Annja nodded. "And yet..." Her voice trailed off and she suddenly frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you smell that?"

Tuk started to speak but stopped. He caught a whiff of something on the breeze that seemed to circulate through the small cave.

Perfume? How could that be?

He shook his head and looked at Annja. The flashlight battery seemed to be waning and he could scarcely make her out, standing across the cave from him. "What is that?"

"It smells like perfume," Annja said. "Floral." She paused. "Gardenias?"

Tuk shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know my flowers so I can't say."

He heard something.

Annja heard it, too.

And then Tuk saw something he didn't expect to see. There appeared in Annja's hands a sword that glowed and cast off a dull glow in the cave's interior. Tuk gasped. It was the same sword that cleanly sliced through the fuselage of the airplane earlier when Tuk tumbled out of the back compartment.

"What in the world is that?" he asked.

Annja held up her hand. "Stand behind me, Tuk."

"What for?"

"Because that smell doesn't belong here. We would have noticed it earlier. That means there's something else in the cave with us."

Tuk moved behind Annja and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Can you see it?"

Annja shook her head. "No. Not yet. But I can feel something. Something is in the cave with us."

"Right now?"

"Yes."

"Could it be Mike?"

Annja shook her head. "I don't think so. Mike doesn't wear perfume."

Tuk felt her suddenly move forward to the front of the cave. She was headed toward the opening.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he whispered.

"I'm not sure of anything anymore, Tuk."

Tuk felt himself drawn along. At least Annja had the sword. But how well would it work in the close confines of the cave? Tuk had to ask himself another question. If they really were in danger and couldn't fight, where could they run?

They were trapped.

14.

With the sword held aloft in front of her, Annja could see several shapes now in the cave itself. That was the good news. The bad news was they were large. Very large. In fact, to Annja's perception, they could have barely fit inside the cave at all, let alone come through the narrow opening. This puzzled her. If they hadn't entered that way, then where had they come from?

She and Tuk had been working at the only part of the cave that might conceal something. But now it looked like they had missed entirely another possibility up near the cave's entrance.

Something had been, in effect, hidden in plain sight.

Annja flexed her muscles as the energy from the sword ran throughout her body. It felt good to have it back in her hands again. It warmed her and energized her at the same time.

She could sense Tuk behind her and he didn't seem overly panicked. She marveled at the little man and what he'd been able to accomplish. If he hadn't been afraid then, she doubted he would fear much now.

But the question still remained. Who or what were these things in the cave with them? And where did that floral smell come from?

She drew closer to the shapes in front of her. They appeared to be large shambling figures that vaguely resembled human beings. But large humans. A thought poked into her mind and Annja frowned.

They were, after all, in the land of the yeti. Could there be a pair of abominable snowmen in the cave with them right now?

If that was the case, would they be friendly or hostile? Annja didn't relish the idea of having to cut them down in order to protect herself and Tuk. But if she had to, she would. She still had to find Mike. His injury needed some serious help if he wasn't already dead by now.

She moved ever closer to the cave's entrance. The smell of the perfume, wherever it was coming from, was intoxicating. It seemed heavier toward the front of the cave.

Annja pressed on. It was now possible to see a lot better as she approached the cave entrance where the snow made everything brighter.

There was no mistaking the appearance of the two creatures. They were large and covered from head to foot in a coa.r.s.e brown fur that hung long and matted about their bodies.

Yeti.

Annja racked her brain trying to remember everything she could about these things, but the one thing that stood out were reports by witnesses usually complaining of an awful smell in the presence of them.

Yet, Annja and Tuk were now extremely close to the yeti and Annja couldn't smell anything horrible at all. In fact, the heavy scent of perfumed flowers had exactly the opposite effect. She found herself almost smiling as warm thoughts of open fields and childhood joys of a type she'd never experienced in her own life ran through her mind.

"Is that what I think it is?"

Tuk's voice from behind her snapped her back to the moment. "I believe so," she said.

"I've lived in Nepal my entire life and the one thing I never expected to see was what now stands before us." Tuk's voice became a whisper. "They haven't moved. Do you think they mean us harm?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Tuk," Annja said. But she didn't sense that they were waiting to attack. They could have already done that by sneaking up on them in the back of the cave.

They seemed to be watching Annja and Tuk.

Almost as if they were waiting for something.

Tuk sneezed.

Annja inhaled another breath of the perfume and found her concentration wavering. Her grip on the sword seemed to be ebbing.

The perfume- "Tuk, try not to breathe," she said.

"Excuse me?"

"The perfume we smell is a gas. They're waiting for us to be knocked out by it before they do anything."

