"Sometimes they call the Great Wang that. It is an American term of endearment," said Chiun.
Anna's mouth felt dry. She smoothed out her skirt. She told herself that she was going to feel good things for Vassily. She was not going to let off any vibrations of hostility. She would show servility from the beginning.
"All right," she said. "I'm ready."
Several colonels left, laughing. They gave Anna lascivious looks. She lowered her eyes.
Be subservient she told herself again. Think subservient. "You can come in now. But make it fast," said another guard. He nodded to Chiun.
Chiun led the way.
Inside, Rabinowitz sat on a lounge chair. A gaunt lemon-faced man worked a computer keyboard. He did it with such skill and speed, Anna was surprised he was not younger. More important, he seemed to be able to access things with a smooth precision most computer operators lacked. They always seemed to be trying things that had to be tried again. This man just did things. Anna glanced at the computer terminal and saw the coordinates for the entire southwest railway system. Apparently this man, whoever he was, had jumped the communications for four independent railroads and was now operating them in the service of moving supplies south toward debarkation points, appearing on the screen now as Sornica.
"O great one, here is a woman whose virtue I cannot vouch for," said Chiun.
"I've come to surrender," said Anna.
"Don't have time for that," said Vassily. She still saw him as Vassily. Good. He didn't need her for anything.
"Russia wishes to surrender. You have won. We have an apology for sending General Matesev and the sniper. Russia guarantees the safety of your family. Of your loved ones. Of your return if you wish. Russia is no enemy of yours." This Anna said in Russian so Vassily would understand he was speaking to another Russian.
"Because I beat you, right?"
"Doesn't it make sense?" said Anna, praying he couldn't read minds too. Because she knew while it made sense, those who ran the Russian military did not make sense.
"I don't care. You can't hurt me now. No one can hurt me now," said Rabinowitz. "And you'd get my parents out of Dulsk if I asked and if they wanted, you know why?"
"No," said Anna.
"It doesn't matter now. That's why."
"I don't understand."
"I don't need an army. I've got better than an army, and I beat you."
"Yes, Vassily. You beat us," said Anna. Were all men like this? Did they have to crow about these things? Apparently that was what parades were for.
"You can't touch me now. Tell that to the Politburo."
"I'll be happy to, Vassily."
"You can tell them I don't care about them either. I don't have to beat them anymore."
"That's very good, Vassily."
"I don't have to beat them anymore because I am getting myself a whole country for myself. That's why."
"Good, Vassily."
"And he's getting it for me, Harold. Show me all the males making over two million dollars a year who are under twenty-five years old. I want their names and private lives."
The computer operator punched a few keys, and faces, mostly black ones in basketball uniforms, appeared.
"All right, give me State Department officials who have made embarrassing mistakes in the past that we know about. "
Another list came up, but this time with white faces. "Okay, now give me stockbrokerage houses which haven't lived up to SEC regulations."
The screen turned into a blur of names and faces and did not stop.
"Miss Ashford, this will take all day," said the lemon-faced man.
"All right, that's enough. Now, you go back and you tell your friends I am in the process of getting a country and if they want to cut a deal I have nothing against them. But also tell them I'm Russian too. So I know their word isn't worth anything."
"I understand that."
"All I want is to be left alone. Now send me Remo."
"I've been with him. I'll get him."
"He is the only friend I found in this country. Hell of a guy."
"Yes, Great Wang," said Chiun.
"He has his good points, Miss Ashford," said the man Anna was sure was Smith.
"He's a fine fellow, and I'll get him now," said Anna, turning her eyes toward the door.
"You have a nice ass," said Rabinowitz.
"Thank you," said Anna, very careful to control any hostility in her voice. No man who ever said that understood what he was saying. Nice ass for what? Sitting? Fornicating? It hardly played much role in the act. No, what they meant was that the round softness appealed to them. As though a woman's body was an art object.
Well, her object was to get out of the headquarters right away without looking back.
"I will escort her, Great Wang."
"That's all right, I'll do it myself. Fine. We'll be back in a shake of a lamb's tail," she said.
"Perhaps you'd better go, Chiun. Someone may shoot her because she's Russian."
"I've heard them say the same thing about you, Great Wang, which is not true."
"Yes, I've heard that said of you, too, Miss Ashford," said the man who had to be Smith.
"No problem. I'm gone," said Anna, holding her breath. She was out of the headquarters and in the hot Sornica sun, hoping with all her body and soul that Chiun would not come along. She had to reach Remo first. She had to reach Remo now. Remo had to know. He was the only one who could save civilization, and if Chiun got to him first, he might be no better than the slaves in that headquarters. She forced herself not to run. She also knew that she had to look as though she was in charge of something, otherwise some MP would arrest her and it would be back into the trucks.
She almost twisted an ankle on a loose rock going down the hill. Somewhere off to the left she heard small-arms fire. The Americans were mopping up. Someone said that the Sornican forces were trying to escape with their Gucci eyeglasses, Louis Vuitton luggage, and Bally shoes.