[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
They ignored Remo and Chiun, who had begun to scale the sheer side of the
volcanic mountain.
"Remember," warned Remo. "You had a shot at him. Now it's my turn."
As they climbed, the music seeped into their consciousness, the subliminal
sounds of the Dutchman's disordered mind. The sky turned purple, a deeper
purple than the pterodactyls. As if envious of the richer hue, the
pterodactyls lifted silent wings and flew into the heavens. They were absorbed
by the lowering purple sky.
"I think he's playing," said Remo. "Good. That means he doesn't know we are
here."
"He does not know anything," said Chiun worriedly. "Look! "
A gargantuan face broke over the lip of the ledge, like a whale surfacing. It
leered, huge and cruel with slitted hazel cat's eyes and a pocked yellow
complexion.
"Nuihc," Remo whispered.
"Listen," Chiun said.
"Father! Father!" The voice was thin and sad, but the vocal violence of the
cry carried alarmingly.
"It's Purcell. What's he doing?" Remo wanted to know.
Chiun grasped Remo's wrist with clawlike hands. "Listen to me, my son. I think
we should go from this place. "
"No way. The Dutchman is up there. I haven't come this far just so you could
talk me out of this."
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"He has gone over the edge."
"He did that a long time ago," Remo said, shrugging off Chiun's grasp. Chiun's
hands reasserted themselves. "Over the edge into madness. Observe. Listen to
the music. "
The face of Nuihc, smiling with silent cruelty, lifted like a hot-air balloon.
Hanging beneath it from cables, like a wicker basket, was a tiny human-size
body. The Nuihc balloon floated into the purple sky. It popped and was gone.
"Looks to me like he's just playing mind games," Remo said.
"Mark the sky. It is purple, the color of the mad mind."
"Fine. It'll make him easier to handle."
"He has nothing to lose now," Chiun warned.
"You can stay down here if you want to, Chiun. Either way, you stay out of
it."
Chiun let go of Remo's arms. "Very well. This is your decision. But I will not
wait below. I have already stood at the base of Mount Paektusan. This time I
will accompany my son to the summit."
"Fair enough," said Remo, starting up again.
The higher they climbed, the steeper the mountain became. The air was warm,
not cooled at all by the freshening sea breeze. Beyond them, the water
stretched blue-green toward infinity. But above, the sky hung suffocatingly
close, like a velvet hanging.
Remo was the first to reach the ledge. The castle ruins covered it. Once
sparkling battlements had lifted to the sky. Now only one turret stood. The
rest had fallen into great broken blocks like a city lost for thousands of
years.
Down in the ruins, the Dutchman walked, his purple clothes loose against his
body, his short blond hair sticking up like a cartoon of a man who has jammed
a wet finger into an electrical socket.
Remo climbed onto a block of granite and called down to his enemy.
"Purcell! "
The Dutchman did not react. Something in the sky held his attention.
Remo looked up. High in the early-morning sky, like a diamond in a jeweler's
case, the planet Venus shone like a star.
Chiun came up behind Remo. "What is he doing?" he asked.
''Search me. He's just staring at the sky."
"No, at that star."
Down below. the Dutchman pointed an accusing finger at the bright planet. His
harsh voice ripped up from the center of the ruins. "Explode! Why don't you
explode?"
"You're right," said Remo. "He has gone around the bend."
"We must stop him," declared Chiun.
"That's my idea," Remo said resolutely.
Chiun hurried after him. "No, not for revenge. Remember the Dutchman's other
powers. The ones that are not illusions. "
"Yeah, he can make things catch fire or explode. All he has to do is think
it."
"He is trying to make Venus explode. With his mind."
"Can he do that?" Remo asked, stopping suddenly. The concept shook him out of
this grim certainty.
"We do not wish to find out. Because if he can, he will not stop with Venus.
He will put out the very stars in the sky, one by one, until only our world
lies spinning in the Void. And then he will obliterate this world too. I know
madness. He is full of power, Remo. Our lives no longer mean anything against
this threat. Come."
And the Master of Sinanju surged ahead. But Remo overtook him.
"Purcell!" Remo yelled. His voice bounced off the ruins like an echo in a deep
cave. "Purcell. Forget that crap. I've come for you."
The Dutchman turned his electric-blue eyes toward them. They seemed to take a
long time to focus.
"I will be with you in a moment, my old enemy. It seems that putting out a
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star requires more concentration than I realized. "
"You don't have that kind of time," said Remo, jumping into the ruins.
"Inside line," said Chiun. And Remo nodded, taking the inside-line approach.
He went at the Dutchman in a straight line while Chiun circled around in back.
Distracted, the Dutchman reacted to Chiun's circling attack. But Remo was
faster. He gathered the Dutchman up in his arms, taking him under one shoulder
and around a thigh. Remo spun him like a baton.
The Dutchman stopped his midair cartwheel with a reaching hand. He took Remo [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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They ignored Remo and Chiun, who had begun to scale the sheer side of the
volcanic mountain.
