“Wait, there’s a note,” Steve replied.
“What’s it say?” Heather now asked.
“It says that the church should not have possession of these items. They belong to the Society of Orion along with the current treasury of the society,” Steve said in disbelief. “It further says that the writer, a Father Angelo, was head of the Vatican chapter of The Society of Orion and has resigned his post to allow us to steal the weapons for our war on the Sumi. He wants us to have the diamonds to help protect the weapons.”
“Wow,” Heather said with excitement. A bright glow surrounded her face. “That means the diamonds belong to us now. Wait until Colt hears about this.”
Steve immediately pressed his earpiece to pass the message on to Mandy and eventually to Colton Banyon, but discovered that the line would not connect.
“We’ll need to get out of this hole before we can tell anybody,” Steve informed his team.
“Then let’s go,” Heather said cheerfully. “I’ll carry the staff. My legs are a little shaky and I can use it as a walking stick.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Bishop Hans Klug rapped casually on the office door. After waiting two heart beats he opened it and went inside. The bishop was a snoop and always suspicious of everyone. He was also head of all the Church archives including the secret ones. Father Angelo reported to him.
The good bishop had become concerned when he had not heard from his subordinate. Usually Father Angelo contacted him daily with an update. He wondered if the father was hurt or somehow incapacitated. But mostly he wanted to snoop around his office without Father Angelo being there.
It took him a few minutes before he noticed the envelope on the desk with his name on it. He quickly tore it open and read the resignation letter.
“No, no, this won’t do,” he cried out while shaking his bald head. A resignation on his record was unacceptable to him. He whipped out his cellphone and was dialing Father Angelo when he noticed the small private safe door in the office was open. When he looked inside, it was empty. What did he keep in the safe?
He immediately began to think that Father Angelo must have stolen something from the archives and absconded. It had happened before. In fact, it had happened many times before Bishop Klug’s watch. But there had been no robberies on his watch until now. This is unacceptable, he thought nervously.
Bishop Klug immediately called the security center for the secret archives. “I want to know if Father Angelo has been in the vaults lately,” he asked politely into the phone.
“He was in the vaults yesterday,” the technician responded.
“Has there been anything unusual around the archives today?” the bishop quickly asked.
The bishop’s heart rose into his throat when the technician told him that there appeared to be some glitch in the system at the moment. “Something is wrong with the picture from the two outside cameras. They seem to be frozen,” the tech added.
“How long?” the bishop roared.
“It has only been half an hour since we noticed it, but there also appears to be a malfunction in the laser grid in one of the corridor vaults. We are sending someone over to check it out.”
“Where’s the guard?” Bishop Klug demanded in a stammered voice.
“Funny you should ask that,” the tech said cheerfully. “I called him and he told me he was on break at a café outside the Vatican. But I can clearly see him standing outside the building in the frozen picture.”
“Someone is robbing the archives,” Bishop Klug screamed into the phone. “Get as many people over there as possible! Now!” he ordered. The bishop hung up the cellphone and headed to the archive site. It was across Vatican City. Along the way he was able to contact Father Angelo.
“Where are you?” the bishop demanded.
“Why, I’m in the administration building filling out paperwork to transfer to Africa.”
“You’re not in the archives?”
“I did a routine check yesterday,” Father Angelo replied. “I’m guessing that you found my resignation letter, right?”
“Someone is robbing the archives right now,” the bishop screamed into the phone. “You’re transfer request is denied. I need you at the archives now.”
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Father Angelo replied unhappily.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Mandy was buffing her nails and trying to be patient while waiting for the team to reappear. The ring of her cellphone broke her boredom. She saw it was from Colton Banyon and instantly knew that it was trouble.
“Hello, Colt,” she said into the phone.
“You need to tell them that they have exactly one minute to get out of the building,” Banyon told her without preamble. “There are twenty armed policeman heading their way.”
“But I haven’t been able to communicate with them for a half hour,” Mandy replied. “I’m getting pretty worried, Colt,” she whined.
“They must bring me Moses staff,” Banyon explained. “The future of the world depends on getting it to us. There can be no excuses.”
“Can you at least tell me where they are in the building?” Mandy quickly asked.
“They are just reaching the top of the staircase from the vaults,” he explained. “You should be able to talk to them in thirty seconds, but the police will get there before they can make it out of the building.”
“Oh, my God,” Mandy wailed. “I don’t mind shooting criminals, but this time they will be Vatican police. I don’t think that I can shoot them.”
“Never mind that,” Banyon replied. “I want you to get as close as possible to the archives,” Banyon continued. “Here is what I want you to pass on to the team. The rest will be up to them.” Banyon then explained what they had to do.
“I’m on my way.” Mandy responded and hung up the cellphone. She jumped down from the big SUV and sprinted across the street and into Vatican City. She had changed into a cheery pink blouse and short blue skirt. She looked like a teenaged schoolgirl as she raced towards the archive building. She could already see flashing lights and many men running her way from down the street. She ducked behind a large tree and talked to the Vatican team.
