'But he has no memory of any of that. For all he knows, he's just a normal eleven-year-old.'
'And you're saying that there's no difference between Christopher and any other kid?' Decker asked incredulously.
'Yes, all right, there are some differences. He's never been sick and when he gets a cut or scrape he heals quickly. But that's all.' 'He seemed pretty damned intelligent,' Decker countered. 'He is intelligent,' Goodman conceded, 'but not exceptionally so. Besides, both Mrs. Goodman and I have spent many hours working with him at home, in addition to his school work.'
'Mrs. Goodman?' Decker asked. 'Does she know about Christopher?'
'Of course not. After he was born I paid the surrogate and dispatched her immediately back to Mexico to prevent any problems that might arise from bonding. I rented an apartment and hired a nurse to take care of him. I know it sounds terribly irresponsible now, but I had absolutely no plans about what I was going to do with him as he got older. I was so involved with the overall project that I didn't think about the child as a person. By the time I realized my responsibilities, he was nearly a year old. I couldn't just leave him on the doorstep of some orphanage, so I left him on my own doorstep. I put him in a basket, left a note, the whole nine yards. Martha had always wanted children, and after a few days of taking care of him while we 'considered what to do,' it wasn't very difficult to convince her that we should keep him in case the mother ever came back looking for him. Later we made up the story about him being our grandnephew and I had a birth certificate and some other papers forged to cover our tracks.
'Decker, maybe it was a mistake to go through with the cloning. If you'd like, you may say 'I told you so.' But I don't regret it. He's been like my own son. If you report that Christopher is a clone you'll destroy three lives: his, mine and Martha's. Christopher will never have another normal day in his life. You can't do that to him. You have children. Can a story in some damned magazine really be worth that much?'
Goodman waited for Decker to answer, but Decker didn't like the answer that came to mind. No, he didn't want to ruin Christopher's life, but there had to be some way to tell the story and still protect those involved. The standard promise of anonymity wouldn't work. It was too big a story. Someone would figure it out. And if he didn't use names and explain the circumstances, no one would believe the story anyway. There had to be some way around it. He needed time to think.
Goodman provided the answer. He had waited so long for Decker's response that he began to worry he wasn't going to get the answer he wanted. 'Look,' he said, 'why don't you come back here next week and spend some time getting to know Christopher better?' Goodman hoped that once Decker got to know Christopher he wouldn't want to risk hurting the boy no matter how big the story. It sounded like a good suggestion to Decker as well, but for a different reason. It would give him the time he needed to think, and if he did figure out something he would have a lot more information for the article.
Decker's answer was implied, 'Can't do it next week. I'm going to Israel, remember?' Then a thought hit him. It was a long shot but Decker's career had been built on long shots and being at the right place at the right time. 'How about if I take Christopher with me to Israel? Who knows? Maybe it will jog his memory a little.'
Anger swept over Goodman's face. 'Are you crazy! Absolutely not! How would I explain that to Martha?!'
'Okay! Okay! I just thought it would be a neat idea.'
'Well it's not!' Goodman shot back.
'Look,' Decker said, preparing to strike a bargain, 'I'll keep my mouth shut for the time being. I'll be back from Israel in January, so plan on having me around for at least a week or so.'
Goodman swallowed hard. He was thinking more along the lines of a few hours, a day at most. He agreed anyway in hopes of arguing later for a compromise.
Decker and Hope were soon on their way again, nearly six hours later than they had planned. Decker wondered how he was going to explain to Elizabeth why he was so late.
Chapter 6
Secrets of the Lost Ark
Nablus, Israel
'Tom, how do you take yours?' Joshua Rosen asked as he poured coffee for himself, his wife, and his two American guests. Tom Donafin wanted his black. Decker started to respond but Joshua interrupted. 'I don't need to ask you. I remember. You like yours with too much cream and too much sugar, just like you'd serve it to a baby.' In preparation for their assignment to cover the recent disturbances in Israel, Decker and Tom had attempted to adjust to Israeli time but the coffee provided welcome assistance.
'So, Tom, tell us about yourself,' Liana Rosen asked. 'How do you know our Decker?'
'Oh, we've been friends for a long time. I guess we met in… ' Tom scratched his chin beneath his thick brown beard, 'it must have been 1968. It was at a coffee house in Tullahoma, Tennessee, We were both interested in writing so we hit it off right away.' Tom looked off, as if through time, and added, 'We were pretty weird looking back then… you know, long hair, love beads, the whole schtick.'
Liana Rosen looked across the table at Decker, now age 47, trying to picture him as a hippie, and laughed. 'Anyway,' Tom continued, 'We lost track of each other for a few years: Decker went into the army and I went to work on a construction crew. Then in 1973 I decided I was tired of sweating for a living, and decided to go to college. Well, one day I was sitting in a microbiology class that the school computer had mistakenly assigned me to, and I looked up and in walks Decker, as droopy-eyed as you see him today.'
Decker had taken advantage of Tom's story to 'rest his eyes,' but now gave his head a shake and forced down some coffee to try to restore consciousness. 'I guess I really should try to stay more alert during Tom's stories,' Decker said. 'There's no telling what he'll make up about me while I'm asleep.'
Satisfied that his friend was listening, Tom continued his story. 'For the next few years we stayed in pretty close contact at school. After college, I got a job with a newspaper in Massachusetts and I thought Decker was planning to go to grad school. But the next thing I knew he was publishing a weekly newspaper in Knoxville. After a few years I left Massachusetts and went to work for UPI in Chicago. Then about two and a half months ago Decker got me an interview with NewsWorld Magazine.'
Despite his best efforts Decker was again drifting off to sleep, but as Tom finished speaking he felt three pairs of eyes staring at him. Giving his head another quick shake and a roll, he tried to act as though he had been listening intently. Tom ignored Decker's latest infraction of good manners and asked the Rosens about themselves. 'Decker told me a little about you during the trip over, but there's still a lot I don't know.'
'Well, in a nutshell,' Joshua Rosen began, 'Liana and I were both born in Austria a few years before World War II. When I was six years old my family left Austria when it became clear that there would be no place for Jews in Hitler's world. Fortunately my whole family was allowed to leave. Liana's family tried to leave just two weeks later and were refused passports. They were smuggled out later by Lutheran missionaries.
'In America, my father was one of more than thirty Jewish scientists who worked in atomic research for the Manhattan Project. At home, he was a very strict taskmaster and insisted that my two sisters and I excel in our school work. I went on to study nuclear physics and then became involved in laser and particle beam research.' Rosen paused to sip some coffee.
'That's how you got involved in strategic defense,' Tom said, filling the brief silence.
'Right,' Rosen responded. 'Then a few years ago the President decided to cut back on nearly all directed energy research.'
'And that's when you decided to come to Israel.'
'Well, not right away, but soon after. My father helped build the first atomic bomb to try to end World War II; I wanted to help build a defense against missiles carrying atomic bombs to prevent World War III. When it seemed clear that the United States no longer had the resolve to build such a defense, I decided to come to Israel to continue my work here.'
'Decker said something about your son turning you in to Israeli immigration authorities so that you couldn't become citizens,' Tom probed.
