Lethal Trajectories (23 page)

“… and the White House has yet to comment on the accusations. Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t want to sound like an alarmist, but this is—pure and simple—terrifying news.”

Veronica pulled in at the Printco Company to pick up flyers for the fundraising event. She rushed the poor cashier and almost ran back to her car, turning up the radio as she left the parking lot.

“Foreign markets took a beating today as news of the Saudi uprising spread. For those who don’t know, Saudi Arabia produces close to twenty percent of the world’s oil and indirectly controls even more through OPEC. Disruptions in the tight oil markets are always cause for alarm, but this, ladies and gentlemen, is the grand-slam of all disruptions. The Dow Jones dropped about three percent today on early reports of the Saudi situation, and oil prices increased from $262 to $298 per barrel. Taking into account the effects of the Chunxiao Incident two weeks ago, the market has now lost almost twenty percent of its value. One can only imagine how it will react in the next twenty-four hours to Mustafa’s statement that Saudi oil will be cut off for an indefinite period of time. My advice to you, good people, is to fill up your gas tanks tonight, because you might see gas prices crash the $10 per gallon barrier tomorrow.”

Veronica shuddered as she switched the radio down with the start of another commercial break. She noticed a line of cars forming near two gas stations and concluded the drivers were already preparing for the worst. The stock market’s loss, she knew, would weigh heavily on her Life Challenges group, as many of them had much of their net worth tied up in 401(k)-type plans. Coupled with rising gas prices and shocking news that President Burkmeister would soon resign due to a terminal illness, the bad news was almost too much to fathom.
Too many things happening too fast,
she thought,
exceeding the human mind’s ability to process: a good topic for discussion tonight.

Absorbed in thought, she was jolted back by a solid horn blast from the car behind her. She looked up to see the light was green; embarrassed, she accelerated while flipping back to the Wellington Crane show.

“… and therefore, it’s time that all good Americans pull together, drop their petty differences, and work toward a common good,” said Senator Tom Collingsworth, probably as Crane’s guest again.
Hmm,
thought Veronica,
this is a more conciliatory Collingsworth then the one ranting away last week on the show.
Even Crane seemed more subdued. Veronica turned the radio off as she approached the church, surprised at the number of cars already parked there.

Inside the church, the meeting room was packed. She took a deep breath. Winging it, she walked to the front and welcomed everyone to the Life Challenges group. After saying a brief prayer and laying out the ground rules for the benefit of the many new faces there for the first time, she opened the meeting.

“Last week we had a tremendously helpful meeting about dealing with our fears. We talked about many fears such as fear of failure; fear of looking bad; fear of losing something or not getting what we want; fears relating to our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being; and fears of all kinds. We talked about understanding and addressing our fears and the fallout from them such as anger, resentment, anxiety, stress, shame, guilt, and other emotions. As a starting point, would anyone like to comment on their fears tonight?”

“I’m scared to death,” said a long-time attendee, “I don’t understand the things that are happening in this world. I’m absolutely shocked that we’re going to be losing our president to cancer. If it can happen to the most powerful man on Earth, how vulnerable am I? Maybe it’s a fear of death, I just don’t know….”

“I’m afraid for my family’s pocketbook,” said another, “In only two weeks, gas prices have shot up to seven bucks or so a gallon. It’s a killer for us; we can hardly make ends meet as it is now.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” rasped crusty old Jake Hawkins. “I just heard on the news tonight that some A-rabs in Saudi Arabia took over the country, and that Wellington Crane fellow said that gas will cost over ten bucks a gallon tomorrow.” There was a loud gasp following Jake’s comment, and it opened a floodgate of concerns as to what might lie in store for all of them.

Margie Schulstad repeated the fear she had expressed last week about living in end times. “What have we done wrong, Pastor Veronica? Why is God punishing us?”

“Margie, that’s an excellent question and something I’d like to share a thought or two on if I may. I’ve often wondered myself, is God punishing us
for
our sins, or are we instead being punished
by
our sins?”

