“That sounds like a dead end to me.”
“The hot springs are the way out. The primary pool flows down through several passages and eventually joins with another small hot spring in a valley in Milchang, the next mountain over. You could be picked up there and taken up to the hut.”
“What hut?”
“Just a place near where I can arrange to have a helicopter pick you up and flown out.” He smiled. “It’s icy cold up there and snows almost all the time, but you might welcome a little cold after the hot springs.”
“How hot are those springs?”
“They vary from being very hot to lukewarm. There’s an underground river that runs alongside the spring and occasionally feeds it. The river would be icy cold and would cool the springs at those points. But it could be scalding hot four feet away from where the river flows into the spring. You’ll have to stay close to the river side.”
“And hope that the river still feeds it the same way it did thirty years ago.”
“There is that. I did a geographic check, and the possibility is good that the conditions are the same.”
“That’s comforting. How deep is it?”
“Deep enough to swim in some areas. Wading depth in others.”
“It sounds like hell for Erin and bad for me. There’s no other way?”
“It’s the safest. Otherwise, you’ll run into Kadmus’s men.”
“And I won’t be stumbling over them around those springs? How do I know that Kadmus doesn’t use those springs for his private spa?”
“You wouldn’t stumble. And, according to reports, neither Kadmus nor any of the villagers ever go to the springs. I doubt if he even knows they exist. He just took over the mountain a couple years ago, and the villagers wouldn’t tell him about them. No one but the monks knew anything about the springs, and they were thrown out of their monastery by Kadmus.”
“It might be possible.” She thought about it. It was an unusual and probably dangerous solution to the dilemma. But possibly less than the one presented by hiding here or trying the mountain road. “Okay, it’s a go. We’ll be on our way as soon as it gets dark. Erin has had a sound sleep and she should be as good as she’ll ever be.”
“And what about you?”
“I slept a little. It’s all I’ll need. The adrenaline will carry me.” She paused. “Until I get to you on that other mountain. You may be able to judge how long it will take us, but I don’t have any idea. But when we make it, you’d better be there when we end this marathon swim.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll see that you’re met.”
“No, I want you there. You take the risk for once. After what Erin’s going to go through, she deserves to have a reward at the end. Though God knows I can’t see that you’re any prize.”
“But then you haven’t explored my many talents.”
“I’ve been exposed to one of them, and I can’t say that I appreciate it. Will you be there?”
“I’ll think about it. You’ll be met.” He added, “At any rate, I’ll be with you all the way. Sadiki has an excellent memory of that journey and was able to transfer that memory to me. I’ll try to guide you and save you a few falls.”
“You’re going to whisper in my ear?”
“That would be delightful, but I’ll stick to the present communication. Just don’t ignore me, Catherine. I’ll have the overview, and I’ll be right.”
She was silent. “I won’t ignore you.”
“What a concession.”
“It is a concession. I don’t like the idea of not having full control.” She gazed challengingly at him. “Like you, Cameron.” She waved her hand dismissingly. “So gather up your cozy fire and other paraphernalia and all that soothing mind crap and hit the road. I need to wake up Erin, check her over, and get her prepped for the trip.”
He chuckled. “I hear and obey. Anything else?”
“Yes, be there when we fight our way through this.”
“Possibly…”
The fire flared, then was gone.
The next moment, so was Cameron.
“Very theatrical,” she said sarcastically. “You can do better than that.”
“Definitely. I just didn’t want to dazzle you.”
“Out. I’ll accept your bullshit only when I’m on the road and at risk.”
“You would never have known I was still here if you hadn’t decided to insult me. Later…”
Was he gone?
She couldn’t worry about it. She had things to do. She sat up and wriggled out of the sleeping bag. The next moment, she was kneeling beside Erin. She shook her gently, “Hey, rise and shine.” She wrinkled her nose. “Though the shine part will be pretty difficult considering what I’m going to throw at you. But we’ll have to take what we get.”
Erin sat up and yawned. “What are you talking about, Catherine?” Her eyes suddenly widened with alarm. “Trouble?”
“Yes, though I guess it depends on what you call trouble. Your hero, Cameron, came calling. And I’d say he’s big-time trouble…”
* * *
“There’s moonlight,” Erin said quietly as she helped Catherine roll the huge boulder back to hide the opening of the cave. “Is that going to be bad or good for us?”
“It could work either way.” She smiled at Erin. “I’m going to consider it lucky. It will help us to find our way to that crevasse at the break in the boulders on the mountaintop. After that, it won’t matter. There won’t be moonlight once we start down into that darkness. Too bad. We need to see where we’re going. Cameron said that the winding path down to the hot springs is killer.”
“You brought your flashlight.” Erin frowned. “But not much else. You left the sleeping bags and everything that—”
“We can’t afford the extra weight. And it won’t do us any good once we reach the springs. We’d have to leave them there anyway.” Catherine carefully brushed their footprints away from the cave opening until they reached the stone path. “If everything goes wrong, we can try to make our way back to the cave.”
