Vatican Assassin (5 page)

“Marc!”

Edwards doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t relax his hold on McEntyre, until McEntyre finally relaxes and gives in. He stops fighting and sucks in some deep breaths.

“All right. I’m all right, Marc. You can let me go now. Just let me finish talking with you.”

Edwards relaxes his hold, and McEntyre steps back away from Edwards.

“I think you’re finished now, Daniel. We’ll talk more later, when you’re more together. Your loss has you distraught. You’re not thinking right, right now, Daniel. We’ll talk later. I’ll call you.”

“No! They’re twisting you with their lies, can’t you see that, Marc? Send me away now and they win, don’t you see? Listen to this
priest
,” he spits out the word with bitterness and sarcasm, “ and they win! He’s one of them! Why do you think here’s here now, why do you think he came in here when we were talking? Huh? He didn’t want me exposing the truth! He’s a fake, a phony priest, and you’re buying his shit! He’s the real enemy! They’re the enemy! And you’re letting them win!”

Edwards just stares at McEntyre, eyes dead and emotionless.

“C’mon, Marc,” McEntyre pleads again. Edwards calls out to his com.

“Security.”

“Shit. You’re letting them win, Marc,” McEntyre stares at Edwards but points at BC as he turns to go. “You’re selling out Luna, Marc. You’re betraying Meredith and all she stood for.”

An LSC guard enters the office.

“Take Mr. McEntyre to the infirmary and see that one of the meds gives him a sedative so he can sleep tonight. He’s taking his wife’s death very hard,” Edwards says to the guard. Then he turns to McEntyre, “I’m sorry, Daniel. We can discuss this tomorrow. Please?”

McEntyre turns and storms out, the guard on his heels. The other LSC reenters with the requested reports.

What was her name? Nita something or other. Benzyne or something. Bendix! She’s cute.
Looks like trouble. I like that. Good trouble.

She tries to both stand at attention in front of Edwards desk and look behind her at the departing commotion
.

“Officer Bendix, you’ll pull a muscle if you twist yourself around any more than that.” Edwards says.

BC smiles at her.

She blushes a little as she turns to entirely face Edwards.

“Sorry, sir. Here are the latest reports on the UIN ships, their disposition and their current position. Commander Cushman said to tell you they’ve stopped advancing and are holding position just beyond our more sensitive scanner’s range.”

Edwards takes the report from the LSC and looks it over. He dismisses her with a wave.

“Thanks. Get the door, would you?”

She turns, gives BC a little nod, and leaves, shutting the door behind her. Edwards looks again at the report.

“I don’t know. Maybe they’re not here to do anything but establish a presence...”

“A rather threatening presence, don’t you think? And maybe they’re just waiting to see how you’ll react, governor.”

“Maybe. Hey, look, Father, I’m sorry about Daniel. He’s not himself, what with everything and all. I’m sure he’ll calm down with what the meds give him. I hope it calms him down. I’ve never seen him like that. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, really. He’s just lost his wife. It’s natural for him to lash out in his anger and his pain. The McEntyre’s weren’t catholic?”

“No.” Edwards gives a nervous chuckle, “hmph, as you’ve no doubt figured out by now, we won’t be asking you to do the funeral tomorrow. They’re agnostic. She was agnostic, I mean. He still is, I suppose, but, never mind, I’m babbling. It’s been one hell of a day, if you’ll excuse the “h” word, Father. Let’s hope those ships stay put so we can at least get some rest tonight.”

“I’m afraid I won’t rest too well with them hanging out there waiting to pounce. I’ve been in places the UIN have attacked. I know what they can do. They can be merciless, Mr. Edwards. I don’t think I’ll rest too well with them out there.”

“Sorry, Father. I’ll let you know if there’s any change. And I want you to know, I do appreciate your input about their tactics. But I’ve also learned not to trust either side in this war. You both have your blinders on. And, Father, if I may?”

“What?”

“All that stuff McEntyre was saying about you... was any of it true?”

“Huh. Well, sort of. It was pretty distorted. He may as well have blamed you for killing his wife so you could become governor, then called you a two-bit security hack with no right to govern the moon.”

“Hey!”

