"Don't be disheartened, aunumi," said Lee Tong. "We are still in the game. Antonov and his KGB bedfellow Polevoi badly underestimated the Americans' pathological devotion to individual rights. Instructing the President to close Congress to increase his powers was a stupid blunder. He will be impeached and thrown out of Washington within the week."

"Not so long as he has the backing of the Pentagon."

Lee Tong inserted a cigarette in the long silver holder. "The Joint Chiefs are sitting on the fence. They can't keep the House from meeting forever. Once they've voted for impeachment, the generals and admirals won't waste any time in swinging their support to Congress and the new chief executive."

"Which will be Alan Moran," Min Koryo said, as if she had a bad taste in her mouth.

"Unless we release Vincent Margolin."

"And cut our own throat. We'd be better off making him disappear for good or arrange to have his body found floating in the Potomac River."

"Listen, aunumi," said Lee Tong, his black eyes glinting. "We have two options. One, the laboratory is in perfect working order.

Lugovoy's data is still in the computer disks. His mind-control techniques are ours for the taking. We can hire other scientists to program Margolin's brain. This time it will not be the Russians who control the White House, but Bougainville Maritime."

"But if Moran is sworn in as President before the brain-control transfer is accomplished, Margolin will be of no use to us."

"Option two," said Lee Tong. "Strike a deal with Moran to eliminate Margolin and pave his way to the White House."

"Can he be bought?"

"Moran is a shrewd manipulator. His political power base is mortared with underhanded financial dealings. Believe me, aunumi, Alan Moran will pay any price for the Presidency."

Min Koryo looked at her grandson with great respect. He possessed an almost mystical grasp of the abstract. She smiled faintly.

Nothing excited her merchant blood more than reversing a failure into a success. "Strike your bargain," she said.

"I'm happy you agree."

"You must move the laboratory facility to a safe place," she said, her mind beginning to shift gears. "At least until we know where we stand. Government investigators will soon fit the pieces together and concentrate their search on the Eastern Seaboard."

"My thoughts also," said Lee Tong. "I took the liberty of ordering one of our tugs to move it out of South Carolina waters to our private receiving dock."

Min Koryo nodded. "An excellent choice."

"And a practical one," he replied.

"How do we handle the congresswoman?" Min Koryo asked.

"If she talks to the press she might bring up a number of embarrassing questions for Moran to answer about his presence onboard the Leonin Andreyev. He'd be smart to pay for her silence also."

"Yes, he lied himself into a hole on that one."

"Or we can run her through the mind-control experiment and send her back to Washington. A servant in Congress could prove a great asset."