Remo had walked all the way from town because he had run out of money. No longer employed, he didn't have the credit cards or cash that Smitty used to supply him with. Remo had come back from Sinanju with some gold from the treasure house of the village, but he had spent the last ingot worth about four hundred dollars--on the case of dog food. The grocer had refused to give him change, claiming that he hadn't that much cash in the entire store. No one, it seemed, liked to change gold ingots these days, thought Remo as he searched for a working pay phone.
Still whistling, Remo walked to the next terminal. He would call Chiun when he found a pay phone that worked. Chiun would lend him some money. Normally he would have asked Smitty, but Smith would probably ask for collateral and Remo was wearing all the collateral he had to his name.
There was no answer from Chiun's room, so Remo asked the operator to switch him to Dr. Smith's office. "Remo," Smith said. "I'm glad you called."
"You are?" said Remo. "Think about that a minute. I still don't work for you."
"I need you here, right away."
"Nothing doing," said Remo. "I'm retired. No more missions, no more killing."
"Are you familiar with the landing of the Yuri Gagarin?"
"No, but I can hum 'Sink the Bismarck.' "
"Don't be smart, Remo. Chiun was just brought into Folcroft. There's something terribly wrong with him, and I have reason to believe it is related to the missing Soviet space shuttle."
"Chiun?" whispered Remo, gripping the receiver until he left fingerprints embedded in the plastic.
"Folcroft doctors are examining him now."
"He might be faking," Remo said slowly. "He did that once before. At least, I think he was faking that last time. "
"I don't know, Remo. It looks serious. And Anna swears it's connected with the Gagarin mystery."
"Anna? Is that your wife's pet name this week?"
"No. Anna Chutesov. You remember her."
"Oh, her. Was she asking for me?"
"As a matter of fact, yes."
"Did you tell her I was engaged?" Remo asked in an anxious voice.
"No, I didn't think it was important."
"Try to break it to her before I get there, Smitty. I don't need any more problems right now."
"Please hurry."
"Don't hang up yet, Smitty. I'm out of money. Can you arrange airfare for me?"
"Go to the Winglight Airlines desk. A ticket will be waiting for you there. Where are you, by the way?"
"Seattle."
"First class or coach?"
"First class," said Remo. "You must really need me, Smitty. In the old days, I never had a choice."
"I expect you to reimburse me for the fare, of course," said Dr. Harold W. Smith.
"Of course," parroted Remo Williams. "National security is only national security, but the Folcroft budget is forever." And he tossed the receiver to the floor and walked away.
Chapter 11
Remo Williams brushed past the secretary.
"I'm sorry, sir. Dr. Smith is in conference," the secretary said.
"He'll see me," Remo snapped, tight-lipped.
The bosomy woman jumped to her feet and put her head into Smith's office one step ahead of Remo Williams. "I'm sorry, Dr. Smith, I couldn't stop him," she apologized, getting out of Remo's way just in time.
Dr. Harold W. Smith saw the rock-hard face of Remo Williams and said, "Quite all right, Mrs. Mikulka. No one could."
"Where is he, Smitty?" said Remo. "Where's Chiun?" Anna Chutesov rose from her corner seat.
"Hello, darling," she said in a warm voice. She walked up to give him a welcoming hug and found herself clutching empty air.
"Hi," Remo said without glancing in her direction. To Smith he repeated his demand. "Chiun. Take me to him."
"This way, Remo," said Smith. He led Remo to the elevator.
Anna Chutesov stood rigid, disbelief marking her unblemished complexion. When she realized she was being left behind, she ran after the pair and squeezed through the closing elevator doors. Remo was in a heated conversation with Smith.
"He's regained consciousness and is asking for you," Smith said. "The doctors are certain he will be all right."
"Then what was the problem?" Remo wanted to know.
"Better let Chiun explain it to you."
Remo stared at the ceiling light, flexing his thick wrists impatiently. "He'd better not be faking this time. He just better not be," Remo warned. But the sick worry on his face belied his harsh tone.
"He is not," said Anna crisply.
"How would you know?" asked Remo distantly, as if months had not passed since they had said warm farewells to one another.
"I was with him when it happened."
The elevator doors slid open, and without waiting, Remo brushed past Anna Chutesov as if he had suddenly forgotten they were talking.
He found Chiun sitting up in a hospital bed. The visage of the Master of Sinanju was waxy and pale, but Remo's attuned hearing told him Chiun's heartbeat and lung action were normal.
"Little Father, what happened to you?" Remo asked.
"Death," said Chiun hollowly.
"You're not dead," said Remo.
"I am not dead," agreed Chiun. "Not yet. But I do not matter. Sinanju is dead. The future is dead. It is gone, all of it gone."
Remo, hearing the trembling anguish in the voice of the Master of Sinanju, knew that his mentor was not faking. The pain was real. Remo sat at the edge of the bed, took Chiun's long-nailed hand in his, and pressed it concernedly.
"Tell me all about it, Little Father," he said.
"There are many deaths, Remo. There are the death of body and the death of mind and the death of spirit." Remo nodded. Smith and Anna Chutesov hovered in the open doorway, reluctant to intrude.
Chiun turned his hazel eyes upon Remo's deep brown ones.
"But there is a worse death than any of those," he intoned. "Woe to the House of Sinanju. I shall rue the day I allowed that woman to lure me into that place of doom."
"Woman?" wondered Remo, looking at Anna Chutesov. He looked right through her as if she weren't there. Anna flinched under the indifference of his gaze.
"I was learning to drive a motor carriage," Chiun explained. "Do not trouble yourself that you were too easily bored to complete your teaching. I understand. You were too busy seeking the unfindable homeless to care for your adopted father, who spent nearly two decades training you in the sun source. A few hours of instruction in return were too valuable to you. But it is of no moment. I understand."
Remo squeezed Chiun's hand.
"Cut it out, Chiun. I don't want to hear guilt. I want to hear what happened."
"The Russian woman lured me into the diabolical temple with the Russian name. She promised the Master of Sinanju a few moments of diversion from his cares and worries. But before it was over, I felt it die within me. All of it."
"Die? What died?"
"The future of Sinanju."