Blowback

Harvath watched as an ancient piece of armor, a breastplate to be exact, came into view. The leather straps were surprisingly well preserved, as were the only somewhat rusted clasps, but that wasn’t the piece’s most remarkable feature. Right in the center of the breastplate was one of the most interesting crests he had ever seen. Carved in relief was the head of a snarling wolf with two snakes wrapped around its neck-and not just any kind of snakes. Their bodies were made up of brilliant purple stones, while their heads were fashioned from oblong pieces of what looked like creamy white marble.

“Who did the photo come from?”

“It was taken by the wife of one of the paleopathologists on my server list. Her name is Molly Davidson. She works with Sotheby’s arms, armour, and militaria division in London.”

“Sotheby’s? As in the auction house?” asked Harvath.

“One and the same,” replied Vanessa. “A new client wanted the value of this piece appraised for auction. Apparently, Molly has had a devil of a time placing it in any sort of historical context, and when her husband received my e-mail regarding Azemiops feae, he had Molly e-mail me the photo. They thought there might be a connection and maybe we could help each other out.”

Harvath studied the image more closely. There was definitely a connection here. “Does she have any idea where the piece came from?”

“Originally? She thinks it might be from Carthage, probably around the third century B.C.”

“But the Carthaginians were from North Africa in the area that’s now Tunisia. How would they have known about Azemiops feae? You said it was indigenous only to China, Tibet, Myanmar, and Vietnam.”

“I did say that and it’s true,” replied Vanessa. “Azemiops feae is not a reptile that ever would have been seen anywhere near Carthage.”

“So what’s the connection?”

“Let me answer your first question. Carthage was originally a colony founded by the Phoenicians, who were great seafarers. Tyre and Sidon, Carthage ’s two most renowned ports, are even mentioned in the Bible. In fact, the word Bible comes from the word Byblos, another Carthaginian port from which the majority of Egyptian papyrus was exported. Most early books were made from papyrus, and the word Byblos or Biblos became the ancient Greek word for ‘book.’

“Just like their ancestors, the Carthaginians were incredibly adept merchants, skilled at buying and selling just about anything. Even more important, they were also extremely accomplished mariners and traded throughout the Mediterranean. Most scholars don’t believe they traded any farther east than Greece, but it’s possible. There are stories of Carthage foraying into Asia Minor and beyond via the monsoon trade route. If this is true, it’s conceivable that they could have come across the Arthashastra, as well as Azemiops feae and the knowledge of how to extract its venom. This, of course, is all dependent upon whether or not they did in fact establish some sort of trade relations with ancient India.”

“Even if they did. What does that have to do with this breastplate?”

“What do you know about the Carthaginian general Hannibal?”

An adept student of history, Harvath replied, “He was one of the most brilliant military strategists of the ancient world.”

“Correct,” said Vanessa, “and Hannibal was probably best known for his daring sneak attack on the burgeoning Roman Empire.”

Harvath knew the story well. Hannibal had set out from Spain with approximately forty war elephants and, according to some reports, up-wards of more than a hundred thousand soldiers to launch his attack. All that stood between him and his enemy were the towering peaks of the French-Italian Alps. But, by the time he made it over the top and descended into Italy ’s Po Valley, near present-day Turin, Hannibal had lost many of the elephants and more than half his men. While ambushes and skirmishes with marauding Gaulish tribes in present-day France and Spain accounted for a good amount of his losses, many more soldiers were lost to precipitous mountain paths, as well as numerous Alpine landslides and avalanches.

“Not so well known,” continued Vanessa, “is a rumor that at the forefront of his forces, Hannibal posted members of his most elite guard. They were said to be transporting a weapon of unimaginable destruction-a weapon which would all but assure their victory over the Romans.”

Despite his knowledge of the Carthaginian general, this was something Harvath had never heard before. “Let me guess, you think this weapon was biological or chemical in nature?”

“Since we’re talking about Hannibal,” interjected Jillian, “most definitely biological.”

“Why?”

“ Hannibal was one of history’s earliest and biggest proponents of biological warfare.”

Harvath was stunned. “He was? What kind of weapons are we talking about?”