"Remember," warned Remo. "You had a shot at him. Now it's my turn."
As they climbed, the music seeped into their consciousness, the subliminal
sounds of the Dutchman's disordered mind. The sky turned purple, a deeper
purple than the pterodactyls. As if envious of the richer hue, the
pterodactyls lifted silent wings and flew into the heavens. They were absorbed
by the lowering purple sky.
"I think he's playing," said Remo. "Good. That means he doesn't know we are
here."
"He does not know anything," said Chiun worriedly. "Look! "
A gargantuan face broke over the lip of the ledge, like a whale surfacing. It
leered, huge and cruel with slitted hazel cat's eyes and a pocked yellow
complexion.
"Nuihc," Remo whispered.
"Listen," Chiun said.
"Father! Father!" The voice was thin and sad, but the vocal violence of the
cry carried alarmingly.
"It's Purcell. What's he doing?" Remo wanted to know.
Chiun grasped Remo's wrist with clawlike hands. "Listen to me, my son. I think
we should go from this place. "
"No way. The Dutchman is up there. I haven't come this far just so you could
talk me out of this."
Page 116
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"He has gone over the edge."
"He did that a long time ago," Remo said, shrugging off Chiun's grasp. Chiun's
hands reasserted themselves. "Over the edge into madness. Observe. Listen to
the music. "
The face of Nuihc, smiling with silent cruelty, lifted like a hot-air balloon.
Hanging beneath it from cables, like a wicker basket, was a tiny human-size
body. The Nuihc balloon floated into the purple sky. It popped and was gone.
"Looks to me like he's just playing mind games," Remo said.
"Mark the sky. It is purple, the color of the mad mind."
"Fine. It'll make him easier to handle."
"He has nothing to lose now," Chiun warned.
"You can stay down here if you want to, Chiun. Either way, you stay out of
it."
Chiun let go of Remo's arms. "Very well. This is your decision. But I will not
wait below. I have already stood at the base of Mount Paektusan. This time I
will accompany my son to the summit."
"Fair enough," said Remo, starting up again.
The higher they climbed, the steeper the mountain became. The air was warm,
not cooled at all by the freshening sea breeze. Beyond them, the water
stretched blue-green toward infinity. But above, the sky hung suffocatingly
close, like a velvet hanging.
Remo was the first to reach the ledge. The castle ruins covered it. Once
sparkling battlements had lifted to the sky. Now only one turret stood. The
rest had fallen into great broken blocks like a city lost for thousands of
years.
Down in the ruins, the Dutchman walked, his purple clothes loose against his
body, his short blond hair sticking up like a cartoon of a man who has jammed
a wet finger into an electrical socket.
Remo climbed onto a block of granite and called down to his enemy.
"Purcell! "
The Dutchman did not react. Something in the sky held his attention.
Remo looked up. High in the early-morning sky, like a diamond in a jeweler's
case, the planet Venus shone like a star.
Chiun came up behind Remo. "What is he doing?" he asked.
''Search me. He's just staring at the sky."
"No, at that star."
Down below. the Dutchman pointed an accusing finger at the bright planet. His
harsh voice ripped up from the center of the ruins. "Explode! Why don't you
explode?"
"You're right," said Remo. "He has gone around the bend."
"We must stop him," declared Chiun.
"That's my idea," Remo said resolutely.
Chiun hurried after him. "No, not for revenge. Remember the Dutchman's other
powers. The ones that are not illusions. "
"Yeah, he can make things catch fire or explode. All he has to do is think
it."
"He is trying to make Venus explode. With his mind."
"Can he do that?" Remo asked, stopping suddenly. The concept shook him out of
this grim certainty.
"We do not wish to find out. Because if he can, he will not stop with Venus.
He will put out the very stars in the sky, one by one, until only our world
lies spinning in the Void. And then he will obliterate this world too. I know
madness. He is full of power, Remo. Our lives no longer mean anything against
this threat. Come."
And the Master of Sinanju surged ahead. But Remo overtook him.
"Purcell!" Remo yelled. His voice bounced off the ruins like an echo in a deep
cave. "Purcell. Forget that crap. I've come for you."
The Dutchman turned his electric-blue eyes toward them. They seemed to take a
long time to focus.
"I will be with you in a moment, my old enemy. It seems that putting out a
Page 117
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
star requires more concentration than I realized. "
"You don't have that kind of time," said Remo, jumping into the ruins.
"Inside line," said Chiun. And Remo nodded, taking the inside-line approach.
He went at the Dutchman in a straight line while Chiun circled around in back.
Distracted, the Dutchman reacted to Chiun's circling attack. But Remo was
faster. He gathered the Dutchman up in his arms, taking him under one shoulder
and around a thigh. Remo spun him like a baton.
The Dutchman stopped his midair cartwheel with a reaching hand. He took Remo [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]