“Jesus Christ.” Hammerson spat the words. “These things are hard to see. They don’t show up on thermal, as there’s no body heat. And trying to find a single slow moving person in the entire Middle East is damned near impossible.” Hammerson exhaled. “And now they plan to take their war to the armies of Rome. One goes off in Italy, and we’ve got a world war on our hands.”

“Got to find that Traveler, and find the source. Both need to be totally destroyed,” Alex said.

“Agreed – find them, and take them down, hard.” Hammerson sat back, thinking. After a few seconds, he ran a hand up through his hair. “I can swing the satellites in on this to watch borders and sniff for any high energy particle traces. I’ll arrange for coded updates to get to you, but for the most part you’ll need to go dark when you cross into Iran. They’ve got some pretty sophisticated surveillance equipment in there – mostly Russian and Chinese, but top of the line. As soon as you start talking, they’ll begin to close in on you.”

“Blackout might be a good thing,” Alex said. “From now on, the less you know, the less you’ll have to deny to anyone who asks.”

“Works for me. You got any firm leads?” Hammerson asked.

“Maybe. Adira seems to think she has an idea where to start, but it’s a long shot. She told me that this reanimation process was thought to be a myth or a legend about an alchemist named Jabir ibn Hayyan, who lived over a thousand years ago in an ancient city called Tous – it’s still there today in northeastern Iran. She thinks that should be our first call. Best way in for us is to cross from Afghanistan into Turkmenistan, then drive a few hundred miles through empty desert.”

Hammerson whistled. “Wild West; nothing but a graveyard of fallen military power up there.”

Alex snorted. “Compared to Mosul? Walk in the park. I’ll contact you again when we’re on the ground. Good luck finding that last Traveler.”

“Same to you, and stay alive. Over and out.”

*

“Just you. A smaller team is a faster team.” Adira folded her arms.

“My full team, you and Eli, that’s five; all we need,” Alex said. “We’re better trained, and ready to go.”

“Than who?” Adira snorted. “Too many, and which ones can speak fluent Farsi? Which ones know where the safe houses are? Which ones know how to spot Sepah or Quds commandos on the ground?” She shook her head. “I know you’ll fight to the death, but what good are dead HAWCs to me?”

Alex exhaled. “Sam Reid can speak Farsi.”

Adira raised her brows. “Like an American.”