20

"I disagree

And it is, of course, your right to be wrong," says Zhu. "But take my advice: don't let misplaced political sympathies get in the way of this job. Always remember who is paying you."

"Thanks for your time. I'm done with the questions."

Zhu nods politely and turns his attention back to his gun.

The going is slow and brutal the next morning. With every passing minute, the blizzard seems to get worse and worse, the wind driving solid drifts of snow into your face and piercing through your thermal expedition wear, chilling you to the bone. But Zhu hardly slows, setting a punishing pace even you struggle to match.

The walls on both sides of the pass are riddled with caves and shallow indentations, any one of which might conceal the entrance to Shambala, and so you have to investigate each of them. On the one hand, the caves provide welcome interludes of shelter, but on the other, the need to explore them slows your progress even further. At this rate, you might be stuck searching the pass for a week or more.

And then, as noon approaches, you enter the cave where it happens.

There are large predators in the Himalayas, and Zhu has taken the precaution of loading shotguns onto the back of one of the yaks. You take your shotgun down and follow Zhu and Stevo into the cave mouth.

As always, Stevo stops in the entrance. "You go on," he says, gesturing deeper into the cave. "I'm just gonna take a little breather." He slumps down onto his bottom in the cave mouth and withdraws a whiskey bottle from his pack as you, Zhu, and the guides press on into the cave in the flickering lantern light.

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