Vatican Assassin (20 page)

“I spent deep prayerful time with The Light, time almost out of time. I can almost be there with Him again right now, if I allow myself. His love is still there, I can still feel it, real and strong. He loved so deeply, and so well, that His love continues to be with us, even though His body has ceased to breathe.

“God is love, and this The Light has shown us. This is what He illuminated. He showed us the sheer power of love in our lives is unlimited, for it is the power of God. How purely can you love? How well, how strongly? This was His challenge. He often quoted to me the First Letter of John, ‘God is Love, Campion!’ trying to teach me what truly following what Jesus taught really meant. The words of First John offer us a powerful challenge. We must love each other here and now, in this life, or we are not living as Jesus intended. We find our eternal life in this love! This is the essence of the message. The Light loved us all so well, so purely, so truly, that he is with us still whenever we think of Him in love! Think of The Light! Remember His Love! Can you feel it? Do you feel Him? He is with us still, I assure you, with us now! And We must not forget Him!”

BC bows his head, looking down at the body in the casket.

“Father Kim has called me The New Light, but, truly, none can replace Him. If I have been chosen to follow Him, I can only hope it is The Light himself choosing our next step, our further path. For I feel called to a different path. I feel called to spread the news, the love of The Light, to the rest of the world! The Light came to you, to us, to draw us together, to make us the strong mustard seed, the kernel about to explode into abundant life! I must now take the message back into the world.

“I will not be staying among you, but shining the Light unto the world to bring the message of The Light to those who still labor on in error as I did, those who still exist in darkness!”

The crowd is shocked, surprised. Murmurs and gasps are followed by whispering. BC can hear and sense their unease.

Alrighty, Kim, let’s hope this works...

“Father Kim will lead in my stead while I am not here. We all know he can keep us together, even as I am apart from you. I will not be able to come back often, I fear, for I fear to draw attention to us here, to the true cradle of our faith, until we are sure the world is ready for us. Make no mistake, my brothers and sisters, this is our Eden. We have not left the garden! And yet, The Light leads me on to the greater path. I just dare not lead those who would ruin this place back here to hurt you, my new family, this body of Christ! This community built by The Light! We will continue to shine in His never-ending love!

“We will miss you, our Light, but we can see You shine on.”

BC beams at the crowd. Father Kim looks pleased. The crowd sounds uplifted, happy.
I think they like me. Now for the rest of this mass thing.

The rest of the funeral mass cruises by for BC. The tough part is over. He’s glad to get it done, get the whole thing over with.

Glad to get off that altar. It’s still not my element.

Father Kim comes up, “You handled yourself well. Those were true words you spoke, whether you spoke them in truth or not.”

“Thanks, I think.”

BC walks among the people and around Fortune Station after the mass, killing time before the supply ship arrives. The ship only docks for an hour, so once it’s here he’s on his way home. He looks at his cell one last time, traces his path to the bathroom, and walks one full circle around the donut. Kim finds him in his wanderings.

“The ship is here. I’ll walk you to the dock. Come on. You’ll be back on the Moon in about two days, probably.”

Kim looks at the ground, then up at BC.

“You’ve changed, haven’t you? You’re different than when you arrived. I can see it. We really did get to you in spite of yourself, didn’t we?”

“You think so?”

Let him have his illusions. He did my job for me, after all...

“Yes, I do. I can see it in your eyes. Or maybe… I’ve become too much like you,” Kim says, pausing, “Now that I’ve killed… you don’t seem so evil. We all do what we have to do.”

“Is that so?”

“Here’s the dock.”

The ship is unloading. BC sees the captain directing the cargo off and walks up to him. Kim introduces BC to Captain Engaway.

“You’re going back with us, then, eh?” Engaway says to BC as he shakes his hand.

“That’s the plan.”

“We leave in a half hour, no later. I recommend getting on board now. There is a cabin ready for you.”

“Thanks, I will.”

“Through the hatch on the left side, then right as you get inside. Find a crewman and ask for the guest stateroom. They’ll tell you where to go.”

