A Pound of Prevention td-121

by Warren Murphy

  And it wasn't as if it would be painful. The bombs would incinerate them in an instant. Boom, flash, gone. And as the radioactive dust settled on the twisted ruins of Bachsburg, the world of their families would have become a better place. If anything, the whole planet should be thanking him after tonight. He had seen an opportunity to do good and had seized it. He alone had it in his power to cleanse the earth of an infectious disease. How many criminal generations were represented in Bachsburg right now? Men from twenty to eighty. Three generations, gone.

  Behind him, several tourists started laughing at some private joke. The sound was a dagger in Remo's back.

  He skulked quickly around a corner.

  Sure, the innocent people in Bachsburg probably wouldn't thank him if they knew. But if they could just step back and see the big picture like he did-if they only knew the sheer number of people he'd killed in order to make their lives a little better then they'd understand. He was making a better world for their kids.

  It popped into his head before he could stop it. Children. He instantly regretted thinking it.

  How many children would be without parents after tonight? How many parents would lose sons and daughters?

  According to Smith, there were a hundred and fifty thousand people in and around Bachsburg. The blast would claim them in an instant. Beyond that, no one but L. Vas Deferens could say for sure. He was the only one who knew how many bombs there were, and the yield of each.

  As he walked, Remo gauged the direction of the wind. At the moment, it was blowing from west to east. If it shifted direction after midnight, Luzuland would be swept by the radiation cloud. All of the people Remo had seen there would die-from Chief Batubizee to Bubu to the women and children who sat in the bone-dry dust. All dead.

  And the deaths of the Luzus wouldn't be painless. For the people of Luzuland, there would be sores and radiation poisoning and cancers of every kind. A slow, painful process that would take years to finish.

  But it was worth it, wasn't it?

  Wandering from one street to the next, Remo hadn't been paying attention to the sounds around him. Vaguely, he became aware of a noise coming from somewhere up ahead. It had filtered up from his unconscious into his conscious mind as he crossed from yet another strip of black asphalt over to an area of well-tended lawn.

  Still walking, he looked up. And blinked.

  His aimless meandering had brought him to the edge of a city park. All around the lawn, dozens of small children were running and laughing. The oldest couldn't have been much more than eight.

  Skirting the edge of the park, he tried to force his eyes down. But as he walked, his troubled gaze was drawn to the activity.

  He had decided that the bombs of Minister Deferens should be harnessed as a cleansing tool. But as he watched the children at play, the seeds of guilt sprouted full bloom.

  As he circled the park, he tried imposing on the people nearby the same negative emotions he felt for Mandobar's criminal guests.

  In the park, black and white were still largely separated.

  Racial hatred. From both sides. Would that be enough to doom an entire city?

  Fighting his own doubts now, Remo wanted more than anything to believe that everyone in Bachsburg was evil. But as he crossed the narrow footpath that sliced through the wide lawn, he found not evil, but hope.

  On a wrought-iron bench, two women talked, one black, one white. Other racially mixed groups pushed strollers through the park or sat on blankets spread out on the grass.

  The children seemed to care less about skin color than the adults. They disregarded race entirely, playing loudly and happily together. Sometimes a parent-mostly whites-would pull a child away from a group of mixed-race children, but by and large this was the exception.

  The thing that had thrust East Africa into the international spotlight was hardly visible in this place. All around him was the joy and contentment of youth. Tomorrow it would all be ashes.

  Stopping near a chain-link fence, Remo stuffed his hands into his pockets. His fingertips brushed a pair of familiar objects.

  He had switched them from the pants he'd ruined in the sewer. At the time, he didn't know why he'd bothered.

  In one hand, Remo held the cross given him by baby Karen's great-grandmother. In the other, the tiny stone figure that had been a gift from the child apparition.

  He had been furious at the news accounts of the infant's death. He had wanted more than anything to bring her back to life, to be there to stop Brad Miller from murdering her in the first place.

  The Master Who Never Was had spoken of Remo's destiny. Of the day he would bear the terrible, wonderful burden of the proud history of Sinanju on his shoulders.

