"I understand."
Remo whirled. "You do?"
"Yes, of course. That fine building is obviously a temple of worship. Is it one of your churches, Remo?"
"No, but it's important. We can't let it go up in smoke. "
"I suggest the Flying Dragon attack," Chiun said, surveying the building.
Remo shook his head. "Too wild. We gotta pinpoint the man with the explosive detonator. Once we take him out, the rest will be just mopping up."
"I do no mopping, up or down," snapped Chiun. "I am no menial. I will consider mopping up when I receive a proper rice break."
"Look, this is very serious. And mopping up is just an expression."
"So is respect. And I see none of it from either Smith or you."
"Simmer down," Remo said, slipping around the ring of National Guardsmen. "The reason Smith didn't brief you on the mission was that he wasn't sure you'd understand about the detonator. It's very tricky stuff."
"What is so tricky about something that goes boom?"
"Not being on the premises when it does go boom," Remo said dryly. "Ask any bomb-disposal expert."
"I will leave boom disposal to you. I will handle the garbage disposal, heh, heh. "
"I think our best bet would be to sneak up on the building," Remo said as he studied the Lincoln Memorial, just across the river. It was as still as a photograph. "The National Guard has a clear view of the whole grounds. The terrorists have the same advantage. We should swim for it, then sneak up on the building."
"Ah, the Sea Dragon attack. A sound approach," said Chiun, girding his waist as he headed for the sparkling waters of the Potomac. "Then we will descend upon these villains, faster than a serpent's fangs, and steal the very breath from their mouths."
"Not so fast," Remo said, touching Chiun on the shoulder. "It's more complicated than that."
Chiun turned and looked up at Remo curiously. "How so?"
"I thought you heard what Smith said. About the detonator."
"I only listened to the meaningful portions. The painful words. The low, base lack of appreciation. Besides, we are faster than any finger on any button."
"It's not striking before they push the button this time out, Little Father. We've got to hit them so they don't let go of the button. One of those guys is holding a device. I'm not sure what it looks like. But the instant he lets go, ka-boom!"
Chiun considered. "I liked the old buttons better."
"That's progress. Got any ideas on how to handle this? An appropriate legend about the days of the pharaohs perhaps?"
Chiun frowned. "Pharaohs did not have explosions."
"Let's hope we don't either," Remo said. "And I take it I'm on my own figuring this one out."
Chiun shrugged. "You are an American. You are used to dealing with the irrational."
Remo looked at Chiun and started to say something. He changed his mind and instead said, "No comment. Just follow me. Maybe when we spot the guy with the detonator, something will come to us."
And Remo, moving low to the ground, slipped into the water like a duck, the Master of Sinanju following him. Their heads vanished under the surface so cleanly that within seconds there was no ripple to betray their penetration.
As the cold current of the Potomac closed over them, Remo and Chiun moved through the water like two purposeful dolphins. They held air in their lungs so that no water bubbles betrayed their passing. They were like human submarines, silent, efficient, undetectable. Their lungs contained just enough air to keep them floating under the surface, but not so little that they touched the silty river bottom. Their feet kicked in small controlled motions, their arms trailed at their sides, hands moving like little rudders.
Emerging on the other side of the river, they lurked in the shrubbery while they scanned the situation. The Lincoln Memorial shone in the glow of its ground spotlights. The long Reflecting Pool it faced was tranquil. The air was cool, but Remo sensed the tension that gripped the night.
"I see no persons," Chiun whispered.
Remo shifted to another vantage point, confident that even the National Guard could not see him. He spotted a figure in khaki. His head was swathed in a black kafflyeh.
"See the one pacing behind the columns?" Remo whispered.
The Master of Sinanju nodded. "He carries a boom stick, but no other weapon."
"He's yours if we have to move quickly."
"He is already history," said Chiun, repeating a phrase he had picked up from American TV.
"Just so the Lincoln Memorial isn't."
Several minutes passed without another person showing himself.
"Guess we might as well get this over with," Remo breathed. "Remember what I said about the detonator." When he got no answer, Remo looked at the next bush. Chiun was not in sight. Then he saw the Master of Sinanju slip around the side of the Lincoln Memorial. "Oh, Christi Chiuni What are you trying to do to me?"
And Remo glided toward the huge illuminated stairs of the Lincoln Memorial. He threw himself up against one of the huge Doric columns. He listened. He heard breathing. Low, tense. The breathing of nervous men. Three of them. He waited. Where the hell was Chiun? Then suddenly there were only two men breathing. What the hell? Remo thought.
Then only one man's breathing could be heard. "Damn!" Remo cursed. He had no choice now. He moved in.
A man slouched in the lee of the entrance to the sanctuary housing the great seated figure of Abraham Lincoln, his AK-47 held in both hands. The figure looked relaxed, the gun muzzle pointing to the limestone flooring.
Remo, sensing no breathing, walked up to the man. His eyelids were lowered, but not closed. He seemed to be looking down the muzzle of his weapon. But when Remo placed a palm under his nose, he felt no exhalation.
The man was dead. Chiun's handiwork. But what was he trying to do? Prove himself to Smith? Remo moved on. The sanctuary looked empty. He made for the statue anyway.
Easing around behind the Lincoln statue, Remo sensed rather than heard a presence. It was close. It was not behind the statue. Nor was it outside.
A pebble struck him on the head and Remo jumped like a cat.
"Shhhh!" a voice hissed. Remo looked up. The Master of Sinanju was perched on Lincoln's shoulder. "What are you-!"
Chiun laid a finger before his lips. He leapt, floating to the ground like a colorful human parachute.
"I have immobilized two of them. What have you accomplished?" Chiun asked smugly.
"I just got here."