by Alex Thomas
Catherine could feel a pang at the mention of the Institute. Even though she appreciated its protection and care as a child, teenager and student, the final years were more like a living hell. After the old guard left, things had turned for the worst, or at least she had thought so. She had had no idea exactly how long Lux Domini had placed its finger in the pie, thereby subordinating the Institute to the Vatican’s secret service. One thing had become crystal clear to her years ago: she could no longer be party to its cold, calculating advancements. Darius had finally ensured her unchecked departure from Lux. But it seemed even now that this part of her biography would continue to haunt her.
"Prepared for what, Holiness?" she asked. Darius had never once even suggested that she would be sitting here with the Pope one day discussing the Gospel of Judas Iscariot. The priest had also never told her anything about his friendship and connection with Antonio Cardinal Benelli either.
Leo left the baroque globe alone, sat himself down in the chair next to her and placed Benelli’s letter next to Pius’ book. "What do you see, when you look at me, Catherine?"
Catherine swallowed. "I don’t know what you mean, Holiness?"
"My aura. What do you see?"
"I...I have never observed your aura," she stuttered. "As a child I learned to respect people’s privacy."
"Why don’t you forget what Darius taught you for a moment, Catherine. What do you see when you read my aura?"
"I can’t just read your aura, Holiness. I would have to let my shield fall away completely. And to be honest, I am not willing to do that as long as I am responsible for your safety."
Leo nodded in disappointment. "I see. It would make you vulnerable."
"There are two sides to every coin."
"Odd." The Pope smiled. "His Eminence Cardinal Ciban said the exact same thing to me a few moments ago. – Catherine, where did you get your gift?"
"Science speaks of a genetic disposition that hasn’t been thoroughly researched yet. According to the Church, however, my genetic aberration is not the cause of my gift. On the contrary, my spiritual ability shaped my genetics."
"What do you think?"
"I always knew it was the latter."
"I envy you in some way. I myself have zero psychic ability. Up until two years ago I had to rely on my faith alone."
"Isn’t faith a much greater gift?"
The Pope couldn’t help but smile. "That’s how it should be. But let’s be frank. For many of us modern people, Genesis is nothing more than a metaphor with all its poetic embellishments. And now…" Leo hesitated for a moment, looking at the globe. "Ever since the consecration, I no longer just believe. I know. My spiritual and mental horizons were expanded for this office. It is the power of the covenant of twelve that makes me so strong. Unfortunately, it is also the source of my greatest weakness that the murderer who killed Darius, Sylvester, Isabella and Silvia knows all too well."
"Were there such murder attempts in earlier times too?"
"Yes. Three times. One caused the witch hysteria, the hunt for alleged wizards and witches. It was a long, dark time in history."
"Judas Iscariot spoke of God’s plan," said Catherine carefully. "If his betrayal was a part of the divine plan, then your consecration is too. With all its implications."
The Pope creased his forehead. "Let’s see: twelve emissaries for the world’s salvation. Twelve apostles who foot the bill for mankind’s and the Church’s fallibilities and keep the institution alive. We humans have not developed the way God had wished. Only seven of the twelve in the covenant are still alive. Perhaps God’s alternative plan is hidden in the murderer’s actions."
Catherine squinted. "If that were so, Holiness, how do I fit in to this plan? As an alternative plan to God’s alternative plan?"
Leo returned her gaze. "As hope?"
Catherine remained silent as she didn’t know what to say to that. Why did Benelli have to speak in riddles? What good were all these dreams and visions if she didn’t have a clear understanding of what her task was?
When she didn’t respond, the Pope continued: "One thing’s for sure: without your help, Catherine, the tides would have turned against us long before."
"In my vision…" Catherine faltered. "Gabriel said this tie between God and man would hold until the beginning of the Last Judgement."
