person at the center of that group of admirers was big and broad-shouldered, square-jawed and dashing. He had bright blue eyes and a full mane of brownish-blonde hair. It took a minute to place him, then I did: Travis Stark. He stood there, smiling pleasantly at people, like an actor beaming at an audience. He was holding forth about something that obviously engaged the attention of his listeners.
My attention was redirected. Yamashita was gently prodding me with a finger toward Changpa Rinpoche. At least he meant it to be gentle. It was like being jabbed by an iron pipe.
And that’s when the really interesting thing happened. The room was filled with people, some clustered in the areas I had noted, but most circulating randomly. They spoke with each other, but their awareness wasn’t focused on anything beyond that. Conversation swirled through the air. Laughter bubbled here and there and glasses and plates clicked with the usual cocktail party noise. The crowd churned, coming together in odd spots, then breaking up and drifting on. In all that, I doubt very much that it was possible for anyone to notice my master’s approach to the guest of honor.
But the lama himself did.
I saw his head swivel around and those eyes look toward us. It was as if he heard something no one else did—a signal beyond the normal limen of human awareness. His body shifted slightly, facing fully toward Yamashita. A receiver turning toward a signal source. He raised his hand in a classic gesture, a mudra, or meditation posture that I had seen on countless statues of the Buddha: have no fear.
Some of the people he was with turned to see what Changpa was looking at. Simultaneously, I sensed a different type of activity from a few discrete spots in the room. A pattern was emerging. The Tycoon and his attendants began to approach. From another corner, Stark was listening, head down, as the bouncer we had encountered whispered in his ear. In the aimless swirl of party movement, the currents began to converge.
My friend Steve from the museum was with Changpa, and you could see his face brighten as he caught sight of me. He touched the Rinpoche lightly on the arm as he prepared to introduce us. Stark and the bodyguard vectored in on our location at the same time, both sets of jaws set in photogenic determination. And Real Estate Man moved toward us as well, churning through the crowd with the unconscious momentum of an abandoned ocean liner.
The lama broke into a broad smile. “Sensei,” he said, and bowed toward Yamashita. “How good to see you again.”
Yamashita bowed in turn, more deeply than I had ever seen him do before. “It has been too long, Rinpoche,” he answered. “Let me introduce Dr. Connor Burke.”
The holy man tore his pleased attention away from Yamashita and turned that clear, deep expression on me. Some of the intensity of his gaze bled away. His face settled into a look of contentment after a second, and he extended a hand. I reached for it as I sensed the looming presence of the Tycoon.
“Dr. Burke,” the lama said. “Your teacher has spoken of you. How nice to finally meet you…”
Real Estate’s Big Man broke in, and his formal prose couldn’t hide the accents of a New Yorker. “An extraordinary event, sir. We are honored by your presence.” He edged closer to Changpa, and the signal was clearly that I should disappear.
But monks, for all their introspection, are sometimes made of sterner stuff. Changpa smoothly shifted himself a foot to his left and turned so that Yamashita and I were still in his view. Then the bodyguard and Travis Stark appeared on the other side of us, and tried to edge us away as well. Changpa was placid, but not unaware.
“The room is so crowded, Dr. Burke. I am sorry.” He looked at the two men impassively, but the message was clear. They stepped back slightly, but you could see that they didn’t like it.
In the small void left by moving bodies, Yamashita and Changpa stood regarding each other. Their eyes were wide and unblinking, dark pools that hinted at depths of knowledge that were simultaneously the same and yet vastly different. Neither man moved a muscle, but stood, content in each other’s presence. It was an odd moment of quiet in the bustle that surrounded us.
An aide interjected himself. “Rinpoche,” he said, gesturing toward other well-dressed types who were eager to meet the lama, “please…”
Changpa smiled tightly at us. “Even in little things, we see how tightly we are strapped to life’s wheel. Please excuse me, gentlemen. Until the next time…” He turned to give the new-comers his full attention.
I thought at the time that the Rinpoche had an odd way of saying good-bye. I had forgotten that this was a man who saw things that had yet to come.
The bodyguard’s bulk blocked off Changpa and the Real Estate guy. I was a little disappointed that I wouldn’t get to watch the two of them talk. Would Changpa touch the Tycoon? I kept getting mental images of a vampire hissing as contact with a holy object burned his flesh.
“What are you doing here?” a voice demanded, breaking my reverie. I looked. It was Stark.
“What are you doing here?” I responded, ever the clever conversationalist and master of the quick comeback.
He gave me a hard look. “I’m helping with security.”
“I came to see the Rinpoche.”
“Andy tells me you gave him a hard time,” Stark accused. His jaw muscles worked dramatically. I suspected he had been watching old Charlton Heston movies.
“Andy?”
“Part of my security detail.”
Ah. The bouncer.
“He said he couldn’t move you.” Stark looked at me with frank disbelief. The last time we met, I had knocked him down. You could tell he thought it was a fluke. At six-three or -four he had about half a foot on me. So did Andy.
“I didn’t want to be moved,” I said. “Besides, he was being a pain.”
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