Chapter 26

Roux stood at the ticket counter at La Guardia at six the next morning and booked a flight out for 8:10 a.m.

In line behind him, Annja looked around, tense and ready to do anything but sit on a plane. Having an extra day of Roux sitting around the apartment with her had been more than a little unnerving.

"Two tickets to Dunhuang, China." Roux's voice was loud over the hubbub around him.

Not exactly on stealth mode here, Annja thought. She knew she was being overly critical. She couldn't help it. She was still slightly paranoid about a potential warrant being out on her from California.

She'd been ignoring calls from Doug Morrell and Bart McGilley. She didn't trust Doug not to be more interested in getting news coverage of her arrest than in her continued freedom, and she didn't want to put Bart on the spot with his department.

So far, the media seemed to have dropped the story. She wasn't yet certain how she felt about that. On one hand, it was good not to be wanted, but on the other hand – she wasn't wanted.

The travel specialist quickly made arrangements for the flight to Dunhuang, routing them through PudongAirport in Shanghai where a puddle-jumper would take them on to Dunhuang.

Roux offered a credit card at the end of the transaction.

The airline representative quickly ran it and returned it, after looking at his identification. She offered the card and ID back. "Thank you for flying with us, Mr. Loftus. I hope you and your niece enjoy your trip."

After a brief inspection of Annja's documents, the representative checked the luggage. Annja claimed her backpack as carry-on, determined not to trust the computer to cargo handlers.

Once they were out of auditory range of the representative, Annja looked at Roux. "Mr. Loftus?"

Roux looked at her blandly. "Would you have preferred another name?" He handed her a ticket.

Looking inside the envelope, Annja found there was also a New York driver's license and passport in the name of Abigail Loftus inside. That explained where he'd gone when he'd left the apartment for a short time yesterday afternoon.

"Abigail?" Annja couldn't believe it.

"Abigail is a fine name."

"Is that ID going to pass inspection?" Annja didn't relish the idea of rotting away in a Chinese prison as a suspected spy.

The old man scowled at her. "Don't even pester me with questions like that. Of course it will. Give me your other ID."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Annja did.

Roux stopped at a courier service, asked for a protective envelope, then prepared to mail Annja's documents to the hotel where he had reservations in Dunhuang. "That way they'll be there if you need to prove who you are later. But for the moment, we're off the passenger manifests. In case anyone's looking."

The whole cloak-and-dagger scenario made Annja feel vulnerable. Still, she saw the reasoning behind it.

"Why are we flying commercial? Don't you have a private jet?"

Roux passed through the security area with ease. "Yes, but how much attention do you think we really need to attract?"

Annja knew. Roux had a point. As she started to pass through, the metal detector beeped and she was asked to step back. Trying to fly these days was exhausting.

****

"What do you know about Tochardis?" Annja sat across from Roux at a small table in an airport restaurant. She picked at a salad with little enthusiasm. Roux made short work of a barbecue sandwich.

"Until today, I had never – "

Annja cut him off and heard the anger in her own voice. "Don't. Don't forget that I'm getting you into the LoulanCity dig. If you could have done that on your own, you wouldn't have flown me across the country and met me in New York. Furthermore, don't forget that whoever Huangfu Cao works for is willing to kill to get whatever he's after."

For a moment, Roux held her gaze. Then he shrugged and smiled a little. "You are right."

"Were Sha Wu Ying and Tochardis related?"

"Before he was known as Sha Wu Ying, he was called Tochardis."

"Was either his real name?" Annja asked.

"No."

"Is he still alive?"

"I don't know."

"Was he dead somewhere in the middle of that?"

Roux thought for a moment. "I suppose so."

Annja couldn't believe it. "You suppose so? How can you suppose someone was dead?"

A few of the nearby patrons glanced in their direction. A mother with two small children got up from the table next to them and wandered out into the main hallway.

Scowling, Roux turned his attention back to his sandwich. "Maybe we could be a little more circumspect."

"Being a little more circumspect isn't going to fly. I need to know more of what you know."

"If I tell you too much, I ruin the chances of you reaching important conclusions all on your own."

"I'm willing to risk it. Did Tochardis rise from the grave?"

"From everything I've been able to learn, yes. Of course, he could have faked his own death. I've had to a number of times over the years. I've lived an extended life, but it's never been without risk. You wouldn't believe the number of times I woke with someone poised over me prepared to drive a stake through my heart."

"Why?"

"They believed that I was a vampire."

"Vampires aren't real."

"Neither are men who live hundreds of years." Roux grinned. "You'd be surprised to know what is real, my dear girl."

"Was Tochardis immortal? Or long-lived?"

"By your standards?" Roux waved his sauce-drenched fork aimlessly. "Yes. Of course he was."

"How long?"

Roux shook his head. "I don't know."

"Who was Tochardis?"

"In reality? I don't know. Maybe it would surprise you to learn this, Annja, but there's still a great deal I don't know. That's what keeps my life interesting after all these years."

The knowledge that there was a lot Roux didn't know was vaguely unsettling to Annja. She pushed the trepidation from her mind and concentrated on her line of thought. "Who was Tochardis to the Scythians?"

"A great warrior. One of their leaders."

"I don't recall the name in any of the studies I've done."

Roux smiled. "Men who live unnaturally long lives, I've found in my own experience, tend not to want to draw attention to that fact if they can help it. Tochardis worked in the – "

"Shadows," Annja said as she thought of the shadow that mirrored the great tiger on the belt plaque.

