“Metok loved going inside,” Jaya explained. “He came back again, and again, each time more worried. He wanted us to give him our photos and inventory lists, so he could persuade the authorities to stop the project.” Jaya winced. “I asked him if he had somehow missed the fact that six thousand temples and monasteries had already been destroyed. Where was the big monastery at Yangkar, I asked him, or the one at Lhadrung? Where were the millions of artifacts already taken by the government? When Natalie told him that some of the artifacts here were truly ancient and showed that riders had likely come here from Scythia and Central Asia, that the standing stones were from those cultures, he said yes, that was his point, that the stones proved that this was a unique site, that it was so important it could be one of those heritage sites protected by the United Nations. But then just days later the standing stones were bulldozed, all signs of them destroyed. He never argued with us again, just asked how he could help. So I said move the trucks in front of the cave. He has a good soul, that Metok. The gods are in his heart. He thinks he might convince the government that the site is too unstable to continue the work, says he knows of maps in Golmud that show a fault line here that was left off the maps used by the Five Claws engineers. He was called away unexpectedly but before he left, he said he sent a friend named Sun to bring them back.”

Shan looked away. Sun had abruptly gone to Golmud to retrieve maps, but there had been no maps with his baggage. He spoke no more until they emerged onto a field thick with grass and wildflowers. They were at one of the highest points overlooking the valley, a few hundred yards from the narrow pass where the dam was to be constructed, looking down at the frenzied construction activity at the bottom of the valley.

It was Shan who broke the silence. “I pray you will not hate me for the news I must give you.” He sat on a ledge and motioned them to join him.

“I was forced to witness an execution in Lhadrung town,” he said, his heart feeling like a cold stone. “I didn’t know about all this,” he said, gesturing to the huge work site below. “I just saw a man convicted of corruption, who had defiance in his eyes and a prayer in his heart.” He looked each of his companions in the eyes. “It was Metok Rentzig.”

The color drained from Jaya’s face. “No! No, no, no!” she cried. “Impossible!”

Lhakpa sank his face into his hands.

“Impossible but true,” Shan said.

“He was not corrupt!” Jaya said with a sob.