“Don’t be an idiot. I’m just telling you that road could be taken in either direction.” He was still gazing at the mists shrouding the top of the mountain. Are you up there, Catherine Ling? It would be unexpected. A red herring? Or something more dangerous? He didn’t know enough about the mountaintop to be certain. He’d only gone up there once after he’d taken over the palace and property. He’d been unimpressed. “You keep your search going as you’ve begun. I’ll take a few men and climb to the top and look around.” He turned and started to cross the courtyard. Then he stopped and glanced back. “And rout out one of those monks who are still living in the village and send him after me. Maybe that old lama who refused to leave his precious mountain. He might be able to tell me more about that area.”
“It’s only a bunch of boulders and rocks.”
“Send him,” Kadmus said. “Right away. Bring him to the sentry post.” He strode over to the jeep parked near the compound gate. He would only be able to take the vehicle a short distance before the road narrowed as it neared the top. That didn’t matter. Speed was important now.
I thought there was only one way out. Did you find another one, bitch?
It won’t do you any good. You can’t get Erin away from me. It was meant to be. I was meant to have it all.
Shambhala.
* * *
“How are you doing, Erin?” Catherine’s words were coming in gasps. Her own lungs were tight, her breath almost nonexistent. It seemed as if they had been running down this twisted, spiraling path, for hours. If she had felt like this, what must Erin be feeling? “It can’t be much farther.”
“Promises. Promises,” Erin said breathlessly. “I’m okay. Except that my legs feel like spaghetti.” She drew a deep, shaky breath. “And I didn’t expect all these weird echoes down here. I guess I should have, it’s sort of a cave, after all. But it’s like being in a giant fun house.”
“Without the fun.” The echoes had also startled Catherine when she had first noticed them. “Anything else?”
“I’m dizzy from all these twists and turns. But then I bet you are, too.”
“Yes. But it would be worse if the incline were straight—” She stopped. “Do you smell something?”
Erin sniffed, then stiffened. “Something’s dead.”
“No, though I can see how you might think that. It smells like rotten eggs.” She sniffed again, then said eagerly, “Sulfur smells like rotten eggs. And hot springs are full of sulfur. We have to be close. Hurry.”
“What else have I been doing?” Erin asked ruefully. “But you may be right. I’m feeling warmer.”
Dressed as they were in this cold-weather gear, they were going to feel a good deal warmer as they got closer to the springs, Catherine thought. Even in extreme, frigid temperatures, the area surrounding a hot springs could be seventy degrees or much higher. “You’ve lived and worked in Tibet for a number of years. You probably know more about these hot springs than I do. I’ve only taken a bath in one of the springs up north, and then I was in and out. Cameron said they could be scalding. Have you ever run across that?”
“Once. But only in spots, and you can move away from the area, and you’re comfortable again.”
“But you weren’t deep inside a mountain. Conditions could be different.”
“I don’t know about that. But the hot springs here in Tibet could be less hot because they weren’t created by volcanoes. The Himalayas were formed by two tectonic plates shifting and coming together millions of years ago. One of the side effects was the forming of a network of hot springs throughout the mountain range.”
Catherine found herself smiling. “I only wanted to know if we could get scalded. I forgot you were a journalist until you started spouting volcanoes and tectonic plates.”
“I was interested,” Erin said. “But what you mustn’t ever do is submerge your head under the waters. There’s an amoeba that exists under those conditions that can enter your sinus passages and cause a deadly brain disease that could kill you.”
“Thanks for telling me,” Catherine said dryly. “Cameron failed to mention that little threat. A warning would have been nice.”
“Why make you worry? I wouldn’t have let it happen to either of you.”
That jarring intrusion again. She would never become accustomed to it.
She ignored him. “Anything else I should know, Erin?”
She shivered. “Snakes. I’ve heard there’s a species of snake that can live in the hot water.”
Steam was beginning to pour through the passage and perspiration was beading Catherine’s face. “Poisonous?”
“I don’t think so.”
“It would be nice to know.”
“It’s not relevant. They’re rarely found outside Qinghai Province.”
“I think it’s safe, Erin,” Catherine said. “Snakes may be the last thing we should worry about at the moment. God, that sulfur stinks. We must be right on top of—” She broke off as she rounded the corner.
Billows of steam drifting upward from a large dark pool.
Heat.
Sounds of running water.
The foul, ever-present stench of rotten eggs.
“This sure isn’t like the last hot springs where I bathed,” Erin said. “The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the mountains were magnificent. This looks … menacing.”
“It’s the darkness. The unknown can be frightening.” And those billows of steam coming from that darkness seemed something from a sci-fi movie. She bounced the beam from her flashlight around the stone bank of the spring, then to the water itself. “Listen. That rushing sound. Can you tell where it’s coming from?”
Erin listened. “To the right. But it’s very faint.”
Catherine lifted the flashlight and aimed it to the right.
A break in the solid wall of the mountain.
Yes!
The waters of the spring appeared to be trickling through the break and down …
“Come on. That could be our way out.”
“Or not,” Erin said.
