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And did you ever try to saddle a duck? Plus the Kentucky Derby would be just
plain silly. Although I'd probably tune in if the jockeys were riding
mallards."
Chiun gave his pupil a baleful look. "Are you quite finished?" he droned.
Remo sighed. "Why, Chiun, beyond the obvious, does a duck who lives in a
stable not become a horse?"
"Because, ignoramus, the duck does not let his environment influence what he
becomes. He is clever enough to remain a duck. Unfortunately, Remo, you are
not as blessed as the duck. You allowed the bad drivers of that bean-eating
province to influence your driving skills. If you were the duck, after one
week you would leave the stable whinnying."
"Boston driving was an education," Remo insisted. "If you can survive that
demolition derby, you can race a Ferrari through St. Peter's without dinging a
pew."
"Go ahead. Joke if you wish. Live recklessly. Play the part of the fool and
forget that an entire village lives and dies with you."
Remo glanced at his teacher. The old man was staring stonily out the
windshield at the empty road ahead.
"At what point did this stop being about my driving?" Remo asked.
Chiun shook his head angrily. "The risks you take," he complained quietly.
"Being Master of Sinanju does not make you invulnerable."
Remo could hear the deep concern buried beneath his teacher's angry tone. "I
know that, Little Father," he said reasonably. "But I'm more than good enough
for pretty much anything we're likely to meet."
"Good enough?" Chiun said. "Good enough?" he repeated, voice rising in fury.
"Is that what I trained? Good enough? Is that what the villagers of Sinanju
must now rely on for their daily sustenance? Good enough? Thank you, Remo, for
setting all my worries to rest. And I now have your epitaph, for with that
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attitude I will not only be alive to write it, but I will be able to do so
soon. It will read, 'Here lies Remo the Pale. He was good enough until the one
day he was not.'"
The old Asian threw up his hands, hissing frustration.
"This has to do with that legend, doesn't it?" Remo asked as Chiun muttered a
string of harsh Korean at the Maine countryside. "The one that says I have to
be careful going through the forest where the tigers live?"
Eyes dead ahead, Chiun nodded. "It was prophesied by no less than the Great
Wang himself. The forest holds danger for Shiva's avatar."
Remo could see this was important to his teacher. Still, he couldn't see the
risk. He was fully Master now, whole in Sinanju. And he had encountered these
creatures twice before and vanquished them both times. Still, for the sake of
his teacher and father, he offered a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, Chiun," he vowed. "I won't let my guard down."
When he turned his full attention back to the road, he missed the look of dark
doubt that passed like a cloud across his teacher's face.
He pressed hard on the gas once more, and the car raced up the road for the
Lubec Springs bottling plant.
JUDITH WHITE SENSED them coming. Smelled them on the air. Felt the familiar,
new presence through the dense wood.
For a long time as they came, she paced back and forth in the small Lubec
Springs office.
The lights were off. Through the wide picture window, her keen eyes could see
far into the depths of the dark, predawn woods. Here and there she saw them.
Shadows moving ever closer.
The rest wouldn't have noticed yet. When the protest had ended and the cameras
had left, the others who had stood in for the dead Green Earth protestors had
skulked back to the warehouse.
Probably sleeping and eating. They were mostly males, and that was nearly all
the males did.
Her human memory told her she'd had the same complaint about men even when she
was living her old life.
The males were virtually useless. Dumb and lazy, only concerned about their
immediate desires.
Judith was glad she had used a weaker version of the formula. So far, there
wasn't one male in Maine she would want to keep around forever. All of those
she'd altered would change back or die. She alone was perfection. She alone
would usher in the age of animal dominance.
And there was another reason she was glad these particular males would not be
with her very long. Who knew? If there were others who were turned
permanently, a dominant male might very well emerge to challenge her.
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