False Horizon - Alex Archer [75]
Annja felt a small measure of relief. “But why target me? I wasn’t harming anyone.”
“It’s not necessary that you were harming anyone,” Guge said, still gritting his teeth to ward off the pain he must have been feeling from the bullet hole in his leg. “It’s that you have access to that sword.”
“So the sword signed my death warrant?”
“Something like that. It was felt that it would be good to try to acquire the sword for our own usage.”
“Whose usage?”
“Our leader.”
Annja stopped and shoved Guge against the wall. “Who is it? Is it Hsu Xiao or whatever her name is—the woman in the room with you?”
Guge laughed. “Hsu Xiao is nothing but a tool of our leader. She does what she’s told to do, which just so happens to be dealing death. But she is nothing close to the brains of this operation.”
Annja then shoved him forward again. “Keep moving.”
Guge stumbled along. “It’s quite funny, actually. Seeing you so concerned about this. I mean, we heard that you didn’t even like having the sword. That you’d rather go back to the normal life that you had before the sword came into your possession.”
“Whoever you guys are, you’ve certainly had some highly placed sources near my life for some time.”
Guge smiled. “Our leader doesn’t do anything halfway. She’s special that way.”
“She?”
“Does that surprise you? That a woman would be in charge?”
“No. I’m all for equal rights. Madmen, madwomen, what’s the difference?” Annja shrugged. “It always come down to the same thing. How soon can I get rid of them?”
Guge shook his head. “You won’t be getting rid of her so easily. She knows all about you. She’s taken the time to study you intimately, in fact. She’s watched you over the years and has learned how to play you. This setup alone should prove that as fact to you.”
“What setup?”
Guge laughed. “Our little fantasy world here. It’s something, isn’t it? This make-believe Shangri-La? That’s the irony. We’re making believe that it’s a make-believe place. The irony is so thick you could cut it.”
They’d reached the prison cell and Guge blanched when he saw the dead Chinese soldier on the floor. “You certainly don’t seem to mind all the killing you unleash, do you?”
“I do what’s necessary. I choked him out first but then he came to and attacked me. I had no choice but to kill him,” Annja said.
“Is that what you tell yourself before the demons come at night?”
“Shut up.”
Guge shrugged. “You’re more like her than you know. I think that’s why she went through all this trouble just to catch you and get the sword.”
Annja pulled him to a stop again and got up close to his face. “Listen to me, pal. Even if I wanted to hand over the sword, it wouldn’t leave. It’s not something I can give away. And if I could, I sure as hell wouldn’t pass it to some nutball organization that wants to use it for evil purposes.”
“Actually, it’s our theory that you can give it away.”
Annja stopped. “What?”
Guge nodded. “We think you can give it away. Of course, there happens to be a downside.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?”
“You have to do it as you’re dying. Sort of like a final wish or command, if you will. If you manifest the sword as you are dying, then we believe you can hand it over to whomever you want.”
“That’s some theory.”
Guge giggled. “Well, you know what they say about theories—all it takes is one damned fool to try it out to see if it works.”
Tuk swept past Annja. “Can we shut him up now? I’m getting tired of listening to him babble on and on.”
Annja ignored Tuk. “And just how are they going to test that theory?”
“I already told you, Annja. You’ll have to die.”
Annja backhanded him across the face and shoved him forward down the corridor again. She could still see the flickering torches stuck in their brackets down the hall where the giant Buddhist sculptures sat.
“So all of this is nothing but a joke, huh? This must have cost millions to create. Millions of dollars just to get to me?”
Guge shook