Mitchell nodded, and while Smith double-timed ahead, Mitchell rushed over to Wu, his blood spreading across the floor like a dilating pupil, dark and oily. He lifted the man's head, making sure the folks back home got a good picture of his face. Then he rose. "Ghost Team? Targets Bravo and Delta terminated. Two more to go!"

"Captain, we got more stuff," called Smith from behind Wu's open door.

They had already seized several flash drives and two portfolios of documents from Xu's room.

"Take it all," grunted Mitchell.

All that gunfire below left Diaz struggling to do two things: get a bead on that remaining sniper and get control of her breath.

Even as she sighted him, he was sighting her brothers in arms around the castle.

Although he had yet to fire, she could already hear the crack of his rifle in her mind. The bastard was set up on another rock, unflinching in the rain, as though he'd been there for a hundred years, calmed by the spirits of his forefathers and waiting for the perfect shot.

The rain tapered off, just a little, the forest growing more silent, as Carlos and Tomas began to voice their doubts.

Not now!

She blinked hard then took in a long breath and held it. The reticle rested squarely over the sniper's head.

Adios. She fired. And gasped. He fell away, pieces of him hurtling end over end.

She swung her rifle around, positioning herself to face the north building, where the two guards posted outside had gone inside, presumably to defend Major-General Chen Yi, the NMR commander with the lazy left eye.

Despite the thick, earthen walls, Diaz could still see those guards as red diamonds superimposed over the building and rising as they mounted the staircase.

Both men drew nearer the wall. She could take them, but there was only one round in her chamber, and the magazine was empty.

After estimating the first guard's angle of ascent, she lined up, took the shot, firing right through the wall, striking him dead-on. The red diamond winked out. Chills spidered up her spine.

Beautiful.

No more time to celebrate.

She worked the bolt, ejected the spent case, dropped her firing hand back two inches, ejected the cold magazine, reached forward, and seized the hot magazine, slapped it home, reloaded, and sighted in on the next target, all within three seconds.

She had him.

But an odd, tingling sensation worked across her face, and the hairs stood on the back of her neck.

Abruptly, static filled her HUD as a bolt of lightning struck not five meters to her left.

The HUD flickered back to life, now showing a green diamond where the red one had been.

Two more green diamonds appeared just below the first.

Oh my God! NO!

Diaz had been so startled by the lightning strike that she had pulled the trigger, the thunder coming a half second after the click of her rifle.