The Revelation Code (Wilde/Chase 11) Read Free

much space that these were relegated to separate tablets laid out around the room’s waterlogged perimeter.
    It was obvious what the temple had been built to house. The wall opposite the entrance contained a niche a little over a foot high, more gold lining it. Above it was a faded painting, a stylised seven-branched menorah – a Hebrew lampstand – with several letters over it. Carvings resembling the sun’s rays directed Rosemont’s eyes to its contents.
    A strange stone figure filled the nook. Its body was human – but the head was that of a lion. Wrapped tightly around the statuette’s torso, shrouding it like wings, were several metal sheets embossed with a pattern resembling eyes.
    Cross stood at the alcove, examining the artefact. ‘Do you see it?’ he gasped. ‘Do you see it?’
    ‘Yeah, I see it,’ Rosemont replied. There was a new edge to the other man’s voice that he had never heard before, a breathless excitement – no, wonderment . ‘What is it?’
    Cross gave his superior a glance that was somewhere between pity and disdain. ‘You don’t see it, otherwise you’d know.’
    ‘Okay, then enlighten me.’
    ‘An apt choice of words.’ He leaned closer for a better look at the leonine head. ‘It’s an angel.’
    ‘Yeah, I can see that, I guess. It does kinda look like an angel.’
    ‘No, you don’t understand. It doesn’t just look like an angel. It is an angel! Exactly as described in the Book of Revelation! Chapter four, verse six – “Four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion.” And there’s more: “And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him.”’ He crouched, the water sloshing up to his chest. ‘There’s something written on its side. I know what it says.’
    ‘You can read it?’ asked Rosemont, surprised.
    ‘No – but I still know what it says. Revelation chapter four, verse eight – “And they rest not, day and night, saying ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.’” They aren’t speaking day and night – the words are written on them, always visible. That’s what it means!’
    ‘That’s what what means?’
    ‘Revelation! I understand it, it’s all coming to me . . .’ Cross stared at the angel, then turned to face Rosemont. The older agent was momentarily startled by his expression, an almost messianic light burning in his eyes. ‘You said this lake was a meteorite crater. Revelation chapter eight, verse ten – “There fell a great star from heaven, burning as if it were a lamp.” Wormwood, the falling star; it’s describing a fireball, a meteor strike – and this is it, this is where it landed! It’s the bottomless pit!’ He faced the alcove once more. ‘The prophecy, it’s true . . .’
    ‘All right, so you’ve had a vision from God,’ said Rosemont, his discomfort replaced by impatience. ‘We’ve still got a mission to carry out. This is a job for archaeologists, not the CIA – let Indiana Jones take care of it. We need to get Kerim’s intel on those Iraqi positions.’
    ‘You do that,’ Cross replied as he took out a compact digital camera. ‘This is more important.’
    ‘The hell it is.’ Rosemont stepped closer as Cross took a photo of the alcove and the surrounding text-covered wall. ‘You’re coming with me, right now—’
    ‘Mike!’ Arnold’s shout reached them from outside. ‘The chopper, it’s coming back!’
    ‘Shit,’ said Rosemont. The Iraqis had probably spotted the Toyota’s tracks cutting across the dried-up marshlands. ‘Okay, Bible study’s over – move out!’
    He splashed back down the tunnel, readying his rifle. Cross hesitated, then almost reverently took the angel from its niche, finding it surprisingly heavy for its size, and followed.
    The two men joined Arnold near the broken pillar. ‘They’ve turned out their nav lights,’ he warned.
    Rosemont listened. The pulsing thunder again grew louder, coming from