Pau smiled. "Is that wisdom from one of your great American philosophers?"

"A group of them, yes. They're called rednecks."

"What's to prevent someone else from simply taking Tang's place?" Ca.s.siopeia asked. "Surely he has followers ready to take up the cause."

"No doubt," Pau said. "But this is not America or Europe. Those followers have no access to media, nor to the Party hierarchy. Those privileges have to be earned, over many years of loyal service. Politics here is a personal journey, one that takes an excruciatingly long time. Tang's own rise required nearly twenty years." Pau shook his head. "No. Minister Ni is now the only one poised for ultimate power."

Which Ni well knew, Malone thought. He was disappointed that he would not be around when Pau Wen received a dose of his own medicine.

"You sound confident," Ca.s.siopeia said.

"Fate has intervened on China's behalf."

"You don't really believe that?" he asked. "Fate? You determined most of this."

Pau smiled. "How else could all of our involvement be explained? Isn't it odd that we were each in the precise location, at the precise time, to precisely affect the outcome? If that is not fate, then what is?"

Ni's a.s.sessment of Pau seemed correct. He did overestimate his worth. And you didn't have to be a genius to understand the ramifications of that mistake. But that wasn't Malone's problem. His job was done.

Half a dozen brothers encircled Viktor's prepared remains, chanting, incense wafting from copper vessels.

Overhead the vultures had arrived. "Can we go?" Ca.s.siopeia asked.

They left before the birds arrived and walked back toward the monastery across rocks and cobbles littered with ribbons of pale green gra.s.s. Neither one of them turned to see what happened.

"I was wrong about Viktor," he quietly said.

"That was an easy mistake to make. He was tough to read."

"Not in the end."

"He took himself out with Tang, counting on me to land the kill shot," she said.

He'd thought the same thing.

"I heard what he said as he turned," she said.

You take care of her.

He stopped.

So did she.

He said, "We've played a lot of games."

"Too many."

"What do we do now?"

Her eyes were pools of water. "Strange. You and I having this conversation while Viktor is dead."

"He made his choice."

She shook her head. "I'm not so sure I didn't make it for him. When I tossed that knife down. That's what really gets me. He played many parts to many different audiences. You have to wonder, were those final words just more of the act?"

Malone knew the answer. He'd seen something she could not have witnessed. At the moment of his death, Viktor Tomas finally conveyed the truth.

You take care of her.

Yes, indeed.

She stared at him, seemingly summoning the courage to reveal something. He sympathized with her. His thoughts were likewise muddled. When he'd believed she was dead, a future without her had seemed unimaginable.

"No more games," she said.

He nodded.

He cupped her hand in his. "Cotton-"

He silenced her lips with two fingers. "Me, too." And he kissed her.

WRITER'S NOTE

This book took Elizabeth and me to Copenhagen and Antwerp but, unfortunately, not to China. That excursion would have taken far more time than was available. A book a year demands a tight schedule. So, with Antarctica from The Charlemagne Pursuit, China remains at the top of our must-see list.

I did, though, have the characters visit as much of the country as possible. Chongqing, Gansu province, Xi'an, Kashgar, Yecheng, Beijing, Lanzhou, Yunnan province, and the western highlands are all accurately depicted. The statistics relative to China in chapter 2 are accurate, as is all of the other vital information noted about the country throughout the story. It is truly a place of superlatives. The town of Batang and the Hall for the Preservation of Harmony are fict.i.tious. Dian Chi (chapter 47) is real, though its pollution is far worse than I allowed (chapter 48).

Time now to separate more fact from fiction.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party exists and functions as described (chapter 4).

All of the ancient scientific discoveries, innovations, and inventions attributable to the Chinese, detailed in chapters 4 and 7, are factual. Once, China was the technological leader of the world. That dominance changed around the 14th century when a variety of factors-among them the lack of a workable alphabet, the influences of Confucianism and Daoism, and the propensity of each succeeding dynasty to eradicate all traces of the ones that came before it-resulted in not only ideological stagnation but also cultural amnesia. The story noted in chapter 7, about Jesuit missionaries displaying a clock the Chinese did not know they themselves had invented 1,000 years before, is real. A British academic, Joseph Needham, during the 20th century, made it his lifework to doc.u.ment China's lost technological and scientific past. The research and publications that he began continue today through the Needham Research Inst.i.tute.

Tivoli Gardens, in Copenhagen, is a wonderful place to visit. All that is described in chapter 3 exists, including the Chinese paG.o.da. The Cafe Norden (chapter 13) anchors Hjbro Plads in Copenhagen and continues to serve some delicious tomato bisque.

