14

"That's disappointing."

Zhu shrugs. "I do not know much about archaeology, Dr. Spillane. However, I suspect the chances that we would have discovered a crucial clue in the very first cave we entered will have been pretty low. Come, we have much ground to cover. Onwards."

You reunite with your yaks and the other three guides and set off once more into the whiteness. The wind drives swirling clusters of snow into your face as you struggle deeper into the Cloven Neck.

As darkness falls, you find a shallow depression in one of the mountainsides to shelter yourselves from the worst of the wind, and you set up camp. You have two four-person Arctic exploration bell tents, one for the guides, and one for you, Zhu, and Stevo. You help pitch the tents while your guides clear away snow for the yaks to graze. Sangpo, the chief guide, prepares a large pan full of a rather unappetizing gruel on Zhu's gas stove; you eat it cheerlessly in the shelter of your tent.

Straight after dinner, Stevo is fast asleep, snoring lightly in his fur-lined sleeping bag. Zhu sits up, his expression impassive as he cleans his gun.