57

Good. He was a murderous bastard. I'm glad he's dead.

But not all of Shambala is lost to the mountain. You bring your hand up to the pocket of your coat and feel it in there, still and quiet and innocent—the stone that caused all this, Jian Zhu's white whale. Now Jian Zhu is gone, and it falls to you to decide what to do with the stone.

As you survey the deceptively peaceful pass, the dust dissipating slowly in the thin mountain air, you consider what to do.

Zhu had wanted to turn the stone in to the Chinese authorities. If you take it to them, your agreement with Zhu should still stand. They'll pay you a small fortune and put the stone on display in a museum in China. You would be listed as the stone's discoverer, which will benefit your fame and your academic reputation.

On the other hand, perhaps the stone should stay here in Tibet, with the Tibetan people, rather than in China among their colonial overlords. You could take the relic into the autonomous region of Outer Tibet and give it to the local authorities. They will pay you, and you will get a slight boost to fame and reputation, though the Chinese have deeper pockets and a wider reach.

A third possibility suggests itself. You still don't understand how you triggered the stone's remarkable powers, but this artifact could have military applications. You have contacts in the Department of Defense who would ensure you received at least a small fee for turning it in to them for study. Though this is not the most lucrative option, it is arguably your patriotic duty. Perhaps you should take the stone to the States and hand it over to the Pentagon.