The expanse of green was amazing to behold There were berry bushes, apple trees, corn, rice crops in paddies waiting to be reaped. Deer, wild boar and even tigers roamed the expanse. From their high vantage point, they could just make out pockets of the Dragon Asteroid as it was exposed in some areas, while in others it was completely covered. Overhead they could see the glowing material as if large chunks of the asteroid had come apart upon impact. The mineral gave off brightly patterned light that shone down on one of the asteroid’s greatest gifts—fertilizer from the stars.
“Can you imagine a universe that could have produced such a mineral. How far is it? How can we get there?” Anya asked no one in particular. “An element such as this could bring about world peace and end famine.”
“Yeah, it has done nothing but make the world happy thus far,” Everett said with mock excitement.
“Quit being so shallow and fatalistic,” Anya said, jabbing Carl in the ribs once more with her elbow. “If we could only save this material.”
“We need to move,” Jack said.
* * *
The Land Rover had come to a stop fifty feet before reaching the bottom portion of the giant cave system that housed the Dragon Asteroid. Professor Lee assumed the engine block had cracked open from excessive heat. It seemed they were stuck only a few hundred yards away their goal.
“Can you get this thing down there?” Ryan asked Professor Lee.
Lee looked down and saw the expanse of asteroid. It was like a half-buried ball. The upper mound was clear of stone and natural growth. It was if they were looking at a small planet that resembled an alien world.
“I have nothing to reinforce the air to lift it. There is no loose debris. No, I cannot.”
“Gentlemen, we have little time. We may have to set it off from here,” Henri said as he shouldered the M-4.
“I think Frenchy is right. Will the megatonnage be enough to knock this thing to hell?” Jenks asked.
“It should be, yes,” Lee said. He placed a hand on the hot hood of the Range Rover and thought. He was just about to speak again when he was suddenly just gone.
Ryan, Jenks, Tram, and Farbeaux were shocked when they heard Lee scream from high above them. Tram was the first to react as he fired two shots from the Winchester at the flapping wings of the giant bat as it carried Lee away. Henri and Ryan added more fire, but it was too late. Lee was gone.
Then another event happened that shook the world under the earth. A long hairy and hooked leg reached up from the grave of the Dragon Asteroid and took hold of the Range Rover. It tilted precariously. The giant spider climbed the last few feet and perched itself on the top of the four-wheeled vehicle. Seeing the men only feet away, it hissed at them. Large mandibles spread, and the legs started to move. The drumming on the steel top was near unbearable. Again, the men opened fire, hitting the spider over and over as it hissed and spat at them in pain and confusion. It turned to leap as Tram finally placed a bullet in its small brain. The spider collapsed on top of the Rover and then lay still.
“Well, isn’t this a Disneyland of fun and thrills,” Jenks said, as he was overcome with the shivers. He was deathly afraid of spiders.
Tram reached out and stopped Ryan from climbing up the stone wall in the direction of the giant bat. Tram stilled him with just a shake of his head.
“He is gone, Commander,” Henri said. “We will lose you also if you persist in chasing down dead men.”
Jason became angry. “How can you just stand there and be so cold? Lee was a good man.”
“If we don’t move, Commander, we’ll lose more than just one good man.”
Before Jason could advance on the Frenchman, another bat swooped out of the green tinted air and tried to grab the dead spider on the top of the Rover. It missed. It flapped its wings and hissed as it tried again. This time the large claws grabbed the luggage rack instead of the spider, and the Rover tipped once more, this time balancing on two wheels. Tram fired, the round striking the bat in the throat, and then it went down, screaming into the abyss below. Just as they thought they were safe, that was when they saw the Range Rover, with Major Pierce inside, and with ‘Thin Man’ behind, sliding off the edge.
It was the engineer Jenks who did the most childish thing of all of them. He placed his hands over his ears waiting for the atomic detonation of ‘Thin Man’.
“Relax, Master Chief,” Henri said, as he chanced a look over the side. He saw the Rover, and also ‘Thin Man’. Both were on their side, right on top of the asteroid. “Well, that’s one way of getting it down.”
