Forbidden City

by Alex Archer

  "Where did he leave the map?"

  "It's in the form of a toy. That's all I know."

  A toy. Annja leaned back in her seat, sipped her water, and studied her notes on the computer.

  Roux turned pages in the paperback Western. "I'm kind of sad that I missed this."

  "That book?"

  "The time period. The Wild West. I stayed in Europe during those years. I always imagined what it would be like to meet a cowboy. It was a very interesting period of colonial expansion, you know."

  Ignoring him, Annja opened files and started sifting through her research. She brought up maps of Loulan City, both present and past, and started trying to think like Sha Wu Ying, the Dancing Shadow of Death.

  Chapter 28

  Garin Braden sat inside the bar and looked over the crowd of tourists and Chinese businessmen. The Silk Road Dunhuang Hotel was a four-star establishment on Dunyue Road almost three miles south of the city. It was a little over two miles from the center of the city and twelve miles from the airport. The bar was a good place for a patient man to wait.

  Ngai Yuan-Kim wasn't as patient. He sat across the table from Garin and talked on the phone.

  I need to really consider who I take on as partners in the future. Garin thought as he signaled the cocktail waitress for another round.

  Closing the phone, Ngai glared at Garin. "We should not be here."

  Garin grinned. "Really? And where should we be?"

  "Out there. In Loulan City. With Professor Hu."

  "Do you think he's hiding the City of Thieves? Or purposefully not finding it to spite us?" Garin couldn't decide whether he was amused or angry.

  "You said you could find it."

  "I can. When the time is right."

  The waitress returned with Garin's drink. He signed the bill and tipped her generously. Ngai was paying all expenses.

  "When will the time be right, Mr. Braden?" Ngai's words were menacing.

  Garin shifted in the booth. Ngai's three bodyguards mirrored his movements. Their constant presence was wearing on Garin's nerves.

  "Look. You don't know what you're up against."

  "One old man and a young woman."

  That wasn't exactly how Garin would have summed up Roux and Annja Creed, but he knew he wasn't going to convince his new partner any differently.

  "They can cause considerable difficulties."

  "Just two people?"

  "Your boy Huangfu Cao couldn't put Annja Creed away." Even as he said that, Garin had to wonder how he'd have felt if the man had killed Annja. Garin didn't necessarily want her dead – not if the sword could be destroyed or shattered without that. And he'd discovered he had mixed feelings about her. If she wasn't in his way from time to time, as she was now, he might have liked her even more.

  Ngai waved the comment away. "That was nothing."

  "On top of that, somebody shot your men out in the desert while they were spying on the dig. We still don't know what that's about."

  "We can hardly resolve that by sitting here."

  "Yes, it would be much better if you were out there in the desert acting as a target."

  Ngai pursed his lips.

  "We've got people watching the dig." Garin kept his voice calm. "If Hu discovers something, we'll know. And when Annja Creed and Roux arrive there, we'll know that, too."

  "Perhaps they're not coming," Ngai said.

  Garin considered that. Roux knew what was in the City of Thieves. Nothing would keep the old man away with that much raw power on the line.

  If the legend is true. That was the part that Garin had no way of knowing. There were always more lies than truths, and there was no way to find out which was which without going to see.

  "They're coming," Garin said and turned to peer out the window at the harsh expanse of desert. They were coming. He could feel it in his bones.

  "Is your grandfather doing all right?"

  Annja glanced up at the male flight attendant. He was slim and good-looking, maybe thirty. She looked over to Roux.

  The old man slept soundly. While he'd been awake, he'd read constantly and conducted short, cryptic phone calls that meant nothing to her. His latest paperback, some kind of fantasy novel with a garish cover and a woman in scanty clothing, lay closed on his chest under his folded hands.

  He'd finished the book over an hour ago, laughing uproariously from time to time and reading aloud to her different sections that he'd found hilarious.

  "He's fine." Annja thanked the flight attendant and he moved down the row, getting everyone ready for the coming descent.

