TANG STUDIED THE FLOOR AS HE CAREFULLY ADVANCED TOWARD the hall’s center. He’d just crossed a narrow causeway that spanned what was surely the China Sea. In Qin Shi’s time that would have been the empire’s eastern boundary. The “sea,” an area maybe twenty meters long by that many wide, shimmered with quicksilver. He was initially concerned about toxicity, but he noticed that a thin layer of mineral oil had been applied over the mercury.
Someone had thought ahead.
That was not an ancient innovation.
He knew that mineral oil only came about when petroleum was first distilled into gasoline—in the West’s 19th century—a long time after Qin Shi. He’d also noticed the sodium-vapor lamps, their bulbs not of the size and shape currently in use. These were older. Larger. Warmer. He estimated their age at maybe twenty-plus years, and wondered about the last time they were lit.
The detail of the topographic floor map was amazing, the rising topography of the south and west illustrating mountains that gradually flattened into fertile plains. Forests were represented by trees carved from jade. More rivers of mercury snaked a path among temples, towns, and villages. He assumed the plinth in the center stood where the imperial capital had been located at the time of Qin Shi, not far from present-day Xi’an.
Two pops disturbed the silence.
Gunshots. Behind him.
From where Viktor had gone.
He stopped his advance, as did the two brothers.
Another pop sounded.
He turned and rushed back toward the shots.
MALONE WATCHED AS THE FIRST VICE PREMIER, KARL TANG, and two other men fled the burial chamber. He’d recognized the face from photos Stephanie had provided. Viktor had surely known that his boss would be nearby, which explained both the other helicopter and why he’d so generously offered to create a diversion.
“That was close,” Cassiopeia said.
If the three men had found the table, avoiding them would have been impossible. He and Cassiopeia would have been exposed, and he’d already decided to kill the two minions and deal with Karl Tang separately.
“Who’s shooting?” Cassiopeia asked.
“I don’t know. I’m just glad they are.”
FIFTY-EIGHT
NI HEARD THE TWO SHOTS AS THE MAN IN THE DOORWAY FIRED at him. But the bullets zoomed over his head and pinged off the walls, causing him to duck and shield his head. Clearly the man had readjusted his aim just prior to pulling the trigger, intentionally aiming high.
He was not going to be so generous. He leveled his gun and squeezed the trigger.
But the man was gone.
His bullet, like the two before, found only stone, ricocheting off the walls, causing him now to drop to the floor.
He sprang to his feet, without using either hand for leverage, and bolted for the exit. A quick peek around the doorway’s edge and another bullet came his way, reeling him back against the wall. Why was the man shooting at him, yet not wanting to hit him? And why was a foreigner here with Tang?
He recalled what the premier told him.
Was this the man?
TANG FLED THE MAIN HALL AND REENTERED THE FIRST ANTECHAMBER. Viktor appeared from one of three darkened archways that led out, his back leading the way, gun pointed behind him.
“I found Minister Ni,” Viktor said.
Tang motioned for the two brothers to take positions left and right. Both brandished their guns, while he held a semi-automatic.
“Is there any other way out?” Tang asked.
Viktor shook his head. “Only through here.”
MALONE WATCHED THE UNFOLDING SCENE WITH INTEREST.
“What do you think is happening?” Cassiopeia asked.
She hadn’t been privy to Stephanie’s briefing, so he explained. “The man there, in the center, giving orders, is Karl Tang.”
He caught a glimpse of a fourth man now inside the antechamber. Viktor. He should have known.
“You think it’s Pau Wen they are after?” she asked.
“Could be. But he seemed to have anticipated this warm reception.”
“That means somebody else is down here. Somebody Karl Tang doesn’t like.”
“Which makes that person our ally.”
“So let’s help.”
CASSIOPEIA GRIPPED THE GUN, READYING HERSELF. MALONE slipped to one side of the plinth, she to the other. Luckily, the jade table had been positioned diagonally, which offered them more protection.
Malone stood.
“Hey, assholes,” he called out.
Tang, Viktor, and the two men whirled.
Malone sent a bullet their way, obviously not to hit anybody but to attract their attention. Which worked. All four retreated from view, two firing rounds as they disappeared from sight.
Both she and Malone hugged the plinth.
“I hope whoever we just helped appreciates it,” she said.
