The Russian made no move to escape, instead marching boldly into the hotel and across the lobby to the main restaurant. To Pitt's surprise, he walked directly up to a large booth where Giordino and Sarghov were sitting, enjoying a drink.

"Alexander, you old goat!" he greeted Sarghov with a laugh.

"Corsov! They haven't run you out of the country yet?" Sarghov replied, standing and giving the smaller man a hug.

"I am an invaluable presence to the state mission," Corsov replied with mock seriousness. Eyeing Sarghov's bruised face, he frowned and said, "You look as if you just escaped from the gulag."

"No, just the inhospitable mongrels I told you about. Forgive me, I have not properly introduced you to my American friends. Dirk, Al, this is Ivan Corsov, special attache to the Russian emba.s.sy here in Ulaanbaatar. Ivan and I worked together years ago. He's agreed to help us with the investigation of Avarga Oil."

"He followed us from the airport," Pitt said to Sarghov with lingering doubt.

"Alexander told me you were coming. I was just making sure that no one else was following you."

"It seems I owe you an apology," Pitt smiled, covertly handing the pistol back to Corsov, and then shaking hands.

"Quite all right," he replied. "Though my wife may not like the looks of my new nose," he added, rubbing a purple welt administered by the hat rack.

"How your wife liked the looks of your old one is a mystery to me," Sarghov laughed.

The four men sat down and ordered lunch, the conversation turning serious.

"Alexander, you told me of the attempted sinking of the Vereshchagin and the abduction of the oil workers, but I didn't know you were seriously injured in the ordeal," Corsov said, nodding at a thick bandage around Sarghov's wrist.

"My injuries would have been a lot worse had my friends not intervened," he replied, tilting a gla.s.s of beer toward Pitt and Giordino.

"We weren't too happy about getting our feet wet in the middle of the night, either," Giordino added.

"What makes you think that the captives were brought to Mongolia?"

"We know that the freighter was leased by Avarga Oil, and the survey team was working under contract for them as well. The regional police authorities could find no permanent holdings in all of Siberia for the company, so we naturally a.s.sumed they would return to Mongolia. Border security confirmed that a truck caravan matching the description of those seen at Listvyanka had crossed into Mongolia at Naushki."

"Have the appropriate appeals for law enforcement a.s.sistance been made?"

"Yes, a formal request was sent to the Mongolian national police, and cooperation is taking place at the lower levels as well. An Irkutsk police official cautioned me that a.s.sistance would likely be forthcoming very slowly here."

"It is true. Russian influence in Mongolia is not what it used to be," Corsov said, shaking his head. "And the level of security here is much reduced from the past. These democratic reforms and economic issues have loosened the state's control over its own people," he said, raising his eyebrows at Pitt and Giordino.

"Freedom has its costs, pal, but I wouldn't take it any other way," Giordino replied.

"Comrade Al, believe me, we all relish the reforms that have expanded the freedom of individuals. It just occasionally makes my job a little more demanding."

"And what exactly is your job with the emba.s.sy?" Pitt asked.

"Special attache and a.s.sistant director of information, at your service. I help ensure that the emba.s.sy is well informed about events and activities within the host country."

Pitt and Giordino gave each other a knowing look, but said nothing.

"Gloating again, Ivan?" Sarghov smiled. "Enough about you. What can you tell us about Avarga Oil?"

Corsov tilted back in his seat and waited for the waitress to lay a round of drinks on the table, then spoke in a low voice.

"The Avarga Oil Consortium. A strange animal."

"In what manner?" asked Sarghov.

"Well, the corporate ent.i.ty is a relatively new concept in Mongolia. Obviously, there was no private ownership under communist rule, so the appearance of autonomous Mongolian companies has only occurred in the last fifteen years. Aside from the explosion of individual or publicly owned companies in the past five years, the earlier ent.i.ties were all created in partnership with the state or foreign corporations. This is especially true of the mining companies, as the locals had no capital to start with and the state owned the land. Yet this wasn't the case with Avarga."

"They are not partnered with the Mongolian government?" Pitt asked.

"No, their registry confirms that they are fully privately owned. The point is more interesting, as they were one of the first companies licensed under the newly autonomous Mongolian government in the early 1990s. The company name, by the way, comes from an ancient city believed to be the first capital of Mongolia."

"It doesn't take much more than a land lease to start an oil company," Giordino said. "Maybe they only started with a piece of paper and a pickup truck."

"Perhaps. I can't say what resources they began with, but their current a.s.sets are certainly more substantial than a pickup truck."

"What have you been able to verify?" asked Sarghov.

"They are known to have a minimally producing oil field in the north near the Siberian border, as well as a few exploratory wells in the Gobi. They also own exploration rights to some sizeable lands around Lake Baikal. Their only real physical a.s.set is an oil field services yard in south Ulaanbaatar near the rail depot that's been around for years. And they recently announced commencement of mining operations at a small copper mine near Kharakhorum."

"Nothing outlandish in any of that," Pitt said.

"Yes, but those are only the publicly acknowledged holdings. A listing of their more intriguing a.s.sets I was able to acquire from the Ministry of Agriculture and Industry." Corsov's eyes shifted back and forth, indicating that the minister of agriculture and industry did not actually know that Corsov had acquired the information.

"Avarga Oil Consortium has acquired oil and mineral rights to vast tracts of land throughout the country. And more amazingly, they have acquired outright ownership of thousands of acres of former state land spreading all across the country. That is an unusual privilege in Mongolia. My sources tell me that the company paid a considerable sum to the Mongolian government for these land rights. Yet it does not appear to the eye that the company would have the resources to do so."

"There's always a bank somewhere that's willing to loan money," Pitt said. "Perhaps funds were fronted by outside mining interests."

"Yes, it is possible, though I found no evidence to that end. The funny thing is, much of the land is in regions with no known oil or mining geology. A large section courses through the Gobi Desert, for example."

The waitress appeared and slid a plate of roast lamb in front of Corsov. The Russian stuffed a large piece of meat in his mouth, then continued talking.

"I found it interesting that the company head does not appear to have any political clout or connections, and is actually unknown to most Mongolian government officials. The deals the company made were apparently conjured up with cash, the source of which is a mystery to me. No, the company head keeps a low profile in Xanadu."

"Xanadu?" asked Pitt.

"It's the name given to the residence, and headquarters, such as it is, of the company's chairman. Located about two hundred fifty kilometers southeast of here. I've never seen it, but was told about it by a Yukos oil executive who was invited there for a business deal some years ago. It is supposed to be a small but opulent palace built on the design of the original summer home of the thirteenth-century Mongol emperor. Filled with antiques. There is supposedly nothing else like it in Mongolia. Oddly, I've never known any Mongolians who have been inside the place."

"More evidence of unaccountable wealth," Sarghov said. "So what of our captives? Would they have been taken to the industrial site in town or to this Xanadu?"

"It is difficult to say. The trucks would easily pa.s.s unnoticed in and out of the facility here, so that would be a good starting point. Tell me, though, why were these oil workers abducted?"

"That is a good question, and one we would like to find out," Pitt replied. "Let's start with the industrial site. Can you get us inside for a look?"

"Of course," Corsov replied as if insulted by the question. "I have already surveyed the facility. It is protected by security guards; however, access should be attainable near the rail line."

"A quick nighttime look-see around shouldn't bother anyone," Giordino said.

"Yes, I suspected that would be your wish. You only need verify the presence of the survey team. Once we establish they are here, then we can push the Mongolian police authorities to act. Otherwise, we will be old men before anything gets done. Believe me, comrades, time can indeed stand still in Mongolia."