  Annja looked at Roux and thought about how vulnerable the old man looked. The desert was going to be hard on him. She wondered if he would be up to the task.

  Then she settled back and wondered if she would. The City of Thieves wasn't actually a city. It was just a few rooms that supposedly held a vast treasure trove – and whatever it was Roux was looking for.

  Beneath a shifting sea of sand.

  Annja sighed. Sha Wu Ying and his followers couldn't have built even a few rooms in the shifting sand. They needed bedrock for that.

  And she thought she knew where to start looking.

  By the time they landed at Pudong International Airport, Annja had been in the air almost twenty hours.

  The pilot Roux had arranged met them in the terminal. He was a slim, well-built Australian who had married into a Chinese family that had pulled enough strings to get him a work visa. He was talkative and boisterous, which Roux seemed to enjoy.

  He walked them out to a small plane that he assured them would make it to Dunhuang. As soon as they claimed their baggage they taxied onto the runway and were almost instantly cleared for takeoff.

  A rental agency had a Land Rover waiting for them. Roux squared the bill and they were ready to get underway by the time Annja and the Australian pilot had loaded the luggage.

  Roux drove and Annja was glad to let him.

  Everywhere she looked, gold and tan sand covered the countryside, filling it with dunes and planes. Stubborn scrub brush and scraggly trees shoved up through the baked crust and loose powder of the Gobi Desert.

  "It's beautiful," Annja said.

  "It is beautiful. Like another world." Glancing up through the windshield, Roux pointed to a circling vulture. "But this world is also unforgiving. Don't make any mistakes about that."

  "I won't." Annja drank from the bottled water she'd bought from a vendor at the airport.

  Roux pulled the Land Rover up in front of the Grand Sun Hotel and let the valet take care of the vehicle. Bellboys brought out a rack for the luggage.

  Annja shouldered her backpack. While checking through customs at Pudong, she'd changed into lightweight khaki pants and a sapphire blue cotton T-shirt.

  Inside, the hotel held all the modern conveniences. The air-conditioning provided welcome relief but she knew that she'd better enjoy it because there wouldn't be any at the dig.

  Roux took care of the rooms and retrieved the package he'd had couriered to the hotel.

  The suite was done in lacquered woods with plenty of red and black in the color scheme. Instead of a dressing room, it had a long folding wall with a green and yellow dragon stretched across the panels.

  Roux had the adjoining room.

  With the bellboys out of the way, Annja called Professor Hu.

  Hu answered in Chinese.

  "It's Annja Creed. We've arrived."

  "Splendid. I thought I saw you drive up. The hotel has a coffee shop. Why don't you meet me there?"

  Annja said that she would, then hung up and went to tell Roux.

  "Miss Creed." Professor Hu, dressed in khaki attire, stood near one of the tables in the back. He smiled brightly.

  Annja walked over to the man and held out her hand. She introduced Roux and they sat at the table.

  Hu turned his attention to Roux. "I know Miss Creed's field is archaeology, but what is your specialty?"

  Roux gave an expansive sm
ile and spread his hands. "I'm more of a dabbler, I'm afraid." His French accent was suddenly pronounced. "At my age, I tend to gravitate to whatever excites me. Miss Creed's interest in this whole mystery behind the belt plaque fanned my own interest."

  The server came and took their order.

  "If you don't mind my asking, Mr. Roux, where did you study?"

  "At the Sorbonne. I was somewhat eclectic in my studies. I picked up several courses in art, languages and literature."

  Annja wondered if that were true, then realized that even if she checked there was the possibility that Roux might have attended under another name.

  The server returned with three large coffee mugs and put them in front of everyone.

  Hu blew on his coffee. "If you don't mind my asking..." He let the question hang, awaiting permission to continue.

  "Of course." Roux loaded his coffee with cream and sugar.

  "What interested you in Loulan City?"

