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From a holster at the rear of his waistband Ajay pulled out a Beretta semiautomatic pistol, then quickly replaced it.
“Are we expecting trouble?” Remi asked.
“We’re in China, my dear. Anything can happen: bandits, crossborder terrorist groups, the PLA . . .”
“If the Chinese Army shows up, these popguns are only going to make them mad.”
“A bridge we’ll cross if need be. Besides, we’ll likely find what we’re looking for and be back across the border before nightfall.”
Sam said, “Remi and I will head east; Jack, you and Ajay head west. We’ll meet back here in two hours. Any objections?”
There were none.
After checking their portable radios for reception, the group split up. Headlamps on and machetes in hand, Sam and Remi chose one of the paths and started in.
Ten feet inside the jungle, the light dimmed to quarter strength. Sam slashed clear some of the vines growing across their path, then they paused to take a look around, panning their lights up, down, and to both sides.
“The yearly rainfall here must be mind-boggling,” Sam said.
“A hundred ten inches. About nine feet,” Remi replied, then smiled. “I know how you love trivia. I looked it up.”
“I’m proud of you.”
A few feet over their heads, and on both sides, was a tangled mass of vines so thick they could see nothing of the forest itself.
“This doesn’t feel right,” Remi said.
“No, it doesn’t.”
Sam jabbed the tip of his machete through the canopy. With a clang, his arm jolted to a stop. “That’s stone,” he murmured.
Remi swung her machete to the left and also got a clang. The same to the right. “We’re in a man-made tunnel.”
Sam unclipped the radio from his belt and pressed the Talk button. “Jack, are you there?”
Static.
“Jack, come in.”
“I’m here, Sam. What is it?”
“Are you on a trail?”
“Just started.”
“Swing your machete off the path.”
“Okay . . .” Clang! Jack came back: “Stone walls. Fascinating development.”
“Remember your hunch about Shangri-La bein
g a temple or monastery? Well, I think you’ve found it.”
“I think you’re right. Amazing what a millennium of unchecked jungle can do, isn’t it? Well, I don’t think this changes our plan, do you? We search the complex, then regroup in two hours.”
“Okay. See you then.”
Now aware they were inside a man-made structure, Sam and Remi began examining their surroundings for architectural telltales. Vines and roots had infiltrated every square foot of the complex. In the lead, Sam tried to swing his machete in short arcs but couldn’t avoid striking the stone walls occasionally.
