"It got too quiet out there," he said a moment later.

"Do you think Guge was telling the truth? That this is a plot to get my sword?"

"I don't understand your sword, Annja," Tuk said. "But it certainly seems a bit too ma.s.sive an operation to go through just for a sword. But then again, I'm not some insane despot. So who knows?"

Annja nodded. "We'll have to make a run for it. Somehow we have to get out of here. You've got to call Garin and we need an escape plan."

"I'm with you. I'm just not crazy about the whole running right at the gunfire thing."

"We may not have a choice."

"Annja Creed!" The loud voice echoed down the hallway. The gunfire had ceased. Annja was puzzled. "Who the h.e.l.l is that?"

Tuk frowned. "It sounds like my so-called mother," he said.

"Annja Creed!"

"Vanya?" Annja looked at Tuk. "I think you're right."

"What does she want?" he asked.

Annja shrugged. "One way to find out." She crawled around Tuk but stayed behind cover. "I'm here!" she shouted.

"I'm giving you exactly two minutes to come out of there with your hands raised and no firearms in your possession."

"Why on earth would I agree to something like that?" Annja called out. "You'll just kill us."

"You don't have any choice. You're trapped. Sooner or later we will simply come down there and kill you. I'm offering you an alternative to that."

"Doesn't sound like it. You'll just kill us one way or the other."

"You, perhaps. But if you come out right now, I'll spare the little man."

Tuk frowned. "Who's she calling 'little'?"

"No way," Annja said. "We might die but at least we'll take a lot of your men with us when we go. Maybe even you."

Vanya's laughter echoed through the hallway. "No, I don't think you'll take any more of my people. In fact, I'm sure of it. You come out in two minutes or you will die there, trapped beneath tons of rubble."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The entire room is wired with explosives," Vanya said. "And I'm holding the detonator in my hand right now."

29.

Annja looked at Tuk. "You think that's true?"

"Stay here." Tuk crawled away into the darkness and Annja sat very still for a lonely minute until Tuk's face reappeared next to her. "She's not lying. This place has more high explosives than a military facility. If she triggers that detonator, then the whole room will cave in. And I don't know if she has the corridor behind us wired, as well."

"Can we snip the wires?" Annja asked.

Tuk shrugged. "Maybe, but I wouldn't know the first thing about how to do it. The other thing is the number of boxes with blinking lights leads me to believe that she's got them remotely keyed to explode rather than a hardwire landline kind of thing."

"Great." Annja slumped back against the wall. "This is not the news I was hoping to hear."

Tuk nodded. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault." She glanced back around the statue and saw a single figure illuminated down at the far end of the hallway. "I wonder if I could hit her from this distance?"

"Probably not. And if you grazed her, she'd just blow the whole room up. I think it's likely that the only thing they're interested in right now is getting you out into the open."

"Presumably to kill me."

"Presumably," Tuk said. "But who knows, they may have something else in store for you, as well."

Annja smiled. "Like what? Long bouts of extreme torture? Sounds like a great time."

"I'm not sure what our alternatives are right now," Tuk said. "And we're out of time."

On cue, Vanya's voice found them again. "Time's up, Annja. I am going to turn that room into a pile of smoldering rubble. Come out now."

Annja shook her head. There had to be something she could do. But what? There was no way she'd be able to disarm all the explosives, and if Vanya saw them retreating back the way they'd come, she'd just detonate the bombs. Annja and Tuk were about to be buried alive under a mountain.

"This sucks," Annja said. "I don't suppose your phone is getting any reception now that we're closer to the outside?"

Tuk's face lit up. "Let me try." He yanked the cell phone out of his pocket and examined the screen. "I see one bar on the reception. I suppose it's worth a shot."

"Anything is," Annja said.

Tuk pressed the number two and waited. Finally, Annja saw him sit up. "It's ringing."

"Give it to me," she said. She grabbed the phone as Garin's voice could be heard.

"Tuk!"

"It's Annja, Garin."

"Where the h.e.l.l are you?"

