He opened his eyes. "n.o.body likes a smart-a.s.s."
She smiled. "You think this room is wired?"
"I hope so. Hey, whoever is listening, I"m hungry. Bring us some food."
His eyes closed again. Interesting how he was the only man who actually made her feel uncomfortable-which, in a strange way, made her comfortable. There was nothing to prove with him, nor did he compete with her. He was just himself. And she liked that.
"Nice move with the lights," she said.
He shrugged. "I kept thinking about Tivoli. There"s a fire-breather there that I"ve seen a few times. I was talking to him one day and he told me how he uses mineral oil for all his effects. Of course, he doesn"t set fire to it atop mercury."
"That tomb is going to be toxic for a while."
"What does it matter? n.o.body"s going to know. Either Pau looted the tomb, or it was already looted when he went inside. Either way, the Chinese don"t want anyone going in there. And lucky us, we"ve managed to get ourselves wedged between two political giants in a private civil war."
She knew him better than he"d like to admit and she could see that his mind was working. "What is it?"
He opened his eyes again and she caught the twinkle. "Who says there"s anything?"
"I do."
"Why"d you kiss me?"
He was stalling, and she knew it. "I wanted to."
"That"s not an answer."
"Sure it is."
Why she"d kissed him was a mystery to her as well, except that she"d simply wanted to. h.e.l.l, somebody had to make the first move. But now was not the time to jog across that emotional minefield. "Answer me. What does that photographic memory of yours see?"
"I wish eidetic meant photographic. That would be a lot easier. Instead, my crazy brain loves to remember every useless detail." He closed his eyes. "And that"s the problem. I need some time to sort through them."
Ni stood toe-to-toe with Karl Tang. They were roughly the same height and he knew their ages were close, Tang a year or two older. He realized that this was a public place, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with eyes and ears, and how he and Tang performed would be the subject of much banter.
"You do not command me," Tang made clear.
"I"m here on direct order of the premier. You may call his office and verify, but I a.s.sure you that he has authorized this action. And he, Minister, does command you."
Tang"s clothes were as filthy as his own, both of them wet, dirty, and angry.
"Am I the subject of an investigation?" Tang asked.
Ni wasn"t going to fall into that trap. "I don"t reveal that information, even to the first vice premier."
Tang seemed alone. Everyone else in the room wore museum uniforms. Ni had checked outside for the foreigner who"d saved his life in the tomb, but had failed to spot him anywhere. He"d wanted to question that man.
"You and I should speak," Tang said. "Privately."
He quickly considered the pros and cons and decided the advantages outweighed any pitfalls. His gaze locked on the superintendent, who motioned to a door on the far side, to the right of the video screens.
He and Tang retreated inside the windowless s.p.a.ce and closed the door.
"You should be dead," Tang said to him, eyes on fire with hate.
"That"s twice you"ve failed to kill me. You will not win this fight."
"I already have."
He did not like the confident tone. "I could have you arrested."
"For what? You have proof of nothing. And if you"re counting on Pau Wen, good luck. He"s as untrustworthy as they come."
"And if we removed your trousers, what would we find?"
"That I possess courage," Tang said.
"You"re proud of what you are?"
"I"m proud of what I will do."
He knew his situation was perilous. No proof existed that Tang had done anything wrong, and revealing him to be a eunuch would accomplish nothing. To level a charge and not be able to prove it would only destroy his own credibility. His department flourished simply because it made good decisions. He knew that many in the government were waiting for a catastrophic failure, and an opportunity to end the autonomy that made his probes so successful.
"There"s a pilot dead in Yunnan province," he said to Tang. "Shot down by a foreigner flying one of our helicopters. You authorized his flight."
"I did authorize the helicopter. To stop Pau Wen from illegally entering the country. But I never authorized the killing of a pilot. Do you have evidence to the contrary?"
"When I find that foreigner I will."
Who could well have been the same man in the tomb. The man who"d saved him. Tang obviously had no idea that his supposed ally was anything but.
Or did he?
