“These orders are from the Pope himself. You and one of your guards will accompany the Pope into the garden as normal, but the American team will provide cover. We recognize that your men have all had military training, but they have not dealt with this man before. The team has been specially picked as they have worked with men like him in the past and know his moves. If he suspects something is different or that we are waiting for him, he will either kill the Pope at a distance, or disappear and return on a day that we will not be ready. He also has valuable information with him that we need.” Sergio does not know that they plan to kill Victor and the Pope, and frame Victor for the Pope’s death. Phil cannot afford Sergio and his men getting in the way.
“Fine.” Sergio turns on his heels as he replies, and walks away with fire in his step.
***
“Laura. Laura, we need to get ready.” Victor is gently shaking Laura by the shoulder.
Sleepily Laura opens her eyes, then rubs the sleep from them while asking, “You sure about this?”
Victor looks directly at her as he replies. “No, I do not know if they will be waiting for us, but it has to be done. We need to find answers, and if the Pope did not order the hit, then maybe he can point us in the direction of who did and also help us out.”
“Why would he help us?” Laura is now sitting upright.
“He wants the scrolls. Come, let’s get you ready.”
Victor already has a harness on that includes a parachute. As Laura gets up, Victor pulls a harness from a bag and helps Laura climb into the harness, adjusting the straps for her.
“How do I operate it?” Laura asks, not sure she wants to go through with jumping out of the airplane.
“This cord here is to deploy the main parachute, and this one is to cut it if it tangles up, then you pull this one to deploy the backup chute. Once deployed, you will have two lines you pull on to steer with, but you do not need to worry about that.”
“Why?” Laura asks unsurely.
“Because these are large military parachutes, capable of carrying a large soldier with gear. We will jump together with my parachute. We will hook in and I will do the steering, you just hang back and enjoy the ride.”
Laura relaxes a bit, knowing she will be close to Victor and that he will be in control. Suddenly they feel the airplane slowing down and descending.
Five minutes later the copilot comes to them. “We are nearing the Vatican. We will declare an emergency and divert as close as we can to the Vatican, allowing you to glide in easily. When we announce we are as close as we can go, jump. Jose informed me that your friend in Rome was able to deliver the package you requested. It is in the east corner of the garden, in the bushes next to the wall.”
“Thank you. You had best get back to the cockpit, it is going to get windy in here,” Victor responds.
“Good luck,” the copilot replies, and then turns around to return to the cockpit.
Victor and Laura walk to one of the emergency doors, where Victor quickly clips Laura’s harness to him, pulling them tightly together. He can feel her heart beating wildly, but she remains brave.
“Laura, you will be okay.”
Laura gives Victor a weak smile back, but it does not help to slow her heart. In the cockpit the Captain looks at the instruments, they are heading straight for Vatican City, only 5 miles out.
“Unidentified aircraft, this is Abruzzo International Airport control tower, you are heading off course and are flying too low, return to altitude and turn bearing 270, This is your last warning. You are now entering a restricted airspace.”
The two pilots look at each other, before the Captain picks up the microphone and replies.
“Ladies and gentleman, you may now depart the aircraft.”
Upon hearing the message, Victor braces himself against the wall and holds on to a seat.
“Hold on Laura.” Before she can reply, he pulls the emergency release for the door. The door is immediately sucked away and the pressure in the aircraft drops as fast as the temperature. Ice cold wind howls into the aircraft, tugging on the two. Through the open door Laura can see the engines located on the wing. Victor and Laura shuffle out, suddenly the wind takes them. Everything goes upside down and the earth spins in several directions as they tumble around in the jet wash. Victor maneuvers his body from side to side while using his hands and arms to assist him in stopping them from spinning. As soon as he gains control he looks down at the ground. The city lights in the distance create a magnificent scene and he indicates to Laura to look down, however she is desperately trying not to vomit on him.
As her stomach settles and the dizziness fades, Laura looks down at an amazing sight. The Vatican is almost directly beneath them, rapidly getting bigger. She wants to tell Victor how beautiful the view is, but she is afraid that if she screams to compensate for the wind noise, more than just her voice will come out.
Inside the aircraft they jumped from, warning lights are flashing with alarms going off all over. The Captain picks up the microphone and responds to the ground control just as an Italian fighter jet pulls up next to him.
“Unidentified aircraft, you are in a restricted airspace, identify yourself and your intentions or you will be shot down.”
“This is flight Charlie Oscar 737 from Columbia. We are declaring an emergency. We have lost cabin pressure and are experiencing multiple system failures including our navigation system. Can you assist us to the nearest safe landing strip?”
“Flight Charlie Oscar 737, stand by as I check the outside of your airplane.” The fighter jet slowly pulls back and drops slowly from the cockpit of the Jetstream towards the tail.
“Roger flight Charlie Oscar 737, you have a door missing on your starboard side, any passengers?”
“Negative.”
“Roger that, stay on my wing and I will guide you to the nearest landing airstrip.”
“Thank you.” The Captain smiles, knowing his mission is done. They will claim diplomatic immunity when they land by declaring the airplane the personal property of the Columbian government, that General Conzales will back up.
