James BeauSeigneur - In His Image James

Decker decided he'd do the same. The old city wasn't that big – maybe he'd run into Christopher along the way.

As Decker walked down the narrow streets and still narrower alleyways of the city, he thought back to the time he had been here with Tom Donafin. Tom had done all the sightseeing then; Decker just looked at the brochures and picture postcards Tom brought back. He had been saving most of his sightseeing for when Elizabeth and the girls arrived for Christmas vacation. But that had never happened. Decker sighed. Even after all these years, he thought of them every day and still missed them terribly.

By five o'clock the sun had begun to set and Decker found a small restaurant down a side alley where he had dinner. Afterward he headed back to the hotel. Christopher still had not returned, so Decker left the door between their rooms open and watched a movie until he fell asleep. When he awoke it was still dark outside and he assumed he had slept for a couple of hours. He went to Christopher's room and found it just as it was before; the note still hung on the mirror. Decker went back in his room to turn off the television and saw that the clock on his night table said that it was nearly six o'clock; Christopher had been gone all night. Decker ran back into Christopher's room as if that might make some difference. It made none.

Decker called the number for Christopher's pocket phone and then realized when he heard the ringing from Christopher's suitcase that he had not taken it with him. He called the front desk, but the night desk clerk had not seen him. He called the hotel restaurant, but it was closed. He called the hotel bar, but it too was closed. Reluctantly, he called Jackie Hansen, who was just getting ready for bed in New York, but she had not heard from him. Finally, he called the Italian embassy in Tel Aviv. Decker identified himself to the person in charge and at his insistence, the ambassador was roused from his sleep. The ambassador, who didn't really appreciate being awakened, said he had not heard from Christopher and was not even aware that he was in the country. He took advantage of the opportunity to point out to Decker that it was proper protocol to notify the embassy whenever a visiting ambassador was in the country. The ambassador recommended calling the police, but Decker said he wanted to wait just a little longer for Christopher to show up before doing that. The ambassador didn't argue.

Decker went down to the hotel lobby to wait and let the desk clerk know where he was in case any calls came in. Time went by very slowly but Decker felt he should wait until at least eight o'clock before calling the police. He checked his watch frequently and as soon as eight o'clock came Decker crossed the lobby to make the call. As he reached into his pocket for the correct change he suddenly felt a presence near him and looked up. Standing there not two feet away was a familiar face he had not seen in over a year. He was quite a bit thinner than the last time he had seen him, but Decker recognized him immediately. "Secretary Milner?" Decker said, surprised to see him there.

"Hello, Decker," Milner answered. -

"What are you doing here?" Decker asked as he hung up the phone. "Have you seen Christopher?"

"Christopher is safe," Milner said, not directly answering the question.

"Thank God! Where is he? I thought he might have been taken hostage by the… " Decker stopped himself. Milner finished his sentence for him.

"… by the KDP?" Decker did not respond, though he was surprised that Milner knew what he was thinking. "No," Milner continued. "I have no doubt that they'd love to do just that, but Christopher is safe."

"Well, where is he?"

Milner reached out and touched Decker's shoulder "Look," he said. Decker sensed a power flowing from Milner's hand and suddenly in his mind's eye, he could see Christopher. The scene was as clear to him as the room around him. Christopher was sitting on a large stone near the mouth of a cave. He was alone and in a mountainous area that could best be described as wilderness. "Is he all right?" asked Decker.

"He's fine, though by now he's beginning to grow hungry." Milner removed his hand from Decker's shoulder and instantly the vision vanished.

"If you know where he is, take me to him."

"That's not possible," Milner answered. "He must be left alone. This is his time of preparation."

"Preparation for whatT Decker demanded.

"Mr. Hawthorne, the world is about to undergo a time such as it has never known before. A time so dark and bleak that the destruction of the Russian Federation and what we call the 'Disaster' will seem mild by comparison. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do to prevent its occurrence. But if we as a species are to emerge from it, and to go on to our ultimate destiny, it will happen only under Christopher's leadership. Without that leadership, the world as we know it will utterly perish. I have known this since years before I first saw him, and now you know it as well. What Christopher goes through now will prepare him for that hour."

Decker was too stunned to respond right away. In the back of his mind he had always wondered if there wasn't some greater purpose to Christopher's birth than simply being the product of Harry Goodman's experiment. After a moment he managed to ask, "What about the KDP?"

"They shall not harm him, though they would relish an opportunity to do so."

"Who are they?" Decker asked. "Are they a part of this?"

"They are. As you know, when Alice Bernley was alive she headed the Lucius Trust near the U.N. That location was not an accident. For years the Trust has been a sort of clearinghouse for thousands of what we call 'New Age' groups from all around the world." Decker started to speak but Milner anticipated his response and continued. "The New Age is not just some fad, some passing fancy. It is the result of a maturing, a ripening of the human species in preparation for the final and most glorious step in its evolution. Humanity is on the very threshold of an evolutionary stride which shall place us as far above what we are now, as we are now above the ants on the forest floor.

"The KDP were to have been the spearhead of that," Milner continued. "Unfortunately, at the very moment of their inception their course was subverted by the two men who are now their leaders."

"One of whom is the Apostle John?" Decker asked.

"Yes." Milner did not appear at all surprised that Decker should know this. "You have heard of the strange ability of the KDP to look into a person's past?"

"Yes."

"Such an ability is only a faint precursor of what is to come. Soon that ability shall seem as no more than a firefly in the blazing sun. Such powers should be used to look into the hearts of others, to find those places where compassion is so desperately needed, and to offer comfort. Instead, under the leadership of John and another man named Saul Cohen, they use their gift to dredge up what would be better left forgotten, and to savagely claw open old wounds and call attention to human frailties. And yet, that is the least of their monstrous inhumanity. Their powers for evil are far greater than anything any sane mind could imagine. This drought that Israel has suffered these sixteen months is their work. And they shall do far worse before it is over."

"What can be done to stop them?"

"By ourselves we can do nothing. The fate of the world and of humankind rests squarely on the shoulders of the one you have raised as your own son. The conclusion is by no means foreordained. Let us hope that he is equal to the task."

For a moment both men were silent. It took Decker a moment to even begin to comprehend the magnitude of what Milner had just told him.

"How long will Christopher have to stay out there?" Decker asked, finally breaking the silence.