The Project 01 - White Jade

weight to your argument with the Bureau for an all out focus on July Fourth. "
    " Three birds with one stone. "
    " We don ' t have a lot of time. "
    Jordan stood up. " Then I ' d better get on it. "
    After Jordan left, she brought up the satellite over Tibet . Nick hadn ' t checked in . I f they were underground there was no way to send a signal. She was more concerned about the Chinese.
    When the image came up she knew her concerns were real. It was nighttime again on the Tibetan Plateau. Heading toward Moincer was a convoy of four vehicles. They were some distance away, but that many vehicles all at once meant Chinese military. She tried the comm link with no response from the team. She had no choice but to wait for things to play out.

Chapter Forty- Two

    Carter felt the stones tremble under his feet and jumped forward with everything he had . He heard Selena shout his name behind him. Pain shot up his spine. The floor fell away into a gaping pit . He caught the far edge of the opening with one hand, grabbed hard with the other and hung on, feet dangling. A cloud of white dust rose around him. He looked down. Twenty feet below, rows of sharpened wooden spikes reached for him like a mouth full of hungry fangs.
    The walls of the pit were smooth. He hung above the spikes until he could get his arms over the edge of the opening and pull out to lie on the floor. He lay on his back and took a few, deep breaths, waiting for the pain to subside.
    " You all right, Nick? " It was Ronnie.
    " Yeah. " He got to his feet, heart pounding. His back was bad, but if he kept moving, maybe it wouldn't lock up. He popped another pain pill and hoped it had some kind of muscle relaxant in it.
    " Throw me a rope. "
    Ronnie tossed a line over and Nick tied it off on one of the torch brackets. Ronnie did the same. Selena and Ronnie went hand over hand until they dropped down on the other side of the pit.
    " That was a hell of a jump. " Ronnie slapped him on the shoulder. Nick winced.
    " I felt it move just before it went. I hope that ' s the last of these things. "
    Another fifty yards of creeping along and the passage opened into blackness . They stepped through . S omething gl ittered in the light of their torches .
    They were in a chamber hollowed out from the heart of the mountain. They stood on a floor of smooth stone squares fitted together by a master mason. A broad flight of steps led up to a flat, raised platform. The other end of the platform was invisible in the darkness.
    The torches cast shadows from columns spaced along the steps and the sides of the platform. Each column was elaborately carved with entwined serpents and vines . On top of each was a large, golden bowl.
    " We need more light. Let ' s set up on the platform. "
    They walked across the stone floor and started up the steps.
    The bowls were just above eye level. On a hunch, Nick dipped his finger into one . It was filled with s ome kind of oil . With a touch of his torch a burst of light and flame pushed the dark away. They moved up the steps and along the side of the platform, lighting the bowls. On the far end of the platform more steps led up to the entrance of a low, square building cut into the side of the mountain.
    They stopped and stared.
    In the light from the blazing bowls a soaring, giant bird spread wings of gold above the building. Upon its back rode a frightening figure sculpted of red stone . His head was two-faced, cheeks dripping with gold like melted butter, his four eyes black and burning . Seven tongues of flame licked out between sharpened golden teeth. His expression was fierce, his hair long, black and tangled, as if by a wild wind. He had seven arms circled with gold bracelets and three legs banded with blue stones set in gold. A necklace of golden skulls circled his neck. Seven broad rays of gold streamed like lightning from his body.
    Beneath the bird, a frieze of double-headed golden axes capped the entrance to the building below.
    The gold shone in the flickering light.
    " That ' s Agni, " said Selena, " riding the g aruda. " Her voice was filled with awe.
    " Who ' s Agni? " Carter asked.
    " He ' s one of the two most important Vedic gods, before Hinduism, very old. He ' s the god of fire and immortality. Usually he ' s riding on the back of a ram or in a chariot. I ' ve never seen him riding a garuda. This is a really early depiction. "
    " That ' s a lot of gold up there. " Ronnie gazed at the figure.
    " Is that a ruby in one of his