"Where is the rest of my luggage?"

"The SEALs brought the other trunks aboard the sub hours ago," the man with the hook said. He was shivering from the cold. He extended his good hand to the raft. "We should get out of here. I don't know what kind of mojo you worked on the North Koreans, but they won't hold off forever."

"Our reputation keeps them away," Chiun intoned. "You who would petition the House of Sinanju should know that. Are you certain that you collected all of the trunks I left at the steps of the Master's House? You whites are notorious for your sloppy work habits. I do not wish to get halfway to-what is the name of the place we are going again?"

"America. Look-"

"Yes, that place. I do not wish to sail halfway to that place with the ugly name only to have to come back."

"Can't say I blame anyone for not wanting to come back," the man muttered. Twice in his life he had gotten a good look at the Pearl of the Orient. It wasn't a place he'd opt to return to if given half a chance to leave. "There was a total of fourteen trunks. We loaded eleven. The last three are the ones you said could be floated out on their own."

Chiun inspected the three bobbing trunks. Satisfied that they were indeed the right ones, he nodded. "You may take them in tow," he said imperiously. Hiking up his skirts, he stepped into the rubber raft. Before sitting, he paused.

Chiun took one last look back at Sinanju. The village was a black rock lodged into unforgiving earth, surrounded by a churning sea of despair. He didn't know how long this journey would take him from his home. If the omens were true, it could be a long time before he saw his homeland again. With sharp eyes of hope and regret he soaked in every stone, every sound, every twist and turn of the jagged shore.

Once the mental photograph was complete, he turned.

Chiun's parchment face formed a stoic mask as he settled onto his seat. Slender fingers fussed with the fabric of his brocade kimono around his bony knees. The additional ninety-pound weight of the Korean in the boat proved not a problem to the man with the hook. Somehow the old man seemed able to make himself lighter than air.