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unfinished business to transact."
"Yeah?" Remo said sourly.
"I must have the Master of Sinanju sign a document. It is a mere formality."
"What is this document?" Chiun asked, approaching Smith.
"The firm I mentioned earlier," Smith said. "Nostrum, Inc. For security
reasons, neither I nor any Folcroft employee could be listed in its papers of
incorporation. I took the liberty of using your name, Chiun."
"My name?" Chiun asked, accepting the papers.
"Yes. Simply sign this release, signing over control of Nostrum to me, and you
are free to leave. I will attend to all the legal details."
"One moment. I wish to read this document," Chiun said.
"Come on, Chiun," Remo said impatiently. "We've wasted enough time here."
"Speak for yourself, Remo," Chiun snapped.
"I thought I spoke for both of us," Remo retorted.
"That was before I discovered I was the president of an important
corporation."
"It's a shell corporation," Smith explained. "Of course, it does own an office
building and has assets of over seven million dollars."
"Seven million?" Chiun gasped. His wispy beard trembled. "Mine?"
"Technically, yes," Smith admitted.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Remo said, snatching the documents from Chiun's clawlike
hands. "I can see where this is going. You're going to dangle this under
Chiun's greedy nose, and he's going to take the bait. Nice try, Smitty, but we
quit."
"You have quit, Remo," Chiun said, snatching the document back. "I have not."
"What happened to I-spoke-for-both-of-us?" Remo demanded hotly.
"You spoke for Chiun, CURE employee. Not for Chiun, CEO of Nostrum, Inc."
"CEO?"
"It means chief executive officer," Smith supplied.
"I knew that!" Remo snapped.
"But I did not," Chiun returned. "Emperor Smith, I cannot sign away my rights
without conferring with my attorney."
"Oh, here we go!" Remo wailed. "You don't even have an attorney."
"This is true," Chiun admitted, lifting a long fingernail. "Therefore I must
remain in Smith's employ until I can find one and this matter is settled with
correctness and fairness."
Remo groaned an inaudible word.
Page 21
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"Emperor," Chiun asked Smith, "am I correct in assuming that I have an office
in this Nostrum entity?"
"Yes, it has never been used, but your name is on the door. "
"Then I wish to inspect my office and my building. I must know that it was not
being run into the ground during my unavoidable absence."
"I can arrange that. But if the stock market crashes on Monday, it won't
matter. All of Nostrum's assets are tied up in stocks and other securities."
"Sell!" Chiun cried. "Sell them immediately. Buy gold. Everything else is mere
paper. Gold is eternal. It cannot be burned, or lost, or made worthless by
manipulative men."
"We cannot sell until Monday," Smith explained. "The market is closed. Your
best protection is to help me uncover these unknown stock manipulators."
"I will crucify them on their own worthless paper," Chiun raged. "The baseness
of them. The perfidy. Attempting to ruin my wonderful company."
"I'm not hearing this," Remo said weakly.
"Shall I book you on the next flight to Hong Kong?" Smith inquired.
"At once," Chiun said, furling the Nostrum documents and slipping them up one
sleeve for safekeeping.
"And you, Remo?"
Remo was leaning into the wall, his eyes closed in pain.
"Okay, okay, I'm going to Hong Kong. But don't count on me coming back."
"I know you'll do the right thing."
"Come, Remo," Chiun said imperiously floating from the room.
Remo started for the door, then doubled back. He advanced on Smith with such
purposeful violence that Smith reached for his wheel rims and sent the chair
retreating to the wall.
Remo leaned over.
"You've gotten very clever at manipulating him," he said in a chilly voice.
"I need him," Smith said simply. "And you."
"Just don't try to manipulate me anymore. Got that?"
"Yes," Smith croaked. He watched Remo leave the room with tired eyes. He
wondered how much longer he could keep the organization together. It was
falling apart.
Then, as he sent the chair rolling to the safety of his desk, he caught a
glimpse of his wasted face reflected in the one-way picture window that looked
out over Long Island Sound. He wondered how much longer he could hold up.
He looked over to his cracked leather office chair, sitting forlorn and
forgotten in one corner of the room, and abruptly stood up. He pushed the
wheelchair aside and dragged the chair back to its rightful place.
When he sat down, he felt immensely more comfortable. He made a mental note to
remember to be back in the wheelchair when Remo returned.
Chapter 6
Remo Williams endured the flight across the continental U. S. in smoldering
silence. He spoke not a word to Chiun during the Pacific crossing. He now
stood with his lean arms folded outside Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport as Chiun
disdained the taxicabs in favor of a bicycle-powered pedicab.
Remo climbed into the rickshawlike rattan pedicab seat silently. The driver,
who straddled the bicycle front, listened as Chiun rattled off
incomprehensible directions, and started off.
Remo kept his mouth shut as Chiun hectored the driver, who nearly collided
with a red-and-cream double-decker bus during the congested ride.
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