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Though he sensed Pau Wen well knew “My infor When I learned of his interest in the la you have said has ever come to my attention”

“Which shouldtheh Return home and find Sokolov”

“And what of those eunuchs who surround me? The ones you say I should fear”

“They will show themselves”

“Is Tang also in danger from them?”

“Obviously not”

“How do I knoho they are?”

Pau grinned “Once, ould have a change of voice, an unpleasant falsetto Beardless, we becaht shed and deep wrinkles appeared in our faces The lack of testosterone also er and tears None of that is true today Modern supplements mask all side effects, especially if the enerally the case Know that it will be nearly impossible, without a visual inspection, for you to know”

“Is Tang after Sokolov?”

Pau nodded “With all the resources he can muster”

Ni would have to verify everything he’d learned before beco a convert “Where is the lamp hidden?”

“Inside the Dries Van Egmond Museum, in Antwerp It holds a private collection of art and furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries Cassiopeia Vitt hid the lamp in a boudoir, on the third level, decorated in the Chinese style, that includes so porcelain I have visited there o unnoticed, at least for a few days Or if it was noticed, the uard it Not a bad decision, considering she had so few options”

Pau telling him the location see truthful

“I should go”

“Before you leave,” Pau said, “I have oneto show you”

He acco corridor to a black lacquered door On the other side, a wooden staircase wound upward inside a rectangular tower An open doorway appeared at the top of the stairs Beyond shone the afternoon light, its warh bareframes that wrapped all four walls

“Stay here,” Pau said “Just inside the doorway That on’t be visible from outside”

He wondered about the subterfuge

“If you will glance around the corner,” Pau said, “there will be an excellent view of the front drive Past that, at the highway, you will see a vehicle parked in the woodlands, perhaps half a kilometer away from the main entrance”

He did as instructed, squinting in the bright sunlight and spotting a car, barely visible in the thick trees

“Careless people,” Pau said, behind hi They watch this house Not always They coo But they have been here often the past two days”

“Is that how you suspected Tang would come for the lamp?”

“It seeical”

In the distant shadows he saw the front grille of another car brake beside the parked one Twoshouldered

Fear pricked his spine

Thetoward the open front gate

“That’s somewhat unexpected,” Pau calmly said

Men with guns were approaching, and all this man could say was unexpected

He was concerned

Greatly

SEVENTEEN

MALONE ASSESSED THE STARTLING INFORMATION STEPHANIE was providing

“The Western mind-set,” she said, “is that oil is a fossil fuel Reas stations displayed a dinosaur as a trade, decaying, and turning into oil Ask ten people where oil comes from and they all would say dead dinosaurs”

He recalled the ads she was referring to, and he had to admit that he, too, had been indoctrinated Oil was a fossil fuel, a finite resource

“Iine, Cotton, if oil is infinite The earth produces it continually, as a renewable resource The Russians have long believed this”

“Stephanie, what does any of this have to do with Cassiopeia?”

A chill had crept into the late-afternoon air Ivan would return shortly, and they would all leave for Antwerp He must understand the problem before then