Far below Laura and Victor are nearing the ground fast, and Victor pulls the cord to release the main chute. Laura looks up as a small parachute comes out of his backpack, and she is about to yell to Victor that the chute might be too small, when the main chute is pulled out by the pilot chute. There is a sudden tug on their harnesses as the shoot opens, and then everything slows down. The wind noise almost disappears and it is unnaturally silent. With the main chute open, Laura’s heart slows down, and she starts to enjoy the view. She has given up trying to get control of her hair, which is blowing all over, due to her hairband coming out when they jumped.
Now with the wind lessening, she tries again to make a quick ponytail, but her hair is too messed up. Victor steers them towards the edge of the garden, far away from any buildings and in total darkness. Expertly he lands them softly, and then quickly releases the chute to stop them from being pulled to the ground. He releases the clips holding the two harnesses together, and then starts rolling up the parachute. He has to hide it before anyone finds it.
“Wow that was something,” Laura comments while pulling the hair out of her face, which is now a total mess. Victor looks up from where he is folding up the parachute.
“Jup, seen that look before,” he replies smiling.
“Teaser,” Laura replies, then bursts out laughing as she remembers how her hair looked when she woke up in Machu Picchu. Victor finishes folding up the parachute and quickly takes his harness off, then helps Laura with hers. When he is done, he hides both harnesses in the bushes near the wall.
“Wait here, I will be back shortly,” Victor says, then disappears into the darkness. It is a new moon, and only the distant lights of the buildings illuminate the night, allowing Laura to see a few feet in front of her. Victor finds the gear bag easily, having been thrown over the wall by his contacts. Silently he makes his way back to Laura.<
br />
“What’s in the bag?” Laura asks as Victor places the bag down in front of her on his return.
“Some toys we will play with,” Victor answers as he zips the bag open. Feeling inside, he locates a small headlight with multiple light modes.
Victor activates the red night mode and dims the light down to allow them to just barely see, but not giving away their position. Searching further in the bag, he takes out a map and some wire cutters with a small black plastic pelican case. Unfolding the map, he locates their position on it, pointing to it with his finger.
“We are here; there is a secret tunnel exit over here. It is locked with a chain. The tunnel runs under the garden, and then splits into multiple side tunnels, leading to secret accesses in various buildings around the Vatican.” Victor traces the path on the map as he speaks.
“It is close to daybreak. I need you to go down the tunnel marked on the map. When you are inside the tunnel you can use the flashlight as there are no cameras in the tunnel. Follow the map, you will find a few security gates, locked with chains. I will show you how to open them. When you get to this point, you will find a large panel with a lot of wires. What I need you to do is cut all the wires shown on the schematics at the bottom of the map. Do not worry about being electrocuted; they are only fiber optic wires from the cameras in the garden. I will signal you over the radio when you need to cut them.” Victor takes two special long range encrypted two-way radios out of the bag, and gives one to Laura before continuing. “You okay with that?”
Laura nods then asks, “How can you be so calm about killing the Pope, he is a man of God?” There is sadness in her voice.
“If the Pope has ordered to have us killed over money, then he is not a man of GOD. Come, it is time.”
Victor leads Laura to the hidden entrance, which is covered with false bushes. Carefully he opens the black pelican case and removes a small thin metal pipe with a wire hanging from it.
“These are small high heat explosives. Place one into the bottom of the lock, and then light it and stand back.” Victor places the explosive in the keyhole of the lock on the gate as he speaks, then lights the fuse with a lighter from the bag. Laura stares in amazement as the fuse burns with a brilliant sparkle, reminding her of a Christmas long past spent with her parents when they bought her sparklers.
“You might want to stand clear,” Victor says as he pulls Laura back a few feet. As soon as the fuse burns out, there is a muffled puff, followed by smoke coming from the lock. Victor hands the flashlight to Laura, and then pulls on the bottom of the lock, which falls apart in his hand.
“Easy, you okay with using them?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, the light has a button on the top to cycle between flashlight and night mode, hold it in on any mode to dim the light or brighten it. As soon as you cut the wires, run back through the tunnels to the point where we landed in the garden, then hide in the bushes and wait for me.”
As soon as Victor gives her the instruction, he makes to leave but Laura hugs him, giving him a kiss, then says, “Please be careful.”
“Always”, is all Victor says as he disappears into the darkness. Laura activates the flashlight mode, lighting up the tunnel.
The bright light gives her some comfort in the darkness as she walks alone down the tunnel. Carefully she goes deeper into the tunnel, until she comes to the first gate. Blowing the lock with the explosives is far easier than she thought, and she reaches the control panel within 10 minutes.
“Victor, are you there?”
“Yes, how far are you in?”
“I am at the panel.”
“Good work, proud of you. Find a nice spot to rest. I will call you when you need to cut the wires. Daybreak is in about an hour and the Pope should be walking the garden about half an hour after that.”
“Are you in the position you need to be to talk to the Pope?”
“Yes.”
“Are there not cameras there?” Laura is a bit confused.
