Annja laughed. "Second-guessing all of their decisions? That must make you the most popular person in the hospital right now." Annja glanced around. The walls were the standard antiseptic hospital white that she hated. Something about being in the hospital always made her feel sick. "Where am I, anyway?"

"Katmandu. Garin and his crew brought you straight here. We didn't even land in Jomsom to refuel, just flew straight in. He was well and truly worried, that one was. But he kept saying to us that if anyone could survive, it would be you. Seems as though he's quite fond of you."

"Oh, really? That would be news to me." Annja saw the vase of fresh flowers on the nightstand. "Are those from you?"

Tuk shook his head. "No. Those are from Garin. He said it was important to make sure you saw them when you woke up. Something about how flowers always bring us back to the goodness of G.o.d's earth. Some religious thing or something. I don't know."

Annja looked at the flowers. They were fresh orchids and she wondered where he might have had them flown in from. They were beautiful.

"So, where is everyone?" she asked.

"Garin's gone to get something to eat, but I think he was really more interested in chasing down the nurse who was in here a few minutes back."

"That sounds just about right," Annja said.

"Mike is upstairs having a second opinion about his head."

"What do you mean?"

"He says he hasn't had any headaches since we got out of that place. He wanted to know what was going on."

Annja frowned. "Are they even set up for that kind of diagnosis here? I mean, no offense, but third-world medical care isn't always the best."

Tuk frowned. "Well, they do a pretty good job here. I've been very impressed with the care you've received."

"Well, thank you. It's nice to know someone is looking out for my best interests."

"Absolutely. If you hadn't saved my life, I wouldn't even be here right now."

Annja shook her head. "It's you who should be thanked, Tuk. If Garin hadn't hired you to watch over me, none of us would have reached this point. I'm indebted to you for the rest of my life-however long that happens to be."

"Just doing my job."

"And you did a d.a.m.ned good job of it," Annja said.

Tuk eased himself off the corner of the bed and set about smoothing the wrinkles in the sheets he'd left behind. "Well, my days of working are now at an end, so it's nice I was able to go out on such a high note."

"You're retiring?"

"Garin paid me handsomely for all my hard work. I've got more than enough to retire to the countryside and get a small place. I can sleep as long as I want, eat when I want and never have to worry about anything until I get bored."

"Well, if you ever do get bored, you're welcome to look me up. I'm sure I can find some sort of excitement for you to get mixed up in. Seems I attract the stuff like n.o.body's business."

Tuk nodded. "Yes, well, thanks for the offer, but I don't know if I should. Things get more dangerous around you than I'm comfortable with. I mean, a little danger is fine, but fully automatic weapons, a.s.sa.s.sins and nuclear waste are too much for me."

"You're not the only one."

"Yes, but you know how to deal with it. I don't. I'm not some globe-trotting superhero who can take down enemies and save the world."

"Neither am I, Tuk," Annja said. "I try to get out of bed in the morning and see where the day takes me. I've got this part of me I'm trying to make sense of. Some kind of destiny that I can't always come to terms with, and yet I've got to. The danger, the near-death experiences, they're all a part of it. But I don't ever look in the mirror and think that I'm something amazing. The day I do that, I think will probably be my last."

"You're modest, too, aren't you?" Tuk asked.

"I don't know about that," Annja said. "I'm just me."

Tuk nodded. "Well, I've got to head out. I'm going to see about a house up the hills."

"Hills?"

Tuk shrugged. "Mountains, I guess you'd call them."

"You're buying there even with all of that snow?"

"I love the snow," Tuk said. "It's just dying in it that I can't stand."

Annja grabbed him and gave him a hug. "Anytime you want to come to the States, give me a call and we'll hang out. You're a good man, Tuk, and I'm happy to have known you."

Tuk pulled back and brushed his hands across his eyes. "You're going to make me cry. Stop that." He blinked back tears and smiled at her. "I'm happy to have made your acquaintance, too, Annja Creed. You really are an amazing woman."

"Thank you."

Tuk waved at her one last time and then ducked out of the door quickly. Annja listened to it hiss shut and closed her eyes.

She thought about it for a few minutes and decided that if she could just lie in this reasonably comfortable bed for about a month, she might honestly start feeling pretty good again.

She could sleep the days away and just concentrate on getting herself back to normal. She stretched her limbs and felt her muscles expand and then contract. A yawn came over her and she sank back into the bed, allowing her spine to lengthen, and she heard a few m.u.f.fled pops as it relaxed even more.

The phone on the bedside table rang. Annja opened her eyes and stared at it. "So much for peace and quiet."

She reached for the phone and picked it up. "h.e.l.lo?"

"Annja? It's Doug."

Annja groaned. Doug Morrell was her producer on Chasing History's Monsters. Chasing History's Monsters. "Doug, what are you doing calling me here? Did you hear that I was close to death?" "Doug, what are you doing calling me here? Did you hear that I was close to death?"

"Of course I did. But since you answered the phone, it can't be all that bad, can it?"

"I suppose not. I haven't seen the doctors yet, though-"

"Well, there's no time. Listen, I need you to get to Scotland. A whole rash of new Nessie sightings have just sparked up over there. We're talking some crazy stuff. People running into the monster on boats, cars and someone even claims they stumbled upon it on a path in the woods."

"Sounds delightful. Why don't you send Miss Lose-My-Top on this one so I can take a much-needed vacation?"

"Annja, your vacations are what tend to get you into trouble in the first place. Need I remind you that this trip to Nepal was supposedly a vacation? And we nearly lost you! No way. I need you back to work as soon as humanly possible."

