The Crystal Warriors by William R. Forstchen Read Free Book Online

beyond. The twin moons cast a double shadow pattern of light and dark. The air was warm, dry, with a faint scent of the prairie carried by the gentle night breeze.
    Now that it was quiet he could hear the night noises. Some were familiar, but some different―insects, birds, then a deeper rumbling growl that sounded like a tiger but was not.
    The moons alone forced him to admit a terrifying reality; the feel of this place, the savannah-like vegetation, only helped to confirm that somehow, someway, they had traveled far from the conflict that had nearly killed them only minutes before.
    He looked back to Phillips and saw the same sense of wonder and fear.
    "Are we dead, is that it?" Mark asked.
    "Captain Phillips, your guess is as good as mine."
    "But it's a safe bet we're no longer in China," Mark replied, and his tone carried all the implications of that.
    "Yes, we are no longer in China, Captain Phillips. And I could state that again you are my prisoner."
    "Bullshit. I have half a dozen people behind me, all of them with weapons pointed straight at your head. Go ahead and give the command, you Jap bastard, and you'll be the first to die."
    Ikawa started to laugh while looking straight into his eyes.
    "We are cut from the same mold, Captain Phillips. The moment one of your men fires, my people will cut you down, for I've given the same order. So here we stand."
    Ikawa looked away from Mark towards the moons and then back.
    "But we are not your prisoners," Mark replied.
    Ikawa stepped closer and Mark did not back away. Each looked into the eyes of his enemy, a man he would have killed without hesitation only hours before. But under these circumstances...
    "We have to make a choice, Captain Ikawa. We can have it out here and now. Chances are you and I will both die, and in the end maybe, only a couple of yours or mine will live. I don't see any sense to that."
    "No," Ikawa said with a soft chuckle. "Even back in our war, I never did see any sense in that."
    "Then it is agreed that for the moment at least our agreement formed when fighting the Chinese still stands?"
    "Agreed."
    "With the additional understanding that we are no longer your prisoners, here or anywhere else."
    Ikawa hesitated for a moment. But he knew that the balance had been changed forever; the old rules simply no longer applied.
    "It is agreed," Ikawa said softly.
    There was a gentle exhale from Mark, and Ikawa realized that Mark would have given the order to open fire if that point had not be agreed to.
    Again the thought came to him. "You have Bushido, Captain Phillips."
    Mark nodded slightly at the compliment. "Now we have two alternatives," he said, "the first being that we can split up and go our separate ways."
    "Is that what you want?"
    Mark smiled. "Is that what you want?"
    "Don't play a game with me, Captain Phillips. The advantage to separating is obvious: We remove the chance of a confrontation and the fear of a stab in the dark. Tell me, Captain Phillips, would you stab me in the back?"
    "You Japs are noted for that. I lost an uncle on Bataan, Captain Ikawa."
    Ikawa avoided the possible confrontation and turned his gaze to a movement behind Mark.
    "Say, Mark." Kochanski was approaching out of the shadows.
    There was a low call in Japanese; Ikawa gave Mark a quick look of appraisal, then called back to his own men.
    "Captain Phillips, tell your man to approach cautiously. One of my men almost shot him, thinking he was making a move on me."
    "You hear that, Kochanski?"
    Kochanski came up to the two officers. "No hostility intended, Captain," and he gave a slight bow to Ikawa.
    Ikawa found himself liking this young American sergeant, who understood their courtesy and used it.
    "Go ahead, Sergeant," Ikawa replied.
    "Mark, I've taken a little look around this place."
    "Go on, Kochanski."
    "Well, sir, over there where we got thrown out of that whirlwind I found the outline of a pentagram on the ground, just like the one in the temple."
    "You think there's