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     13.

     The first day at the dig had proved to be somewhat boring for all concerned. Max had called O.S.I.R.
     HQ via a secure satellite link and updated Oscar on their present location. Peter and Tim scoured the
     area for anything anomalous but the instruments failed to record anything of note.

     The site itself was less than impressive just sand and rocks, and more sand and rocks. The only
     feature to break up the monotonous landscape was the rocky outcrop with the cave entrance ahead of
     them. A make-shift barricade of metal scaffolding poles, razor wire and rusty looking chicken wire had
     been placed over the cave entrance and the whole thing intertwined with yellow plastic tape declaring
     it a �danger zone�.  Avram continued to explain the events, which had occurred here. He told how the
     workers at the dig, mostly local Bedouin people had come down with something. �No deaths, but
     whatever it is has had a severe affect on their mental health� He pointed towards the east �The
     mountains in the distance are in Jordan�. He looked towards Peter who was squatting near some
     boulders and scanning for any sort of reading  �Please�be careful�   �Are we likely to encounter some
     sort of military presence?� Peter stood up and glanced towards the distant mountains. They�d taken on
     a purplish shadow in the approaching twilight. Avram laughed �Oh no, but you may encounter snakes�
     Peter stepped quickly away from the boulders.

     �Avram�.� Max wasn�t sure how to ask the question, �Can you tell us about the so-called
     �anachronistic� discovery we were briefed about?� Avram frowned. �Very dangerous� was his only
     comment �We need to know some details. What does it look like? Where is it now?� Max pushed for
     answers �Don�t forget we�re here on the invitation of your Government, we will need to examine this
     object� Avram had a wry smile on his face �Imagine a 1000 years from now, or 5000, 10,000 even, the
     human race will have moved on, if it hasn�t destroyed itself and this planet. Knowledge can be lost as
     well as gained in such a period of time. We have created a legacy, which will affect generations to come,
     nuclear waste, decommissioned power stations, weapons grade plutonium, you name it. Now imagine
     that people no longer have knowledge of the nature of such things. The archaeologists of the time
     celebrate their latest find, sealed artefacts that they begin to unearth from a concrete sarcophagus��
     he looked round at the faces of his captive audience ��..at a site known as Chernobyl perhaps�?� He
     waited for the notion to sink in and continued, sweeping his arm round towards the cave �Ladies and
     Gentlemen, we�ve discovered our �Chernobyl�.�

     There was silence amongst the assembled group, �I think we need to get back to Beer Sheba and
     return here at first light� Max motioned for everyone to come over �Lucia, you can talk to the two
     archaeologists, I believe they�re staying at the same hotel as we are. James, Diana, you can check out
     the medical reports of the people who were affected by�� whatever. Letitia talk to the locals, find out
     what rumours are going around, any legends about anything similar happening here before� He slapped
     Peter on the shoulder �� and you and I, my friend, will check out that cave�

     14.  

     The plane touched down in the early hours of the morning. Sally and David discovered there was no way
     to reach Beer Sheba by road then. A helpful Security Guard suggested they take the shuttle which left
     at 6.00 am, it would be a half hour flight and save them many hours of travel through the heat and dust.
     Doyle found a coffee machine and brought two cups over to where Sally was sitting looking forlorn. �It�s
     like something is trying to keep me from Peter� she mumbled, taking one of the cups gratefully �I�m so
     tired, David, everything you�ve told me�.it�s hard to take in� He nodded, �It�s not everyday we have to
     face Babylonian demons who may turn out to be Extra-terrestrial!� The remark made Sally smile
     despite her fatigue. When Peter first told her about some of the cases he�d investigated she was sure
     he�d exaggerated, embellished the stories, but this was as outlandish as anything he�d told her about.
     �Could you have been mistaken about any of this, David?� she asked sipping the coffee. �Nope. The
     device is still partly embedded in the rock, they can�t get it out and it seems to be generating a powerful
     force-field, the military applications of which are obvious� He shifted in his seat, he was also
     succumbing to the weariness caused by the journey. ��and if they disable the device� he added as an
     afterthought ��.God help mankind�

     15.