  "The story about Sha Wu Ying, of course." Roux's blue eyes twinkled in excitement. "An emperor's assassin who turned on the hand that fed him in a bid for power. You've got to admit, it's a powerful story."

  Hu was taken aback for an instant. "You know that those stories might only be myth."

  "I do." Roux nodded agreeably. "But I also know that you were interested in the belt plaque Annja located as the result of a subterfuge. That tells me you're also interested in this myth."

  Hu grinned. "I am interested in it. The rumors of Sha Wu Ying have never been verified, but I feel certain they're based in some kind of fact. If the City of the Sands existed, if some of it – any piece of it – still exists, such a find could make a career."

  "Or might make a man rich," Roux said.

  Chapter 29

  At Roux's bold statement, the smile left Hu's face. "That's not why I do this kind of work. If it was, I could make a very comfortable living in the black market. I want to learn from what's out there. China is one of the oldest civilizations and there's so much history that's been lost and forgotten over the years." He frowned. "Or has been rewritten by those in power. I hope you're not here just for some treasure hunting expedition."

  "No." Roux waved the idea away as if it was ridiculous. "However, I would like to take part in the search for whatever secrets the belt plaque holds. If we're successful, I believe Miss Creed is going to feature it on her television show. My financing her efforts here wouldn't have to be philanthropic then. I might end up helping to produce that segment of her show."

  Hu tried not to grimace but failed. "Forgive me, Miss Creed, but that program doesn't appeal to me."

  Annja nodded. "I understand. There are days that it doesn't appeal to me. However, the show does fund some of the other research work that I do. People aren't standing in line to hand out money for archaeologists, but that television production company does allow me some leeway in what I do."

  "Was the belt plaque part of a television assignment?" Hu asked.

  Realizing then that she hadn't told Hu the exact nature of the events leading up to her discovery of the belt plaque, Annja told the story again, this time including all the information about Huangfu Cao.

  Hu frowned and looked uneasy. "I've heard of that man. I've even had dealings with him."

  Suspicion dampened Annja's excitement. "What kind of dealings?"

  "He and his men have broken into my office and home searching for information about the City of Thieves. I had only just come across Sha Wu Ying's name in some of the research I was doing." Hu took a breath. "Only a couple days ago, I found two men that I believe belong to Huangfu Cao's criminal organization."

  Roux sat up a little straighter, a little more attentive. "Have you confirmed that?"

  Hu shook his head. "No. When I found them, one of the men was dead. The other died before we could get him here to Dunhuang."

  "What happened?"

  "They were shot." Hu glanced into the depths of his coffee cup for a moment, then looked up. "The man who lived for a short time talked. Briefly. He said that they were attacked by a fox spirit."

  That interested Annja immediately.

  "I don't think that's what happened, of course, but word got around to some of the people in camp. I lost a few of the more superstitious among the crew. I think they got bored, got stoned, and shot each other. When I arrived in the cave where they'd camped, I got a contact high from whatever they'd been smoking."

  "Did you see any drug paraphernalia?" Annja asked.

  Hu shook his head. "To tell you the truth, I didn't look. Finding that dead man and the other one wounded, it was all a bit much."

  "It would be." Annja reached into her backpack and brought out her computer. "You're sure you got a contact high while you were inside that cave?"

  "Yes." Hu looked a little embarrassed.

  Annja opened the computer and powered it up. "You've heard of Dr. Sven Hedin?"

  Hu nodded. "Of course. He's credited, by some, for the rediscovery of Loulan City while traveling along the Silk Road for the studies he was doing."

  "What about Dr. Heinrich Lehmann?"

  Hu shook his head. "I've never heard of him."

  "Dr. Lehmann was a casualty on Dr. Hedin's expedition." Annja tapped a few keys and brought up the copies of the documents she'd found regarding Loulan City. "There was a sandstorm in the area at about the time Loulan was discovered."

  "Those happen with astonishing regularity out there."

