Malone stared at Viktor, who did not move, the weapon held tight with both hands, eyes sighting an aim straight at Malone's chest.

"Shoot me and she shoots you," he said to Viktor.

He doubted he could flick the blade before the gun fired.

"That's my knife," Viktor quietly said. "I gave it to her."

"And she gave it to me."

Which spoke volumes.

Viktor's eyes closed, then opened. Malone caught a flicker of understanding, the gaze telegraphing a different intention from the aimed weapon. Then he knew. What Stephanie had said.

Actually, we'd like Tang dead.

"You take care of her, Malone," Viktor said.

Then he swung around and adjusted his aim.

Straight at Karl Tang.

Tang grew impatient of Viktor's face-off with Malone.

What was he waiting for?

He grabbed the crossbow from the brother beside him and yelled, "Shoot him now, or I'll shoot you."

Viktor whirled.

Every fear he'd ever harbored for this foreigner now bubbled to the surface as the gun barrel focused on him.

He fired the crossbow.

An instant later the arrow slammed into Viktor Tomas.

The other brother, sensing danger, had likewise readjusted his aim. A second arrow pierced Viktor's chest, the shaft sinking deep. Viktor choked, blood spewing from his mouth. The gun fell from his grip. A hand came to the throat.

His knees dissolved into jelly.

Then he collapsed.

Ca.s.siopeia winced as Viktor's body was pierced in quick succession by two high-speed arrows. Only a few seconds pa.s.sed before he teetered, tried to find his balance, then collapsed to the floor with a grunt.

She stepped from the shadows to the bal.u.s.trade, aimed her bow at Karl Tang, and fired.

Ni realized that Ca.s.siopeia Vitt was in the upper gallery and apparently armed. The two brothers had shot their arrows. The foreigner was down. Malone held a knife, but he was a long way away.

She was their only chance.

Vitt came into view, a crossbow in her hand, and she fired.

Tang, though, had antic.i.p.ated the move, diving to his right.

The arrow found the floor and careened away.

Malone could see that Ca.s.siopeia's shot had missed. He held the knife, but little good it could do.

The gun.

Which lay near Viktor.

He had to get it.

Tang came to his feet and darted toward the sword Ni Yong had discarded. He gripped the hilt and commanded the two brothers to seize Ni.

He'd show Pau Wen who possessed courage.

He c.o.c.ked his arm and advanced toward Ni.

Ni tried to free himself but the two brothers were strong. Pau Wen had drifted away, closer to the shelves, watching.

His gaze darted out into the hall.

Malone was searching for something.

Tang was less than three meters away, the arm holding the sword ready to thrust the blade into his gut.

Malone found the gun.

The pain in his shoulder was excruciating. He'd doubted he would have been able even to toss the knife. His right hand lifted the weapon, finger on the trigger. He wondered if there were more brothers in the hall, preparing at this moment to skewer him, too.

No matter.

He had no choice.

He aimed the gun and fired.

Tang heard a retort, then felt something pound into his right side. Strange, the feeling. Nothing at first, then unimaginable pain, as if a surge of energy had pa.s.sed through him, scorching his insides.

He stopped his advance and staggered to the right.

He stared out into the hall and saw Cotton Malone aiming a gun straight at him.

Another bang, and a bullet pierced his chest.

A third shot.

Then he saw nothing at all.

EIGHTY-ONE.

Ca.s.siopeia had been shocked by Viktor's death. Tang's, though, pleased her. His head exploded with Cotton's final volley, propelling him off his feet, to the floor.

"None of you move," Malone called out, the gun still aimed. "Minister Ni, get that sword."

Ni obeyed.

"This matter is now over," Pau Wen calmly called out.

Ni stood with the sword in hand.

He stared at Pau Wen and said, "Explain yourself."

"You and I spoke in Belgium. You believed I lied to you there. I did not. Everything I said was the truth. China must change. What that change is to be was the question. A return to strict Legalism? Autocracy? Or something gentler? Confucianism? Democracy? I confess that, in the beginning, twenty years ago, I thought a return to Legalism the answer. But I no longer know that to be certain. What I do know is that both the decline and the glory of a state can arise from a single source."

"Those are Confucius' words," Ni said.

"That they are. He was a wise man."

"Strange talk from a Legalist."

Pau shook his head. "I am no such thing."

Malone listened to the exchange between Ni and Pau, but kept his gun ready, his eyes searching the hall.

"Decades ago," Pau said. "I removed all of the Confucian texts from Qin Shi's buried library. Those words had to survive. It would have been criminal to destroy them. Now they are ready for your use, however you see fit. Those ethics may be precisely what China needs to help counter both corruption and the growing inequality in our society." Pau hesitated. "Minister, the Ba has not been a party to this battle between you and Tang. We influenced nothing, we took no side."

"Tang was one of yours."

Pau nodded. "That he was. But that does not mean I wanted him to succeed. The battle had to occur, without interference, and it has. You have now prevailed. From this day forward, the Ba pledges its allegiance to you."

"Why would I believe a word of that?" Ni asked.

Malone wanted to know the answer, too.

"Tang's discovery of infinite oil changed everything. The power of that discovery became too much for him. His ambition took hold. I came to fear that he would be no better than those who came before him."

"Yet you allowed my life to be threatened. You allowed all of us to be captured by Tang."

"And brought here, Minister. I made sure that happened."

Ni did not seemed impressed. "You are a murderer."

"Four men died in Belgium. But was that not self-defense?"

"Not the one you tortured, then shot in the head."

"Where's Sokolov?" Ca.s.siopeia called out from above.

"He is safe," Pau said.

Malone decided to keep quiet about the actual location. He wasn't necessarily buying Pau as an ally. Instead, he kept his gun aimed and asked, "How will Tang's death be explained?"

"He will suffer a car crash, here in the mountains," Pau answered. "He had come to clear his head, refresh his spirit."

"And the bullet holes?"

"Tragically, the car caught fire, the body burned to a cinder."

Ni stood silent a moment, holding the sword.

Malone kept the gun trained, but Pau never moved. "It's your call, Minister," Malone said to Ni. "What do we do?"

"I believe him," Ni said.

"Why?" Ca.s.siopeia called out.

"Lower your weapons," Ni ordered.

Malone wondered about the strategy but realized they were stuck in a mountain stronghold with an indeterminate number of men surrounding them and little in the way of weapons besides a sword and a few rounds in his gun. He decided to trust Ni's judgment and lowered the gun.

He glanced up, asking Ca.s.siopeia, "You okay?" Thank G.o.d she was alive.

"I'm okay. How about you?"

"Shoulder took a hit."

"You both risked your lives coming here," Ni said to them.

"And Viktor gave his," she said.

Pau faced Ni. "You asked me in Belgium why I care. I told you then the explanation would take too much time. I also told you that my only interest was what would be best for China. I was speaking the truth."

Ni remained silent.

"The Ba," Pau said, "was created to ensure a strong political system that guaranteed a collective safety. In the early dynasties, force and violence worked best to accomplish both goals. But over time, those have become less effective. Today, as you know, they are counterproductive. The Ba is about the preservation of China, not the preservation of itself. What is best for the nation is what we support. The battle between you and Tang was inevitable. No one could stop it from occurring. But we could be there when it ended."

"Why not just tell me?" Ni asked Pau, anger in his voice. "Why not just help?"

"I did," Pau said. "I told you things you never knew existed. When you came to Belgium, and I saw how little you knew, I realized my task was to drive you forward. You had to face the coming challenge, but to do that you had to know its extent. Be honest, Minister. You knew nothing of what I told you."