Pete, who was paging through the story on Sam’s iPad, said, “What’s this map on the frontispiece?”
“That’s the hero’s journey to return the treasure,” replied Remi. “Jack, do you have that?”
“Looking at it right now. It appears De Terzi arrives from the west and first stops at what is labeled here as a castle. This, we can assume, is Shekar Gompa.”
“The launch base for the airship,” Sam said.
“And possibly the burial site for Giuseppe,” added Remi.
Karna continued: “From Shekar Gompa, De Terzi travels east to the Great City. Based on the position of Shekar, the city could be Lhasa.”
“Why would he go there?” asked Wendy. “The crash site is forty miles south of Shekar Gompa. Wasn’t he trying to return the treasure?”
“Yes,” Sam replied, “but in the story when he reaches the castle a local wise man tells him he must return the treasure to ‘its rightful home.’ He is told to seek out another wise man in the Great City to the west.”
Karna picked up Sam’s line of thought: “From the Great City, De Terzi continues eastward, eventually arrives at . . . I don’t know. There’s only an X here.”
“Shangri-La,” Remi suggested.
There were a few moments of silence from Karna, then: “You’re going to have to excuse me. Apologies. I’ll get back to you.”
The iChat screen went dark.
Karna was back thirty minutes later. “There are some rough grid lines and other landmarks on this map I’ll have to cross-reference, but using the distance from Shekar Gompa to Lhasa as a benchmark, the final leg of De Terzi’s journey ended in an area that’s know today as the Tsangpo Gorge.”
“Your front-runner for the location of Shangri-La,” said Sam.
“Yes indeed. Sam, Remi, you may have just solved a riddle six hundred years in the making.”
Sam said, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. How long will it take you to nail down the locations on the map?”
“I’ll start right now. Give me a day.”
39
ARUNACHAL PRADESH REGION
NORTHERN INDIA
“Jack!” Remi called. “I didn’t really believe you’d show up.”
Karna’s SUV rolled to a stop, and he climbed out. Remi gave him a hug, Sam shook his hand. “Glad you’re on board, Jack.”
“As am I.”
Standing behind Karna, Ajay nodded and smiled at them.
Karna said, “You two look better than when I last saw your faces. Remi, how’s the foot? And the ribs?”
“Healed enough that I can get around without gritting my teeth. I’ve got ACE bandages, a good pair of hiking boots, and a bottle of ibuprofen.”
“Outstanding.”
“She’ll outmarch all of us,” Sam said.
“Any trouble getting here? Any tails? Suspicious people?”
Remi answered. “None of the above.”