Rogue Angel - The Spirit Banner Part 37

Her heart was beating so hard her hands were shaking as she gently picked up the edge of the silk covering and drew it to one side.

A blank, featureless face stared back at her.

She recoiled in surprise. He has no face, she thought, and then realized that she wasn't looking at a body at all, but just a primitive mannequin made from bundled cloth.

They had not discovered the body of Genghis Khan.

Disappointed, she stepped back to let Mason have a look. As she did so, her gaze fell on the thick book the corpse held in its hands.

It had clearly been in that position for some time. dust and cobwebs ran across the gauntlets of the mannequin and over the book they contained. The book's leather cover was stained a deep blue and a series of words had been branded into its surface. She could recognize the writing as Mongolian, but that was all.

With a start, she realized she might be looking at the Great Yasa of Genghis Khan.

Because of the vast diversities among the tribal units that made up the core of his empire, Genghis chose to allow local leaders to govern the way they traditionally had, provided that their rulings did not violate the universal laws that the Khan put into place. The laws did not cover day-to-day life on the steppes, but rather dealt with only the most troubling aspects, those that could cause the most discord. The laws were written on white paper and bound in blue to match the color of the eternal sky above. In time, the book itself became known as the Great Yasa, the Great Law.

Being careful not to damage anything, she lifted one of the corpse's gauntlets and slid the book out from underneath it before returning the hand to its proper place. Turning away from the platform, she took a deep breath and blew as much of the dust off the cover of the book as she could.

Satisfied that she wouldn't get any dirt on the pages, she sat down and very gingerly opened it, leafing through the pages. She noted the careful writing, the orderly handwritten script. There wasn't a single correction. Not a single mistake. Whoever had written it had taken extreme care to be certain it was perfect.

That supported her belief that it was the Great Yasa, the written text of Genghis Khan's universal laws. She'd know for certain once she had Nambai look at it, for the written language of the Mongols had changed little in all the intervening years. Archaeologically speaking, it was likely the find of the century.

But to Annja, it was somewhat of a disappointment.

It wasn't what she had been looking for.

She let her gaze sweep the room, trying to figure out what they had missed, where she had gone wrong. She just didn't understand. As far as she knew she'd interpreted each line of the coded message correctly, going from one clue to the next. She'd found the sulde sulde at Shankh and used that to lead them to the hidden chamber inside the cliff face containing the map. The map had led them to what was clearly the Tomb of the Virgins. If the coded message was correct, the tomb was then supposed to lead them to... at Shankh and used that to lead them to the hidden chamber inside the cliff face containing the map. The map had led them to what was clearly the Tomb of the Virgins. If the coded message was correct, the tomb was then supposed to lead them to...

Wait a minute. Where was it supposed to lead them?

She pulled out the card she'd been carrying around in her pocket for days and reread the last few lines of the message.

The sixty brides rode sixty steeds And now rest beneath the watchful eyes of those who came before In their arms is the truth you seek The way to all that was and more Then climb to the place where Tengri and Gazan meet It is there that the Batur makes his home

She read it again, this time aloud.

The last two lines made sense. Tengri was another name for eternal blue heaven and Gazan was the name for earth mother. So, where Tengri and Gazan meet was where the sky met the earth. That could only be Burkhan Khaldun-G.o.d Mountain-the highest point in the region, especially if you took into account the reference to climbing. And Batur was simply a Mongol word for clan leader or chief. So the clan leader, in this case the Khan, made his home on G.o.d Mountain. The tomb was somewhere on G.o.d Mountain.

But where?

That's what the tomb, or rather the clue hidden in the tomb, was supposed to tell them.

Except it didn't.

Annja read the lines over again.

" In their arms is the truth you seek, the way to all that was and more.'"

She wasn't certain who the lines were referring to-the sixty brides or the soldiers, listed as "those who came before"-but what was clear was that the next clue was supposed to be in their arms.

They'd examined each of the bodies carefully and hadn't found anything.

That's when it hit her.

She hadn't noticed it before but looking at it repeatedly she saw that there was a distinct break between the last two stanzas. Unlike the earlier portions, which seemed to flow from one to another, there was something disjointed about how the fourth stanza flowed into the fifth. "The way to all that was and more" was followed by "then climb to the place where Tengri and Gazan meet."

They didn't go together. It was almost as if there was a line or two missing.

A sinking feeling filled the pit of her stomach. She had made a mistake, had missed something. That was the only possible answer.

37.

Despite all they had found, disappointment filled Annja and Mason with their failed search so they made the decision to return to the others. They retraced their steps, heading back through the hall of warriors, as Annja was now calling it, and into the connecting tunnel where they had nearly drowned, only to meet the others coming through in the opposite direction.

The stone slab that had previously blocked their escape route was gone. Davenport told Annja and Mason about how he and the other three had been sitting on the far side, trying to think of some way through the barrier, when it just quietly slid back upward into its previous location. Fearful that it might close on them again, they had gone back and brought their makes.h.i.+ft bridge down the tunnel with them, using it to brace the stone in its upright position just to be safe. They had just finished doing so.

Word of what they found fanned the curiosity of the rest of the team, so Annja agreed to take them back inside the cavern to give them a chance to see for themselves. Mason chose to remain behind; he'd seen enough mummies for one day apparently.

While he waited, he tried to come up with a plan as to what to do next.

They had accomplished so much. They had found the Khan's sulde, sulde, long thought lost to antiquity and the ravages of war. They had used it to locate the voice in the earth and the map chamber with it. They had used the clues in the map chamber to bring them to the legendary Tomb of the Virgins. They were so close he could taste it. long thought lost to antiquity and the ravages of war. They had used it to locate the voice in the earth and the map chamber with it. They had used the clues in the map chamber to bring them to the legendary Tomb of the Virgins. They were so close he could taste it.

But now what? Mason thought.

Without that missing clue, they could flounder around for weeks without finding anything.

And yet...

Short of heading back down the mountain, the only option he could see was to check out the region on the other side of the rope bridge. It had been built for a reason and so it seemed the natural course of action to take.

What did they have to lose at this point, anyway?

When he laid out the plan for the others upon their return, they agreed that it made sense.

The bridge it would be.

There was probably just enough daylight left to get the group across the bridge and to find a decent place to camp for the night, so they wasted no time in dragging the bridge back down the tunnel, setting it into place and then using it to get them all over to the other side of the chasm. After that, it was simply a matter of rappelling down to the base of the cliff and heading back down the trail.

W HEN THEY REACHED HEN THEY REACHED the cemetery clearing they decided to take a five-minute rest break. the cemetery clearing they decided to take a five-minute rest break.

Mason was turning to say something to Annja, clearly intending to try and pull her out of her funk if the smile on his face meant anything, when the sharp report of a rifle echoed through the trees.

Annja watched an expression of confusion cross his face and then they were both looking down at his chest where an angry red flower was rapidly blossoming. Two more shots rang out, both of them striking Mason in the back, and then the light was fading from his eyes as swiftly as his body was tumbling to the ground.

Time seemed to stop for Annja as her combat reflexes took over, her unconscious mind recognizing the ambush for what it was before her conscious mind had gotten over the shock of seeing Mason gunned down in front of her.

She threw herself sideways into Davenport, knocking him to the ground, as the rifle fire was replaced with the chatter of automatic weapons and Williams and Vale were practically torn apart by the fusillade.

The gunfire stopped and silence fell.