The Third Hour

by Richard Devin

  The woman, whom Dominic assumed was the shopkeeper, glanced at him again. He managed to smile back, picking up a book and examining the cover, feigning great interest. Then he slowly began to make his way to the back of the small shop, keeping a watch on the door the entire time.

  A smallish man with a young boy in tow stepped into the doorway of the shop.

  Dominic froze. Then relaxed.

  “No. Nonno, non qui. L'altro deposito.” The young boy pulled at his grandfather’s arm as they stepped out of the store, the grandfather muttering something to the boy about not always doing what the boy wanted to do.

  Dominic’s breath was returning and he felt himself relax even more as the older man and the boy moved down the street. He flipped the pages of the book he’d picked up and paused on a page for a moment as if he were reading. Then he turned a few more pages and paused again. His mind wandered from the words printed on the worn browning page of the book back to the stairway and the voice calling out to him. Who had called to him? He chastised himself out loud, “What a fool.”

  The store clerk popped her head up over the same stack of books that she apparently hid behind throughout the day and glared at him. Dominic held up the book and smiled. “This is good.” The shopkeeper ducked once again behind the leaning tower of books and disappeared.

  Dominic shook his head recalling with embarrassment, his actions while at Bramante’s Stairway. He could not believe how idiotic he had been, and that he didn’t bother to turn around to see who had been calling to him. Why did he run? What if it had been someone he had known? What if? He decided to stop with the ‘what ifs,’ since they could and would go for quite some time. Now, there’s a thought. He had been reacting without thought. Reacting to pure animal instinct. Fight or flight. Even though he didn’t see who had been calling to him, his instincts told him that it wasn’t safe. Instinct urged him to run.

  Yeah, where was that instinct when a man bleeding all over your apartment was hiding in your kitchen? Maybe, he was learning? He considered that. Maybe he was just like the young predator that has to learn to kill and the young prey that needs to learn how to hide and outwit the predator? Could be? But that brought to mind a new question that needed to be answered: was he the prey or the predator?

  After twenty minutes in the book store, browsing through several books—that he would have actually liked to buy—he felt confident enough that he wasn’t being followed and placed the small stack of books down onto a stack of other books, being careful not to knock the whole pile tumbling to the floor. He couldn’t buy the books now. He had figured out where he was, but he didn’t know what he was doing. He couldn’t be hampered by a bag of books, should he need to bolt again. The thought stopped him. Wasn’t that thinking like prey?

  He exited the store to the sound of the shopkeeper’s “Tsk-tsk,” but didn’t turn around to acknowledge her. Turning left out of the shop, he made his way down the narrow alley, walking slowly, until he reached a main thoroughfare. He needed to find his way home. He needed time to think. And he needed to call Tonita and explain everything. The trouble was—he didn’t know how to explain. Not since his days at Saint John Fisher’s seminary, had he felt this confused. And it wasn’t just about the last twenty-four hours, but about every day for the last four or five months.

  Four or five months? He wasn’t even sure how long it had been. He tried to think back to the last sermon. After a moment it came back to him, with a blast to his brain. The sermon was so apropos that it was almost as though the moment had chosen Dominic, rather than Dominic choosing the moment.

  He had just finished speaking from Deuteronomy of all the blessings the Lord will grant to those who are faithful and follow His commandments. He quoted, ‘If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands, I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.’

  Dominic had gone on that day, recounting to the congregation all the blessings that the Lord will allow to those that obey and follow him. He had paused in his speech, sweeping the church with his eyes, and allowed a stern frown to form on his face. Then he began to speak of those who do not obey the Lord.

  “What will become of those who do not follow the Lord?” he had asked the congregation in animated English and in Italian, his voice echoing through the small church. He hadn’t expected anyone to actually reply and offer a suggestion, and so he was completely caught by surprise when a small voice from the back of the church spoke up.

  “The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind,” a man in the back of the church shouted.

  “That is right,” Dominic said. “That is indeed included with the curses in Deuteronomy.” He stepped around the altar table and called out to the man hidden in the shadows of the balcony. “Why don’t you come forward so that we may speak?”

  “The Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life,” the voice from the balcony boomed at Dominic and the others in the church. “You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread.” the command was punctuated by the slamming of a door.

  Dominic hurried down the aisle to the back of the church. Whoever had been in the balcony, had made his way down the curving stairs and out the church door before Dominic could reach him.

  Dominic opened the door to the church, looked in both directions and saw no one. He turned to make his way back up to the nave of the church and stopped. All eyes of the congregation were on him. They followed him like the lenses of the cameras held by a throng of paparazzi. He tried to remain calm, taking in a deep breath and forcing a smile to go with the nods of the head he was giving the congregants. Then something out of place caught his attention. He stopped.

