“Don’t you people know surprise birthday parties are supposed to be in the afternoon?” Decker asked.
“If we had done it that way we might not have surprised you,” Jackie said with a laugh.
On the table were several dozen doughnuts stacked tightly together to look like a cake, with about half the candles Decker was actually due waiting to be lit. “You guys are nuts,” Decker said.
“What’s that?” Hansen asked in mock offense.
“You guys are nuts, sir.”
“Much better,” Hansen joked.
But there was still one more surprise for Decker. In a corner of the room was a guest who at first had been concealed behind the others. “Christopher!” Decker said. “What on earth are you doing here?”
“You didn’t think I’d miss your birthday, did you?” Christopher, now twenty-two, answered.
“You’re supposed to be on a cruise around the world.”
“I decided to take half now and half later,” Christopher said. “So I flew back.”
“Hey, are you going to blow out the candles or not?” Mary Polk asked.
Decker blew out the candles and everyone dug into the doughnuts and coffee. As with most office parties, a few people stayed only long enough to make an appearance, others just long enough to get seconds of the goodies and take a couple of doughnuts back to their desks. Others stayed on and told jokes or gathered in small groups to talk business. Decker positioned himself close to the door and made sure to thank each person for coming. Christopher circulated among the attendees, adding his jokes to the till and, where they were welcome, offering his opinions on the topics of conversation in each of the clusters he visited. Decker watched, pleased at how well accepted Christopher was by Decker’s colleagues, and at how well he handled himself with these people.
Among the well-wishers were three Security Council members: Ambassador Lee Yun-mai of China; Ambassador Friedreich Heineman of Germany, representing Europe; and Ambassador Yuri Kruszkegin, formerly of the Russian Federation and now of the independent Republic of Khakassia, representing Northern Asia. They had grouped on one side of the room and were discussing a recent vote on trade barriers. Christopher seemed just as comfortable with them as he had been with the administrative staff.
Finally the crowd began to thin and Secretary-General Hansen came over to talk with Decker. “I want to thank you again, Decker, for the spectacular job you did with this year’s United Nations Day celebration,” Hansen said as he gave him a pat on the back.
“Thank you for saying so, sir.”
“I think you’re due for a little time off, so I told Jackie to put you down as being on vacation for the next four or five days. I think your staff can hold the world together in your absence.”
The offer was a surprise but, like the party, it was a welcome one. “I believe I’ll take you up on that, sir,” Decker said willingly. “It would be nice to spend some time with Christopher.”
“That’s quite a boy you’ve got there,” Hansen said, motioning with his coffee cup in Christopher’s direction.
“Yes, sir,” Decker said with fatherly pride.
“Someone else who thinks so is Bob Milner. He sent me a letter—a very favorable letter—recommending Christopher for a position with ECOSOC,” Hansen said, referring to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
“Yes, sir. The former assistant secretary-general has been quite supportive of Christopher’s endeavors. He even flew down to Costa Rica last month for Christopher’s graduation from the UN University’s Doctoral program.” Decker said this more to brag on Christopher than anything else. He was always willing to tell anyone who asked that Christopher had graduated first in his class, simultaneously earning both a Ph.D. in Political Science and a second masters degree in World Agricultural Management. At this moment he was supposed to be on a cruise around the world, taking a well-earned vacation before starting to work at ECOSOC in the position for which Milner had recommended him.
“Well, with friends like Bob Milner, he’ll go a long way,” Hansen said.
“Have you heard anything recently about Secretary Milner, sir?” Decker asked. “Someone said he wasn’t feeling well.”
“Jackie tells me he checked into the hospital three nights ago for observation because of his heart, and he’s still there.”
“I’ve been so busy I didn’t know that,” Decker said, obviously both surprised and concerned.
“He’s eighty-two now, you know,” Hansen said.
“That’s not so old,” Decker responded, thinking about the recent addition of a year to his own age.
Hansen laughed. “Christopher can probably tell you better than I can about how Secretary Milner is doing. I understand he went to see him this morning before coming to the party.”
“Oh,” said Decker, a little surprised, but now understanding more fully why Christopher had cut his trip short.
When the party broke up, Decker went back to his office to tie up some loose ends and clear his calendar. It was nearly noon before he was ready to leave. “Where do you want to go for lunch?” Christopher asked. “I’m buying.”
“In that case, there’s a hot dog stand downstairs,” Decker joked as he gathered up a few papers and stuffed them into his briefcase.
“I think we can do a little better than that,” Christopher answered.
They finally settled on the Palm Too, a nice but reasonably priced restaurant on Second Avenue near the UN. “So,” Decker began after they had ordered, “are you ready to start putting that education of yours to work at ECOSOC?”
“Ready, and anxious to get started,” Christopher answered. “I’m not supposed to start work for another two weeks, but maybe I could spend some time reading through their archived literature.”
