Miss Buddha (51 page)

“Okay, that’s true. She did say that. But
let’s assume it was not a hoax.”

“Are you saying that she lied,” said
Gilchrist.

“Perhaps she did. Who knows? Quite a few
people, including those at KCAA who worked the program, insist
there was no funny business about the incident. If only for
argument’s sake, let’s assume it happened, that it was a miracle.
Let’s assume that Ruth Marten made the chair rise with Alvarez in
it. If that were to be proven true, what impact would that have on
our country, from a religious standpoint?”

“Okay, for argument’s sake,” said Gilchrist.
“That would be telekinesis in the extreme. And it would show Ruth
Marten as more than just human, it would make her some sort of
deity, I think. In fact, she could start her own religion based on
this; if it were proven, of course—which it won’t be. Can’t be. It
was a hoax.”

“You Doctor Brecht?”

“If it were proven beyond a doubt?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then I agree with Ms. Gilchrist. The
girl could write her own ticket. Start her own religion. Make a
fortune.”

(“I do
not
like that man,” said Ruth. All
heads nodded in agreement).

“You, Abbot White?” said Taft.

“In that case, if this miracle is proven
true, I think we ought to take this girl seriously. I think we
ought to take this girl seriously in any event.”

“And, with that, let’s take another short
break,” said Taft.

Off to commercial.

“My question,” said Clare, who had cradled
it, ready to go.

“Oh, yes,” said Melissa.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” she said,
looking at Ananda, “but, how do you fit it? I mean, are you related
to the family? I don’t see a resemblance.”

“Good question,” said Ananda, and then
actually chuckled. Something that became him.

“He’s actually Ruth’s friend,” said Melissa,
but then looked as if she’d like to take that one back.

“I’ve known him for a long time,” said Ruth.
Stress on long.

Then Clare finally made the almost
terrifying connection, “Ananda.”

Ruth nodded, “Yes, that Ananda.”

Clare shook her head to see if she could
make it understand. “You are the Buddha, and he is Ananda?”

“That pretty much sums it up,” said
Melissa.

Julian Lawson said, “Wonders never
cease.”

“I’d say,” said Clare, looking from one to
the other, as the panel came back from commercial.

“I want to go back to the actual paper,”
said Taft. “The experiment. How many of you have had a chance to
read Doctor Lawson’s original paper?”

No takers.

“Well, if a bit on the dry side, I don’t
think it leaves much room for doubt. The photon they traced
disappeared when no one was looking. Does that not have
metaphysical implications?” She addressed the question to Cindy
Gilchrist.

“Sure it does,” said Gilchrist. “In fact,”
she added as if this thought had just struck her, “extrapolating
that evidence makes us all gods.”

“What do you mean?”

“If subatomic particles only appear when we
are looking at it or measuring it, would that not make us, whoever
is looking, the creator of that particle?”

“And you think the same holds true for
everything?” Taft.

“Well, everything is made from subatomic
particles, isn’t it?”

“That is my understanding, yes.”

“I still say it’s all irrelevant,” said
Brecht. “Does the tree falling in the forest make a sound if no one
is there to hear it? Whether the answer is yes or the answer is no,
who cares?”

“What about you Abbot?” Taft turned to Abbot
White.

“This is all in the realm of the eighty-five
percent of the iceberg we don’t, or choose not to, see.”

“Interesting choice of word there, choose,”
said Taft.

“I think the experiment proves that there is
a substantial portion of reality we know little or nothing about,
especially the average man or woman. And I think that the purpose
of any religion, mine included, is to encompass, if not explain,
all of reality.”

Cindy Gilchrist nodded. “That’s right.”

Taft took a brief moment to consult her
notes, then said to all three, “If either of you had the
opportunity to ask Ruth Marten one question, which question would
that be?”

Doctor Brecht spoke first, “How did you rig
the chair.” Laughing.

“What else does she remember?” said Cindy
Gilchrist. “If she remembered that nature cannot change an EPROM
without access to ultraviolet light, what else does she remember?
That would be my question.”