“You took your gun.”
“That’s not something I consider expendable. Besides, we have to take the road to make it to the crest of the mountain. I might have to use it if the road is patrolled.” She threw the branch away. “Though if given a preference, I’d prefer knife or hands. A gunshot would be heard all over this mountain and the next in this clear air.” She moved ahead of Erin on the trail. “I’m hoping they’d expect us to be going down, not up the mountain. I’ll keep the pace slow and steady on the trail, so that you can conserve your strength. After we reach the top, I can’t promise anything. No conversation until we reach the top.”
“Okay.” She was silent a moment. “But you don’t have to be so careful of me. I won’t hold you back.”
“I know you won’t.” She smiled faintly. “But I prefer you don’t kill yourself to keep from doing it. Now, hush.”
Silence.
The cold wind striking their faces.
The bright moonlight as icy as the snow on the ground.
Isolation.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen minutes.
Twenty minutes.
The wind was sharper, more merciless the higher they climbed.
Catherine could hear the sound of Erin’s breathing behind her.
Her own breathing was probably heavier and more labored, she thought. Erin was more accustomed to the altitude than she. But at least she wasn’t sick and dizzy as she had been the last time she’d been this high in the mountains. It would have been difficult to function. She would have done what was necessary, but it would have—
Laughter.
She stopped short, her gaze flying to the curve of the trail up ahead.
Conversation. Chinese. Vulgar. Obscene. Boasting.
It was either two of Kadmus’s soldiers or a phone conversation.
She listened. Only one voice.
A phone conversation. She hadn’t thought t
hat Kadmus would allot more than one sentry for this stretch of road.
But the road was so narrow, they couldn’t go around him without being seen.
Erin had nudged closer to her.
Catherine shook her head and held up her hand to indicate she was to stay. Then she moved cautiously forward.
The conversation was continuing, and so was the laughter.
Keep on talking. What else is there to do on this barren mountainside to amuse yourself? Keep on talking …
She had reached the curve of the road and stopped, pressing back against the stone.
Don’t be facing this way.
Please, I need a break …
And she got it!
He was leaning back against the stone face of the mountain and facing the valley. Not as good as if he had his back to her, but she could work with it.
She took off her gloves and stuffed them in her pocket.
Hit him low, bring him down, use her hands on the carotid artery.
He laughed again.
Wait until he hung up. She didn’t want to alert whoever he was talking to in the compound.
He talked a few more minutes.
He hung up.
She moved!
He didn’t see her until she was almost on him. He grunted as he dropped the phone and tried to turn toward her and raise his AK-47. But she had already tackled him, and he was falling. She was astride him as he hit the ground.
Her hands tore open his coat and fastened on his throat.
His eyes were glaring up at her as his fist struck her cheek. “Zai—”
The curse was cut off. She had reached the carotid.
Five seconds later, he was dead.
She took a deep breath and sat back on her heels. Death was never easy, and she never got used to it. It didn’t matter if it was kill or be killed. It still sucked.
She got to her feet and ran back to Erin. “Come on, I need your help.”
“What happened? I didn’t hear—” Erin stopped as she saw the soldier huddled on the ground. “Dead?”
“Very.”
“Then I don’t see why you need me.”
“I want you to help me roll him off the mountain.”
“What?”
“I can’t leave him here, there’s no place to hide him. If someone checks up on him, then it will lead them to this post. If he’s just not here, then they’ll have to look for him. That will take time. We need time.” She was already struggling, tugging him toward the edge of the cliff. “Don’t help me with this. I don’t want your shoulder to go out again. When I get him in position, just help me roll him off the cliff…”
“What if someone sees him fall or maybe—”
“Don’t second-guess.” She tried to catch her breath. “I think that he should fall fairly straight down, there’s no slope or—Help me. Take his shoulders. I’ll do his lower body.”
“Right.” Erin was there pushing. A moment later the body slid silently over the side of the cliff.
She straightened. “What next?”
“We erase signs of struggle and his header over the cliff. Then we erase our own footprints. That’s all we can do without using up time we can’t afford. Come on, get busy.”
Five minutes later, they were moving up the trail again.
Erin shivered. “I’m still seeing that soldier tumble off the mountain. I was hoping that we wouldn’t be forced to do anything that violent.”
“And I was almost sure we’d be faced with something like it,” Catherine said. “We’ve been pretty lucky since we got away from Kadmus.”
“Yes.” She didn’t speak for a minute. “Do you think we’ll run into any other sentries on this road?”
“I doubt it. But I have to be prepared.” She said gently, “You’re doing great, Erin. I couldn’t have done without you back there.”
“Yes, you could.” She made a face. “It just would have taken you longer.” She looked up the road. “How far to the top?”
“I’d say another ten minutes. Any problem?”
“No.” She quickened her pace. “I’m fine. Let’s get up there. It’s always easier going downhill.”
* * *
The top of the mountain looked like a moon landscape. It was flat, not jagged, and the surface was covered with huge boulders, craters, and rocks.
