“My God, what did you just do?” he asked her as she slowly moved past toward her transport.
“What I did was put you back on a very tight schedule, General,” she stopped and, without facing him, whispered her threat. “Don’t make me come out here again. Get to your target area quickly, General.”
He watched her move off toward her helicopter and climb aboard.
“Order all forces forward, Colonel.”
“General, what is happening here?”
The commanding officer hesitated a moment as the tanks in his brigade started their engines. He finally spared the colonel a worried look.
“Something we are going to regret being a part of, Colonel.”
He tossed the binoculars to the colonel and then mounted his personnel carrier.
“It seems the old world is interfering with the new, and no one will be the winner.”
* * *
Altai Mountains,
Eastern Mongolia
The man known as Anderson moved easily through the darkened tunnels. The course he set was leading him straight to the asteroid buried two thousand feet beneath the mountain.
When he arrived at the heavy iron gate, he knew he had a problem. There was no latch or winding gear to raise it. This meant one thing to him—the only man capable of raising it was the Master himself. He checked the only weapon he had on him, a knife. He stuck it into the rusting gap of iron and stone. He pried but nothing happened. He tried again, but this time the knife snapped in two and the blade fell to the dirt floor. In exasperation, he cursed his luck.
“I thought in your line of business, mate, you were supposed to be able to improvise, adapt, overcome?”
Anderson turned. In the dark, he saw the outline of a large man standing against the stone wall of the tunnel.
“Somehow I knew it would be you,” Anderson said as he reached down for the broken knife blade.
“I never called men in your line of work stupid.” Birnbaum moved into the weak light cast by Anderson’s small flashlight.
“All along I thought it was someone in the American camp I had to face down. Captain McIntire, that little fool Ryan maybe. Anya Korvesky was my first choice. But now I see that I was overlooking your power of deception. Very well played, Professor.”
“In our professional lives, we make very few mistakes that we are allowed to get away with, mate.”
Anderson moved to his left, but Birnbaum deftly mimicked the move, blocking his way.
“I think you can drop your pretense of being Australian, Professor.”
“It was pretty good, huh?”
“You even fooled a Mossad agent, so yes, I guess you did a good job.”
“Yes, it’s a shame you won’t be able to get back to those fools you work for to explain just how good I truly was.”
Anderson saw his chance and charged Birnbaum with the broken knife blade. He came up with a thrust toward the large man’s belly, but the move was blocked. Then Birnbaum brought the rock down onto Anderson’s head, bringing his attack to a stop. He fell and that was when Birnbaum stepped up to him and raised the rock.
“Easy, Professor, we’ll take charge of the Russian from here,” came a voice from behind him.
Birnbaum lowered the rock before he could finish off Anderson. He turned and saw Professor Lee standing there with four BDU dressed guards.
“Thank God. I’m not sure I could have handled a professional like him. Good to see you, mate.”
“Professor, there was no need for you to take matters into your own hands. My guards, as young as they are, never ceased their watch on Mr. Anderson. You were lucky he did not kill you.”
“You’re bleedin’ right about that, and I apologize.”
The four guards moved in and picked up a moaning Anderson and straightened him up. They moved off ahead of the others. Lee turned to face the Australian once more.
“With our current dire situation, may I suggest you stay with the other members of your field team? And may I also suggest you join the evacuation of the women and children?”
“If it’s all the same to you, mate, I think I would like to hang around and share the danger with my associates.”
Lee watched as Birnbaum moved back into the darkness of the tunnel. He remained for the longest time as he thought through what it was he had just witnessed. With a curious nodding of his head, Lee moved off to prepare for the final battle of the Air Benders.
* * *
Carl faced Sarah and Anya. Charlie was already shaking his head no.
“Shove it,” was all Sarah had to say. She was still put out over Everett’s conclusions on Jack.
“That’s an order, Captain. The same goes for you, Major Korvesky. Charlie, I don’t even want to hear anything out of you. You proved your point about your lost civilization here in Mongolia. Its now time to leave. You three will escort the women and children out of the mountain and get them to safety. Mister Ryan, the Master Chief and myself will stay and lend a hand.”
“Look, if you’re staying, we’re staying,” Sarah said as if broaching the subject again would be fatal to Carl’s future.
“You see, darling, you haven’t a choice. You can very well court-martial our asses when we get home, that’s your prerogative. But for now, get it out of your head,” Anya said, crossing her arms in defiance.
The door opened, and Master Chief Jenks was there.
“Toad, General Chang says we have company coming.”
“Russians?” he asked.
Jenks was hesitant to speak as his eyes roamed over to Sarah.
“Well, Russians or Chinese?” Everett insisted.
“That sneaky ass ground-pounder, Colonel Collins, and two others somehow got past their guards and entered the mountain.”
Carl stood and faced Sarah. With his eyes boring into hers, he charged his nine-millimeter and then turned to leave.
Sarah ran after him as did the others.
* * *
Carl, Anya, Ryan, Charlie, and the Master Chief came upon the General with six of his guards. Standing next to them was Master Li himself. Beside him, squatting and rocking back and forth was Major Pierce. He seemed to have calmed somewhat from his earlier explosion of rambling about the ‘Slick Willy’. They were all watching something far below near the hidden entrance to the mountain, which these men had somehow found.