Sadly, child stealing plagues China (chapters 8 and 9). More than 70,000 children do, in fact, disappear there each year, the vast majority young boys, sold to families desperate for a son. Including this incredible reality in the story is my way of drawing attention to the problem. There's an excellent doc.u.mentary, China's Stolen Children, that you can watch if you want to learn more.

The debate between Confucianism and Legalism has raged for 3,000 years (chapter 10). One of these two competing philosophies has defined every ruling dynasty, including that of the communists. It is also true that none of Kong Fu-Zi's original texts have survived. All that remains are later interpretations of his originals. The failures of Mao (chapter 49); the rise and fall of so many corrupt imperial dynasties (chapter 12); the Hundred Flowers Campaign (chapter 45); and the disastrous Cultural Revolution are all reported accurately. Likewise, violent divisions within China's political structure are common, as are destructive internal civil wars. The battle between the Gang of Four and Deng Xiaoping did occur in the late 1970s (chapter 12). Three of the four in the defeated gang lost their lives. Here, I simply created another war for political control between two new contenders.

Centuries ago, the Ba flourished. The history of hegemony, the Ba, and Legalism are indeed accurately related (chapter 24). Hegemony (chapter 45) is a concept uniquely Chinese, one that has long defined its national conscience in ways the West has difficulty comprehending. And as Karl Tang realizes in chapter 24, totalitarianism is a Chinese innovation.

Antwerp is a wonderful European city with a distinctive Old World feel (chapter 18). I've long wanted to include it in one of my stories. The Drie Van Egmond Museum (chapters 25, 2731), though, is my creation. Since I knew I was going to destroy the building, I thought something fict.i.tious would be a better choice. Interestingly, though, I modeled it after an actual Antwerp museum-which burned while this book was being written.

Lev Sokolov and Ca.s.siopeia Vitt have a history, which is hinted to starting with chapter 36. If you'd like to know the full story of how these two met, and why Ca.s.siopeia owes him, there is a short story, "The Balkan Escape," which can be downloaded as an e-book original. Check it out.

Eunuchs (chapter 7) are an important part of Chinese history. Nowhere else on the planet did they exert so much political influence. Definitely, there were good (chapter 51) and bad personalities. Their history as told throughout the story is accurate, as is the process of their emasculation (chapters 7 and chapter 33). a.s.sociating eunuchs with the Ba is my invention, though most certainly they would have played some role in that movement.

Two tortures are utilized: the first with scalding chili powder (chapter 23), the second with rats (chapter 39). Both were created by the Chinese. The Records of the Historian, or Shiji (chapter 38), remains a vital source of ancient Chinese history. The pa.s.sages cited throughout the story are faithfully quoted. China's censoring of the Internet happens every day (chapter 43). An intranet, solely for use within the country, is currently being created.

Quotations from Chairman Mao, or The Little Red Book (chapter 43), is the most printed book in history with some 7,000,000,000 copies. Once, every Chinese carried one. Not anymore.

The sky burial, described in chapters 63 and 82, is a part of death in both Tibet and the western Chinese highlands. The dragon lamp (chapter 4) is real, though found in another Chinese imperial tomb, adapted here to Qin Shi.

Halong Bay, in northern Vietnam (chapter 41), is a stunning locale that I could not resist including. Mao's tomb (chapters 42 and chapter 43) also fascinates me. The stories of the Chairman's corpse, the botched embalming, a wax effigy, and the possibility that the body itself is gone are all real. And though it's much more recent history, what happened in Tiananmen Square, and what happened there in June 1989 (chapter 43) remains a mystery. To this day, no one knows how many people died. Many parents did indeed venture to the site, after the tanks withdrew, looking for their children (chapter 43). And as related in chapter 66, all books and websites that even mention the incident are censored in China.

The terra-cotta warrior museum (chapter 6), near Xi'an, forms an important backdrop for the story. When the traveling warrior exhibit visited the High Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, I visited twice. I was so enthralled that I purchased a replica, which now stands in my den. I tried to incorporate as much of the Xi'an museum as possible, focusing on the ma.s.sive Pit 1 (chapter 6) and the intriguing Pit 3 (chapter 53). Of course the imperial library chamber (chapter 10) is my addition. The concept of the chariot facing left and the lack of any warriors displayed on the left side of Pit 3 (chapter 53) is not mine. That came from The Terracotta Warriors: The Secret Codes of the Emperor's Army by Maurice Cotterell.

Qin Shi's tomb mound, which rises near the underground army site, is accurately portrayed (chapter 38). The drainage tunnels, dug more than 2,220 years ago, remain in the ground (chapter 55). The description of the tomb interior, quoted in chapter 38, is the only written account that exists. My vision of the interior (chapters 5557) is imagined, but I tried to stay accurate to not only Shiji but also other known imperial tombs. To this day the Chinese government will not allow any excavation of Qin Shi's final resting place. The description of Qin Shi in chapter 38 is based on the most popular representation, but it was fashioned centuries after his death. In reality, no one has a clue what the man looked like.

