Warren Murphy - Look Into My Eyes

Chiun agreed to take Anna Chutesov to see the Great Wang's friend Vassily Rabinowitz, provided she kept her hands to herself, made no lascivious moves, and gave up any designs on Remo.

"Done. Absolutely. The easiest promise I ever made," said Anna.

"Don't trust her. She's Russian," said Chiun.

"I'll be all right. You two go ahead," said Remo. He remembered his days long ago from Vietnam when he was a marine and he thought fighting was done with a rifle against people you didn't know. How different it was, he thought, watching the columns of American soldiers slogging along the roads.

Now he understood that to kill another properly you really had to know him, know his moves, his essence, what he was. It was the knowing that made Sinanju different.

Would that mean that Vassily Rabinowitz might be the one man he and Chiun could never kill because he was the one man they could not know?

It was a good question. He would have to ask Anna that when she returned.

Anna thought walking up the hill toward the headquarters with the old Oriental was like walking with Remo, except the older man expressed his hostility, which in a way wasn't all that hostile. It was more like intense peeve. Both he and Remo had extraordinary powers and demanded that the world conform to their realities. For the most part they could effect bits of that, but the world was too big even for those like Chiun.

She had crucial questions about Rabinowitz. And the answers were interesting.

Chiun had been planning to kill Vassily until a legend of Sinanju stepped in to tell him Vassily was a good man. "What were you thinking at the time just before your legend stepped into your path?"

"I wasn't thinking anything. I was working."

"Killing?" asked Anna.

"If you must be so crude. But then why should I expect anything but crudity from another Remo pickup? He's had hundreds of women, you know. You won't be any different. So don't even try."

"You have my promise," said Anna.

"Do you know what the historical worth of a Russian promise is?" asked Chiun. "Your revolution didn't change anything. Czar Ivan, of course, was the wonderful exception. But otherwise, I would never work in Russia without payment in advance. None of us did. And you have only yourselves to blame. We could have saved you from the Mongols, but you wanted credit. Never again."

"I take it past czars did not pay their bills."

"Ivan the Good did. There was always work and he paid promptly."

"Some people call him Ivan the Terrible."

"Russians are always good at propaganda."

"This Great Wang could not appear to both you and Remo at the same time, could he?"

"I don't discuss work with women."

"Think of me as a Russian."

"Worse yet."

"Think of me as the woman who will not touch your precious Remo again."

"Wang does many things, but not appearing in two different places simultaneously. He doesn't do that."

"And you know Remo saw Wang because he has made this transition you spoke of."

"Yes," said Chiun.

"Then do you ever wonder that this might not be the Great Wang you talk to?"

"My wonderings are my own."

"If you threw a blow at Wang, of course you would kill him."

"No. He has been dead for centuries."

"So then it would not matter."

"Correct. One can throw a blow at the Great Wang. Our strokes, mine and the one that I taught Remo, are the cleanest, if you didn't know. In all history."

"That's wonderful," said Anna. "Could I see you throw one of them at the Great Wang?"

"No. You wouldn't see it."

"Could I see the results?"

"Can you see this?" said Chiun, and Anna only saw a rustle of the dark kimono.

"I didn't see your hand move."

"Too fast. You'd never see it."

"I have a sister more beautiful than me. And she lipkisses in public. I wouldn't tell her about how cute Remo is if you'd show me you did that."

"I don't make deals with harlots, especially concerning the family heritage."

"But you are worried about the Wang you see, aren't you?" said Anna. And Chiun fell silent.

And so by the time she reached Vassily Rabinowitz she understood that his powers were even more than convincing someone they saw someone else. Rabinowitz had been able to reach a core of thinking that would transcend a person's normal logic. She also knew that the moment Rabinowitz even suspected danger, her mind would not be her own. Even worse, she would not know something was wrong; she would not be able to understand that anything but something wonderful was happening.

The happy faces of the American officers coming out of the meeting with Rabinowitz did not make Anna feel any better. Rabinowitz might be broadcasting his powers now toward anyone who came to him.

This had not been the case at the parapsychology village. She had checked this out carefully. Cleaning people, and those around Vassily who were not in authority and not a threat, were never affected by him.

According to his dossier, occasionally he would perform tricks for them.

If they didn't like the weather he would change it, and they would return to their homes soaked to the skin, claiming the day was sunny.

He made things disappear easily, because all a person had to believe was that they were gone to stop seeing them. But other than these random tricks he did not practice his powers on those who were not a danger.

"Old Blood 'n' Guts will see you now," said a sergeant.

"Sometimes they call the Great Wang that. It is an American term of endearment," said Chiun.

Anna's mouth felt dry. She smoothed out her skirt. She told herself that she was going to feel good things for Vassily. She was not going to let off any vibrations of hostility. She would show servility from the beginning.

"All right," she said. "I'm ready."

Several colonels left, laughing. They gave Anna lascivious looks. She lowered her eyes.

Be subservient she told herself again. Think subservient. "You can come in now. But make it fast," said another guard. He nodded to Chiun.

Chiun led the way.

Inside, Rabinowitz sat on a lounge chair. A gaunt lemon-faced man worked a computer keyboard. He did it with such skill and speed, Anna was surprised he was not younger. More important, he seemed to be able to access things with a smooth precision most computer operators lacked. They always seemed to be trying things that had to be tried again. This man just did things. Anna glanced at the computer terminal and saw the coordinates for the entire southwest railway system. Apparently this man, whoever he was, had jumped the communications for four independent railroads and was now operating them in the service of moving supplies south toward debarkation points, appearing on the screen now as Sornica.

"O great one, here is a woman whose virtue I cannot vouch for," said Chiun.

"I've come to surrender," said Anna.

"Don't have time for that," said Vassily. She still saw him as Vassily. Good. He didn't need her for anything.

"Russia wishes to surrender. You have won. We have an apology for sending General Matesev and the sniper. Russia guarantees the safety of your family. Of your loved ones. Of your return if you wish. Russia is no enemy of yours." This Anna said in Russian so Vassily would understand he was speaking to another Russian.

"Because I beat you, right?"

"Doesn't it make sense?" said Anna, praying he couldn't read minds too. Because she knew while it made sense, those who ran the Russian military did not make sense.

"I don't care. You can't hurt me now. No one can hurt me now," said Rabinowitz. "And you'd get my parents out of Dulsk if I asked and if they wanted, you know why?"

"No," said Anna.

"It doesn't matter now. That's why."

"I don't understand."

"I don't need an army. I've got better than an army, and I beat you."