     Back at the hotel in Beer Sheba, Peter had excused himself from the table he�d shared with Max and
     Lucia for the evening meal and retired to his room. Max reminded him in many ways of his old Case
     Manager, Connor Doyle. He felt he could trust Max implicitly, but sometimes the jokes got a bit much,
     British humour was quirky to say the least, something he�d also discovered from Sally.

     After showering, he sat on the edge of the bed and called home. As the phone rang half way across the
     world, he waited to hear Sally answer. He was taken aback when he heard his own voice cut in �Axon
     residence, please leave a message� He replaced the receiver, it was early afternoon in Toronto, maybe
     Sally had gone shopping? He lay back on the pillow thinking about Sally and wishing she was here
     now. He drifted into sleep and in his dream he was back at the dig, standing in front of the cave. It was
     night time and there was an eerie green pulsating glow emanating from inside the cave. A robed,
     hooded figure emerged, silhouetted against the green light, it�s head bowed. The figure approached, it
     seemed to slide towards him rather than walk. He felt the fear rise inside him the closer the figure
     came, it lifted it�s head and Peter wanted to look away, fearful of what he might see under that hood. He
     was rooted to the spot. The figure looked up at him, it was Sally!
     �Sal�.? Sally�.?� Peter called out, he tried to move towards her but his limbs didn�t respond. Sally
     was saying something, he strained to hear her, her lips were moving but there was no sound. Suddenly
     a look of surprise crossed Sally�s face, a roaring sound like a mighty wind, reverberated from the cave
     and she was being drawn backwards into it. She held out her arms to Peter, now he could hear her
     words �Peter, help me, aen-naegdae�.aenae toht�Peter� Her body seemed to melt, it was like a plastic
     doll left too close to the heat, her features disintegrated, turned to liquid and the scream�.� Peter woke
     up bathed in sweat, somebody was hammering on the door to his room, �Peter, Peter, are you okay?
     Peter?� it was Lucia. The scream had been Peter�s.

     He opened the door; Max was standing behind Lucia, concern written across his face. �Just a nightmare�
     Peter assured them. �The same one?� Lucia was pushing past Peter; she led him back to the bed and sat
     him down. Max poured him a glass of water and joined them.
     �No, yes,�no� Peter was still confused, he gulped at the water �It was the robed figure but it was Sally,
     and I was at the cave and there was a green light, and it wanted her�.� He put the glass on the night-
     stand and sat with his hands supporting his head. �What�s happening to me?� Lucia pulled his hands
     away from his face and held them. �Have you spoken to Sally since we arrived?� �No, I tried to but she
     must have been out, the answer machine was on.� Max looked at his watch �It�s late evening in Canada.
     Try her now� Peter nodded lifting the receiver and dialled, after a few moments he heard his own voice
     again, he held it towards Lucia so she could hear. He replaced the receiver once more. �Look Peter,
     maybe you should go home. I can contact Oscar and get him to send another Operative� Max knew what
     Peter�s reply would be. �Max I�m fine�

     16.

     Sally and David boarded the small plane for the flight to Beer Sheba. They didn�t speak, Sally was
     thinking about everything he had told her. It was fanciful to say the least, ancient spirit demons, portals
     back in time, extra-terrestrial devices, force-fields and danger for Peter. She�d assumed David was
     concerned about his friend Max, but actually it was Peter he was worried about.

     According to David, stone tablets had been unearthed all across the middle east - Sumerian, Hittite,
     Babylonian, Egyptian, Hebrew - they all told the same story one way or another. The eternal struggle
     between the powers of Order and Chaos. The dig was located in an area known as Seir. It was the home
     of the sons of Seir of the Horites, a tribe who were displaced by the Edomites around 1800 BC, after
     which they moved into parts of Mesopotamia and Syria. Lotan was the eldest son of Seir, he was better
     known by the Hebrew name Leviathan, representative of Chaos.