Incredibly, the Chinese did in fact drill for oil 2,500 years ago in the manner described in chapter 21, becoming the only people at the time capable of achieving such a feat. They found not only crude but also natural gas, and learned to use both in their daily lives. China's current dependency on oil (chapter 17) is a reality, as is its policy of foreign appeas.e.m.e.nt to obtain ma.s.sive quant.i.ties. Its lack of reserves is a strategic weakness, as is the fact that a simple naval blockade of two straits, far from the country, could bring the Chinese to their knees (chapter 17).

The debate between biotic and abiotic oil is real, and continues to this day. Does oil come from decaying organisms or is it naturally produced by the earth? One source is finite, the other infinite. The Russians, at Stalin's prodding, pioneered the abiotic theory in the 1950s and continue to find oil, utilizing the concept, in places where fossil fuels could never exist (chapters 15 and chapter 17). Likewise, as Stephanie Nelle points out in chapter 15, wells in the Gulf of Mexico are depleting at an astoundingly slow rate, one that has confounded American experts. Diamondoids, or adamantanes (chapter 44), were first isolated from Czech petroleum in 1933, then from U.S. samples in the late 1950s. Of late, these amazing compounds have shown promising applications in nanotechnology. I adapted them as proof of abiotic oil since diamondoids can form only under extreme heat and pressure, the kind experienced deep within the earth, far away from where any fossil fuels may lay.

And what of this long-standing myth of finite oil?

"Fossil fuel" is nothing more than a theory, created in 1757 by a Russian scientist named Mikhail Lomonosov. In proceedings before the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Lomonosov wrote, Rock oil originates as tiny bodies of animals buried in the sediments which, under the influence of increased temperature and pressure, acting during an unimaginably long period of time, transform into rock oil.

Many scientists question this claim, but, over time, we have simply come to believe that oil originates solely from organic compounds.

In 1956 the senior petroleum exploration geologist for the USSR said, The overwhelming preponderance of geological evidence compels the conclusion that crude oil and natural petroleum gas have no intrinsic connection with biological matter originating near the surface of the Earth. They are primordial materials which have been erupted from great depths.

But few people listened to those words.

Raymond Learsy, in his 2005 book Over a Barrel, wrote, Nothing lasts: not fame, fortune, beauty, love, power, youth, or life itself. Scarcity rules. Accordingly, scarcity-or more accurately, the perception of scarcity-spells opportunity for manipulators. The best example of this is OPEC, which continues to extract obscene profits from a scarcity of its own creation.

Learsy, though, leaves no doubt.

He, and many others, the Russians included, are absolutely convinced.

Oil is not scarce. We only fear that it is.

Personal and Confidential

Magellan Billet Dossier

For Internal Use Only

Not for Public Dissemination

Born: Harold Earl Malone, Thomasville, Georgia. Acquired the nickname "Cotton," origin undisclosed.

Physical Traits: 6'0". 195 lbs. Burnished blond hair. Green eyes.

Parents: Forrest and Peggy Jean Malone. Father, served United States Navy, final rank, Commander, lost at sea aboard USS Blazek. Mother still alive, living in Georgia.

Psychological Note: Though Malone loved and respected his father, he remained angry for years after his father's death. Their time together had been limited to three years, from the time Malone was seven until he was ten, and those memories are vague and scattered. He related that there is never a day he doesn't think about his father. He never questioned him either. He also remarked that, though he never knew the man well, he has unwittingly emulated his father many times. Forrest Malone was the last captain of NR-1A (a highly cla.s.sified submersible), a career military man, and an Annapolis graduate. The NR-1A's existence and disappearance remains cla.s.sified. Malone mentioned twice the fact that there had been no cemetery for him to visit. No remains. Nothing but a cla.s.sified stamp on a file. Throughout his adult life he wondered what actually happened to his father. Eventually, he conducted an independent investigation, all of which is detailed in a file t.i.tled The Charlemagne Pursuit. Malone remains angry with the Navy over its handling of his father's disappearance.

His mother, a native Georgian, worshipped her husband. Malone related that he's never seen his mother cry, which probably explains his own reluctance to show emotion. Being atypical, Malone and his mother did not relocate as his father's duty stations changed. Instead, she maintained a steady home environment in Georgia. At the memorial service for his father (held after the loss of the Blazek), when the Navy honor guard presented her a folded flag, she refused it. She never remarried, and still refers to herself as Mrs. Forrest Malone.

Religious Affiliation: Malone was born and raised Catholic, though he no longer actively practices the faith.