“It’s the same sort of distortion, see? I make no secret of the fact I come from the streets. I wasn’t a traditional ‘priest’. I did the Lord’s work in my own way, with a small independent church that joined in the reunification, thereby making me a priest, as all we men and woman of God in each different variation of the faith came to be called. As for the rest, I work for the public relations arm of the Vatican, The Office of Papal Operations, or OPO, as some call it. There are some who spread rumors about the OPO, but we usually disregard them. The pen is mightier than the sword or the laser. We’re spin doctors and diplomats, governor. There’s the kernel of truth in everything he said, but it was cruelly twisted and distorted.”

“But why did he know it at all? Why should he care about you at all, Father Campion?”

“I hesitate to offer my guess as to why.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to sound paranoid.”

“No, go ahead. Now I’m curious.”

“I was thinking of Shakespeare. You ever read the Bard, governor?”

“No, I don’t read. I’ve seen some of his plays in short form. Why?”

“He protests too much, methinks...”

“What?”

BC musters up all the false modesty he can and tries to sound convincingly uncertain.

“Usually, those things he said about the OPO? The UTZ controlling the Vatican and such? You hear that from UIN sympathizers. And to know details about a new Vatican functionary seems strange, unless he’s gathering information on all UTZ personnel on Luna and just added my folder to his files... I’m sorry, that just sounds paranoid...”

Edwards shakes his head.

“I don’t know, that does sound kind of farfetched, Father, if you’ll pardon me for saying so. But if he was with the UIN, why would they kill his wife?”

“I don’t know, Mr. Edwards. I just don’t know, and it doesn’t make sense. Unless you know something else, too. There is something else I know that I really can’t share too much of.”

“What? Don’t get all mysterious on me now, Father.”

“Well, there is a confidentiality, a trust involved. To tell too much will expose the one who told me what she told me in the secrecy and trust of counseling. Suffice it to say Mr. McEntyre is not, sorry, was not, always faithful to his wife. Nor was he always kind and gentle with women... I fear I may have said too much already. You may know the woman who I learned this from, and she came to me for counsel once back on Earth expecting anonymity, after leaving here in disgrace.”

“I think I do know the girl you mean. I heard what happened. I, um, won’t say anything.”

The room grows quiet.

Edwards mumbles, “But I am beginning to see your point.”

BC leaves the governor’s office and heads for his rooms to rest.

It won’t be easy to sleep with those UIN ships just hanging out there. Well, at least I’ve
got Edwards starting to think our way... gave him a lot of food for thought. Let him chew on that
all night. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing... I’ve planted some dangerous seeds. Let’s see if
they take root.

Back in his rooms, BC reviews the file on Daniel McEntyre.

You sir, are scum. No matter whose side you’re on. Ah, fuck this for now.
He lies down with the lights off, tired, and tries to sleep.

I really don’t like the idea of those UIN ships out there. I wouldn’t put a surprise, sneak
attack past them. There’s probably a target on my back, if McEntyre’s any indication of UIN

suspicions. Sure was handy knowing about McEntyre’s little flings. One of our men took that
girl’s tearful confession, and now I’ve used her just like McEntyre did. I think I feel like I should
feel worse. But, you know, I don’t want to think a lot about what I feel. I don’t want to think
about it so much, I just want to sleep, just turn it off... gotta try to get some sleep...
BC tosses and turns through a restless night. He rises early to get ready to face Daniel McEntyre again, this time at his wife’s funeral.

Hope he’s all doped up. I know, not so Christian of me, sorry. The guy bothers me. Good
thing the church never took that love your enemies thing too seriously. I suppose if they did I
wouldn’t have a job...

Most of the representatives and dignitaries on Luna from Mars and Earth, and several orbital concerns, wait in the governor’s reception hall for the funeral
.
BC surveys the crowd as he makes his way to his seat. The crowd looks almost the same as the one yesterday morning, but the mood, the dress and the whole general atmosphere is darker, subdued, more hopeless.
And most of the UIN reps are no longer here.

Those who gathered for peace just a day

earlier now gather to bury the embodiment of that hope for peace, and most likely any hope left with her.
Still, it had to be done. Otherwise the war would have gone the wrong way. The other way.
She provided only false hope, or hope for the UIN, I suppose.