     Chaos�.Peter�s specialised subject�.there were moments, he�d told Sally, when he was so close to
     understanding it�s very nature. He had been working for years on completing Einstein�s Unified Field
     Theory. Peter had picked up on an idea of chaos theory by mathematical physicist Rouelle. His ideas
     had initiated work on the understanding of turbulence. �If you understand the non-linear partial
     differential equations described in turbulent motion, you can understand the nature of time itself�
     Peter enthused, as he always did whenever her talked about the subject, �Did you know Heisenberg still
     worried about it on his deathbed!? � Sally didn�t understand the significance of what Peter was telling
     her at the time. �Think about it,� he�d said �How can an infinite number of events be going on in a finite
     space? You need infinite logic to understand what a point in time is going to do, there have to be some
     laws of physics which we haven�t discovered yet, but when we do it will be the answer to everything - what
     came before the universe, what is beyond it  - in effect we will understand chaos and we will master it�

     She hoped what David had told her was way off the mark. He�d said Peter was closer to understanding
     the nature of time and space than anyone imagined. Such knowledge was dangerous because the spirit of
     Kingu had been drawn to it, after all it was the key to freedom and passage back to this world full of
     fresh souls to infuse with evil. It had waited for someone like Peter, for countless millennia, after being
     despatched back to the dawn of time.

     They reached the hotel just before 09.00 am. Striding into the lobby, Sally saw Lucia and called to her.
     Lucia looked up in surprise and rushed over � Sally! Peter has been trying to call you�
     �Where is he?�
     �He left with Max for the dig a couple of hours ago�
     Sally almost collapsed on the spot and reached for the reception desk to steady herself, Lucia grabbed
     her arm at the same time �Sally, you look awful�
     �Just tired, I haven�t slept since your call and I�ve been travelling here ever since.�
     �I�ll be heading out to the dig in a few hours, why don�t you rest till then?�
     Sally nodded, then remembered �David! I almost forgot� she turned round just as he was staggering
     through the front door with the luggage.
     Sally left Lucia and David chatting and made her way to the room Peter had been allocated. She
     kicked off her shoes and collapsed onto the bed. The pillow smelled of Peter and she felt safe with
     the memory it instilled. She was asleep in moments.     

     17.

     That morning each O.S.I.R. team member attended to their respective responsibilities set by Max.
     While Lucia interviewed the British archaeologists Hetherington and Kramer, Drs Henderson and
     Donaldson set off for the local hospital. Twelve of the affected workers from the dig were languishing
     in the Mental Health Ward. They�d been heavily sedated and restrained. There wasn�t a lot to be
     learned from the charts, the Duty Doctor had described all the men as irrational and incoherent. They
     headed back to the hotel ready for the journey to the dig.

     Sally had been dead to the world; Lucia woke her soon after midday. Despite her brief sleep she felt
     refreshed, the thought that she�d soon be with Peter spurred her on. Lucia had brought up some
     sandwiches and mineral water to the room, which Sally accepted gratefully. She showered, dressed in
     fresh cotton clothing and went down to the hotel lobby to meet the others.

     18.

     At the dig site, Diana Miles had been analysing the samples collected from around the cave, it was a
     pretty sterile area. The soil contained little organic matter or nitrogen, there were significant salt
     accumulations and possibly with the right amount of irrigation, the area could be productive. The rock
     samples were tectonic; a sedimentary cover on ancient shields with traces of potash and phosphates,
     about the only thing anyone could do in the area was nomadic herding. Diana loved her job, she joined
     the O.S.I.R. straight from College and her fellow students were green with envy that she�d secured such
     a prestigious position so young.

     It hadn�t been easy studying and working in order to pay her fees but she�d managed and now she was
     reaping the rewards. No one could ever have imagined what it would lead to when her parents had given
     her that Chemistry Set on her eighth birthday!

