Acts of God

by James Beauseigneur

  "What started out this morning as peaceful protests .. ."

  "Snooze!" Decker shouted just before he covered his head with his pillow. This time the clarity and volume were sufficient for the voice monitor to register his command and to shut off the television. Some people liked to wake up to music, others to a bell or buzzer, others to recorded sounds of nature. Decker found television news to be the most effective.

  "No, wait," Decker said a second later, as the words of the news commentator sank in. "I mean, TV ON!" he shouted, as he quickly sat up to see the screen. The television immediately came back to life.

  "In scenes reminiscent of the sit-ins of the 1960s or the fundamentalist blockades of women's clinics in the 1990s, fundamentalists started the day in dozens of cities from Sydney to Beijing by attempting to block the entrance to communion clinics as they opened this morning." As the commentator spoke, the image on the screen showed a clip from Sydney, Australia, where about 20 to 30 people were lying on the ground in front of a communion clinic, singing hymns and attempting to block a clinic doorway.

  "The protests quickly turned violent, however, when fundamentalists refused to clear the way for those who had been waiting in line for as much as three or four days. Police were called in and arrests quickly followed." The screen showed a jumble of confusion with shoving, kicking, and flying night sticks. Police handcuffed protestors and carried them to vans. To slow the arrests as police tried to carry them away, the protestors went limp and continued singing their religious songs.

  "In much of the world it is still night," the commentator noted. "As morning dawns and the communion begins in other cities, no one knows if these scenes of protest by fundamentalists will be repeated. Police, however, are not taking any chances. Reports from cities in other time zones indicate that police are being dispatched just in case."

  "Off," Decker commanded when the commentator went to another story.

  Such reports continued as Christian fundamentalists suddenly seemed to be coming from nowhere, attempting to block clinic doors and taking advantage of the captive audiences to preach to those waiting in line. Those who were arrested for blocking access to the clinics were given jail terms of up to two years. Those who merely preached were allowed to continue as long as they did not come within 100 feet of the clinics. To drown them out, those in line chanted the words of the pledge which was required of everyone before taking the communion:

  By taking the blood, I pledge my allegiance to him who is its source and to the advancement of all of Humankind. By accepting the mark, I declare my emancipation from any person or power that would seek to subjugate me or the family of Humankind.

  Clearly the fundamentalists were in the minority, but they were vocal and undaunted in the delivery of their message. And occasionally they were even successful in their efforts as one or two of those waiting in line dropped out, apparently to reconsider.

  One unexpected response to the fundamentalists' protests and the third angel's threats was that many who received communion chose the option of taking the mark on their foreheads. At first there were only a few, but it quickly became a matter of great pride to have the mark emblazoned on one's forehead for all to see. Many who had earlier taken the mark on the back of their hand got back in line, hoping that they could take the mark on their forehead as well. Clearly the mark had become what Decker intended that it be: an emblem of Humankind's emancipation, a symbol of solidarity with Christopher, and a sign of resolute defiance against Yahweh and those who served him.

  And so it continued for nearly a week, as 12,000 clinic? processed an average of 1000 people per clinic per day. During the night of July 11th the situation changed dramatically as one after another, seven communion clinics were firebombed. The next night there were twelve, and the next night forty. Seven, twelve, forty — all were numbers favored in biblical text, a fact not missed by the authorities. The fundamentalists denied responsibility, but no one else had motive. Because the bombings took place at night when most clinics were attended only by security guards, there were very few serious injuries inside the clinics. Outside the clinics, however, it was another story. Dozens of people waiting outside for the clinics to open suffered burns and serious cuts from flying glass, and three individuals were struck by terrorists' cars as they sped by the clinics and threw their Molotov cocktails. So far no one had been killed.

  While the terrorists were successful in completely shutting down only a very few clinics, by the third morning after the bombings began, it was obvious they were having an effect. Even though most of the clinics continued to operate at full capacity, the length of the lines began to dwindle. So far, only 140 million, or about 5 percent of the world's 2.8 billion people had received the communion. The shorter lines posed serious concerns for those responsible for administering the communion. Interviews with people who had not yet taken communion revealed that fear of the terrorists was the number one reason for not going to the clinics. "What good is the communion going to do me," asked one interviewee, "if I get killed on my way in the door?"

  The problem was further exacerbated on the afternoon following the third night of bombings when two armored vehicles bringing new supplies of the communion blood to clinics were hijacked and set ablaze. An eyewitness captured one of the hijackings on video, which was shown on television around the world. The video started just as the truck's guard was shot when he tried to resist the attackers. Two of the five terrorists then pulled the driver from the truck and violently threw him to the pavement and forced him to kneel on the street. Holding a gun to the driver's head, one of the terrorists told the driver to pray and ask God's forgiveness for his sins. Terrified, the driver did as he was told, shaking and stuttering in fear as he repeated every word. When he had finished the terrorists all said "amen." The man who held the gun then shouted, "Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus!" and pulled the trigger, blowing the man's brains out on the street. Despite all that the world had suffered over the past few years, the inhumanity of this scene, shown repeatedly on television, struck viewers with a very personal sense of outrage.

