‘He’s ten feet tall and can pick someone up with one hand,’ said Eddie. ‘I don’t think much’ll worry him.’

‘Macy’s right, though,’ Nina realised. The man before them was not human, but the subtleties of his expression were still recognisable. For all Gadreel’s imperiousness, there was a concern, even anxiety behind it that was nothing to do with the guns still trained upon him. ‘Something’s bothering him. Mr Zan?’ Zan glanced back at her. ‘He wanted to know where his people are. I think we should tell him.’

Hui was dubious. ‘Is that wise?’

Colonel Wu was less circumspect. ‘Do not tell him anything! If he knows they are dead, he will not tell us location of fortress!’

Nina looked sharply at him. ‘What fortress?’

‘Nephilim records say a big fortress hidden somewhere. He,’ he pointed at Gadreel, ‘knows where. He tell us where to find it.’

‘Colonel!’ said Hui. It was obvious that he had said something she did not want revealed. The soldier responded in Mandarin, equally pointed and with clear impatience.

‘Oh, you haven’t told us everything? Golly gosh, I’m shocked,’ said Eddie, deadpan.

‘That is not how I wanted you to find out,’ Hui told Nina. ‘Yes, according to the records, there is another Nephilim outpost buried somewhere in this region, but finding it was not my first priority! I was—’

‘It is the first priority of the People’s Liberation Army, Doctor,’ cut in the younger Wu. ‘It must be located.’

‘What’s in this fortress?’ Eddie asked. ‘More Nephilim?’

‘That . . . is possible,’ said Hui. ‘According to the records, it was built as a last defence for them – a hiding place. If the fortress still exists, they could still be there, in stasis.’

‘In which case,’ said Nina, ‘telling you how to find it is the only way he’ll see them again.’ She faced Colonel Wu. ‘We have to tell him. It might be your only chance to get what you want.’

He scowled, but after a moment spoke curtly to Hui. She bowed her head to him, then faced Nina. ‘The colonel has decided that as the scientific leader of the project, I should make that decision,’ she said, with just a hint of snideness.

‘Passing the renminbi, huh?’ said Eddie, grinning. ‘Senior officers, same in any country.’

Neither Wu appreciated his joke, but they let it pass. Instead the colonel issued more commands. The soldiers in the isolation chamber backed out, keeping their weapons fixed on Gadreel until the door was closed in their wake. ‘Now,’ said the commander, ‘tell him. And hope you are right.’

Hui stepped up to Zan, about to speak – then gestured for Nina to join her. ‘You should tell him, Professor Wilde. You saw the fortress in the ice, what happened to the rest of his people. I did not.’