Acts of God

by James Beauseigneur

"Yes. Please," Decker persisted.

  "It will be a month before the first phase of deployment even begins. Why is it so important that we discuss it right this minute?"

  "Because it's wrong," Decker responded bluntly.

  Christopher raised an eyebrow, signed, and leaned back in his chair. "Decker, this was not a decision I rushed into. The Security Council has been pushing me to do this since the plagues first began."

  "Well, tell them you won't do it," Decker interrupted.

  "I can't do that, Decker."

  "Why not?"

  "Because I agree with them. I didn't at first. You know I've always held out hope that the KDT and their followers would join us. I've done everything I can to get them to listen to reason."

  "Have you?" Decker didn't intend for the question to sound like an accusation, but it did.

  Christopher seemed surprised and a little hurt. "Decker, stop. I can understand the public losing their faith in me, but will you abandon me, too?"

  "I haven't abandoned you."

  "Decker, I don't like having to deal with Petra anymore than you do. But it has to be . .."

  Christopher stopped in mid-sentence as his expression suddenly changed to shock and then disbelief. Getting up from his seat, he crossed over to Decker, took hold of his forearm and tore away the bandage that covered the back of his right hand. Decker did not resist.

  "So this is why you question my decision! You have abandoned me! You, of all people! I trusted you!" Christopher backed away, shaking his head in disbelief. "You told me you would receive the communion and then you disappeared."

  Coming near again, he looked Decker in the eye. "Bob Milner tried to tell me when you called here saying you needed a vacation that he sensed something was wrong. But I didn't want to believe it! I said you were probably just tired! I actually got angry with him for suggesting such a thing! But I see I owe him an apology." Christopher shook his head again. "It wasn't enough that you betrayed me once 2000 years ago!" he said. "You had to do it again! You never went to get the communion. You were hiding . .. you were ..." Christopher stopped himself short and just stared. "No," he said more slowly, as a look of sympathy and understanding swept over his face. "You were . . . you were kidnapped! Decker, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. Why didn't you tell me? Are you all right? How long did they hold you? Did they hurt you? How did you get away?"

  Somehow Christopher realized what had happened.

  The look of caring and concern was so real, Decker could no longer remain aloof. This was what he had hoped to see when he had watched Christopher's speech. Now he was sure. The relief swept over him like a flood as he knew for certain his concerns about Christopher had been unfounded.

  "I'm... I'm fine," Decker stammered, but it was obvious he was not. "Actually," he said, smiling in relief, "I feel terrible. I'm exhausted, my teeth hurt, my head hurts, and my tongue and the inside of my mouth feel like I gargled with Drano."

  "So, you did go through the plagues. I thought maybe you had been held in Petra all this time.

  "I was only there for a few days. When they released me, I went back to the U.S. Actually, being kidnapped and held in Petra was a walk in the park compared to what I've been through in the past several weeks. Of course, I've had it no worse than any one else."

  "I'm just glad you're back," Christopher said. "Did they torture you?"

  "No, they just scared me pretty good." Decker reached for the glass of water which had thus far gone untouched. "You know what I really need?" Decker said, as he looked at the water.

  "Just name it!" Christopher answered.

  "What I really need is a beer."

  "Hefeweizen Dunkefl" Christopher asked, referring to a German dark wheat beer that Decker was particularly fond of and that Christopher sometimes kept on hand.

  Decker's eyes lit up. "You have some?"

  "I even have one cold."

  Decker nodded eagerly and collapsed back into the chair. It was the first time he had really relaxed since before he was kidnapped, for it was not just his body that relaxed, but his mind as well. He wanted to apologize to Christopher for all the terrible things he had thought about him, but realized that discussion could wait for another time.

  Christopher poured the beer slowly into a tall glass and handed it to Decker, who sucked off the foam. "This is so good," he said, pausing only long enough to take a breath and lick the foam from his lips before drinking down several refreshing gulps. Christopher stood watching, apparently sharing Decker's enjoyment.