Ryan was gone before the others realized he had moved. He was over the side as he attempted to get Major Pierce out of that hell hole. Farbeaux shook his head.
“Sergeant, cover us the best you can.” Henri, without hesitation, went over the side of the ledge following Ryan.
“Does everyone in this little party have a death wish or what?” Jenks said.
* * *
Jason jumped as he reached the Range Rover as Henri coughed after the exertion of climbing down the sixty feet of rock.
“Damn, I thought you were one of those spiders,” he said. Then he raised a brow at Farbeaux. “But its only a giant rat.”
“Your humor is beyond measure, Commander.”
“If it isn’t too much trouble, could you point out the son of a bitch that threw me off a cliff?” Major Pierce said from his position on the rear glass side-window. He was holding his aching shoulder and staring up at the two men. “I bet it was that Japanese fella, wasn’t it?”
Ryan used his nine-millimeter and raising it up, thinking it could be Henri’s head, shattered the glass, showering the old pilot with shards of glass. “He’s Vietnamese, Major.” He reached in and took Pierce’s free and uninjured arm and pulled him up and out of the damaged Range Rover.
Henri was about to assist when a bullet hit him in the side. He went to the ground as did Major Pierce and Ryan when they realized they were under attack. This time not from the wildlife in the caves, but from above. They heard Tram and Jenks returning fire, but the cacophony of explosions told them this wouldn’t be much of a fight. Jason chanced a look up and his heart froze at the sight of at least a hundred Chinese soldiers firing down on them, and then reaching out to Tram and Jenks. He shook his head and made sure Pierce had plenty of cover near the Rover, and then crawled over to Henri. He had taken a serious hit to his right side just below his ribcage. The wound was bleeding heavily as Ryan ripped off his shirt and placed pressure on the gushing wound. Ryan jumped at the sound of close fire support. He turned and saw a wounded Major Pierce as he popped off round after round of Ryan’s nine-millimeter. He stopped only when the slide locked open.
“Hey, this thing is nice!”
Jason hurriedly tossed the B-29 pilot his last clip. Just as Pierce inserted the new gift, he aimed. As he pulled the trigger, a volume of fire erupted above them. On the far side of the immense cave system, Jack, Carl, Sarah, and Anya, along with the four remaining Air Force Commandos, were laying down a withering covering fire, trying to give Ryan and Farbeaux a chance at getting away.
“Come on, Henri, we gotta get!” he said as he started to lift the heavy Frenchman. Henri said for him to stop.
“Time for the good guys to exit the building, Commander,” Henri struggled to say.
“No, no, no. That’s not the game we were taught to play, Henri. We all go or we all stay.”
He watched as Farbeaux closed his eyes.
“Henri, Henri? Come on, you asshole, not on my watch!”
He hurriedly laid Farbeaux down and started to do chest compressions as bullets struck the rocks to his right and to his left. Henri wasn’t responding. Ryan was growing angry and frustrated.
“Your friend is dying, young man,” said a voice above him.
Ryan looked up and saw Master Li Zheng standing over them with barely a notice as to the firepower being brought onto their position. “He’s not my friend. But he’s not going to
die here either.” Ryan started his chest compressions once more, this time harder.
“I would say that you do not know the difference between friend or foe, young man. Your fear and your sympathy are easy things to read.”
Ryan wiped sweat from his face and continued.
“Step aside.”
Ryan ignored Li Zheng as he continued to try and bring life back into the body of the Frenchman.
An exasperated Li shook his head and then, with a gentle swipe of his right hand, he simply swatted Ryan aside. The air hit him so hard he thought he had been sucker-punched. Li Zheng leaned down and then with a gentle touch, felt Farbeaux’s face. He smiled as he reached into his small leather pouch and brought out the green and silver mineral. He gently rubbed some of the dusty powder under Henri’s nose before removing Ryan’s shirt and placing a large amount into the wound. Henri’s eyes opened suddenly, sending a frightened Ryan back far enough that he stumbled. The Frenchman fought to bring breath back into his lungs. Finally, he managed to catch the breath that death had robbed him of.
