Vatican Knights (28 page)

His dream was dead and he knew it.

Team Leader quickly made his way down the corridor. Without
a doubt the building would soon be overwhelmed, since the operative he killed
was sent to pinpoint their exact location. Whether or not the man succeeded in
his mission he didn’t know. But one thing was for sure—it was time to jump
ship.

#

The pope clung
to Bishop
Angelo’s hand, Angelo’s digits having locked into place, unable to bend to
embrace the hand of the man whom he had come to love as a father. Nevertheless,
the pope cupped his hands over the bishop’s and held on as if he’d never let
go.

In the background was gunfire, a lot of it. And in the back
of Pope Pius’s mind he truly believed his time on earth was coming to an end.

So he prayed.

He prayed for the forgiveness of those who would take his
life, and for those who would take the lives of those surrounding him. He
prayed for his own salvation, ashamed for hating the man who forced him to
witness Man’s darkest side. He had come to realize that the Light of his world
was imbibing the Darkness of someone else’s.

From the corner of his eye, as he held Bishop Angelo’s hand,
and the gunfire never lessening, Pope Pius spotted the Dark Man of his hatred
standing silhouetted in the doorway against the ongoing muzzle flashes in the
background. With his weapon drawn the man entered the room. And in a look of
defiance, Pius courageously raised his head.

For a moment they stared at each other, the firefight in the
background becoming a drone as they appraised one another. Each man had learned
some insights of the other, perhaps the Light imbibing as much of the Darkness
as the Darkness imbibed the Light, making each man equal since they now shared
qualities of both. How they exercised those qualities would still come from
each man’s independent will. It was all about making the choices that suited
them most—good, bad or indifferent.

Team Leader looked him in the eyes and was pleased with what
he saw. Here sat a man who was not afraid to die, a man whose conviction of
faith was strong enough to break the chains that bind him, if only he had the
physical strength to do so. And then Team Leader did something
uncharacteristic; he bowed to the pope in what Pius took to be a measure of
respect. “For centuries my people have been persecuted,” he said. “But no
matter what, we’ll eventually persevere. You’re a good man, Your Holiness, but
until all become like you, only then will this end. I could only dream of such
a day.”

Raising his weapon, the laser finding its mark, Team Leader
pulled the trigger.

#

“Isaiah.” Kimball’s voice
was
loud, as if to cry out over the noise. “Have you detected the packages?”

That’s negative. I’m coming to a doorway leading to the
north corridor. So far the south side is clear. It seems that Micah might have
come straight down into their laps since the point of defense seems to be at
his entry.

“Copy that.” And then, “Micah?” There was no answer, which
concerned Kimball. And then again, but this time louder, “Micah?”

When he didn’t answer, Kimball turned to Shari, the Incident
Command Deputy, and gave her a gesture of circling his hand in the air as if
twirling a lasso. “To the south sector maneuvering to the north!” he hollered
to her.

Shari pulled her lip mike close and barked an order to the
Incident Command Post.
Bring in the Descending Angels.

The cavalry was on the move from above.

#

Kodiak glanced up
from
reloading his weapon and saw Team Leader run toward the south end of the
hallway and disappear in the shadows. His mind immediately clicked on the
realization that Team Leader was bailing. He had been so focused, so diligent
to duty; he had drawn himself into tunnel vision and was hardly aware of his
surroundings beyond the stairwell. After firing the last clip into the dusty
shaft, he pulled back along with Boa and began to retreat. King Snake
maintained his position.

 “King Snake, let’s move!”

“I’ll hold off the advancement! GO!”

Boa and Kodiak went to the monitor room where Diamondback and
Sidewinder were arming their body armor attachments by loading up with as much
ammo as their duty belts would carry. Boa and Kodiak followed suit, knowing
that King Snake would soon be out of ammo.

“Where’s Team Leader?” asked Diamondback.

“Gone,” said Boa.

“Gone? Gone where?”

“Just gone!”

All four had geared up to the max as if they knew there
would be no tomorrow.

In the hallway at the top of the stairwell, King Snake had
run out of ammo.