  "Decker, look, you're tired and you're . . . well, you're not as young as you used to be," Christopher said. "Besides, it's been hard on everyone with all these plagues. Have you seen a doctor?"

  "No. I guess I should."

  "Why don't you go home and get a good night's rest. I'll have Jackie make an appointment for you tomorrow."

  Decker nodded agreement. He was tired and he thought it would be a relief to get back to his apartment.

  "And while you're there you can finally take the communion," Christopher added, "discretely, of course. It wouldn't be good to have anyone find out you had waited so long."

  "Yes," Decker agreed. "I'll do that." Still, though he no longer believed Christopher to be a monster, Decker had come a long way and he had not yet achieved his purpose. "But before I go," he added, "there are a few things we must talk about." His expression made it obvious that he would not be swayed from his intent. He wanted to talk and it had to be now.

  "All right," Christopher smiled accommodatingly and sat back down opposite Decker. "What is it that's so important that it can't wait 'til morning?"

  "Christopher," Decker began, sitting forward in his seat and setting his beer down so he could use his hands to express himself, "when I was taken to Petra, at first I just wondered whether or not I'd ever get out of there alive. They never tortured me. For the first three days they tried their best to convince me that you were evil and that Yahweh was good. After that, I guess they just gave up. They let me go wherever I wanted throughout the whole encampment. I had a chance to meet the people and talk to them, to see what they thought about what was happening. And I realized some things. Most of them are not KDT crazies, Christopher. They're just ordinary people who have been convinced by the circumstances that the KDT have their best interests at heart and that you are their enemy.

  "On the plane to Jerusalem after your resurrection," Decker continued, "you told me that my role would be to serve as communicator of your message to people who were not familiar with the concepts of the New Age. Well, I served you in that role for three years, and I thought that job was pretty much complete. There's not a man or woman on the planet who hasn't been thoroughly familiarized with the message of the coming advance in the evolution of Humankind: movies, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, songs, plays, billboards, bumper stickers . . . your vision of the future is everywhere. There's not a child in school from age three and up who has not been trained in the ethics and tenets of the New Age. Even the younger ones learn the message through cartoons, toys, and games.

  "The mission has gone so well, in fact, that I was beginning to think that I had worked myself out of a job. But on my last night in Petra, I realized there was still much work to be done. But it was with the least likely of audiences: the people of Petra, and maybe even with the fundamentalists."

  Christopher shook his head to indicate the hopelessness of what Decker was suggesting. His skepticism did not deter Decker. "Christopher, I'm convinced that we can reach these people . . . make them understand that you're not their enemy... that what you offer the world is not to be feared, but welcomed."

  Christopher seemed unconvinced but Decker continued, clarifying one point, "I'm not saying there's hope for the KDT. I think they probably are beyond the point where they can be persuaded by reason. But their followers: I'm certain that many of them can be persuaded if they're just presented with all the facts."

  "Decker, believe me," Christopher an
swered, "more than anyone, I understand how you feel about this, but I think you're underestimating just how hard these people are to deal with. Don't you think I've tried? I've had the best cult deprogramming experts and psychiatrists in the world working on this with some of the fundamentalists in prison. They're still working on it, but they're getting nowhere."

  Decker was well aware of this. His office had been responsible for distributing information on the program to the press. "But the psychiatrists and deprogrammers are missing the point," he responded. "They're never going to convince the fundamentalists of anything as long as the KDT continue to appear infallible. Everything that the KDT says is going to happen, does happen. Everything they attempt, they accomplish. Sure, Bob Milner may come along later and stop what they've started, but in the meantime they've accomplished their purposes. But if just once we could alter events so that the KDT would fail in one of their prophecies, the whole foundation of their control would fall apart!

  "In Petra," Decker continued, "they told me that the plagues were coming. The KDT told their followers that in response to the plagues, you would act first against the fundamentalists and then assemble an army to march on Petra. They even said when it would happen: September. They've told everyone. It's commonly known throughout the camp.

