The Cradle of Life by Dave Stern Page B

but all that was left inside was the Ramante: a plague which came as a companion to life.”
    â€œCompanion?” Stevens asked.
    â€œIn nature there’s always balance. The world comes in pairs. Right and wrong. Yin and yang. What’s pain without pleasure—”
    Calloway cut her off. “What did this plague do?”
    â€œIt leveled pharoah’s army.”
    She met Calloway’s gaze, held it with her own. “That’s right. Just like the army in your photo.”
    The two agents glanced at each other, and sat a little straighter. Leaned a little closer.
    â€œGo on,” Calloway said.
    â€œThe pharoah’s son dispatched his finest soldier to take the box and transport it to the end of the world, beyond the reach of man. The story ends there.” Lara spun the globe again. The room was silent a moment.
    â€œI don’t understand,” Calloway finally said. “What does this have to do with Reiss? With the Orb?”
    Lara stopped the globe, with her finger stuck square in the middle of India.
    â€œTwo thousand years later, Alexander the Great reached India. His army was ravaged by a plague—”
    She passed her copy of the fax she’d sent Kosa to Calloway—
    â€œâ€”after one soldier discovered a small box among some remains.”
    â€œIndia.” Stevens frowned. “So you’re saying—that’s where the pharoah’s man brought it?”
    â€œThat’s right,” Lara said. “India—specifically, the Bay of Bengal—was commonly regarded as the end of the world in Alexander’s time. No one knew about the Americas, or China.”
    â€œAnd Alexander found it?”
    â€œI think so.” She was going on conjecture now, based on what she knew of the man, but it all made sense to her. “Found it, and realized the box was too powerful to be trusted to any man. So he returned it to its home—at the cradle of life. It’s never been seen since.”
    â€œIs this still a story? Or is any of this fact?”
    â€œThat’s the question, isn’t it?”
    â€œAnd this cradle of life is where?” Calloway asked.
    â€œI don’t know. But Alexander did. He found a map that led him to it. The name he gave this map was mati .” A literal translation of the word mati is—eye.”
    Lara picked up the fax Stevens had shown her of the Orb.
    â€œThe Orb is the map, hidden in the Luna Temple by Alexander. Reiss wants it to find Pandora’s box. When he does, when he opens the box, he’ll unleash a weapon more terrible than any you can imagine.”
    â€œGood Lord,” Calloway said.
    Hillary exhaled. “I’ll go fetch that tea now.”
    Lara looked at the pale white faces of the two MI6 agents in front of her, and managed a smile.
    â€œI should think something stronger than tea,” she said.
    Calloway looked up at her and nodded weakly. “Yes. Much stronger, if you’ve got it.”
    Hillary cleared his throat and Lara knew he was about to launch into a detailed description of the contents of their liquor cabinet.
    She clapped Bryce on the shoulder. He looked up at her quizzically.
    â€œYou. Come.”

Six
    A half hour later, she and Bryce had downloaded and cataloged all the still images from her digicam onto his laptop. They were in the library, him sitting at Lara’s desk, her leaning over his shoulder, watching as he arranged the shots she’d managed to take of the Orb into a rough semblance of order.
    Lara heard the door open, heard the rattle of silver on a tray, and spoke without looking up.
    â€œHow are our friends from intelligence?”
    â€œGone outside to make more phone calls.” Hillary stepped over to the desk, set the tray down next to the laptop. Tea and scones. “Thought you two might like some sustenance.”
    â€œAh.” Bryce looked up and sniffed the air. “Cinnamon walnut, yes?”
    He