"Good morning, Mr. Phelps." "For the past 25 years, this country has depended on the friendship of Kuala Rokat, a small but strategic nation on the China-lndia border." "This is the imperial seal of Kuala Rokat, a priceless, 2,000-year-old jade figure on a golden rope." "Two weeks ago, it turned up in the art collection of the famous American industrialist J. Richard Taggart." "Yesterday, our government, on behalf of Kuala Rokat, requested that Taggart return the stolen jade to its rightful owners who regard the seal as sacred." "Taggart has refused." "And there appears to be no legal way he can be compelled to do so, despite the fact that his refusal will undo years of diplomacy and drive Kuala Rokat into the communist camp." "Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is to get the imperial seal so that it may be returned to Kuala Rokat." "As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions." "Please destroy this tape in the usual manner." "Good luck, Jim." "He's adorable." "Now, you set for the door, Rollin?" "Yeah, Jim." "Contacts in the ring, the watch, both shoes, and a capacitor in the belt." "It'll take a thousand volts." "How about your magic powers?" "Well, with Cinnamon's help, I should dazzle the man." "I've memorized every painting and art object that Taggart owns." "Good." "Let's see the identification badges, Willy." "The timer can delay the separation up to ten minutes." "That should do it." "Now, what about the sonic alarm system in Taggart's gallery?" "This antenna will create a harmonic which will block any sound from getting to the sonic detectors once we get it in the room." "The wall in that gallery is faced with quarter-inch manganese steel." "You'll have, at the most, a minute to get through it." "Thanks a lot." "And the pleasure of fouling up the country's most completely automated accounting system will be mine." "I hope you didn't bend, staple or mutilate that card." "Oh, no." "Just added a few special holes." "Can you handle him?" "I've gone over every move with his trainer." "What would you like for him to do?" "Let me have your pearls, Cinnamon." "Give him a look at them, Jim." "All right." "Now... put them in your purse." "Fetch the pearls, Rusty." "Fetch." "Fetch, Rusty." "Fetch." "Where's the Accounting Department?" " Twentieth floor, sir." " Thank you." "Sir, I'll have to have some identification." "Sure." "George Wilkins, Wilkins Tool and Die, Cleveland, Ohio." "Will you sign in, please?" "I make the rivets that hold Taggart airplanes together." "Thank you." "Dorothy Burton, Chuck Watson, EBN News." "Mr. Taggart's expecting you." "May I see your IDs, please?" "Just sign in here, please." "Because of our defence contracts, it's necessary to wear these while you're in the building." "Take the express elevator, the first one on the right, to the 40th floor," "Mr. Taggart's penthouse." "Thank you." "Burton, Watson, EBN News." "Yes, you're Miss Burton." "How do you do, Mr. Taggart?" "Chuck Watson, my cameraman." "Now, you can ask all the questions you want after I'm through." "Fair enough." "Now, as you may know," "I recently acquired a valuable piece of jade." "Now, I granted this interview because I want to explain and set the record straight as to how I got it and why I'm gonna keep it." "First, I acquired this jade through a purchase." "I did not steal it or have it stolen." "Now, if you're wondering how it got out of Kuala Rokat, my guess is that it was stolen." "But I bought it." "And having bought it, I contend, in the light of its history, that I am now its rightful owner." "Incidentally, the history of the stone is kind of interesting." "The original hunk of jade was first discovered about 500 B.C., not, incidentally, in Kuala Rokat, but in Turkistan." "It was carved into its present form, the seal, and made into the imperial symbol about 200 years later." "In 41 A.D., an impostor attempted to ascend the throne of Kuala Rokat and stole it." "It wasn't recovered for three centuries." "Attila, in his invasion, took the jade in 447." "It was eventually recovered, of course." "Only to be taken by old Genghis Khan when he sacked the country in 1222." "Oh, yes, it was held by Ivan IV of Russia briefly in the 16th century." "It changed hands four more times until 1940, when it was taken by a unit of the Japanese army and