The Holy Father looked at the letter and book, although Catherine had the feeling he was staring through both of them. "The night without day. The end of history. The apocalypse. Armageddon. Twelve emissaries are standing between the end of time and us…Gabriel told you that? Angels often appear as revelators of this version of the future," he said dryly.
"You think the murderer wants to bring about the apocalypse?"
"I wish I knew what Benelli knew. I wish I understood his plan. My guess is he never would have made the gamble if not so much had been at stake and…" The Pope paused.
"And?" Catherine pressed.
Leo returned her gaze. "And he didn’t have something up his sleeve."
"He is playing chess with God to prevent the apocalypse?"
"Someone or something – let’s call it the ‘dark force’ – wants to wreak havoc on the Catholic Church. I assure you, Catherine, it would have consequences for the entire world."
"But if this dark force wants to weaken you by hunting down the apostles, why won’t you protect the surviving emissaries inside the Vatican walls? Why don’t they unite all their power? Why hasn’t Vatican security taken the necessary measures?"
The Holy Father got up, returned to the baroque globe and began to rotate it slowly once again. He seemed to consider how much he should reveal to Catherine. He finally said: "Because as Pope I am the only one allowed to know the apostle’s identity. We would otherwise risk exposing the remaining survivors."
"That’s it?"
"Remember Benelli’s letter." The Pope walked away from the globe, quoting: "Only the Popes, the Grand Inquisitors and the covenant of twelve know about the secret." Then he said: "What Cardinal Benelli didn’t tell you, Catherine: Only I and the emissaries are allowed to know their identities. That is a part of the covenant. Even His Eminence Cardinal Ciban is denied knowledge of the names and locations of the twelve – as long as they live." The Pope surveyed the young nun, then added: "Except Benelli and one female apostle, all the rest are distributed around the world."
There was a female apostle in Rome?
"Quite honestly, I don’t understand that part of the covenant, even if I do know that the emissaries are messengers of God who are supposed to work all around the world."
"Remember Lucifer. Remember the fallen angel, the Nephilim. Remember the attempt to be in God’s image, the pride and some angels’ refusal to give man respect. An important aspect of the covenant is none of that happens with the emissaries. For one the apostles are messengers on Earth; for another their energy and power would be too strong if they remained united over centuries. It is for this reason that the covenant of twelve is completely replaced with every third Pope. Think about what Ignaz von Döllinger suggested about power and what his famous student Lord Acton appropriately repeated in one of his dictums."
Catherine’s eyes widened: "Power tends to corrupt; and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
The Pope nodded. "Not even heaven is immune to it. Take a look," he made a sweeping gesture as if to include not only the Vatican, but the entire world, "at what the power has created even under ‘controlled conditions’!"
Catherine took a deep breath and considered for a moment if she should leave a part of her visions unmentioned, but then she thought better of it, letting the cat out of the bag: "Judas never trusted God."
"I know. Just as little as Lucifer did." The Pope then scrutinised Catherine as if he were considering whether the young nun, who had just learned that she was to follow in Darius’ and Benelli’s footsteps, was ready for an additional truth. At the last minute he decided against it, saying: "The murderer knows the
names of the emissaries. He even knows their power spots."
"Power spots?"
"Their favourite places where apostles meditate to renew their energy reserves. The murders happened in each of these places. It appears that we may have a traitor amongst us."
Catherine stared at him.
"That’s Cardinal Ciban’s theory at least. I know the identity of the living emissaries, but I am not psychic. I don’t see even a sliver of a connection between God’s messengers and myself." He looked at the young woman with curiosity. "What about you, now that you are part of the connection in some way?"
"There isn’t a traitor amongst the twelve," Catherine determined.
"Are you…sure?" The Pope looked at her, full of hope.
"I may not know their identities, but I would have felt it ever since the connection with His Eminence Cardinal Benelli, Holiness. Besides, Benelli would have noticed if it were so. Whoever wishes to destroy the covenant by killing the emissaries didn’t find out the names and locations from one of the twelve."
