Dolomo, as powerful nuclear aircraft carriers surround their little stronghold,” said the reporter into his microphone as Chiun moved on.
Rubin focused binoculars on the Oriental in the kimono.
“Saints have mercy, look at his skin,” said Rubin.
“Let me see,” said Beatrice.
“Look at the forehead. Look at the hands,” said Rubin.
“They're moving. They're shedding the formula,” gasped Beatrice.
“And the machine guns didn't work either.”
“We're trapped.”
“Not necessarily. Get the President on the phone, Beatrice. I want to speak to him.”
“Why you?”
“Because I know the alternate plan.”
Remo watched Chiun move through standard defenses: the guns, more formula (this time sprayed out of a cannon), iron bars, and flying darts, presumably coated with the formula. He knew Chiun was making slow work of it because he could have moved faster. But the flourishes of the arms and the kimono told Remo that Chiun was performing for the television cameras.
Suddenly his communicator started beeping as though the entire electronics had gone berserk.
Remo managed to press the correct button and got Smith's voice.
“Stop Chiun. Whatever you do, stop Chiun. Tell him not to advance on the Dolomos.”
“We have them.”
“Tell him to stop.”
“But we have them.”
“No. They have us. They have civilization. And they have no qualms about destroying it. Just tell Chiun to stop. I'll explain later.”
Remo yelled out in Korean for Chiun not to close on the Dolomos.
“Why not?” asked Chiun. “Is it too much like honorable work?”
“Something has happened. We have to back down.”
“In front of television reporters? In front of cameras? In front of the world?”
“Now. Yes. Now.”
“I will not endure such indignity. It is my last straw.”
“Then I am going to have to stop you, Little Father.”
“What insolence!” Chiun said. “We are in front of the world, Remo. I cannot afford to be seen to lose.”
“You mean you are going to have to kill me?”
“I cannot afford to be seen to lose,” Chiun repeated.
“Then go ahead and kill me,” said Remo. He skirted the area of the fine mist, looking for a dry spot inside the perimeter, and when he found it he did a forward tumble over the mist. He hoped it would not look too unusual to the cameras. He landed on the dry rock and advanced through the remnants of the defenses Chiun had already destroyed.
“Did you see that?” asked Rubin.
“Yes, can you imagine what he's like in bed?”
“I see now why he was able to get through bullets and everything.”
“He's so sexy,” said Beatrice.
“Do you think he'll take the older man?”
“He can take me,” said Beatrice.
The Dolomos watched as the Oriental in the kimono turned to face the oncoming white with the dark eyes and thick wrists. The two spoke an Oriental language they didn't understand.
Then the white threw the first blow. It was so fast they did not see it, but the eddies from the stroke fluttered the reddish-purple flowers of the bougainvillea.
Chapter 16
The reason for surrender was as simple as it was horrifying. The Dolomos had made a demonstration of a small American city.
“Before you have your minions of evil finish us off, check Culsark, Nebraska,” Rubin had said.
“What's in Culsark?” asked the President.
And the President heard laughter.
“You check them now, because what happened to Culsark will happen to you. Will happen to Europe and Japan. We have devoted followers stationed at fourteen of the most vulnerable water supplies in the world. When you look at Culsark, look at the future of Paris, London, Tokyo, and Washington. Look at tomorrow, which doesn't remember yesterday.”
Smith, listening in, immediately ordered Remo to back down. It was just what he was afraid of.
“We can at least check on Culsark first,” suggested the President.
“No time. If my estimate of Rubin Dolomo is correct, he has his people set to go off without instruction. In other words, if they don't hear from him every so often, they unload the formula.”
“Then it will be done with.”
“Not if we don't know how long it lasts. Move it into a water supply and it might infect the world, for all we know. Imagine a world where no one knows how to read or can remember how to make bronze or steel. What we have here is something worse than nuclear weapons. We have the end of civilization.”
“We can't keep surrendering to them.”
“I'm sorry, sir,” said Smith. “We just have.”
The word from Culsark came quickly. State troopers found the population crying. They all were looking for someone else to bring them food and change their clothes.
Under orders to maintain secrecy so the entire country would not panic, state troopers wearing rubber suits moved the victims to a specially prepared hospital. The scientists Smith had recruited had found some success with flushing out the system immediately, although the long-term effects could not yet be determined.
He did not hear from Remo or Chiun for four hours. And when he did, the news was even more disastrous than he could imagine.
“Sorry, Smitty,” said Remo. “Chiun's gone over to the Dolomos.”
“But he can't leave without you. You're still working for us, aren't you?”
“I'm sorry. I just couldn't explain away your actions anymore to Chiun.”
“You never could.”
“I couldn't explain them to me is what I really mean, Smitty.”
“Remo, if this is a maneuver, I will understand.”
“Smitty, when you backed away from rescuing the hostages, you lost me.”
“We had strategic concerns you didn't know about.”
“I knew I was an American and I felt trashed by what was being done to the hostages. Besides, Smitty, I just threw a blow at Chiun that was so bad, he laughed at me. I can't live with that.”
“Remo, remember everything you believe. Don't leave your country now.”
“I'm sorry, Smitty. I learned something when I lost my memory. My country has left me. It isn't worth defending anymore. So long, sweetheart. It's been fun. But it's over.”
Smith heard the communicator disconnect itself. Apparently Remo had destroyed it.
In Harbor Island Remo threw the last of the communicator into the Atlantic as the patrol boats veered away toward the horizon and the last of the naval aircraft landed on the carrier's desk for departure.
“We've won,” said Beatrice. “We have won everything.”