  "A few days after the discovery of Loulan, some men from Hedin's work crew found Lehmann a few miles away." Annja pulled up the news story of Lehmann. She'd tracked it to a Berlin newspaper after finding out about the death in the reports she'd read about Hedin's discovery.

  The black-and-white picture of Lehmann showed a young, gawky man with round-lensed glasses. He wore a simple black business suit.

  Hu studied the picture and the article. "I'm afraid I don't read German."

  "Neither do I. But I had a friend translate it for me." Annja brought up another page that had the translation. "The news story talks mostly about Lehmann, his education and his family. But it talks about his death, as well."

  "How did he die?"

  "From dehydration. But before he died, he was raving about having found a system of underground chambers filled with gold and gems. He also said he was attacked by a fox spirit."

  Hu sat back in his chair. "I haven't heard of any of this."

  "I wouldn't have, either, if I hadn't found Dr. Lehmann's name on one of Professor Hedin's reports."

  "Annja can be quite meticulous once she gets started." Roux's voice took on a note of pride that Annja reminded herself was false. We're just playing a game. Just creating an illusion for Hu. But it would have felt good if she'd known Roux actually meant what he said.

  "Do you know where Lehmann's body was found?" Hu asked.

  Annja nodded. "One of the other men, also a German, kept a journal. He noted Lehmann's death, and even made a map of where they found him.

  Hu licked his lips. "It seems to me that a man in the state that Lehmann was in wouldn't be able to walk very far."

  "I don't think so, either."

  "Did Hedin's team search for the underground chambers?"

  "They did. But they came up empty-handed. Hedin didn't put much stock in Lehmann's story."

  Hu let out a sigh. "They could simply have been the ravings of a man out of his head with thirst."

  "The man who wrote about Lehmann's death was a medical doctor. Archaeology was a hobby."

  "Save us from the hobbyists." Hu glanced quickly at Roux. "I mean no disrespect."

  Roux smiled and shrugged. "None taken."

  "The doctor also believed that Lehmann was under the effects of a hallucinogen," Annja went on.

  Hu's eyebrows raised. "A hallucinogen?"

  Roux studied Annja.

  Annja knew she'd surprised him, too, because she hadn't mentioned that to him before.

  "Opium was in common use back then." Hu
stroked his jaw thoughtfully. "But that tends to discredit Lehmann's claims."

  "According to the journal, Lehmann smoked cigarettes but didn't use opium."

  "You believe Lehmann was suffering from exposure to some drug," Roux said.

  "I do. One of the things that the myths about Sha Wu Ying agree on was that he was an expert herbalist."

  "He was reputed to be a healer among the Scythians," Hu added. "When he was known as Tochardis."

  "In the City of Thieves," Annja asked, "would it have been out of line to assume they might have stockpiled poison?"

  "Not at all." Roux smiled coldly. "In a water-poor environment such as that around Loulan, poisoning a water source would have been a good tactic to drive an entrenched enemy away."

  "You think those men I found were exposed to the same hallucinogen?" Hu looked incredulous.

  "Yes. And you, as well."

  "A hallucinogen that was still viable – after two thousand years?"

  "More than two thousand years," Annja agreed. "The dryness of the desert has preserved bodies, mummies, that were over four thousand years old. A burial tomb wouldn't be that different from an underground chamber. Back in the 1960s, the Chinese government experimented with nuclear weapons. Maybe one of those shock waves fractured some of the passageways near the storerooms. They might have opened a crack."

  Hu shook his head. "You must forgive me if I offend you, Miss Creed. But that's quite a stretch."

  "If I'm wrong," Annja said, "we should know it soon enough."

  It was almost dusk when Annja arrived at the Loulan City dig site. She stared out over the small tent town, then up into the foothills of the nearby mountains.

  Roux parked the Land Rover in the motor pool next to the camels. Stepping out, Annja felt the heat slam into her. Her sunglasses blunted most of the residual brightness, but there was no way she could avoid the drastic change in temperature.

  She looked back along the way they'd come. Heat shimmered over the desert sand.