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A few, though, had been left open

“I stumbled across one when I found Qin Shi’s library It bypasses all the traps that the builders set for robbers Which was probably its purpose They would have required a way to get inside to inspect the integrity, froer”

“Why didn’t they use it to get out once they were trapped inside?” Cassiopeia asked

“The answer to that question will be obvious once you see the entrance”

“What about thetheir conversation yesterday at Pau’s residence

“I allowed the tomb to ventilate for several days before I entered I also wore a respirator”

“And what about now?” Cassiopeia asked “The tomb has been sealed for over twenty years”

“Preventive measures are in place”

Not entirely co toward the cockpit and his other problem Outside the windshield, rain closed in on the sun as threatening clouds approached

“He saved our lives back there,” Cassiopeia said “Yours included He’s our way to Tang”

“And ould have prevented Tang fro the oil sample himself? Viktor has known about this for two days”

“Hoould he get inside?” Pau said “The tomb has never been excavated”

“You don’t knohat they’ve done,” he made clear “We don’t even knoe’re headed toward Xi’an”

“We are traveling in the right direction,” Pau said

“And what if so for us e land?”

“If that were the case,” Pau said, “why not just allow the fighter to shoot us down?”

Good point

“What’s in the tomb?” Cassiopeia asked Pau

“Not what you expect”

Malone said, “Care to elaborate?”

“I’ll let you see for yourself, once we’re inside”

FIFTY-ONE

2:30 PM

NI STEPPED FROM THE CAR THAT HAD DRIVEN HIM EAST FROM Xi’an into Lintong County and the Museum of Qin Dynasty Terracotta Warriors and Horses The pre Pau Wen would arrive within the next thirtythat he’d never known, so that only one person left alive knew

The tomb of Qin Shi, China’s First Emperor, had been opened

Though the terra-cotta warriors had been dug froround and placed on display for the world to see, the to treed mound that dominated the otherwise flat, scrubby farreed that the toical opportunities on the planet Qin Shi funda Legalisovernment that unified China He became the center of a nation and re with him not just a clay retinue, but a complete political system, one that reflected a supreme authority in both life and death Those who ca history But entering the to its contents, could well provide a way to correct every one of those edits

Yet the coovernment had always said no

Officially, the reason was that technology and techniques did not, as yet, exist to properly preserve what lay beneath the mound So it was deemed safer to leave the tomb sealed

Ni had never, until a few hours ago, questioned that explanation It was unimportant to his hunt for corruption He’d only visited the o, when a series of thefts occurred in the restoration workshops—local laborers stealing pieces of the excavated warriors to sell on the black rounds swarentle current Millions visited each year, and today—though a low-slung, oppressive gray sky yielded rain—seemed no exception The car parks were full, an area specially reserved for buses packed tight He knew a subas currently under construction from Xi’an, a thirty-kilometer line that would ease traffic, but it was still a few years away from completion

He’d told no one he was co a Central Co had left Lanzhou three hours ago, headed east, toward Xi’an, which ht fro he’d taken the ti a subject that he knew little about