Leo placed his shaking hands on the globe and appeared to be incredibly relieved. "That’s what I had hoped, Catherine. Because if it had been different…good heavens, I am afraid we wouldn’t stand a chance. Then we’d be…" He stopped in mid-sentence, staggered, fell against the globe and pulled it down with a crash to the floor.
Catherine, who had equally sensed death, fought against her own powerlessness, pulled herself over to Leo, raised a shaking hand, felt his face and opened his eyes to see if he was still alive despite his collapse.
He was still breathing!
She noticed how Cardinal Benelli’s leftover energy flowed to him, revived him and brought him back to a conscious state. But she also knew that the Pope who was about to wake up would not be the same Leo with whom she had just spoken about the covenant of twelve. That Pope would be a lot weaker.
Just like herself.
68
Monsignor deRossi had left the Vatican through an underground secret passage that ran beneath the Passetto from the thirteenth century and also led to Castel Sant’Angelo. The master had given him this plan and had arranged for the appropriate keys to the old wooden and iron doors. After all, he knew the Vatican’s underground better than the archaeologists.
Originally Castel Sant’Angelo had been used in the second century as a mausoleum under Emperor Hadrian. Later various Popes turned the massive structure into a castle.
The name Castel Sant’Angelo came thanks to a vision Pope Gregory I had in the year 590 as the plague raged in Rome. He saw archangel Michael appear over the mausoleum, announcing the end of the plague. The structure served primarily as a retreat for the Holy Father. Ever since then an eight hundred metre long escape route, the Passetto, connected Castel Sant’Angelo with the papal palace.
The walls of Castel Sant’Angelo contained completely different stories, however. At some point they acted as dungeon and torture chamber for the Inquisition. One of the most famous prisoners was once Galileo Galilei. The former tomb also had to act as a treasure chamber and even as an expansion of the secret archive.
After deRossi had left the Vatican and Castel San Angelo, he continued his way to the Ponte Sant’Angelo. No one stopped him. No one knew that he had just rid the world of yet another abomination. It had been so easy. Sister Thea hadn’t even noticed his approach. She had been so engrossed in her prayer next to the Grotta di Lourdes as his strong hands wrapped around her throat and head, breaking her neck in a fraction of a second.
And now...now Thea sat peacefully in front of the grotto, dreaming with her eyes wide open. It had taken quite a bit of imagination and effort to arrange her head just so on its broken neck in the short time he had left.
That wimp Ben Hawlett would get excited about this one.
69
"How are you feeling, Holiness?" asked Cardinal Ciban with concern in his voice. He had picked up the Pope off the floor and placed him on the couch in the living room as if he were light as a feather.
Catherine had discovered both the prefect and Ben in the Pope’s private chapel where they were having a rather serious, if not tense, discussion. But when Catherine entered the chapel to report on Leo’s latest collapse, the derision between the two men seemed to wash away in seconds. Catherine had wanted to return to the corridor toward the living room when Ciban held her back and said: "Don’t go through the corridor again, Sister."
They ultimately returned to the living room through a connecting door in the chapel via the sleeping chambers and the private office. The Pope was lying on the couch like the severely injured.
"Holiness…?" repeated Ciban softly.
Leo opened his eyes, looked at the ceiling and seemed completely disoriented. But then he saw Catherine. "I…I think...I…had a…vision…Benelli was here…here in this room…and he wanted to let me know that Sister Thea is dead."
"Thea?" Catherine could feel her knees getting weak. A moment later she realised Thea was the one Leo had spoken of when he had said that all other emissaries except Benelli and a female apostle were spread across the entire world! She barely noticed Ben helping her into a nearby chair.
Thea was dead…murdered! Brought to death by a madman who was hunting the apostles.
Although Catherine was strong, she suddenly had the urge to slump down. But she mustn’t do that. Not now! She felt someone carefully take her hand in his. Through his touch she received new energy. Ben? But her friend was already standing next to the Pope.