If it had been anyone else, Decker might have complimented his enthusiasm, but from Christopher he had come to expect it. “I spoke with Louis Colleta last week,” he said, referring to the head of ECOSOC. “He asked me about you and said he was looking forward to having you on his staff. He told me two or three times how pleased he was to be able to hire someone of your caliber. I’m sure that if you called him and let him know you’re available, he’d want you to start right away.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I’m just as pleased to have gotten the job.”
“I think you made a wise decision in pursuing it. The expansion of ECOSOC’s role is a major part of Secretary-General Hansen’s plan for greater centralization of authority during his current term.” Decker tapped his finger on the table to make his point. “As the role of the UN expands, ECOSOC is going to be more and more on the leading edge of world policy.”
“When you look at the growth Secretary-General Hansen has brought about over the last seven years and the spirit of cooperation he inspires among the members of the Security Council, as well as the other member nations, it’s hard to imagine how we could get along without him if he were ever to retire,” Christopher said.
“Well, I don’t think you have to worry about that. He’s not the kind to ever willingly walk away from an opportunity to work for world betterment. Besides—off the record—I think he’s having too much fun to ever retire.” Christopher smiled. “But, you’re right: I don’t know how we could ever get along without him. So much of his success is based on his own popularity. Peter Fan-tham in the Times called him the ‘George Washington of the United Nations’ and I have to agree.”
Decker paused briefly to take a bite of his sandwich. “We run regular public opinion polls on current and possible future policies, and we also check approval ratings for the various agencies and officials. Secretary Hansen continues to build a higher and higher overall approval rating in all of the ten regions. Last month his worldwide approval rating reached 78 percent. Sure, there are those who oppose everything Hansen or the UN does—a few religious kooks mostly. They think he’s the Antichrist or something and that world government is somehow inherently evil.”
&nb
sp; “Yeah, well, I suppose you’re always going to have a few of those,” Christopher responded. “But a 78 percent approval rating, that’s incredible!”
“You bet it is,” Decker continued. “Unfortunately, if there’s a weakness in Hansen’s government, it’s that it’s based too heavily on Hansen himself.” Decker looked around to be sure no one was listening and then, for good measure, leaned over the table closer to Christopher and whispered, “Left to themselves, some of the Security Council members would fight like cats and dogs.” This fact was no big secret; it was just that because of Decker’s position with the UN it would be embarrassing if he were overheard making such a statement. “But Hansen has been able to use his personal charm and skills to bind the Council together, helping them overlook their differences and getting them to work as a single unit for the common good. The more I watch him, the more I believe he was born for this moment in world history. I shudder to think what the Security Council meetings would be like without him.
“You know,” he continued, “I’ve frequently been amazed at the human ability to adapt to the situation at hand. I suppose that’s why we’ve survived as long as we have as a species. But at the same time, we seem to have this crazy notion that the way things are at the moment is the way they will remain. Maybe it’s just that humans are naturally optimistic. We’ve gotten pretty used to living in a world at peace, but there’s no guarantee that condition will last. Rome fell and so might the United Nations one day. My fear is that we won’t last nearly so long as Rome. I’m convinced that as long as Jon Hansen holds the reins the world will stay at peace, but unfortunately there’s no structure for succession. The UN Charter lays out the means for electing a new Secretary-General, but how do you find a leader of Hansen’s stature and quality?”
Decker and Christopher sat quietly for a moment, both recognizing there was no more to say on the subject and neither was there a proper way, other than silence and taking a few bites of their lunch, of making the transition to another topic.
“Well,” Decker said finally, “the last time we talked on the phone you said you had some news for me. Something to do with your dreams.”
“Oh, yes. It’s about some classes I took during my final two semesters. Secretary Milner suggested them.”
Decker, who had been doing most of the talking and little of the eating to this point, took advantage of the opportunity while Christopher talked.
“The first class dealt with New Age thought and eastern religions like Buddhism, Taoism, and Shintoism. Secretary Milner was involved in the development of the curriculum for the class.”
“I thought Milner was a Catholic,” Decker said.
“He is. That’s one of the most interesting things about the eastern religions: They don’t make any claims to exclusivity. You can be a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu or any other religion; it doesn’t matter. They believe there are many routes to God and that it’s wrong to suggest there’s one single way to reach him. Secretary Milner said he was first introduced to the eastern religions by Secretary-General U Thant. Anyway, the other class got into things like altered states of consciousness, channeling, and astral projection.”
“I know that stuff has gotten real popular. There’s a large contingent of New Agers at the UN. I don’t mean to be judgmental, but it all sounds pretty weird to me.”
“Yeah,” Christopher answered, “I thought so too, at first. The classes I took really only scratched the surface, but I learned a great deal. Some of it still seems a little crazy, but I think they may be on the right track about some things. I read a little about New Age thought eight or nine years ago when I first found out about my origin. You remember that when I told Uncle Harry about the crucifixion dream he had me read some things in the Bible to see if it would spur any memories?”
“Sure,” Decker responded.
