The Emperor's Tomb полностью

“Right here, in this lab, I heated marble, iron oxide, and water to 1,500 degrees Celsius at 50,000 times atmospheric pressure, mimicking conditions one hundred miles beneath the earth. Every time, I produced both methane and octane.”

Tang grasped the significance of that result. Methane was the main constituent of natural gas and octane the hydrocarbon molecule in petrol. If those could be produced in a lab, they could be produced naturally, along with oil itself.

“The Russians know all this, don’t they?” he asked.

“I personally found over eighty fields in the Caspian Sea applying this theory. It is still doubted by some, but yes, the Russians are convinced oil is abiotic.”

“But they have no proof.”

Sokolov shook his head. “I left before I discovered the diamondoids. Zhao and I did that here.”

“So the Russians work from an unproven theory?”

“Which is why they speak little of this publicly.”

And why, Tang thought, they were so interested. Surely they wanted Sokolov back. Maybe even permanently silenced. Thank goodness Viktor Tomas had kept him apprised of exactly what the Russians were doing. But he made no mention of that intrigue and instead said, “And that’s also why they maintain the myth of scarcity?”

“They watch, amused, as the rest of world pays too much for oil, knowing it is endless.”

“But they are likewise cautious, since they have no proof that their concept is true.”

“Which is understandable. They lack what you have. A verified sample from a place where ancients drilled for oil. Only the Chinese could have such a sample.” Disgust had invaded his voice. “This was the only place on earth man drilled for oil two centuries ago.”

Pride swelled within him.

Sokolov pointed to the table. “If diamondoids are in that sample, then the oil is abiotic. All you would need is another sample, from long ago, from the same field, for comparison. To prove the theory, that sample must test biotic with no diamondoids.”

He appreciated the simplicity of the equation. Biotic oil first, siphoned away with drilling, replaced with abiotic oil. And Gansu might be the only place on earth where such a comparison could be made. Every surviving historical record made clear that those first explorers, more than 2,000 years ago, drilled exclusively in the vicinity of the well in Gansu. Any oil surviving from that time would have come from the ground there.

All he required was a confirmed sample of that oil.

“You told me the lamp is gone,” Sokolov said. “Along with its oil. So where will the comparison sample come from?”

“Not to worry, comrade. I secured that sample and you will soon have it.”

FORTY-FIVE

BEIJING

NI REALIZED THAT THE PREMIER EXPRESSED HIMSELF IN A SUBTLE manner devised to keep his listener on edge. Before, a desk had always stood between them, his investigative reports received with only a flicker of interest and little comment. But this talk was different.

“I remember,” the old man said, “when every bus window was plastered with slogans and pictures of Mao. Store windows the same. Radios only broadcast revolutionary music, Mao’s thoughts, or state news. Movie houses showed only Mao greeting Red Guards. Even the opera and ballet performed only revolutionary works. We all carried our book of quotations since you never knew when you would be called upon to cite a section.”

The premier’s voice was quiet, rough, as if the memories were bitterly painful.

“Serve the People. That was Mao’s message. In reality, we all simply served him. This building is proof we still do.”

Ni began to understand why they were here.

“Hegemony is our weakness,” the premier said. “That unwillingness within us to work with any foreign power, even when there is no threat. Hegemony is a natural expression of our totalitarianism, just as peaceful relations are to democracy. We have always believed ourselves to be the geographic and geopolitical center of the world. For centuries, and especially since 1949, the sole goal of our foreign policy has been to dominate our neighbors and then, eventually, the remainder of the world.”

“That is totally beyond our grasp.”

“You and I know that, but does the remainder of the world know? I recall when Kissinger came in 1971, on a secret mission to lay the groundwork for renewed contact between the United States and China. The use of the word hegemony baffled the American translators. They could not adequately convey its meaning. The concept was literally unknown to them.” The premier pointed to the crypt. “Mao said then, China has stood up. He was telling the world that no outsiders would ever control us again. I’m afraid, though, no one was listening.”

“We have always been ignored,” he said. “Thought of as backward, unmodernized. Even worse, repressive and dictatorial.”

“Which is our own fault. We never have done much to counter that perception. We seem to actually revel in a negative light.”

Ni was puzzled. “Why are you so cynical?”