Now, Janson slammed the Anuran’s gun hand against the slate floor, producing a spasm that caused him to loosen his grip on the weapon. In a lightningfast movement, Janson grabbed it and scrambled to his feet. The Anuran remained limp on the polished stone floor.

He had the gun now.

Immediately, he triggered the switch that activated his lip mike. “The threat has been neutralized,” Janson told the U.N. secretary-general.

Then he felt a staggering blow from behind. The cobralike assassin had leaped from the ground and vised a forearm around Janson’s throat, choking off his air. Janson bucked violently, twisting and thrashing, hoping to throw off the younger, lighter man, but the terrorist was all coiled muscle. Janson felt bulky and slow by comparison, a bear menaced by a panther.

Now, instead of trying to dislodge the Caliph’s grip, he reached around and held him even tighter. Then he kicked both his legs into the air and hurled himself to the floor, landing heavily on his back—yet cushioning his impact with the body of his assailant, who was slammed against the floor as he fell.

He felt an expulsion of breath against the back of his neck and knew that the Caliph had been dealt a serious body blow.

Winded and aching himself, Janson rolled over and began to rise to his feet. As he did so, the Caliph rose, with incredible endurance, and threw himself at him, his hands formed into claws.

If the distance between them had been greater, Janson would have ducked or stepped aside. Neither was possible. He lacked the speed. He lacked the agility.

A bear.

So be it. He held out his arms, as if in an embrace—and, with a surge of strength, he squeezed the Caliph to his body, locking his arms around the other man’s chest. Tight. Tighter. Tighter still.

Even as he squeezed, however, the assassin rained powerful blows on the back of his neck. Janson knew he could not hold out for much longer. In a sudden, convulsive effort, he dropped his armlock and lifted the Anuran into the air horizontally, where he thrashed like a powerful eel. In an equally abrupt movement, Janson fell down into a crouch, his left knee bent to the ground, his right knee angled upward. At the same time, he slammed the lithe-bodied assailant down against it.

The Caliph’s back snapped with a horrifying sound, something between a crunch and a pop, and his mouth contorted into a scream that would not come.