by Alex Thomas
Monsignor Massini, the Pope’s private secretary, approached her with a warm greeting. "Eminence, Sister." It was obvious that the secretary was bursting with curiosity, most likely because he knew that he wouldn’t be participating in the last-minute meeting with the Pope.
Massini knocked lightly on the door. It looked a lot different than Catherine expected. The Pope’s private office was one of the plainest she had ever seen. No valuable paintings graced the walls. No antique objects decorated the room. The ceiling-high utilitarian book shelves and the messy modern desk looked a lot more like a contemporary office than the private work space of the Pope whose office represented two thousand years of history.
Leo looked up from the file he was studying. The white cassock with its cincture and white zucchetto looked good on him. But Catherine thought he looked tired. His dark eyes seemed to hold a great deal of intelligence, but they weren’t quite clear and his body posture suggested that it was sheer willpower that kept him working at his desk.
"Holy Father," said Catherine after Massini’s welcome ceremony was over and he had left the room.
"Our last meeting was not too long ago, Sister Catherine." The Pope looked at her with a smile. His voice sounded sincere. "What has happened that His Eminence personally accompanied you here to me?" They took a seat in a comfortable corner of the room.
Catherine took a deep breath. "I think it is best if I start from the very beginning, Holy Father. It all started the evening of Cardinal Benelli’s reception…"
The Pope listened to her in complete silence. Catherine talked about her meeting with Benelli in the villa’s chapel and then about her crazy dream that wouldn’t leave her alone and, once again the next morning, repeated itself with even more intensity than before. Even Ciban listened intently. He seemed to absorb every one of her words, observing her carefully all the while. When she had finished, the Pope didn’t seem at all surprised, much to her own astonishment. He seemed in some way even relieved.
Leo looked her in the eye and thanked her. "Well done, Sister. It takes a lot of courage to come to the prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith with such a story."
"Monsignor Hawlett suggested that His Eminence could help us."
"And now you are here. I thank you for it." He turned to Ciban. "It is a much bigger sign than we had expected, Eminence. I will accept Sister Catherine’s and Cardinal Benelli’s offer to help. It would be insane to do otherwise. Too much is at stake."
"After everything that I’ve learned about our deceased Cardinal Benelli, it would be advisable." Ciban looked closely at Catherine. His eyes seemed to shine from the inside out. "Tell me, Sister, where should this spiritual energy transfer take place?"
Catherine noticed that the cardinal didn’t even ask how the transfer worked. It appeared that he was quite familiar with the Lux scientists’ theories that tried to bring the physics of the material world in alignment with that of the spiritual world. Beyond the material world, the spirit had enormous power. Not many people suspected that they were essentially energetic beings surrounded by a real ocean of energies. Everything was connected with everything else and influenced by it too. Catherine had the ability to tap into this energetic ocean. Benelli would strengthen her gift with his own.
She explained: "According to Cardinal Benelli, it’s really quite simple. He said he has already prepared everything. His Holiness and I should simply pray together in the papal private chapel. The rest would take care of itself as long as I remain close by to His Holiness in the next few days."
"That shouldn’t be a problem," said the Pope. "We will find some accommodations for you on this floor."
Ciban tapped his fingers on the armrest. "Did Cardinal Benelli say why he didn’t speak of his plans with His Holiness?"
Ah yes. There was the Grand Inquisitor again.
Catherine nodded, looking at the prefect, then at the Pope. "Forgive me, Holiness, but because you are not a psychic person, Cardinal Benelli was forced to come into contact with me first before he sacrificed himself, breaking the band between you and him. I…" she hesitated,"…asked myself what this band and the attacks on Your Holiness were about."
Before the Pope could answer, Ciban intervened: "His Eminence, Cardinal Benelli belonged to a committee that His Holiness advises. This committee thinks well beyond the twenty-first century."
Catherine was clear that she wouldn’t learn anything else from them for the moment.
"Do you think it would hurt if Cardinal Ciban accompanied us to the chapel, Sister?" asked the Pope.
She understood immediately: Ciban shouldn’t just guard the Pope, but also help him to the church on his shaky legs.
"I don’t see why not, Holiness."
"Good." The Pope got up from his leather chair and painfully moved his body past the high, rectangular table. "Then let us not lose a minute, Sister. Let us pray together in the chapel and hope that Cardinal Benelli’s plan, at least what he told you, pans out."
They left the office through a tiny antechamber, slowly passed along the long corridor at the end of which was the Pope’s private lift and entered the papal private chapel directly to the right. Ciban helped Leo kneel in the first row. Catherine kneeled on a pew directly next to him. Then the cardinal returned to the furthest of the five rows and positioned himself in front of the locked door in front of which a guard held watch.
