Chapter IV

Despite all of the current inhabitants, the tunnels were colder than normal.

THE PHALANX OF GUARDS extended for twenty feet. Though usually only lit by dim yellow bulbs spaced twenty or more meters apart, now the tunnels were bright and busy, being illuminated by powerful handheld flood lights. There was something very unnatural about it, as if these corridors and passages were not meant to be seen like this. The guards, armed to the teeth, were prepared to take down any target that attempted to impede the path of the three.

The Pope walked quietly behind Colonel Ritti and an American detective that had been taken into confidence due to his understanding of the case from other perspectives. If Ritti trusted him, the Pope reasoned that he would as well.

Who would be a better judge of character than the Vatican’s chief of Security?

The Pope had decided that whatever it was that was going on would be dealt with, now. No more hiding in the shadows. No more secrets wrapped in riddles. It would all be laid out and the answers would be pried from their shroud of deception. It would be his gift to the Papacy.

The Papal Nuncio, Belsito Pasquale walked, surrounded by guards, a few steps behind the Pope. He had never wanted things to get to this point. The assumption was that he could keep things hidden, but it was now clear that the Pope was much more ‘aware’ than he had originally estimated. This would get ugly . . . very soon. But then, humans are wicked creatures. A bloodletting would be necessary for the greater good of the Vatican. This would be rough, but the Holy See would weather the storm.

The Cardinal Delatorre walked toward the back of the long guarded ‘spear.’ He was very curious about what was about to happen. He wondered what the Papal Nuncio had up his sleeve. His dark robe seemed much more appropriate down in these ancient tunnels where secrets were designed to stay. The Vatican had its traditions, some of them good . . . most of them outdated. This would get nasty.

Mavet walked with the group, just being one of the many. They were about to open the proverbial keys to the city for him.

These humans, so simple, really.

No more than a mixture of genetic predisposition with a bit of nurturing. You could read most of them like an open book. So consumed with their own lives and desires that they seldom look around and see the world for what it really is . . . a battleground.

The greatest war the world would ever know was on the horizon and none of them had any idea. How blind they are, he thought, seeing as they have the Prophecies. Can they not read? Or has greed and ineptitude clouded their judgment to such an extent that they will never see the words of Jesus for what they are.

Not long now.

Deegan was really starting to enjoy this. Two things were now very clear to him. Mavet was just about ten feet in front of him, and had no clue that

he had been found. The small crucifix dangled from side to side underneath his shirt as they walked. He would only call on Uriel when he was sure that Mavet was in the right position. No reason to be hasty. He could have taken him down in the Safe Chamber, seeing his eyes glow like a flare in the night, but decided to follow his target and uncover the meaning of all of this. They were making history, no matter what happened.

These days would be talked about for centuries to come. And what may seem insignificant now, will be the stuff of lore and legend. So he would wait until the moment was ripe, and when he did act it would be sharp and precise, like the perfect razor’s edge.

Though there were more than fifty guards spread out along fifty or sixty meters of tunnel, there was hardly a whisper. Abbot’s eyes were dancing around, taking in the uniqueness of this whole affair. As they crossed an intersection, slowing for security to ‘clear’ their path, he noticed a strange smell. “What is that?” he said with a whiff.

“We’re right under St. Peter’s Tomb,” Ritti answered. “Necropolis.”

The Pope, speaking for the first time added, “It is the heart of the Catholic church. It is the place where St. Peter was buried. It is a holy place. The City of the Dead is a place that celebrates our past, by mourning it.”

Abbot felt a surge of awe pass through his body. He had been around, seen it and done it, and it took a lot to faze him. But to be in the secret tunnels beneath the most holy city in the free world, and to have the Pope as your tour guide.

It was awesome.

No other description would suffice.

He turned back to the Pope and nodded, but it came across as more of a bow. “Thank you . . . your Holiness.”

“Where are you from?” the Pope asked as Ritti and Abbot slowed to join him.

Abbot’s eyes met Ritti’s, almost as if asking for permission to answer.

Ritti winked in the affirmative. “I’m from Texas, your Holiness.”

“Please,” the Pope said with a gentle smile, “Up there I’m the Pope. But down here, I’m just John. I like Texas,” the Pope’s eyes widened, “It’s such a grand place. It’s hard to see where Heaven stops and Texas starts. I was there about two years ago. Wonderful people, lovely bar-bee-que, is that how you say it? Bar-bee-que?”

Abbot couldn’t help but to laugh. This was absolutely the top thing ever.

He couldn’t wait until Don found out about all of this, but then slowly the reality of this started to settle in again. This probably wasn’t going to end well.

Things were bound to get dirty. “Yes, your Holiness. Your pronunciation is perfect.” And with that he turned back around as they continued to walk.