He decided not to say anything about what had happened. If the man who"d helped him was indeed playing both sides, Ni might require his a.s.sistance again. If the whole thing had been a ruse, then silence was even better.
"This is you against me," Tang said. "The winner claims China."
"I know the stakes."
Tang"s eyes burned with hate. "Know that you will not live to see me win."
His enemy opened the door and left, walking in silence past the others, out of the building.
Ni stepped back into the room and said, "I want to see everything Minister Tang saw and I want to know everything he was told."
Malone visualized the top of the jade plinth clearly in his mind. A three-dimensional map of Qin Shi"s empire, framed by a border of symbols. Both he and Ca.s.siopeia had been reminded of the silk hanging inside Pau Wen"s residence.
It"s a reproduction of something I once saw. An ancient map of China.
With some things added.
He wished he still had his iPhone, but it had been confiscated, along with their weapons, when the guards searched them. Without it, he wasn"t absolutely sure-but sure enough.
The door opened.
A man entered, perhaps mid- to late fifties, taut cheeks pitted with scars, dark hair piled thick shading ears splayed outward.
A grave determination filled his eyes.
"I am Minister Ni Yong."
SIXTY-TWO.
Tang left the security building and headed straight for the car he and Viktor had commandeered. He"d told Viktor to wait outside, and apparently he"d been smart enough to conceal himself when Ni and his men arrived. Two of Ni"s minions stood guard at the entrance to the building. He decided he should not be obvious in searching for Viktor, so he slid behind the wheel, started the engine, and drove away.
Movement in the backseat startled him.
Viktor"s face appeared in the rearview mirror. "I was wondering when you"d come out."
"Minister Ni is looking for you."
"I"m sure he is."
He"d determined that Viktor"s usefulness was at an end. If Ni managed to capture him, it would not take long for him to talk. Chinese interrogation procedures were quite effective. Unlike the West, there was no hesitation to employ torture.
But there was the problem of Pau Wen. Where had the old man gone?
His phone rang. He"d reactivated the unit as he"d left the security building. He wheeled the car to the side of the road and answered, placing the call on speaker.
"I have returned," Pau Wen said.
But he wanted to know, "You said that tomb contained lamps with oil. There was nothing there."
"It once contained many lamps, all filled with oil," Pau said. "But when I entered two decades ago, I removed all of the artifacts, including the lamps."
"Where are you?"
Pau laughed. "Why would I answer such a question?"
"You"re inside China. I will find you."
"I"m sure you saw on the cameras that the two brothers stationed to guard the library chamber left with me. That should be proof enough that you do not enjoy the total support of the brotherhood."
"I have men enough to finish you."
"But whom can you really trust? Who else is likewise deceiving you?"
"I must have that oil sample. You know that."
"To get one of those lamps, you will have to deal with me."
"You a.s.sured me that I would have a sample. It is imperative to our plan."
"But it is not our plan any longer. You a.s.sumed control. It is now your plan. That was made clear the last time we spoke."
He knew what to say. "How can we resolve this impa.s.se?"
"Bao he dian," Pau said.
He realized Viktor understood Mandarin perfectly and knew the translation.
The Hall for the Preservation of Harmony.
"There," Pau said. "We will talk."
"And you can kill me?"
"If I wanted you dead, you already would be."
To prove the theory of abiotic oil, and free China from the bonds of imports, Sokolov had to be provided a verified sample of oil that had been extracted from the Gansu fields 2,200 years ago. Pau Wen was the only known source for that sample. Still- "How will I know that the sample you provide is authentic?"
"I relocated everything from Qin Shi"s tomb. That required great effort. It would be inconceivable for me to alter anything I went to so much trouble to save."
"Why did I never know this?"
"Because it was not necessary to tell you."
"I"m on the way," he declared.
"Then we shall speak again. There."
The connection ended, and he closed the phone.
"I a.s.sume we"re both going?" Viktor asked.
The call had been troublesome on many layers, one of which told him that he still needed this foreigner.
At least for a while.
"That is correct."