White Jade (The PROJECT) (8 page)

Chapter
T
hirteen

Carter and Selena had
been
inside the house for half an hour.
T
he windows
were open
. A
light
breeze push
ed
the stale air away.

A
large,
oriental rug covered the wooden floor in the main room with an intricate pattern of blues and reds. A l
ong
brown leather sectional couch and two chairs were grouped in front of a fireplace built from rounded river stones. 

The living area and kitchen were separated by a
wide granite countertop with a swirling pattern of light and dark colors. A ceiling fan turned above an antique French country kitchen table. The back door opened out by the refrigerator. A hall ran to the right of the living area
to
a bath and bedrooms.

He
sat down at the table with the package.
Selena
o
pened
a bottle of wine
and
took two glasses from a cabinet over the counter
. She
took a seat
across from
him
and poured.

"
This is a nice
wine
, Silver Oak. You like Cab?
"

"
Yes
. Ready to take a look at this?
"

"
Let
'
s do it.
"

Carter
sipped
the wine
. He
took out
his
knife and cut away the wrappings of the package. A dark, wooden box appeared.

"
That
'
s the box for the book. It was on my uncle
'
s desk.
"

He
opened the box. The book was about eighteen inches long and ten inches wide. The covers were cracked, stained wood, with the remains of red-colored cords that
had
once
bound the flat pieces together.
He
lifted
away the
wooden cover. The writing on the page was meaningless to
him
.

"
That
'
s Sanskrit
,
"
she said.
"
This page is in Devanagari. The calligraphy and style suggest it was written around 1200 CE. The rest of the Sanskrit part is in Rgvedic
. That's a
much older form. This page was added at a later date.
"

"
You can read it?
"

"
Yes
.
T
he language is one I
studied
for years.
"

"
What does it say?
"
He
tugged at
his
bandaged
ear
.

"
It's
a prayer to the Compassionate Buddha, sort of an introduction. That
'
s typical for a Buddhist text
. B
ut this isn
'
t a Buddhist work
. T
he scribe says
it
should
be studied
for
its medical knowledge but not taken at face value.
The text of the book predates Buddhism.
"

Nick
turned the page over with the blade of
his
knife. Selena moved her finger
across the
writing.
             
"
Now we
'
re looking at the older script. This word here means treasure. This one means journey, or trip. This one
means
map. And this one is
'
endless life
'
. These words here translate as
'
Golden Garuda
'
. So the book is
called 'The Golden Garuda' and contains
directions for finding the treasure of endless life
.
"

"
What
'
s a garuda?
"

"
It
'
s a big, mythical bird, like an eagle
on steroids
, sometimes half man, half bird. It first
shows up
in the Vedas
. Those are
the earliest recorded Indian religious teachings, around 1700 BCE.
"

The
next page
was
an elaborate anatomical diagram of a naked man
squatting down and looking
over his shoulder
at a s
tylized sun. It was recognizable, but in a style far from modern drawings.

"
That
'
s a diagram of the circulation of the blood, drawn centuries before
Harvey
discovered it in the West.
"

He
took another sip of wine. She bent over and pointed at the next page.

"
This page is a warning. This word means danger or calamity.
T
here
'
s a sentence about guarding or hiding something
. I
can
'
t quite make it out, there
'
s damage, but it refers to a great king or emperor.
"

"
The Chinese emperor?
"

"
Maybe. From what I can see, the whole passage says danger awaits anyone who pursues the information in this book.
"

There was
the sound of a car outside.

Nick
looked at Selena.
"
You expecting anyone?
"

"
No.
"

"
I heard a car.
"

"
I did, too.
"

He
moved over by the window
, but couldn't
see anyone
. T
he rocks hid whoever was there. A car motor stopped
. D
oors closed softly.

He
pulled the
.45 from his
holster.
"
We
'
ve got company. Get the book.
"

Selena put the book in its box and the box in a bag she pulled from under the sink.

"
What
'
s out the back door?
"

She brushed a hair away.
"
There
'
s a path down to the river. It goes by the entrance to the mine.
"

Carter
remembered houses in Afghanistan and Iraq, full of death waiting in every room.

"
I don
'
t like being inside
the house
. There
'
s no place to go. Whoever it is can
'
t be here for a good reason, or they
'd
just drive
to the front. They
would have seen
my truck
,
so
they know someone
'
s here. I think they
'
re after that book.
"

"
How would they know we were here or where the book was?
"

"
I don
'
t know. But I don
'
t want to stick around and ask them. You game for a run?
"

"
To the river?
"

"
Right. That way they have to come at us through the grass and I can see them. They can see us too, but that
'
s better than being trapped in here. I
'
ll cover us.
"

He
opened the back door
.
A brown, grassy slope led down to the river. 

"
You go first, you know the way. I
'
ll be right behind you. Let
'
s make it to the other side of the hill and take it from there. Ready?
"

She nodded.

"
Go!
"

She took off.
Nick
f
ollowed. Selena was fast and
he
was glad
he
'
d kept in shape.
He
looked back and saw a man raising a weapon.

He
dove and pushed
Selena
sprawling into the dirt just as the intruder fired a long burst. Uzi,
he
thought
. H
e
aimed for a body hit and squeezed off two shots. The shooter stood for a second and then crumpled into the grass.

As he
pulled Selena to her feet, a big man step
ped
around the corner on the front porch.
Nick
fired and
the man
ducked back out of sight.
They
began running again. The chattering sound of an Uzi came from the house. A man with a pistol ran from behind the house and fired three quick shots
that
streaked
by
in a
whisper of heated air
.
Carter
we
nt into shooter
'
s stance, two hands, aim, take a breath, squeeze, fire. Two rounds, the .45 bucking back in
his
hands.
The man
went down screaming.

They
ran. Another burst of automatic fire kicked up dirt behind
them
. Seconds later he
heard three
pistol shots
and sensed the rounds
pass by
.
They
reached the hillside
.
He saw th
e opening to the mine
,
crossed off with old boards. Past the hill were open fields and the flatness of the river bed. There was no cover.

"
Head for the mine,
"
he
yelled.

Selena turned, arms pumping.
They reached
the entrance and
he
kicked
in
the boards.
They
entered the mine.

It was cool in the tunnel after the hot June sun outside. Fallen rocks from the ceiling littered the floor. Selena put her hands on her knees and bent to catch her breath. The plastic bag with the book in it was clutched in her hand.

"
What do we do now?
"

"
We
'
re too close to the entrance,
"
he
said.
"
We'll
move back. Anyone comes to the front, I shoot him.
"

They
went deeper into the tunnel until the light began to give out. A large, empty ore cart sat rusting on tracks vanishing into the blackness of the mine.
In the dim light they couldn't be seen from the entrance.

"
How many are there?
"
said Selena.

"
At least three
. T
wo of them are down. Maybe just one more.
"

Carter
thought about their situation
.
Tactical assessment. An old habit.

"
W
e
'
re outgunned
," he said. "
They
'
ve got automatic weapons. How about you get inside the cart
. T
hat way you
'
ve got good protection.
"

"
What about you?
"

"
I
'
ll get behind the cart. That will give me a shield and I can move around if I need to.
"