Chapter 27

The Red Panda struggled to clear the cobwebs from his head, but he had hit the ground hard.

Only the last second hit of his grapple gun on the statue's upraised arms had prevented him from

being killed by the impact against the stone dais at Anubis' feet.

Well, it had slowed his fall.

It had not kept him from getting his bell rung once or twice as he rolled.

If he had been unconscious at all, it had not lasted more than a few moments, but he was still seeing

spots when the laughter forced him to lift his head. The laughter was Thatcher's, ringing off the

hard stone and throughout the vast space as he stepped forward to a hidden panel at the base of the

statue, a panel that

none of them had seen before, but which had obviously opened when the beam of light had been

broken as Pavley had suspected. The stranger made a slight movement as if to intervene, but

he found himself suddenly the object of attention of a dozen firearms. Valconi's eyes narrowed.

He could deal with these underlings.

But what would Pavley do well he did?

They were running out of options and almost entirely out of time.

His eyes flashed to where the masked man lay, having been left as if dead where he fell.

The Red Panda tried to force himself to stand, or at least sit, but his head still swam.

He could only watch as Thatcher stepped forward and reached into the chamber, his hand

emerging wrapped around an enormous jewel, so black that lights seemed to simply fall into

it.

A hush fell over the assembly as he held it aloft, the jewel

...