“Thanks.”

My departure’s a lot less eventful than my arrival, that’s for sure.

“Good bye, Father Kim. I leave the place in your capable hands, right where it’s always been.”

“Thanks, Campion. Shine on brightly. Check in now and then to help keep it legit, okay?”

“Sure. See ya,”

BC ducks in through the hatch and airlock into a nicer ship than the Paladin was. The guest stateroom is roomy, and complete with a bed, desk and nightstand, with an attached refresher. There’s even a viewport. BC sits and watches their departure out his stateroom window. He sees the dark silhouette of Fortune Station melt into the blanket of stars as they pull away.
This ship is faster than the Paladin, and Kim said they’ll take a more direct route to Luna.
Two days! Two days and I’ll be home. Funny to think of the moon as home. Used to be Rome.
Before that Boston, for a little while. And the Finch station. Lunar Prime feels more like home
than any of them did. I don’t know why.

BC asks to use the radio, but he’s informed they’re traveling silent. Got to keep Fortune Station off the proverbial radar. He lies down in his stateroom and thinks about the last three months.
I might not be a great “Light” for these people, but despite what I said to them, their last
one wasn’t that great anyway either. So much hatred masquerading as love, pretending to be
religion.

BC gets up and finds his way to the ship’s common area to get something to eat. The Captain is sitting at a table playing solitaire. BC sits down at the table and asks the Captain how soon they’ll reach the Moon. He laughs.

“The Moon? We aren’t going to the Moon. We always take off and land from Earth. Who told you we were going to the Moon? We land in Panama, at the spaceport, in two days.”

Kim! That bastard.

They land in Panama. BC catches a quick connector to Vatican City. He’s been trying to contact the home office since Captain Engaway began allowing communication the day before, but they won’t authorize or receive his transmissions.

Not a good sign.

BC checks out the news on his connecting flight. He’s been gone for three months. The war hasn’t intensified any. From what he can gather from the reports, no real territorial shifts have come about. Everyone still has their same holdings and principalities.

When he gets into Vatican City his ID only gets him inside to a point. His appearance is an issue. With his wild hair and beard they don’t recognize him at first, but his ID does check out. Finally, they usher him into the inner sanctum of Pope Peter’s Vatican to see the Big Guy.

Peter stands in informal robes in a small private sitting room in the Papal residence. He looks BC

up and down as BC stands in front of him, looking like something out of the New Testament.

“You flew over from Panama looking like that? Well, I don’t suppose anyone would recognize you. And you decided you had to grace us with a personal appearance, how nice, BC.” Peter switches from false appreciation to a scathing condemnation, “I thought I told you not to come here?!”

“Good to see you too,” BC mumbles.

“It’s still good to see you, my boy. we have been worried about you, BC! You know we couldn’t send anybody after you, of course. We hoped you’d find your way out again. You were gone a long time this time.”

“Comforting.”

“Still. You shouldn’t have come here. You know we have to be extra careful in your case, BC. You’ve been off the radar, but we still have those same worries, about you, about your vulnerabilities, your cover. You could be blackmailed. They know you now, who you are, what you’ve done. You’ve become our weak link, BC.”

“Have I? Have I really?”

How much does he really believe this? How much do I believe it? If that woman really
blew my cover, then why hasn’t it been blown? I mean, like, wide open? C’mon...

“Well, you do seem to be. Many would look at you as such. Though, now, to look at you, hmmph, well, doubt if they’d even recognize you.”

“If you’d accepted my communication I wouldn’t have had to come here in the first place. Look, I know you have your concerns. We all know what happened on the moon, and I know you think I’m now a liability to the organization. Let me show you otherwise. Look at the facts. The UIN has tried to tie us to McEntyre’s assassination. They have failed! They have nothing on me. They’ve mentioned nothing! I’ve come through the crisis! I’ve done more than that. I’ve laid the foundation for a productive relationship for us with the new Lunar Governor, Marc Edwards.”