  And in that moment, Remo knew that no matter how he tried to rationalize it, this could not be his future.

  In one palm, sunlight glinted off the shiny silver crucifix. In the other, the carved stone face no longer seemed flat. In the details of the mouth and eyes there seemed a quiet hope.

  He stared at both objects for a long time. Thank you, Remo.

  No one ever said that to him. No one would ever say it.

  Thank you. It was something he longed to hear. But never would.

  So many years. No difference ...no change...

  By the time he looked back up, many of the parents were packing up their families and getting ready to leave.

  How many hours had passed?

  Slowly, with infinite care, he folded his hands shut. He replaced crucifix and carving delicately in his pocket.

  When Remo turned his back on the park, his eyes were rimmed in red. He struck off across the street, heading slowly toward the hotel district. Not once did he look back.

  Chapter 30

  "Sometimes I really hate you."

  The Master of Sinanju was sitting in the same spot where Remo had left him. His hazel eyes were knowing as Remo slammed the hotel-room door shut.

  "Did you get our plane tickets?" Chiun queried.

  "Cut the crap and get up," Remo snarled. "We've got work to do."

  From the hall, he'd sensed someone else inside. Bubu stood from the couch as Remo crossed into the living area.

  "Do you get a nickel every time you drive in and out of Luzuland?" Remo asked the native.

  Bubu hesitated. "I do not mean to interrupt," he said, confused. "Master Chiun has told me that you were about to begin destroying the devices beneath the city."

  Remo shot a glance at Chiun. "Did he," he said blandly. "Well, it was iffy for a while, but I guess it's made it onto the 'to do' list."

  The Luzu smiled. "I am glad you have changed your mind, Master Remo," he said. "I was worried that you had taken my wish for the destruction of Bachsburg to heart."

  "No fear of that," Remo replied, his face sour. "This town will stand as a testament to vice for years to come. Get a move on, will you, Chiun?"

  The Master of Sinanju rose to his feet. "Bubu has something to tell you," he intoned.

  "If it has something to do with the ranger shipping me off to a zoo, I'm not interested," Remo said.

  "Listen," Chiun insisted. There was an urgency to his tone that Remo could not ignore.

  "Okay, what? And make it snappy."

  "After I left Master Chiun here in the city, I returned to my village. On the way, I encountered many aircraft. They flew above me across Luzuland."

  Remo instantly thought of Deferens and his murder plot. "Were they going after Batubizee?" he asked.

  Bubu shook his head. "At first I thought this, as well. I assumed the villains here had learned of the departure of Master Chiun and were hoping to attack before his return. I made haste back to my village only to find things as I left them. The helicopters from Bachsburg were not flying there, but to the evil city at the edge of Luzuland." The native nodded to the Master of Sinanju. "Master Chiun saw it on our way to the Luzu treasury."

  "It is a small settlement," Chiun interjected.

  "There are a few dozen homes, a
s well as one very large building."

  Bubu nodded eagerly. "I led an expedition to the hills above this place. Many of the helicopters were there, as was the fiend Mandobar."

  This got Remo's attention. "Mandobar?" he asked sharply. "Isn't he still in China?"

  "The husband," Bubu stressed. "Not his wife, Nellie. She is bringing many of the evil chiefs to her right now."

  Remo scrunched up his face. "Nellie Mandobar? I thought she faded away once Willie ditched her."

  "No. She is here. Many are loyal to her still. The men from the helicopters embraced her."

  In an instant, it all made sense.

  "Nellie Mandobar," Remo said, nodding. "That's why he could be away now. He doesn't have anything to do with it."

  And in a very quiet part of himself, Remo felt relief. He was glad that a man who was a hero to so many people wasn't involved in something so sinister.

  "This does not make sense," the Master of Sinanju said. "Why would this female plot the destruction of this city only to remove her victims from it beforehand?"

  "She doesn't know about it," Remo explained. "Caving in Bachsburg was a side scheme Deferens cooked up. And speaking of Casper the GQ Ghost..."