“If we can agree that God gave us free choice, and we have made bad choices that have led to negative consequences, is this God punishing us
for
those choices, or are we being punished
by
the effects of our poor choices? For example, if one of us gets behind the wheel of a car after becoming totally intoxicated and hits another car, killing several people, are we being punished
for
our bad choice, or are these consequences of the poor choice we made to drink and drive?” She had their attention now.

“The Bible is consistent in saying that if we do right by God, things will go well for us, but if we don’t, we will experience hard times. The history of Israel demonstrated that time and again. They were warned, but they walked away from God and His teachings, and sure enough, things went badly for them. Is that what’s happening now? I don’t know, you tell me.” Again, she paused to let her comments sink in.

“Maybe in some ways, God is like a parent telling a teenage daughter that if she messes with drugs, she’ll get hurt. The teenager disobeys, does drugs, and suffers a paralyzing accident. Did the parent in this case deliberately cause the accident to happen because of the choice that was made? I don’t think so. The teen suffered as a
result
of that choice, not
because
of it. Does that make sense?” At their affirming nods, she continued.

“The concept of poor choices and adverse consequences is not just an individual thing. It happens to entire nations and cultures. Nations get greedy, take from their neighbors—even conquer them—and try to benefit at the expense of other nations. More often than not, they pay a price as a
result
of that choice.

“Sometimes I wonder if maybe God isn’t really saying ‘Believe me, people, I created you, and I know what is best for you. If you don’t follow my advice on healthy living, you will set yourself up for hard times. I won’t have to punish you for your deeds; the deeds themselves will punish you.'” As more heads began to nod in agreement, Veronica continued.

“In America, we have led the abundant life for as long as any of us can remember. We’ve wasted vast amounts of food, water, energy, and natural resources in our consumption-based lifestyles. In all honesty, we’ve not been good stewards of the resources we have been given. Now it appears our gluttonous ways are catching up with us; we may no longer have the physical and financial resources to continue the opulent lifestyles we’ve always had. We’ve become accustomed to having everything in America, and we’ve taken our bounties as a right—an entitlement. Maybe God doesn’t see it that way. Is this God punishing us
for
our gluttony, or are we now about to suffer the consequences as a
result
of the way we have lived our lives?” Veronica sensed that some of her listeners were starting to appreciate the cause-and-effect relationships of everyday life choices.

“My apologies for the lengthy outburst, my friends, but I think this is an important distinction for us to make as we deal with our fears of the unknown. I think we need to factor our own behaviors into the discussion and take a good hard look at our own lives and how we are living them. We are not entirely the innocent victims. God holds us as accountable for our actions as anyone else on Earth.”

Veronica had hit a hot button, and a loud and vigorous discussion followed. By the end of the evening, a consensus had emerged that regardless of whether or not the world was in the end times, the signs were not good. The group could see they were entering uncharted waters, and maybe, just maybe, they were both victims and perpetrators of whatever was to come. It was a fruitful meeting and a huge first step. Toward what, Veronica wasn’t entirely certain.

A thousand air miles east of them, another meeting was about to start, one that would influence the agenda for the months of Life Challenges meetings yet to come.

W
ang Peng was spent after an exhausting day of meetings, but the vigorous self-designed physical workout he completed in the living room of his suite had its desired effect. Buoyed by a hot shower and anticipation of dinner with his college friend, the fatigue he had felt earlier was replaced by an abundance of newfound energy.

He kicked back on the sofa and reflected on the astonishing series of events that had transpired since his touchdown at Kennedy International Airport less than three days ago, events that had quickly relegated his original Chunxiao mission to secondary status.

It blew his mind to think the man he had spent so many pleasant evenings with at Stanford would soon become the new president of the United States. The astonishment was amplified when he learned that his friend Jack would become the new White House chief of staff.

