"Good," said the figure behind the glass panel. His oversized head reminded Ethel of a tulip bulb moving in a breeze. "And you are prepared to work toward this important goal and obey without question the orders of Group Leader Bull?"
"Sure. But before we do that, can you answer a teeny little question for me?"
"Ask."
"I always thought your people came from another dimension."
"We do."
"But earlier you said you came from— from Betelgeuse."
"Yes, that is true, too," the reedy voice assured her.
"I don't get it. How can they both be true?"
"While my planet does circle that star, in order to traverse the great distances between my world and yours, our ships travel through the Fourth Dimension."
"Oh, I understand now," Ethel Sump beamed.
* * *
And when she compared notes with the others and discovered that the World Master had told Marsha Gasse that, yes, his people did come from a subterranean city under the North Pole, and then had informed Martin Cannell that it was true that his people had visited Earth in prehistoric times and created the human race from primeval slime, everyone became puzzled, arid they took the matter to Amanda Bull, who was busily organizing the group for the ride back to Oklahoma City.
"Hmmmm," said Amanda, who rubbed the hair on the bridge of her nose in thought. The spaceship was still in the woods, and she briefly considered returning to it to ask the World Master to explain, when she saw the craft rise slowly above the trees and, wobbling, move west. She wondered if the World Master hovered in the atmosphere or had a secret base somewhere.
"The World Master wouldn't lie," Amanda said slowly, which caused the heads of all assembled to nod in agreement. "So they must all be true."
"Why, that makes perfect sense," Martin Cannell said. And that seemed to settle the matter, for they all piled into the van, eager for their first training session.
Ethel Sump enjoyed training, even training with the rifle Amanda gave her, which at first had frightened her. It gave her a sense of purpose and worth. She enjoyed life more in the past two days than in all the years gone before. She even ate less.
Two days of training didn't seem very much, but Amanda had told them all this morning that tonight they would make their first move. The World Master had contacted her somehow and told her so. Amanda had seemed a little worried about that, but as Ethel had reminded her, "The World Master wouldn't let us go out on this important mission unless he knew we were ready," and Amanda said she had to agree.
That would be tonight. But for now, they were pretending to conduct business as usual at FOES headquarters. They were all here, except for that Remo person, who had not been seen since an unauthorized intruder had interrupted their first encounter two nights before. Amanda said that Remo had probably gotten lost in the woods and that he wasn't important because "he was only a man." Ethel didn't see what that had to do with anything; Remo seemed rather attractive. Especially the way he walked. But then, he had claimed to have had a close encounter with a penguin, and nothing had been said about penguins ever since, so maybe Remo didn't matter after all.
So excited was Ethel Sump that she didn't notice the old Oriental gentleman until he had entered the reception area, despite not having been buzzed in.
"Tell whoever is in charge of this place that an important personage has come to see him," said the old man. He couldn't be more than five feet tall or weigh more than 90 pounds, yet he spoke with greater authority than Ethel's old high school principal.
"What important person?" she asked.
"The Master of Sinanju."
"I never heard of you," Ethel said, looking skeptically at the embroidered front of the Oriental's teal blue kimono and wondering if he wasn't one of those cultists looking for a donation.
"I am a personal emissary from your Emperor Smith."
"Emperor Smith? Is he FOES?"
"No, he is friend. He runs your country secretly. I work for him. Defending the Constitution."
"I see," said Ethel, who didn't see at all. "Just a minute." She flicked on the intercom, and in response to Amanda Bull's barked "What is it?" said, "There's an old gentleman here. He seems kind of confused."
"I am not confused, stupid bovine," Chiun snapped. "I am here about the USOs."
"Huh?"
"The lights in the sky. My son, Remo, has seen them."
At the mention of the name Remo over the intercom, Amanda Bull said, "Both of you wait a minute."
"The Master of Sinanju does not wait," Chiun said, and popped the door to Amanda's office off its hinges with a seemingly gentle push of the flat of his hand. The door fell forward, and the Master of Sinanju stepped over it, unconcerned.
"Um... how did you do that?" Amand asked in a tight voice as she came to the doorway.
"With my hand. I am the Master of Sinanju."
"That's right," Ethel put in. "I saw it. He just touched the door and it fell."
Amanda Bull looked at Chiun, then Ethel, and then back at Chiun again as if she suspected them of working together to trick her. Then she remembered that the old Oriental had called Remo Greeley his son, and it was obvious he could not be related to Remo, whom she vaguely suspected of being a spy.
"All right," she said firmly. "Now what's this all about?"
"I am here to make contact," Chiun said flatly, his thin arms folded. "It is important."
"Why?"
"Because it is important to my village. My village knows of these USOs," Chiun said.
"UFOs, not USOs," Amanda corrected.
"I think he wants to join FOES," Ethel whispered. She decided that he might be a confused old man, but he was a likable confused old man.
"No, I want to be friends," Chiun corrected, wondering if all American women were idiots, or just the two in this room.
"Hmmm," Amanda said, pacing the room. The old man might be a spy, too. If he was, the World Master would have to know about this, but Amanda had no way of contacting him except at prearranged times and places.
"If I promise to help you make contact, will you promise to help us tonight?" Amanda asked, thinking about how easily the door had been demolished and how handy that ability might come in tonight.
"Help you with what?"
"We are going on a mission tonight to bring peace to the world."
"A goal many have sought," Chiun said. "How many will you kill to achieve it?"
"No violence," Amanda said. "This mission was given us by a being from the UFO. Once this task is done, we will meet with him again. And you may come with us."