Special Traits: At the age of 12 Malone realized he had an eidetic memory-the ability to remember objects, images, words, and numbers with extraordinary accuracy. He also, early on, developed a love of books and reading. This translated, as an adult, into book collecting and eventually to him opening (after his early retirement) his own rare bookshop. He is p.r.o.ne to extreme self-motivation and obsessive dedication. He exudes physical confidence and an extraordinary command of his surroundings. He is tough, gutsy, decisive. He accepts any situation thrown at him, and exhibits exceptional courage under fire. He often uses humor to mock reality, dodge an issue, twist an argument, or escape involvement.

Psychological Note: Team sports never interested Malone, but he loved to swim. He recalls how he and his father spent time swimming together. Horses were another interest; he taught himself to ride as a teenager. He learned early in life to never hurry anything, as that simply bred mistakes. He believes deeply that skepticism is fundamental to survival, but loyalty is essential.

Education: Malone graduated second in his cla.s.s from Thomasville High School. He was accepted to the Naval Academy where he graduated in the top third of his cla.s.s. He acquired an unusual ability for foreign languages and is now fluent in at least a dozen, including Arabic.

Psychological Note: Has a dislike of enclosed s.p.a.ces, so he shied away from the submarine service, opting instead for Navy flight school. He earned the required marks for fighter pilot training but declined, opting for the Judge Advocate General's corps. His father's contemporaries, many of whom had risen to high naval rank, thought that the better course. Out of respect for his father he followed their advice and was accepted at Georgetown University Law School. He earned a Juris Doctorate degree while stationed with the Judge Advocate General's Corps at the Pentagon. He still holds an aircraft pilot's license and an underwater diving certification.

Personal Relationships: Married Pam Gauldin shortly after joining Judge Advocate General's Corps. They divorced after nearly twenty years of marriage. One child-a boy named Gary-was born seven years into the relationship. Following the divorce, Malone learned that Gary was the product of an affair his wife had during the marriage. This was in retaliation for affairs Malone himself engaged in early in their relationship. His were discovered at the time of their occurrence, hers remained concealed until much later. This conflict played a key role in a recent encounter between the two (see file: The Alexandria Link). Gary, though not genetically linked, is a lot like Malone. Athletic, smart, and fond of travel, he spends the summer months with Malone in Denmark. Currently, Malone is involved with Ca.s.siopeia Vitt, a woman of Spanish/Moorish descent, who resides in France (see files: The Venetian Betrayal and The Emperor's Tomb).

Psychological Note: Malone openly states that he's not good at dealing with women, and seems drawn to those with deep contradictions. He acknowledges the mistakes made in his marriage and makes no excuses for them.

Professional Career: He spent six years with Judge Advocate General's Corps. Excelled as a litigator, receiving eight commendations for meritorious service, all of which were refused. Was promoted twice, achieving the rank of commander before retiring from active naval service. Left Judge Advocate General's Corps after being transferred to the Justice Department as one of the original twelve lawyer/agents for The Magellan Billet. Director Stephanie Nell personally selected Malone. Worked 12 years as a Magellan Billet agent and was awarded nine commendations, all of which were refused. Suffered three serious injuries while on a.s.signment; a fourth serious injury came in Mexico City during the a.s.sa.s.sination of a public prosecutor. Malone brought down three of the a.s.sailants and received another commendation, which was also refused (see file: The Paris Vendetta folder). After that incident, he retired from the Navy and quit the Justice Department, citing ever-increasing risks and a desire for a change in his life. He refused an exit interview. He sold his residence in Georgia and moved to Copenhagen, Denmark.

Post-Career Activities: Malone purchased an old bookshop from Danish billionaire, Henrik Thorvaldsen, the acquisition made possible by the net proceeds from the sale of his Georgia residence. The business is located in Hojbro Plads. Malone lives on the fourth floor, above the shop, in a small apartment. His Danish residence is on a temporary work visa as a shopkeeper (which Thorvaldsen arranged) and he is a member of the Danish Antiquarian Booksellers Society. Though no longer an active agent, he continues to keep a knapsack beneath his bed that contains his Magellan Billet-issued Beretta automatic (which he was allowed to retain), his pa.s.sport, a thousand Euros, spare identification, and a change of clothes. He has twice encountered the local police over possession of a firearm (which is not allowed in Denmark).

Director Nelle involved Malone with a personal incident soon after he retired (see file: The Templar Legacy) which demonstrates his continued loyalty toward her. Beyond that incident he has been involved with other investigations, some at the request of Director Nelle (see files: The Templar Legacy, The Paris Vendetta, and The Emperor's Tomb) and others more personal (see files: The Alexandria Link, The Venetian Betrayal, and The Charlemagne Pursuit.). There is no reason to a.s.sume that this pattern will not continue.

Read on for THE.