“It seems our monk, Sadiki’s, memory didn’t fail him,” Catherine murmured. “But the way down might not be as easy as you hoped, Erin. It looks pretty rough to me.” She started over the rock-strewn surface. “Those big boulders, there should be twisting passages between them going down…”
“According to Sadiki.”
“And according to your friend, Cameron. Let’s see if he’s right.”
“Of course I’m right, Catherine.”
“You’re back. There’s no of course about it. It’s all hearsay.”
“But expertly-well-researched hearsay. And I’m not ‘back.’ I’ve been with you all along. It just wasn’t wise to interfere in the arena you obviously own. Besides, you resent my intrusion.”
She kept moving quickly toward the boulders. “Yes, I do. I don’t really know either your intentions or your parameters of power. You could be some nut one of those think tanks tossed out who decided to throw in with a group equally crazy.”
“That’s true. Move faster, Catherine. I’m figuring that you have perhaps forty minutes to get down to the hot springs before Kadmus’s soldiers start pouring up here.”
“I am moving fast.” But her pace instinctively became even faster. “And I was allowing thirty minutes.”
“But you did such a fine job of disposing of that sentry. It should allow you a little more time. You did everything right. I’m lost in admiration.” He paused. “The path should be right ahead, between those two boulders. I won’t communicate again other than to give you directions or information. You’re going to need to concentrate.”
“Good.”
She was entering the narrow darkness between the boulders. She could see nothing. But the twisting path was sloping downward she realized with relief.
“Catherine?” Erin was behind her, moving cautiously.
“I’m going to turn on my flashlight as soon as I’m sure that we’re below the surface and there aren’t any cracks between these boulders for light to escape. I hope you’re not claustrophobic. There’s barely room to move in this passageway.”
“No, but it’s hard to breathe, isn’t it?” She paused. “But Cameron was right, wasn’t he?”
“Yes, but we won’t know how right until we get down to those hot springs. As soon as we’re able to see better, we’ve got to put on more speed.”
Silence. “Is that what Cameron told you just now?”
She stiffened. “Erin?”
“He was with you, wasn’t he? You were so quiet, and I realized that Cameron was there.”
“Oh, no, not you, too. I’m having enough trouble dealing with Cameron and his so-called talents.”
“I don’t have any talents. But I’ve been so close to Cameron that it would be strange if I didn’t sense him near me. Only now he’s not as close since he’s with you.”
“And do you resent that?”
“No, why should I? Cameron always makes the right decisions.”
“I believe I’m beginning to feel ill.”
“May I help?” Erin asked, concerned.
“No, that was sarcasm.” Catherine turned on her flashlight. It did little good. Because of the twisting downhill narrowness she still couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead before the next turn. But at least, they weren’t in complete darkness. She would have to be cautious that there wasn’t a falloff beyond one of those turns.
“No time. Go for it. I’ll help you.”
Was that Cameron’s sense of urgency or her own?
Both.
But it was her instincts on which she had to rely. She was still far from the springs that could be their salvation. And who
knew what hazards might stall their progress when they reached them?
And Kadmus could be hot on their trail.
Throw caution to the winds. Rely on luck, Sadiki, and yes, even Cameron.
“Stay close,” she tossed to Erin over her shoulder as she began to move at a half run through the passage. “We’re on our way.”
* * *
“They’re on the move,” Brasden’s eyes were bright with excitement. “We have a sentry reported missing north of the village.”
“Missing?” Kadmus said. “What the hell do you mean missing?”
Brasden shrugged. “What I said. Li Kim was on guard on the upper road, and we weren’t able to reach him by phone. I sent two men up to his post and he wasn’t there. No signs of struggle. He was just … missing. We’re searching for him now. And for Ling and Erin Sullivan. There has to be a connection. They were probably hiding up there near the top and decided it was time to make a break for it.”
“And where are you searching now?”
“Down the road leading past the village to the bottom of the mountain.”
“Down?” Kadmus gazed thoughtfully up at the top of the mountain. “Why would Ling have taken Erin Sullivan up there anyway? Because it would have been the most unlikely place for them to hide?”
“It makes sense.”
“No, it doesn’t. It’s a dead end, and Catherine Ling is no fool. Was the top of the mountain searched?”
Brasden frowned. “Yes, I wouldn’t forget that.”
“But you wouldn’t have done it with the same care as more reasonable escape avenues.”
“Perhaps not,” he said reluctantly. “But it doesn’t matter. They’re on their way down. They disposed of the sentry, but we have a heavy force all the way to the main road. We’ll get them.”
“What if you don’t?” Kadmus asked harshly. “And what if they were going up, not down?”
“Why would they do that? As you said, dead end.”
“How do I know? Maybe they arranged to have a helicopter pickup there.”
“We detected no electronic transmissions.”
“Don’t argue with me. There are always ways to get around problems. Ling was on that road for a reason. She got rid of the sentry for a reason.”
“You’re telling me to abandon the village and road leading down—”
Live to See Tomorrow Page 11
