"So I've heard. Fortunately we won't have to. We have checked with Washington and their authorization to be here comes directly from the White
rity measures—and your country's—are rather po-
rous.
"We were just discussing that," Sarra said.
"I must tell you that I do not appreciate the way you have been treating my men," Pakir told the Princess.
"In the first place," Sarra told him coldly, "the Royal Guards are my brother's men, not yours. Second, I speak to whom I want, how I want. If you have criticisms, voice them to my brother, later. I will not quarrel with you in front of our guests."
"As you wish, Princess," Pakir replied politely. He nodded at Remo. "The Emir would like to see both of you."
Remo and Chiun stood. Sarra told Remo, "I will join you after I've changed. My brother does not appreciate the dress of Western women." She ran her
House-" I hands along the outsides of her thighs. "I, on the
"Well, then," she said and the half-formed smile [ otnerhand, find it very comfortable."
that had been on her face for the past fifteen minutes blossomed wide for Remo. "In that case, let me introduce our guests. Gentlemen, this is my brother's . . . how do you say it ... right-hand man, Perce Pakir."
"Remo Schwartzenegger," said Remo. He indicated his silent companion. "This is Chiun."
"A Chinese."
"Korean," Remo said quickly—quick enough to
save Pakir's life. "Please, don't make that mistake again. He's very sensitive."
"I apologize for my effrontery," Pakir said to Chiun, bowing slightly at the waist. Chiun glared,
48 E 49
"See you later, Princess," Remo told her.
She tossed her hair behind her shoulders and smiled broadly at him. "Yes. Later," she said.
Remo and Pakir watched her walk from the room. Chiun watched Remo watching and shook his head sadly. Remo smiled at the old man and shrugged. Chiun's expression remained impassive. But he slowly rose and followed Remo and Pakir from the room.
CHAPTER SIX
Even ill, even propped up in bed on pillows, the Emir was royalty. He exuded nobility. Remo noticed it even as he walked into the room.
Chiun was the only other man he had ever noticed to have that quality.
"Your Highness," Pakir said. "This is Mister Remo Schwartzenegger of the United States Government."
Again, the man had ignored Chiun.
"Your Highness, this is Chiun," Remo said. "He is my companion and very much more."
"Yes," the Emir said. "I can see that. Thank you, Pakir. You may go."
"Your Highness, I wish to point out ..."
The emaciated figure in the bed waved a bony, weak hand at his aide-de-camp. "I am sure, Perce, that I shall be quite safe with these two gentlemen. Please leave us."
"As you wish," Pakir said. "I shall be alert, should you need me." He bowed his way from the room.
Chiun was staring intently at the man in the bed, and Remo hoped that the old Korean had not decided to hold the deposed monarch accountable for that ancient debt.
"Please," the Emir beckoned. "Come closer, both
Remo and Chiun moved forward to opposite sides of the bed, Chiun still staring intently at the Emir who seemed not to notice the scrutiny he was under.
"It disturbs me that you were able to breach our defenses so easily," the Emir said.
He was gray-haired and incredibly thin. The skin on his face was loose, as if his skin had been a balloon which had suddenly deflated. Remo could see that he was a very tall man, and at one time he must have been imposing, but now he was just bones and loose flesh.
"It should not disturb Your Highness," Remo told him. "No one else could have gotten through that security so easily. With a few suggestions from us, your security should be tight enough to protect you from everything short of an all-out army attack."
The man in the bed laughed dryly, not by choice but as a by-product of his illness. "I don't think anyone wants me quite that badly, yet."
"I hope not," Remo said and meant it.
"Oh, no doubt there are many who would like to see me dead, but most of them would only attempt my death if it were easy. As you know, the prospect of any effort at all being needed for a particular task will always make that task that much harder and undesirable."
"I guess that's true enough," Remo said.
"Except in the case of the fanatic," Chiun pointed out. Remo and the Emir looked at him as he spoke. "Very often, it is the difficulty of the challenge that will make the mission that much more de-
of you. My voice no longer carries as it once did." I sirable for the fanatic."
50 I 51
"Excellent point," the Emir said. "I salute an ob- i met Chiun's, held them a moment, and then once
viously superior knowledge."
Suddenly the man in bed was struck by some sort of pain. His face twisted in anguish and then a coughing fit shook his body with spasms. Chiun, speaking soft, comforting words in Korean, reached out and touched the ruler's chest, pressing it along the ribs.
The coughing stopped and the look on the Emir's face showed that the pain had gone, too. The contorted grimace of hurt had given way to surprise, then delight.
"What . . . what did you do?" he asked Chiun.
"A simple manipulation of muscles," Chiun said.