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Pau’s eyes stayed flat and hard
She’d been oblivious to theherself in charge Now she knew better
“Only that Tang required a sample of ancient oil for some purpose”
“You’re a liar,” she declared
Pau frowned “And what if I am? What do you have to offer for the information you seek?”
“What do you want?” Malone asked Then he motioned at the room “Obviously, you don’t need money”
“True, I am a man of means But I do have a need Let me inquire of Ms Vitt Do you intend to return to China?”
“You know about Sokolov, the boy, Tang You know about everything, don’t you?”
“And the answer to my question?”
“I wasn’t But I am now”
“I assuoverne?”
“That would probably be best,” Malone said
“I want to accompany you”
“Why would we even consider doing such a thing?” she asked
“I knohere there is another sao”
TANG HELD A METAL PAIL THAT HAD BEEN BROUGHT FROM THE car He’d obtained it at the drill site, along with a few other ite His ood size, found in the alley behind the building He kneould not be hard Buildings like this were infested
He heard the pests scurrying inside a cardboard box that had been hastily utilized as a cage He realized it would not take theround investigation on Sokolov had revealed a terrible phobia of rats, which e But under the circu the million and a half inhabitants of Lanzhou probably had seemed a safe bet
He walked back to where Sokolov had been secured to a chair with heavy tape, his hands and feet still bound He’d ordered the man’s shirt reht, a couple of lengths about two , lay on the floor behind the chair
Sokolov had yet to see the rats, though he surely heard their chatter
Tangthe ceiling, his spine to the floor, feet in the air The cardboard box was opened and Tang scooped the rats into the pail Its slick h they tried in vain to climb
He approached Sokolov
“It’s time for you to understand just how serious I am”
THIRTY-EIGHT
BELGIUM
MALONE HAD BEEN TOLD ENOUGH ON THE PHONE BY STEPHANIE to know that Pau Wen hadto do it again
“Why do you want to go to China?” he asked Pau “I’o”
“And what is your involvement here?”
“I’ent The one who can book your ticket, depending on how I feel about you”
Pau grinned “There is about to be a revolution Perhaps even a bloody one In China, changes in power have always involved death and destruction Karl Tang intends to assuovernment—one way or another”
“Why does he need a sao?” Cassiopeia asked
“Do you know about the First Emperor, Qin Shi?” Pau asked them
Malone knew some Lived two hundred years before Christ, a hundred years after Alexander the Great, and united seven warring states into an e ould later be called China, na a succession of dynasties that ruled until the 20th century Autocratic, cruel, but also visionary
“Might I read you so?” Pau asked
Neither he nor Cassiopeia objected Malone actually wanted to hear what this ree
Pau clapped twice and one of the younger men who’d watched the encounter at the front door appeared with a tray, upon which lay a stack of brittle silk sheets He laid the tray in Pau’s lap, then withdrew
“This is a copy of Records of the Historian or Shiji, as it has come to be called It ritten to cover the whole of human history, from a Chinese perspective, up to the time of its author’s death in 90 BCE It is China’s first work of recorded history”