Black Order (Sigma Force 3)

He reached the porch, stood to the side, and tested the door latch.

Unlocked.

He unhitched the latch and pushed the door open. Near the back of the house, another floorboard rubbed.

"Who's there?" he called out.

8:52 a.m. HIMALAYAS

"Come see this."

Painter startled awake, instantly alert. A dagger of a headache stabbed between his eyes. He rolled off the bed, fully clothed. He had not realized he had fallen asleep. He and Lisa had returned to their room a couple of hours ago, under guard. Anna had needed to attend to matters and arrange for some items Painter had requested.

"How long have I been out?" he asked, the headache slowly fading.

"Sorry. I didn't know you were asleep." Lisa sat cross-legged by the table before the fireplace. She had sheets of paper scattered on the top. "Couldn't have been more than fifteen…twenty minutes. I wanted you to see this."

Painter stood. The room bobbled for a breath, then settled back into place. Not good. He crossed over to Lisa and sank beside her.

He noted her camera resting on some of the papers. Lisa had requested the

Nikon be returned as the first act of cooperation from their captors.

She slid a sheet of paper over to him. "Look."

Lisa had drawn a line of symbols across the paper. Painter recognized them as the runes that Lama Khemsar had scrawled on his wall. She must have copied it from the digital photo. Painter saw that each symbol had a corresponding letter under it.

^CHk'ftp? I ; D N N i

"It was a simple replacement code. Each rune representing a letter of the alphabet. Took some trial and error."

"Schwarze Sonne,"he read aloud.

"Black Sun. The name of the project here."

"So Lama Khemsar knew about all this." Painter shook his head. "The old Buddhist did have ties here."

"And plainly it traumatized him." Lisa took the paper from him. "The madness must have awakened old wounds. Brought them back to life."

"Or maybe the lama was cooperating all along, maintaining the monastery as some guard post of the castle here."

"If so, look what that cooperation gained him," Lisa said pointedly. "Is that an example of the reward we'll get for our cooperation?"

"We have no choice. It's the only way to stay alive. To stay necessary."

"And after that? When we're no longer necessary?"

Painter offered no delusions. "They'll kill us. Our cooperation is only buying us some time."

Painter noted she didn't flinch from the truth but seemed to take strength from it. A resolve stiffened her shoulders.

"So what do we do first?" she asked.

"Acknowledge the first step in any conflict."

"And that is?"

"Know thy enemy."

"I think I know too much about Anna and her crew as it is."

"No. I meant discovering who was behind the bombing here. The saboteur…and whoever employed him. Something larger is going on here. Those first few acts of sabotage—messing with the safety controls of the Bell, the first illnesses—they were meant to draw us. Raise some smoke. Lure us here with the rumors of strange illnesses."

"But why would they do that?"

"To make sure Anna's group was discovered and shut down. Don't you find it strange that the Bell, the heart of the technology, was only destroyed after we arrived here? What might that suggest?"

"While they wanted Anna's project shut down, they also didn't want the heart of the technology falling into anyone else's hands."

Painter nodded. "And maybe something even more dire. All this might be misdirection. A bit of sleight of hand. Look over here, while the real trick is pulled off out of sight. But who is the mysterious magician in the wings? What is his purpose, his intent? That's what we must find out."

"And the electronic equipment you requisitioned from Anna?"

"Perhaps a way to help us sniff out the mole here. If we can trap this saboteur, we might have some of our answers, find out who is really pulling all the strings out here."

A knock on the door startled them both.

Painter stood up as the bar was removed and the door swung open.

Anna strode in with Gunther at her side. The guard had cleaned up since the last time Painter had seen him. It was a sign of the man's menace that no other guards followed them inside. He did not even have a gun.

"I thought you might like to join us for breakfast," Anna said. "By the time we're finished, the equipment you requested should be here."

"All of it? How? From where?"

"Kathmandu. We have a sheltered helipad on the other side of the mountain."

"Really? And you've never been discovered?"

Anna shrugged. "It's simply a matter of folding our flights in with the dozens of daily sightseeing tours and mountaineering teams. The pilot should be back within the hour."

Painter nodded. He planned on putting that hour to the best of uses.

Gathering Intel.

Every problem had its solution. At least he hoped so.

They set out from their room. The hallways beyond were unusually crowded. Word had spread. Everyone seemed busy or angry or casting hard glances at them…as if Painter and Lisa were somehow to blame for the sabotage here. But no one approached too closely. Gunther's heavy tread cleared a path. Their captor had become their protector.

They finally reached Anna's study.

A long table had been set up before the fire, heaping platters upon it. Sausages, dark breads, steaming stews, porridges, aged cheeses, an assortment of blackberries, plums, and melons.

"Is there an army coming to join us?" Painter asked.

"Constant fuel is most important in cold climates, both for the home and the heart," Anna said, ever the good German.

They took their seats. Food was passed. Just one big happy family.

"If there's any hope for a cure," Lisa said, "we'll have to know more about this Bell of yours. Its history…how it works…"

Anna, sullen after the walk, brightened. What researcher didn't enjoy discussing their discoveries?

"It started out as an experiment as an energy generator," she began. "A new engine. The Bell got its name from its bell-shaped outer containment jar, a ceramic vessel the size of a hundred-gallon drum, lined by lead. Inside were two metal cylinders, one inside the other, that would be spun in opposite directions."

Anna pantomimed with her hands.

"Lubricating it all and filling the Bell was a mercurylike liquid metal. What was called Xerum 525."