"I gnow I won't," Ivan said glumly, gingerly touching his bloody bandages. Desperate for another novocaine fix, he trudged morosely up the stairs.
THEY SKIRTED the south bank of the winding Chena River, stopping at the top of a hill near the tall wire fence that surrounded Fairbanks Airport. Below, the twelve silent Hinds lined the main runway. Some of the soldiers who had flown over from Russia milled about between the idle craft.
Remo, Chiun and Anna stood near the fence. From their vantage point they could see almost the entire airfield. While some men worked around the Hinds, others stood sentry between the big gunships. Counting white camo suits, there were only a few Sinanju-trained soldiers at the airport.
"You sure Zhirinsky's not down there?" Remo asked.
"According to the radio, he plans to make his address from the city hall," Anna said.
"It's days like this that make me happy I forgot what little Russian I knew," Remo grumbled.
He grabbed hold of the fence, wrenching it apart. Links popped and brackets split. Peeling back a section, he and Anna slipped through.
Behind him Chiun clucked disapproval. Stepping up to his own section of undamaged fence, the Master of Sinanju pulled his hands from his sleeves as if unsheathing ten sharp blades. With sure downward strokes, he attacked the fence. The links split like soft butter, forming a perfect five-foot outline of his body, through which Chiun stepped.
The old man's face was deadly serious.
"You cannot always stomp and tear your way through life, Remo," the Master of Sinanju warned. "If you are not using me as a set of walking bolt cutters, you are attacking with your own clumsy mitts. While I know you stubbornly refuse to grow your nails to their proper length, be on guard. For the false Master of legend might."
Remo sighed. "Let's see about that," he said with tired determination. He turned to Anna. "Does this soldier of yours have long fingernails or short?"
It was one of the few times in his life he could remember seeing Anna Chutesov react with surprise. The moment her face fell, he knew he was right.
Anna quickly regained her composure.
"Just because he is Russian does not make him my responsibility," she said.
"No, him being your responsibility makes him your responsibility," Remo replied. He shook his head, annoyed. "You think I'm blind, deaf and dumb, Anna? I remember what that crazy Russian general said back in California just before he died. He said you'd stolen something from us. And you kept trying to shoot him before he could talk, just like the guys you've been shooting left and right here. It's that dumbass Mactep program you told us about. The one where the Russian government tried to blackmail us into going to work for them. When that failed, they put their best agent on the case. You. And the first thing you did was track down that nutbar Purcell in order to train your unholy army of the night. That's why you're here. To try to put the toothpaste back in the tube and keep us from finding out in the process. You double-crossed us, Anna. And don't lie, because in spite of what you, Chiun and the whole damn world might think, I'm not stupid."
As he spoke, Anna appeared to grow very small and cold. The weight of more than ten years of betrayal seemed to suddenly fall like lead onto her shoulders, her body sagging -beneath its great burden.
"It is not what you think, Remo," she said softly. "The decision to do this was taken out of my hands long ago."
Beside Remo, Chiun's face grew shocked. "Do my ears hear true?" the old man gasped. "It is you who has stolen food from the mouths of the children of Sinanju?"
Anna's shoulders sank lower. She raised her head, defiant eyes of blue now filled with shame. "Yes," she said.
The wizened Korean's eyes saucered. "Perfidy!" he whispered. "Jezebel! Viper in our very midst! I knew you were harboring a secret, woman, but this?" He spun on Remo. "If you value the sanctity of our traditions, you will slay this treacherous female at once," he commanded.
Remo's head was bowed. He was very quiet as he considered his teacher's words. The world around him seemed to still. The airport below, the men, the helicopters-all were background noise. A chorus of nothing.
When he at last raised his head, his eyes were filled with some unreadable emotion.
"This is bad, Anna," he said in a voice soft and cold.
She winced at his words.
"Bad?" Chiun scoffed. "It is an outrage. If you will not slay her, I will." When he took a step toward Anna, he found Remo's outstretched arm blocking his way. "You cannot protect her, Remo," he warned. "Not with what she has done. Tradition in this matter is clear."
Remo was trying to think. "I know," he snapped. "Dammit, I know." When he looked back to Anna, he shook his head. "This is bad, Anna," he repeated, in a voice more frightening given the quiet conviction with which the words were delivered.
And that was all. He turned from her and headed down the hill.
Chiun shot her an evil look. With a shake of his head that snapped the flaps of his winter hat, he followed his pupil down to the airport.
At the top of the hill near the torn-apart fence, Anna stood alone. For a long moment she seemed to be trying to gather strength.
It had happened. After so many years of skulking and guilt, her worst fear had become a reality. And in the keenly analytical mind of Anna Chutesov, the outcome-at least for her-was now inevitable.
She finally moved, trudging down the hill on feet of lead: In the corners of her ice-blue eyes were frozen tears.
Chapter 29
Piles of plowed snow lined the runway. Low-lying buildings offered cover for their approach. They made it down to the tarmac's edge undetected, stopping behind a pile of dirty snow.
"How many guys were trained, exactly?" Remo asked Anna once she'd caught up to them.
"One hundred and sixty-two," Anna admitted. Both Masters of Sinanju knew she was telling the truth.
"Are they all in Alaska?"
"No. Eighteen remain in Moscow. Six are with the three Russian presidents who oversaw Mactep. Twelve more are recent trainees. They are at a safehouse near the Institute. I had not introduced them yet to the others in the program."
"How many have we knocked off so far, Little Father?" Remo asked Chiun.
"Thirty-two," the Master of Sinanju replied. Remo started to add the numbers in his head. Seeing that they could be there all night, Chiun exhaled annoyance.
"That leaves 130," the old man hissed. "From that we take away the eighteen she claims are not here. Assuming she is not lying about that, too."
"I'm not," Anna promised, shamefaced.
"Okay, that's 114 here."
Chiun gave him a withering look. "And what was your excuse for skipping your math lessons?" he asked thinly.
"Didn't skip. Slept. Why, that's not right?"
"It is 112," Chiun snapped.
Remo turned back to Anna. "This guy who's supposed to be such hot stuff. He included with them?" She had only been half listening. Head swimming, she was seeing the world now from the end of a long, dark tunnel.
"Skachkov is one of them," she nodded.
"Fine," Remo said. "We take out the choppers and hopefully keep your guys contained. With any luck we can get rid of all the ones here before they skip town."
He didn't even look at Anna.