Political Pressure

21

"Get it?" Remo asked on the pay phone in the hotel lobby.

"It came through fine," Harold Smith answered. "I hope you used discretion disposing of the finger."

"Yeah, I tossed it," Remo said, taking the finger out of the pocket of his Chinos and flicking it into the brass trash can with a sand-filled ashtray on top. The ashtray had been recently cleaned and molded into the stylized S that was the hotel chain logo. "Learn anything?"

"Nothing he hadn't already told you," Smith admitted. "He was who he said he was, of course. It looks as if his body has already been discovered near the explosion site." Smith sighed. "I really wish you would have stopped him from firing those missiles, Remo."

"I begged and pleaded," Remo said. "Anyway, it's done and this city's a better place because of it."

"The police department is in chaos," Smith said sourly. "The federal investigation is in tatters. It will take them months to sort out the mess."

"Can't be worse than leaving Chief Roescher in charge."

"Yes, it can. Chief Roescher was corrupt, but he was at least keeping the system running."

"He was a murderer and a drug dealer."

"Remo, CURE doesn't go after men like Chief Roescher. He was already under investigation. He would have been removed from the system eventually."

"Hey, Smitty, since when are you on the bad guys' side?"

"I am not. I am on the side of peace and order. Do you realize that this country is starting to fray at the edges? There is instability in Pueblo just as there is instability in Governor Bryant's state and in Old Crick, Iowa."

"They'll get over it."

"That's just the tip of the iceberg, Remo, and there are a hundred other places like them."

"They're isolated."

"No. The reverberations are starting to be felt. The instability could easily escalate. We can see the beginnings of governmental breakdown. Once it happens, it may happen again, and then we'll see a chain reaction."

"Then what? Apocalypse? We leave ourselves open for an invasion by the Soviet Union?"

"Joke if you like, Remo. What might actually occur is mob action. When the structure disintegrates, it unleashes all kinds of societal elements capable of creating unrest."

"All right, Smitty, I apologize. I won't let it happen again. Now, what do we do next?"

"We're trying to select a logical series of targets, but all the other cells have been inactive too long to pinpoint them. Once we know where they are, we can postulate other targets in the vicinity, based on our new database of likely hits. Until then we just wait."

"What about the information we got from Boris on the leader? The guy who recruited him?"

"The name was fake and the description was not helpful. All we have is Bernwick's assertion that the man was a press agent. That's not terribly helpful. There are hundreds of press agents in the ranks of the new political party."

"Uh-huh. But who's the head press agent in charge?"

Harold Smith sighed. "If we only knew."

By the time he reached the hotel room the plans had changed. Chiun's chests were stacked neatly near the door. "The Emperor says we must leave immediately. There is no time for a bellhop."

"When did he call?" Remo demanded. "I just talked to him in the lobby."

"So I was informed," Chiun sniffed. "What has taken you so long to come from there?"

"It was three minutes ago."

"Were you dawdling over the filthy magazines in the gift shop?"

"This place is too classy to have dirty magazines in the gift shop," Remo said. "Where we going?"

"Topeka."

"Are you joking?"

"Why?" Chiun demanded.

"Seems like kind of a sleepy place to do murdering, is all."

Chiun squinted. "But there really is such a place as a Topeka?"

"Well, yeah. It's in Nebraska. Or Idaho. One of those states that everybody always forgets about."

Chiun nodded. "Good. I believed at first that the Emperor was committing a practical foolery upon me."

"But why we going to Topeka?"

"No time to talk! If you had arrived in time, you could have spoken to the Emperor yourself, instead of reducing me to handling your travel arrangements." Chiun pointed at his chests. "Bring those." Chiun was out the door.