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“I was unaware that there existed a door in the wall,” Tang said
Ni caught the irritation in the words
“Only the Hegemon and a select few brothers know of this chaht now a good time to show you both the Ba’s most precious possession”
MALONE STARED DOWN AT THE WATER, SPEWING BETWEEN ROCKS as it bounded down from the mountains
He waited for her to surface
But she never did
He focused on the roaring gush, which surely carried in its for with a swish of foam He wanted to leap after her, but realized that was impossible
He would not survive the fall, either
He watched, disbelieving
After all they’d been through the past three days
She was gone
On the opposite side of the gorge ed froe
Malone’s anger boiled to rage “You sorry bastard,” he yelled “You set us up You killed her”
Viktor did not reply Instead he was hauling up the reht to its tattered end
“Go,” Viktor yelled “Get up there I’ll go after her”
Like hell, he thought
He found his gun
Viktor tossed the bridge back over the edge The rope found the water, its end dipped into the churning river His ene to shoot me or let met try to find her?
The helicopter ooping around for another pass
Malone leveled the gun
Cannon fire roared through the gorge A deadly hail of heavy-caliber rounds pinged off stone just yards away, approaching in an ever-widening storm
He dove for cover as the chopper zipped past
“Get up there,” Viktor yelled “Ni and Sokolov need you”
And Viktor started cli down
What he wouldn’t give for some rope of his own He wanted to kill Viktor Toht
Ni Yong and Sokolov
Find them
TANG ENTERED THE WINDOWLESS CHAMBER, ITS SPACE DIVIDED into four roo Two brothers waited outside, each carrying a crossbow
Soft lights illu a deep blue and dotted with golden stars The center chamber was dominated by a bronze plinth upon which lay a jade burial suit
He was stunned by the sight, and now understood why the First Emperor’s tomb had been bare
“I rescued Qin Shi,” Pau said “Unfortunately, the jade altar upon which he lay was too large to transport It obviously had been constructed within the mound But this I could retrieve” Pau pointed to the artifact “The head and face s were tailored for the occupant Which meant Qin Shi was no more than a hundred seventy-five centie of a towering, portly man history has created” Pau hesitated, as if to allow his words to sink in “Two thousand and seven pieces of jade, sewn together with golden thread”
“You counted them?” Ni asked
“This is the ical find in all Chinese history The body of our First Emperor, encased in jade It deserves careful study We estiolden thread was utilized to bind the stone This suit would have taken artisans about a decade to produce”
Tang wanted to know, “You plundered the entire site?”
“Every object Here it all rests, in safety, inside a round palace, but sufficient”
The re three chambers brimmed with funerary objects Bronze sculptures, copper vessels, lacquered wood, and baold, silver, and jade Musical instruments, pottery, and porcelain Swords, spearheads, and arrows
“Two thousand one hundred and sixty-five items,” Pau said “Even the bones of the builders and the concubines I raphic record of the to is precisely documented”
“How gracious of you,” Ni said “I’ence”
“Does sarcasm make you feel superior?”
“What am I supposed to be? Impressed? You are a liar and a thief, just like I said the first ti a murderer”