“Well, I don’t see anything else. Hurry.” She was shedding her parka and shirt. “Get rid of all your outer clothes. They’ll weigh you down when you’re in the water. You can keep on your underwear.” She was down to her thermal undershirt and tights. She tucked her gun and knife in her boots, loosened the shoestrings and tied them around her neck. “Leave your clothes here, but you’ll need your boots. They’re hard to replace and we can’t afford to have our feet cut to ribbons once we’re outside. Slip anything you want to keep into the boots.”
Erin followed Catherine’s example and tied the boots around her neck. “I’m ready.”
“What about that gold necklace you’re wearing? Don’t you want to take it off and put it in your boot?”
“No, I won’t lose it.” She touched the necklace. “It’s very strong.”
“Whatever. Stay here. I need to test the waters.” Catherine put her bare foot in the spring and slipped from the stony bank. “Warm. Not hot. But it may change the farther we go. My feet are touching the bottom, and so far, the waters are only up to my chest.”
“I’m coming in.”
“No, let me go a little farther. There’s no way that it’s not going to hurt those wounds but I want to make sure there’s no additional acidic—”
“No, you don’t have time to baby me.” Erin slipped into the water and inhaled sharply. “You’re right, it does smart a bit. It’s nothing I can’t deal with.” She waded toward Catherine. “Let’s go.”
There would obviously be no arguing with her. “We’ll try to stay side by side as much as possible. If it narrows down, you go ahead. I need to keep an eye on you.”
“That’s going to be hard. I can barely see you through this steam.”
“It should get less if that passage leads closer to the outside.” She was almost to the break in the wall, and the beam of her flashlight was playing deep into the dark cavity. “Except
for the water, it looks almost like that twisting path we took to get down here.”
“Then we shouldn’t have a problem.”
“I appreciate your optimism. I hope you’re right.” Her heart was beating hard as she plunged down into the water within the passage. It was difficult to be optimistic at the moment. They had moved very quickly since they had left the mountaintop, but it might not have been quick enough. They had to try to make up more time in this steaming cauldron. She could only hope that Kadmus had not moved at top speed when they found the sentry or that his chosen direction was not toward the mountaintop.
* * *
The lama Padma Nagtal’s face was now as red from the blood streaming down his cheeks as the color of his crimson robe.
“I do not know any more,” he said hoarsely as he tried to struggle from his knees to his feet and regain dignity. “I have told you all.”
“And did you tell the Americans about that passage, too?” Kadmus punched him in the stomach and knocked him back to the ground. “Did they come to you in the village and beg for a route to freedom?”
“I did not see them. I would not have risked the lives of my people in the village to save foreigners.”
“But you didn’t tell me about that passage down the mountain when I sent you and the rest of your stinking brothers away from my palace.”
“You did not ask.”
He kicked him in the face. “And there is no way that they can get away once they reach that hot spring? You say there is no opening to the outside.”
“There were only a few, almost forgotten, texts concerning the hot spring in our library.” He paused. “The library that you burned. None of the texts mentioned any way to leave that spring once reached. Since neither I nor my brothers considered it our duty to explore that place of cold and fire, I must assume that the texts were correct.”
“Assume? I don’t assume anything.” He bent down. “And I’d burn your library again, old man. All those books meant nothing.”
“Except when you needed them.” He met Kadmus’s eyes. “And someday men like you will find you have nothing and will search for our holy books to find your way.”
“Fool. I will own the world. I’ll not need you or—”
“We’ve found the sentry.” Brasden hung up his phone as he approached. “Dead. He was found in the brush about five hundred feet down the mountain. What do we do now?”
“What I planned before. Search all the possible roads down the mountain. But I’m taking eight men with me to the top. I think our lama’s help warrants that increased force, don’t you?”
“It’s still only a rocky hole in the mountain.”
“Then we’ll chase them down to the bottom of that rocky hole. We’ll go so fast and hard that there’s no way they’ll escape.” He took out his gun. “But first I have something else to do.” He pressed the barrel to the lama’s temple. “Good-bye, holy man. We’ll see who reaches his special paradise first.”
He pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER
8
“It’s getting colder.” Erin was panting with effort as she forced herself through the water. “We must be away from the mountain. Could we slow down?”
“No.” It hurt her to say the words when she knew what Erin must be going through. “Not until we reach the hot springs at the other mountain. Even then it will be dangerous.”
And when would that be, she wondered. It seemed as if they had been wading, half swimming and crawling forever down this rocky water passage. It had just narrowed again, and Erin was ahead of her crawling through shallow water on hands and knees over the rocky ground. Catherine’s own hands and legs were scratched and cut from the sharp rocks.
“Cameron, you’d better have been right about this damn spring.”
“I’m right.” Soothing gentleness, removal of all pain. “You’re not too far. Keep her going.”
“I don’t hurt anymore. Is that one of your tricks?”
“One of the better ones.”
“Well, don’t waste it on me. Take care of Erin.”
“I’ve already done it. I had to attend to her first. She’s my responsibility.”
“No, she’s my responsibility.” She added wearily, “But I’ll let you share. I’m too tired to argue.”