presented to the emperor." "It was returned to Kuala Rokat in 1961, where it has remained until its most recent removal." "The point is this." "The seal has always been fair game." "It has spent as much time out of Kuala Rokat as in it." "Now, who's to say who it really belongs to?" "My position is that it happens to belong to whoever happens to have it." "I'm Miss Putnam, in charge of the Accounting Department." "Miss Putnam, George Wilkins." "You're the lady I wanna see." " Won't you sit down?" " Thank you." "Now..." "Do you see this?" "Now, this is a rivet, Miss Putnam." "I sell your company over 20 million of these a year at three and a half cents apiece." " I see." " No, no." "I beg your pardon." "You don't see yet." "I sell them to you for three and a half cents, but your automated accounting insists on paying me 35 cents apiece." "Do you mean to say that we have actually been overpaying you by...?" "By exactly ten times, yes." "Is it true, Mr. Taggart, that the U.S. State Department has asked you to return the seal?" "Yeah, it's true." "I turned them down." "And there's no way you can be forced to return the seal?" "No way." "Oh, this country is friendly enough with Kuala Rokat, but we have no formal diplomatic relations with them or extradition treaties." "They can't touch me, legally." "You do have some government contracts that could be cancelled." "Yeah, they could be, but they won't." "The Defence Department needs Taggart Aircraft more than they need Kuala Rokat." "I suppose you'd like to take a look at the seal, wouldn't you?" "Yes, I'll just bet you would." "Conway." "Mr. Conway, my chief of security." "Open up the gallery." "I'll let them in." "No more filming till after we're inside." "Mr. Conway, turn off the alarm in the gallery." "Will you excuse me, Mr. Wilkins?" "I'm gonna look into this immediately." "Thank you." "Mr. Taggart, you said earlier that the seal has always been fair game." "Am I correct in assuming you still think so?" "Sure." "If somebody can steal it from me, it's theirs." "If they can steal it from me." "When the security system is on, this door is charged with 500 volts of electricity." "If a thief could get through that door, he'd find the gallery itself protected by sonic alarms sensitive to the slightest sound." "Beneath the floor are pressure alarms, which are activated by any weight equal to the pressure of four ounces." "As you can see, I intend keeping this a very long time." "I've double-checked our files, Mr. Wilkins, and I don't find any records on your company." "Well, that does it." "That ties it, Miss Putnam." "Here, look at these." "Taggart automated invoices, Taggart automated order forms." "And here, look at this, one of your automated cheques." "I just don't understand this." "Well, I don't either." "But we're going to get to the bottom of this once and for all." "Take that cheque, run it through your machines, and make the correction, please, Miss Putnam." "We'll do that immediately, Mr. Wilkins." "I'll come along, if you don't mind." "That should do nicely, I think." "Thank you, Mr. Taggart." "I'll get these to the lab right away." "Okay, Chuck." "I think we've got some good stuff." "Stop what you're doing and run this through data control." "Correct the cost per item to 3.5." "I think that will take care of the problem, Mr. Wilkins." "You're all right, Putnam." "Thank you very much." "Those machines..." "Let me show you around." "Quick, turn it off before it burns out." "Well, clean up the mess." "I'll get a serviceman over here right away." "Pierce Control, Service Department." "This is Miss Putnam, Taggart Aircraft Accounting Department." "Yes?" "Our main data control unit just broke down." "Send a serviceman over here immediately." "Hold on a second, please." "I'm sorry, Miss Putnam," "I can't have a man out there until next week, probably Tuesday." " Is that all right?" " No, it is not all right." "That machine has to be ready to work this afternoon." "Well, I'm afraid I can't help you." " Unless..." " Unless what?" "Well, I can have a replacement unit out to you in an hour or so." "You may use it until yours is repaired." "Will that be okay?" "The sooner, the better." "One more question, Mr. Taggart." "Earlier, when you were telling us the history of the seal, you seemed to know what you were talking about." "However, you