"Wonderful," Remo muttered under his breath as he hoisted the big trunk across his thin shoulders. "I think all my troubles just went ballistic."
5
The Fox-4 silo could be reached from a fenced-off access hatch in the middle of an oat field. Robin Green led Remo and Chiun down this and into the underground Field Maintenance building. They had no special clearance to enter the silo itself. So while the necessary red tape was being cut, Robin left Remo and Chiun in the missile-parts storage area.
Chiun walked around the area, sniffing.
"I smell electricity," he said at last. He was puzzled.
"Sure. All this equipment," Remo pointed out.
"It is not clinging to these machine parts," Chiun said. "It hangs in the air. It is not right."
Then Robin returned to escort them to the underground launch facility through a pair of air-lock-like hatches, down a gleaming steel tunnel to the silo itself.
They gathered at the launch platform on which the big engine nozzle sat like a great silent bell. Gray-overalled AFSC maintenance teams swarmed around them. Remo was surprised at all the corrosion and water seepage. A rat scurried behind a cable. Above them, technicians worked on maintenance platforms, opening access panels and yanking umbilical cables. Far above, where daylight filtered down, the scorched jeep was being lifted free by a chain hoist.
A technician up on a high platform pulled his head from an access panel and called down:
52
53
"Everybody can relax. This bird isn't going anywhere. It's been gutted."
"What do you mean, gutted?" Robin Green called up.
"Just what I said. Gutted. Somebody pulled out all the firmware. It's just not here."
"Let me see that," she said, climbing up to the platform.
The technician handed her a flashlight. She shone it in through the hatch. The light picked out a mass of connections and mechanical devices. Tangles of flat connector cable hung slack, like detached hoses. Tooth-like prongs gleamed hungrily.
"See? All the BITE firmware has been yanked," the technician was saying.
"Just what is that? And use small words. I'm no expert."
"BITE stands for built-in test equipment. They're mostly ROM and PROM chips mounted on cards. They perform constant diagnostic tests of the bird's systems. This explains why she's been ANORS. But it doesn't explain how this stuff disappeared from a sealed missile."
"I want a list of every man who worked around this bird since it was loaded," Robin Green said angrily.
"That's four years' worth of duty rosters."
"Then you'd damn well better get started, hadn't you? And I want it by oh-six-hundred hours."
Robin joined Remo and Chiun below.
"You were pretty tough on him," Remo remarked.
"Don't let these hooters fool you," Robin snapped, cocking a thumb at her chest. "I'm all business."
An Air Force security policeman in camouflage fatigues and an olive-drab helmet emblazoned with the Strategic Air Command crest approached.
"Begging your pardon, ma'am," he said. "The launch and status officers are being held for you in the LC, as per your request."
54
"Come on, you two."
Remo picked up Chiun's trunk. He tucked it under one arm, although it was obviously very heavy.
"I'm beginning to feel like the fifth wheel on this job," he complained.
"Just do not drop my trunk," Chiun sniffed, hurrying ahead of him.
In the launch-control room the launch officers nervously waited under the steely gaze of another SP in fatigues, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back. A technician was opening up one of the dual boards.
"Look," he said.
While the technician held a light steady, Robin Green examined the console's innards.
"What am I looking for?" she asked.
"The launch-inhibit module."
"Is that the boxy thing?"
"No. The launch-inhibit module is normally connected to the boxy thing. But it's not there."
Robin Green stood up. "Not there? As in missing?"
The technician nodded grimly. "Someone stole it," he said.
"Get me the duty roster of everyone who performed maintenance on this console."
"Not necessary. I was the last one to open her up."
"Do you remember the launch-inhibit module being there?"
"It was there two days ago. And I can guarantee you that no one's opened this console until a few minutes ago."
"How can you be certain?"
"Because it was the act of disconnecting the module that triggered the launch sequence."
"That means-"
"It was lifted in the last hour. Don't ask me how. Gremlins. Martians. Blue smoke and mirrors. Take your pick."
55
Chiun cocked an ear in the man's direction and his face grew more intent. He whispered something to Remo, who in response shook his head and hissed, "Not now."
"Where are the launch officers?" Robin shouted, turning around. "Step forward!"
Captains Auton and McCrone stepped forward sheepishly.
Robin Green shoved her flashlight into their faces. They fliched from its hard glare.
"Don't look away when I'm addressing you. Stand easy. I'm Green. OSI. Let's make this easier all the way around. You were both on duty. You sat twelve feet apart in full view of each other. Neither one of you could have lifted the module without collusion on the part of the other. Therefore, you're both guilty of theft and treason. Who wants to talk first?"
Captain Auton spoke up. "Ma'am, I had nothing to do with this. And I can vouch for Captain McCrone."
Robin frowned. "You!" she barked, switching the beam into Captain McCrone's dark eyes.
"Ma'am, I was sitting at my board, as was Captain Auton. The module may be missing from his console, but I can assure you that Captain Auton was at his post at all times."
"I see," Robin said tightly. "A pair of collaborators."
"Hold," Chiun said. "Allow me to speak with them."
"What good will that do?" Robin demanded hotly.
"I believe they speak the truth. I wish to verify this."
"And how do you propose to accomplish that?" Robin said, eyeing Chiun's scrawny arms as he shook them free of his sleeves.
"A simple interrogation," Chiun said blandly.
"That's up to OSI. This isn't your department." Robin turned to the stony-faced SP. "Guard, these two are not to interfere with my interrogation. Got that?"
56
The SP took a tentative step forward.
Chiun turned to Remo. "Remo."
"Gotcha, Little Father," Remo said, flashing an A-okay sign.
Remo stepped back and took the surprised guard by one wrist. He pivoted in place, sending the man slip-sliding out of the control room. Remo shut the door after him. The guard could be heard beating on the thick metal with his truncheon and blowing his whistle furiously.
"Go ahead, Little Father," Remo said calmly.
The Master of Sinanju stepped up to the trembling officers.
"Do not be afraid," he murmured. "I wish merely to speak with you. Will you answer one, possibly two, simple questions from a harmless old man?"
The pair hesitated, looking to Robin Green.
Robin shrugged. "Go ahead."
"Here," Chiun said, extending clawlike fingers. "Take my infirm old hand, if it will reassure you."
When the pair took Chiun's hand in theirs, they suddenly fell to their knees, faces twisting, their bodies writhing in agony.
"Speak now!" Chiun urged them. "Only the truth will stop the pain."
"I don't know anything! Really!" Auton howled.
McCrone shrilled that she knew nothing either.
Auton pointed out that they were locked in this control room. If either of them had lifted the module, it would still be here.
Chiun released their hands. He faced Robin Green and tucked his hands together solemnly.