“And you, Abbot,” said Taft.

“I would ask her if she wouldn’t mind
sitting down and have a talk with an old Abbot,” he said.
Sincerely.

“Well, that’s all we have time for,” said
Taft. “I’d like to thank you all for coming.” Then to the camera,
“Be sure to tune in for further reactions to the interview and
other developments at the ten o’clock news.”

And off to commercial.

“I would like to sit down and have a talk
with an old Abbot, said Ruth.”

“So would I,” said Ananda.

“Wish I could be there to film it,” said
Clare.

“Perhaps you can,” said Ruth.

:

The Clare Downes interview, and the
subsequent panel discussion, did nothing to ease the media storm.
Rather, as expected, they fueled it.

A new report, interviewing three KCAA
employees who went on record with sworn affidavits that the rising
was no hoax, got ubiquitous coverage the following morning. Most
stations, and papers, also covered the refusal of Federico Alvarez
to comment, by now either seeing this as an admission of guilt
(fearing the consequences) or as confirmation of a true miracle
(for shame or other personal reasons).

Abbot White was loudly criticized for
virtually conceding that Ruth Marten was the Buddha returned, as
was KCRI as a station for clearly holding, and broadcasting, the
same view.

One Arkansas radio station added everything
up as it saw things: The rising was a miracle. Only our Savior
Jesus Christ can perform such miracles. Ruth Marten, therefore, was
our Savior returned. Many rural stations agreed but took serious
issue with the fact that Ruth Marten was a girl, so while clearly a
performer of miracles, could therefore not be Jesus, who we all
know is a man.

The most prevalent view, however, the one
racing the fastest across the country, and indeed creating the most
distress and havoc, was the view that Ruth Marten—whoever she was,
whether Jesus or the Buddha—was a clear message from God that the
end was near. Many a station exhorted their viewers and listeners
to prepare for the day of Judgment, often citing the Nicene
Creed: “Jesus shall come again in glory to judge the living and the
dead; and His kingdom shall have no end.”

Other stations (and pastors) quoted the
similar message of the biblical Pauline Creed, in 1
Corinthians 15:23.

This message was clear: “Get your house in
order.” A message that soon took on a life of its own to spread
across the Midwest and the South like a sinister weather
system.

Causing chaos in some places, a rush on food
and supplies in others.

So sinister a weather system, in fact, that
someone in Washington DC—it was never established who, precisely,
but most speculations came to veer toward the President
himself—called the California Governor and urged him to “Straighten
things out with KCAA. Now, before this thing gets out of hand.”

:: 98
:: (Pasadena)

This straightening out took
place early afternoon on Thursday the 14
^th
of May, when the Governor of
the State of California placed a call to Gordon Fairweather, the
KCAA station manager. The two men knew each other, but were not
particularly friendly.

“Gordon,” said the Governor.

“Yes, sir.”

“The Marten thing.”

“Yes.”

“It was a hoax.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“I’m telling you Gordon, it was a hoax.”

“No, sir. With all due respect, it was
not.”

“Perhaps I’m not making myself clear. It has
to be a hoax, and you will make an announcement to that effect by
the end of the day.”

Finally, Gordon Fairweather’s light went on.
“Are you telling me?”

“Yes, Gordon. I am. We don’t have a
choice.”

“But that would be suicide.”

“I know.”

“I cannot do it. I’d rather resign.”

“You’ll have to resign in any event.”

Gordon Fairweather leaned back in his chair
and closed his eyes. On some hard-to-put-your-finger-on level he
had seen this coming.

He replied, looking at but not seeing the
blue sky outside his tenth floor window, “I cannot afford to.”

“I will make it worth your while.”

“Sorry, sir, but I don’t know you well
enough to take your word for that.”

“You’ll have a signed letter of guarantee
within the hour.”

“Why?”

“Why the letter?”

“No, why the admission of guilt.”

“Civil unrest,” said the Governor.

Gordon Fairweather nodded, yes, that was
part of seeing it coming. “In the South, you mean.”