did omit one detail." "I've got a meeting in five minutes." "Where is it?" "In the boardroom on the 14th floor." "Tell them I'll be right down." "Well, what might that be, Miss Burton?" "The curse that goes with the seal." "Curse?" "I don't know of any curse." "Why don't you tell me about it?" "It simply states that anyone who keeps the jade seal from its holy place in Kuala Rokat will die within a fortnight." "Which means that you have about six hours to live." "Really?" "Well, I don't take much stock in these mysteries of the Orient, Miss Burton." "Neither do I, Mr. Taggart, but I know a good story when I hear one." " And you think this is a good story?" " I know it is." "That's why I'd like to stay here for the next six hours." "Six hours?" " And if I refuse?" " Then I tell 40 million viewers that you're running scared." "Miss Burton, I couldn't care less about your 40 million viewers." "But I am intrigued about this curse." "During our research, I spoke to a man from Kuala Rokat." "He lectures here at the university on comparative religions." "In fact, I would like him to join us here right now." "You would." "Why?" "It might be quite interesting." "Perhaps he could tell us how you're going to die." "Remember, forewarned is forearmed." "Cancel that board meeting." "For the Accounting Department." "Sign in here." "Twentieth floor." "Right." "Indus Jalpan, Mr. Taggart." "Can I buy you a drink, Mr. Jalpan?" " No, thank you." " Come on." "Miss Burton here tells me you're from Kuala Rokat." "That is correct, Mr. Taggart." "I am in your country for one year to lecture on comparative religions at the university." "What do you know about this so-called curse on the jade?" "I see Miss Burton has already told you about it." "Only what you told me, Mr. Jalpan." "It is quite true, Mr. Taggart." "In the long history of the jade seal, no one who has pretended to ownership has survived for more than 14 days and 14 nights." " Fact or legend?" " Who can tell?" "Who can tell." " Sit down, sit down, sit down." " Thank you." "I thought you were gonna be here an hour ago." "I ran into a lot of traffic." "I'll start hooking it up right away." "Can't." "Building closes in five minutes." "Have to do that tomorrow." "Oh, I don't mind a little overtime, but you're the boss." "Listen, has everyone...?" "I mean, every person who ever had the stone outside of Kuala Rokat died?" "No, they have not." "You see, Mr. Taggart, it has been written that the jade seal is a divine symbol of heaven." "The man who possesses it shall, from the 14th day, have the right to rule." "What does that mean?" "It means that if you should survive to the 15th day, with the jade in your possession, you were meant to have it." "Is that possible?" "Possible?" "Yes." "But highly unlikely." "Well, we have about an hour and a half to find out." "Well, that's all, except for the two that are with Taggart." "Close it up." " Conway." " Mr. Taggart has two guests, no more?" " That's right." "Why?" " One ID badge is missing." "Go to full security." "Every interior door on alarm and start monitoring from top to bottom." "Send a team to start a floor-by-floor search, and I mean search everything." "Air ducts, elevator shafts, everything." "Somebody's still in this building." "Twentieth floor, all clear." "Move up to 21." "Twenty-first floor, clear." "Twenty-second floor, secure." "Where the devil is he?" "He signed out." "I don't see how he could still be in the building." "I'm sorry, sir." "You're fired." "Pick up your cheque at the end of the shift." "Have your men report back to their stations and reactivate the alarms." "I don't want any more foul-ups." "Do you understand?" "Yes, sir." "Mr. Taggart, might I see the jade seal?" "Conway?" "I'm against it, Mr. Taggart." "I don't like the smell of this whole thing." "I don't think we should open up the gallery now." "Well, that's your responsibility, Conway." " I'm sorry, Mr. Jalpan." " Oh, I quite understand." "But surely you have no objection to my... seeing beyond to the other room from here?" "No." "Thank you." "I see the jade." "It is in a case." "A glass case." "It is a beautiful room filled with objects of great beauty." "If you can see into that room, you tell me what's on the south wall." "The south wall." "It is filled with paintings." "What's in the centre?" "It