They began to pray. Soon Catherine began to have the same sensation she had in Benelli’s villa: profound peace and strength. The walls and roof of the papal palace no longer existed to her mind’s eye. She looked directly at the blue cloudless sky into a white tunnel of light from which a figure came forth: Benelli. He looked different than she had ever experienced him. His aura was overwhelming. She had never seen something so graceful before in her life. The shining light that was Benelli floated toward her and smiled. Then he touched both the Pope and herself on the forehead without saying a word. His gaze was so permeating, so omniscient. Catherine felt an intense yearning to become spiritually unified with this being. She clearly saw that the Pope felt the same way.
Finally the prayer ended and Catherine exhaled with disappointment as if she had held her breath the entire time. But this time the feeling of inner peace in her soul stayed with her.
Ciban hurried forward to help the Pope stand up and take a seat. Leo sat there for several long minutes as if he were in a trance. An amazing transformation spouted from within his soul. The Pope returned more and more to his original form. After a while he stood up and suddenly seemed years younger. Catherine recognised at once the strong and balanced philanthropist within him that she had gotten to know through the media and her first private audience with him.
Ciban looked at the head of the Church with amazement.
"Holiness," she said quietly, "we are now like the positive and negative poles of a strong battery. My energy will bring a certain balance and be carried by Benelli’s energy. Unfortunately, the boost won’t last forever."
"How much time do we have left, Sister?"
"Cardinal Benelli didn’t tell me. It depends on how quickly his energy flows back to him and when the next murder occurs. The cardinal can only do this sacrifice one time. The balance between the committee and yourself has been reinstated at least energetically for the time being.
The Pope nodded. "I see." He turned to Ciban. "It would be best for me to return to my office."
"Are you certain, Holiness?" asked the prefect with a hint of concern. He creased his forehead.
"Not to worry, Eminence. I am quite certain. I need to use the time I still have left. Please take care of Sister Catherine."
"One more thing, Holiness," said the prefect quietly as he pointed to the young nun.
"Sister Catherine will most certainly stay in the palace," explained Leo.
"I didn’t mean that."
"Really?"
"Whoever is behind the murders will find out that you are feeling better. And he is going to
want to know why, Holiness."
The Pope looked startled. "Of course!" He looked at Catherine. "We have to find an appropriate disguise for you if you are to stay here." To Ciban: "Do you have an idea?"
"Well…" The cardinal turned to Catherine and said with a hint of irony: "Given the current proceedings against you, we can’t introduce you as the Pope’s biographer."
The young woman thought for a moment, then said: "I was in the theatre during my time at the University of Chicago. How about a job in the Pope’s private household? I could make myself useful in the kitchen and keep an eye on things. A costume, a pair of glasses, some theatre make-up and no one would recognise me."
"Theatre?" Ciban raised a brow. He was truly astonished.
"Virginia Woolf."
The prefect blinked. Then he said dryly: "It could work. But one more thing, Sister: Do you need anything from your hotel room?"
Her hotel room! Heavens! She had completely forgotten. Monsignor Rinaldo was keeping an eye on Ben and she couldn’t return there. At least not yet. She would have to go by foot to the hotel. Or perhaps by taxi. On the other hand, she couldn’t leave the Vatican for the next few days.
"It would be good if one of your guards could accompany me back to the hotel so I can pack a few essentials." She thought in particular about her laptop.
Ciban shook his head. "I’m afraid I have to object, Sister. The fewer who know about this, the better."
Catherine swallowed hard. "And that means?"
"I’ll change quickly and drive you to your hotel in one of our unmarked cars. You can pack what you need, then we will return immediately. Tomorrow you will get your theatre make-up."
36
Ben was certain now that Rinaldo wasn’t keeping an eye on him because of his injuries, but because he wanted to monitor his every move. He would have liked to have resented the young priest a bit more, but too bad for him that he was one of the few people on this planet that was not only sincere, but also extremely likeable. It amazed Ben how Rinaldo had taken everything that had happened in the past few hours in such stride. He had barely blinked even when Ciban and Catherine hastily left the prefect’s office.
Catherine…she must have already been to visit His Holiness and reported to him what had happened at the Benelli Villa and in her dream.
"Do you need anything else, Ben?" asked Rinaldo.
"Thank you, no. I am going to read a little bit and then sleep as best I can."
The priest grinned. "Very well then. I will make myself as comfortable as I can on your couch."
"Sorry for that. It’s a dumb job for you. I know."
"You mustn’t be sorry. The main thing is that you get well again."
"So that His Eminence can tear me to pieces again?"
Rinaldo laughed. "Never fear. Things are never as bad as they seem. He will put you back together piece by piece. Believe me."
"Well, that’s reassuring."
"You’re welcome." With that the young priest disappeared into the living room with a blanket in hand and closed the door.
Rinaldo had barely left the room when Ben carefully moved toward his computer in agony. He had set up a small workstation in his bedroom. It wasn’t much: just a desk, a simple, yet comfortable chair, a shelf and a high-tech computer. It was sufficient enough to get the work done that he took home with him. In addition, the private computer connected him with some of the few good friends he had who lived and worked all over the world. At least now he could conduct a little research about the three murders.
