53

"That's amazing!"

Zhu approaches, reaches out, and touches the stone. Absolutely nothing happens.

"How did you do it?" he asks.

You do not answer because you do not know. Once again, you think about the Bull's Horns, about how your touch triggered the Oracle of God but Esme could get no response from it whatsoever. What is going on with these objects?

Zhu shakes his head and exhales, and then he is all business again on the instant. "We still have to get this thing off the mountain. No time to congratulate ourselves yet. Come, we must get going."

Before you have time to even move, a group of soldiers bursts into the chamber.

Next

Heavy, tramping boots drag your attention back to the passageway leading out, the only exit to the chamber. About a dozen Nazi soldiers are entering, their Karabiner 98k rifles trained unswervingly on you. Shouts and orders in German echo off the walls and ceiling of the chamber.

Their commanding officer soon enters, a tall, handsome man with a vicious scar down his left cheek, thinning brown hair, and an aquiline nose. He looks around the chamber for a few seconds, allowing himself to display no signs of wonder, and then directs his gaze up at you.

"Good morning!" he says in accented English. "Thank you for leading us here. You will surrender the stone and come peacefully into our custody."

"How did you find us?" asks Zhu, his voice icy and angry.

"Easily. We spotted your tent this morning and kept it under observation. As soon as your friend there came out, we recognized him. Dr. Namen Oberhelm Spillane." The commander turns to you. "I was in Palestine, Spillane, when you humiliated us. Schneider will be delighted that we have found the stone, but even more delighted when we deliver you to him. He'll give us all medals, boys!"

A ripple of laughter spreads through the soldiers, who are fanned out in a semicircle around the base of the eminence where you are standing.

But their laughter is rudely cut short. Zhu's gun is out, and he fires. The bullet whistles past the commander's ear.

"What the hell are you doing?" you bellow, but the soldiers are already responding.

Rifle shots ring our throughout the chamber, and Zhu hits the deck, crouching behind the platform with the pedestal.