He instantly recognized them as the tomb guardians of China's early emperor Chin Shih Huang TiThe effect was dazzling. He marveled that they had somehow slipped through the Chinese government's fingers into private hands.

"Please come forward and sit down, Mr. Lugovoy."

He was so taken aback by the magnificence of the room that he failed to notice a frail Oriental woman sitting in a wheelchair. In front of her was an ebony chair with gold silk cushions and a small table with a teapot and cups.

"Madame Bougainville," he said. "We meet at last."

The matriarch of the Bougainville shipping dynasty was eighty-nine years old and weighed about the same number of pounds. Her glistening gray hair was pulled back from her temples in a bun.

Her face was strangely unlined, but her body looked ancient and frail. It was her eyes that absorbed Lugovoy. They were an intense blue and blazed with a ferocity that made him uncomfortable.

"You are prompt," she said simply. Her voice was soft and clear without the usual hesitation of advanced age.

"I came as soon as I received the coded telephone call."

"Are you prepared to conduct your brainwashing project?"

"Brainwashing is an ugly term. I prefer mind intervention."

"Academic terminology is irrelevant," she said indifferently.

"My staff has been assembled for months. With the proper facilities we can begin in two days."

"You'll begin tomorrow morning.

"So soon?"

"I've been informed by my grandson that ineal conditions have turned in our favor. The transfer will take place tonight."

Lugovoy instinctively looked at his watch. "You don't give me much time."

"The opportunity has to be snatched when it arrives," she said firmly. "I made a bargain with your government, and I am about to fulfill the first half of it. Everything depends on speed. You and your staff have ten days to finish your part of the project-"

"Ten days!" he gasped.

"Ten days," she repeated. "That is your deadline. Beyond that I will cast you adrift."

A shiver ran up Lugovoy's spine. He didn't need a detailed picture. It was plain that if something went wrong, he and his people would conveniently vanish-probably in the ocean.

A quiet muffled the huge boardroom. Then Madame Bougainville leaned forward in the wheelchair. "Would you like some tea?"

Lugovoy hated tea, but he nodded. "Yes, thank you."

"The finest blend of Chinese herbs. It costs over a hundred dollars a pound on the retail market."

He took the offered cup and made a polite sip before he set it on the table. "You've been informed, I assume, that my work is still in the research stage. My experiments have only been proven successful eleven times out of fifteen. I cannot guarantee perfect results within a set time limit."

"Smarter minds than yours have calculated how long White House advisers can stall the news media."

Lugovoy's eyebrows rose. "My understanding was that my subject was to be a minor American congressman whose temporary disappearance would go unnoticed."