  "But you can 'short-circuit' the prophecy — prevent it from coming true! If you don't march on Petra, then the KDT and their followers will have to admit they were wrong. I believe you should go to Petra, but instead of assembling an army for war, you could send a peace envoy. Show your true face as peacemaker and benevolent leader instead of the demonic beast the KDT has made you out to be. The KDT took me to Petra to convince me that they were right and you were wrong. What I'm suggesting would allow us to turn that completely around, so that we could use what I learned while I was there to our own benefit, so that we can convince their followers of the truth about you and about Yahweh."

  "Decker," Christopher responded, "all the KDT have done with their 'prophecy' about how I would respond is to state the obvious. It's like an accomplished chess player or a good military strategist. They can predict what their opponent will do several moves in advance because they know what their own moves will be and they know that their opponent will have no choice in how he will respond."

  "But can't we respond differently? Can't we change our response?"

  Christopher shook his head. "It's not that easy, Decker, and the KDT knows it. That's why they can speak with such confidence. It's not a coincidence that each of the plagues has been worse than the one before. We must stop the KDT before they're strong enough to act again, or the next plague will kill everyone on the planet except the KDT and their followers in Petra. No one outside the walls of Petra, not even the fundamentalists, will be spared."

  "I'm only asking for a brief delay. There are so many in Petra who simply have been misled by the KDT," Decker argued. "If you march on Petra in September they will suffer the same fate as those who have misled them."

  "I don't know what it is that you think I'm going to do," Christopher responded. "Do you think we're going to go in there and kill everyone? The people of Petra will be given the same opportunity as the fundamentalists have been given to denounce Yahweh and the KDT. Anyone willing to leave Petra and reject the KDT will be allowed to do so."

  "But they won't!" Decker insisted. "If you march on Petra in September, you'll be doing exactly what the KDT said you'd do. By your own actions you'll be giving credence to the KDT. Can't it wait even a month? You said yourself that they've been weakened enough that they won't be able to call down any more plagues for a while." Christopher did not answer, but it was obvious he had not changed his mind. Decker tried another approach. "Christopher, when I recommended that you institute the mark, it was to use the biblical prophecies to our advantage. What I'm suggesting now is the same thing, except I think now we should do just the opposite of what the prophecies say." Then another thought occurred to him. "Besides," he said, "if you march on Petra in September, you could be walking right into a trap."

  The suggestion brought an uncharacteristically chilly stare from Christopher. "Odd, Decker, but I get the feeling that it's not me you're concerned about."

  "Not exclusively, no," Decker admitted quickly. "I'd be lying to tell you otherwise. But my motives don't make what I'm saying any less true. If you can wait just a month, the people in Petra will realize that the KDT are wrong and their stranglehold will be broken. We can accomplish our goals and avoid a massacre."

  "Decker, don't you understand, every day of delay is like putting off the removal of a life-threatening cancer. In one month — a single month — these people you're trying to protect have killed over 200 million people and nearly every aquatic creature on the planet! I have no desire to kill anyone," Christopher continued, "but you are wrong. If I delay my plans, they will not see they're wrong. They will simply find some way to reinterpret the prophecies to say that I'll be coming the next month, or the next, or the one after that. Do you have any idea how many times in the past these religious types have used exactly that kind of'prophetic revisionism'? The leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses practically made an art of it — predicting numerous events that never happened, including the end of the world in the 1870s and 1914, and again in 1975. Time after time their leaders made their predictions and time after time they failed. And when the predicted dates passed, they'd make up some story about how what they predicted actually did happen but only 'in the heavenly realm' or 'invisibly.' Or else they'd claim that they never actually made the prediction and that what they said had just been misinterpreted or taken too literally by others. And yet, time after time their followers believed them. No amount of truth would shake them from what they wanted to believe." Christopher shook his head to indicate the hopelessness of any attempt to convince the KDT's followers that they were wrong. "If I postpone the march on Petra for a month, the KDT will simply make up some excuse; they'll do exactly as the leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses did. And their followers will go on believing their every word."