“And other places. It is spreading.”

“And Washington has called you to
defuse.”

“Perhaps.”

“What does making it worth my while mean, in
actual numbers?”

The Governor told him, and Fairweather saw
the wisdom of shouldering the fall guy mantle.

“Okay.”

“By the end of the day.”

“By the end of the day.”

Gordon Fairweather hung up the phone.

:

KCAA’s flagship broadcast was the 8PM news.
It was, in fact, the most watched news program in Los Angeles,
something Gordon Fairweather was extremely proud of. So it was with
severely mixed feelings that he slotted himself in at the top of
the hour for an “Important Announcement.”

He made a somber figure as the camera closed
in on him. Looking down at his notes for most of the zoom, he
looked up as if on cue once the zoom arrived.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said.

Melissa, Ruth, Ananda and
Kristina Medina (now up to speed on events) were watching at
Melissa’s house. This
Important
Announcement
had been advertised not only
on television throughout the afternoon, but on most radio stations
as well. It was never specifically stated what this announcement
would concern, but speculation ran high that it had something to do
with the Alvarez show and the rising.

None of them spoke. They were all very
still, not knowing what to expect.

The KCAA Station Manager continued:

“I wish to apologize to our viewers. And
also to my colleagues and employees. It was never intended to
create such a profound and widespread effect. It was meant as
nothing but practical joke.

“The chair rising during the Federico
Alvarez show was staged. It was, in a word, a hoax. It was a
practical joke played by the station—with my approval—on Federico.
He had no idea about it, neither did Miss Marten. It was in fact a
tit for a past tat that Federico had pulled on some of his
crew.

“This joke has had repercussions far wider
and deeper than any of us could have imagined, and that is why I
see it as my duty to make the truth known and to apologize for any
turmoil caused by this on-air stunt.

“Again, I apologize.”

With that, the program went to
commercial.

“Wow,” said Melissa. “But I must confess
that I’m relieved. It was getting out of hand.”

“Yes,” said Ananda. “That it was.”

Ruth said nothing, feeling not a little
responsible for the whole spectacle.

“If they swallow this, you should be off the
hook,” said Ananda, turning to Ruth.

“Let’s hope so,” said Melissa.

“Yes, let’s hope so,” said Kristina.

Ruth still said nothing.

“Surely, you agree?” Melissa turned Ruth’s
way as well.

“Yes, I do,” she said. “It is for the best.”
Then, after an unequivocal sigh, she added, “One of my goals, one
of the things I’ve always seen as a must in order to do what I have
to do, is to become a household name. I’ve achieved that now. For
all the wrong reasons.”

Neither of the others challenged that. Ruth
was all too right.

Ruth closed her eyes and leaned back into
silence. Many angels crossed the room. Then she opened her eyes
again and said, “No one will remember the experiment. It has been
lost in all this frenzy. Whether I’m now off the hook or not, I’ve
done more damage to my mission than I could possibly have done had
I planned to sabotage it.”

“Aren’t you a little too hard on yourself,”
said Kristina.

“Do you think so?” said Ruth, and not very
kindly.

“I didn’t see this coming,” said Ananda.

“That’s comforting,” said Ruth, still with
an edge.

“Ruth,” said Melissa, suddenly all
mother.

“Sorry,” said Ruth, including them all. “For
everything.”

::
99 :: (Pasadena)

I should have been wiser. Much wiser. I
should never, never have raised the chair. I should have listened
to Ananda.

The truth is that I reacted to Federico
Alvarez’s terribly unfair barb at Melissa and I just wanted to shut
him up. Not very compassionate, not very Buddha-like, I know.

The truth is that miracles—for that is how
they see these things—upset people. They upset people, if less so,
when I walked northern India so long ago, and man has not grown
more receptive to the unexplainable since then. Quite the opposite.
I see now that miracles are likely to drive him crazy, and if there
was any way, any way at all I could undo this stupid, stupid thing
I did, I would undo it in a heartbeat.