged the impatience in his voice and said, 'I was a soldier too. Once.'

He studied me over the top of his mug. 'You went AWOL.'

I admitted to surprise? 'How did you know?'

His lips thinned. 'You think to gain my trust, show a similarity between us.

The similarity is superficial. I have experience with those who consider the truth a difficult thing for others to hear. Sometimes they think this because they themselves find it difficult to hear.'

'Do you think I'm going to lie to you?'

'I have no doubt you serve your own ends by serving mine. But you are not a stupid person, I think.'

I took a breath. 'What I'm going to say is not going to be easy to hear.'

He waited.

I opened the laptop and booted it up.

He said, ' ”The attacks were just part of President Clinton's election campaign.” '

I looked up. If his voice was bitter, his expression was tragic. 'You're quoting Masaud Barzani - 1996. The Intervention.'

He nodded. 'Seven years ago my family were living in Southern Iraq. It was the year twenty-seven cruise missiles were launched from American bombers and wars.h.i.+ps in the Gulf. Five people were killed, nineteen injured. My wife and son were among the dead.' His voice sank to a whisper. 'Believe me, I am very familiar with things that are, ”not easy to hear”.'

I wasn't about to argue. I shoved a disk into the laptop and hit LOAD. Then I showed him the results.

He spotted it straight away. 'There is no evidence of gamma-ray activity.'

'Not now there isn't. But there was.' 'Explain.'

'The only gamma activity was a by-product of a molecular process which is ongoing in certain formations.' I waited. He said nothing. I went on, 'Certain stones known as drogue stones, the Tendurek Formation itself, all are composed of a similar material. It responds to a.n.a.lysis by disguising itself at a molecular level.'

'There is no such material.' 'Not on Earth, no.'

'You are saying this material is of alien origin?'

I nodded. 'It's been here a long time. Twenty million years, give or take.

And it's very discreet. It must have realized it was being scanned from orbit by your satellites. It just wasn't smart enough to realize it had disguised itself as something even more likely to attract your attention.'

'And the purpose of this alien material?'

I shrugged. 'Well, I've been thinking about that. Have you heard of sibling particles? Pairs of particles linked at a molecular level, probably by a quantum wormhole; linked but not necessarily in close physical juxtaposition? Particles with a relations.h.i.+p even though they might be anything up to light years apart?' I waited for a response. He wasn't getting it. 'You ever see Star Trek?'

He nodded.

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