  Spinning, he hurried into the hallway. Chiun and Bubu followed, the Luzu jogging to keep up. Marching down four doors, Remo entered the suite. When they crossed to the bedroom, they found the sleeping form of Minister L. Vas Deferens stretched out on the sheets.

  "This is where you hid him?" Chiun scowled.

  "I'm getting slicker in my old age." Remo grinned.

  Reaching down, he tapped one knuckle against the minister's forehead. The pale man's eyes sprang open wide.

  "Wakey-wakey," Remo said.

  It took Deferens a moment to get oriented. When he did, panic set in. "Where am I?" he demanded, jumping to a sitting position, "What time is it?"

  "Bachsburg, premidnight," Remo said. "And unless your shorts are lead-lined, you've got some bombs to deactivate."

  "We were in ...my office," Deferens said as he looked around the hotel room in amazement. Remo's words brought his wandering mind back into focus. "The bombs," he gasped. "What time is it right now?"

  "Almost seven."

  "Seven? But they are going to go off at midnight!"

  "So you'll have to work extra fast," Remo said sweetly.

  "No, no, no," Deferens insisted. "We have to get out of here."

  When he tried to push his way past the trio, Bubu stepped forward to stop him. A bony hand got there first.

  Chiun flung Deferens back to the bed.

  "How long will it take to pull the plug on all of them?" Remo pressed.

  "What? No! We have to-"

  He gasped in pain as a pair of talonlike fingernails squeezed the fleshy part of his earlobe.

  "Four hours," Deferens yelped. "Five if traffic is bad."

  "Let's hope the lights are with us, Little Father," Remo said as Chiun released his grip on the minister's ear.

  He spun to face Deferens. "This is just for my benefit, but Willie Mandobar doesn't know anything about all this, right?"

  "That senile old mooka?" Deferens scoffed "He and Kmpali are fools. I engineered it all beneath their very noses."

  "So it was all Nellie's idea?"

  His hesitation was precursor to a lie. But when a long-nailed hand appeared before him, the truth spilled forth.

  "I told you before, she knows nothing of the bombs," he insisted.

  "You knew it was her before?" Chiun demanded of Remo.

  "Hey, he said Mandobar. So sue me for not pinning him down on a gender."

  "She came to me with the crime-capital idea when her husband was still in office," Deferens continued. "I crafted it. She considers herself a leader, but she is nothing more than a homicidal maniac."

  "Not like you," Remo said, his tone flat.

  "I was killing for a purpose," he spit. "That fat mooka sets fire to people for sport."

  "Dead's dead," Remo said thinly. "How many bombs we looking at?"

  Deferens didn't even try to bluff. "Six," he admitted glumly.

  "I'm no nuke expert, but that sounds like overkill to me," Remo said. "Not that any of the guys you wanted to off are even in town anymore."

  "What do you mean?" Deferens asked.

  "Your mistress has taken them to her city outside Luzuland," the Master of Sinanju intoned.

  "City?" Deferens frowned. "What city?" Sensing truth from him, both Masters of Sinanju exchanged a quick glance.

  "Guess she doesn't tell you everything, white man," Remo said. "Shake a leg." He dragged Deferens up by the arm.

  "Wait!" the defense minister insisted. His eyes were calculating. "If this is true..." He looked to Remo. "May I make a phone call?"

  "Um, let me think. No," Remo said. He began hauling the minister to the door.

  "It could help you!" Deferens cried. "If you wish to know what she is doing, I can find out!"

  Remo stopped. When he looked to the Master of Sinanju, the old man nodded.

  "Chief Batubizee would no doubt be curious to know why she is there," Chiun said.

  Sighing, Remo scooped up the phone and tossed it to Deferens. "Knock yourself out," he said. "But make it quick. 'Cause if we're late, anyone sitting on the john at midnight's gonna get a nuclear-powered prostate exam."

  Chapter 31

  "Where have you been?" Nellie Mandobar demanded.

  She was in her office at the great meeting hall in her bungalow village. The noise of a raucous party pounded in through the vibrating walls. Her dark, blubbery face was bunched into an angry knot.

  "I was unavoidably detained," the precise voice of L. Vas Deferens said, his words faint over the phone. They were nearly drowned out by the nearby revelry. The Seasonings were screeching absurd lyrics at their captive audience.

