"Pyon ha-da!" the president of South Korea repeated, his voice a shocked gasp. He began getting to his knees beside the leader of the North.
"Oh, don't even start," Remo growled at him. He grabbed the president under the armpit, hauling him to his feet.
"You cannot fight the inevitable," Man Hyung Sun said seriously.
Remo wheeled on him. "Look, you don't even want to get into this with me, pal," he warned, raising a threatening finger to the cult leader.
"Remo!" Chiun said, aghast. "You will show proper respect for the Messenger of the Korean Age."
"Respect?" Remo scoffed. "He's lucky I don't rip his lungs out and knot them around his frigging neck." He took a step toward Sun.
There was a sudden blur, like a scattering of gold dust in the gale-force wind. All at once, the Master of Sinanju stood protectively before Man Hyung Sun. His hands were down at his sides. Knots of ivory bone, ready to strike.
Remo took a shocked step back. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked.
Chiun's face was cold. "Guarding the life of the prophet with my own."
Stunned, Remo released his grip on the president of South Korea. The man sank slowly to his knees next to the North Korean premier. Remo hardly noticed.
"I can't believe you're falling for this fraud, Chiun," Remo said, shaking his head in astonishment.
"A fraud is only a fraud to those who disbelieve him," Man Hyung Sun intoned.
Remo ignored the platitude. He was staring into the fiery hazel eyes of the Master of Sinanju. There was not a hint of deception in them. He appeared to be quite serious. Was this the final, fatal look that had been seen by so many of the old Korean's victims?
Chiun seemed poised to strike. And for the life of him, Remo could not tell if he was bluffing.
A few present on that icy runway sensed that there was an epic battle about to commence. Looking up from where they knelt, they spied the two men standing face-to-face. In truth, what was happening was more an epic sizing up.
Remo rotated his thick wrists absently as he looked down at the tiny wisp of a man who had taught him so much. Chiun stared back, face impassive.
Remo was the first to blink.
"The hell with this," he said, stepping back. He waved an angry hand. "You'll see I'm right soon enough."
Stepping away from the Reverend Sun, Remo slumped back against his jeep, arms crossed sullenly across his chest.
Chiun relaxed his stance. Hands slithered up the sleeves of his golden kimono, locking on to opposite wrists.
The Reverend Man Hyung Sun beamed.
"Do we not see the future already?" he proclaimed. "When every face is Korean and every mind and soul equally wise, there will be no more competition. No more fighting. No more conflict. Paradise waits in pyon ha-da!"
Sun clapped his hands loudly together. All eyes looked up to him. The cult leader indicated that the men should rise. Soldiers came forward to help the dictator of the North and the democratically elected president of the South to their feet.
"Bring transport!" Sun called "The future begins in the wounded belly of this divided land!"
Limousines, jeeps and trucks were driven onto the runway. The leaders of the two Koreas climbed into the first limo together as the rest of the men scattered among the remaining vehicles. Sun ducked back inside his jet to collect a package.
While he was gone, the Master of Sinanju approached Remo.
"Are you coming?" Chiun asked, his voice betraying no emotion.
"Yeah, I'll go," Remo said. "But I don't believe in any of this crystal-ball bullshit."
Chiun shook his head. There was not a trace of warmth in his eyes. "It no longer matters what you think," he said seriously. "It is destiny."
Turning away from his pupil, the Master of Sinanju went in search of transport. He did not look back.
Chapter 27
Spy satellites and reconnaissance planes were the first to see it. The information was radioed back and up along the chain of command until secure phone lines from Washington to Moscow, from London to Beijing, were ringing off the hook. In military war rooms all around the globe, the slow, relentless movement of the caravan toward the Thirty-eighth Parallel was greeted with great apprehension.
And in the lead limousine of the mighty line of army and civilian vehicles, Remo Williams sat brooding. He was also trying to stay out of range of the Reverend Sun's wretched after-shave lotion.
"Is he always like this?" Man Hyung Sun whispered to the Master of Sinanju.
"Sadly, yes," Chiun replied. "It is a trait he picked up from his mother."
"Leave my mother out of this," Remo snapped. "You never even met her."
"Neither have you," Chiun sniffed. He pitched his voice low again. "He is an orphan," he said to Sun.
"That's none of his damned business, either," Remo said harshly, his eyes betraying his deep anger.
"Perhaps we should leave this one alone for now," the Reverend Sun suggested. "I fear only pyon ha-da will turn him from his deeply ingrained white ways."
"Listen," Remo said, "I'm not picking a fight with you, Chiun, but there is no way in hell the entire human race is going to turn Korean overnight."
Chiun nodded. "That is correct."
Remo brightened. "So you agree this is nuts?"
"No," Chiun said. "I merely agree that it will not occur overnight. Seer Sun has informed me that pyon ha-da will take place during daylight, so that the entire population of the world can witness its moment of flowering perfection."
Remo closed his eyes. "Half the world is dark at any given time," he said. "How's Houdini gonna fix that?"
"When the world is Korean, the Creator of all things will no longer allow night to fall," Chiun explained. "He only invented darkness to at least partially mask the shame he felt for his mistake at the heavenly oven. When there are no more whites or blacks or other inferiors, there will no longer be a need for night."
"Remind me to toss out my night-light," Remo deadpanned.
"You need not be so recalcitrant," Sun offered. "Your father in spirit has told me that you already possess some Korean blood."
"Nice of him to share a family secret," Remo said, his voice level. He glanced at Chiun.
"As part Korean already, you will be superior to the others who will only be naturalized Koreans. You will be a leader in the new order."