"I don't have any time so shut up and listen. This place, wherever we are, is a staged thing. Some rogue Chinese military woman who calls herself Vanya is running the show here and the aim seems to be to get me to give them the sword."

"Annja, that's impossible, isn't it? You can't give anyone the sword. The sword chose you. And when you're gone, presumably the sword will choose someone else."

"Well, I'm having a hard time selling them on that notion. Apparently, they think that as I'm dying I can command the sword to pa.s.s to the person of my choosing."

"Rubbis.h.!.+" Garin said, although he didn't sound entirely convinced.

"I don't have any time. Tuk and I are in a room that is wired with explosives. This Vanya woman is telling me that unless I come out and give myself up, she's going to blow it up."

"You go out there and they'll kill you."

"I know."

"I need more time, Annja. I can't find you guys. I've been searching everywhere and there's no trace."

"All I've got is that this place-wherever we are-was previously constructed. It's got to be something big. And somehow it's tropical here, and that means it would take a lot of heat coming from something. I don't have any idea what, but it's a sure bet it would have taken millions to make this place."

"That's it?"

"I'm not exactly having a great day, Garin."

"I'll do what I can and get there as fast as possible."

"I hope so."

Annja closed the phone and handed it back to Tuk. "So much for that."

"Did he say they were close?"

"He's got no idea where we are."

"This is your last warning, Annja!"

Annja frowned. "I'm getting tired of hearing her voice. She sounds incredibly egotistical."

"She's probably quite happy about the situation she's got you in," Tuk said.

"No doubt."

Tuk laid a hand on her arm. "I don't mind dying, Annja Creed. I've had a good life. I've done a lot given the paltry amount I started with. So if you say we're going to rush them, then that is exactly what I will do."

Annja smiled. "I don't doubt it, my friend. But I don't think that's the best way to play this."

"Then how."

Annja took a deep breath and told Tuk what she wanted him to do. When she was finished, Tuk looked up at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. It's the best option we have right now."

"It's not really much of an option, if you ask me."

"I'm all out of ideas," Annja said.

"As am I."

Annja nodded. "All right, then. Are you ready for this?"

Tuk took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I think I am."

A second later a single shot rang out. Then Annja got to her feet very calmly and shouted down the hallway.

"I'm coming out!"

"What was that gunshot we heard?"

Annja was fifty yards from the entrance. But she could see Vanya standing there surrounded by a squad of Chinese soldiers all aiming their weapons at Annja.

"You left me no choice."

"What are you talking about?"

"You said you wouldn't kill Tuk, but neither of us believed you. And he preferred to die by my hand than by yours. So I did him the favor."

Vanya regarded Annja as she approached. "But you didn't choose suicide? How interesting."

"I don't think I'd be able to do it," Annja said. "I guess I just know my limitations."

Vanya nodded. "Come out here into the light so I can see you properly. And if you try any tricks, my men are under orders to fill your body full of bullets. You'll die standing up."

"That wouldn't really help your end game, would it?"

"To get your sword?" Vanya grinned. "I suppose it wouldn't, but I'm not a fool, either. I'd rather you were dead than give you even half a second to unleash that blade against us."

Annja cleared the remaining distance and came out into the light, blinking her way back to full vision. As she did so, she caught a glimpse of movement and suddenly Hsu Xiao had her claws positioned around Annja's throat.

"Move and you will die," she whispered.

"Nice welcoming committee you have here," Annja said.

Vanya nodded at her men. "Go and check on the little man. I want his body dragged out here so I can make sure there's nothing going on."

Annja shrugged. "I told you he's dead."

Vanya smiled. "And if he's not, he soon will be."

"And to think I almost believed your promise that he would be set free. I'm glad we chose the route we did."

"You're a fool, Annja. And you had no options left. In fact, from the moment you set off on this particular adventure, your destiny has been predetermined. At every step of the way, you were channeled exactly in the direction I wished you to go."

"I'm so glad I've lived up to your expectations," Annja said. "So, a.s.suming you're able to get my sword, who does it go to? You?"