"Exactly. You're very good at what you do, you know."

Annja didn't know whether Roux was pleased about that, or worried. She wanted him to be worried, but she was surprised at how much she wanted him to be pleased, as well.

"Why didn't Tochardis stay with the Scythians?"

"He couldn't hold the Scythians together. They were, by nature, a group of wandering tribes. They built a few cities. One of the largest was Gelonus, the remains of which were identified by Boris Shramko."

"That's in the Ukraine."

"Yes. That was found in the last few years. There's still so much of the past that yet remains undiscovered," Roux said.

Annja was surprised at the wistful note in Roux's voice. She focused on the task at hand. They were due to begin boarding before long.

"When did Tochardis become Sha Wu Ying?"

Roux finished his sandwich and blotted his mouth. "Your guess about that would be as good as mine. Sometime after Tochardis was killed, Sha Wu Ying appeared on the scene."

"Why would he reinvent himself and ally with the Chinese?"

"Not the Chinese. To the Qin Dynasty. Remember, when Qin first came to power, there were only the Seven Warring States. I suspect what drew Tochardis to Qin was the potential for the new country Qin was assembling. What did Qin do?"

Annja only had to think about that briefly. "He conquered and united the seven countries – "

"Providing the potential for the largest army the world had ever seen."

"He declared a standard written language – "

"Providing for an ease of communications over long distances."

"Started building the Great Wall of China to keep out northern invaders and brigands – "

"Providing for stability and solidifying a base of operations. Not to mention cutting Tochardis off from any reprisal that might be forthcoming from the Scythians for taking whatever treasures he might have absconded with."

"Controlled the silk industry and – to a degree – the spice trade along the Silk Road – "

"Providing – "

"A large and stable economic base." Annja saw where Roux was headed with his thinking.

Roux beamed like a teacher pleased with a prized student. "Exactly. The way Tochardis would have looked at it, allying himself with Emperor Qin would have been the best thing he could have done at the time. By becoming the emperor's premier assassin, he was only a heartbeat away from world conquest."

Annja knew. China had been poised to extend its reach at that time. "Except that Emperor Qin was ultimately betrayed by other men who wanted the same power he had."

"Dissatisfaction among the ranks of intelligent men trusted with their leader's greatest secrets is probably the biggest risk any dictator faces," Roux stated.

Annja arched an eyebrow. "Is that little tidbit from personal experience?"

Roux leaned back in his chair. "I have never sought control over the lives of others. Ruling kingdoms – especially with the great, unwashed masses involved – is too hard and is often its own punishment for lofty thoughts of grandeur."

Maybe those are the words you're saying today, but was it always that way? Annja wondered. "What happened to Sha Wu Ying and what did you find out from the back of the belt plaque?"

At that moment, the airline announced the boarding call for their flight.

Roux stood. "Let's go. I've got to get a few things." He was in motion before Annja could grab her backpack.

Hurrying to catch up, Annja couldn't believe it when Roux entered a bookstore and chose four paperbacks from the popular fiction racks. He turned to her. "Did you want anything?"

"No."

"Are you certain? It's a long flight."

Annja knew it was a long flight. It was time that Garin Braden would be getting ahead of them. "I'm certain."

The older woman at the checkout desk rang up Roux's purchases. Annja stood at his side, irritated that he still hadn't revealed to her what he knew.

When she was finished with his credit card, the woman handed it back and smiled at Roux, then at Annja. "You have a beautiful granddaughter, Mr. Loftus."

An unexpected warmth gushed through Annja. She smiled back at the woman.

Roux signed the credit slip and slid it back to the woman. "Oh, she's not my granddaughter." He didn't bother to explain the situation any further.

The checkout clerk's smile froze on her face as she surmised what Annja's relationship with Roux might truly be.

Annja's short-lived feel-good melted. Roux was smirking at her from the doorway.

"I'm his caregiver," she said to the woman.

The clerk looked at the credit card slip.

"No. He's still legal to manage his finances." Annja lowered her voice. "It's his physical needs I have to attend to. But rehab will only go so far when you're dealing with old age. Once the bladder starts to go, not much can be done. Do you know if they sell Depends in the terminal?"

Roux scowled and left the bookshop while the clerk told Annja she wasn't certain.

Annja caught up to Roux outside the bookshop. The boarding call for their flight echoed through the cavernous tunnel again.

Roux spoke without looking at her. "That was ludicrous. I'll have you know that my bladder is in fine shape." He sounded properly peeved.

Annja felt somewhat mollified because Roux was vain enough to be vulnerable.

"You'll wear the weak bladder stigma every time you assign me to the role of potential golddigger. It's bad enough people think that all on their own without you encouraging it."

"Point taken," Roux said.

"Now, what happened to Sha Wu Ying?"

"He died."

"How?" Annja asked.

"He was assassinated."

"I thought he was the assassin."

"There's always more than one assassin, Annja. Some families take up the trade. Look at the Medici of Florence. Some of those family members even had their own specially blended poisons made. Designer poisons." Roux smiled.

They joined the line of boarding passengers.

"Who had Sha Wu Ying assassinated?"

One of the waiting passengers looked at Annja.

"Perhaps, Professor Creed, we could continue this conversation on the plane. There's no reason to bore others with our thoughts on that paper." Roux's voice carried easily. He smiled and gave his papers to the waiting attendant, who hesitated, then relaxed and smiled back.

Annja did the same, then they stepped into the tunnel that would take them to the plane.