“Don’t come out yet,” she yelled into the earpiece. “I have to give you instructions first. We’ll move on my signal.”
When Mandy finished explaining the plan, she immediately heard Heather exclaim in frustration, “Crap, not again.”
***
Several minutes later, a large crowd had gathered in a semi-circle around the only entrance and exit to the secret archives. It included twenty Gendarmes, about a dozen Swiss Guards, the Gruppo di Intervento Speciale (GIS) which was the Italian version of a SWAT team. There were also many interested clergy, and a handful of tourists that were kept at bay by the Swiss Guards.
The police knew that the robbers could not get out of the building and waited for Bishop Klug to arrive before storming the entrance. He and Father Angelo arrived at the same time.
“We go in thirty seconds,” Bishop Klug ordered the SWAT team. “Get ready.”
Father Angelo prayed for a miracle as he knew that the people inside were stealing the Orion weapons.
***
From behind the tree, Mandy shouted into her earpiece. “Go.” It was all she said.
Suddenly two bolts of lightning shot from the sky and fried both the outside cameras on the building. Everybody ducked down and cringed as the loud thunder clap rolled over the crowd. They instinctively looked to the sky, but saw no storm clouds. As a result, no one was watching as the door to the archives opened for just a second and then closed again.
When the crowd turned back to look at the door, they were mystified and astonished. Standing on the small steps to the archives was a Greek goddess holding a wooden staff. Everyone stared in silence.
Heather assumed a recognizable Greek statue pose. One hand rested on her hip. She held the staff straight out in front of her and gave a look of defiance.
She was, of course, completely nude. Her beauty and her nakedness captured everyone’s attention. No one moved.
A wind suddenly came up and blew her long hair back. She looked radiant and confident as she smiled at the crowd. Most of the people weren’t looking at her face. She wore the white Habit like a cape and had used some Velcro to tape it to her wrists. When she raised her arm, it gave the appearance of wings blowing in the breeze.
“Behold,” Heather bellowed. “I have come to take this staff home. It does not belong here. No one must stop me.”
A collective gasp came from the crowd. She then held out the staff straight and said something that no one could hear. She pounded it on the ground. Everyone was mesmerized as her heavenly body began to rise from the steps into the air. All eyes followed her as she continued up and over the nearby Vatican wall. She simply disappeared.
“Now,” Mandy screamed into her earpiece as Heather became airborne. Mandy watched in awe as Heather floated into the sky looking heavenly. “Damn, I wish that was me,” she muttered to herself.
The door to the archives opened for just a second and the three Vatican team members slipped out the entrance. They immediately moved into the nearby crowd and worked their way around to the tree where Mandy stood waving to them. The team then turned and ran for the getaway car.
When they got there, they found Heather huddled on the backseat floor. She had wrapped the nun’s outfit around herself when she landed outside the wall and scampered to the car. She tried to look as small as possible.
“Get us the hell out of here,” she ordered as soon as everyone was in the vehicle. “Where is my clothes bag? I’m tired of being naked,” she fumed.
In the front seat of the car, Steve drove at a furious pace. Mandy sat next to him. She dialed her phone and connected with Colton Banyon. She then put him on speakerphone.
“It was a complete success,” she gushed into the phone. “We’re heading to the airport now and we have the staff.”
“Good job,” he responded. “According to Wolf, no one took a picture of Heather either.”
“I’m sure Heather is happy to hear that,” Mandy replied with a laugh.
“Don’t you ever make me do that again, Colton Banyon,” Heather yelled from the back seat. “I’ve never been more humiliated in my life.”
“But you make a perfect angel,” Banyon responded lightly. He was sure that she didn’t really mind, after all, she had been a porn star before she had joined the team.
“Did I really look like an angel,” she quickly asked in a softer tone. “That was the look I was going for, you know.”
“Wish I had a picture,” Timmy uttered to confirm Banyon’s statement.
“You couldn’t have been any sexier floating up into the sky,” Chase added.
“Oh, too bad,” Heather pouted. “I was going for saintly.”
“You were that, too,” Banyon said. “We’ll see you guys in Istanbul in a few hours. Call Dick and have him pick you up at the airport,” Banyon instructed Mandy.
“Thanks for giving me this responsibility, Colt,” Mandy said sincerely.
“Your team has made us all proud.”
***
Meanwhile, back at the archives, the police recovered enough from their shock to storm the building. After a few tense minutes, they declared it empty. They didn’t know about the secret vaults. Father Angelo was thankful that the robbers were smart enough to close the vault and replace the bookshelf.
“We need to go into the vaults and take inventory right now,” Bishop Klug pompously told the priest.
“Why? We already know what was taken,” Father Angelo argued.
“But…But…,” the bishop stuttered.
“Don’t you understand,” Father Angelo patiently explained. “We have just witnessed an angel who came from heaven and took back Moses’ staff. Many people saw it.”
“Yes, that is what happened.”
“In my book, that is a miracle,” Father Angelo proclaimed. It was also what he had prayed for.
