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In His Image

Copyright й 1997,2000 by James Beau Seigneur

All Rights Reserved

For Gerilynne, Faith, and Abigail who sacrificed so much to allow this trilogy to become a reality;

But most of all for Shiloh, -who sacrificed far more. May it serve you well.

This novel is a work of historic fiction. Many of the events described in Chapters One and Two of the novel actually occurred and have been reported in numerous nonfiction works and publications. The author has endeavored to portray those events accurately and has used the names of the actual participants, those being, in order of appearance: John Jackson, Eric Jumper, Tom D 'Muhala, Father Peter Rinaldi, Don Devan, Ray Rogers, John Heller, Rudy Dichtl, Monsignor Cottino, Roger Gilbert, Marty Gilbert, Sam Pellicori, and Allan Adler.

Other well-known and widely-reported historic events and public personalities are also referenced, but only those events which have been widely-reported by reliable nonfiction sources should be assumed to, be true; all others should be assumed to be the product of the author's imagination. Additionally, the names of several "public persons," institutions and organizations such as the Catholic Church, the United Nations and numerous world governments are incorporated into this work. References to events involving any such persons, institutions, organizations, or governments following the publication date of the first printing of this book are entirely the product of the author's imagination.

With the exceptions noted above, all other names, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual events, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

D D D

James BeauSeigneur has been writing professionally for eighteen years. His published works include technical manuals on strategic defense and military avionics, newspaper and magazine articles, speeches for U.S. Congressional and Senatorial candidates, and lyrics for several published songs. Formerly involved full-time in politics, Mr. BeauSeigneur has managed several U.S. Congressional and Senatorial campaigns and in 1980 ran for U.S. Congress against Al Gore. He has four years of experience in military intelligence, including two and a half years with the National Security Agency. Mr. BeauSeigneur and his wife, Gerilynne, have two daughters, Faith and Abigail.

"Are these the shadows of things that will be, or are they the shadows of things that may be?"

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Chapter 1

The Right Place at the Right Time

September 27,1978 Ч Knoxville, Tennessee

Decker Hawthorne

He typed out the

letters of his name and his hands paused on the keys. Quickly his eyes scanned the editorial for one last reassurance that he hadn't misspelled something, or that he couldn't say something just a little more convincingly, or perhaps improve the sentence structure. Finally he decided it would have to do. The deadline had passed, the newspaper was waiting to be put to bed, and Decker had a plane to catch.

As he left the offices of the Knoxville Enterprise, he stopped to straighten the hand-lettered placard that hung outside the door. It was a weekly paper, small by most standards, but it was growing. Decker had started the paper with a short supply of money and an abundance of naivete, and it was still a struggle to survive financially. The upside was that with Decker's aggressive style, the Enterprise frequently scooped the two local dailys, including once with a story of national significance. Decker had always been an overachiever who wasn't afraid to take chances, and while he lost more often than he won, he

2 In His Image

liked to believe he had a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Right now he was supposed to be at the airport, but he wasn't.