Colonel Wu ignored her, making demands of the technicians as he looked over their shoulders. She turned to Zan. ‘They ran a test program,’ he said. ‘It . . . didn’t work.’

‘Really? Oh gee, I guess we’d all better go home and forget this happened.’

Wu did not appreciate her insolent tone. ‘It should work. But it did not. Something missing.’ He advanced on her, signalling for the remaining guards to block her retreat. ‘You! Americans needed you to make their weapon work. So you make our weapon work.’

‘The hell I will,’ Nina replied. ‘I didn’t let DARPA use me to start a war, and I won’t let you do it either.’

‘Then your family pay.’ The colonel’s eyes turned more pitiless than ever. ‘Choose your husband, or your daughter. One will live – and other will die!’

Chapter 29

29

‘They’re coming out,’ said Eddie. Figures crested the hilltop on the control centre’s screen.

‘There’s Mom,’ said Cheng with relief. ‘Major Wu’s with her.’

‘Where’s my mom?’ Macy asked.

‘I don’t see her,’ Eddie replied. The little group moved clear of the buried entrance. Nobody else followed.

‘I’ll call her,’ said Cheng. He spoke into his mic. On the screen, his mother reacted by raising her head, then starting to talk – but Major Wu yanked off her headset.

Eddie watched with growing concern as the officer donned it herself. ‘What’s going on?’

Cheng listened in as Wu spoke to the captain in charge of the control centre – then drew a shocked breath. ‘They – Mom’s been removed from her post!’ he whispered.

‘What? Why?’

‘I don’t know. The major says—’

Everyone looked around in surprise as a young officer ran into the room, urgently shouting in Mandarin. The captain quickly patched him through to Wu. Cheng let out a startled exclamation.

‘What the hell’s happening?’ Eddie demanded.

‘Mrs Miller just gave up the name of her spy,’ Cheng told him. ‘It’s Zan Zhi!’

‘The translator?’ Eddie looked back at the screen in alarm. ‘But he’s still in there with Nina!’

Major Wu had realised the same thing, starting back towards the entrance – but she only managed a few steps before stumbling. The image shook, dust kicking up from the hill. Macy gasped. ‘It’s an earthquake!’

‘It’s not an earthquake,’ Eddie growled. ‘It’s the same thing that happened in the iceberg – Nina’s powered up the bloody spaceship!’ The picture jolted again. ‘It’s trying to pull itself out!’

‘Choose now,’ said Colonel Wu, watching the horrified Nina with unblinking basilisk eyes. ‘Eddie, or Macy? Who lives, and who—’

The crystal columns in the walls suddenly pulsed, light rippling through them – and the throne room lurched.

Nina reeled against a guard, knocking him to the floor. She managed to regain her balance, but the Chinese soldiers were all thrown off their feet.