Thanks to Catherine, he now knew that Darius wasn’t the murder’s main target. Neither were the two preceding murder victims, Sister Isabella and Father Sylvester.
Ben closed his eyes for a moment out of sheer exhaustion, took a deep breath and opened them again.
What had Cardinal Benelli said to Catherine again? The assassination attempts had actually been meant for the Pope! And now, Ben thought, Catherine is with His Holiness to iron out that which the murders had caused with Benelli’s help. Three religious members had been murdered. Benelli’s suicide made it a fourth death and the Pope had been weakened…These were the new facts that Ben had, facts that Ciban had denied telling him.
He dialled into the Internet and fed into the search engine the names of the first two murder victims along with a few other search terms. It wasn’t every day that religious members had an accident in France or Switzerland. Maybe he would come across a tiny news report or something along those lines. He only came up with an obituary on the orders’ websites. It appeared that Isabella’s and Sylvester’s deaths were not even worth a side note in the regional media. Ben hadn’t really thought he would find anything there anyway. But it couldn’t hurt to look. He researched further, surfed from one link to the next. This time he typed in the names of the monk and the nun in connection with the term "LUKE". As expected, he found nothing.
He thought about Abel. It probably just required the talents of a resourceful computer freak who could easily tap into the media’s databases or take a deeper dive into both orders’ computer systems. Ben doubted however that he could convince Abel again so quickly to invade Lux Domini’s computer system.
He activated the Internet Relay Chat that Abel had once said was much more secure for chatting than other chat services where a multitude of users usually hung around. Ben sighed. Abel wasn’t available on IRC. To be certain he grabbed his mobile phone and dialled Abel’s number manually and waited. He hadn’t saved the number on purpose. After multiple rings, the mailbox came on. Either Abel wasn’t home or he didn’t want to be disturbed. Most likely, it was the latter.
Ben sighed, placing the mobile phone next to the keyboard. He stared at the bright monitor. Darn. What should he do now?
He opened his word processing program and wrote down all the ideas he had already gathered about the perpetrator’s profile and the profile from Darius and Benelli. Perhaps it would help him to order his thoughts. He had already gathered several data points and he had already seen the surveillance video. He began with the perpetrator.
Perp’s profile
Perp: unknown
Perp’s location: unknown (last seen in Munich)
Age: 35 to 45 years old
Height: more than 1.85 metres
Weight: about 90 kilograms
Eye colour: unknown
Hair colour: brown
Description: strong, athletic build, intelligent
Behaviour:
Charming with a high IQ,
Cold-blooded liar,
Lacking any feelings of regret or compassion,
Rational behaviour and targeted action
Criminal action as a means to an end (but what is the end?)
No amateur, murders with precision
No interaction with the corpse whatsoever (no personal motive for murder?)
No interaction with the investigating authorities
Motivation:
Not sexually motivated
Possible motivation:
Revenge, hatred, jealousy,
Personal advantage through Darius’ death (Note: Darius left no wealth behind, and he had already shared the results of his research. He had left the Lux as the director several years ago.),
Did Darius have access to information that might endanger Lux?
Organisation that is hostile toward Lux – and thereby toward Darius (if yes, which organisation?),
Material gain such as money (contract killer?).
Ben asked himself once again if a part of the research area for which Darius had worked may have been involved in criminal activities. Is that why Ciban had prevented his further investigations? Indeed, Ben had had no idea what Darius had been working in the past few years. Not even Abel had known, even though he had been one of the priest’s last students. Was LUKE Darius’ last research project? The chances were pretty high. And if yes, how did His Eminence Cardinal Benelli fit into it all?
Ben turned to the victims’ pro
files.
Victim profile 1
Victim: Father Darius
Last location: Abbey Rottach, Upper Bavaria, Germany
Age: 74 years old
Height: 1.76 metres
Weight: 73 kilograms
Eye colour: bluish-grey
Hair colour: grey
Description: in good shape, ascetic build, constitution of a man in his late 50s, intelligent
Behaviour:
Charming with a high IQ,
Sincere,
High emotional intelligence,
Rational behaviour and targeted action,
Religious,
Loved people,
Ability for selflessness,
Special features:
Psychically gifted (ability not known),
Distinguished member of Lux Domini,
Veteran employee at the Chicago CIPG (Catholic Institute for the Psychically Gifted)
Veteran employee at the Roman CIPG (1994-2005),
Left his official post in 2005.
Note: It is unknown what Father Darius was actually working on at the CIPG. One of his projects in the 70s and 80s was called CORONA. A later project may have been called LUKE. LUKE is the only connection between Father Darius and Cardinal Benelli regarding Lux Domini. Both Father Darius and Cardinal Benelli are dead.
Ben glanced at the words for a while, scrolling up and down. He then began to record his thoughts about Benelli, although he didn’t have much to go on for his profile.
Victim profile 2