The sudden quiet seemed somewhat odd.

#

Two choppers lifted
off from
Logan Airport’s Air Operations helibase, flew over the depository and hovered
over the rooftop. Ropes and cables were thrown from the bays and the assault
commandos began to rappel from the choppers until a Strike Force of twelve had
secured the rooftop. With a gesture from the top commando the choppers veered
off and returned to base.

The Descending Angels had landed.

#

Kimball and Leviticus
immediately advanced up the north stairwell with Kimball holding his weapon
forward, while Leviticus prepared flash bangs to disorient any hostiles who may
be maintaining position.

Reaching the second level they saw a single hostile standing
on the third floor level charging a Sig, his lone weapon. Taking careful aim,
Leviticus locked onto the man with his weapon and immediately pulled the
trigger. The quick burst found its mark. The commando, dancing like a
marionette, jittered as each bullet punched into him, and then he collapsed to
the floor.

When the area was clear Leviticus made his way up the stairs
with Shari Cohen behind him. Kimball maintained cover by keeping the point of
his weapon steady, as they made their way to the final level. After they
maneuvered into a safe position at the top of the stairs, Leviticus was close
enough to the dead man to reach out with his fingers and place them against the
man’s carotid. There was no pulse, the man was dead.     

Kimball pushed his mike button. “Leviticus?”

“One down, at least five . . .” He cut himself short. To the
right of him lay the body of Micah; unmoving, twisted in such a way that
Leviticus knew he was dead.

“Leviticus?” 

“We lost Micah,” he whispered. “And I don’t see Isaiah.”

I’m Code-4 and working south
, Isaiah returned.

“Copy that,” said Kimball. “Leviticus, any visuals?”

Both Leviticus and Shari peeked around the corner of the
wrought-iron banister and surveyed the hallway. Huddled against the wall were
the remaining four members of the Holy See, all alive—and absolutely terrified.

“That’s affirmative on four of the packages,” Leviticus
whispered. “But I don’t see the big picture, though.”

“Hostiles?”

“Negative.”

“They’ve pulled back into the shadows. Maintain your
position,” Kimball told them. “The Descending Angels will be moving in from the
south with Isaiah.”

“Copy that.” Kimball pulled his lip mike even closer.
“Shari, go ahead and send in the ground troops as backup. I’m going to take
over your position as rear guard and secure the second floor.”

“By yourself?”

“I’ve got to make sure that there are no surprises since
we’re unable to maintain a visual of the hostiles,” he said. “They have to be
somewhere.”

“Copy that.”

When Shari made the call, the rear of the depository quickly
filled with Metro’s Assault Unit. 

#

Team Leader saw
Isaiah moving
stealthily down the hallway, clinging to the shadows with his weapon aimed
directly in front of him. Quietly, Team Leader melded into dark shadows and
pressed himself against a false wall leading to a ladder that led down to the
second level. When he pushed the wall it gave way, providing an aperture large
enough for him to pass through, and quietly slid the wall back into place
before Isaiah could have noticed him. 

Cramped by the small area, Team Leader shuffled sideways
between the inner and outer walls until he reached the crudely constructed ladder
of lath and broken boards. After descending to the second floor he found
himself in a tight space identical to the one above. With some effort, he
pushed on another false wall that opened into a dusty room.

Stealthily making his way to the hallway, keeping his head
on a swivel, he was all but home free.

#

Leviticus had often
been in
combat before, and quiet was not a good sign. Right now it was too quiet.
Hunkering close to the floor, he crawled to Micah and removed his helmet. His
comrade’s eyes stared at nothing in particular. A bloodless bullet wound marred
the center of his once porcelain-like skin on his forehead.

He gently placed his fingers over Micah’s eyes and closed
them, then recited The Lord’s Prayer in hushed tones, the words carrying the
length of the corridor in haunting whispers. The remaining members of the Force
Elite froze at the sound of Leviticus’ voice.

“What’s that?” hissed Boa.

Kodiak shushed him. The whispers echoed from all points of
the hallway as if they came from more than one entity. 

