"That remains to be seen. I have sent word on the wings of swallows that the House is open to other offers."
"I know."
"And I have told Smith that I will not consider his offer," Chiun added.
"So that's that."
"No. That is not that. It is only that if I say it is that. And it is not that. I cannot treat with Smith without going against my solemn word. But the apprentice Reigning Master may."
"Apprentice Reigning Master? I don't remember ever hearing of an apprentice Reigning Master."
"You will be the first in the history of the House. Because you are white and a corn addict, you naturally cannot be trusted with assuming the exalted office without a suitable period."
"How long?"
"Ten, perhaps only fifteen years."
"I thought you wanted me to take over."
"In time, in time. First you must prove your worthiness, and the best way is to enter into your first negotiation with an emperor. Go to Smith. Suggest that the House might be persuaded to reconsider its current negotiating position. Do not overemphasize this point. Show no eagerness. Promise nothing. Let veilings adhere to your every word, and remember no word is more powerful than silence or the narrowing of the eyes in the heat of negotiation. Show me how you narrow your eyes, Remo."
Remo frowned. His eyes bunched up like concord grapes.
"Your eyes seem incapable of correct narrowing. But I will give you a mirror. Spend the next hours practicing, then hie yourself to Emperor Smith's fortress, there to lure him and lull him into loosing his purse strings more widely than ever before."
"Got it," said Remo, jumping to his feet. He took a deep breath. "Thanks for giving me another chance."
"A chance is only a chance. The proof is in the pudding."
As Remo started to go, Chiun called out,"You have forgotten something."
Remo thought. Turning, he bowed deeply. A forty-five-degree bow.
"How's that?" he asked, straightening.
"Very good. Proper and direct. But it was not what I meant."
Remo looked blank.
"Did you not ask me to hear the story of the stonecutter?"
"Oh, right." Remo started to sink down on the floor when Chiun motioned him to remain standing.
"It is too late. Obviously you were not sincere in your desire, or it never would have slipped your frail mind."
"No, I really want to."
"Enough. Later. If you implore me enough."
"Got it, Little Father."
At the door Remo paused and said, "Thanks again. You won't regret it."
And under his breath the Master of Sinanju intoned, "Let us hope neither of us does."
Chapter Thirteen
The President of the United States couldn't believe it when his chief of staff came with the news.
"He's what?"
"Refusing to accept your call."
"Since when does the president of the United Mexican States refuse to take the U.S. President's call?"
The chief of staff wanted to say, "Since you became President," but swallowed his tongue and said nothing.
The President of the United States looked ill. It was bad enough that the Republican Speaker of the House had refused to take his calls in the aftermath of the November revolution of a year ago, but that was politics. This was a threat situation on the nation's vulnerable southern border.
"What's the disposition of our troops?"
"The Eighty-sixth Airborne is en route to Brownsville. If Mexico City makes a move, they make it against Texas. They once owned it, you know."
"If they think they're taking back Texas, it'll be over my dead body."
The chief of staff, eyeing a recent bullet hole in the Oval Office window, rapped the President's desk three times sharply.
"What's that?"
"Knocking on wood."
"Oh," said the President, who also rapped on the ornate desk.
The chief of staff went on."Additionally, elements of the Twenty-fourth Infantry Division, the Tenth Mountain and other battle forces are being positioned at likely choke points along the common border."
"That doesn't sound very formidable," the President said worriedly.
"With all the troops we have bogged down in UN peacekeeping details around the world, we're stretched pretty thin in California and Arizona, true. But let me add that the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan and its battle group are even now steaming toward the Gulf of Mexico. If they attack, our retaliatory response will be swift and decisive."
"They won't attack. They don't dare. What reason do they have?"
"Internal problems can be solved by external thrusts. You know that it's the second rule of statecraft. Or maybe the third."
"What's the first?"
"Don't get yourself invaded," said the chief of staff.