“Yes, I know about that. You know, he’s been calling me about you. A very persistent man. We told him you were okay. Seems you have connected with him. Very good.”

“I turned those cultists on that station around for us, too. The Light is dead and gone, and I,” BC

says with a flourish, “am The New Light! Those people worship me! I’ve proven my value, here, clearly!”

“You have, you have, BC. Fortune Station has been secured, eh? The Light, dead? Excellent. You are a valuable agent, an asset to the Vatican and a true soldier for Christ.”

“So... what now?”

“You go back to the moon. Spend a couple weeks here first, recuperate, get a shave and a haircut… please. Enjoy Italy for a while, but then go back. We don’t know how secure your cover is. Keep cultivating the PR position and flack for the Cardinal. Cultivate your relationship with Edwards, get him solid on our side. Develop the situation.

“Most of all, maintain a low profile, and see what happens. Keep laying low for now. In the meantime, I’ll try to think of ways we can strengthen your cover.”

“Great.”

Wonderful...

“Marino! Show Campion to some temporary quarters, would you? Good-bye for now, BC. We’ll speak again before you go back to the moon. Thank you. And good work, again, on Fortune.”

“Um, yeah. Thanks.”

I love Vatican City and St. Peter’s Square in the morning. I never get over the way you
can feel the history, the grandeur and great age of the buildings. History seems to resonate from
the ancient architecture, the old stones, like you could reach out and touch it, maybe get
transported back through time...

BC sits on the windowsill of his borrowed apartment in the Vatican. From his perch he surveys the mishmash of ancient and modern that makes up Rome and Vatican City. As he looks out the window at the external world of Rome, he contemplates the nooks and crannies of the interior Vatican City grounds.

The Belvedere Gardens are beautiful, perfect place to sip an espresso and contemplate the
day. Ya know, that sounds like a plan.
..
Funny, used to seem like time stood still here. Guess that
changed when the attacks started. Now time has caught up with a vengeance. The old police
residence is badly damaged. There was some damage to St. Peter’s and the square. Even the
gardens suffered. Nothing’s untouched. Everything seems more fragile now, somehow.
BC watches tourists pass by on the street below
.

There are fewer pilgrims out here, I’m told, fewer every day since the attacks began
hitting Vatican City.

At least they’re rebuilding. Hoping it’s not in vain, that it won’t just get knocked down
again by the UIN. They’ve done some repair work, but there are still so many places where the
bombs hit, the lasers burned, still a lot of black marks on the landscape not yet healed. Ancient
stones on top of each other for centuries have been knocked down leaving gaps in the old walls
like missing teeth from a smile. Although I don’t know why you’d be smiling if you were missing
that many teeth...

I wonder what bothers the Curia more, the damage to the ancient buildings or the drop in
cash flow from the tourist trade? They’ll probably sell tickets to tour the ruins after things calm
down to make some money back, cover their losses.

That’s what I’d do, come to think of it.

BC wanders by the commissary and picks up an espresso, intending to make his way over to the Belvedere Gardens for his contemplated stroll. He brings the cup up to inhale the strong aroma of the coffee, feels the warmth of the glass on his fingers and palms as he breathes in the aroma.
Mmmm. Certainly one of this place’s best features...

“Campion!”

Fuck.

BC throws back the espresso like a shot and turns to face...

...Marino. Must already be time. Shit, thought I had a while longer before the meeting. One
last tongue lashing from the Big Guy.

Cardinal Marino stands with his hands folded in front of him on the white bib of his traditional crimson robes, staring at BC. “He’ll see you now. Please hurry, he’s in a mood.”

Wonderful.

“Righto.”

“He’s in the public meeting room, third floor.”

“Thanks.”

BC heads off to see The Pope. As he walks, his thoughts turn to the moon.
I can’t wait to get back to the Moon. This place is oppressive and boring.
I used to love it here. This was my home base.

Now, it seems stuffy, dead and lifeless. Boring. At least on the Moon I have something to
do. Not that they couldn’t find busy work for me here, if I was going to be here longer than just
these last three weeks.