  Local authorities attempted to stem the terrorism by providing escorts for the armored trucks and additional security at the clinics, but these efforts met with only limited success. Despite their efforts, ultimately the responsibility for dealing with the problem belonged to the United Nations. Secretary-General Christopher Goodman officially asked the Security Council to provide United Nations forces to protect the citizens, the clinics, and the communion supply.

  In an address designed to calm fears and to let the people of the world know what was being done, Christopher took verbal aim at the terrorists. "No one is being forced to take the communion or to accept the mark. It is entirely voluntary. Those who do not want it are free to refuse it. Neither have we made any attempt to stop those who oppose the communion from expressing their opinions, as long as they are peaceful. But this is not enough for them — instead they have turned to violence and bloodshed. We cannot, as a civilized people, allow terrorists to operate with impunity. The rights of individuals to make their own choices must be protected!"

  The Security Council quickly granted Christopher's request to deploy U.N. forces, but it was not soon enough. That night 32 more clinics were bombed.

  August 2, 3 N.A. (2025 A.D.) — Babylon, Iraq

  "I am tempted," said Robert Milner, "to use such euphemisms as 'eliminate' or 'nullify,' but, while such terms may play more favorably with the public, it is important that we in this room face squarely the reality of this proposal." His honest appraisal was like a splash of cold water in the face of one in the penumbra of consciousness: it was unwelcome in its jarring impact but appreciated in that it brought the reality of the situation into clear focus. "What we are faced with is sanctioning the reinstitution of capital punishment — the death penalty."

  With him in the room were Decker, Christopher, and the ten members of the Security Council. Christopher had surrendered his position as Primar
y for Europe and caretaker for the Middle East and East Africa in January so that there were again ten Primary members of the Security Council. The meeting, informal and very strictly 'off the record,' had been requested by Christopher to assess what options still existed for dealing with the fundamentalists' continuing reign of terrorism. The response to his question kept coming back the same.

  For three weeks now the terrorist attacks had continued. The use of United Nations security forces had reduced the number of bombings and drive-by shootings at communion clinics, and only three more hijackings had taken place. Yet somehow the fundamentalists always seemed to know beforehand where the weakest point in security lay and how to use that weakness to their advantage. While on rare occasions this might have been attributable to security leaks within the U.N. forces, more often than not the U.N. forces were unaware of the particular weaknesses until they were so skillfully exploited by the terrorists. What the terrorists knew went beyond inside information and demonstrated a knowledge of details no one else knew. Neither did coincidence or dumb luck provide a sufficient explanation for the success of their attacks. The only reasonable explanation was that members of the KDT were employing their psychic abilities to aid the fundamentalists' attacks.

  Surprisingly, however, the fundamentalists seemed sloppy in covering their tracks. Despite the precise planning of their attacks, they left behind a trail of eyewitnesses who were only too eager to point out the culprits. Equally surprising was that after committing their crimes, the fundamentalists apparently went right back to their homes and jobs, making their capture almost too easy. It was as though they wanted to be arrested, as though they sought the martyr's role. Around the world, U.N. security forces and local authorities had taken hundreds of fundamentalists into custody for terrorist activities. While this should have provided some encouragement, there was little to celebrate, for it seemed that no sooner was an enclave of fundamentalists identified and taken into custody than another stepped in to fill its shoes.

  Despite the testimony of eyewitnesses, those arrested claimed innocence or simply refused to answer the charges at all. Some just prayed while others did their best to disrupt the proceedings by singing or shouting praises to their god. Most tried to turn the hearings into an opportunity to preach to the court and their accusers.

  Outside the courts, they were having an impact. Because of the relentless strikes against the clinics, the number of people receiving the communion had dropped to a mere trickle. Clinics set up to handle thousands of people a day served only a few hundred.

  "What is most frustrating to me," Christopher said to those in the meeting with him, "is that we are not opposed to them or their religion as such. They could keep their religion, or at least much of what they believe, and still be welcome in the New Age. We have not restricted other beliefs, nor do we wish to. Soon all of Humankind will grow beyond the need for religion and it will make no difference if, in the past, a person was a Buddhist or a Taoist or a Christian. All that we ask is that the fundamentalists accept the fact that the truth as others see it, is equally as valid as the truth they believe they see."

  "There, indeed, lies the problem," Milner said. "After all, the very nature of religious zealots is that they believe that they alone know the right way. They are unwilling to concede that anyone outside of their particular orthodoxy may possess a small portion of the truth. Their exclusivity is a source of great pride. They see Humankind as primitive and regressive. They view the world as evil and unfit, and Humankind as deserving of annihilation and eternal torment in hell. They define their value, not in being fully human, but in becoming the slaves of Yahweh. For them, only those who are willing to sacrifice their own humanity on the altar of subservience to an angry god are worthy of salvation from such a torturous end. Were it in their power, they would call down a flood such as they believe Yahweh sent in the days of Noah to drown out the rest of humanity. And is it any wonder, with such examples of wrath and destruction as are found in the Bible, that these people will justify any behavior, any crime, to stop us? They believe that they not only have a right, but indeed they have a duty to eliminate any other way of thinking.

