Forbidden City. Alex Archer
Abruptly, the men in the helicopter stopped firing. The aircraft dipped. Too late, Annja realized that she was about to run out of tree cover. She tried to alter the horse’s direction, but the animal was crazed with fear.
Riding braced in the stirrups, her weight balanced on her feet instead of sitting in the saddle, Annja reached for the sword again. She’d no more than thought about it, wished she was holding it, when she had it gripped in her hand.
The helicopter pilot flew in very low. Glancing over her shoulder, Annja saw the man on the right side of the helicopter swing out wide, depending on the umbilical that connected him to the aircraft as he kept his feet on the skids.
She ducked beneath him as he tried to grab her.
The helicopter cruised by like a shark. But only a short distance ahead, it swung around in a full one-eighty. The man hung farther outside the aircraft.
Annja didn’t try to dodge the helicopter. Instead, at the last possible minute, Annja lifted high in the stirrups and swung the sword up and across the man’s midsection.
The sharp blade cut through flesh with ease. She got a glimpse of the man’s surprised face, then she was past him. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him suddenly dangle from the line that kept him tied to the helicopter. The aircraft jerked a little as the pilot corrected for the sudden deadweight.
Annja stayed low over the saddle and the horse’s neck. The animal stumbled over loose rock and almost went down.
Stay on your feet, Annja thought fiercely.
Twisting in the saddle for a moment, she saw the helicopter hovering above the treetops. The body at the end of the line jerked and flailed its limbs as someone hauled it back into the helicopter.
The horse’s hooves drummed the ground in a rapid staccato. Annja adjusted herself in the saddle, keeping her weight distributed and as low to the horse as she could to help the animal better handle her weight.
She thought she was headed west, back toward Georgetown, but she didn’t want to check her compass yet. The horse was handling the terrain, but she knew that could change at any moment.
The helicopter rotorwash sounded louder again. Looking back, she saw that it was coming in her direction.
Annja willed the sword away. Steering the horse toward a thick copse of trees, she waited until the animal slowed to navigate the thick press of brush, then leapt off.
The horse kept going.
Annja hit the ground and rolled. Brush and tall grass slapped at her, leaving stinging lacerations in their wake. She protected her backpack as much as she could. Then she was up on her feet, pushing and shoving her way through the forest at a ninety-degree angle to the path the horse had taken.
Controlling the panic within her, feeling her breath hot and dry in her throat, Annja kept running even after the helicopter passed by in pursuit of the horse. When she couldn’t run anymore, she dropped to her knees and laced her hands over her head to open her lungs.
As she watched the helicopter sailing above the treetops with a finger of illumination reaching down from a searchlight, Annja hoped the horse was just hitting its stride and wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. Then she reached into her pack for her phone.
3
Standing in the darkness, Huangfu Cao watched the helicopter speed over the treetops. He held his phone close to his face, listening to the helicopter communications officer. The man monitored not only the cell phone connection but also the emergency band communication in the area.
“She’s called the park rangers, sir,” Lin said.
Anger roiled within Huangfu. He had badly underestimated the woman. But no one could have expected her to react as quickly as she had to the shifting situation.
It was true that he hadn’t liked the idea of killing her. He liked her. She was competent and knowledgeable. More than that, she had come looking for his “ancestor’s” body for reasons of her own, not just to do a good thing. He liked that.
But he hadn’t hesitated when the time came. He’d shot as quickly and as accurately as he always did. Somehow, though, he had missed.
Not only that, she’d surprised him with the horse. His chest and abdomen still hurt from the impact.
And now she had managed to call the park rangers.
“Sir?” Lin prompted.
“Stay with her. She has what we came for.” If the three young men hadn’t stumbled onto them, Huangfu would have the artifact his employer had sent him for.
The helicopter dipped quickly, gliding through the treetops.
“Do the rangers have aerial support?” Huangfu stared into the night. His eyes burned with the effort.
“No. They took the phone call and sent ground forces out,” Lin replied.
“How many?”
“Three rangers and some of the local emergency response people. Their number is unconfirmed.”
Huangfu knew there wasn’t much in the way of a police force at Georgetown. The park rangers were another matter. In this part of California, the rangers went armed not only for illegal marijuana growers but also predators. None of them would be as well trained as his people, but he’d been ordered not to leave a mess behind.
And there were already three dead bodies.
If things hadn’t gotten out of hand, he’d planned on dropping those into the hole he and Annja Creed had dug. That wouldn’t have been a problem. Even if the bodies had been found later, they couldn’t have been tied to him. His cover was complete. Any search into his background would lead only to elaborate lies.
“Even though these initial forces don’t have aerial support,” Lin said, “they will get it as soon as the situation escalates.”
“Let me worry about that.” Huangfu watched the helicopter flying low to the ground. “Get the woman.” Feeling tense, he continued watching.
In the next instant, the helicopter broke pursuit and lifted into the air.
“There’s a problem.” Lin’s voice was calm and precise.
“What problem?” Huangfu asked.
“The woman isn’t with the horse.”
Huangfu cursed, knowing that Annja Creed had evaded them again. “Turn the helicopter around. Search the forest again. Now!”
Looking out over the forest, Huangfu knew the effort was going to be wasted. They’d underestimated Annja Creed again.
H OOFBEATS WOKE A NNJA . As uncomfortable and keyed up as she was, she hadn’t expected to fall asleep.
For a moment she thought maybe the horse she’d freed had found her again, and perhaps even led Huangfu and his allies to her. She opened her eyes but didn’t move. Motion attracted predators, and the men hunting her were definitely predators.
After she’d placed her call to the park ranger’s office and asked for help, she’d climbed one of the fir trees and hidden on a thick branch twenty feet above the ground. Using leather straps she carried in her backpack, she’d fashioned a crude nest to keep her from falling out of the tree. She’d spent the night in trees in a similar manner on digs. It was never truly restful, but she’d learned to sleep.
Shifting, she peered through the darkness and gathered her feet under her on the thick branch. She felt through the otherwhere, touching the sword’s hilt and drawing it to her.
Less than a hundred yards away, two riders on horseback approached. Both of them had flashlights that strobed the woods. They also carried rifles canted on their thighs. A third horse trailed behind them.
Tense, Annja waited, trying in