Chapter Seventeen
Aglantzia (Cyprus)
Evdokia drove the ancient motorbike with its sidecar. It was the only form of transport they could afford. In normal times, Georghios was the driver and she the passenger, carrying the groceries on her lap. It was fortunate they couldn't pay for the gargantuan shopping expeditions she saw others unloading from their spacious cars. Such quantities could never fit in their sidecar.
In Aglantzia, in a spot recommended by Alexa, they overlooked Nicosia with the Pentadaktylos to the North.
"It really is like pictures of Florence's Duomo astride the Arno valley."
Evdokia agreed with Georghios. Nea Hagia Sophia stood proud and tall, commanding.
Beside it the scene was sorrier. Cranes dismantled the Kampanarió. Two weeks earlier, the fire and safety authorities had declared it unsafe. The four bells would become museum pieces. The gas looked as if it might become available in modest commercial quantities.
"What should they do about the Basilica?"
Evdokia had no answer which would satisfy her or Georghios. She chose jocularity.
"If they prove the gas find, the Church could sell it as the future Nicosia municipal holy gas holder, and..."
Georghios's snigger silenced her. The suggestion was outlandish but entertaining. He became more serious.
"I'm glad we accepted the recommendation of Alexa and Thanos. Up here we gain a different impression, a perspective. Constantinou's sandstone choice succeeds, and to think it came from less than ten kilometres away. However much you and I have hated all it represents, Nea Hagia Sophia is magnificent. It honours Justinian and his architects all those centuries ago. It must become a monument to more than Constantinou."
Every day, trickled out by Iphi and Aris, new tidbits emerged about the construction of Nea Hagia Sophia, its dubious finances and the shady connections invoked by Ioannis. Alone, these astounded.
The greater shock was the election of the new Archbishop. The choice didn't please either Georghios or Evdokia.
None of the Metropolitans stood, shamed by their SinCard percentage. Under enormous public pressure, they'd agreed to retire to monasteries in Greece, once they'd elected a successor Archbishop.
Who that should be involved heated debate, which looked to run and run. This had ended abruptly when Iphi, in an impromptu aside on her news show, suggested last year's 'best parish priest' as voted by her TV station. This had drawn unexpected and widespread support.
The Metropolitans had objected. The Archbishop, by church law, couldn't be married. The parish priest was. It was impossible.
Change the law, had been the public's response.
To universal incredulity, the Metropolitans did.
They had elected a new Archbishop.
That best parish priest was Georghios.
He'd baulked, arguing he was no intellectual nor a business manager.
Public opinion insisted.
Evdokia now accompanied him to accept his office. She could not process the changes. Her antidote was sarcasm.
Georghios, true to his nature, was humble, forbearing and forgiving. When she proposed he ride into Nicosia on a donkey, he'd smiled in his gentle way before denying he was Christ, that it wasn't Palm Sunday and their ancient motorbike and sidecar were adequate.
She'd winced before agreeing. Had he forgotten how mercurial its engine was? Yet its modesty had merit.
Her immediate task had been to find somewhere for them to live. He'd rejected Tower 25 out of hand. He wanted something plain, perhaps a traditional house in the Old Town. If it had a modern kitchen with cooling for summer, those would be a bonus. If it had two or three bedrooms, possibly to adopt a refugee baby... She was won over.
"I think it's time we hastened on. We have my appointment."
She mounted their decrepit machine. He folded himself into the sidecar.
Relieved that it started, for too often it did not, she motored from Aglantzia to the junction with Makarios Avenue. They turned right, to rise up the hill past Kennedy Avenue and the Hilton.
It was only as they descended towards Nicosia's centre that she absorbed how many people were on the sidewalk.
The further they penetrated the city, the more the numbers swelled.
Cars and trucks began to hoot and honk on the other side of the road.
None overtook from behind.
Evdokia, with Georghios beside her, became a procession of one.
More and yet more people massed.
They cheered.
They waved encouragement.
Tears welled in Evdokia's eyes as an ever denser crowd welcomed her husband in his modest sidecar, all clearly hoping for a resurrection of their Church.
Also by Charles Brett
Also by Charles Brett
The HolyPhone Confessional Crisis
(The Corruption Series #1)
The Vatican introduces HolyPhones into confessionals in Europe and the Americas. These smartphones connect those seeking confession to the Vatican Confessional Call Centre, part of a Church initiative to reduce the workload of its priests and generate new income.
An alliance – of a female Spanish member of Opus Dei, an American lady whose father runs a southern fundamentalist church, an Israeli pro-Settler technology genius and an ex-banker-turned-priest, a past lover of the American – conspire to cream-off a slice of the HolyPhone's confessional revenues.
Cardinal da Ferraz is responsible for the HolyPhone's success. He has suspicions. He locates Davide, who conceived the HolyPhone, and deploys an Irish policeman with his Australian computer crime sidekick to identify if there is a problem. They must find out before the Church suffers.
More than the Church's finances are at stake.
Also by Charles Brett
Also by Charles Brett
Corruption's Price: A Spanish Deceit
(The Corruption Series #2)
Davide returns to Spain to grow an American company's client list. Realising the chances of success are diminishing and suspicious about why, he invites previous business partner Caterina to Madrid to explore what might be wrong. Caterina brings Emilia, her multi-talented and bi-sexual friend.
The three work with Ana, who is from Madrid. She introduces her cousin, a senior policeman investigating national crimes involving corruption and money laundering. They are backed by a frustrated investigating judge.
In disentangling a cat's cradle of connections, they uncover deceits reaching deep into business and beyond. These touch the Church, Opus Dei, the legal profession and politicians.
Their activities provoke a reaction from those who fear the consequences. The effect threatens to undermine the viability of the Spanish State. Who will win?
Also by Charles Brett
Also by Charles Brett
Virginity Despoiled
(The Corruption Series #3)
Enrique and Lili, the latter a Canadian ex‐banker, produce premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil in southern Spain´s resplendent olive region of Úbeda. They barely survive in a ferocious, competitive and corrupt market.
Oleg and Andrei muddle through on illegally earned funds in Estonia. They hatch an extraordinary plot to become rich. Their aim is to ruin one‐third of the global olive harvest, that grown in Spain. Their ally: the olive fruit fly.
Ana and Inma are cousins and business partners in Madrid. They find themselves embroiled in Enrique and Lili´s struggles while wrestling with their own dilemmas. Should Ana accept an inheritance tainted by the Spanish Civil War? Will Inma help Lili resolve an uncertain sexuality.
Once the flies strike, the question becomes: who will emerge with a future?
About the Author
Charles Brett is a novelist and business/technology consultant. Born in Belfast and educated in England he has a degree in Modern History from the University of Oxford. Married to a Spaniard he has lived or worked in Italy, Abu Dhabi, South Africa, California and New York, Spain, Israel, Estonia and now C
yprus.
Besides his first three novels, The HolyPhone Confessional Crisis and Corruption's Price: A Spanish Deceit and Virginity Despoiled, he has written software-related books, speaks at technology conferences and contributes to a variety of newspapers, journals and magazines.
His author website may be found at: www.charlesbrett.net
Resurrection (The Corruption Series Book 4) Page 40