Suddenly it dawned on the bishop. “Yes, a miracle,” he muttered. “It was a miracle on my watch.”
“Let’s go tell the Pope,” the priest said. “Maybe he will promote you or something.”
“Yes, let’s do that,” the now starry-eyed bishop responded. “Maybe I’ll get to be a cardinal.”
Father Angelo had already decided to stay in his position at the Vatican, but to never allow the bishop into the empty vault.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Colton Banyon ended his phone call and pondered all he had learned in the last ten minutes. He was unsure of how to proceed. So much had changed. He wondered if this trip was a waste of time. It looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders as he sat on the flat rock. Loni looked over at him and thought he looked like the statue called “The Thinker” by Rodin. She headed towards to him to try and cheer him up.
“If I was in Rome, I would have done the angel sting instead of Heather,” she said in a sexy voice, “only with more flair.” She took up a pose like wonder woman flying.
“You just like to have men look at you,” Banyon replied. She smiled because she knew it was true.
“But you’re the only one who can catch me,” she responded brightly. She then turned serious. “Tell me what’s wrong, Colt?’ She stood by him and rubbed his neck.
“We can’t use plan A because we just discovered that Anax Yuk isn’t the villain here,” Banyon said as he opened up his thoughts to her. “We are minutes away from entering the cave and don’t have a set plan. Everything has changed. I still don’t know how to stop anything and that includes the invasion, or Vril, or this clown Erox.”
“Since when has that ever held us back before,” Eric noted as he slid into the small group. “As I recall, we have had many plans changed before. Hell, we’ve been as high as plan G.”
“As I recall,” Loni said in a naughty voice, “That was plan G-string and it was my idea.”
“Actually that plan worked, as I remember,” Previne said in her precise English as she and her two sisters joined the group. The team members formed a circle around Banyon. He continued to sit on the flat rock and look depressed.
“Colt, we have more information then we usually have to complete a mission,” Pramilla explained “And we also have the SIM team to help us along with the combined military resources of the world, I might add. You know we all can adjust on the fly.”
“And think of all the awesome weapons that we have to use,” Maya interjected as she patted the bag that held many of the weapons.
“I like to make changes on the fly,” Loni offered. “Let’s put together a Sumi plan right now.”
“You just gave me an idea,” Banyon said as he snapped his fingers and stood up.
“What idea was that?” Loni asked in confusion.
“The best plan is to make them change their plan and I believe I know just how to make them do that.” Banyon said.
“We’ve only got a few minutes,” Previne said. “What do you have in mind?”
***
They had just finished making up plan B when Colonel Cole came charging into the group. He was breathless.
“Colt, a Sumi starship over India has uncloaked,” he said with wide eyes.
“But we already knew where it was,” Banyon replied. “What’s the big deal?”
“They are shooting huge laser beams from their ship all over Northern India. It was unprovoked. Many people have already died,” Colonel Cole explained. “I just got a report from the Pentagon.”
“Why have they suddenly done that?” A shocked Colton Banyon asked rhetorically.
“We don’t know, but the Indian government has sent tanks, big guns and rockets to intercept the ship. So far, they haven’t been able to even slow it down. Every weapon they have tried has just bounced off the ship. In a few hours, it will reach the outskirts of New Delhi.”
“Oh no. It can’t be,” Previne uttered
weakly. “My museum is there.”
“And our home,” Pramilla added in anger.
“The Pentagon wants us to either capture or kill the Sumi leader in the cave and disable their communications. They want us to do it now,” Colonel Cole emphasized. “If we can’t slow down the starship, the military is recommending nukes.”
“We’ll never be able to go home again,” Pramilla shrieked.
“Actually, none of those options are part of our plan,” Banyon responded. He then quickly explained.
“Oh,” Colonel Cole replied.
“Are you with me on this?”
“Tell me what you need my team to do,” Colonel Cole said intrigued. “I don’t like any of the other options either.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
The team began to descend the other side of the hill. Carol took the lead as she was their best mountaineer. She was followed by the SIM team. Banyon and his team followed in single file with Banyon taking up the rear.
The hill was mostly barren. There were a few scrub bushes and some desert plants, but almost no trees. It figures, Banyon thought. The Sumi would have harvested all the wood from here and not replanted. That is part of the problem — they never thought to replant anything.
The moon was just bright enough so he could see that they were entering a small steep valley. Another hill jutted up about four hundred yards away. Banyon saw a small stream reflecting in the moon light. The valley could easily be filled with water to create a lake he realized. The location fit the Sumi formula for a depository perfectly.
Colton Banyon thought about his team as he followed Loni. Banyon admired every one of them and they clearly were his close friends. They each brought special skills and ingenuity to each mission. They supported each other and kept each other loose too. He liked that. He couldn’t have hoped for a better mix of people. He knew they would back any decision he made. If not they would voice their opinion. No one had challenged his current plan. He just hoped he was right or the entire world would pay for his mistake.
The Society of Orion Book #7: The Turkish Findings (Colton Banyon Mystery 21) Page 10