White Jade (The PROJECT) (30 page)

Chapter Forty-
Six

The contents of the bottle swirled and sparkled with dancing glints of gold in the light of the burning bowls. Selena brushed back a loose strand of hair.

The smell of decay
from the sarcophagus was getting stronger
.
The
fresh, life-like tone of
the Emperor's
f
ace
was
taking on
a bruised look, the color darkening.

Nick took the bottle and placed it back in the box.
He put the jade box back at the emperor's feet.

"
How about the pictures on the walls, Selena?
"

"
I
'
ve already got most of it. Just a few more.
"

"
Make it quick. We
'
re running out of time before someone shows up. Ronnie, let
'
s look around
one more time
.
"

In the workshop
they
searched through the objects scattered about on the tables.
T
hey
steered clear of the chest with the uranium ore.

Selena called out.
"
Hey, I
'
m done.
"

"
All right, let
'
s get out of here.
"

"
What about the emperor?
"
said Selena.

"
What about him?
"

They
glanced over at the emperor. He wasn
'
t looking good. Pools of putrid fluid were forming in the crypt. When
they'd
unsealed the lid, the air
had
started a chemical reaction. Immortality wasn
'
t what it was cracked up to be.

"
Shouldn
'
t we put the lid back on? It seems the right thing to do.
"

Ronnie and
Nick
looked at each other, shrugged, and went over to the crypt. The bones of the face
were already showing
through the rotting flesh. The stench was terrible.
They
wrestled the lid on.

They shouldered their packs.

They
went back the way
they'd
come, climbing over the pit and past the spear trap to the ledge at the foot of the stairs. Torches still burned in the passage. At the top of the stairs the statue was where
they'd left it.
Carter
took C-4 from
his
pack and began shaping charges. Ronnie stood guard at the entrance
.
Selena photographed the garuda.

He
placed the charges to collapse the floor around the stairwell and demolish the main doorway into the temple
. He
thought about it
and
placed a few more. The roof
might
come down, but
he
wanted to make sure no one else would get in. At the least, the entrance to the chamber would be closed and
the stairs filled with rubble. He inserted the detonators and
hooked up the timers.

"
All set. I
'
m giving it ten minutes.
"
He
activated the timers.

They
left the torches burning on the floor and stepped out into the daylight.
Nick
called Harker.
A
s she picked up
he
heard the noise of trucks grinding up the mountain.

"
Director, we
'
re ready to get out of here.
"

"
W
here are you?
"

"
We
'
re just outside the entrance to the building in the center of the ruins. I hear vehicles.
"

"
All right, I see you on satellite right now. There are four vehicles approaching, three trucks and a command
car
. You
'
ve got company.
"

Her voice was distorted, fading in and out. There was a lot of interference from atmospherics.

"
I
'
m having trouble hearing you. Can you call in a strike?
"
He waited for the delay.

"
Not without starting World War III. I
'
ll call for extraction. I can see what
'
s happening and let you know what the Chinese are doing
, but y
ou
'
ve got
to handle this yourself.
"

In
Washington
,
Elizabeth
watched the three members of her team duck back inside the building. On the western edge of the complex, the Chinese convoy
halted
. Soldiers jumped from the trucks and began to deploy. An officer gestured and pointed.
Elizabeth
zoomed in. Rank insignia of a Senior Colonel. Wu, she thought.

"
Nick, about thirty bodies plus an officer, I think Wu. They
'
re deploying along the west of the ruins and to the south. They
'
re cutting off access to the valley. Now they
'
re beginning to move into the complex.
"

Ronnie and Selena could hear Harker in their headsets. They knew what was happening.

"
Okay, Director. Keep talking. I won
'
t be answering much.
"

He
looked at
his
watch. Six minutes until the
charges
blew. From the archway where
he
stood
he
couldn
'
t see any troops over the rubble beyond the courtyard.
They
still had a little time.

