"Send him in. And take an early lunch."
The Master of Sinanju, resplendent in his blue-and-gold greeting kimono, entered the room with dignified ceremony.
"Hail, Emperor Smith," he called, bowing slightly. "The House of Sinanju brings you greetings and felicitations. Great is my pleasure in beholding your wise, your magnificent, your robust countenance once more."
"Thank you," said Smith, whose eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, and whose ashen face looked like a dead man's. "I am surprised to see you."
"Your joy is returned a thousandfold," said the Master of Sinanju.
"Er, you're not working for anyone at the moment, are you? I mean, this is a social call-isn't it?"
"I am between employers at present," admitted Chiun. Smith relaxed slightly. The loyalty of a Master of Sinanju, he knew, stopped at the termination of each contract. There was no telling what Chiun wanted. He might even be here to assassinate Smith himself.
"You're not here about that unresolved matter in Sinanju?" asked Smith cautiously.
"And what unresolved matter is that?" asked Chiun innocently.
"When the Russian business was concluded, I asked you to terminate my life, and you refused."
"Ah." Chiun nodded. "I recall I refused because you had not enough coin to pay. Oh, I am ashamed, Emperor Smith, ashamed to the very core of my being. I should not have refused so minor a boon. In truth, I am here to atone for my error."
"I no longer require your services," Smith said hastily.
"No?" The Master of Sinanju looked disappointed, nearly stricken. "Are you certain?"
"Quite certain. The President has authorized CURE to continue. This releases me from my duty to commit suicide."
Chinn lifted a long-nailed finger.
"This is good," he said. "For the atonement I wish to make has nothing to do with killing you-although I would gladly do so if this were your command. I would do anything the Emperor Smith, in his inexorable wisdom, commands."
"You would?" said Smith, dumbfounded. "Anything?"
"Anything," Chiun said placidly.
"But our contract has been voided. You told me so yourself."
"Clause Fifty-six, Paragraph Four." Chiun nodded. "Which stipulates that contracts between emperors and the House of Sinanju may not be transferred to third parties. You did this, committing the Master of Sinanju to service to Russia. You did this under threat of blackmail by the Russians. Remo has explained these details to me. I bear you no ill for your oversight, for that is surely all that it was. Emperors, of course, cannot be expected to remember all the niceties and details, especially the fine paint."
"I'm glad you feel that way, Master Chiun, but I still don't quite understand what you're doing in America."
"Clause Fifty-six, Paragraph Ten." Chinn smiled. "Under the rubric 'Refunds.' "
"As I recall, a shipment of gold accompanied you on your last submarine crossing to Sinanju. Under the circumstances, I didn't assume we were due a refund. Are you here then to return the gold prepayment?" asked Smith.
"Would that it were in my power," said the Master of Sinanja sadly.
"Then what?"
From the folds of his robe the Master of Sinanju extracted a gold-edged scroll tied with a blue ribbon. Chiun delicately untied the ribbon, causing the scroll to roll open.
"Allow me to read. 'In the event of termination of services, the House of Sinanju is obligated to refund all prepayments, prorated to the term of unfulfilled service.'
"Alas," continued the Master of Sinanju, "Remo, my adopted son, is to wed a Sinanju maiden, and because that maiden was an orphan bereft of family and dowry, and because Sinanju law forbids the House of Sinanju to retain gold that it has not truly earned, I was thrown into a dilemma. I did not know what to do," said Chiun, because emperors sometimes did not know simple words like "dilemma."
"I could not keep the gold. And you had already returned to America when I discovered my lapse. Poor Remo, my son, could not marry his chosen bride because she had no dowry. It was a difficult time. But in my wisdom, I saw a solution to all our problems."
"You gave the gold to Mah-Li," Smith said wearily.
"I gave the gold to Mah-Li," said Chiun triumphantly, in almost the same breath. And he smiled. "Truly, you are a mind reader, as well as generous and understanding."
"You came all the way to Sinanju to tell me that you can't return the gold?"
"No, I have come all the way to the wonderful land of America to atone for my error, as I have said."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning my new dilemma," said Chiun. "I cannot return the gold, for I have given it away."
"You have a great deal of gold, Master of Sinanju," reminded Smith.
"True," said the Master of Sinanju. "But I do not have a submarine. Only a submarine is capable of transporting such generous quantities of gold from Sinanju to these happy shores."
It was true, thought Smith. Annually, he had shipped enough gold ingots to Sinanju to pay off the debts of many small nations. And Chiun never spent that gold, according to Remo.
"I can make arrangements for one of our nuclear subs to pick up the repayment," Smith said.
"I cannot allow that," said Chiun. "Why not?"
"It would be unfair. The expense you would incur in sending that vessel would detract from the value of the repayment." Chiun shook his aged head. "No, I would not do that to you."
"We can work something out." said Smith.
"No," said Chiun hastily. "For Sinanju law dictates that all repayments be made in the same coin. No substitutes."
"I would not mind," said Smith.
"But my ancestors would," returned Chiun.
"Then what?"
Chiun paced the office. "I cannot repay in the same coin. It is regrettable, but I am stuck. Therefore, as difficult as it will be, as much as I desire to remain in Sinanju with my adopted son and my people who wept bitterly when I left them, I must fulfill my contract with you."
"I'm sure we can come up with an alternate solution," Smith said.
"I have thought long on this," Chiun said firmly. "This is the only way."