  "We have the support we need to punish those responsible," Milner continued, "and I, for one, am convinced there is no other way to stop them."

  "The people demand justice," Ambassador Tanaka said resolutely.

  As others continued to voice their feelings, Christopher listened without additional comment for more than an hour. Decker could see that he was uncomfortable with what he was hearing.

  "I began," Robert Milner said in closing, "by saying that euphemisms were out of place in an honest discussion of the alternatives available. Let me now conclude by noting that in light of what we now understand about the nature of the human animal, as that light has been given to us by Christopher, we are not truly condemning anyone to death, for death is but a fleeting passage in the eternal circle of life. The seed is buried in the ground but it returns anew to life. So it is also with the human seed. What we are talking about is not execution, but liberation. What we accomplish is not termination, but rebirth."

  The meeting ended without a decision in order to give everyone a chance to consider what had been said. In truth, all except Christopher seemed resolved to a course of action. "What are you going to do?" Decker asked after everyone else had left.

  Christopher leaned back in his chair and exhaled in pained exasperation. Decker waited for his answer.

  "I'd like to just quit," Christopher answered to Decker's amazement. "A part of me would like to just say, 'okay, Yahweh, you win. You can have the planet. . .' But of course I can't simply surrender the future of Humankind because I'm faced with having to do what I do not want to do. And yet capital punishment seems so contrary to our overall goals. I have the greatest respect for the men and women who were just here," he said of the Security Council and Robert Milner. "It is clear that they have approached this problem with a great deal of serious thought."

  Christopher sat silently for nearly three minutes as Decker waited without interrupting. The opinions had all been aired already; all that Decker could do now was offer moral support. Finally Christopher spoke. "I suppose that tough decisions are the bane of everyone in government. Who am I to think that it should be different for me?

  "You know, Decker," he continued, "I guess I've never really faced a dilemma like this before. I've always been able to discover some way around every problem." Decker's mind flashed back to his own youth — he had been much the same. And then he came to that one moment when he, too, had faced a true dilemma, a situation from which there was no way out: the deaths of Elizabeth, Hope and Louisa. The memory was old but his pain was still as real as the day they died.

  Christopher's voice pulled his thoughts back to the present. "I've always found some way to accomplish what was necessary without having to do something I found to be morally compromising," he continued. "I'm afraid this is one part of being human that I had not counted on."

  Christopher stopped and thought for another moment before finally answering Decker's question about what he was going to do. "As unpleasant as it is, I suppose I'll do what I have to do," he said. "I guess Thomas Jefferson was right: 'The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.'"

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Hope

  June 2, 4 N.A. (2026 A.D.) — Babylon, Iraq

  Decker waited outside Christopher's office, talking with Jackie Hansen. He marveled at how young she looked. He knew her age: though she had forbidden anyone to give her a party, she had just turned fifty. And yet every day it seemed she grew younger and more beautiful. The small mark on the back of her right hand explained why. She had been among the very first to receive the communion, and after fourteen months its beneficial effects were unmistakable.

  Decker would have liked to talk with Jackie for a while longer, but Christopher returned to his office and it was Christopher he had come t
o see, or more precisely, it was Christopher who had asked to see him.

  Inside the office, Decker could not help but comment to Christopher on Jackie's appearance. In doing so he unintentionally provided the opening for what Christopher wanted to see him about.

  "Decker," Christopher began, and then paused. It was clear that something was bothering him. Somehow Decker sensed that this was not a matter of state but something far more personal.

  "What is it?" Decker asked, urging him on.

  "I don't want this to sound like . . . well, like I'm calling you on the carpet. I hope that I would never be so presumptuous; you know how I feel about you. It's just that, well, I don't understand."

  Decker didn't speak but his expression made it clear that he had no idea what Christopher was getting at. • "The communion," Christopher said finally.

  The comment was cryptic: he might have meant anything by it. But Decker was sure he now understood what this meeting was about.

  "I've been meaning to talk with you about that," Decker said a little sheepishly. It had been more than a year since the communion had begun. The strict penalties against terrorist activities at clinics had had the desired effect and now nearly everyone had received the communion and bore the mark. Many clinics had all but suspended operations because everyone in the population who wanted the communion had received it. There was, however, one notable exception: Decker himself.

  "Decker, certainly you of all people are free to make your own choice on the matter .... I just don't understand."

  "Christopher, you know that I love you."

  "And I love you," Christopher responded.

  "And you must know that I consider myself fortunate above all men to have been a part of what you have begun. But I'm seventy-two years old. I'm an old man."

  "But, Decker, the communion will make you young again!"