  A book had been laid out on top of the offering candles set in tiered rows near the back of the church and off to the side of the doorway. And it was smoldering. Smoke wafted up from a corner of the binding that was about to burst into flames. Dominic grabbed for the book. Picking it up he blew on the corner, putting out the small flame that had grown there.

  He didn’t need to turn to the title to know what the words imprinted into the old leather cover were. His mind had registered the book as The Bible, long before his conscious thoughts.

  Dominic looked to the scorched pages, The Bible had been left open to Deuteronomy or more precisely to the Curses for Disobedience. The same passage of his sermon. He slammed the book closed, dowsed it into the vessel of Holy Water and walked out the front door of the church, leaving behind the congregation, the mass and his faith.

  Now, just a few streets from his apartment and an hour and a half’s walk from the small bookshop, Dominic came to an abrupt halt, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing others to walk around him, most with typical Italian commentary at the inconvenience.

  The realization came to him so suddenly; it was as if he had just walked head on into a brick wall. No one was following him. There hadn’t been anyone following him all day. He was certain of it.

  He had been trying to answer this one question all along, giving it long moments and many city blocks of thought. Why would anyone go through such elaborate theatrics as to have black cars with silent drivers and a cryptic torn piece of a telephone book, and then not bother to follow him?

  The answer was simple and clear. It was the perfect predator and prey scenario. No one followed because they were waiting for him at the destination. No need for the predator to follow along on the journey, when it would be so much easier to catch the prey at the destination. They were waiting for him where he would feel the most secure.

  With his apartment building in view, Dominic turned around and walked in the direction that he had just come, abandoning the long trek that he had just taken.

  There was only one place t
hat he could go now. A place where he would be safe and a place where he would find help.

  And he knew for certain that she would be there.

  THIRTEEN

  OCTOBER 28, 1943

  Observation Ship Rainbow,

  150 yards off the starboard bow of the U.S.S. Eldridge, Destroyer Escort 173

  17:15Hours/ 5:15 P.M.

  200 Miles off the coast of the Eastern United States and the Philadelphia Navel Yard

  Final Test—Project Rainbow

  “Power up to all generators,” Lieutenant Hamilton broadcast the order over the observation ship Rainbow’s radio.

  “Yes, sir,” The new crewman radioed back from the radio room of the Eldridge. “Power is up.”

  The Eldridge had returned to port after the first experiment and a new crew had been assigned, replacing those who were now reassigned to land-based duties. The previous crew members were separated and placed in positions at bases across the United States, where they were kept under close scrutiny by the Navy’s doctors. They appeared to have had no long term ill effects from the first experiments aboard the Eldridge. And although their daily activities were monitored, they were not encumbered.

  The generators aboard the Eldridge had been reset. All the wiring, fuses, tubes, and the ship itself, had been tested and retested for any leaks, cracks or structural integrities. Lieutenant Hamilton and the Navy were convinced all was in order.

  “Eldridge. This is Lieutenant Hamilton. We will now begin radio silence. We will contact you again at the end of the experiment.”

  “This is the USS Eldridge. Radio silence to begin.”

  “Radio silence to begin in five, four...” Lieutenant Hamilton counted down. “Three, two, one.” There was, of course, no confirmation from the Eldridge.

  From the observation ship Rainbow, now anchored three hundred yards from the Eldridge—considerably farther away than on the first experiment—and absent most of the crew, sailing with only a skeleton staff aboard, a seaman monitored a panel, showing the building electromagnetic field surrounding the Eldridge. Below deck, technicians listened in as the slow growing groan of the generators built, as they powered up to maximum output.

  The monitoring instrumentation clearly showed a mounting magnetic field forming around the Eldridge. The slow build was right on course. “How are we doing?” Lieutenant Hamilton asked a young crewman.

  “No anomalies, sir.”

  Lieutenant Hamilton smiled and nodded his approval to the crewman. He and the Navy were convinced that they could pull off the experiment without any of the initial scientists along. Secrecy was a key factor to the project, and as far as Einstein and the others who had worked on the first experiment in the project were concerned, the Eldridge had been refitted and was now back into regular service. Its crew had suffered no long-term ill affects from the first experiment and all were back to their original duties.

  “Generators reaching half power, sir,” the young crewman monotoned.

  The waters surrounding the Eldridge began to smooth out. Waves that approached the ship slowed and flattened, as they neared. The electromagnetic field had already encircled the ship and the green fog seen building during the first experiment had begun to form once again at the water line of the ship.

