It was worth a try.
He struck off at a tangent from the course his human quarry had established, following the clear path that a massive, ambling body had prepared for him. He could not calculate the creature's speed with any accuracy, but the excrement was fresh, and Chiun knew he couldn't be far behind.
It was good luck, Chiun thought, that those he followed hadn't found the creature, or vice versa. They would certainly have tried to kill it, possibly succeeded, and the Master of Sinanju would have been deprived the pleasure of a jungle ride.
He marked a change in course as he saw that the jungle giant had veered off toward water, and began to jog. If he could overtake his quarry at the stream, it would be perfect.
Chiun ran for half a mile without the first signs of fatigue, when suddenly the trees began to clear a bit, and he could hear the rushing stream ahead of him. He slowed his pace, and moved without a sound as he approached the water, coming at his quarry from behind.
The elephant didn't belong there. It wasn't a native of Malaysia, and while India was not so far away in global terms, Chiun wasn't inclined to believe that the beast had wandered over by mistake.
In fact, he knew that elephants were often used as beasts of burden through the whole of Southeast Asia. Some were bred specifically for work, while others were imported, oftentimes illegally. This pachyderm still wore the riding harness—nearly rotted through, but plainly visible—which marked him as a runaway.
That meant he was familiar with the ways of men, but might despise them. Asian handlers were notoriously cruel, at least by Western standards, and it hardly rated mention in the newspapers when an occasional "rogue" elephant rebelled against its master, using trunk and tusks and crushing weight to take a measure of revenge.
Chiun wasn't afraid of being gored or trampled by the great, unwieldy beast. It would require some effort for him to destroy the elephant, but that wasn't his goal. The Master of Sinanju had a very different plan in mind.
He circled wide around the animal while it was drinking from the stream, approaching slowly from the downwind side. It wouldn't smell him coming that way, and the gamy reek that stung his nostrils was a small price to be paid for the advantage of surprise.
When he had closed the distance to a dozen paces, still outside the creature's striking range, Chiun halted, stood with hands clasped at his waist and watched the elephant. A low-pitched trilling sound began to issue from his throat, almost hypnotic in its tone.
The elephant froze where it stood, its trunk poised midway between the water and its small pink mouth. Another moment passed before the gray behemoth turned its head to stare at Chiun, the small eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Chiun stopped trilling and addressed the forest giant in Korean. He had no illusion that the elephant could understand him, but a soothing tone was all-important as he made the first advances, opening communication between man and beast. The elephant, in Chiun's opinion, had an intellect on par with most white men he had encountered, and a memory superior to all of them. It would remember injuries inflicted by the hands of men, but he believed that it could also differentiate between one human and another, given half a chance.
Five minutes into the one-sided conversation, when the pachyderm had still made no aggressive moves, Chiun advanced one slow step at a time. He made no sudden moves, continued speaking in the same mild tone until the elephant was close enough for him to stroke its tough hide with his fingertips. The creature snorted at Chiun in warning, but he showed no fear and responded with the trilling sound that acted as a sedative upon the beast's nerves.
Five more minutes passed while Chiun allowed the elephant to test his scent and prod him with the soft tip of its trunk. He waited, knew when it was time to make his move. The handlers used commands to make an elephant kneel down, or hoist them with its trunk, but Chiun preferred another route. He stepped back from the beast four paces, got a running start and scrambled up the gray cliff of its side as if the hulking creature came complete with ladders. In another instant, he was seated on the giant's neck, his knees dug in behind the floppy ears.
There was a moment when the creature trembled, seemed about to spin and throw him off, but Chiun resumed his trilling, and the elephant relaxed. He let it finish drinking, then asserted his control, a nudge from his right heel that made the creature turn in that direction, facing eastward. Another nudge—both heels this time—and Chiun was on his way.
It would require some patient guidance for the elephant to pick up Dr. Stockwell's trail, but he had time. His days of plodding through the mud were over now.
Chiun was traveling in style.
The first thing Audrey Moreland noted, on regaining consciousness, was the ungodly throbbing in her skull. It felt as if a tribe of gremlins had moved in while she was dozing, and the little monsters were engaged in frenzied renovations, moving things around to suit themselves.
She knew that Renton Ward had punched her, even though she never saw the knockout coming. He was fast, that one, and she would have to be alert, tip-top, when she set out to pay him back. His hands were good for something more than milking snakes and foreplay that could drive a woman crazy.
Hands.
The second thing she noticed was that her hands were immobilized behind her back. A heartbeat later, she was conscious of the gag, a cool night breeze against her flesh that told her Ward had ripped her sleeves off and used them to bind and muzzle her.
Goddamn him!
Audrey's legs were free, however, and that marked his first mistake. It took ten minutes of intensive effort, straining till she thought her spine would snap, her shoulders pull completely out of joint and leave her crippled, helpless. She finally succeeded, worked around her aching legs to get her hands in front of her again.
And it was easy after that. She used her thumbs to pull the gag down, off her chin, and worried at the knotted shirtsleeve with her teeth until the knot gave way and she was free. Another moment, stretching stiffened muscles, working achy joints, and Audrey knew she was as ready as she'd ever be.
Another flare of anger burst inside her when she missed the Geiger counter, realizing instantly where it had gone. Ward knew her business now, what she was looking for, and it appeared that he was bent on getting there ahead of her.
But what did that make him? Forget about the serpentarium in old New Orleans. Renton might know snakes, but Audrey doubted whether any desk-bound herpetologist could move like he did, decking someone like Pike Chalmers with a single blow. Where had he come from, popping up behind her on the trail that way? Was he some kind of gymnast, in addition to the other talents he possessed?
Or could he be some kind of spy?
It hardly mattered at the moment. He had duped her for a while, and it had been a pleasure—some of it, at least—but she saw through him now. They had the same goal, more or less, and while she had no way of knowing who his sponsors were, she didn't really care. There was a million dollars riding on the line, half of it sitting in a special numbered bank account already, and she didn't plan on giving back one solitary cent.
Worst case, if Renton got to the uranium ahead of her, and she could find no way to rid herself of the intrusion, Audrey had a fallback plan that would allow her to escape with the half million she had already received. Of course, successful execution of the scheme required her to survive this foray in the jungle, but she still had confidence, despite her inexperience and the fact that she was now entirely on her own.
She was determined to track Safford's party and would willingly proceed on hands and knees if necessary. Renton said the others had been taken prisoner by natives, which would mean she had a larger group to follow, with a greater likelihood of clues along the way. The downside, Audrey realized, was that the tribesmen might be taking Safford and the others anywhere, perhaps away from the uranium, and in the absence of her Geiger counter, Audrey couldn't know for sure if she was getting warm or cold.