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Crimson rivulets poured from each body

Fear spread, a ripple that sent a panic through the afternoon crowd Three people on bicycles collided with one another, trying to avoid the bodies

The car sped away

Tinted s shielded the occupants as it roared past, then whipped left in a sharp turn He tried to spot the license plate, but the Volvo disappeared around Kongens Nytorv

He rushed forward, knelt down, and checked pulses

Both were dead

The bicyclists appeared injured

He stood and yelled in Danish, “Somebody call the police”

He ran a hand through his hair and heaved a sigh

The trail to Cassiopeia had just vanished

He eased hiawkers, close to the outside tables and s for the Hotel d’Angleterre’s restaurant People with shocked faces stood and stared Dead bodies on the sideere not commonplace in Denmark

Distant sirens signaled that help was co

Which o

“Mr Malone,” a voice said, close to his left ear

He started to turn

“No Face ahead”

The distinctive feel of a gun barrel nestled close to his spine told him to take the man’s advice

“I need you to ith me”

“And if I don’t?” he asked

“You do not find Cassiopeia Vitt”

SIX

SHAANXI PROVINCE, CHINA

10:00 PM

KARL TANG STARED OUT ACROSS THE VAST ENCLOSED SPACE The helicopter ride north, fro, across the Qin Mountains, had taken nearly two hours He’d flown fro not only to personally supervise the execution of Jin Zhao but also to deal with two other matters, both of equal importance, the first one here in Shaanxi, China’s cultural cradle An archaeologist in the Ministry of Science had once told hi of China’s 6,000-year-old history would be unearthed

Before him was the perfect example

In 1974 peasants digging a well uncovered a vast coround vaults that, he’d been told, would eventually yield 8,000 life-sized terra-cotta soldiers, 130 chariots, and 670 horses, all arrayed in a tightly knit battle fored and erected round palaces, designed specifically for the dead, all centered on the imperial tomb of Qin Shi, the man who ended five centuries of disunity and strife, eventually taking for hi

First Emperor

Where that initial well had been dug now stood the Museum of Qin Dynasty Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, its centerpiece the exhibition hall spanning more than two hundred lass-paneled arch Earthen balks divided the excavated scene into eleven latitudinal rows, each paved with ancient bricks Wooden roofs, once supported by stout tio disappeared But to bar ures beneath, the builders had wisely sheathed the area ovenand a layer of clay

Qin Shi’s eternal army had survived

Tang stared at the sea of warriors

Each wore a coarse tunic, belt, puttees, and thonged, square-toed sandals Eight basic faces had been identified, but no tere exactly alike So a character of steadiness and fortitude Others displayed vigor and confidence Still others evoked a sense of thoughtfulness, suggesting the wisdoly, the still poses, repeated innuiven nuenerated a sense of motion

Tang had visited before and walked a the rich Shaanxi earth, i feet

He felt empowered here