Quickly now, before you're caught!"A runway of lights directed them down an endless hall, just as they had upstairs. These lights were orange, not white as the others had been, and they seemed to go on forever.
"Follow the lights until you reach the twelfth door on the left. And hurry! These halls never stay empty for long.""The voice must be coming from a speaker in this room," said Amy. "She's not in here."
Dan and Amy took one last look at each other and nodded. They had no choice. Not two steps in, the panel slid shut and it was more dark than light."How many doors is that?" said Dan, trying to figure out just how imprisoned they'd become.
"We're never getting out of here."They counted the doors until at last they came to the twelfth. They stood for a long, silent moment.
A door opened somewhere in the distance and they stood perfectly still.
Dan turned his head and saw a figure seven or eight doors back walking away. The panel opened just long enough for the person to slip through and then it closed again."An agent of some k-k-kind, no doubt," whispered Amy."Let's do this," said Dan.
He lifted his hand to the knob, then hesitated."Are you absolutely sure we went twelve doors on the left side?" asked Dan.
"It would be a real bummer if we were knocking on the wrong door."The last thing Dan wanted to do was barge in on a meeting between dark-suited secret agents.
Amy hesitated. Dan could tell she wanted to go back and recount, just to be sure, but the panel at the far end of the hall opened again.
Dan turned the knob and the two of them darted inside the room, slamming the door behind them.* * *
They were in what appeared to be a rather run-of-the mill office. There was a big oak desk, a rug over a wooden floor, and a freestanding globe of the world. A long white coat hung on an equally white coatrack, and the Lucian crest filled one entire wall. The only thing at all remarkable about the room was the person sitting behind the desk.
She wore a suit of white, which was all the more striking against her black hair. And she was, in a word, ageless.
Dan couldn't have said whether she was forty or sixty, for there was something very old about her eyes, and yet her face was unlined. She was beautiful in a classic Russian way. Amy stared at her as if the woman were a queen.
"You do make things interesting. I like that about you. Please, come, sit down," the woman said.
There were two chairs before her desk, and Dan and Amy promptly did what they were told."You may dispense with the disguises.
They do you no good here."Dan had set the backpack on the floor. He was happy to tear the mustache and goatee off his face and drop them in the backpack, glancing at his watch as he did. We made it! he thought.
Only minutes to spare, but Amy and I did it!Amy's hair tumbled down as she took off the black wig and dropped it in the backpack.
"You're very pretty, young lady," said the woman in white.
"I hope Grace was kind enough to tell you that when she was alive.""You knew Grace?"The woman nodded, her eyes brimming with secrets."You might say our families go way back. I never met Grace Cahill personally. My mother did. They were both remarkable women -- my mother and your grandmother. Remarkable women have a way of finding one another."I hope this remarkable woman doesn't kill us, thought Dan.
Amy seemed to have no reservations. Her cheeks turned pink and she asked, "Are you the grand duchess Anastasia?"The moment Amy said the words, NRR burst out laughing.
A light flashed on her desk and she resumed her air of dignity."If you'll excuse me a moment," she said.
"Very bad timing, but I'm afraid it can't be helped."She turned in her chair, away from Dan and Amy, and drew open the doors on a wooden credenza to reveal a bank of monitors.
One of them was receiving a feed from the painted room Dan and Amy had just left."If you would be so kind, could you hide behind the desk? A call is coming in from someone who would find it very curious to see the two of you here."
It was getting stranger by the minute, but Dan and Amy felt they had no choice, so down on the floor they went. A few seconds later, a familiar voice filled the room."Hello, Nataliya Ruslanovna Radova. You're looking picture-perfect as usual.""You're too kind, Irina Nikolaievna Spaskaya. What do you need?"Dan couldn't believe his ears. Irina Spasky was calling in.
Every muscle in his body tensed as it now seemed positive they were trapped."I need you to send a team to the room. There's a lot of activity going on and I want to make sure it's well guarded.""Funny you should call. Ian Kabra made the same request only an hour ago.
We're already building a black circle.""Excellent. Did he tell you he was in Siberia, chasing the Holts down the Road of Bones? He's got himself into quite a mess."
"His father was not pleased, as you might imagine."
"Maybe Vikram will finally come to his senses and put them both back in school, where they belong."
"Would you like me to send the Shark to pick you up?" asked Nataliya."That's an excellent idea. I've had some complications of my own, but I think I can get to the room before nightfall. Bring the Shark to me, I'll bring it back. We can have that cup of tea you've been promising me."
"Be careful.""I'm always careful."There was a pause in the room and then Nataliya told Amy and Dan they could come out."I've never heard Irina so ... I don't know ... talkative," said Amy."We have been friends a long, long time," said the woman in white. She placed her elbows on the desk. "I understand her, so she talks."
"Let me get one thing straight," said Dan. "Are you NRR?"The woman in white smiled thinly without showing her teeth. "You were expecting a man, I suppose.""Uh ... well... not exactly," said Dan. "Okay, you got me. I was expecting a dude."The woman in white chuckled and shook her head. "I am NRR. Sorry to disappoint you.
"Dan tried to offer an apology, but NRR put her hand up so authoritatively it clammed him right up."We've got enough time for a few more questions, but the call from Irina changes things. Your access to the room grows perilously small."
"I don't understand," said Amy. She sounded frustrated and maybe even a little bit angry. "Are you a Lucian or not? Why are you helping us? Who are you?"The woman in white sighed deeply, folded her fingers together, and tried to explain.
"I am not the grand duchess Anastasia, though I must thank you for the compliment. You're not far off the mark. Anastasia Nikolaievna Romanova was my mother.""Your mother?!" said Dan, dumbstruck by what Nataliya was saying. "You're Anastasia's daughter? That's insane!""Her only child, yes.""And she knew Grace Cahill?" asked Amy. "You expect us to believe our grandmother knew the grand duchess Anastasia?"
"Oh, yes, they were quite close, actually. I'm sure you've heard the rumors about my mother. They're true. She was not killed with the rest of her family. She escaped. And as I said, remarkable women have a way of finding one another.
"Amy was struck silent, but Dan was happy to fill the void."So everything we've imagined actually happened! Rasputin had some serious death-defying ninja skills and he passed them on to Anastasia!"
"Does he always talk this way?" NRR asked Amy, clearly amused."He does. It's a problem.""He'll grow out of it."Dan's head swiveled back and forth. They had formed some sort of girl alliance! "I'm sitting right here! Stop talking about me," said Dan.
NRR made a calming motion with her hands, glanced at her watch, and gave Dan and Amy a look that said time was running very short."You're a grand duchess, like your mom," said Amy. "Grand Duchess Nataliya."Dan frowned. Amy looked like she was about to bow or something."I'm afraid those days are long gone, Amy. We're not like the British, with their kings and queens.
The age of royalty has passed in Russia. But what I do today honors my mother's memory.""How?" Dan asked. "You want to help us find this secret because ... ?"
He wasn't about to be taken in by this woman just because she was pretty and had an awesome accent. Had James Bond taught him nothing?"What I tell you now must never leave this room.