"These tidings troubled Khufu deeply, for he recognized the darkness of Rama-Tut's heart and trusted only Djedefre to see that after his passing his tomb would endure the centuries undefiled. So Khufu sent to Sinanju for Master Saja and presented him with his dilemma.
"'If the stars bless Rama-Tut and not my good son Djedefre, what am I to do?' he asked Saja.
"And Saja answered, 'We will foil the stars.'
"Khufu demanded of Saja what was meant, but Saja said only, 'If Sinanju can foil the stars, will you build a monument to the House that will endure through the ages?'
"'Done,' said Pharaoh Khufu. And the deal was struck.
"That night, Remo, Rama-Tut died in his sleep, and no one ever discovered the malady that ended his life. The mother of Rama-Tut threw herself into the Nile and drowned. And in the fullness of time, Khufu died and Djedefre became pharaoh, just as Saja had promised."
Remo grinned. "I think I know what got old Rama-Tut."
"Shh. It is a secret. Even now."
"That was centuries ago. What's the problem?"
"The driver may be a descendant," Chiun said in a conspiratorial voice. "Egyptians are notorious holders of grudges."
Remo rolled his eyes.
Chiun continued his tale. "When Djedefre ascended the throne, Master Saja came before him and told him of his bargain with Khufu."
"'What is your desire?' Djedefre asked Saja. And Saja replied, 'I see that your tomb is even now being laid out by your royal architects and that they quarry stone from an outcropping in the shadow of your father's tomb. Make from the rock that remains a statue of wondrous size, in the image of a recumbent lion always facing the sun and my village, which is the sun source. And give it the face of the one who ensured your assumption to the throne of Egypt. Do this to show that, mighty as Egypt is, the House of Sinanju is more powerful still.'
"'Done,' cried Pharaoh Djedefre. 'When next you see my kingdom, you will behold your wish turned to stone that will last for all of time.'
"But years passed and no more was heard from Egypt, who was in those days a great client of the House. So Saja undertook the long journey to the land of pharaohs, and when he came to Giza, he beheld the reality of his bargain from the back of a dromedary. Mighty it was, Remo. And proud as it faced the rising sun, its colors triumphant. But as Saja drew close, his boundless pride collapsed into a cold rage. For the visage of the Lion that Faces the Sun was not his own."
"Uh-oh. Djedefre welched."
"Pharaohs were notorious welchers, but we didn't know this in those days. So Saja appeared before Djedefre and demanded why the face of the Sun Lion was not his. And Djedefre replied that such was not the bargain. Saja had asked that the lion wear the likeness of the one who had ensured Djedefre's reign, and Saja had to admit that this was true. Technically. Bowing his farewells and expressing admiration for Djedefre's shrewdness, Saja returned to his village and, when in later years word came from Egypt that Djedefre needed the help of the House, Saja tore up the message without replying. And when Saja's successor received an entreaty to help succor the Old Kingdom in its waning days, that message too was ignored. Thus, Egypt fell upon evil days and it was many generations before a Master worked again for a pharaoh. And all because Djedefre was so shrewd he cheated Sinanju and in so doing lost his empire."
The cab turned off the road, and Remo saw the half-obliterated face of the Sphinx gazing over the undulating sands. It faced away from the three massive pyramids and their smaller satellite temples.
"Is that the Sun Lion?" he asked Chiun.
Chiun voiced disapproval. "It is a sad sight. Better had they left it to sleep under the sands that had claimed it."
"Better for who? The Sphinx or me?"
"Let us find out," said Chiun, paying off the driver.
"I don't like the sound of this," said Remo nervously.
Tucking his hands into his sleeves, the Master of Sinanju padded up to the gigantic Sphinx. "The sacred cobra no longer rears up from his mighty brow," he intoned. "The beard is missing. His painted headdress is forever faded. That my ancestors could see this now, they would fret and fume that this once mighty relic of a former glory has come to this."
Chiun gestured distastefully.
There were tourists walking around the Sphinx, tourists climbing the crumbling sides of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
"In the days of Wang, heads were lopped off over such desecration," Chiun observed. "Imagine, Remo, if children were allowed to run amok in the halls of your Senate."
"They do. They're called senators."
Remo grinned. Chiun frowned. Remo swallowed his grin. They continued walking, the sand beneath their feet accepting their tread without complaint and ejecting it without creating the impression of their feet.
"What are those things?" Remo asked, pointing out the tripod-mounted electronic equipment surrounding the Sphinxlike Panaflex cameras recording a Biblical epic movie set.
"I do not know."
"I think those are laser beams."
"Why would anyone want to burn holes in the Sphinx?"
"I don't think those are burning lasers, Little Father."
"Is that not what lasers do? Burn?"
"Some. Those probably do something else. What, I don't know."
They came upon a man in khaki shorts, his limbs splayed in a folding lawn chair shaded by a parasol. Before him was a portable laptop computer, and he was reading a book. Remo ducked his head to read the title. It was Chariots of the Gods?
"Those lasers yours?" Remo asked.
"They are," the man said in a snooty voice. A pith helmet was perched precariously on his elongated head. The letters UCLA were stenciled on the front.
"What are they doing?"
"Waiting for the Great Sphinx to move, if you must know."
"They're going to have a long wait," Remo commented.
"That is perfectly acceptable. UCLA is paying for this study."
"Do tell."
"I do. I am one of its foremost scholars. Now, kindly shoo. You are in my reading light."
"Happy to oblige," said Remo, walking away. After he rejoined the Master of Sinanju, Remo asked, "Did you hear that screwball? He's waiting for the Sphinx to move."
"He is very intelligent for a sunburned white."
"What do you mean?"
Chiun gazed up, noting the angle of the midday sun. "It is time for the Sphinx to move."
Remo looked up at the Sphinx's noseless, wind-worn face. "This, I gotta see to believe."
"Alas, you cannot."
"Why not?"
Chiun regarded him with flinty eyes. "Because it is you who will move great Sun Lion."
"I can't move that"
"Why not?"
"It's too big."
"The earth is big. It moves. The moon is big. And it moves. The Sphinx is not so big, so you can move it easily."
"With all these tourists around?"
"It matters only that it moves. It does not have to move very far." Chiun's eyes narrowed cunningly. "Unless you can answer the riddle of the Sphinx," he added thinly.
Remo grinned. "Sure. Try me."
"You must not guess. You may answer only from knowledge."
"Fair enough."
Chiun regarded him thinly. "Whose face does the Sun Lion wear?"
"That's not the riddle of the Sphinx. The question is what walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three in the evening?"
Chiun brushed Remo's protest aside. "That is the wrong riddle. That is a child's riddle. You are not a child, but a Master of Sinanju. The true riddle has been asked. Do you know the answer?"