"I'll ask my doctors how soon I can get out of here. Is that satisfactory to you, Doug?"

"As long as they say you can leave tomorrow, then, yeah, absolutely."

"I'll be sure to tell them that."

"Call me when you're released." The phone disconnected and Annja slumped back into the bed.

The Loch Ness Monster? Again? Hadn't she already run that story down before? And yet here it was again.

Annja took a series of deep breaths and willed herself to relax. Doug could wait if need be. She wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere or do anything until she had rested enough to truly regain her strength.

There were only a few times when she'd felt as totally drained as she had back on the mountain. And each of those times had meant a longer than normal recovery time for her.

No, someone else could run down the Loch Ness story if Doug wanted it so badly. Annja wasn't sure what she wanted to do, but traipsing through a cold lake district in Scotland.

A trip to a spa would fit the bill nicely, though, she thought. A long series of ma.s.sages, hot baths, aromatherapy and good meals. Now that might be something worth looking into.

She wondered if Garin had succeeded in chasing down the nurse he was apparently after. Annja frowned. Here she was, lying near death in a hospital, and all he could think about was another notch on his bedpost.

Way to show me that you care, Garin, she thought. Thank G.o.d Tuk was here.

She thought about Mike. What did it mean that his head didn't hurt him anymore? Was there a chance that his tumor was in remission? Could it mean that he would have more years of his life to live out rather than some quick death sentence?

Annja hoped it would mean he'd be able to enjoy his life again. Although she wondered how the cancer could have gone into remission. Was it due to something they'd been exposed to back at the facility? Did radiation exposure kill cancer cells? Annja wasn't sure how the whole chemotherapy thing worked, but if Mike had explored the facility and possibly gotten himself some exposure to radiation, then maybe that had affected his tumor.

So, some good comes out of all of this, after all, she thought.

She took another deep breath and exhaled slowly, willing herself to fall asleep. She felt certain that at any moment Garin would no doubt burst through the door and disturb her peaceful atmosphere.

The door hissed open. "You have the worst timing," she said.

She opened her eyes.

But Garin wasn't standing there. A Nepali nurse had come in and stood next to her bed, smiling at her.

"Oh," Annja said. "Sorry, I thought you were somebody else."

The nurse nodded and Annja looked at her again. It couldn't be. Not her.

"You're dead," she started to say.

But then the nurse's hand clamped down over Annja's nose and mouth, trying to smother her.

38.

Annja struggled to free herself from the crus.h.i.+ng weight of Vanya's body as she tried to smother Annja. Vanya dropped an elbow into Annja's midsection and the impact made Annja gasp for breath even more.

Annja swung her arms up and clapped Vanya around the side of the head, trying to rupture her eardrums. But the older woman ducked the blow and Annja's hands only smacked Vanya on the side of the head.

Vanya climbed atop Annja and tried to choke her. Annja gagged and kept fighting, aware that she was rapidly losing consciousness. All of her strength seemed to have left her.

Vanya's voice was a sinister whisper in her ear. "You've ruined my plans, Annja Creed. I can never go home again and it's all because of you."

Annja kicked her hips up and dislodged Vanya, who fell to the floor. Annja scrambled to her feet on the other side of the bed. She ripped out her IV line and grimaced as pain shot through her body.

"I saw you die. Tsing's man shot you three times in the chest."

Vanya got to her feet slowly. "Another little bit of make-believe. I didn't get as far as I have in this life by being too stupid to wear a bulletproof vest with a layer of fake blood over it for just that purpose."

"You wear that everywhere?"

"Whenever there's danger to me, yes."

"But the facility exploded. You should have died there with Tsing and your a.s.sa.s.sin, Hsu Xiao."

Vanya's gaze was searing. "You killed my most ill.u.s.trious pupil. Yet another reason to come after you. And as for not escaping, there is always more than one exit in anything I get involved with. As soon as you all fled, I got up and ran. I was back in Katmandu before you."

Vanya circled the bed. Annja backed up, aware now that the woman had a scalpel in her hand.

Annja frowned. "Why not just shoot me?"

Vanya shook her head. "Metal detectors downstairs. I wouldn't have gotten it through." She hefted the scalpel. "But a little blade, well, they're easy to find in a place like this."

Annja felt the wall behind her. She tried to summon the sword, but couldn't visualize the blade properly. Her sword wasn't there.

Vanya smiled. "What's the matter, dear? Having trouble conjuring your special sword?"

Annja frowned and tried again, aware that Vanya was edging closer to her. Annja could just make out a fuzzy image of the sword, but it didn't seem to be enough to get it to materialize in her hands.

So she lunged, and threw the pitcher of water from the nightstand at Vanya. But Vanya, surprisingly nimble for her age, ducked the container and moved even closer.

"Not to worry, Annja," she said. "I'll sever your windpipe so you get to die choking on your own blood. I figure it's the least I can do, considering how you treated Hsu Xiao."

"I gave Hsu Xiao the chance to walk away," Annja said. "She chose to end her life by fighting me."

"If you had joined us, we could all be in power right now. The fallout from the facility explosion would have enabled us to seize power, Annja. Instead, all of my dreams have been laid to waste because of you and that sword of yours. Ever since I heard of it, I've been obsessed with having it. And now you can't even bring it out to kill me."

Annja looked around frantically. There was precious little she could use to fend off Vanya.

"Help me!" she screamed.

"They'll never get here in time," Vanya said.

Annja made a lunge for the red distress call b.u.t.ton and punched it hard.