  "This is a very important day," Nellie Mandobar warned. "You have disappointed me greatly, Deferens." Her words were slurred. She raised a big glass of frothy pink liquid to her lips.

  "Why did you not tell me of this village near Luzuland?" Deferens asked, agitated.

  When she lowered her fruit-filled drink, the smile behind it was pleased. Deferens always considered himself so superior. Even to her. Nellie was delighted that she had been able to keep a secret from him.

  "I must have some secrets, Vas," She giggled, then hiccuped as she again raised her drink. Some of the pink liquid sloshed over the edge of her glass, landing with fat splats on her desk.

  "You are bringing the dignitaries there?"

  She nodded to her empty office. When her fruit hat dropped in front of her eyes, she shoved it back in place.

  "Most are here. Only a few have yet to arrive. It is a party, Vas. To celebrate our great enterprise." She raised her glass in a toast. Beyond the wall, the Seasonings ended their song. The walls resumed their rattling protest when an even more discordant bashing of instruments began. The women sounded as if they'd each swallowed whole a pair of squabbling cats.

  "I should have been informed," Deferens insisted.

  "You would have been if you were in your office today. But I will not be angry at you, Vas. You have been very helpful to me. You stood by me even when that husband of mine deserted me. And for what did he leave? A few burned nobodies." She pondered the popping pink bubbles in her drink. "As East Africa's first lady, I told him I should be allowed to set fire to whomever I wish, but he would not hear it." A dark finger stabbed a mound of foam, bringing it to her broad lips. "Willie is a coward. But I've shown him, haven't I?" She licked the foam viciously away.

  "I cannot believe you kept this from me," Deferens said.

  "Do not pout," Nellie Mandobar admonished. "You are still invited. Your office knows the location now. You may take one of the helicopters. They are leaving from the Bachsburg airport at regular intervals."

  In the ensuing pause, Nellie thought she could hear the sound of another voice beyond Deferens. "Who have you invited there?" Deferens asked abrup
tly.

  "Just the dignitaries themselves. No bodyguards or staff. It is a demonstration of trust. Now, I must get back to my parry. I hope to see you soon." Her voice suddenly steeled. "And, Vas ...do not disappoint me again."

  It took Nellie Mandobar three tries before she managed to hang up the phone. As she slurped pensively at her drink, she considered the fate of L. Vas Deferens.

  The defense minister had been extremely helpful to her, but the organizational phase was now over. He and those under him would soon meet their fates. When the time came, Nellie Mandobar wondered how large would be the smear in the sand that would mark the passing of Minister L. Vas Deferens.

  When she pulled herself to her big feet, she lost her footing and bounced off the vibrating wall. Giggling at her clumsiness, she staggered back out to join her party.

  Chapter 32

  "I can't believe it," L. Vas Deferens said, shaking his head incredulously. He was sitting on the edge of the hotel bed, phone in his lap.

  "Yeah," Remo said without sympathy. "The best laid plans, huh? C'mon, peaches." The phone banged to the floor as he pulled Deferens to his feet.

  "How may I help?" Bubu said as they hurried to the door.

  "Return to your village," Chiun commanded. "Tell Chief Batubizee to gather all of his Luzu warriors. When we are finished here, we will strike the demon harpy in her lair."

  "Give us time to finish here first," Remo said as he shoved Deferens into the hall. "We've got five hours to disarm the bombs, max. Plus an hour out to Luzuland. We'll meet you at about 1:00 a.m. Where's a good spot, Chiun?"

  "The road to the Luzu treasury. It is near her village, yet far enough away that we will not be seen."

  Remo nodded as he pushed the elevator button. "Sounds like a plan. You got all that, Bubu?"

  "Yes, Master Remo," Bubu said, worried. "But perhaps you do not realize that it takes longer than one hour to drive out to the place you have chosen." The elevator doors slid open, and all four men hurried onto the car.

  "Let me worry about that, Bubu," Remo said as the doors rolled shut. "Remember, I'm smarter than the average bear."