“Well, I didn’t stop with the parts Uncle Harry wanted me to read. I read the whole thing, from Genesis to Revelation. Afterward I became very interested in reading what other religions had to say. So I read the Koran, the Book of Mormon, Dianetics, Science with Key to the Scriptures, and about a dozen other religious books. After growing up around Uncle Harry, I guess I was a little surprised to find that a lot of what they said made a great deal of sense. Some of the books talked about things like karma and reincarnation, meditation, and astral projection.”
“Astral projection?” Decker asked. “You mentioned that a minute ago. What exactly is that?”
“Well, like most things in the Eastern religions, it’s really pretty simple when you stop and think about it. Nearly all religions teach that man is made up of both body and spirit. Astral projection is a process used during meditation that is supposed to allow you to travel in the form of spirit energy to other places while your body remains in one place.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ve heard of that; Jackie said something about it, oh, I guess a few months ago. But that’s just a bunch of silliness,” Decker said, ready to drop the subject.
“Maybe not.” Christopher said. His expression said there was more.
“You’ve tried this?” Decker asked, recognizing that Christopher was not the type to believe something as bizarre as this without close scrutiny.
“Yes,” answered Christopher. “The first time was eight years ago.”
The revelation took Decker entirely by surprise. “You never told me about this before.”
“Well, as you said, it sounded pretty crazy—especially before I took these classes.”
“So where did you go in your astral projection?” Decker asked, still far from convinced.
“Lebanon,” Christopher answered.
Decker put down his fork and knife and stared at Christopher, unsure whether he was serious. He apparently was. Finally, Decker broke the silence. “Christopher, the night before the Disaster, your Aunt Martha and Uncle Harry came to visit Elizabeth and me. Martha told Elizabeth that you knew before the escape that I would be coming home soon. Do you remember telling her that?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How did you know?”
“I was there with you in Lebanon. I untied you.”
Decker swallowed hard.
After a moment, Christopher continued. “As I said, besides the Bible, I read about a dozen other religious books, including some that dealt with astral projection. It sounded interesting, so I read as much as I could find about it. And then I tried it. I was surprised at how easy it was. At first I just went to places I knew, but then I started going farther. I tried to reach you several times, but even after I found you, you couldn’t see me. That’s when I decided to try to appear to you in a dream. Do you remember the dream?”
Decker finally found his tongue to answer. “Yes. But until this moment I thought that was all it was. I never even told anyone about it except Tom Donafin, right after we escaped, and Elizabeth. From what your Aunt Martha said I thought you might have had some premonition or something about the escape, but I never imagined this. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
A look of relief swept over Christopher’s face. “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t entirely sure about it myself until this moment. It was so dreamlike that I thought the whole thing might have been my imagination. Why didn’t you ever mention it?”
Decker shrugged his shoulders. “It seemed so crazy.”
Decker and Christopher just looked at each other for a moment. “I guess I owe you an awful lot,” Decker said.
“Not nearly as much as I owe you for taking me in when I had nowhere else to go.”
“I probably would have died in Lebanon if it weren’t for you.”
“I guess we owe each other a lot. You’ve been like a father to me.”
“And you’ve been like a son.” Decker was starting to get a little choked up, so after a deep breath he took a drink and brought the subject back to its previous course. “So, have you done any more of this astral projection?”
“No. Perhaps I made more
out of it than I should have, but there was something strangely frightening about it. Every time I did it, it was as if there was something more going on than I realized.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well it was like …” Christopher seemed to be struggling for words. “The only way I can describe it is by analogy. Imagine you’re walking through a peaceful field. All around you, as far as you can see, everything is totally tranquil. And yet, even though you can’t see or hear it, you seem to know that somewhere just beyond your view, perhaps over the next rise, there’s a tremendous battle taking place. That’s about the best way I can explain it, except that somehow I knew I was the subject of that battle, and every time I traveled by astral projection, even though I still couldn’t see or hear it, it felt as if the battle had gotten closer and fiercer. It was as though someone or something was trying to get to me—at me—and someone or something else was trying to prevent it. After the last trip to Lebanon I never did it again.
“Without being specific,” Christopher continued, “I asked my professor at the university if she had ever heard any report of fear or other negative feelings by people during astral projection. She said all the literature indicated only positive reports.” Christopher shrugged and Decker shook his head, having no idea what to make of it all.
“But let me tell you about some other things I’ve discovered from taking these courses,” Christopher said. “I think I’ve been able to piece together some more parts of my past. One of the classes taught us to do a type of meditation in which you go into a dreamlike state while you’re still fully conscious, so it’s possible to have full control and nearly full recollection of everything you dream. Since most of the things I’ve remembered about my life as Jesus have occurred in dreams, I tried using this type of meditation to draw out other information.”
“So what have you discovered?”
“I remember, as a child, working in my father’s carpentry shop and how hard the work was, and I remember playing with the other children. One thing that’s a little odd is that I’ve had several dreams involving Indians.”
In His Image Page 30