“You’ve had a rough—” He stopped, then said sharply, “Tell Erin to stop. The floor of the cave falls off just ahead. She won’t be able to see—”
“Catherine!” Erin suddenly plunged forward, hitting her shoulder on the stone bank as she fell.
Water.
Water up to Erin’s shoulders.
No, up to her neck!
Panic jolted through Catherine as Erin’s words came back to her. Never let your head go under the water. Brain disease and death.
“Erin, hold on to the bank.” She was crawling frantically forward. “Tread water. I’ll be there in a second.”
“Having trouble,” Erin gasped. “It’s deep here. And I can’t hold on to those stones. I think my shoulder popped out again when I hit it against the bank when I fell.”
Dammit!
Catherine threw her flashlight into her boot and dove after her in the water.
Hot. The water was hot.
“And it will get hotter. Get her to the left side of the passage. There’s cold water flowing in there.”
Catherine grabbed Erin and pulled her toward the left. The water didn’t cool until she was almost to the edge of the water. “Why didn’t you tell me you were boiling like a lobster?” she asked as she held Erin above water.
“There seemed to be enough problems to tell you about,” Erin said. “And I wasn’t scalding.”
“Yes, there is that.” She took her flashlight from her boot. “Let’s see how far this stretch of water goes…” The water was wider, deeper, and the sound of rushing water was clearer.
“Cameron?”
No answer.
“We’re on our own? Fine. I didn’t need you anyway.”
She grabbed Erin under the chin, carefully keeping her head above water, and started to propel them both through the water. “Look, try to kick, but let me do the rest.”
“I don’t have any choice.” Erin began to kick rhythmically. “I’m sorry, Catherine.”
“For what? It’s not as if you could keep that shoulder from going out again. If we’re going to blame someone, let’s blame Kadmus.”
Erin chuckled. “I’ll second that motion. I’ll just add it to my list and—” She stiffened. “My God, did you hear that?”
“Yes,” Catherine’s pulse had jumped, then began to pound hard.
Shit.
Voices. Men’s voices. Shouts. Curses.
Coming from behind them.
“Kadmus,” Erin whispered. “I was hoping—”
“Me, too.” Catherine began to swim harder, stronger. “But we didn’t luck out. We have to get out of here.”
“By all means, but it may not be as bad as you think. These passages act as one huge echo chamber. They could still be on their way down.”
She had just remembered that echo syndrome herself, and relief was pouring through her.
“It’s bad enough, Cameron.”
She said out loud to Erin, “Echoes. We’ll make it.”
“That’s right, why didn’t I think of that?” She added, “I think the water is getting cooler again.”
“Not too bad.”
But it was cooler. What was happening? All they needed was to be dumped in an ice pool instead of hot springs.
No, the water was getting warmer again and rough, very rough. She had to struggle to keep Erin’s head above water.
“Move left. There are rocks ahead. Grab hold of them and pull Erin up with you.”
“I don’t see—”
“Do it!”
She moved left. A moment later, she saw the group of four or five rocks ahead. The water was pouring, gushing around them.
“Grab them.”
/> She grabbed desperately for the rocks with her free hand. She curled her arm around the smallest and scooted up the flat face of the rock, pulling Erin with her.
A blast of cold air cut her like a knife.
Outside. They were outside.
“Keep crawling. Go down the rocks on the other side. You’ll be able to manage the flow there. If you’d stayed on that course, you’d have gone down that small waterfall and there would have been no way to keep from dunking both of you underwater.”
Bright moonlight. She could see the waterfall pouring down into a wide pool. It was small as Cameron had said but the force could have been deadly.
She crawled over the rocks and then down the other side.
Cold. So cold.
Then she was immersed in water again. Warm water.
She sighed with relief as she pulled Erin down into the water.
“Does this mean what I think it does, Cameron? Are we away from Kadmus’s mountain? Have we reached Milchang and the other hot spring?”
“Of course, I told you that you’d make it. Keep swimming. Hurry. There’s a bank about thirty yards away. You have to get out of this area right away. Kadmus will have found your clothes back on the bank and will start trying to put everything together.”
“I am hurrying.” She was so tired she was numb, but she had to ignore it. Keep moving. Keep swimming. Keep Erin well and afloat. “She’ll need help. You’d better have someone there to—”
“Hush. Stop worrying. Just get her to the bank.”
“Catherine?” Erin’s voice was weak. “Is it going to be—”
“It will be fine. We’re almost there. You’ve been great. Just hold on a little longer.”
“You’re the one who’s been holding on.”
“Hey, I couldn’t let that Pulitzer Prize brain be taken down by some crummy amoeba.” Keep going. Shouldn’t she be seeing that bank by now? Mountains. Moonlight. Water.
There it was!
And on the bank dressed in black parka and gear was Richard Cameron. All power and grace framed against those harsh mountains. Light, glittering eyes, that face that had held her fascinated during their strange mental encounter. He was the same, yet not the same. But definitely more than she had envisioned.
Live to See Tomorrow Page 12
