Petyr pretended to ignore the guide’s comments, but he was listening closely. The guide was getting suspicious. He was apparently not quite as half-witted as he acted.
“I will tell you a secret if you can keep silent.”
“Sure. No worries, mate,” the guide said.
Petyr could tell the guy was playing up the Aussie-talk. “See, the promoters are afraid someone might be hurt when the race is here at Jaiboru. I am giving the crocs a little something to make them more gentle.”
“Gentle crocs, huh? ’At’s a good one, mate.”
“That is why I must not give any of them more than one dose. I don’t want them to become too sedated.”
“I hope not. Them crocs is our best tourist attraction. Not that we ever had tourists before now.”
The guide seemed pleased to know the secret, and he was pleased at the bonus Petyr offered to help him keep the secret.
“I think we got about every croc this side of the ridge. You gonna dump your leftovers someplace safe, I hope?”
“Where?” Petyr asked. “Where would be a safe place where no crocs could get an extra serving?”
“I know just the place.” The guide took him to the shore and pointed up. “That ugly rock. Dump the leftovers up there and the birds’ll eat it. Nobody’ll care if a few of them buzzards keel over.”
Petyr agreed. He jogged up the footpath to the rocky top and emptied his bag. The scavenger birds were already circling.
“That stink travels fast.” The guide chuckled.
Petyr took out a book and began to read as the guide set about rowing them back.
They were miles from Jaiboru and the dawn was still a half-hour away. Now was the time to erase the problem of the nosy guide. When they had gone but a hundred yards, Petyr stretched and grabbed a bottle of water.
“Like one?” He held it up.
“No, thanks,” the guide said from the rear of the rowboat.
Petyr took out the small air gun. The dart was loaded with enough serum to knock out a big croc. It would have more permanent results on a scrawny Aussie. Petyr turned in his seat and triggered the gun. The yellow feathers glanced off the guide’s arm, but they left a scarlet rip in the flesh. That was all Petyr saw before the guide splashed into the swamp water.
“Why’d ya do it, mate?” the guide demanded.
Petyr inserted a second dart and fired. This time the guide ducked under the water and the dart missed him entirely, but the crocs wouldn’t miss him. A big one was already closing in fast.
The guide slurred drunkenly when he surfaced, but he couldn’t scream. He got enough of a dose so he had to fight to stay conscious, but he’d have been better off letting blackness take him. Then he wouldn’t have been aware of the croc clamping his body in its great jaws and taking him under.
Petyr took the oars and stroked leisurely back to town, enjoying the outback daybreak.
Chapter 22
Smith was always gray. Today he was a corpse. A corpse that munched antacids like peanuts.
“He can’t be serious.” Mark Howard gave a little disbelieving laugh.
“Looks serious to me.”
“It’s a canny concept, actually,” Mark said, and Smith looked morose. “Think about it, Dr. Smith. Unattainable celebrity women losing control and getting naked on TV for some guy off the street. And he’ll do it every week. It’s got everything the public wants.”
“It’s got our enforcement arm putting himself on television,” Smith said miserably. “You’re right. It was a canny move. He socked CURE right in the stomach.”
Chiun sat in his seat and fastened his belt, then fixed his gaze on Remo Williams. Remo ignored him for what seemed like hours.
“Go on,” Remo said finally. “You’ve got a lot to say. Let’s hear it.”
“I do not know where to begin.”
“You usually start with a little name-calling, then move into blaming me for whatever, then tie it up with how your life is made awful by your association with me.”
“This is a joke to you, Remo? You find all of it amusing?”
“I’m smiling to mask the pain.”
“You jest to hide your shame”
“Shouldn’t you be watching the wing? It looks wobbly.”
“Master Yeou Gang, the Fool, he also was full of self-loathing for the vile thing he had done. Like you, he prostituted himself. He traded on his talents for gold.”
“What did he do that was so awful? Kill somebody?”
“Hush and heed. Yeou Gang was a simpleton. He learned what he must know to be Master, and he memorized the history and lessons of Sinanju, but never could he truly understand the meaning of these lessons. Yeou Gang and his mentor, Master Ghu Ung, traveled to the lands along the Nile. Reluctantly did they go, for the monarchy was in a strange state. And yet, Master Ghu Ung knew that unsettled empires often yield the most opportunity for an assassin. In Kemet, King Merenre was dead, and the child, Pepi II, was pharaoh. His mother was regent, Ankhenespepi II, who was the widow of two kings, Pepi and Merenre. Although she was not a pharaoh, she was a skilled ruler and the power of the throne was with her. She was shortsighted, for in the end her determination to rule as a pharaoh and claim the immortality of a pharaoh unsettled the people, poisoning their convictions in their gods. Her son ruled long enough to see Kemet break apart under this stress, and for generations afterward it was ununified. Still, that is not the point of the story. Why do your eyes glaze?”
“Just trying to keep them all straight in my head. What is the point?”
Chiun glared. “I am only just beginning to tell it. Allow me to relate the story at the proper pace. Our history is not like some fast and furious television entertainment that must move every eight heartbeats from one thrill to the next.”
“Sorry.”
“Master Ghu Ung appraised the situation, as did Master Yeou Gang. Yeou Gang was determined to seek employment with the boy king Pepi II. As pharaoh, Yeou Gang reasoned, Pepi II controlled the treasuries of Kemet.”
“Sounds reasonable to—”
“Yeou Gang was a fool. It was obvious to all save Pepi II that he was just a symbolic king at that time. The regent was the true ruler of Kemet. Master Ghu Ung and young Master Yeou Gang introduced themselves in the court, where they were well received, of course. Ghu Ung deemed it wise to exercise patience, so as to better learn the subtleties of the power sharing and to see what events the arrival of Sinanju Masters might cause to happen. Yeou Gang was eager to peddle their services and earn his first profits as Reigning Master. When the boy king began subtle overtures to the Masters, Ghu Ung stalled him.”
Remo nodded. “Playing hard to get. Drives up the price. Smart move.”
“A foolish mistake. The boy king lost interest, for he was only playing the game of ruling the nation. He knew not the seriousness of his role. The woman regent, Ankhenespepi, hired them for much gold, although less than perhaps the boy king might have paid if negotiations were skillfully done.
“Ghu Ung did not recognize the libidinous nature of the regent, nor the adolescent cravings of his protégé, who was not yet in his sixth decade and quite immature. Thus, Ghu Ung blindly agreed to take service with the regent. For Ankhenespepi, the masters were of great service, ridding the court of those who sought an opportunity to remove her and take her place, knowing that this boy king was malleable.”
Chiun looked at Remo meaningfully.
“I’m waiting for the punch line,” Remo said.
“You see how this service was right and correct.”
“And good and kind. They acted like most proper Masters. But…?”
“Ankhenespepi came to young Master Yeou Gang and begged of him the favors of the flesh. Yeou Gang gifted her with these favors, but Ankhenespepi was not sated. On the contrary, she beseeched Yeou Gang to remain in Kemet as her consort. Yeou Gang declined.