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."That the one with the maps?""Yes, Mr.President," Smith said impatiently."And Ebla is neighbor to Israel.Is there a problem there?""About ten minutes ago I got a call from the secretary of state.The old bird sounded real upset.Said that she and her entire entourage had been taken hostage by Ebla."Smith's gray face was stunned."What?" he gasped."I thought she was kidding at first.I know she's been pretty ticked at me since I made her and the rest of the cabinet vouch for me last January.I figured it was payback.But it's true.She was badly shaken up.Said that the Eblan army had her surrounded in the Great Sultan's Palace in Akkadad.""A coup?" Smith said.Already he had returned to his computers.A quick scan turned up nothing.He could find not one word yet on the abduction."No," the President said."He made that crystal clear.""She," Smith corrected as he typed."And surely it was not the government.Perhaps an angry terrorist faction.""You don't understand, Smith," the President explained."The 'he' who made it clear was Omay.The sultan himself got on the phone after the secretary of state."Smith's arthritic fingers froze over his keyboard."You are certain?""As certain as a special prosecutor with a bug up his butt," the President replied sarcastically."Did the sultan sound as if he was under duress?""No way.No one put him up to it, if that's what you mean," the President said."He sounded pretty happy when he issued his demands."The welling fear of what was to come seemed to hollow Smith from within.His shoulders slumped as he sank slowly back into his cracked leather chair."Demands?" he asked, voice drained of all inflection.The President took a deep breath."He wants complete Israeli disengagement from Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights, as well as an immediate stop to all American funds earmarked for Israel.He also demanded a stop to-" He paused."Wait a minute, I had to write this one down." There was a rattle of paper."This is quoting, now.'A stop to the U.S.global dispersal of poisons from America's cultural capital.' His words exactly."Smith's mind was reeling.He held on to the smooth black edge of his desk for support."Cultural poisons?" Smith said."I do not understand.""He had me on that one," the President admitted."I finally pinned him down.The guy means movies."Smith's mouth went dry as a sack of bleached flour left out in the desert sun.His thoughts instantly turned to the sultan's recent acquisition of Taurus Studios."Hollywood," Smith croaked."What was that?" the President asked."Hollywood, Mr.President," Smith stressed."To anyone abroad Hollywood is America's cultural capital.""Abroad?" the President rasped."It's the same here at home.Where have you been for the last century, Smith?"Smith thought of precisely where he had been-if not for the entire century, at least for a good chunk of it.Tethered to his desk.Like a convict with a life sentence."What has he threatened if his demands are not met?" the CURE director asked weakly."He informed me that he'll execute the secretary of state and her entourage publicly, as well as destroy America's cultural capital, if we don't agree within two days.""Forty-eight hours," Smith said aridly."As an aside, I'm a little worried about this whole 'destroy Hollywood'thing," the President admitted, for the first time sounding genuinely Page 32ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlconcerned."I've got a couple of standing job offers out there when I finally leave office."Smith wasn't listening.His brain was already clearing.The CURE director was sorting through the information he'd been given, trying to make sense of it."By 'America's cultural capital,' he means Hollywood," Smith reasoned slowly."It is safe to assume he would not make a threat against it if he did not believe he already had the means to carry through on such a threat.""He also warned me that he'd retaliate against any aggressive actions we might take," the President offered.The life drained from Smith's face."Oh, my God," he said, his voice a wheezing whisper."What?""You remember the terrorist Assola al Khobar?" Smith stated quickly."The man responsible for the embassy bombings in East Africa last year?""Remember," the President scoffed."How could I forget? He was a godsend in the middle of all that intern junk last summer.A perfect distraction, and the military and CIA guys had to go and drop the ball.It's all their fault.We spent a hundred million trying to blow the bejesus out of him, and he didn't even have the decency to turn up dead.""Al Khobar is in California," Smith blurted.The President was shocked."What?" he demanded."I sent our enforcement arm to neutralize him.I had hoped that his appearance in this country was unrelated to Ebla.We must assume, however, given these latest developments, that he is acting as an agent of Sultan Omay." Smith's analytical mind was calculating options."If any ill were to befall al Khobar, it would likely be construed by Omay as an act of aggression," he said."Well, you've got to stop your man, Smith," the President insisted."At least until we can get the secretary of state and her people out safely.""I have no way of contacting him," Smith grudgingly admitted."He contacts me when he is on assignment.""Dammit, Smith, you're supposed to defuse a crisis, not make it worse," the President snapped."Think of my legacy.If my secretary of state gets killed on foreign soil I'm going to look bad again.Conspiracy nuts are still talking about that plane crash with the commerce secretary." A thought occurred to him."What about the other one?" he asked abruptly."The old guy.""He is available," Smith conceded."Use him, then," the President ordered.Smith took a moment to consider.For whatever reason, Remo had wanted Chiun to stay home.But the stakes had just gotten much higher.If Remo succeeded in his original assignment and eliminated Assola al Khobar, he could inadvertently trigger an incident both at home and in the Mideast.And, Smith thought with some bitterness, if the great figure of conciliation, Sultan Omay sin-Khalam, struck the right spot in the Arab-dominated world, the fragile peace that had held for years could be shattered forever.On top of all this there was yet another problem.With his endless parade of political difficulties, this President was increasingly looking to CURE as a tool to be used in his own self-interest.Of course, Smith had and would always refuse such entreaties.But that wasn't the point.This man who occupied the highest elected seat in government simply didn't understand or didn't care that the organization had been deliberately set up so that the sitting President could only suggest assignments.It was the oldest fail-safe Smith employed and it had always served him in good stead [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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."That the one with the maps?""Yes, Mr.President," Smith said impatiently."And Ebla is neighbor to Israel.Is there a problem there?""About ten minutes ago I got a call from the secretary of state.The old bird sounded real upset.Said that she and her entire entourage had been taken hostage by Ebla."Smith's gray face was stunned."What?" he gasped."I thought she was kidding at first.I know she's been pretty ticked at me since I made her and the rest of the cabinet vouch for me last January.I figured it was payback.But it's true.She was badly shaken up.Said that the Eblan army had her surrounded in the Great Sultan's Palace in Akkadad.""A coup?" Smith said.Already he had returned to his computers.A quick scan turned up nothing.He could find not one word yet on the abduction."No," the President said."He made that crystal clear.""She," Smith corrected as he typed."And surely it was not the government.Perhaps an angry terrorist faction.""You don't understand, Smith," the President explained."The 'he' who made it clear was Omay.The sultan himself got on the phone after the secretary of state."Smith's arthritic fingers froze over his keyboard."You are certain?""As certain as a special prosecutor with a bug up his butt," the President replied sarcastically."Did the sultan sound as if he was under duress?""No way.No one put him up to it, if that's what you mean," the President said."He sounded pretty happy when he issued his demands."The welling fear of what was to come seemed to hollow Smith from within.His shoulders slumped as he sank slowly back into his cracked leather chair."Demands?" he asked, voice drained of all inflection.The President took a deep breath."He wants complete Israeli disengagement from Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights, as well as an immediate stop to all American funds earmarked for Israel.He also demanded a stop to-" He paused."Wait a minute, I had to write this one down." There was a rattle of paper."This is quoting, now.'A stop to the U.S.global dispersal of poisons from America's cultural capital.' His words exactly."Smith's mind was reeling.He held on to the smooth black edge of his desk for support."Cultural poisons?" Smith said."I do not understand.""He had me on that one," the President admitted."I finally pinned him down.The guy means movies."Smith's mouth went dry as a sack of bleached flour left out in the desert sun.His thoughts instantly turned to the sultan's recent acquisition of Taurus Studios."Hollywood," Smith croaked."What was that?" the President asked."Hollywood, Mr.President," Smith stressed."To anyone abroad Hollywood is America's cultural capital.""Abroad?" the President rasped."It's the same here at home.Where have you been for the last century, Smith?"Smith thought of precisely where he had been-if not for the entire century, at least for a good chunk of it.Tethered to his desk.Like a convict with a life sentence."What has he threatened if his demands are not met?" the CURE director asked weakly."He informed me that he'll execute the secretary of state and her entourage publicly, as well as destroy America's cultural capital, if we don't agree within two days.""Forty-eight hours," Smith said aridly."As an aside, I'm a little worried about this whole 'destroy Hollywood'thing," the President admitted, for the first time sounding genuinely Page 32ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlconcerned."I've got a couple of standing job offers out there when I finally leave office."Smith wasn't listening.His brain was already clearing.The CURE director was sorting through the information he'd been given, trying to make sense of it."By 'America's cultural capital,' he means Hollywood," Smith reasoned slowly."It is safe to assume he would not make a threat against it if he did not believe he already had the means to carry through on such a threat.""He also warned me that he'd retaliate against any aggressive actions we might take," the President offered.The life drained from Smith's face."Oh, my God," he said, his voice a wheezing whisper."What?""You remember the terrorist Assola al Khobar?" Smith stated quickly."The man responsible for the embassy bombings in East Africa last year?""Remember," the President scoffed."How could I forget? He was a godsend in the middle of all that intern junk last summer.A perfect distraction, and the military and CIA guys had to go and drop the ball.It's all their fault.We spent a hundred million trying to blow the bejesus out of him, and he didn't even have the decency to turn up dead.""Al Khobar is in California," Smith blurted.The President was shocked."What?" he demanded."I sent our enforcement arm to neutralize him.I had hoped that his appearance in this country was unrelated to Ebla.We must assume, however, given these latest developments, that he is acting as an agent of Sultan Omay." Smith's analytical mind was calculating options."If any ill were to befall al Khobar, it would likely be construed by Omay as an act of aggression," he said."Well, you've got to stop your man, Smith," the President insisted."At least until we can get the secretary of state and her people out safely.""I have no way of contacting him," Smith grudgingly admitted."He contacts me when he is on assignment.""Dammit, Smith, you're supposed to defuse a crisis, not make it worse," the President snapped."Think of my legacy.If my secretary of state gets killed on foreign soil I'm going to look bad again.Conspiracy nuts are still talking about that plane crash with the commerce secretary." A thought occurred to him."What about the other one?" he asked abruptly."The old guy.""He is available," Smith conceded."Use him, then," the President ordered.Smith took a moment to consider.For whatever reason, Remo had wanted Chiun to stay home.But the stakes had just gotten much higher.If Remo succeeded in his original assignment and eliminated Assola al Khobar, he could inadvertently trigger an incident both at home and in the Mideast.And, Smith thought with some bitterness, if the great figure of conciliation, Sultan Omay sin-Khalam, struck the right spot in the Arab-dominated world, the fragile peace that had held for years could be shattered forever.On top of all this there was yet another problem.With his endless parade of political difficulties, this President was increasingly looking to CURE as a tool to be used in his own self-interest.Of course, Smith had and would always refuse such entreaties.But that wasn't the point.This man who occupied the highest elected seat in government simply didn't understand or didn't care that the organization had been deliberately set up so that the sitting President could only suggest assignments.It was the oldest fail-safe Smith employed and it had always served him in good stead [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]