arvelo case and pulled the long knife from his belt. `Kam Pek!' whispered the man. `Wong?'

`Yes, sir,' said the conduit, walking around the trunks of trees, approaching Jason. `I am greeted with a knife?'

There are a few other people back there and, frankly, I didn't think you'd show up. I told you, you could get out if the risks looked too great. I didn't think it'd happen so early on but I would have accepted it. Those are impressive weapons they're carrying.'

`I might have taken advantage of the situation but, added to the money, you afforded me an act of immense gratification. For many others as well. More people than you can imagine will give thanks.'

`Soo the Pig?'

`Yes, sir.'

`Wait a minute,' said Bourne, alarmed. `Why are you so sure they'll think one of those men did it?'

`What men?'

That patrol of machine guns back there! They're not from Guangdong, not from the garrison. They're from Beijing?

The act took place in Zhuhai Shi. At the gate.'

`Goddamn you! You've blown everything*. They were waiting for Soo!'

`If they were, sir, he never would have arrived.'

`What?

`He was getting drunk with the prefect of the gate. He went to relieve himself which was where I confronted him. He is now next door, lying in a soiled female commode, his throat slit, his genitals removed.'

`Good God ... Then he didn't follow us?'

`Nor did he show any indication of doing so.'

`I see no, I don't see. He was cut out of tonight. It's strictly a Beijing operation. Yet he was the primary contact down here-`

T would know nothing of such matters,' broke in Wong defensively.

`Oh, sorry. No you wouldn't.'

`Here are the eyes you hired, sir. Where do you wish me to look and what do you want me to do?'

`Did you have any trouble getting by that patrol in the road?' `None. I saw them, they did not see me. They are now sitting in the woods at the edge of the field. If it would be of help to you, the man with the radio instructed the one he reached to leave once the "signal" was given. I don't know what that means but I presume it concerns a helicopter.'

`You presume?'

The Frenchman and I followed the English major here one night. It's how I knew where to take you before. A helicopter landed and men came out to meet the Englishman.'

`That's what he told me.'

`Told you, sir?

`Never mind. Stay here. If that patrol across the field starts coming over I want to know about it. I'll be up in the field before the second hill, on the right. The same field where you and Echo saw the helicopter.'

`Echo?

`The Frenchman.' Delta paused, thinking quickly. `You can't light a match, you can't draw attention to yourself-`

Suddenly, there were the sharp but muted sounds of objects striking other objects. Treesl Rocks\ McAllister was arvelous!

`Grab stones, pieces of wood or rocks, and keep throwing them into the woods on the right. I'll hear them.'

`I will fill my pockets with some now.'

`I have no right to ask you this,' said Delta, picking up the arvelo case, `but do you have a weapon?

`A three-fifty-seven-calibre magnum with a belt full of ammunition, courtesy of my cousin on my mother's side, may she rest with the holy Jesus.'

`I hope I don't see you, and if I don't, good-bye, Wong. Another part of me may not approve of you, but you're a hell of a man. And believe me, you really did beat me last time.'

`No, sir, you bested me. But I would like to try again.'

`Forget it!' cried the man from Medusa, racing up the hill.

Like a giant, monstrous bird, its lower body pulsating with blinding light, the helicopter descended onto the field. As arranged, McAllister stood in full view and, as expected, the chopper's searchlight zeroed in on him. Also as arranged, Jason Bourne was forty-odd yards away, in the shadows of the woods � visible, bujt not clearly. The rotors wound down to a grinding, abrasive halt. The silence was emphatic. The door opened, the stairs sprang out, and the slender, grey- haired Sheng Chou Yang walked down the steps, carrying a briefcase.

`So good to see you after all these years, Edward,' called out a taipan's first son. `Would you care to inspect the aircraft? As you requested, there is no one but myself and my most trusted pilot.'

`No, Sheng, you can do it for me!' yelled McAllister, several hundred feet away, pulling a canister from inside his jacket and throwing it towards the helicopter. `Tell the pilot to step outside for a few minutes and spray the cabin. If there's anyone inside he � or they � will come out quickly.'

`This is so unlike you, Edward. Men like us know when to trust one another. We're not fools.'

`Do it, Sheng!'

`Of course I will' under orders, the pilot stepped out of the aircraft. Sheng Chou Yang picked up the canister and sprayed the immobilizing fog into the helicopter. Several minutes elapsed; no one came out. `Are you satisfied, or should I blow the damn thing up, which would serve neither of us. Come, my friend, we're beyond these games. We always were.'

`But you became what you are. I remained what I was.' `We can correct that, Edward! I can demand your presence at all our conferences. I can elevate you to a position of prominence You'll be a star in the foreign service firmament.'

`It's true then, isn't it? Everything in the file. You're back. The Kuomintang is back in China-`

`Let's talk quietly together, Edward.' Sheng glanced at Bourne in the shadows, then gestured to his right. `This is a private matter.'

Jason moved quickly; he raced to the aircraft while the two negotiators were standing with their backs to him. As the pilot climbed into the chopper and reached his seat, the man from Medusa was behind him.

`An jing!' whispered Jason, ordering the man to keep silent, his machine pistol reinforcing the command. Before the stunned pilot could react, Bourne whipped a strip of heavy cloth over the man's head, bridling it across the shocked, open mouth and yanked it taut. Then, pulling a long thin nylon cord from his pocket, he lashed the man to the seat, pinning his arms. There would be no sudden lift-off.

Returning his weapon to the belt under his jacket, Bourne crawled out of the helicopter. The huge machine blocked his view of McAllister and Sheng Chou Yang, which meant that it blocked theirs of him. He walked rapidly back to his previous position, constantly turning his head, prepared to change direction if the two men emerged on either side of the aircraft; the chopper was his visual shield. He stopped; he was near enough; it was time to appear casual. He took out a cigarette and struck a match, lighting it. He then strolled aimlessly to his left, to where he could just barely see the two figures on the other side of the helicopter. He wondered what was being said between the enemies. He wondered what McAllister was waiting for.

Do it, analyst. Do it now! It's your maximum opportunity. Every moment you delay you give away time, and time holds complications! Goddamn it, do it!

Bourne froze. He heard the sound of a stone hitting a tree close to where he had walked out on the field. Then another much nearer and another quickly following. It was Wong's warning! Sheng's patrol was crossing the field below!

Analyst, you'll get us killed! If I run over and shoot, the sound will bring six men rushing us with more firepower than we can handle! For Christ's sake, do it!