"As might be expected there was a considerable protest over this violation of Celebese territory, although oddly, it was based on moral grounds rather than national integrity. The protest was signed by the Lama of Macassar, and demanded neither indemnity nor punishment of the pilot, but asked merely that incense be burned in Washington to appease Buddha. Now of course the Lama isn't that naive, or devout. As you may know, Phobat Rau was educated at Harvard and CIT, and is a thoroughly trained and tough statesman who knows his way around anywhere, and doesn't believe the theological hogwash in Pan-Buddhism any more than I do. So it was a question of getting behind his motives. Of course, it could be a cover, but our final guess was that the protest was really made for the benefit of the faithful in Asia. This opinion was strengthened, at least as far as I am concerned, about a fortnight ago when Rau attended the British Embassy reception for Lord Hayes. He didn't avoid me, but actually seemed to single me out as a foil for some of his witty small talk. Asked if I was much of a student of Buddhist architecture and carvings, and if I had seen the Kyoto Buddha, or the reclining Buddha on the Yangtze. He was fishing, of course, but I played it dumb, and presently he gave up. "Well, there you have it, at least as far as the picture is concerned. The Buddhists were considerably upset, for they tightened up security all over the islands. And then you came into the scene. Naturally nobody believed that you were just after Celebese man, but the governor granted permission--so easily, in fact, that we got suspicious. Americans are no match for oriental subtlety, but we do have a few tricks, one of whom is a code clerk in the Macassar foreign office, and from her we learned that you were set for the preferred treatment: to be let in easily, and then knocked off in some painless way. Hence the taxi, and the sneak ride here." He paused. "That's the situation to date, gentlemen. Any questions?" Martin had been studying the photograph. "At what altitude was this taken?" The consul shook his head. "The autorecorder was off. The observer forgot to set it, in the rush." "Well, couldn't they estimate?" "They did, but it's obviously way off. The pilot swears that he levelled at 9,000, but that would make these buildings a quarter of a mile long, and the Buddha at least five hundred feet. Unless you want to believe that they have another Willow Run on Yat, you can't take that figure." Another pause. Finally Baker spoke. "You said you had a guess." "Yes, I have." Stimson seemed reluctant to speak. "But it sounds so damned fantastic I hate to tell it to you--well, to be short, I don't think that this Buddha is a statue." We all sat up. "Then what is it?" This from Martin.