Flashback

glances. Another samurai, whom Nick also recognized from the trip to Santa Fe, was at the wheel of the Lexus.

“Oh,” said Nick, “Omura-sama sends you his greetings, Sato-san. He told me to say to you, as one old chess opponent says to the other, In this world there is a tree without any roots; / Its yellow leaves send back the wind. I think that’s the phrase.”

Nick had expected something from Sato—surprise, irritation—at hearing that he’d met with the California Advisor, but the big man showed no reaction whatsoever. “Good night, Bottom-san,” said the security chief. “We shall see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” said Nick.

2.04 Denver—Saturday, Sept. 25

Stupid shithead.

Val was furious at himself.

He should have just walked out the front door of the condominium building. But he hadn’t been sure that the big man with marine tats who’d shown them in would allow him to leave. The last thing on earth that Val wanted right now was to be sitting in detention somewhere in that building, waiting for the Old Man to arrive home.

So he’d stalked back and forth on the mezzanine with the mass of climbing rope thrown over his shoulder until he found a side corridor and a door that had to open to a stairway to the roof, but of course it was locked with a numeric access pad. So much for that.

He went back to the mezzanine and continued pacing, knowing that there had to be some way out of the goddamned building, but also knowing that Gunny and the other security people would be on his ass soon if he didn’t find that exit.

Then he saw the dried-up fountain below and the steel cables dangling from a ceiling seventy feet above the marble floors and patches of dirt with their crude gardens. There were skylights up there and someone had opened two of them a foot or so to allow a little fresh air in. From the mezzanine, it was only thirty or forty feet up to those skylights. One of the cables was secured by the weight of a bronze goose hanging fifteen or twenty feet below, a goose that once must have appeared to be landing on water back when the fountain had held water.

Making sure that the climbing rope and carabiners were secure over his shoulder, not giving himself time to think about it, Val took a run at the railing, jumped high to catch the railing as a jumping-off step under his right boot, and threw himself far out into empty air forty feet above the fountain and floor. He caught the cable in both hands, swung wide, almost let go, and then got his legs and ankles around the steel rope.

He’d given no thought as to whether the cable would hold his added weight—the Old Man had taught him that engineers always built in a wide safety factor for such things—but this cable and its bolts above were old, so Val was surprised when the whole setup creaked and sagged at least a few inches. The cable swung with his weight and the heavy bronze goose below flew back and forth in a six-or seven-foot arc, seemed to bank left, and then began spinning.

The leap hadn’t created much noise and no one stepped out of their cubie. Val grinned despite the surge of terror that suddenly gripped him and then he began to climb, the coils of Perlon-3 and dangling steel ’biners over his shoulder weighing him down.

At the top he was still six feet below and to one side of the open skylights with no way of getting up to them. I guess I didn’t really think this out, thought Val as he hung there seventy feet above the hard floor, his forearms beginning to shake with the tension of holding himself on the cable. Nothing new there.

Holding on with his upper arm, legs, and ankles, Val freed his hands long enough to pull the end of the climbing rope free and to attach one of the carabiners to the end. When he was done, he had about an eight-or nine-foot free bit of rope with the steel clip on the end.

Val tossed twice before getting the ’biner and a wad of rope up and over the metal frame separating the two glass skylights. But the first time he made it over, the carabiner went too far and landed on the outside of the glass with a dull thump. Val pulled it back—the weight almost pulled him off his perch—and then tossed again. And again. And again.

Finally four or five feet of rope with the carabiner at its end was hanging free. Since he still held the rope, he was able to get it swinging until he caught the carabiner free end with one hand.

He was tiring now, his ankles and legs slipping down a foot or so on the steel cable. Val knew that he’d be out of the strength he needed to dangle here in another minute or less. He clipped the carabiner on the main strand of climbing rope and let the mass of it fall from his shoulders.

Getting rid of the weight helped. The rope reached the dirt in the old fountain with a coil left over. Val pulled the noose tight on the steel frame above and transferred his hands to the dangling rope.

The Perlon-3 was a lot more slippery than the steel cable and his ankles weren’t getting much of a grip. He had to run a loop of the bright blue rope around his right hand and wrist to gain a few seconds where he could rest. Then, with a loud grunt, he began climbing.

It was only six feet or so. Only.

When he got to the point where he could reach up and grab the rusted steel horizontal frame on which the glass skylights closed, Val thought—not for the first time—Now what?

The damned skylights were only open a foot or so. The gaps weren’t wide enough for him to get his body up through there even if he somehow pulled himself up that far.

Now what, you dumb shit?

Now it was just like climbing around on the girders under the overpass on the I-10, was what. Val swung his legs high, managing to get his ankles crossed just above the metal.

Still hanging from the rope, he freed his right leg and began kicking at the skylight on that side, trying to concentrate his blows just on specific sections of the angled steel frame that held six large panes of glass in it.

It was too heavy. Its cranking mechanism up there on the roof was too rusted. It wouldn’t budge.

Val crossed his ankles again and hung there panting. He didn’t have much strength left. His only chance in a few seconds would be to swing back to the climbing rope and slide down it the sixty or seventy feet to the marble below. Did he have enough strength to hang on during that descent? He didn’t think so.

Emitting a noise somewhere between a huge grunt and a low scream, Val freed both legs and swung both boots up at the metal frame. One way or the other, this was his last try.

His boot soles missed the metal frame but fractured the grimy pane of glass. A large segment of that glass fell out of the frame and tumbled end over end to shatter with an impossibly loud noise below.

Val’s right foot was through the empty space of the missing pane and up and over the metal pane- frame.

“Fuck it,” he gasped, sweat pouring off his face into empty space. Using just the leverage of his ankle on that thin strand of metal, he swung his body out, his left leg up and over the right side of the steel strut above, and he grabbed at the far side of that strut with his left hand. Val dangled there for a second, his body contorted and broken glass cutting into his right ankle, and then—with a final violent grunt—he pulled himself onto the six-inch- wide steel strut, lying there on his back, teetering, almost falling, and then releasing the rope below to grab the skylight frame just above him.

It creaked upward.

A few seconds later, Val was off the girder and out onto the graveled roof and pulling up the climbing rope. His arms were shaking wildly and he barely had enough strength to pull up and coil the line.

This is where Gunny G. and his security guys just come up the stairs and arrest me, thought Val.