Suddenly, the camera turned, jarring all of them. It rolled forward on its treads and seemed to stare at them, its "head" panning right and left.

"What is this?" asked his assistant.

Tang gaped at the thing. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" asked another of the workers. "Is this some new equipment?"

Tang turned back to the bricks on the main lines, then faced the robot.

He began to tremble.

HAKKA CASTLE
XIAMEN, CHINA
APRIL 2012

Roughly three kilometers away, inside one of the north building's stairwells, Beasley frowned at the Chinese power crew in his HUD. Were they about to run off? He wasn't sure, but he needed them gone now. A data bar in the right corner of his HUD displayed a preprogrammed list of commands in Mandarin that he could issue through the SUGV's loudspeaker. He chose the obvious: Go away. Fast!

"Kuai Zou! Kuai Zou! Kuai Zou!"

The men slowly backed off. All right, they were beginning to get the message.

Beasley pressed a button on his wireless controller, and a detonation clock glowed and flashed on his screen: 00:00:20, 00:00:19, 00:00:18 . . .

Not only would the rest of the station blow, but the SUGV was also rigged for detonation with chemical charges that would melt its components beyond recognition.

"Ghost Lead, this is Bravo Lead. Charges at the station have been activated. But I have two men down."

TRANSFORMER STATION
XIAMEN, CHINA
APRIL 2012

Tang's mouth finally worked. "Run now! Run!" He sprinted toward the gate, his men following, screaming their questions as a series of ear-piercing explosions came from behind them.

His heart hammering, his breath all but gone, Tang neared the fence when the concussion lifted him into the air for a moment, then slammed him into the gate.

The rest of his men joined him there, and they all turned back, breathless, staring in awe at the fireballs.

HAKKA CASTLE
XIAMEN, CHINA
APRIL 2012

Diaz ignored the muffled booming from the northeast as she targeted that door Ramirez had indicated.

Three of the four Spring Tigers were already dead. If she could nab this guy, Admiral Cai, designated Target Charlie, the mission was over.

But poor Marcus. Had she killed him? She was too damned scared to ask.

And Beasley wasn't saying a word.

She began to pant and could almost hear the rattle of her nerves as the door swung open, and there he was.

No, that wasn't him. That was his guard. There he was, just behind, turning now to the right.

She gave him just enough lead.

"Yeah, you didn't just miss the bad guy, Alicia. You killed one of your friends!"

Shut up, Tomas!

She took the shot, but the round erupted in the earth at Admiral Cai's feet. She cursed as she threw back the bolt and reloaded, never taking her eye off the admiral.

He dropped and began crawling around the building's edge, out of sight, though the red diamond IDing him glowed over the wall.

A green diamond suddenly floated into view.