“That stuff smells nasty,” was the first thing he said. “And why does my chest hurt so bad?” he asked as he was finally able to sit up.
“You can blame your young friend here. I believe he was attempting to punch you to death in an attempt to save your life.”
Ryan sneered at Henri just as Farbeaux realized Ryan had tried to save his life. He could only shake his head at the confusing nature of Colonel Collins and his men.
“Now, may I suggest you join your friends and escape the mountain? It seems some very inhospitable men have come to seize it.”
With bullets pinging all around them, Henri got to his feet with the help of Jason. He placed Henri’s arm around his shoulders as he still had little strength after his near-death experience.
“Major Pierce, this way,” Ryan said, trying to get the pilot’s attention.
Pierce finally turned as Li Zheng placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Goodbye, old friend. It is now time for you to go home.”
Pierce stopped shooting and faced the master. His eyes teared up. “But I thought I would stay and wait for ‘Goodnight Ladies’ to play. You know, finish the dance so to speak.”
“That will not be necessary, my friend. You have done your duty to your country. It is time to finally go home.”
Pierce looked from Master Li to a waiting Ryan and Farbeaux. Ryan just nodded his head indicating Li Zheng was right.
“I have nothing to go home to. Please, sir, may I stay to protect my home?”
* * *
Ryan finally managed to get Henri up the steep slope. He was helped the final few feet by Tram and Jenks.
“What were you two taking your sweet time about down there?” Jenks asked. Then he saw that they were alone. “Where’s Major Bugs Bunny?”
“He’s staying home,” Ryan said, nearly choking up.
“The hell you say?” Jenks said as he ran to the ledge and looked down, but was pulled back by Tram as several hundred bullets ricocheted off the rocks. “Sorry. I was growing kind of fond of that senile old bastard.”
As they retreated into the interior of the tunnel that led them there, they were soon met by Jack and the others.
Jack saw the few that remained. His heart felt shattered.
“Lee?”
Silence from Tram, Jenks, Henri, and Ryan.
“Where’s the Major?” Sarah asked, looking around, hoping they had just overlooked him.
“Major Pierce and Master Li are preparing a little welcoming basket for Zheng’s half-brother,” Ryan said as he eased Henri into the softer arms of Sarah. Henri smiled.
“Don’t get any of your ideas, Henri,” Sarah said.
“Why, I’m as innocent as the day is long, little Sarah.”
“Alright, Casanova, we can take this up in Hong Kong later, for now, let’s get as far away from ‘Thin Man’ as we can get.”
The remains of the Event Group field team fell into step behind Jack as they made their way toward the Great Wall of China.
* * *
Qin Shi Huang stepped into the home of the Dragon. He lifted his face to the heavens and thanked his ancestors for finally guiding him to the home of magic in the world. General Cheng holstered his sidearm and ordered his men to cease fire on the Americans. They were no longer a threat to the Emperor.
“Qin Shi Huang, Emperor of all China!”
The emperor smiled when the echo finally died down. He looked around and traced the voice. When his eyes fell on the Dragon Asteroid, he knew who it was that called to him over the thousands of years. The General pulled his pistol once more, but Qin Shi Huang stayed his hand.
“Perhaps it is time for mortals to step aside, General. You need not get in between two of the last Gods ever to walk this earth.”
The general stepped back.
“It is time we embrace as brothers once more!”
Qin Shi Huang stepped to the ledge and with a single movement of his legs, stepped over the edge and came down softly on the object of his obsession for over two thousand years. He went to a knee and rubbed the Dragon Asteroid with a loving hand.
“Finally, it is mine. You will deliver me the world.”
“Will that satisfy you, brother?”
The emperor looked up and then stood quickly as he faced Li Zheng for the first time in two thousand years of searching. He was dressed in the simple orange and white robes of a monk.
“Nice armor, brother,” Li Zheng said.