“This man is very resourceful,” Li said to the General. “I suspect this may be the famous Colonel Collins.” He turned to face Everett. “Perhaps he has come to finish the task he started in Laos?”
Carl didn’t say anything as Sarah stepped up beside him and looked down into the darkness, which highlighted Jack and two others with the weak lights of battery power.
“That’s Jack,” Sarah said.
Carl remained silent as he turned and looked at Anya. With a simple head gesture in her direction, she took Sarah by the arm. “Maybe we should let Carl handle this.”
“And let him shoot first and then ask?” She shook off Anya’s tight grip. “Jack didn’t shoot you!”
Before another word could be said, ten bullets ripped into the wall behind the group of onlookers. They all hit the dirt flooring of the high gallery. Just as Carl was about to raise up and see what was happening, another five bullets struck just to his left. All the rounds made perfect circles only inches apart. Master Li did raise his head and a bullet ripped into his feathered hat and he ducked back down.
“Hah, he missed!” Jenks cried.
“Master Chief, I hate to burst your bubble, but whoever that is down there has hit everything he’s aimed at,” Carl said as he held Sarah in place with his weight.
“Yes, a very accomplished marksman,” Master Li said, removing his round hat and examining the feather that had been professionally cut in half. He placed the hat back on his head and looked at the General. “Perhaps you better take the situation under control, General.”
General Chang gestured toward his prone men. “Move caut
iously and use silenced weapons. Do not give away your position, as this man down there will exploit your folly rather quickly.”
The first guard sat up, barely clearing the small rise of rocks with the very top of his head. That was when the next bullet struck him in the cap he wore, sending it flying. The guard once more threw himself to his belly.
“Captain, I think I will leave this in your capable hands,” Master Li said.
“Jack?” Everett shouted.
Silence from below.
“Jack, tell whoever that is to cease fire before he hurts someone!”
The comment echoed off the stone walls of the immense space.
“Carl?”
“Don’t shoot, I’m standing up!”
“Slow, Sergeant Tram has you lined up.”
“Tram?” he turned and faced Sarah and shook his head in confusion.
He stood along with Sarah. “You stay here, I’m going down.”
Sarah wanted to refuse the order, but with one look into Carl’s eyes, she saw at last the relief that Jack was at least alive, and the great mystery of his possible attempted murder was near an end. She nodded, placing her trust in the many years of friendship between the two men.
* * *
Carl and Ryan approached cautiously from on high. They made their progress down the ledge as visible as possible. They both knew how expert the Vietnamese sergeant was at correcting a failure in judgement. They both raised their hands into the air.
“Jack?”
They saw three men rise after they had looked he and Ryan over thoroughly. Ryan lowered his hands, but Carl made him raise them again. Trust had yet to be earned.
“My advice to the sergeant was to kill first, then we could interrogate.”
“Jesus, I thought you went home with Will,” Carl said, finally lowering his hands.
Farbeaux’s laughter seemed to shake the open space they were in. “And miss this? Not for the price of King Tut’s headdress, my friend.”
Tram stepped forward and opened the bolt on his Winchester. He was smiling. Collins moved forward, also grinning his pleasure at seeing Everett. That was why it shocked him when Carl brought up his Beretta. Jack froze and Tram, who started to move to close the bolt on his rifle, also stopped moving when Ryan aimed his pistol at him. Farbeaux continued to smile, then stopped when Carl’s aim adjusted to him.
“Perhaps I should step aside while you gentlemen converse?” Henri said as he moved a step to his left but stopped when Everett’s aim continued to follow him.
“You wouldn’t have been lying to me as to the possibility that you were working with Jack all along would you, Henri?” Carl asked, not smiling any longer. “I mean, just showing up like that in Ho Chi Minh City like you did.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Jack asked as both pistols moved to him.
“Colonel, he believes it was you who shot him in Laos,” Henri said, slowly raising his hands in the air.
“Me?” he said, looking at his friend. “You think I would shoot you?”
“Believe it? Yes, it was you.”
“Stop this right now!”
Everett didn’t have to take his eyes off his targets to know who was behind him.
“Sarah, I said to let me handle this,” Carl said as Anya also came up from the back.
“Hey there, short stuff,” Jack said in relief at seeing her alive.
Sarah didn’t respond, she only smiled, and then forcibly made Carl lower the weapon. She also gave Ryan a look that could kill until he followed suit.
“Now, talk,” she said, looking at Everett.
Carl thought long and hard. “Jack, we became separated in Laos. We were apart for two days while chasing the Russians to their drug compound. Where were you all that time? The next thing I know, you found me on that bridge and shot me.”
“Carl, how could I shoot you when I was whacked on the back of the head the last night we were together and held someplace until Tram and Henri found me. I did not shoot you.”
Everett ran a hand over his face in frustration. Then he made a decision. “Okay, Colonel. The first day we met inside the complex twelve years ago, we ate lunch. Tell me what happened there that changed your life?”
Jack smiled. “Easy, I met Sarah.”