     �Found anything?� Peter Axon had returned to the air-conditioned sanctuary of the Mobile Lab.
     Diana almost dropped the test tube rack; Peter had that effect on her. She�d been attracted to the
     handsome Physicist since the first time she met him. Even though she pretended otherwise, she loved it
     when he teased her. She was heartbroken when Peter returned from Britain with his new wife. Diana
     had cried herself to sleep that night, and what made it worse was that Peter�s wife was so likeable and,
     though she was loathe to admit it, they were also a perfect match. Sally was as dedicated to Peter as
     Peter was dedicated to Sally.

     �No, nothing unusual. How about you?�
     �We�ve cleared the barricade and Winkler, �Conan� and Max are rigging up a winch so I can go into the
     cave to investigate� he rubbed his forehead; the desert heat was giving him a headache. He looked at his
     watch �We have a round table in half an hour, the others should be here soon� Peter picked up a bottle
     of mineral water and went back outside. He looked back towards the narrow road which led from Avdat
     and thought he saw the glint of a windshield in the distance.  He sat in the shade on the steps of the
     Mobile Lab drinking the mineral water.

     Peter stood up as the vehicle approached, ready to greet his colleagues. Lucia stepped out and turned to
     hold the door for the others, the brilliant sunshine was making him squint but he just caught a glimpse
     of blonde-haired figure, Donaldson and Carradine both had dark hair. As the figure moved into view he
     saw it was Sally. �Sally??!!�
     �Peter!!!� she ran to him and he swept her up in his arms. She smelled so fragrant and tasted wonderful
     as he kissed her. �Sally, what are you doing here?� �It�s a long story, I think David can explain better
     than me� she turned to introduce her husband to David Doyle.

     �Well, well, well, if it isn�t my old mate David Doyle� Max had returned from the cave, he shook
     Doyle�s hand and slapped him on the back almost sending him flying. �Let�s get out of this heat, round
     table time everyone�.

     19.

     Everyone listened gravely as Doyle related what he�d discovered. Max looked round the table at the
     faces of his team, they�d all experienced so many strange phenomena in their time with the O.S.I.R.,
     and as bizarre as the details of this Case sounded, they were prepared to go along with the idea until
     they could come up with a better explanation.

     �Letitia, any luck with the locals?� Max looked across at the Anthropologist.
     �They�re all worried, word has got out about the place they�re calling b�ir zomorrod, literally it means
     �Emerald Well� as some of the men who worked near there described it glowing with the light of an
     emerald at night, apparently the cave drops down vertically just a few meters inside the entrance and
     shimmers like water in a well� Peter�s eyes widened � That was in the dream I had last night� He was
     gripping Sally�s hand tightly, �You were in the dream too� he turned to Sally, �You were shouting to
     me,  it sounded like eye-nayda or something like that�
     �Could it have been aen-naegdae ?� asked Avram
     Peter nodded �It�s Arabic, it means �help me� �
     �There was more� Peter struggled to remember his dream � eye nye tort ???�
     �Hmm�� Avram thought for a moment � It could be aenae toht perhaps? It means �I�m lost� �
     Peter was puzzled, ��.but I don�t know any Arabic, how could I dream a language I have no knowledge
     of?�  �We�re straying off course here, did your enquiries bring anything else to light?� Max directed the
     question at Letitia Carradine, he knew the dangers of letting the imagination run riot, he wanted the
     team to concentrate on the facts. 'Plenty' she continued, �It took a lot of persuasion, and money, to get
     the men to work at the site in the first place. Most of the men are from families who�ve lived in the area
     for generations; they have a great history passed down orally. This area has always been considered
     �cursed� and avoided by everyone. They believe that poisons seep from the earth, perhaps �seep� is the
     wrong word, it�s more like �radiate� � Letitia looked down at her notes. �It could also be more than a
     coincidence that Sodom is a mere 30km north-east of here� she looked up �What? Forgotten you Bible
     classes?� Letitia opened her laptop and connected it to the Mobile Lab�s video screen. She punched in
     some commands and the information she�d downloaded from O.S.I.R. archives was instantly displayed on
     the vid-screen.

     Continued on the next page.........

    

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