Space in the reception hall is at a premium, so the general public cannot attend, but several recorders carry the funeral live to millions on the Moon, in orbit, back on Earth, and maybe even on Mars. BC is privileged to attend beside the Cardinal. They watch as Edwards officiates a short ceremony, followed by a clearly drugged Daniel McEntyre being assisted by an LSC...

...That Nita woman again...

...as he takes the cylinder containing his wife’s ashes over to the emergency airlock built into the reception room. Its alarms have been silenced for the occasion. He opens the inner door, places the ashes inside, then closes the door again and cycles shut the airlock. An LSC Officer out on the surface of the moon opens the airlock from the outside, removes the cylinder and, closing the airlock behind him, turns to bound across the surface to a launcher of some kind set up on the surface and pointing out into deep space. The LSC drops the cylinder in, and then bounds back to the airlock. Daniel McEntyre is directed to the launch switch, presses it, and sends his wife’s ashes off into the stars.

There are poems and music, but they all wash over BC. He’s studying the people, especially Daniel McEntyre.

Edwards must have him on some hard stuff. Looks like we do win this one. Still depends
on what they plan on using those ships out there for.

Edwards seems nervous.

I worry about Edwards. He’s not holding up so well. Not as hard as he’d like to seem.
After the funeral, Edwards calls BC aside.

“Father! Father Campion!”

“Good morning, governor. Not too much good about it, though, I suppose.”

“No. A sad day. Daniel was still not doing so well this morning, so he’s still under medical supervision.”

So I noticed...

“Do you have a few minutes? I’d like to talk to you in my office.”

BC and the governor go into the governor’s office. Edwards reassures him right off.

“The ships are still holding the same position. That’s not what I want to talk about.”

“Okay.”

“I contacted the UIN after you and I spoke last night.”

“Really. Was that wise?”

“Hell, I don’t know. Figured it was worth a try. No offense to you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Anyway, I contacted them to demand justice, an explanation, or a denial over all this. I thought they deserved a chance to answer officially to all this.”

“I guess you had to. What did they say?”

“That’s what’s strange. They didn’t say much of anything, really. They just about blew me off. We’re talking a major assassination here, and they seemed, I don’t know, almost distracted.”

“That is odd.”

“They almost seemed like they were too busy to bother to answer. Just said their diplomatic office would send a reply shortly, thanks, bye.”

“That’s not a good sign, Mr. Edwards. Governor Edwards.”

A low muffled boom shakes the room like a maraca.

“Neither is that!”

The com starts shouting.

“Governor, we are under attack! The UIN ships are spreading apart and firing at us!”

Edwards responds to the com, barking instructions, “Mount a counter offensive! Activate all defensive batteries. All Lunar Security to duty posts now! Order all residents in the direct path of the attack into shelters. Inform all others not to panic. Let them know that only those in the path of the assault are getting into the shelters right now. Got that?”

“Yes, sir.”

Time to bring it home.

“I guess they’ve just been waiting to attack. They were too busy getting ready for the assault to even talk to you. Nice folks. At least they waited until after the funeral.”

“Hard to know who your friends are these days, Father. Don’t start thinking I trust you yet, either. You have been helpful, though, I’ll give you that. Look, I’ve got to get to my command center. I’d like you to join me.”

“Sure. I’d be honored to. But I’ve got to check on the staff of the Vatican Mission first. I want to be sure no one plays hero for no good reason, make sure everyone gets to the shelters. Then I’ll join you.”

“I’ll make sure they clear you through. Thanks.”

BC heads back to the Vatican Mission. He does send the stragglers he finds down to the shelter level, but then continues on his own way. Muffled booms followed by rough shaking continue sporadically.

The section is just about empty when BC gets back to his room. He locks the door. He reaches over to the air vent in the wall and works his fingers under the vent cover. He pops it off and pulls out his CCU, the OPO standard-issue Covert Communications Unit, the small box that lets him stay in touch with those back home. Time to finally contact HQ, Vatican City, the actual Office of Papal Operations. He unfolds the CCU and it hums to life.