fallen angel, that I discovered in Iraq three years ago. I had tried in the past to conduct genetic transfer studies, requesting through normal channels permission to conduct the procedures, but the Ethics Board of the American Medical Association refused me. I was due to return to Israel when the AEA stepped in and provided me with a cover for my work.”
“What connection does MACE have to all of this?”
“MACE provided me with security and equipment under the guise of experiments in battlefield trauma prevention. They did so in Washington DC at first and then here in Israel after it became too difficult to maintain secrecy.”
“The reason why scientists like Lucy disappeared from the Negev,” Ethan realized. “You abducted them when they found useful remains. What’s MACE’s endgame?”
Sheviz’s features screwed up in distaste as he spoke.
“They are bent on procuring the profits of war. MACE is here to sell their unmanned aerial drones to Israel. In order to assure their success, they are supplying explosives to the insurgent groups here to continue the war.”
“And the church provides the finance for your gruesome little experiments?” Ethan asked.
“Money,” Sheviz agreed, “equipment and premises from which to operate. We conducted several tests in America on drug addicts who were less likely to be reported missing, but they were unsuccessful. Only one subject survived but he was severely impaired afterward.”
Ethan felt himself recoil inwardly at the surgeon’s choice of clinical words. Tests. Subjects. Impaired.
“Go on.”
Sheviz spoke quietly.
“After the fourth patient succumbed it was decided that we could no longer use drug addicts and so I was secretly flown here by MACE in their private jet. We needed new material from which to extract fresh DNA. I had heard from contacts at the Hebrew University about Lucy Morgan working in the Negev and had followed her work closely. I advised that she might find fresh remains near Masada, where once Neolithic villages had existed. When she succeeded, I called in MACE to abduct her and secure the remains. I then used the finds as leverage to effect further abductions and obtain clean bodies.”
“And killed them in the process,” Lieutenant Ash snarled.
“What about the remains that Lucy found?” Ethan asked.
“Ah, yes,” Sheviz said, “a fine specimen of a Nephilim, a fallen son of God. I’ve found fragmentary remains in Iraq and India before now, but never a complete specimen. They are aboard a MACE jet at Ben Gurion airport, bound for the United States.”
Lucy Morgan eased herself away from her mother.
“You’ve found other remains?” she stammered.
Sheviz smirked at her despite his pain.
“You scientists, you think you know everything but you miss so much. Remains of Nephilim have been found before but discounted by science as aberrations or lost to history. My team and I have excavated such remains in the ruins of ancient cities several times in the past. We searched for years in the deserts, the jungles, and the mountains, only ever discovering fragmentary bones, but the DNA we extracted from them was unlike any terrestrial signature, the genetic code of God locked into them for all eternity. The evidence of angels, of the Nephilim on Earth, litters our earliest civilizations. They are out there right now, just waiting to be found by those of sufficient faith to locate them.”
“Those remains aren’t the result of some biblical fantasy, no matter how much you want to believe it,” Lucy snapped. “That’s why your sick little experiments don’t work.”
“What’s a Nephilim?” Lieutenant Ash asked. “What’s this about?”
Ethan answered before Sheviz could speak.
“It’s just a fossil that has black-market value,” he said quickly. “These lunatics think it’s the remains of an angel. How were you doing this, Sheviz?”
“We used stem cells extracted from the Nephilim, reverse engineered to their embryonic state, to replace the nucleus of egg cells provided by Lucy Morgan. Our intention was to place those fertilized eggs in vitro into Lucy, inducing a viable pregnancy. She would carry the son of God in her womb, launching the Second Coming and the final solution to the covenant between man and God.”
“What the hell would MACE have to do with all of this?” the lieutenant asked.
Sheviz sneered at Lieutenant Ash as he spoke.
“MACE has been abducting people for years and hiding them away, before negotiating their release for ransom. They’ve made a tidy sum for themselves all over the world, mimicking insurgent groups and corrupt police forces, and use an assassin to erase any trace of their deception. I have heard them refer to him as Rafael.”