dominates the whole wall." "It is a painting of two women." "One is holding... a parasol." "The other holds a letter." "There is a small dog." "Name the artist." "Goya." "I hope you are not offended by this, Mr. Taggart." "Often, what is commonplace in my part of the world is deemed strange in your Western culture." "Just how is it gonna happen?" "How is this curse gonna work?" "I cannot see the future, Mr. Taggart." "I can only tell you that if you do not return the jade within the next 22 minutes, you will be dead." "Go to maximum security." "Post two men down in the foyer." "No one's allowed on this floor." " Right." " Wait a minute." "Give me your gun." "Tell your men that if I see anyone in this building without authorisation, my orders are to shoot." "Right." "Guns will not protect you, Mr. Taggart." "You are dealing with things beyond your understanding." "Powers beyond human comprehension." "The only powers I believe in are Taggart Aircraft, the American dollar, and myself." "Yes." "But there are others." "Far greater than anything you might imagine." "Like what?" "Perhaps I can give you some idea, Mr. Taggart." "Miss Burton, would you remove the flowers from that bowl and bring it to me with the water in it?" "Thank you." "Place it on my hands, please." "It's a trick." "That water's not really boiling." "If you believe that, put your hands in the water." "Then you do believe, if only a little." "I still say it's a trick." "Nothing more." "I see that I have not yet convinced you that miraculous things can happen." "Very well." "Mr. Taggart, do you have a large cloth, a sheet perhaps?" "What you will now see, I think even Mr. Conway will regard as a miracle." "Would you please cover me with the sheet?" "There's your miracle, Miss Burton." "A helium-filled bag!" "Get ready." "Where's Jalpan?" " Turn it off." " Cut the system." "Cut the system!" "Conway, deactivate all galleries." "This is an emergency, repeat, emergency." "The sonic detector should be off." " He's barely breathing." " Keep him alive!" "I've had all the bad publicity I want." "Get him out of here." "This is Taggart." "Get a resuscitator and an ambulance up here right away." "And reactivate all systems." "You just beat Mr. Taggart's sonic alarm." "You know, this was your idea." "Oh, I'm so sorry this happened, Mr. Taggart." "He used me to try to get the jade." "I was duped." "Yeah, I suppose he's some kind of a fanatic." "Where's that ambulance?" " The traffic's heavy." "It'll be here." " Yeah." "What the devil...?" "What's happening to these fish?" "Something's disturbing them." "It must be the aerator." "Mr. Taggart, the blue Asagi was annoying the pregnant Kin Showa." "Do you keep fish?" "No, but I've always been fascinated by them." "You know, that blue Asagi has been giving me a lot of trouble." "Actually, I'm thinking of keeping him away from the other fish." "That's it." "Go on, Rusty." "Go on, boy." "Go on, Rusty." "Go on, Rusty." "Stop." "Right there, Rusty." "Right there." "Now open the door, Rusty." "Open the door." "Good boy." "Now bring it here, Rusty." "Fetch, Rusty." "Easy." "Fetch, Rusty." "Easy, boy." "Bring it here, Rusty." "Fetch, boy." "Fetch." "Don't drop it." "Bring it here, Rusty." "Come on." "Come on, boy." "Come on." "Come on, Rusty." "Come on, Rusty, come on." "That's it." "Come on, Rusty." "Good boy, come on." "Easy." "Good boy, Rusty." "Let's get out of here." "All right, Miss Burton, you got your story." "It won't be 14 days and nights for two more minutes yet, Mr. Taggart." "Easy." "Unstrap him, quick." "All right, just keep quiet and climb up here." "Well, your two minutes are up, Miss Burton, and I'm still alive, which proves your curse was just a lot of nonsense." "Are you sure of that?" "Well, I've had the jade in my possession for 14 days and 14 nights, and I'm still alive." "Are you sure the jade is still in your possession?" "This is Conway." "Deactivate the alarm." "Hey, wait a minute." "What about his ID badge?" "Emergency, emergency." "Repeat, emergency." "Conway, emergency." "Repeat, emergency." "Deactivate all galleries." "Miss, stop, you can't leave." "Miss, miss!" "Hey, come back here." "Does this mean we're now the spiritual rulers of Kuala Rokat?" "Yeah, if we keep it 14 days and survive." "You're beginning to believe your own story." "What do you think, Rusty?"