Sarah smiled at the memory of Jack almost running her over, barely missing her head by swinging his lunch tray over her. She started to move forward, but Carl’s hand shot out and stopped her. “Not good enough. Perhaps that story is a little too widespread.”
“Oh, this is such bullshit,” Sarah said.
“I agree,” Anya added. “You guys are dicks!”
“Alright assholes, you want to play word games? Try this on for size.”
“Sarah, don’t do this,” Jack said, sparking the interest of everyone around.
“Kiss off, Jack. You two are about to make total fools of yourselves and blast each other for nothing. So, let me handle this. If this doesn’t convince these idiots, nothing will, and then they can just go ahead and shoot me too.”
Henri was smiling out of control and Tram was just as interested. Master Li and General Chang were watching the scene like it was the cliffhanger to an old soap opera. Ryan was just moving his head from man to man in a confused state.
“Jack, we went to Reno last month, just after you returned from the Atlantic. What song did we last dance to?”
Collins looked around at everyone present. He slowly shook his head in the negative. This meant to Carl that he didn’t know the answer, so he prepared to shoot the man who he once thought of as his best friend. Sarah stayed his arm from moving. Jack lowered his head.
“Beyond the Sea, Bobby Darin.”
“Maybe you were spied on in Reno. Someone could have seen you dancing and what song was playing.”
Sarah looked at Everett like he had just lost his mind. “Why is that song so important to us, Jack?” she asked, still looking at Carl. Her eyes slowly filled with tears as the question was asked.
Jack moved from foot to foot. He looked at Henri and he couldn’t help it. The pleasure he was about to receive from the look he knew he would get from the Frenchman, made his day and year.
“Jack?” Sarah prompted, finally releasing Carl from the evil look she was giving him.
“Beyond the Sea was our wedding song.”
The bullet Ryan had chambered went off by accident, accentuating the conclusion to the tale and also erasing all doubt about Jack’s real identity.
Of all the myths, legends and historical mysteries they had uncovered over the years, there was no more shocking news.
“I’ll be dipped in whale shit!” was all Carl could say, as he quoted one of Master Chief Jenks’ most despised metaphors.
As for Henri Farbeaux, he had vanished.
Chapter Twelve
Altai Mountains,
Eastern Mongolia
For the Event Group staff, there wasn’t much time to congratulate Sarah and Jack. They all knew that, once word got out, one of the career military officers would have to resign his or her commission. As for Jack and Carl, they had spent the better part of an hour comparing notes on just what happened in Laos. As for Shangri-La, the entire city was mobilizing for both defense and retreat.
The one hundred and thirteen children under the age of fifteen were standing in line, receiving documents and new identity papers. They would be disbursed throughout the world and live among their own kind who were already established in nations throughout Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, and Europe. Saying goodbye to his young people was the most heart-torn day in Master Li Zheng’s long life. As he said goodbye to the last child as the boy joined his parents to be escorted from the mountain, Professor Lee joined his father.
“I have caused you and our people the greatest of sorrows, father. I am the architect of this disaster because I thought I could bring our magic to the world. After your refusal to assist the world in their fight against the Gray invasion
, I became despondent and angry. But for this to happen will be my eternal disgrace.” He went to his knees in front of his father.
Li Zheng quickly took his son by the shoulders and made him stand. “In our long history, we made a vow never to bow to any man. This will continue. I cannot blame my son for the very sins of his father.” Li Zheng smiled. “You are me, and I am you. Stubborn, and very most likely, insane. Insanity must run in our bloodline for the arrogance we have shown throughout our history for believing we could live apart from our world. This, my son, was wrong.” He swept his right hand over the saddened citizens of Shangri-La below in the city center. “We had no right to think the Dragon’s Fire Asteroid was meant only for us. Now, it is too late to bring justice to my decisions. Instead of bringing this gift to the world slowly, with trace amounts, we chose to hide it. No, my son, this is what was meant to be. Now go and organize the withdrawal of the children. Professor Ellenshaw has graciously offered to assist the exodus of our people.”
With tears flowing from beneath his glasses, Lee moved off to follow what would be his father’s last instruction to him.
“It’s a hard thing, isn’t it?”
Without turning, Li Zheng knew who it was that was addressing him. “Colonel Collins.” He turned and faced Jack just as Carl joined them. “And Captain Everett.” He took a deep breath and then removed his hat. “In answer to your question, Colonel, yes, it is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. But it must be done.”
“Sarah explained the power of the mineral you protect here in this mountain. She says you cannot blow it up in place. Is this correct?”
Li Zheng toyed with the damaged feather of his hat. His beard trembled as he stood before the two Americans. “It would burn with the fires of hell only. Possibly eventually sinking to the core of our planet. At least, that’s what my children have told me after their tours among the educated of the world. Your Captain McIntire’s experiment is misleading at best, Colonel. She missed one valuable aspect to her brief study. The sample size of the asteroid. It had access to air, or oxygen, if you prefer. The air is what gives the mineral its power. While in its natural state below, it is a whole, not a sliver where air can get to its interior. Thus, it cannot be destroyed in place.”
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