"Something wrong here, folks?" he drawled.
"Do you own this field?" Robin asked him.
"All but what the government took for their dang silo."
"Then I'm sorry. But I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Robin told him. "This is an official Air Force investigation. You'll be notified of the seizure."
"What seizure? What are you seizing?"
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate this tree in the name of the U.S. Air Force."
"That there tree? What's it done?"
"That's classified. Now, could you please be on your way?"
The farmer stared at them. His eyes went to Robin, then to Remo, and finally to Chiun, who stood magnificent in his blue-and-white silk kimono.
"I'm gonna have to check on this, you know," he said, putting the station wagon into reverse.
After he was gone, Remo had what he thought was a reasonable question.
"How do you confiscate a tree?"
"With chain saw and winches," Robin retorted. "Now, excuse me while I radio for equipment." She started walking back to the helicopter.
The ground shook suddenly. She whirled.
"What the hell?" she blurted, beholding a curious sight. Remo was on one side of the tree, Chiun on the other. Remo kicked at the base of the tree. It shuddered violently. Remo's foot left a distinctly noticeable dent. Then Chiun kicked at the opposite side. He
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kicked a little higher than Remo had. About a foot higher. His delicate sandals left a dent too. Then Remo kicked again.
As Robin Green watched with her mouth going slowly from merely parted to wide open, they switched off until the tree was poised on a thickness no larger than a strong man's thigh.
Remo stepped back and the Master of Sinanju pressed his hand against the tree. It snapped with a thunderous sound.
"Timberrr!" Remo shouted. He was grinning. It was the grin of a happy idiot, Robin thought. The show-off. Then her eyes flicked from Remo's too-wide grin to the space where the tree no longer stood.
Standing there, its feet sunk into the stump like some kind of life-sized Oscar statuette, was the thing.
"There it is!" Robin screeched. "There's the bastard!"
Remo's grin vanished. He turned.
And he saw it too. Tall as a man, a fuzzy glowing white and covered with moving streams of golden light. Its face was a bubble that collapsed and expanded even as they focused on it.
Then, carefully, silently, the thing stepped out from the stump and stalked away.
Chiun reacted first. He leaped for it, one foot extended in an attack thrust.
Remo saw the impossible. His skirts flaring, the Master of Sinanju was descending in a Heron Drop maneuver. He was going to take the thing's head right off. But when his foot seemed about to make contact, the thing continued running, oblivious of Chiun's lightning kick.
Chiun hit the ground in a ball. He snapped to his feet, his cheeks puffed out in fury.
Remo flashed past him. Chiun, racing, caught up with Remo.
"He is mine," Chiun hissed explosively.
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"You missed. How could you miss?" Remo demanded. "You never miss."
"I did not miss. My foot touched him. But there was no substance to receive the biow."
"Yeah? Watch this," Remo said. He pulled out in front of Chiun. He was gaining ground on the thing, who might not leave footprints in loose dirt, but was no sprinter. It clumped along like it had flat feet.
Remo recognized the battery on its back. White cables led from it to the creature's shoulders. As Remo gained ground, the thing turned its head to see its pursuers, and Remo saw again that weird bubble of a face, soundlessly expanding and contracting like a bladder.
The white thing tried to zigzag. But its movements, for all their eerie silence, were awkward.
Remo zipped out in front of him. The creature dodged clumsily. Remo was too quick. He wrapped his arms around its waist.
"Got him!" he shouted.
But Remo's elation was momentary. He realized he hadn't connected, and the force of his leap was carrying him through and beyond the thing. Remo recovered and tried again.
The thing weaved. Remo was quicker. He tried to swat its head. The blow kept on going. Remo felt no contact. No nothing. It was like grabbing at smoke- except smoke could be disturbed or dispelled. The creature simply kept moving.
Then the thing stopped still. It folded its arms. Tucked in the crook of one arm were two steaks wrapped in butcher paper.
Chiun caught up. He took a position on one side of it, Remo on the other.
"Care to try again?" Remo asked.
"Yes. I owe this vile thing retribution for the humiliation of my fall."
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"Good luck. I don't think you're going to accomplish much."
The Master of Sinanju circled the white thing warily, like a hunter before a sleeping beast. He feinted with a hand. The thing's featureless head flinched.
"Hah!" Chiun exulted. "This monstrosity fears harm. It can know pain. And if it knows pain, we need only find its weak points."
But when the Master of Sinanju attempted to knock the thing's feet out from under it, it simple stood there like a pillar of wan light. Chiun kicked again. He kicked a third time. All to no effect.