"Never mind, Herman," Kluge said woodenly.
Still trying to raise the second unit, Herman turned, confused. "Sir?" he said.
Kluge pointed at the monitor above the second unit's small guard station. Herman gaped at what appeared to be bodies lying around the road. When he looked closer, he saw a face that was clearly that of the man he had been trying to raise on the radio. The man's head was several feet away from his body.
"How-?" Herman asked, incredulous.
He never finished his question. At that moment, the sound of gunfire erupted outside the ancient stone temple.
THEY HAD FOLLOWED the ravine until it cut up by the upper guard shack. Remo and Chiun preceded Heidi up the hill. She was stunned by how easily they took out the dozen men stationed near the small shed.
The IV village sprouted out of the leveled mountaintop where the ruins of an ancient city had once stood. The priceless architecture of a culture long dead had been demolished for the comfort of the band of fugitive Nazis.
Looming far above the village was Estomago de Diablo-the name given to the huge old temple that was the focal point of the entire area. The massive stone structure stared down protectively over the orderly little houses from its separate mountain peak.
"Dollars to doughnuts the head guy's in there," Remo said, pointing to the temple.
Focused on the temple, they ran toward the first line of neat Bavarian-style houses...
... and into a hail of machine-gun fire. "Crappity crap-crap-crap," Remo groused.
As a cluster of frantic IV soldiers ran toward them down the street shooting madly-the three of them quickly ducked down an alley. Bullets ripped against the wall nearest them.
Remo quickly plucked Heidi from the path. Kicking open the door of the nearest house, he tossed her to the floor. "Stay put," he commanded, slamming the door tightly shut.
Remo and Chiun whirled on the soldiers.
The men ran into view at the mouth of the alley. Remo recognized their shared face immediately; he'd encountered the same face at the airport, as well as at the first two guard shacks.
"Not him again," Remo complained.
"Do not get distracted," Chiun warned the instant before the men opened fire.
Chiun leaped high to the left, Remo to the right. Hitting the eaves of the roofs with one foot, they pushed off and forward. They formed an invisible X as their paths nearly crossed in the air above the blazing gunfire.
The heads of the baffled soldiers slipped below them as both Masters of Sinanju flew over. Twisting in midair, they dropped down behind the startled IV troops.
Before the shock could even register, Remo and Chiun launched themselves forward.
A few guns fired feeble bursts of lead into the clear blue sky as Chiun ripped through the men. Diet-and-exercise-hardened fingernails clawed vicious strips through chest muscle and bone. Kneecaps shattered. Skulls collapsed.
Remo had torn into the crowd from the other side, spinning like a top on one foot, barely seeming to change position. As he swirled, an arm or foot would fly out of the twisting blur. In their wake, streaks of blood erupted from corrupted throats and chests.
In a matter of seconds, the attackers were dead. "I'll get Heidi," Remo said quickly.
Racing back to the house where he had left her, he flung open the door. She was nowhere in sight. A quick search of the one-story structure found the house empty and the front door on the far side of the house ajar.
"Double crap," Remo complained. He ran back to meet Chiun. "Heidi's gone," he said, arriving back at the carnage in the alley.
"We cannot search for her now," Chiun stated.
Remo shook his head. "She can't say I didn't warn her," he agreed.
Together, they ran back out onto the tidy village road.
KLUGE HAD BECOME more animated as he watched the men from Sinanju slaughter his soldiers as easily as lesser mortals might step on an anthill. IV was still his home. He would do everything he could to preserve it.
"Have them pull back to the field," he ordered Herman.
"Is that wise?" Herman asked.
"Do it!" Kluge shouted. There was an angry spark in his eyes, a spark that had been absent ever since the dark days in Paris several months ago.
Herman obediently gave the order into his headset.
Kluge watched Remo and Chiun advance through the vacant streets of the village. Unseen by the Masters of Sinanju, the defenders of IV began backing along streets closer to the temple. On Kluge's order, they were retreating to the large open field with its trampled vegetable and flower gardens.
It seemed ridiculous. An entire army in retreat because of two unarmed men.
"Is the other system operational?" Herman nodded. "Tested this morning."
"I want it ready to switch over to manual if automated tracking fails," Kluge warned.
"At your command, Herr Kluge."
Kluge saw that Herman was sweating. He had been so calm during the whole time leading up to this crisis. Herman had never thought there was a crisis. The fool.
Kluge turned his attention back to the monitors. Remo and Chiun continued their relentless advance. As he watched them move stealthily through the streets, his eyes strayed to a single red button on his control console. Unlabeled, it was covered by a clear plastic lid.
Unseen by Herman, Kluge flipped the plastic cover open.
And prayed.
"NOW, THERE'S SOMETHING you don't see every day," Remo commented. He nodded to the army of identical soldiers arranged in the field before the ancient stone fortress.
Although the men were lined up to fire, they didn't do so when Remo and Chiun cleared the last of the quaint little gingerbread houses.
"There is something else here," Chiun declared, concerned.
"Not more mines," Remo said. He had been stomping his foot occasionally to get a crude sonic reading of the land up ahead. As far as he could tell, there were no land mines.
The field was to their right. To their left, a stretch of rocky terrain dropped down after a few yards, only to come back into sight a little farther beyond. Continuing only briefly, it disappeared for good a short way farther on. Somewhere far below the last appearance of the rocky ridge was the road.
The army continued to stand down as they approached.
"Gee, you think it's a trap?" Remo asked sarcastically.