their differences, and getting them to work as a single unit for the common good. The more I watch him, the more I believe that 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,' Decker 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 U.N. 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 my dreams and 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 that there are many routes to God and that it's wrong to suggest that 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 U.N. 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 that 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 ofMormon, 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… ' Decker tried to recall when, 'oh, I guess it was 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 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 corning 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 dream-like 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 that 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
