Warren Murphy - Failing Marks

"What is it?" Remo asked, happy at anything that could change the Master of Sinanju's mood.

"Only this," Chiun said, his voice elated. He raised high a piece of mail.

Chiun had kept a mysterious mail drop for years. Today was the day of the month he had its contents transferred to their current residence. He received a bizarre assortment of mail there, which he generally shielded from Remo. This letter, however, he waved like a trophy above his bald head.

Remo had to snatch the letter from Chiun's hand. As he scanned it, he saw that it was written in a language he didn't understand.

"Care to fill me in?" he asked. Chiun snatched the note back.

"It is from the enchanting Valkyrie," he said, "The delightful daughter of Gunther of the Nibelungenlied. "

"Heidi?" Remo asked. He tried to grab the letter again, but Chiun spirited it out of his reach.

"She tells how she has secreted half of the Hoard in something called a storage facility in Bonn." Chiun reached into the folds of his kimono. He held aloft a single shiny silver key. "Behold, the passkey to the wondrous unit number 18. Therein we will find both gold and keys to chambers 19 through 22. We need only find a way to transport the Hoard out of Germany."

"If that doesn't cause Smith to throw an embolism, I don't know what will," Remo said dryly. Chiun didn't even hear Remo. He was practically singing. "Apparently my gold has taken up many spaces at this repository. The dear girl has even paid expenses on this place of storage from out of her own sweet pocket." Chiun sighed wistfully. "Do you think, Remo, that at my age it is possible to find true love?"

Remo was leaning against the kitchen counter, arms crossed in disgust. "Don't ask me," he said sourly. "Check your bank book."

EPILOGUE

Heidi waited three months before returning to the castle of her ancestors. She made certain first that Remo and Chiun had moved their half of the gold from Bonn.

The last thing she wanted was a confrontation with either Master of Sinanju. Kluge had made that mistake. It was his mismanagement of IV that had brought the organization crashing down around his ears.

Heidi had chosen a secret location beneath the ancient chapel to hide her half of the Hoard. Beneath the shifted stone altar, two huge oaken doors that otherwise meshed with the hardwood floor had been flung open.

She watched as the few remaining Numbers carried her portion of the Hoard down into the treasure chamber hidden deep beneath the Harz Mountain castle. There were only thirty of the blond-haired men left. Thirty of her brothers.

Numbers. The term was so dehumanizing. Not fitting for the men who were supposed to be the future masters of the world. She would have to come up with something else to call them.

When they were finished hiding the treasure, one of the Numbers came over to her. It was the same man who had followed Remo from Berlin months ago. The one who had been on his way to report to Kluge when he was spotted by Heidi. He had instantly recognized her as the genetic superior to them all. He had been the one to tell her where the IV village was located. It wasn't a betrayal of Kluge. She was superior to the dead IV leader. The Number recognized that.

Everything after their chance meeting had been easy. Including the massive undertaking of moving the entire Nibelungen Hoard.

As the man stood, stone-faced, before her, Heidi smiled. She nodded her pleasure at his work. "Seal it off," she said, indicating the chamber. The men across the room flung down the massive wooden doors. They landed with a crash, upsetting a huge plume of dust. It rose up into the dim light that filtered in through the stained glass of the castle room.

"From now on, Four will move cautiously," Heidi said with a smile. "And swiftly."