Read The Shiva Objective for Free Online

positions were in well fortified, highly visible public areas.  So instead she lured them to her.  After rigging the basement of an abandoned apartment home with trip wires and motion-sensing floodlights, she let them come for her, then got the drop on them after they triggered the lights.  Momentarily blinded, they had no defense as she stepped out of hiding and shot all three, point-blank.
    And now she casually walked the central courtyard of the Taj Mahal's gardens.  Past luxurious fountains and meticulously-groomed bushes and spruces, she admired the scenery along with hundreds of other tourists, natives and pilgrims.
    She glanced back, and then to her left and right – and saw them.  Several men out of place, trying to appear as tourists, but too obvious.  She spotted a Bluetooth device in one's ear and saw another one working his phone, probably relaying information on her position.  If they wanted to stop her from entering the palace, they didn't seem to be in much of a hurry.  She wasn't sure if the grounds themselves counted as sanctuary, but it was looking that way.  Too many witnesses and such a sacred spot.  She didn't think they'd risk the backlash.
    So a few minutes later, she entered the great mausoleum, staring in awe at the decorative archways, the massive pillars, the dizzying heights seen from inside.  And moments later, she was there, before the two golden cenotaphs.  Shah Jahan and his beloved.  She recalled the legends about how, during a typical power play, he had been imprisoned by his son in the Agra fortress and had spent the rest of his life supposedly gazing out the high window at the Taj Mahal, longing for his lost love.
    Nina wanted to gag.  It was probably all nonsense.  If she had enough time and she felt like it, she might try to Remote-View what happened to him and see if any of that story was true, but right now she knelt along with some pilgrims before the gorgeously-inscribed coffins and closed her eyes. 
    Safe.  And one hour to go.  She had time to think.
    And to plan.
     

 
    SIX
    When Rakesh came for her, she was ready.  She had borrowed a tourist's pen and a sheet of notebook paper.  Found a quiet spot in the gardens and wrote up what she intended, then went back in the mausoleum to wait. 
    Rakesh appeared behind her when she was in quiet meditation.  "It's time," he said.  "And may I offer you congratulations?"
    "You may not," she said, standing swiftly.  She handed him the folded note.  "So," she continued as he read.  "What's the mood up there in the penthouse?  Davarius crapping  a brick?  Can't be too happy that half his hunters are toast."
    His eyes wide, lips trembling, Rakesh finished reading.  He looked at her a long time, meeting her questioning look.  Come on, she urged.  You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.
    Slowly, he nodded to her.  Crumpled the note, then tapped his lapel, and pointed to his ear.  She understood.  They were listening in, but her guess was likely correct – they couldn't have any cameras in here and didn't see her pass him the note.
    "He is actually impressed," Rakesh said in his usual droning business tone.  "And thrilled.  You are the best adversary the hunt has ever had."
    "Well, doesn't he know how to make a girl feel loved?"
    "New members are taking interest and want their chance to hunt the toughest game.  He is already preparing dossiers on all your colleagues – and seeking out other potential contestants."
    Nina nodded absently.  "All right, what now?  I know the entrance to the underground caverns is through the mysterious well on the second level, an archaeological feature no one's been able to adequately explain."
    "Now," Rakesh said. "I take you there, where the guards are in our employ.  They will let you in.  And you only come out if you beat the game and make it to the statue of Shiva."  He sighed and continued, reciting monotonously.  "You will not have a map.  The passageways