That they were dead, killed by soldiers, and that we'd be dead as well if we weren't both careful and extremely lucky.

Then I pa.s.sed out.

The first thing I remember clearly was the taste of coffee. The second thing I remember was Samran pressing a gun into my hand and telling me that I had to interpret our data for him or choose someone to kill.

I stood up, swaying, trying to wake up. 'What?'

He was patient with me. 'Either you pick someone to kill or I will kill everyone here, one by one, until you do as I have asked.'

'If you're going to kill us all anyway why should I -?' 'Because this way some of your friends will live.' 'But I have to choose which one will die.'

'And kill them.' Samran shrugged. His smile showed bright, even teeth. 'Or you could cooperate: interpret the data for me.'

I was fully aware again by now. The shock of being left behind and of finding Dilaver dead was starting to wear off? The coffee I had been given helped. So had the couple of hours' rest. I hefted the gun in my hand. I wondered how much control of the situation it would give me.

I became aware that they were all watching me. Raelsen. Levinson. n.o.ble.

Sehna Even Tammuz. They were all covered by Iraqi soldiers. I could see the fear in their faces, the confusion. And who could blame them? With the exception of Tammuz they had come here to investigate the past. They were scientists, not soldiers. Civilians. Now I could see from their expressions that they were scared and confused? They knew they might die here? I could see a terrible mixture of antic.i.p.ation and condemnation in their faces. Antic.i.p.ation that they might get to live; condemnation of me - for possibly killing one of them to save the others. They hated me for having the choice.

Only I knew it wouldn't work like that: that the choice I had was really no choice at all., Samran wanted information? He was going to get it no matter what the cost in human life. If we all had to die so be it: he would interpret the data himself - just a little more slowly and with a greater margin of error, that was all. We were a convenience. A luxury. One he could easily do without.

Samran watched me watching them and his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. I dangled the gun from its trigger guard, held it out towards him. 'I don't play these sort of games, Colonel?'

He looked at the gun, a mild expression creasing his face. He seemed amused, almost contemptuous. 'If I take the gun I will shoot your friends,'

he said simply. 'One by one. Until I get what I want.' He made no attempt to take the gun. 'Is that what you want?'

I frowned, flipped the gun into my palm, aimed it at Raelsen. I saw his expression change. His eyes widened. I shifted the gun around, pointed it in turn at n.o.ble, Sehna Levinson, back to Raelsen, then to Tammuz, tied to his rock. I watched Samran while I did this, hoping for some clue, an edge, something to give me an advantage. There was nothing. I moved the gun back to Raelsen. His expression didn't change but he was breathing harder.

I winked, then abruptly swung the gun to cover Samran. Half a dozen soldiers moved quickly to cover me. Too late. I had the drop on them.

'Back off boys. Or I turn your boss into a colander.' I grinned at Samran.

'The rules of the game have just been changed.'

His expression did not change. The soldiers did not move. For a moment we stared at each other, the gun a cold weight between us.

'You would give your own life? To take mine?' I said nothing. Be inscrutable. They hate that.

He thought it over, signalled to his men. The soldiers moved fast. Each covered one member of the expedition. That left half a dozen left over to cover me. Still Samran did not smile. 'The rules have just changed back again.' He shrugged, a casual movement of narrow shoulders. 'But the choice is still yours. Kill me and you all die.' He paused, then added, 'Of course you could still cooperate? In which case you will all live.'

I thought it over. There didn't seem to be any way to win? I let the gun dangle by its trigger guard from my finger.

This time he took it. 'Good. Your friends may live. We will begin interpreting the data immediately.' He smiled. 'I am glad you chose to end the game this way.'

'You better hope there's never a rematch,' I muttered angrily.

He ejected the gun's ammo clip. Gave it to me. There were no bullets in it.

He laughed as he took out a fresh clip. 'Brave words, Mrs Summerfield.

Maybe one day you will get your wish. For now - his eyes narrowed and his voice snapped out like a whip as he slapped the clip into place '-you will do as you are told.'

Interpreting the data was easy. Collating it was hard. Everyone had their own system, and all of them were angry with me for agreeing - as they saw it - to sell them out to Samran. I didn't blame them. They hadn't seen what I'd seen. Hadn't seen Dot and Reefer killed. I doubt if any of them had experienced anything more traumatic in their lives than university politics.

Well, maybe Raelsen had. He was an engineer. And there was that aborted conversation we'd had - nearly had - back in Dogubayazit. The one in which he'd hinted at some traumatic reason for his interest in the Tendurek Formation. Twelve days ago. That was all it had been. Grief, how things change.

Raelsen surrendered his notes easily. The others followed suit. All except Ed Levinson.

He stood an arm's length from me, clutching his laptop. His face was calm.

Too calm. 'You can't have it.'

I sighed. 'Look around you. You see any of these soldiers holding water pistols? They'll shoot you if you don't cooperate.'

Ed sat down, crosslegged., He said calmly, 'I claim diplomatic immunity. I am not subject to this conflict. I will not surrender my information.'

By now the soldiers were getting interested. One sauntered over, gun at the ready.

'Ed, please.'

Ellie n.o.ble said, 'Ed, don't be silly. It's a bunch of numbers. It's not worth your life.'

Levinson licked his lips. 'You don't understand. If we all refused to cooperate there's nothing they could do.' He looked at me and his eyes were bright with accusation. 'It's your fault. You're working with them.'

n.o.ble moved closer, put her hand on Levinson's arm. 'Benny's just doing what she thinks will save our lives. It will. If you cooperate.'

Levinson shook off n.o.ble's hand. 'No! You're both working with them. Give up our data? Then what? They get all the credit, we get nothing!'

The penny dropped. I said, 'Ed, listen to me very carefully. They don't want to publish. They think there are uranium deposits here. They don't want the Ark data. They're not going to steal any academic glory from you. They don't want to publish? They want to -'

Levinson jumped to his feet, still clutching the laptop to his chest. 'Sure, I see it! They want to dig up Tendurek, dig up the Ark! And for what? A bunch of uranium to make bombs out of? Don't you get it? The Ark is a symbol of life - we can't let them make it into one of death!'

By this time Samran himself had heard the argument. He came out of his tent and quickly crossed the hundred or so yards that separated us? 'What is going on here?' He looked at me. 'I told you to get the data. Is this man refusing to cooperate?' He drew his pistol.

I said, 'No, Colonel. Everything's fine. Ed's just expressing some ...

concern, that's all.'

Levinson turned to face Samran, 'You think we're fools! You think we'll just give up our data to you like that?' He stepped closer to Samran and snapped his fingers in the colonel's face.

Half a dozen soldiers had their guns levelled before the click of Levinson's fingers echoed away. Samran's own gun, aimed at the radar specialist's face, seemed almost redundant.

Ellie n.o.ble was holding Levinson's arm and whispering, 'Ed, no, please, don't be stupid,' over and over again? Levinson ignored her. 'Well we won't!

We have immunity. The American Emba.s.sy in Ankara will hear of this. In fact I'll b.l.o.o.d.y well phone them now, and then we'll see what you have to say to that!'

He reached into his pocket.

Samran jammed his gun barrel against Levinson's forehead. 'Do not move.'

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 crushing.

'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 warships 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 relationship 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.