Terminal Transmission

The novel opens as a nationwide interruption leaves television screens without a signal; at BCN, staff worry that star Don Cooder is late while anchor Cheeta Ching hurries to the desk despite her pregnancy. At Folcroft, Remo speaks of wanting to die, and Smith puts the operatives on alert. Smith warns the unnamed President that the disruption may be a deliberate technical attack. The investigation traces a fax and considers whether access to KNNN could explain it, while leaving the equipment needed for a nationwide blackout unresolved. Remo reaches Atlanta on the KNNN lead as Cheeta encounters the name Captain Audion.

The investigation at KNNN brings Cheeta into conflict with Burner and Layne Fondue, and a shooting leaves multiple people dead. Remo confronts the building’s security staff and escapes the police response by sending a satellite dish into East Lake. News coverage follows the Atlanta violence and a missing helicopter; the President begins a secret search, and Smith calls Remo and Chiun back to Folcroft when the blackout resumes.

Cooder returns to BCN bloodied, while a small Saint Clare statuette gives Remo a new clue. A cable installer helps the team consider how a “No Signal” screen might itself be broadcast. Cheeta then appears on air in captivity and says she cannot deliver without her midwife. At Banning’s bunker, Banning tells Chiun that Cheeta conspired with her husband to delay the birth; later, Chiun says he killed Banning after Banning insulted her. Remo and Chiun evade the police response as the inquiry continues.

Smith and the unnamed President consider a Canadian connection, while the networks face pressure and Captain Audion resumes the blackout. Smith’s review of fax records identifies MBC technical director Nealon as an Audion operative. Cooder broadcasts a denial from One Times Square, but Smith later finds that cable boxes and broadcast tapes have been sabotaged. Reports of the Saint Clare statue in Quebec draw Remo and Smith toward a northern lead; Cooder slips away to the airport, and the RCMP arrest him in Montreal.

Cooder accompanies the search north, while Remo and Chiun fly to look for the mountain statue. In its control room, Cooder frames Burner and Hannah, kills Feldmeyer and Hannah, and triggers an explosion. The statue opens to reveal a transmission tower. Remo and Chiun reach Cheeta after her self-caesarean, and Chiun later kills Cooder. Smith attributes the operation to Cooder and describes the network placements and battery supply; broadcasting resumes. Chiun offers an explanation of the child’s paternity, but the biological father remains unconfirmed.