It couldn’t be happening—not in a million years—and yet it was. The idea that two friends would become chief confidantes and advisors to the two most powerful men in the world was beyond his comprehension. Stranger yet, they represented countries on the opposite sides of a decade-long cold war.

In fact, Wang was surprised that his dinner with Jack was still on. Given Jack’s new assignment and the logistics, time, and clearances required to make it happen, this had to be more than a casual dinner between old friends. Perhaps, like his boss, the Americans found value in personal connections with foreign power structures. His unique relationship with Jack was something neither side wanted to fritter away. Deep in reflection on these unusual possibilities, Peng exploded from his chair when he heard a knock on the door. He opened the door with glee.

“Peng, old friend, someone told me I might be able to get a couple of free beers up here. Is that right?” Jack McCarty said with an impish grin.

Wang laughed and hugged his old friend, and for the next several minutes they forgot about the world and set to renewing their friendship with an ease that suggested they had never been separated.

“Jack, I’m so sorry to hear about President Burkmeister’s illness. We
had
—excuse me—we
have
the highest regard for him and have been particularly appreciative of the fair and balanced approach he has taken with respect to the Chunxiao Incident.”

“Thanks, Peng, I appreciate that. Clayton told me the president had not been feeling well over the past few weeks, but no one—not even the president—had any idea how sick he really was. It’s still hard to believe.” Jack helped himself to one of the Heineken beers Peng had on ice and lobbed one at Wang.

“You know, Peng, you mentioned the president’s position on Chunxiao, and I’ve got to tell you a little secret. Clayton felt you had something to do with it.” Wang looked at him quizzically but had the good sense to remain quiet.

“Your boss really impressed the president with his calm and reasoned approach on the Chunxiao matter. The president shared parts of his conversation with Lin Cheng with his national security advisors, and Clayton thought at the time that you might have had something to do with the reasonable approach your boss had taken.”

“You give me way too much credit,” Peng said, smiling, “but thanks for your comment anyway. Lin Cheng really is a thoughtful and reasonable man and usually approaches every situation with an open perspective. I might have suggested that he merely be himself, but whatever he said, it was him and not me. I’m glad to hear this though, because he really feels the crisis has to be worked out in a rational manner.”

Feeling ill at ease given his surreptitious mission, Wang changed the subject. “How about you and Clayton, how are you two doing with everything that has happened in the past couple of days?”

“Well, Clayton’s no stranger to big challenges. He’s been close to the president since before the election. Burkmeister treated Clayton as far more than a ceremonial vice president, and Clayton was involved in almost every domestic and international decision-making effort involving the White House. He’s no novice in these matters, but still, your perspective changes when you suddenly become the one with bottom-line responsibility for the welfare of an entire nation. I suspect Clayton is still internalizing all this, but he’s a resilient guy, as you know.”

“Yes he is, Jack, and I still remember the great discussions the three of us used to have over beer on our front porch. Those were the best days of my life,” Wang said. The thoughtful look in his eyes suggested he wished those days could happen again.

“Thanks, Peng. I think you know that Clayton and I feel the same way about you.” There was an awkward silence as Jack seemed to struggle with what he was about to say.

“Peng, I know and respect you too much to not be totally honest with you.” Wang, puzzled, waited patiently for his friend to find the words he needed.

“We are both in a unique situation, and there’s no precedent for it that I can recall. We’re each close to one of the two most powerful men on Earth, and we represent countries that have not always seen eye to eye. The Saudi situation, however it turns out, could easily widen the gap. Both the president and Clayton thought it was important to maintain a relationship with you that went above and beyond normal diplomatic channels. I guess that, under the rules of full disclosure, I wanted to be up-front with you about that.”

Laughing loudly, Wang said, “I’m relieved to hear you say that, because my boss had roughly the same thing in mind with respect to you. This was even before he knew about the president’s health and Clayton’s ascendency to presidency. I felt terribly uneasy about it, but it made good sense.”