file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/BeauSeigneur,...hrist%20Clone%20Trilogy%20(3)/02%20-%20Birth%20of%20an%20Age.txt
suddenly recognizing the U.N.
1 Chapter 28 from In His Image, Book One of The Christ Clone Trilogy is included here as a
prologue.
2 Birth of an Age
emblems on the soldiers' helmets, and realizing that he and Tom were safe.
In the past, when he recalled that moment, he thought of it as just another case of being in the
right place at the right time. Now he could not help but believe it was much more. If it had not
happened, he would not have met Jon Hansen and he surely would never have become his press
secretary. And had he not worked for Hansen, who then became Secretary-General, Christopher would
not have had the opportunities he had to work in the U.N. and later to head a major U.N. agency,
and then to become a U.N. ambassador serving on the Security Council. Surely this was more than
chance.
And, it occurred to him, this chain of events had not just started on that road in Lebanon. There
was the destruction of the Wailing Wall, and being taken hostage. And before that, the events
which had allowed him to go to Turin, Italy, in the first place. If he had not gone, he certainly
would never have been called by Professor Harry Goodman on that cold November night back in 1988,
to come and see what he had discovered on the Shroud.
As he continued to think through the chain of circumstances that had brought him to this point, he
tried to find the single weakest link in the chain, the seemingly least important event which, had
it not occurred, would have averted any of the later events.
"Some things we must assign to fate," Robert Milner said, breaking the silence. It was as though
he had been listening to Decker's thoughts.
"Uh . . . yeah, I guess so," Decker answered. The days leading up to Decker's return to Israel to
find Christopher had been the most anxious of his life. At times it had been nearly impossible to
concentrate on his work as he counted the days until Christopher's return and anticipated what
would follow. Milner had talked about a time so dark and bleak that the destruction of the Russian
Federation and the Disaster would seem mild by comparison. Somehow the horror which might
otherwise have consumed Decker at such a thought was mitigated by the hope which Milner also
foresaw. Certainly, to this point, nothing of a cataclysmic nature had occurred — though what was
taking place in India and Pakistan might well foreshadow such events. Decker realized he might
have to accept the bad which Milner foresaw
The Power Within Him — The Power Within Us All 3
along with the good. He just didn't want to dwell on it, especially if, as Milner indicated, such
events were inevitable.
Ahead on the trail, a shapeless form began to take on definition. Had Decker noticed it before, he
would have thought it was a bush or a tree stump or perhaps an animal, but until this moment it
had blended so well into the background that it seemed an inseparable part of its surroundings.
"There he is," said Milner.
Decker pressed a little harder on the gas pedal. As they got closer, he began to wonder again in
what condition they would find Christopher. When he had last seen him, Christopher had told Decker
that he was beginning to wonder whether in the final analysis, his life had been a mistake. Now,
forty days later, he was — according to Milner — the man who would lead mankind into 'the final
and most glorious step in its evolution.'
In just another moment they could see him clearly. His coat and clothes were dirty and tattered.
He looked thin but strong. Over the forty days his hair had grown over his ears and he now had a
full beard. Then Decker saw his face, and for a moment was startled by the astounding resemblance
to the face on the Shroud. There was, however, one thing that was very obviously different. The
face on the Shroud was peaceful and accepting in death: on Christopher's face was the look of a
man driven to achieve his mission.
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