"Why would he do a crazy thing like that?" cried Ferris. "Wait a minute. What's his name-Somethingberger, right? He must be Jewish. That's it! This is a Zionist plot, isn't it?"
"I'm sure the Secretary of Defense knows what he's doing," the FBI man said.
"Are you Jewish?" Ferris asked suddenly, suspiciously.
"Sir?"
"I asked you an important question."
"Well, actually, no."
"Yon probably wouldn't admit it if you were."
"I have my orders," the FBI supervisor said stiffly. "Now, if you'll excuse me . . ."
The FBI supervisor led his men away, shaking his head. It had been a while since he'd seen such rabid religious hatred. Funny thing was, the guy looked Jewish himself.
After he had left, Ferris D'Orr dazedly sank into a chair. His face was drained of color.
"You poor man," said the Master of Sinanju, entering the room. "Let me help you."
"Who? What? How did you get in here?"
"The elevator," said the Master of Sinanju, pushing the titanium nebulizer into another room.
Ferris jumped to his feet. "What are you doing? Where are you going with that?"
The Oriental stopped momentarily. "I am Chiun, reigning Master of Sinanju. You are Ferris?"
"Ferris D'Orr. "
"You are a metallurgist?"
"That's right."
Chiun nodded. "I am removing the offending metals from this room. It is a good thing I am here. Those who guarded you before me should have known better than to leave you alone with the cause of your illness."
"What illness?" demanded Ferris D'Orr, blocking Chiun from leaving the room with the nebulizer.
"You are a metallurgist. You said so."
"We've been through that."
"You are allergic to metal. I am removing the metals."
"I didn't ask for a cleaning person," said Ferris D'Orr haughtily. "Certainly not one who can't speak the language. "
"I was speaking English before you were born," Chiun said. "But I will not hold your insult against you. You are obviously in a weakened mental state from this cruel exposure to metal. Look at this room. It is filled with blocks of metal, all ugly and dull and useless."
"This is my laboratory,' said Ferris D'Orr, trying to shove the nebulizer back into the room. For some reason, it would not budge, even after he pushed with all his might. It was as if the device was bolted to the floor.
"You are beginning to sweat, poor man. Come. It will be better if I take you into the next room."
"I don't want to go into the next room!" said Ferris D'Orr, and although the old Oriental only took his wrist between two delicate fingers, Ferris found himself pulled into the next room as if by a tow cable.
"I have a very dangerous guard coming to protect me," Ferris warned after he was gently but firmiy deposited on an overstuffed chair. "This man is so dangerous he's replacing a crack team of FBI agents. So you better get outta here, pal."
The Master of Sinanju, receiving a compliment, bowed and allowed the faintest of satisfied smiles to etch his features.
"I am Chiun. I have only today returned to your wonderful land, which I see with new eyes. I will therefore allow you to call me Chiun, as other Americans familiarly call one another by their first names."
"Wonderful. But my warning still goes. This guy is a killer."
"I am that guy, the killer," said Chiun.
"You?"
"Me."
"I never saw a killer who looked like you."
"You never saw a killer who killed like me," Chiun said reasonably.
"What do we do now?"
"You have a television set?"
"Right behind you."
The Master of Sinanju turned. "I see no such thing," he sniffed.
"The cabinet. It's a projection TV. You lift it by the handle. "
Puzzled, the Master of Sinanju walked over to a false wood table with a hand slot on the top, He reached in, and the hinged top lifted, exposing not the glass tube of the usual TV set, but a large white screen. Then the Master of Sinanju saw the familiar knobs. He pressed the On button.
The news appeared on the screen and Chiun quickly changed the channel.
"What are you doing?"
"I am trying to find one of my beautiful dramas of happier days. I did not bring my tapes with me, alas."
"Beautiful dramas?"
"Is Edge of Darkness still shown?"
"I think it was canceled."