"
We
'
ll go out low and fast to the east
," he said. "
There
'
s plenty of cover once we
'
re out of the square. Selena, stick close to me, stay low. I
'
ll take the point, Selena in the middle, Ronnie, you bring up the rear.
"

They
dropped low.

"
All right,
let
'
s move. Go
!
"

They
ran across the open courtyard and behind some large standing stones without getting shot at.
His
earpiece crackled.

"
Good move, Nick. They
'
re across from you to the west and below to the south. Half of them are moving toward the center, you should see them soon, the others are working their way along the wall.
"

The transmission was clearing up.

A dozen soldiers scrambled over the rubble and ran toward the entrance to the temple. Ronnie
tracked
them with his weapon. Selena looked worried, but she had her MP-5 ready.

Quietly,
Carter
said,
"
Hold your fire
.
"
He
laid
his
hand on her arm.
"
Remember, short bursts.
Try to keep your breath easy.
"
She nodded.

I can do this, she thought. I can do this.

More soldier
s appeared
in the square
and fanned
out along
the perimeter of the courtyard.

Nick
signaled.
They
moved away from the square, zigzagging between clumps of stone and half standing walls, working eastward. Harker
'
s voice came loud and strong over the link.

"
You are still clear to the east. Soldiers are entering the central building. Wu is on the edge of the square directing them in. There are ten hostiles moving toward your position.
"

Carter
looked at
his
watch. Thirty seconds to detonation.

"
Get ready,
"
he
said.
"
When it blows everyone
'
s going to be busy for a few seconds. Make a run for it, over there.
"
He
pointed to a gap in the outer wall, thirty yards away.

Ten seconds. Five. The explosion was big. Maybe
he
'
d used a little more C-4 than
he
needed. There was no time to look.

They
ran full out. Rocks and
chunks of stone
from the explosion
rained
down around
them
. Ten yards short of the gap
t
he distinctive chatter of
Chinese
QBZ-95
assault rifles sounded behind them
. Chips of stone sprayed around
the
team
as they
dove through the opening.

Swirling black smoke and yellow dust rose high over the courtyard. The
tall
pyramid
roof
of the temple
was gone
. Ronnie was firing, shiny brass cases ratcheting from his H-K and bouncing
off the stones
. Selena looked stunned.
Nick
reached around the corner of the gap and fired blindly, risked a glance, fired at a soldier as he tried for cover and brought him down. Ronnie ejected a
magazine
, jammed another one in.

Harker
'
s voice came through.

"
Still three in front of you. More coming around from the south. They
'
ll see you in a minute. Extraction team is in the air, ETA sixteen minutes.
"

Nick
took out a grenade, pulled the
clip
and the pin, let go of the handle and threw it
over the wall. He
heard screams as it went off.

"
Ronnie, go!
"
He
pointed and
Ronnie
took off along the wall for the northeast corner.

He
pulled Selena to her feet.
"
That way.
"

A Chinese soldier came over the wall and clubbed
him
with his rifle.
Carter
went down hard,
his
eyes blurring. Sound stopped
. H
e
struggled to move.
He
watched
the Chinese
raise his weapon, everything moving in
silence and
a strange light and slow, fluid motion,
the soldier
silhouetted against the cloudless sky.

He
thought of Megan.

Red spots blossomed on
the soldier's
chest, stitching a neat pattern across his uniform. His eyes opened wide. Blood bright as fire gushed from his mouth and he fell sideways to the ground.
Nick
stumbled to
his
feet.
Suddenly he could hear again.

Selena
stood
ten feet away, looking at the man she
'
d just killed, her MP-5 held close by her cheek.
He
watched her face register
what she'd done.

Nick
picked up
his
weapon
and grabbed Selena's arm.
T
hey
ran for the far corner. The ground along the wall was flat
for twenty feet or so
until it
dropped away in a steep slope to the right.
They ducked and dodged between
piles of
fallen stones from the broken walls
. B
ullets whined and ricocheted
all
around
.