Then finally: “It’s definitely not King Snake,” whispered
Kodiak. “He wouldn’t know a prayer if it slapped him in the face . . . So I
guess it’s time to rock and roll, boys.”

Diamondback leaned close. “What about the hostages?”

“We do what we were hired to do,” Kodiak muttered. “If we
get the chance, then we kill them . . . Starting with the pope.”

#

Isaiah had the
bishops of the
Holy See within sight. Like Leviticus, his hackles rose instinctively over the
silence, but he pressed on.

When Leviticus saw Isaiah coming in from the south, he moved
in to converge, but motioned Shari to keep position and provide cover.

When Isaiah nearly reached the Monitor Room, all hell broke
loose.

#

Kodiak exited the
room first,
unaware Isaiah had quietly worked his way down the corridor and hid behind the
door. Kodiak, however, immediately saw Leviticus pressed tight against the wall
and coming toward him. As he trained his weapon on Leviticus, Isaiah sprang
from behind the door and rammed the butt of his assault weapon to the lower
part of Kodiak’s spine. The big man dropped to his knees, twisting toward his
attacker and leveling his weapon as he fell. Isaiah kicked the pistol away, the
firearm skating across the floor. 

Kodiak came immediately to his feet and with a roundhouse
kick, knocked the much smaller man’s weapon aside. With a straight forearm jab
Kodiak placed a powerful shot to Isaiah’s face shield, shattering the plastic
and sending Isaiah to the ground.

The helmet no longer an asset, Isaiah ripped it away, leapt
to his feet and assumed a stance reminiscent of tae-kwon-do.

Leviticus held his fire for fear of shooting Isaiah and
maintained his position in the corridor as the two men sized each other up.
Kodiak, with incredible agility for such a large man, came across swiftly with
a roundhouse kick that missed Isaiah and hit the wall like a cannonball,
causing chunks of plaster and lath to scatter across the floor. Kodiak’s follow
up punch missed as well, hitting and fracturing the wall as if it was
constructed of aluminum foil.

More explosions reverberated through the depository. The
Descending Angels, having breached the rooftop at the north and central
sectors, began rappelling into the building.

Both men continued to square off, obviously intent on one
another. “It’s all over,” hollered Isaiah. “Give it up.”

“Are you kidding?” said Kodiak. “I would die with a smile on
my face knowing that I broke your neck.” He came at Isaiah with savage forearm
thrusts and deadly kicks, each missing its mark as the much nimbler Isaiah
dodged or deflected the blows in seemingly effortless fashion. Kodiak, in what
he thought was an opening, lifted his massive arm to strike a crushing hammer
blow to Isaiah’s skull, but Isaiah lashed out with his foot and drove Kodiak
backward.

Quickly employing kick after powerful kick, blow after
powerful blow, Isaiah attacked the much larger man with such incredible speed
and skill, Shari, watching from the corridor, was transfixed by the talent of
his martial arts. He was smooth and graceful, the movements hypnotic, and in
quick fashion had Kodiak pinned against the opposite side of the hallway with
his back pressed against a boarded window. In bestial rage Kodiak screamed as
Isaiah came around with a powerful kick that connected squarely on Kodiak’s
chest. The impact was so great, the contact so forceful, the impetus drove the
large man through the window, his body tumbling in speedy revolutions to the
graveyard below. His death sounded like a melon hitting the pavement. 

Isaiah immediately gathered his assault weapon. Now with
Leviticus by his side, the Descending Angels swarming the hallway, and ground
forces moving up the stairwell, the two Knights and Shari entered the Monitor
Room expecting an all-out assault.

But the room was empty.

#

The Force Elite
had prepared
well for the contingency of being surrounded by the opposition. While Kodiak
combated Isaiah, the others used the opportunity to escape through a false
panel built into the old floor disguised as a series of removable tiles. They
descended immediately to the second level. Once assembled, they made their way
down the hallway and took position beneath the room where the pope was held,
and aimed their assault weapons at the ceiling with the intent to kill.