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ted to land to began their systematic hunt。 Over television； the cities looked like empty movie sets。 The peace was surreal。 In Jerusalem； the walls of the Old City glowed like molten gold in the summer sun。 Massive swarms of seabirds circled the metro areas； choosing their feasts。 batants no longer fought for the holy places。 There were no pilgrims； no prophets； no merchants； no children。 Only tourists dressed in biohazard 〃moon〃 suits。
Their goal was simple： find the virus。。。or prion。。。whatever type of microbe Corfu turned out to be。 It had to have a natural reservoir； a place of origin。 So far； the footprints were pure science fiction。 Epidemiologists had traced the contagion to an eccentric Greek billionaire's mansion on Corfu。 In time…honored tradition； the disease had been named after its point of outbreak。 It was now known that the Greek had collected…and opened…Christian relics； and routinely sent their contents to various labs for analysis。 Thanks to lab precautions and swift government action； the earliest emergence of Corfu had been contained to the cities which held the labs。 Investigators quickly pared lab notes and pinpointed the source； a Roman…era glass phial with bits of human remains。 Diseased remains。 The problem was more plicated than that。 There was a source behind the source。
The contagion may have emerged…in this century…on an island named Corfu； but that was not its natural reservoir。 Nor was the relic； which had traveled from country to country over two thousand years。 No one knew the relic's provenance； only its mythology。 Ready to believe anything； the public had reached its own conclusions。 The relic must have held some part of the historical Jesus。 The disease was； therefore； a divine punishment。 The proof lay in the dictionary。 The Latinplaga referred to an affliction； calamity or evil sent by God。
Divine or not； it was being clear that the natural reservoir was not just a place； but a time。 All portions of the relic had long since disappeared in the international chaos。 But according to lab reports； the Greek's wood samples had been dated to the early first century。
It was said that the Tartars besieging Kaffa in the year 1347 had catapulted corpses infested with bubonic plague over the city walls。 Corfu was the equivalent。 A disease had been catapulted through time； from the year zero into the twenty…first century。 In its original form； twenty centuries ago； the virus had apparently behaved like a normal virus。 It killed； but it also left survivors who could then transmit it to other hosts。 With time； contagions tended to evolve a working relationship with their host population。 From syphilis to malaria； once…lethal diseases grew less malevolent。 Killer viruses like chickenpox became mere childhood diseases。 Even AIDS and Ebola and the fictitious Andromeda Strain left survivors。
So far； Corfu was different。 Captured and contained as part of a relic two thousand years ago； the virus had apparently mutated。 It had grownmore lethal。 Mathematically； the odds were just as great that a virus would bee more deadly than less deadly。 Until this point in time； mankind had been lucky； that was all。 Now； in an age of super technology； experts refused to believe their own statistics。 But the hard fact was that to this date not one survivor had been located in any of the afflicted countries。 Before Corfu made its appearance； only rabies had carried that kind of mortality rate。
Trying to locate survivors had been a small part of the Navy operation。 A survivor was important because he or she would have developed an antibody to bat the virus； or antigen。 With the antibody identified； scientists could at least be creating blood tests for screening out carriers。 A test； or diagnostic； would go a long way towards protecting still healthy populations。 So far that line of investigation was a bust。
But； once upon a time； therehad been survivors。 This was a matter of logic。 The virus had afflicted at least one individual in the Levant two thousand years ago。 Possibly； while bottled in the relic； his contaminated tissue had evolved into modern…day Corfu。 If the virus had infected him； it would surely have infected others。 And yet； in the surviving histories of Palestine and Egypt； there were no reports of devastating plagues during that same period； certainly nothing with symptoms like Corfu presented。 Tacitus and Josephus； among other historians living in the first century； had been much too thorough to miss such a detail。 And so far； with the bug still eluding their view； the paleopathologists and other researchers could only guess when it made its genetic trespass uponH。 sapiens。
Somewhere along the line； the virus had jumped species and started using humans as a host。 But it had not caused a noticeable die…off。 That suggested two things： the virus had probably started out as a benign invader； and some of its victims had probably recovered。 The problem for modern researchers was that these survivors had lived two millenia ago。 Enter the Year Zero bones。
While entomologists collected insects in the Mediterranean basin； and zoologists trapped rats； mice； and bats； and pathologists took tissue samples from what remained of plague victims in the streets； and Navy SEALS conducted house to house searches for living survivors； a team of Seabees had excavated the famous Golgotha pit in the caves beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre。 They didn't waste time。 A bulldozer scraped away the upper building。 A backhoe clawed big scoops of bone…rich soil into a sea container。 On board the USSTruman； the container had been emptied； the soil sifted； and the bones vaccuum packaged for air delivery to the United States。 Within twelve hours； scientists at Los Alamos had been rooting through them for traces of either the original virus or its antibody。
They had no idea what they were looking for。 No one knew what Corfu looked like。 Its proteins remained a mystery。 Blood drawn from modern victims had still not yielded any strange microorganisms。 Corfu acted like an endogenous virus； a type of retrovirus that could lie dormant through extremes of heat or cold； and over great spans of time。。。then suddenly switch itself on。 But it could just as well have been a prion； which was an even less lifelike mechanism。
Some people； credible scientists； thought Corfu might have evolved from the same pestilence that Moses had supposedly called down upon the Egyptians。 Given the mutation rate； its symptoms might have changed from the boils described in the Bible。 Other scientists scrutinized the terrible plague which felled Athens in the fourth centuryB 。C。E。 In hisHistory of the Jews； Josephus alluded to； but had not detailed； a plague in the century before Augustus Caesar came to rule。 Or maybe one of Alexander the Great's soldiers had brought it home。 One way or another； the contagion must have traveled along some land or sea route during some empire。
The bottom line was that the Year Zero bones from Jerusalem had remained mute。 They had yielded not one clue。 But now Miranda had an idea。
〃The call is out for Year Zero material that might be lying around in private collections or museums；〃 Miranda explained to Gold