  What Christopher was saying made sense. As he thought it through, the faces of Rhoda and Tom, Jr. and Rachael and Decker Donafin and all the people of Petra seemed to blur in his memory. Maybe Christopher was right; maybe he was just tired and old. "But we can't just . . ." Decker tried to think of something, some new reason, but it seemed he was running out of arguments. Still, he could not just give up and let the people of Petra die. There had to be a way . . . something he had not thought of yet.

  "I'm sorry we can't agree on this, Decker," Christopher said, "but I have to do what I believe is best. Now frankly, I just don't have the time to continue to discuss it." Christopher got up and went back to his desk, leaving Decker sitting there. Had he not left so quickly, he would have noticed the sudden look of startled recollection which swept over Decker's face, and the expression of sheer horror which followed it: horror so great that all thoughts of Petra — the whole reason he had come here — were totally eclipsed in his mind.

  Decker had seen something. It was no monstrous metamorphosis such as he had seen in his dream on the plane, but it was every bit as terrifying. It was the look on Christopher's face when he said he didn't have time to discuss it. It was only a look, but its meaning was inescapable. It was something Decker had seen just once before. It was exactly the same expression he had seen on Christopher's face in Lebanon when he asked about Tom.

  In that instant, the universe changed.

  Then he said it.

  "There's something else."

  With those three words, Decker crossed a line of restraint that he had maintained for over twenty years. He had advised, even argued with Christopher, but never before had he challenged him. In reality his words could have meant anything. He simply could have let it drop. But to Decker it seemed that he was caught in a swell which he could no longer navigate but only press through.

  "Decker, there's nothing more to discuss." The look had not left Ch
ristopher's face.

  "I'm not talking about Petra," Decker said, rising from his chair to face Christopher on even ground.

  "Then what?" asked Christopher, apparently unaware of the tempest in Decker's mind and heart. "What else have I done that has not met with your approval?"

  Decker sensed a thinly veiled sarcasm in Christopher's voice that he had never heard before. Then suddenly, he understood why Christopher had never called him while he was in Derwood. Christopher no longer needed him; he had served his purpose in reaching those unfamiliar with the New Age philosophy and was no longer of any use. In truth, Christopher no longer had time for Decker.

  "You were going to leave Tom Donafin," he answered.

  Christopher responded with a look of complete puzzlement. "What in the world are you talking about?" he asked, his voice showing not only confusion about the relevance of Tom Donafin to the current conversation, but growing anger as well. "Leave him where?"

  "When Tom shot you," Decker began, "I was standing right next to him. When I realized what he had done I asked him 'Why?' Tom started to answer, but all he had time to say before he was killed was, 'He was going to leave me.'

  "It didn't make any sense at the time. I thought it was just the ramblings of a lunatic. Later I became convinced that the Koum Damah Tatare had brainwashed him. But when I was at Petra I had the dream again." Decker paused to breathe and calm his pounding heart. He hadn't tried to, but he was beginning to sound more and more like a prosecuting attorney about to drive home his point to the jury. Christopher didn't like being put in this position and it was obvious that he didn't care for Decker's tone.

  "What dream?!" Christopher demanded, wanting to waste no more time at this game. "What are you talking about?!"

  "It was the same dream I had in Lebanon."

  There was a long pause while Christopher studied Decker's face in confusion. "You mean," he asked, "when I rescued you from the Hizballahl That's what this is all about?!"

  "That's what Tom was talking about," Decker answered. "I never told anyone about that dream except Tom and Elizabeth. In the dream you came into my room to get me. 'It's time to go,' you said. But when I was following you out, I stopped you to ask about Tom." Decker watched Christopher for any reaction to what he was saying. There was none. "I asked you where he was. You knew but you didn't care. If I hadn't insisted, you would have left him there to die."