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aisle leaned out and stared, brows raised. The captain noticed, straightened,
and headed toward the cockpit.
My daughter, he said awkwardly, pointing at Chloe who smiled through her
tears.
She's my daughter.
The couple looked at each other and the woman spoke. Right. And I'm the queen
of England, she said, and Buck laughed out loud.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
BUCK called New Hope Village Church to set up an early evening meeting with
Bruce Barnes, then spent most of the afternoon at the Chicago bureau of Global
Weekly. News of his becoming their boss had swept the place, and he was
greeted with coolness by Lucinda Washington's former assistant, a young woman
in sensible shoes. She told him in no uncertain terms, Plank did nothing
about replacing Lucinda, so I assumed I would move into her slot.
Her, attitude and presumption alone made Buck say, That's unlikely, but
you'll be the first to know. I wouldn't be moving offices just yet.
The rest of the staff still grieved over Lucinda's disappearance and seemed
grateful for Buck's visit. Steve Plank had hardly ever come to Chicago and had
not been there since Lucinda had vanished.
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Buck camped out in Lucinda's old office, interviewing key people at
twenty-minute intervals. He also told each about his writing assignment and
asked their personal theories of what had happened. His final question to each
was, Where do you think
Lucinda Washington is right now? More than half said they didn't want to be
quoted but expressed variations of, If there's a heaven, that's where she
is.
Near the end of the day, Buck was told that CNN was live at the U.N. with big
news. He invited the staff into the office and they watched together. In the
most dramatic and far-reaching overhaul of an international organization
anyone can remember, came the report, Romanian president Nicolae Carpathia
was catapulted into reluctant leadership of the United Nations by a nearly
unanimous vote. Carpathia, who insisted on sweeping changes in direction and
jurisdiction of the United Nations, in what appeared an effort to gracefully
decline the position, became secretary-general here just moments ago.
As late as this morning his press secretary and spokesman, Steven Plank,
former executive editor of the Global Weekly, had denied Carpathia's interest
in the job and outlined myriad demands the Romanian would insist upon before
even considering the position. Plank said the request for Carpathia's
elevation came from outgoing
Secretary General Mwangati Ngumo of Botswana. We asked Ngumo why he was
stepping down.
Ngumo's face filled the screen, eyes downcast, his expression carefully
masked. I
have long been aware that divided loyalties between my country and the United
Nations have made me less effective in each role. I had to choose, and I am
first and foremost a Botswanian. We have the opportunity now to become
prosperous, due to the generosity of our friends in Israel. The time is right,
and the new man is more than right. I will cooperate with him to the fullest.
Would you, sir, have stepped down had Mr. Carpathia declined the position?
Ngumo hesitated. Yes, he said, I would have. Perhaps not today, and not
with as much confidence in the future of the United Nations, but yes,
eventually.
The CNN reporter continued, In only a matter of hours, every request
Carpathia had outlined in an early morning press conference was moved as
official business, voted upon, and ratified by the body. Within a year the
United Nations headquarters
will move to New Babylon. The makeup of the Security Council will change to
ten permanent members within the month, and a press conference is expected
Monday morning in which Carpathia will introduce several of his personal
choices for delegates to that body.
There is no guarantee, of course, that even member nations will unanimously
go along with the move to destroy ninety percent of their military strength
and turn over the remaining ten percent to the U.N. But several ambassadors
expressed their confidence in equipping and arming an international
peacekeeping body with a thorough going pacifist and committed disarmament
activist as its head. Carpathia himself was quoted as say The U.N. will not
need its military might if no one else has any, and I look forward to the day
when even the U.N. disarms.
Also coming out of today's meetings was the announcement of a seven-year pact
between U.N. members and Israel, guaranteeing its borders and promising peace.
In exchange, Israel will allow the U.N. to selectively franchise the use of
the fertilizer formula, developed by Nobel prizewinner Dr. Chaim Rosenzweig,
which makes desert sands tillable and has made Israel a top exporter.
Buck stared as CNN broadcast Rosenzweig's excitement and unequivocal
endorsement of Carpathia. The news also carried a report that Carpathia had
asked several international groups already in New York for upcoming meetings
to get together this weekend to hammer out proposals, resolutions, and
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accords. I urge them to move quickly toward anything that contributes to
world peace and a sense of global unity.
A reporter asked Carpathia if that included plans for one world religion and
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