Ritti held up a closed fist and the entire group stopped. He addressed everyone, all guards and their charges. “I want a fifty yard security perimeter around the Research Vault entrance. Nobody is to enter unless I have personally cleared your entry. Peter . . . where’s Peter?”

“I’m here, sir,” Peter said as he made his way through the guards from the back, passing Cardinal Delatorre and the Papal Nuncio as he approached. He tapped the left breast of his jacket letting Ritti know that he had the security footage on his person.

Ritti nodded. “Alright, there will be two guards to each of the VIPs. You already know who you are, so please get with your charge now. There will be no, I repeat ‘no!’ weapons of any kind inside the Research Vault. In addition, no cellular phones, pagers, tracking devices or electronic equipment of any kind. I will allow only the Motorola guard to guard communications,” he said as he held up his walkie talkie. All of the guards who were tasked with keeping the Three safe quickly removed the gear that was not permitted in the Vault and handed it off to other Swiss Guards.

Abbot patted his pocket and pulled out a cellular phone. He handed it to Ritti, who tossed it to a nearby guard. “I feel naked,” he whispered.

“We’re born naked . . . we will die naked. Such is life,” Ritti said quietly.

Then, addressing the entire group, “Alright, Perimeter Team, make your preparations. Make it happen!” And with that the guards sprang into actions heading towards a large steel door with large metal bolts crisscrossing it. The door was probably eight feet high and equally wide.

As they approached Abbot commented, “That looks heavy.”

Ritti nodded, “It has to be. The world is hidden in there, at least . . . the end of it.”

A rather ominous piece of imagery, Abbot thought. Other than the six or seven key holes of differing size and shape, there was a high-tech keypad with a flat, black area that looked to be a finger print reader.

The system looked odd and out of place like a UFO attached to the side of the Parthenon. Necessary, but completely out of place. It gave him the feeling that there were things beyond that door that were not only secret, but needed to stay that way for the greater good. Was the door keeping them out, or keeping something else trapped inside?

“Perimeter one secure!” a guard shouted. “Perimeter two secured!”

“Perimeter three secure.”

Ritti took a look at all of them and bit down on his bottom lip. “Time to move. Carry team proceed.” And as the words came out of his mouth the Three were led inside a protective bubble of Swiss Guard to the large door.

As they reached the door the Papal Nuncio stepped forward and entered a series of so many numbers that Abbot couldn’t imagine how he had ever memorized them. There must have been thirty. He watched as the Nuncio leaned forward and stared at the black area below the keypad. A soft blue light slid back and forth several times, and then the sound of several heavy clanks echoed throughout the tunnel. A loud hiss sounded as the gasket around the door depressurized.

The Nuncio turned to Ritti and the others and nodded. “Shall we proceed?” Ritti went to the large door and tugged gently at a small metal handle.

Oddly, it opened quite easily as it swung on several large hinges, without the slightest noise. The door was probably over a meter thick with large steel rods running side to side inside of it. This wasn’t a door you ‘picked.’

One by one they entered. The Papal Nuncio went in first, followed by his two guards. The Pope and his two followed, and behind him was the Cardinal Delatorre and his bodyguards. As they walked by Ritti nodded at Abbot and they walked in. As they entered the threshold Ritti turned to Peter, “Nobody goes in . . . nobody goes out, until you hear it from me. As he turned light briefly reflected off of Ritti’s sidearm. Slowly the large door closed clicking and clanking until it was sealed off from the universe, again.

Inside, the group continued down a long, wide ramp that seemed to drop them several stories down before it leveled out. They came upon a metal grate beneath their feet. Ritti addressed the group, “Make sure you shuffle your feet across the grate,” he turned to Abbot, “Anti-static, you know.”

“First class all the way,” he said as he shuffled.

They took a gentle right-hand curve and then they were in front of a thick glass wall that was ti1ted so that they saw their darkened reflections. This time the keypad with eye-scanner didn’t look out of place. Again, the Nuncio typed in some ridiculously large and unnecessary number. Again, he stared into the blue light. Then he stood erect, looking at them through the reflection.

“Gentlemen, once you cross this line, you can never un-cross it. There are things here that you can’t . . .” he laughed. “Well . . . what am I saying. We all know the consequences of what we are about to do.” And with that he pressed the wall and it slowly slid to the side.

As a glimpse of the Research Vault was revealed to them, one by one, you could have heard their hearts beating. Abbot, probably more than any of them found it hard to breath. Were his mouth not dry, his hands not sweating, his heart, not racing, and his eyes not watering, he might have been able to give it the fair amount of reverence and awe.

Mavet tried not to smile. his throat choked, he probably would have said something worthy he was seeing. Something like, ’Holy shit!′

Deegan gritted his teeth.

The universe was still and quiet as both God and Lucifer watched this unfold.