The Project 01 - White Jade

"
    The thought of questioning Connor ' s niece excited him. Choy licked his lips. They got out of the car.
    Each man checked his pistol. All three carried Chinese copies of the Beretta 9mm. From the trunk, Li took out three micro-Uzis, lethal at close range, although not very accurate. Choy reached into a box and took out two type 82-1 grenades, stuffing them into his jacket pocket s .
    " Do you think we ' ll need those?
" Do you want to find out we do if we don ' t have them? "
    " It ' s just a woman. "
    " We don ' t know that. Now shut up and let ' s get going. Remember your training. Noodles, you go that way. Stay low and work around to the back of the house. Chung, you come with me. We ' ll circle to the right and approach the front from the side. If it ' s the woman, we go in and take her. If there ' s anyone else, take them too. Remember, any trouble, don ' t kill the woman. "
    The three men moved toward the house.

Chapter T hirteen

    Carter and Selena had been inside the house for half an hour. T he windows were open . A light breeze push ed the stale air away.
    A large, oriental rug covered the wooden floor in the main room with an intricate pattern of blues and reds. A l ong brown leather sectional couch and two chairs were grouped in front of a fireplace built from rounded river stones.
    The living area and kitchen were separated by a wide granite countertop with a swirling pattern of light and dark colors. A ceiling fan turned above an antique French country kitchen table. The back door opened out by the refrigerator. A hall ran to the right of the living area to a bath and bedrooms.
    He sat down at the table with the package. Selena o pened a bottle of wine and took two glasses from a cabinet over the counter . She took a seat across from him and poured.
    " This is a nice wine , Silver Oak. You like Cab? "
    " Yes . Ready to take a look at this? "
    " Let ' s do it. "
    Carter sipped the wine . He took out his knife and cut away the wrappings of the package. A dark, wooden box appeared.
    " That ' s the box for the book. It was on my uncle ' s desk. "
    He opened the box. The book was about eighteen inches long and ten inches wide. The covers were cracked, stained wood, with the remains of red-colored cords that had once bound the flat pieces together. He lifted away the wooden cover. The writing on the page was meaningless to him .
    " That ' s Sanskrit , " she said. " This page is in Devanagari. The calligraphy and style suggest it was written around 1200 CE. The rest of the Sanskrit part is in Rgvedic . That's a much older form. This page was added at a later date. "
    " You can read it? "
    " Yes . T he language is one I studied for years. "
    " What does it say? " He tugged at his bandaged ear .
    " It's a prayer to the Compassionate Buddha, sort of an introduction. That ' s typical for a Buddhist text . B ut this isn ' t a Buddhist work . T he scribe says it should be studied for its medical knowledge but not taken at face value. The text of the book predates Buddhism. "
    Nick turned the page over with the blade of his knife. Selena moved her finger across the writing.
" Now we ' re looking at the older script. This word here means treasure. This one means journey, or trip. This one means map. And this one is ' endless life ' . These words here translate as ' Golden Garuda ' . So the book is called 'The Golden Garuda' and contains directions for finding the treasure of endless life . "
    " What ' s a garuda? "
    " It ' s a big, mythical bird, like an eagle on steroids , sometimes half man, half bird. It first shows up in the Vedas . Those are the earliest recorded Indian religious teachings, around 1700 BCE. "
    The next page was an elaborate anatomical diagram of a naked man squatting down and looking over his shoulder at a s tylized sun. It was recognizable, but in a style far from modern drawings.
    " That ' s a diagram of the circulation of the blood, drawn centuries before Harvey discovered it in the West. "
    He took another sip of wine. She bent over and pointed at the next page.
    " This page is a warning. This word means danger or calamity. T here ' s a sentence about guarding or hiding something . I can ' t quite make it out, there ' s damage, but it refers to a great king or emperor. "
    " The Chinese emperor? "
    " Maybe. From what I can see, the whole passage says danger awaits anyone who pursues the information in this book. "
    There was the sound of a car outside.
    Nick looked at Selena. " You