"It is the only way now. For the American people to be made to call for the removal of all nuclear weapons, it will take an unforgettable demonstration. This will take time. I cannot activate the warhead without time and tools."
"Broken Arrow?" Amanda asked, holding back tears.
"Yes, the location I have told you about. It is fortunate that I had prepared this place for an emergency such as this. You know where it will be found from the description I gave you. Order the others to drive the warhead to that location."
"What— what about me?"
"You will remain here, waiting. This Remo will arrive soon. It will be your job to let him locate you. Once that is done, you will convince him that the warhead is in this city and that you will lead him to it. When he is off his guard, you will kill him. Are these instructions clear to you, Preparation Group Leader Bull?"
The voice, so different from the one Amanda had been used to taking orders from, sounded macabre and cynical asking that question. But Amanda answered as she always had.
"Yes, I understand that part. What about the Oriental?"
"Kill him, too."
"That man who said he was claiming your ship for his government— the one with the accent. What about him?" Amanda asked woodenly.
The World Master paused for so long before he answered that Amanda was about to repeat the question.
"If Pavel Zarnitsa is with them, then he must die, too. For he may have ruined everything."
?Chapter Sixteen
It was all up to her now, Amanda told herself as she stared out the window of FOES headquarters and watched the van carrying the warhead disappear from sight. She felt ill, and the illness was nothing less than a raw fear, but she steeled herself. There were doubts and questions in her mind. There were things that didn't add up anymore, and seemed as if they could never add up. It was possible that the World Master had lied to her about certain things— lied to them all, in fact. There was no escaping that.
But he was still the World Master, Amanda believed. He was still the emissary of a wonderful civilization from far beyond the stars, come to bring peace to this war-torn planet. If he had lied at times, or if his methods seemed harsh, then it was only because his goal was so important. It was justifiable, Amanda told herself. Yes, when it came to saving the Earth from self-destruction, then the end truly justified the means.
Even if that meant obliterating Oklahoma City when the time came.
She had been foolish to doubt the World Master. Why, hadn't he told her that he would be leaving for his Broken Arrow headquarters by himself? Through a method of travel that didn't involve cars or any other vehicles? Yes, that was what he had said. And there on the street below sat the car in which Amanda had left him sitting. See? He didn't need it to get where he was going.
"Teleportation," Amanda said aloud. "I'll bet he's going by teleportation. Sure! If they can do it on 'Star Trek,' they can do it on—"
Amanda's voice choked off. Below, the huddled figure of the World Master surreptitiously left the back of the car and slipped into the driver's seat.
The car left the curb, dragging a long worm of exhaust in its trail.
* * *
"If you don't know where to look," Pavel Zarnitsa was saying, "how are you going to find the nuclear device before it goes off?"
"I know where to look," Remo said, as they drove through the streets of Oklahoma City. "It's somewhere in this town."
"This is not a small place," Pavel pointed out.
"We'll find it," Remo insisted.
"How?" Chiun whispered to him. "We'll find it," Remo repeated unconvincingly.
"Try the ENEMIES office," Chiun suggested.
"FOES. Not ENEMIES. FOES."
Chiun shrugged. "There is a difference?"
Remo parked in front of the Stigman Building, where the offices of the Flying Object Evaluation Center were. He was tired of visiting the place, and it was probably a waste of time, but he had no other logical place to look for a warhead. As the Russian had rightly said, Oklahoma City was a big place.
"You stay here with him, Chiun," Remo said, indicating the Russian.
"Yes," Chiun agreed. "I will protect this vehicle. With his taste, this one may attempt to eat the seats."
Remo went up the steps to the office. Before he opened the door, his sensitive nostrils detected an odor familiar to him. A human odor that was a distinctive blend of soap and shampoo mingled with perspiration, which itself was distinctive because it was the product of an individual's unique physiological makeup and dietary habits.
The blonde. Amanda Bull.
Remo eased the door open. The room beyond was empty. With a supple grace, he worked his way through the crack in the door and closed it soundlessly. The door leading to the inner office was ajar. Remo made for it. He might have been a wisp of cigarette smoke floating through the room for all the sound he made.
Amanda Bull was waiting for him.
"Oh," she said. "You surprised me." Her voice sounded odd. Remo couldn't tell why at first, then it came to him. She wasn't using her I'm-the-boss-here-and-you-better-know-it voice. She was acting.
"Yeah, I do that a lot," Remo told her, looking for weapons. Her hands were empty, but she stood with her right hand against her hip and slightly back. It was not calm, nor did it exhibit any of the expected nervous habits people showed with their hands. It hovered. There was a weapon at the small of her back.
"Well, I guess you got me," Amanda said.
"Guess so." Remo got to within a few paces of her.
"Uh... I suppose you want to know where it is?" Amanda said.
"That's right," Remo said quietly.
"It's here— in Oklahoma City, that is. Hidden where no one can find it."
"Except you?" Remo suggested.
"Yes, except me. I guess I'll have to take you to it."
"Good idea," Remo said. "Why don't you lead the way?"
Amanda began to lead Remo to the door, but Remo caught her elbow and, using his own body as a pivot, swept her half around and pushed her back against the desk. She hit the edge of the desk with the small of her back and said, "Oof," when the impact forced the air from her lungs.
Remo was against her body before she could react, his left arm catching her right, and his right hand found the gun holstered at the small of her back. He felt it, threw the safety to the "on" position but left it there.
"What... what are you doing?" Amanda demanded hotly.
Remo didn't answer. His deep eyes gazed into her gray ones, and Amanda felt a shiver course through her body that was less one of fear than it was a sexual reflex. She had never felt anything like the electricity that seemed to jump from Remo's finger to her body. Involuntarily, her breathing increased.