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.Even Chiun doesn't believe it's a ghost anymore.He saysit's Russian.""Russian?" Robin said sharply."That word, krahseevah" Remo explained."It's Russian.It means 'beautiful.' "7980"He said that when he saw the jeans," Robin said slowly."And the steaks.""Then he is definitely a Russian," Chiun announced."Only a Russian wouldbecome excited over American blue jeans." He kept his narrow eyes on thetrees."Hah! There! Did you see?" he demanded, pointing.Remo's head snapped around.He saw a ghostly white light slip between twotrees."Okay," Remo said decisively."He's on the move again.My guess is he'll tryto confuse us with the old shell game.Instead of which shell is the peaunder, it'll be which tree is the Krahseevah hiding in.""Krahseevah?" Chiun and Robin said in unison."Anybody got a better name for it?" Remo wanted to know.No one did.Swiftly Remo explained his plan."Robin.You get up in the air.I think our Krahseevah is in trouble.Chiun andI will try to flush him out of the trees.See if you can spot him when hetries to leave.When you get a fix, we'll just hop on and follow him.""What good will that do?" Robin asked doubtfully."You know we can't touchhim.How can we catch him?"Remo kept an eye on the tree the Krahseevah had entered as he answered."It'slike this," he said."It knows we can't touch it, yet when we chased it, itstopped dead and let us prove that for ourselves.It could have kept on going.But I think it wanted to discourage us.Maybe it figured if we realized it wasbeyond our reach, we wouldn't bother to follow it.""It is protecting something," Chiun said quickly."A lair, perhaps.""Exactly," Remo returned."And if it's trying to get to a special place, maybewe can trap it there.Somehow.""A sound plan," Chiun said."Let us execute it.""Are you with us on this?" Remo asked Robin.Page 34 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html81Robin Green stuck out her chin decisively."I'm going to clip this bird'swings," she said."You just watch me."She ran to the helicopter and sent it into the air.She circled methodically.Remo turned to Chiun."Okay, know which tree he went behind?""Of course.""Good.Go for it.I'll circle in from the other side.I have a hunch he won'tstay inside very long.Maybe he can't.Let's see what develops."Remo slipped around the edge of the stand.Then he plunged in.He movedquietly, making less sound than a stalking cat.His deep-set brown eyesadjusted to what was now pitch blackness.He would not need his night visionto spot the glowing Krahseevah, but it helped to avoid ground roots and rocks.The Krahseevah might be as stealthy as Sinanju, but Remo guessed it couldhear, even if it didn't have external ears.He came up on a great box elder.Chiun stood guard over it.Chiun laid a finger to his lips as a signal for Remo to be silent.Remo nodded.He pointed to the tree.Chiun nodded firmly.They waited.After ten minutes, Remo began to have doubts.His idea was tosurround the tree so they were ready when the thing made its next move.Helooked around.He picked a fortunate time to look around.About thirty yardsdistant, a faint glow appeared on the trunk of a great elm.It was like aluminous fungus."Over there," Remo said, waving Chiun along.The luminous spot quickly withdrew.When they got to the tree, they surrounded it."What did you see?" Chiun demanded hotly."It stuck its face out of the bark," Remo whispered."Right.about.here." He tapped the spot.82Chiun peered intently."You are certain?""One way to find out."It was a relatively old tree, so Remo simply attacked it with the hard edge ofhis hand.He hammered away, each blow splitting off chunks of bark and palewood.The trunk keeled over with splintering finality.Remo was set to reactinstantly to what was revealed.To his surprise, there was only emptinesswhere the elm had stood."Damn!" Remo said."He must have slipped out the back."Chiun's eyes raked the surroundings."That one," he announced.He flounced toa nearby oak.He approached it angrily.With a single fingernail he split thetrunk down the center.It separated, falling in two equal halves.But the Krahseevah was not inside that tree either."Now what do we do?" Remo asked, looking around at the ranks of trees."Wecan't chop them all down.""Why not?" Chiun demanded, attacking another oak.It fell with a thunderclapof sound."Because that farmer we met probably owns this grove.Probably makes hisliving off them.Farmers have it tough enough these days.Hey! Over there,"Remo suddenly spat out.They saw the Krahseevah slip between two distant trees like awill-o'-the-wisp.It melted into an oak.They attacked the oak with furious energy.It was dying, the roots and limbsrotten.Their blows shook it, but the wood was soft-so soft that the oaksimply shed chips instead of toppling.It took them nearly five minutes ofhand-and-foot chipping to reduce the dying tree to a ragged broken stump.Still no Krahseevah."This could go on all night," Remo groaned."Better that we split up," Chiun suggested."We will have a greater chance offinding it."They went their separate ways.Above their heads,Page 35 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html83Robin's helicopter circled and circled.Then the rotor sound began to miss andsputter."Uh-oh," Remo said.He went up an elm and watched as the helicopter settled toearth.Robin flew out of it.She fell to kicking the helicopter's snout infrustration."Everyone's in a bad mood tonight," he said, coming down from the branches.When Robin Green got tired of abusing the helicopter, she approached thetrees.Remo glided up behind her."Boo!" he said gently.She turned on him, her face angry."Don't do that!""Sorry.Run out of gas?"Robin nodded."I radioed for a jeep.We're not licked yet.""Let's hope.We spotted it a bunch of times.But it's slippery.""They're bringing chain saws too.""Don't you think you're taking this to extremes? Somebody went to a lot oftrouble to plant these trees a long time before we were born.""A tree is just a tree.But national security is forever.Besides, this isjust a shelterbelt
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