Treasure of Khan

Pitt admired the floral artistry of the design, then placed the bowl back in the crate. As the debris on the floor seemed to confirm, the plane was carrying a packed cargo of antique ceramics and, thankfully, no passengers.

Pitt moved back up the inverted aisleway, where Giordino joined him at the side door.

"Any clue to the cargo?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"Just that it was headed to the British Museum. A few boxes survived in back. Appears to be all antique porcelain."

Pitt moved forward, creeping past the first row of seats and toward the cockpit bulkhead. Much of the cargo had been thrown forward when the plane crashed, creating a mountain of debris in the front of the cabin. Pitt stepped over a large fractured pot and spotted a dusty leather jacket lying amid some debris on the floor. Stepping around broken shards, he hoisted a broken crate out of the way to take a closer look, then froze in his tracks. Under the dim light seeping in from the doorway, he could see that the jacket was still occupied by its original owner.

The mummified remains of Leigh Hunt lay where he'd expired, decades after he pulled himself out of the crash in agonizing pain from a broken back. His left arm tightly clutched the yellow wooden box while his bony white right hand was wrapped around a small notebook. A wrinkled grimace was etched into Hunt's face, his features well preserved by the dry desert air and a thin layer of silica.

"Poor devil. He must have survived the crash, only to die later," Pitt surmised in a hushed tone.

"That box and notebook evidently meant something to him," Giordino replied.

With an uneasy reverence, Pitt carefully removed the box and notebook from the skeletal grip, handing the wooden box to Giordino. Noticing a dirty worn fedora lying on the floor nearby, he gently placed it over the face of the corpse.

"I don't presume the pilots fared any better," he said, looking forward. Carefully stepping over Hunt's body, he moved to the forward bulkhead and tried to peer through the cutout into the cockpit. The entire compartment was filled with sand, which had blasted through the pilots' windows when the plane crashed.

"It would take the better part of a day to excavate that," Giordino said, looking over Pitt's shoulder.

"Maybe on our next visit," Pitt replied. He had little doubt that the bones of the pilots would be found preserved beneath the heavy layer of sand.

The two men made their way back down the fuselage and climbed out the side door into the bright sunshine. Noyon was pacing back and forth nervously but stopped and smiled with relief when Pitt and Giordino exited the craft. Giordino held the yellow wooden box up for Noyon to see, then gingerly pried off the lid. Inside were the bronze tube and the tightly rolled cheetah skin, in the same pristine condition as when discovered by Hunt.

"Not exactly the crown jewels," he said, eyeing the contents with minor disappointment. Holding the bronze tube up toward the sun, he saw that there was nothing inside.

"This ought to tell us something," Pitt said, holding open the notebook. He flipped open the cover and read the title page aloud. "Excavations at Shang-tu. Commencing May 15, 1937. Field Diary of Dr.

Leigh Hunt, Expedition Leader."

"Read on," Giordino said. "I'm dying to know if the cheetah skin was destined as a footstool in Dr.

Hunt's library or as a pillow for his mistress's boudoir."

"My friends, we must be on our way if we are to catch the bus to the monastery," Noyon interrupted.

"The mystery will have to wait," Pitt said. He slipped the diary into his shirt pocket, then walked over and closed the Fokker's side door.

"How about our friends inside?" Giordino asked.

"I'll call Dr. Sarghov when we make it back to Ulaanbaatar. He should know who to contact in the Mongolian government to ensure a proper excavation is carried out. We owe it to Dr. Hunt to see that a professional retrieval is made of the artifacts he gave his life for."

"As well as see that he and the pilots are given a proper burial."

Pitt scooped a pile of sand in front of the airplane door to keep it sealed while Giordino stuffed the wooden box into a leather saddlebag. Then they remounted the horses that Noyon had held, settling in to the uncomfortable wooden saddles.

"You sure there weren't any down pillows inside those rear crates?" Giordino asked with a wince.

Pitt just shook his head with a smile. As they trotted toward the village, he turned and gazed a last time at the dusty remains of the old plane and wondered what secrets Hunt's diary would reveal.

An hour's ride took them to the diminutive settlement of Senj. The village, such that it was, would be found on few maps, as it was nothing more than a few gers crowded around a small watering hole. The spring flowed year-round, offering permanent sustenance for the resident herders and their flocks who otherwise would be forced to migrate several times a year in chase of fertile grasslands. As was the usual case in the rural countryside, the camels and horses milling about the village greatly outnumbered the human residents.

Noyon led Pitt and Giordino to a ger flying an orange ba

"Next time, I think I'll try the camel and take my chances with the humps."

Pitt was equally sore and glad to be standing on his feet.

"A season with the herd and you'll be riding like an arat," Noyon said, referring to the local horsemen.

"A season in that saddle and I'd be ready for traction," Giordino grumbled.

An elderly resident of the village spotted the men and hobbled over on a game leg, speaking rapidly to the boy.

"This is Otgonbayar," said Noyon. "He invites you to visit his ger and enjoy a bowl of airag."

The low whine of a truck echoed off the surrounding hills, then a small faded green bus crested a ridge and turned toward the village, trailing a cloud of dust. Noyon looked toward the approaching vehicle, then shook his head.

"I'm afraid our bus has arrived," he said.

"Please tell Otgonbayar that we appreciate his invitation but will have to join him another time," Pitt said.

He walked over to the old man and shook his hand. The old man nodded and smiled in understanding, exposing a pair of toothless gums.

With a loud squeal of its brakes, the bus ground to a stop and the driver tapped the horn. The playing children ceased their rough-housing and marched single file to the bus, hopping inside after its accordion side door swung open.

"Come on," Noyon said, leading Pitt and Giordino aboard.

The 1980s-era Russian-built bus, a KAvZ model 3976, was a forgotten relic of the Soviet Army. Like many vehicles that ended up in Mongolia, it had been passed along from the old guardian state long after its useful life had been reached. With faded paint, cracked windows, and bald tires, it showed nearly every one of the quarter-million miles that had been placed on her. Yet like an old boxer who refuses to quit, the beaten hulk was patched up and sent back onto the road for another round.

Climbing up the steps after Noyon, Pitt was surprised to find the bus driver was an older Anglo man. He smiled at Pitt through a white beard, his ice-blue eyes sparkling with mirth.