But no mummified remains lay within the stone coffin.
Instead, she saw a thin wooden box, half a meter square, richly decorated, with two brass handles. Disappointment squeezed her stomach. She instantly masked that emotion and ordered, “Remove it.”
Viktor reached beneath the dangling stone lid, lifted out the ornate receptacle, and laid it on the marble pavement.
What had she expected? Any mummy would have been at least two thousand years old. True, Egyptian embalmers knew their craft and mummies that old and older had survived intact. But those had sat undisturbed in their tombs for centuries, not indiscriminately carted across the globe, disappearing for hundreds of years at a time. Ely Lund had been convinced that Ptolemy’s riddle was authentic. He’d been equally convinced that the Venetians, in 828, left Alexandria not with St. Mark, but with the remains of another, perhaps even the body that had rested in the Soma for six hundred years, revered and worshipped by all as Alexander the Great.
“Open it.”
Viktor released the hasps and removed the lid. The inside was lined with faded red velvet. More of the brittle cloth lay puffed within. She carefully removed it and spied teeth, a shoulder blade, a thigh bone, part of a skull, and ash.
She closed her eyes.
“What did you expect?” a new voice asked.
FIFTY-ONE
SAMARKAND
VINCENTI CONSIDERED KARYN WALDE’S ANSWER TO HIS QUESTION and asked, “What would you be willing to do to have your life?”
“There’s little I can do. Look at me. And I don’t even know your name.”
This woman had spent a lifetime manipulating and, even now, she was still capable.
“Enrico Vincenti.”
“Italian? You don’t look it.”
“I liked the name.”
She grinned. “I have a feeling, Enrico Vincenti, that you and I are a lot alike.”
He agreed. He was a man of two names, many interests, but one ambition. “What do you know about HIV?”
“Only that it’s killing me.”
“Did you know it has existed for millions of years? Which is incredible, considering it’s not even alive. Just ribonucleic acid-RNA-surrounded by a protective protein coat.”
“You’re some kind of scientist?”
“As a matter of fact, I am. Did you know HIV has no cell structure? It can’t produce a single speck of energy. The only characteristic of a living organism it ever displays is the ability to reproduce. But even that requires genetic material from a host.”
“Like me?”
“I’m afraid so. There are roughly a thousand viruses we know of. New ones, though, are found every day. Roughly half dwell in plants, the rest in animals. HIV is an animal dweller, but superbly unique.”
He saw the puzzled look on her wizened face. “Don’t you want to know what’s killing you?”
“Does it matter?”
“Actually, it could matter a great deal.”
“Then, my new friend, who’s here for who knows what, please continue.”
He appreciated her attitude. “HIV is special because it can replace another cell’s genetic makeup with its own. That’s why it’s called a retrovirus. It latches onto the cell and changes it into a duplicate of itself. It’s a burglar that robs another cell of its identity.” He paused and let the metaphor take hold. “Two hundred thousand HIV cells clumped together would scarcely be visible to the naked eye. It’s super resilient, almost indestructible, but it needs a precise mixture of protein, salts, sugars, and, most critical, the exact pH to live. Too much of one, too little of another and”-he snapped his fingers-“it dies.”
“I assume that’s where I come in?”
“Oh, yes. Warm-blooded mammals. Their bodies are perfect for HIV. Brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid, bone marrow, breast milk, cervical cells, seminal fluid, mucous membranes, vaginal secretions-they can all harbor it. Blood and lymph, though, are its favorite haunts. Like you, Ms. Walde”-he pointed-“the virus simply wants to survive.”
He glanced at the clock on the bedside table. O’Conner and the other two men were standing guard outside. He’d chosen to have his talk here since no one would bother them. Kamil Revin had told him that the guards on the house changed by the week. None of the Sacred Band enjoyed the duty, so, unless it was their turn, no one paid the location much attention. Just another of Zovastina’s many obsessions.
“Here’s the interesting thing,” he said. “HIV shouldn’t even be able to live inside you. Too many infection-fighting cells roaming in your blood. But it adopted a refined form of microscopic guerrilla warfare, playing hide-and-seek with your white blood cells. It learned to secrete itself away in a place where they would never even consider looking.”
He let the moment dangle, then said, “Lymph nodes. Pea-size nodules scattered throughout the body. They act as filters, trapping unsuspecting intruders so the white cells can destroy them. The nodes are the lion’s den of your immune system, the last place a retrovirus should use as a hiding place, but they proved the perfect location. Quite amazing, really. HIV learned to duplicate the protein coating the immune system naturally produces within the lymph nodes. So, undetected, right under the nose of the immune system, it patiently lives, converting lymph nodes’ cells from infection-fighting enemies to duplicates of itself. For years it does this, until the nodes swell, then deteriorate, and the bloodstream is flooded with HIV. Which explains why it takes such a long time from actual infection to know the virus is in your blood.”
His mind flashed with the analytical thinking of the scientist he was for many years. Now, though, he was a global entrepreneur, a manipulator, much like Karyn Walde, about to perform the greatest manipulation of all.
“And do you know what’s even more amazing?” he asked. “Each replication of a cell by HIV is individual. So when the lymph nodes collapse, instead of one invader, there are billions of different invaders, an army of variant retrovirus strains, running unchecked through your blood. Your immune system reacts, like it’s supposed to, but it’s forced to generate new and different white cells to battle each strain. Which is impossible. And to make matters worse, all of the variant strains of the retrovirus can destroy any of the white cells. The odds are billions against one, the results all but inevitable-of which you are living proof.”
“Surely, you came for more than a science lesson.”
“I came to see if you wanted to live.”
“Unless you’re an angel or God himself, that’s impossible.”
“Now, you see, that’s the thing. HIV can’t kill anybody. But it does render you defenseless when another virus, bacteria, fungus, or parasite enters your bloodstream in search of a home. Not enough white blood cells to cleanse the stream. So the only question is which infection will be the cause of your death?”
“How about you screw off and leave me to die.”
Karyn Walde was indeed a bitter woman, but talking to her had stirred his dreams. He imagined himself addressing the press, reporters hanging on his every word, becoming, overnight, a worldwide recognized authority. He envisioned book deals, movie rights, television specials, speaking engagements, awards. Certainly the Albert Lasker Prize. The National Medal for Science. Perhaps even a Nobel Prize. Why not?