“Not that I will need it to serve you justice, brother Li.” He stepped forward, feeling the power of the dragon beneath his feet. “Shall I show you the lessons I have learned? Thanks to your foolish wife, I have come a long way. She thought that I was only interested in you, dear brother. When I removed her and your son’s heads, she realized too late my real intention was to capture the real power of the Dragon.” He stomped his booted foot down on the asteroid. “With this there is no limit to what my empire can and will achieve.”
“Your problem has always been that you refuse to hear when the world speaks to you. Father knew this flaw, and that is why you were never given the secrets of the Dragon.”
“And you, my brother? How have you enriched the world with all the power you had at hand? I see suffering in every corner of the world. I see murderers and confidence men taking high office, and I see nature that runs amok because these fools think our planet has inexhaustible resources. So, where was the power of the Dragon? Hiding in caves inside Mongolia?” He laughed. “Noble brother Li.”
“Everything you say is true. I have failed the Dragon. I have failed my people. But most of all, I have failed you, brother. If I would have met you those many years ago on the field of battle, this crime against the world may not have occurred. It was my arrogance in thinking I was the only one who could control the Dragon, when it was highly capable of being controlled by mere children as so ably demonstrated this night.”
“My own father forsook his only son when he brought the bastard son of his bitch concubine into my lands. He loved her, and you, far more than his own first born.”
Li Zheng was shocked that he had been wrong for the past two thousand years. It wasn’t the power of the Dragon that set Qin Shi Huang on his path of murder and war. It was the pain of being overlooked by a father who refused to see a son with ambition. He had been as big a fool as his brother.
Li was taken off guard by his own inner thoughts. Qin Shi Huang had raised his sword to the high ceiling of the cave system and threw it with every ounce of power the dragon could provide him. He used that power to advance the speed in which the sword travelled. In the moment before the sword struck, he saw his younger brother smile. The sword penetrated Li Zheng, and the Master of Shangri-La went down to his knees as his brother approached. Li Zheng watched Qin Shi Huang come slowly forward. There was no joy in his dark eyes, only remorse that the long chase had finally come to a conclusion. He knelt before the dying L
i Zheng and then pulled his scaled glove from his right hand. A single tear flowed down the cheek of the emperor of all mankind, as he saw death slowly overtaking his brother. He saw Li Zheng smile sadly as blood eased from the corner of his mouth.
“Finally, I see my real brother, Ying Zheng. Remember playing in the bamboo forest of our youth?”
The emperor removed his helmet and leaned into the chest of Li Zheng as the memory of youth flooded in.
“You were always faster than I.” He looked up into the grey eyes of his only brother. “You cheated quite often as I recall.”
“I had…to…you were always…too smart.”
“Forgive me, brother, for what I did to your family. I will someday await their justice.”
“Help me to my feet,” Li Zheng said.
Qin Shi Huang did as he was asked, careful to avoid striking the sword he had murdered his brother with.
“There is a long journey ahead for both of us,” Li Zheng said, taking his brother in his arms and then hugging him tightly, and in doing so ramming the sword further into his own chest and heart. He slumped in his brother’s arms. “It is I who seek your forgiveness, brother.”
Qin Shi Huang felt the life leave Li Zheng. He held him and cried, and then slowly laid him on the moss-covered surface of the Dragon Asteroid. He stood and replaced his helmet and then gently pulled the sword from his brother’s body.
“Noooo!” came a shout from beside the asteroid bed.
Qin Shi Huang turned and saw a crazed man in gray colored overalls and an old flyer’s hat on his head. He was holding a small hammer. He was standing near what looked like a long cylindrical tube and a large access panel was open. The emperor’s eyes widened in terror as he turned to look up. He saw the general and his men on the ledge above.
“Kill that man!”
As shots slowly started to ring out, Major Pierce became absolutely clearheaded for the first time in half a century. Even as five bullets entered his chest and arms. He had a mission to complete. He went to one knee over ‘Thin Man’ and then smiled up at the man who called himself emperor.
Empire of the Dragon Page 36
