Decker Hawthorne watched the vote on closed-circuit from his office in the U.N. Secretariat building, then hurried across the street to Christopher's office at the Italian Mission to be there when he arrived. Christopher was obviously angry and frustrated – two emotions he almost never displayed.
"Well, did you see it?" Christopher asked in a sickened tone as soon as Decker walked in.
"I saw," Decker answered, the anger in his own voice tempered by a desire to be as comforting as possible.
"The worst part is that it's my own damn fault!"
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Decker said consolingly. "Moore has been at this game a lot longer than you."
Christopher didn't seem to take much consolation in that. "How could I have been so stupid as to have gone to Moore and told him that I was going to launch an investigation of General Brooks? I must have been out of my mind!" Christopher paced as he spoke.
"It may not have been the smartest thing, but I'm sure that your intention was to do the right thing. You simply gave Moore the benefit of the doubt," said Decker.
"I gave him a hell of a lot more than that!" Christopher fumed. "I gave him four days of warning. It's no wonder I couldn't prove anything: General Brooks had four full days to destroy the evidence. I made a total fool of myself." Christopher shook his head introspectively. "It's no wonder Gandhi and Fahd voted against me, but Tanaka and Howell?" he said, referring to the ambassadors from Japan and Canada, respectively. "Are they blind? Don't they see what Moore is? He'd bring the whole world down around him if he thought that when it was all over he could stand at the top of the heap of rubble and declare himself king!
"You know, it never made sense to me that when the voting on a new Secretary-General first began, that Moore seconded the nomination of Ambassador Tanaka. And then later, when the West Africans rejected Tanaka, Moore was there to suggest Kruszkegin as a compromise candidate. It seemed so out of character for Moore to be promoting anyone but himself. I thought maybe I had been wrong about him: Kruszkegin would have made a great Secretary-General. So when things worked out that Moore was nominated, it worried me at first but then I almost got used to the idea. Well, it took me a long time to realize it, but I'm convinced that the only reason Moore seconded the nomination of the Japanese ambassador and later supported Kruszkegin was to build a base for his own nomination. I don't think he had any intention of helping Kruszkegin or Tanaka. It was all part of his plan to be elected Secretary-General himself." Anger burned in Christopher's eyes. He stopped and stared out his window. Outside, freezing rain fell on the street-blackened remains of the snow that had fallen three days earlier. "I've got to get away from here for a while," Christopher said.
"Why don't you take a few days and go stay at the house in Maryland? In fact, if you don't mind the company I'll go along with you." It had been nearly six months since Decker had visited the house in Derwood. He wanted to make sure that it, and more importantly the grave of Elizabeth, Hope, and Louisa had been well cared for by the agency he had hired to see to the property.
"Thanks, Decker, but I'd like to get as far away from the U.N. as possible. Normally I'd go to Rome, but if I go there, the reporters will be on me about this vote before I've even hit the ground. And frankly, I'd rather not face President Sabetini right now." Decker started to make another suggestion, but decided that it was probably best to stay quiet and let Christopher think. Christopher stared out the window. Decker had never seen him look so distraught. It seemed there must be more to this than Christopher was saying.
"Christopher," Decker asked, after a moment, "is there something you're not telling me?"
Christopher looked at Decker, his face filled with anxiety and trepidation. It was as though Decker had seen something that Christopher himself did not want to admit, but could no longer deny. "I have this feeling," Christopher began uncomfortably, as he shook his head again, apparently unsure of what the feeling meant, "that something is about to go terribly wrong; that this is just the beginning; that Moore and Brooks are going to be responsible for some terrible tragedy. And I am helpless to try to stop it." Christopher paused, but Decker had nothing to say. "Am I wrong to want to get away?" Christopher continued. "To leave it behind me for a while?"
"No, of course not," Decker answered reassuringly. "We all have to get away sometimes to think."
"Maybe I'm just spoiled. I've never really faced a problem I couldn't handle. For the first time in my life I have no idea what to do."
Decker started to say, 'welcome to the human race,' but decided it was better left unsaid.
"I know this is going to sound strange," Christopher said finally, "and I really can't explain why, but for some reason I feel I need to go to Israel."
"Israel?" Decker echoed in surprise.
Christopher shrugged his shoulders. "I just have a feeling that maybe I'll find some answers there."
Chapter 26
The Reason for It All
December 10,2020 – Tel Aviv
The cold, arid, morning air of Tel Aviv quickly absorbed the moist breath of Decker Hawthorne and Christopher Goodman as they left the terminal at David Ben Gurion Airport and hailed a cab. With his attention on the taxi, Decker did not even notice the two uniformed police officers who ran out the door of the terminal behind them; nor did he notice the young man who stood off to their right talking to an older couple. Suddenly, though, it became impossible not to notice them. The young man, seeing the police, quickly broke and ran along the edge of the sidewalk between the taxi that had just pulled up and where Decker and Christopher stood. He got no farther. One of the policemen, anticipating his attempted route of escape, grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground right at the feet of Decker and Christopher. That's when Decker noticed the strange blood-red marks on the young man's forehead. For a moment Decker thought the man must be bleeding; as he looked more closely he realized it was writing, almost like finger painting, in Hebrew characters.
There was little time to think about it as the Palestinian taxi driver jumped smartly from his car, took their luggage, and threw it quickly into the trunk. He didn't even seem to notice the police or their struggling captive.
"I wonder what that was all about," Decker said, still watching the action through the window as he and Christopher settled into the cab. "Oh, you mean the man the police were arresting?" volunteered the driver, as he pulled away from the curb.
"Uh… yes," Decker answered, a little surprised. He had really just been thinking out loud and didn't expect an answer. "Did you see what happened?" Decker asked. "He was just talking to some people there in front of the terminal."
"Yes," the driver replied. "HewasKDP."54 The reference meant nothing to Decker. "That's what they do: talk to people. It's 'what they talk about that's the problem. They're very odd. They know things about people; things that people don't want others to know."
The driver seemed to be a rational person, but Decker found it difficult to believe what he was saying.
"I think they're psychic," the driver continued, as he turned onto the highway. "They're not supposed to be around the airport or any of the tourist spots: it's bad for business. But that doesn't stop them." "You said he was 'KDP.' What does that mean?" Decker asked. "Well, that's the English. In Hebrew the letters are KoofDalet Pay. The English is shorter to say than the Hebrew, so most people just call them KDP. Did you see the writing on his forehead?" "Yes, I was wondering about that. What was it?" "I didn't get a good look but it was either the Hebrew characters for Yahweh or Yeshua. Yahweh is the Jewish name for God, and Yeshua is Hebrew for Jesus. All of the members of the KDP have either one or the other."