his war experiences with Janie too; once he was certain that she could handle it. He wanted to begin telling Martin right away though.
Using his only functional organ of communication, he tried to gain his son’s attention with his eyes but, suddenly, Zachri was there again, blocking his view of Martin and ripp ing his attention away from him.
“Lying here in body and spirit is not the best use of your time. I’m guiding you, at once, on a second journey.
“ After your tour of duty in Vietnam, this destination was the next most critical point in your life.”
‘Now where, and when, could this be?’ Mark wondered. ‘My wedding day; the day I caught my wife with her lover; the birth of my son; the back-to-back deaths of my parents?’ It would turn out to be conspicuously unlike any of those events.
***
Experiencing the jolting sensation of being jarred awake in the middle of a peaceful dream, Mark found himself peering through what seemed to be a telescopic lens into a strangely familiar room.
Crowding the room, black leather chairs surrounded a rectangular, highly-polished conference table; a matching credenza, covered with neat stacks of papers, stood against the far wall. Seated in the chairs were one young woman and seventeen expensively-suited men who, judging by their somber demeanor and conservative hair-cuts might be taken for bankers or politicians. In fact, all were bankers and some of them were politicians as well.
It dawned on Mark that this was the same conference room where he, as a young loan officer, had so often attended staff meetings. As his eyes swept the room he recognized his colleagues of nearly thirty years earlier. One man in particular caused him to do a double-take.
In the seat between the only young woman present and the departmental manager was a young man who looked precisely like Mark during the early years of his first civilian job. The sight of this younger version of himself confounded him and his bafflement was tinged with fear. Turning toward Zachri, he blurted out a question.
“Is that me? How can I be over there at the same time as being here with you, observing this scene?”
“I told you that you’d be given supernatural abilities. In a minute, you’ll be stepping into your former self and will no longer be aware of us — until you consciously seek divine guidance.”
“Why would I do that? I really can’t remember ever asking anyone to do anything for me that I could do myself.”
“Do you remember the time when Martin was terribly sick, shortly after you moved from New Mexico to Singapore? When you thought he had SARS, you certainly seemed to have an instinctive sense of how to ask for divine help.”
“Thanks for reminding me of that awful time!”
As Mark turned away from Zachri for another look , he was no longer aware of his later self and Zachri observing the scene ; instead, he was fully immersed in proceedings around the table.
***
“So how are we going to take advantage of the Economic Recovery Tax Act?” Jim, the commercial loan department manager for the entire southwest region, was asking. The collective scowling expressions showed the group’s opposition to being present but the meeting notice had made it clear that something major was coming down.
“As a few of you may have figured out already , we are now legally empowered to increase the amount we may lend to any single business client and, since construction is rampant in our market area, we are in an excellent position to finance some major projects.
“To give you a clearer picture of the potential, I have asked our legal department to analyze the legislative changes, especially on office and retail market conditions. Gina has just arrived from corporate to present their findings. Gina?”
As she neared the podium, those who were familiar with her previous presentations took up their pens and began doodling; a more creative pastime than taking notes. Their