“Yes there are cameras here.”
“Will you not be detected?”
“Nope.”
“Then why do you need me to disable the cameras?”
“The cameras here cannot see in the dark, allowing me to enter at night, but not get out in daylight without being spotted. The feeds you are cutting are to the entire Vatican system, making it look like a full system crash, allowing us to get out unnoticed.”
Suddenly Victor freezes. Slowly he turns down the volume of the radio. He is sure he saw something move in the bushes just up the hill.
Victor notices the red light coming on, indicating Laura is sending a message. Victor skillfully watches the bushes, not moving a muscle, until the red light goes out. Slowly he lifts the radio to his mouth while still watching the bushes. Carefully he depresses the button on the radio to transmit, but does not speak. Now he can see it, two men moving into position right opposite him. So they do know he is coming, that can only mean one thing; there is a traitor amongst Jose’s men. The men must be snipers, ready to take him out when he approaches the Pope. Too late to turn around now.
“Laura, we have a slight complication, there are two snipers taking up position across from me,” Victor whispers. Slowly he turns the sound up slightly and presses the radio against his ear. Faintly, he can hear Laura responding.
“What are we going to do?”
“I will still be able to make it out around the back if you disable the cameras, but I do not know if there are snipers around the tunnel where you are. We cannot risk you being shot by one of them. I need you to trust me. You are going to be caught soon after cutting the wires. They will arrest you, and take all your stuff, do not resist, just work with them, you will be okay. If all works out and the Pope listens, you will soon be released. If not, I will come for you soon, trust me.”
“I’m going to be arrested?”
“Yes, but it is better than being shot by a sniper.”
“Why would the people arrest me and not also shoot me?”
“Because these snipers are not from the Pope’s security, they are here to kill me. You will be safe with the Pope’s security until I get to you.”
“And if you are killed?”
“Then have the Pope forgive you and release you.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Give him the scrolls.”
“But I don’t have them or know where they are.”
“Show him the pendant I gave you, tell him it is where he lost it.”
“This is the Pope’s?” Laura asks, touching the pendant.
“Was, when he was a Cardinal. He lost it and I found it, now it is yours.”
“But I cannot keep it, I must give it back.”
“One day you will, when you trust the Pope with the scrolls.” Laura sits back against the wall, thinking of how it will feel being put in a jail. She hopes that the food is ok.
Victor thinks back about what Manco told him. Danger will find Laura, it is her destiny. And the warning, Laura on the ground with blood on her. No, it will not happen, it is only superstition. Or is it? Victor’s throat tightens, what if the Vatican security shoots her on sight? Focus Victor, focus, you have a job to do.
The rest of the time until sunrise goes by in silence. Victor watches the darkness being chased away by the light, and scans as much of the surrounding bush as he can, looking for more snipers or guards. Strange that they only send two, must be experts.
On the hill, Ernest and Sam make ready for the Pope’s arrival.
They have no idea that they are being watched by Andrea and her team. Her team had patched remotely into the Vatican security camera system before Laura and Victor arrived, using lock picking to open the locks Laura had blasted open. They had placed a remote sender on the cameras covering the garden, allowing them to keep watch for Victor and an eye on Ernest.
Laura is slowly falling asleep as she sits beneath the control box on the ground.
“Laura,
it is almost time, are you ready?”
Victor watches the car pulling up next to the gates in front of him, there is no response from Laura. Slowly Victor pulls a specialized pistol out of the bag, and then loads it. Victor waits for the Pope to climb out and the guard to close the car door, before speaking again at the exact moment as the guard closes the door. “Laura!”
Laura wakes up with a shock and drops the radio and box with explosives on the ground, having placed them on her lap before falling asleep. Quickly she picks up the radio and replies while trying to pick up the small detonators that lay on the floor as the box opened when it dropped.
“I’m awake, I’m awake.”
“Morning Sexy. Cut the camera wires please,” Victor responds sweetly, knowing the toll all this must be taking on Laura. He is proud of all she has been through while still keeping it together.
“Morning Handsome. Okay, doing it right now.”
Laura does not know that while she is speaking, two guards are making their morning rounds in the tombs beneath the church. The tombs link up with the tunnel system, with a passage 10 feet from where Laura is.
Fabrizio and Gino slowly pace through the tombs. It is the graveyard shift as everyone calls it, checking the tombs. Not that anyone expects to find someone hiding there, but it has to be done. Suddenly Fabrizio stops, listening intently. He has been a guard at the Vatican for 30 years and is showing Gino the route, who is new at the Vatican, having been a personal guard for many Cardinals before being stationed at the Vatican. Laura starts cutting the feeds, and the cutting sound of the side cutters reverberates through the tunnel.
“Stay here, I am just going to check out something,” Fabrizio whispers to Gino, who shrugs his shoulders and goes to look at some of the pottery currently being excavated from the tombs.
Laura looks at the schematics again. She has cut four of the 25 cables she is supposed to cut, but counting them is a pain as there are a ton of cables. Finding the next one, she places the cutters over the wire and starts to cut.
Laura 02 The God Code Page 17