Tuk had no response. Annja kept her eyes on the yeti in front of her. "Tuk?"

She glanced back and saw that Tuk had simply slipped down to the ground and he appeared to be having a pleasant dream on the stone floor of the cave. Annja whipped her head back around.

The yeti were closer.

When had they moved? Annja brandished the sword. "Stay back!" But even as she did so, she felt her head start to swim again. Breathing was difficult now as she tried to force back the effects of the perfumed gas.

It was virtually impossible to do so. The sword, which had energized her before, now seemed to be waning in power itself. Annja's limbs felt heavy and droopy. The sword was growing heavier by the second. She wanted to drop the blade or at least return it to the otherwhere.

And Tuk looked so comfortable sleeping there on the floor. Why couldn't she take a few minutes to do the same?

Annja felt powerless. She looked at the yeti.

They'd advanced again without making a sound.

How was that possible?

Annja's vision swam and the walls of the cave seemed to turn into liquid. Tears ran from her eyes and then she had the distinct sensation of slipping and falling over a tall cliff toward a pillowy soft ground somewhere far below.

She heard a distant noise, like metal clanging on a rock. Her hands felt light. She drifted, floating, falling, spinning toward the darkness.

And she welcomed it.

ANNJA DRIFTED THROUGH a maze of dreams. Faces she hadn't seen in years swept past her. Some of these she spoke to and had strange conversations with. Then they, too, would pa.s.s on and Annja would see another face. a maze of dreams. Faces she hadn't seen in years swept past her. Some of these she spoke to and had strange conversations with. Then they, too, would pa.s.s on and Annja would see another face.

She flew over lands she'd visited before on other adventures. From the vast expanses of deserts to the freezing landscapes of both the far north and Antarctica, it seemed almost that Annja was playing out her entire life in one big flashback.

Throughout the entire experience, she could still smell that perfume. But it didn't annoy her any longer. Now she just accepted it, and when she did, she felt no more pain in her body. Her ribs didn't ache. Her head seemed clear. She slept.

THE FIRST THING Annja noticed was the lack of the perfume smell. It had somehow vanished and she'd been far too exhausted to notice. But as her body returned from whatever dreamworld she'd lived in for several hours, it was now her main focus. Annja noticed was the lack of the perfume smell. It had somehow vanished and she'd been far too exhausted to notice. But as her body returned from whatever dreamworld she'd lived in for several hours, it was now her main focus.

Her consciousness hauled her back up to a waking state, despite Annja's wish to remain asleep.

Reluctantly, Annja opened her eyes.

She was not in the cave.

A pair of eyes stared at her.

She rolled over, coming awake very fast. "Tuk?"

He smiled at her. "Good morning." He frowned. "Well, perhaps not. I'm not sure what time it is. I can only estimate that it might be morning. But who knows?"

Annja wiped the sleep from her eyes. "You seem to be in a good mood." Annja sat up and looked around. They were on large pillows embroidered with strange designs.

"Where are we?"

Tuk shook his head. "Of that, I have no idea. I only know that we are no longer where we were when we saw the yeti."

"The cave."

"Yes."

Annja felt the pillows. The fabric they were covered in felt smooth and silky to the touch. She looked around the room and saw that the same type of material covered the walls.

Light came from somewhere, but it was subdued and reflected inward from an outside source. The room seemed designed to transition people from wherever they'd been into this place. Waking up to a harsh lightbulb probably wasn't the best way to do that, so the lighting was dim, but Annja could still see everything.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked.

"A few minutes, no more," Tuk said. He smiled. "I'm afraid that when you told me to stop breathing, I did exactly the opposite and took a huge breath, which no doubt hastened my own demise, as it were."

Annja grinned. "You can't be faulted for that."

Tuk leaned closer. "You know, that is the second time I have seen that sword of yours. How is it possible for that to somehow conceal itself on your body and not be noticeable?"

Annja laughed. "If I tried to explain it to you, Tuk, you'd only have more questions. And they'd probably be questions I couldn't answer. Not because I don't want to. But because I don't know the answers myself."

Tuk leaned back. "I see. But you have it here still?"

Annja closed her eyes and saw the sword in its usual position. She looked at Tuk. "It's here."

"That's a relief," he said. "We don't yet know where we are. And while this room is lovely, we have no idea what may lie beyond its peaceful borders."

Annja nodded. "Something tells me that if they'd wanted to harm us, they would have done so by now."

"Perhaps," Tuk said. "But sometimes it is difficult to divine the intentions of others. I would prefer to not a.s.sume anything at this moment."