But something had to be triggering this outbreak on Earth. Daniel didn't know whether they'd find the answers they needed in molecular biology or in the exasperatingly cryptic lessons left by the Ancients. Either way, for now, nearly everything remained a question.
Lengthening his stride to match their visitor's brisk pace, McKay asked, with awkward civility, "So…what kinds of cults do you specialize in studying?"
Larance barely glanced over at him. "Violent ones."
"Ah. I suppose that makes sense." McKay let himself fall a half step behind again. Whether he had some interest in her or had been trying in his own way to uncover more information, Daniel couldn't tell, but it was always entertaining to watch him fumble.
Elizabeth led them into the briefing room, which felt smaller with the blast doors closed over the gate room windows. The monitors that usually displayed the status of the gate and offworld teams had been switched off, and on the table beneath them, a carafe of water and pot of bubbling coffee stood beside a stack of cups and a plate of cookies. Bland and unremarkable, the room could have belonged to any company or hotel conference room in the world, complete with a potted plant in one comer.
As McKay made a beeline for the food, Sheppard and Carolyn arrived, presumably having taken the bodies to the SGC's morgue. While Carolyn admitted that she trusted the county ME, she'd also stated that she'd be scrutinizing his autopsy notes thoroughly. She also had a few additional tests to perform-primarily a check for the Wraith enzyme.
There was barely enough time for everyone to grab coffee before Landry strode in. Civilian or not, Larance straightened noticeably at his arrival. Daniel couldn't blame her; most people didn't bump into two-star generals every day.
"Agent Larance, welcome." Landry briskly pumped her hand twice. "Hank Landry. I'm the commander of this facil ity. We're grateful for any insight you can provide into the situation."
"Thank you, sir. I assure you the sentiment goes both ways." Larance's tone still held a sizable amount of caution. Daniel couldn't blame her for that, either.
While they shuffled around enough to get everyone a seat at the conference table, McKay darted a glance toward Sheppard, who frowned at him.
"What?"
"Nothing. It's…" McKay waved a hand inarticulately in the Colonel's direction, perhaps indicating his uniform shirt. "That combination, the tie and the hair-I'm just saying, it's incongruous."
Sheppard's answering look bordered on insolence. "Live with it."
"Our earlier briefing on this subject was cut short," Landry said, "so if Dr. Jackson is prepared to pick up where we left off…"
"Of course." Daniel moved over to the computer positioned against the wall and called up his files on one of the room's main monitors. The leads he'd had to follow so far were flimsy and vague enough that it wouldn't take much more than a short description of the mythological context to get the others up to speed. There were numerous aspects of the Lilith story that he was eager to pursue further, as soon as possible. The urgency of the current situation aside, it had been some time since he'd had the opportunity to do the type ofpure research that had first drawn him to this field, and after everything that had happened recently he could admit to feeling the need to reconnect with his roots.
"Lilith," he began, "as Drs. Larance and Zelenka pointed out, is identified by some Talmudic texts as the first wife of Adam."
"I may not have been paying attention, but I think my Sunday school class skipped over that," commented Sheppard.
"Very likely, since she doesn't rate a mention in the Bible. Having said that, Lilith does make an appearance on the roof of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, in Michelangelo's Temptation and Fall." Daniel brought up an image on the monitor. In the painting, a half-serpent/half-woman creature wound itself around a tree. "Essentially, Lilith represents a compilation of fabled demons found in the Kabbalah and Babylonian mythology. One interpretation suggests that Adam and Lilith were created simultaneously and given joint dominion over the Garden of Eden. However, Lilith refused to lay beneath Adam."
Quickly swallowing a sip of coffee, McKay raised a tentative hand. "And by `lay beneath,' you mean-"
"Yes, Rodney," Elizabeth answered briskly. "Daniel, you were saying?"
Clicking the computer mouse to display the next image, a map of ancient Persia, Daniel walked over to the screen and indicated the region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. "Anyway, refusing to adopt a subservient role, Lilith invoked the name of God, an act that in many cultures is considered sacred and powerful in its own right. She then took to the air and left the Garden of Eden." He traced a line from Iraq to Egypt. "And settled on the coast of the Red Sea, where she became the consort of Samael and bore him countless Win — offspring."
"And Samael is…?" Landry asked.
"Satan." Daniel pushed ahead. "According to Talmudic mythology, at Adam's request, God sent to Lilith three angels-Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof-who ordered her to return to Adam. If she refused, the angels would kill one hundred of her demonic children for each day she stayed away. Lilith countered that she and her Win would prey eternally upon the sons of Adam, namely humans. The Talmud further states that such children could only be saved by invoking the names of the three angels."
"Which is why," Larance broke in, "Hebrew tradition dic tates that an amulet inscribed with those three names is placed around the neck of each newborn boy, to protect him from Lilith."
Her unexpected contribution took Daniel by surprise. From the curious expressions of the others, it was clear he wasn't alone.
"I didn't wander into my line of work yesterday, Dr. Jackson. If this mythology primer is all you've got, we're wasting everyone's time." The profiler started to rise from the table.
"Sit down, Doctor." Landry's voice resonated with all the authority of his rank. "Before you arrived, I had a phone conversation with your Director. He assured me that we'd have the full cooperation of the Bureau in this investigation, starting with you."
After a tense moment, Larance managed to check her obvious resentment at being overruled, and settled back into her chair. "No disrespect intended, General," she replied with cool civility. "Let me simply say that I've done the same homework as your people. Lilith appears in Roman mythology as a night demon called a strix, who stole children. The strix was a nocturnal flying creature, similar to a vampire in the way it fed on human flesh and blood, with the ability to transform into a wild animal such as a lycaon."
"Lycaon," echoed McKay, the word slightly garbled as he finished chewing a bite of cookie. "Lycanthropy-isn't that…" He swallowed quickly. "Werewolves?"
"Does this mean we have to start taking the Underworld movies seriously? Because that might be kind of tough." Sheppard plucked the cookie out of Rodney's hand and set it down on the table. "Two hours of Kate Beckinsale kicking ass," he muttered to his teammate, "and what you remember is the mythological name?"
"Therianthropy is the correct term," Daniel said. "The metamorphosis of humans into wild animals of all types-even chimeras, or creatures made up from the parts of multiple animals. They're also interpreted by some as night monsters, succubi, and vampires. Keep in mind that all these creatures are considered to be the demonic offspring or, less literally, the creations of Lilith, not Lilith herself."
"Not to mention the fact that there are known genetic disorders that can account for the existence of many of these supposed monstrosities," Larance countered, her impatience clearly returning. "Hypertrichosis can cause the excessive body hair identified with werewolves; porphyria has been explored as a potential explanation for some of the traits associated with vampires. It's the age-old story of people fearing and marginalizing things they don't understand. Based on the physical descriptions of suspects in these murders, the Bureau has already investigated Marfan's syndrome and cystathi- oninuria, an enzyme deficiency disease, as possible factors, with a view to tracing perpetrators through a national database of registered recipients of the prescribed medication for such disorders. None of this is news, Dr. Jackson."