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.How many thousands ofmint-condition Roman coins lay in that house? And stuff that isn't evenvaluable nowadays.A chunk of aluminum from 1000 B.C., when it was a raremetal; hell, a case of soda would be worth more today."Remo was feeling good again.And so was Chiun, seeing Remo come back with hisusual ingratitude.He was healthy again.As they walked out to the road thatwould take them to Epcot Center, Chiun told Remo of the wonders of the worldand emperors yet to be served, of treasures they could exact, of tricks theycould use to manipulate the wisest leaders.There was a great new day waitingout there for the services of Sinanju, but first, Chiun wanted to see FutureWorld.Smith arrived at the condo and found Remo and Chiun were out.He had to waituntil evening.When he noticed the unmistakable smooth movement of Remo andChiun's walk, it was getting dark."I'm glad you're back, Remo.We don't have much time," said Smith."Yeah, I want to talk to you about that, Smitty.I'm afraid this is the end ofthe line.""Stop joking, Remo.America has been penetrated by a Russian no one's beenable to stop.The world's going to end.""That's what you said when the treasure of Sinanju was stolen.Five thousandyears of Sinanju tributes stolen, and almost none of it recovered," saidRemo.Chiun was so pleased he almost cried.Of course, Remo was breaking the basicrule in dealing with an emperor.One never told an emperor the truth.Oneallowed an emperor to find the truth one presented.An emperor was never wrongor to blame.An emperor was the person who could take the right course whenPage 31ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthat course was laid out clearly for him.Remo should have learned the proper good-byes.Chiun would show him.Remowould need them now that they would be servicing many clients.The long yearsof serving the mad emperor Smith, who had never used Sinanju to seize theAmerican throne called the presidency, were over now.Chiun chose the most florid of laudations to lay at the feet of Harold W.Smith, who had already gone down in the histories of Sinanju as the mad whiteemperor in the land discovered by Chiun.It took twenty minutes to deliver them, and at the end, Smith thanked Chiun,and then said to Remo:"What are you waiting for? We've got to start the briefing.This is acomplicated matter.""Smitty, when Chiun told you the glorious name of Harold W.Smith would liveon in the histories of Sinanju, eclipsing Alexander, Augustus of Rome, and thegreat pharaohs, he meant good-bye.It's good-bye for me, too.""But you can't.Not now.""Now's as good a time as any, Smitty.I think I've done my job for America.Good-bye."Smith followed the two of them into their condominium.It was on the groundfloor and had a small screened porch facing the water fountain.The spraymasked sounds more effectively than any electronic device."Which country are you going to serve? You can tell me that at least," saidSmith.The problem here was that in his heart, Smith knew Remo was right.Remohad done more for the country than any single man ever had.He had done ityear after year after year.He never flagged and he never failed.And what hadAmerica given him'? There had to be a time when it all stopped, even for apatriot.Remo answered that he did not know which country they were going to."I may not even work for anyone.I may just rest and look at palm trees andpyramids.I don't know.I'm tired.I'm more than tired.I was tired years ago.It's over, Smitty.Good-bye.And good luck.""So it isn't determined yet who you will work for?""No," said Remo."Let me speak to Chiun a moment, if I may.""You won't understand him.""Let me try," said Smith.Remo went into the main bedroom, where Chiun was packing his kimonos."He wants to talk to you," said Remo."Aha.Now you will see him bid for our services.You should come and watch.Now you will see as I have always suspected that the tributes of gold broughtby American submarines to the village of Sinanju might only have been apittance.""I'd rather not see," said Remo.He knew Chiun would never understand thatSmith served a country he believed in and it was not his private gold but theproperty of the taxpayers of America.It was a country Remo still felt for.Hewould always be an American, and he didn't want to be there while his countrywas twisted by a thousand-year-old manipulation.Remo was going because he was going, and that was it.Smith did not hear Chiunenter the porch, but then he never heard Chiun.He was gazing at the fountainswhen he noticed Chiun was there, totally composed as always, and looking notone day older than he had when first they met and he was told this was the manwho would train the one enforcement arm for CURE."It's been a long time, Chiun.I want to say thank you, for America is honoredto have had the magnificent services of the House of Sinanju.""Sinanju is honored, most gracious one," said Chiun.Just when they wereleaving, Mad Harold of America was learning how to speak to his assassin."I hear you are going to bid out your services," said Smith."We can never find one as gracious, O Emperor," said Chiun."May we bid also?""We will always consider the offer of the gracious Harold."Page 32ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"We have shipped gold regularly in amounts that are now twenty times the sizeof what they were the first year.How can we improve?""If it were just gold, O wise one, we would never leave your sublime service.But as you know, the treasure of the House of Sinanju is missing.Fivethousand years of collected tribute is gone.""Gone is gone, Master.We can help replenish it.""Can you replace the obols of Alexander, the marks of Demetrius, the tolons ofthe Ming? Where are the bracelets from the great African tribes, or thestatues from Athens? Where are the boxes of coins with the visage of DivineAugustus therein stamped?""I'll make you an offer.What we cannot find for you, we will replace.We willnever stop until we replace it.There is no country as capable of this as weare.""You will undertake to replace fifty centuries of tribute to the House ofSinanju?""Yes," said Smith."We will do that."Chiun thought a moment.This was awesome.America was going to match what allthe previous civilizations in the world had contributed.Ordinarily an offerlike this from a king or emperor would be suspect.But Chiun had seen America,had visited its cities and factories, villages and farms [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]