Cardinal Ciban looked her straight in the eye with an unwavering expression. "I know you were friends with Sister Thea, Catherine. But don’t allow your grief and anger about Thea’s death to eat up your mind and vitality."
Catherine would have loved to yell at the prefect due to his restraint, but as cool as his words sounded, she also sensed his sincerity and tremendous compassion. Thea, Darius, Benelli and all the other victims weren’t lost on Ciban. Quite the contrary. But the prefect wouldn’t let his anger about the murders affect his action. Fury made one blind. Blindness led to great danger. And great danger could mean death.
Catherine nodded, pulled her hand away and, in the very next second, missed his soft touch.
Good lord, what was wrong with her? She was a rebellious nun! And Ciban was her judge and executioner! Was she suffering from a type of Stockholm syndrome? Was that the thing that was confusing her feelings? It must indeed be the stress. She could only hope that the prefect didn’t notice any of her completely irrational feelings for him.
"You are right, Eminence," she said with great effort. "I won’t allow my anger to consume me." In her mind she added: Just as I did during the interrogations. Sadly both her memories of Thea and the grief and pain of her loss were not easily suppressed. Thea’s lovely, courageous letter popped into Catherine’s mind again, then their first meeting in person in the Vatican’s Internet office and her encouraging words of consolation during their walks through the Vatican’s gardens…
She faltered.
What had the Holy Father said during their conversation just before? "The murderer knows the names of the emissaries. He even knows their power spots."
She looked at Ciban who was still squatting in front of her and said: "I think I know where we will find Sister Thea."
"You know the crime scene?" Ben blurted.
"In the Grotta di Lourdes."
The prefect gave her a doubtful look. "Are you sure, Sister?"
"She used to pray there often. It was her favourite place in the Vatican." She looked at Ciban, then the Pope who understood in that moment what she meant. Apparently, the cardinal had never heard about the power spots.
"You are right, Catherine," said the Pope. "The emissaries renew their energy reserves at their favourite places. Darius, Silvia…they all died in their favourite places."
Without questioning the matter, Ciban pulled out his mobile phone from his robe and speed-dialled the commander of the Vigilanza. After issuing his instructions
, he explained: "Coelho knows what to do. Should Sister Thea’s body be found at the grotto, he will notify us immediately."
Catherine didn’t doubt for a moment that the Vigilanza commander knew how to do his job. Especially one that requires a cover-up. According to the official Vatican explanation, Thea will most likely have been found dead due to a heart condition, just as Darius officially died during a hiking tour. In the end the same mechanism would kick in as it did in 1998 when the truth behind the murders of the Swiss guard commander Alois Estermann and his wife was prevented from ever being discovered. Apparently a young soldier had killed them both in a fit of rage over not receiving an accolade. But there were too many contradictions. In truth no one believed this particular version of the story. On the other hand no one had been able to shed light on the case to this day.
Did Ciban know the real motive for the murders? As far as Catherine knew, Cardinal Monti had headed Vatican security as prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith under Pope Innocence. A few years later Monti had made sure that Catherine fell under the scrutiny of the faith authorities. She presumed that her extraordinary gift was the only thing that had protected her from burning at the stake during Innocence’s reign. Even after her departure from Lux Domini, the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith had shown great restraint.
"Eminence," Ben said cautiously. "While we’re waiting for the commander to return your call, wouldn’t now be a good time to talk about LUKE?"
Catherine heard Ciban give out a soul-deep sigh for the first time.
"I can’t tell you anything more than I’ve already told you, Ben. Everyone in this room knows that the Church monitors its psychic members very closely. They didn’t just start doing that the day before yesterday... since the 60s Pope John XXIII had tried to ensure that even the controllers were controlled. But unfortunately most of that which he had initiated was undermined after his death and the second Vatican Council."