  “Very good,” Lieutenant Hamilton responded with as much enthusiasm as the crewman. “Maintain a slow and steady...” Before the Lieutenant could finish the command, a blinding, bright blue light flashed from the Eldridge, lighting up the day lit sky, as though thousands of flashbulbs had popped simultaneously.

  The stunned silence aboard the observation ship Rainbow was broken as the crew’s eyes adjusted from the searing flash to the normal brightness of the day.

  Glancing toward the Eldridge, Lieutenant Hamilton saw that the ship appeared to be fine. Nothing, at least on the surface, was out of order. “Status...”

  Then a second flash. Blue, bright, and hot.

  And when the eyes of all aboard the observation ship Rainbow had once again adjusted, they stared in disbelief, dumbfounded by what they saw.

  Lieutenant Hamilton spoke, his voice near a whisper, “Radio the Eldridge.” Before him the sky and the sea spread out. There was no fog. No outline. And no movement in the water.

  The Eldridge had vanished.

  FOURTEEN

  THE JESUIT STOOD TALL looming above him. The Novice lay naked and shivering on the cold stone. The Jesuit’s fingers wrapped tightly around the hilt of a sword, he pressed the sharp pointed end into the naked skin just above the heart of the young man, applying enough pressure to pierce the flesh. A trickle of blood first beaded then began to roll down the well-formed pectorals and over the ridges of the Novice’s abdomen. The Jesuit watched as the blood flow continued trailing down the Novices upper thigh, then down his leg over the powerful calf muscle. The Jesuit was in awe of this Novice. He was a perfect specimen of a man and would be a perfect warrior for God.

  The sharpened metal edges of the hilt cut into the Jesuit’s hand, as he wrapped his fingers tightly around the crucifix that formed the hilt of the hammered iron sword.

  It had been many months since a novice of this caliber had obtained the right to move from the lowest of classes in the Society to the Professed. Once the Novice was confirmed into the ranking of the Professed, he would take his place among those in the Society, and among those who knew the secrets and the holy power of the Society.

  “My son, heretofore you have been taught to act the dissembler,” The Jesuit spoke softly. “To spy even among your own brethren. To believe no man. To trust no man, so that you might be enabled to gather together all information for your Order as a faithful soldier of the Pope.”

  The Jesuit leaned into the hilt of the sword sending the point deeper into the Novice’s chest. Blood now ran freely, puddling into the outer edges of the cross that had been chiseled into the stone floor, and above which the Novice stood.

  “You have been taught to insidiously plant the seeds of jealousy and hatred. You have the power to ensure that only the Church might be the gainer and that the end justifies the means.” The Jesuit pulled the sword out and slightly away from the Novice’s heart, and then allowed it to slowly drag along his chest and stomach scratching a line of blood down to the Novice’s genitals. He held the sword there for several minutes, the sharpened edge of the blade just touching the base of the Novice’s penis, poised to slice into the organ or to cut off the sack of testicles that hung below. A slight twitch in the Jesuit’s hand and the penis would be amputated.

  The Novice stood absolutely still, staring directly into the eyes of the Jesuit.

  The Jesuit relaxed his grip on the sword and it fell to the cold stone floor causing a spark to flare up.

  “Kneel.”

  The Novice knelt without hesitation, his knees straddling the cross carved into the stone, so that his testicles and penis hung at the apex of the now blood-filled indentation.

  “You have received your instructions and must now serve the proper time using your body and soul as both the instrument of death and the executioner. This you must do as directed by your superiors. For none can command here who has not consecrated his labors with the blood of a heretic. For without the shedding of blood, no man can be saved.” The Jesuit’s voice trembled. “Do you now declare and swear that his holiness, the Pope, is Christ’s Vicegerent and is the true and only Head of the Church throughout the earth? And by the power of Jesus Christ, he hath the power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths, and governments, as all are illegal without the sacred confirmation of the Lord?”

  “It is my obedient obligation,” the Novice said, head and eyes down.

  “Do you now renounce and disown any and all allegiance?”

  “It is my obedient obligation.”

  “Do you declare that you will assist your brethren or any agent of his Holiness in any place and for whatever reason?”

  “It is my obedient obligation.”

>   “Do you further declare that you shall have no opinion or will of your own, and that you will be submissive in all things commanded?”

  “It is my obedient obligation.”

  The Jesuit’s voice rose and echoed in the empty chamber. “To your feet Novice.”

  The Novice pulled himself up from the floor, his skin sticking to the cold stone by his own drying blood.

  “You stand here naked before God,” The Jesuit said handing a parchment to the Novice. “Take this and read it so that God and all of mankind may hear.”

  “In confirmation,” The Novice’s raspy voice grew louder with every breath, “I hereby dedicate my life, soul, and all of my powers. And with this sword, that I will now receive, I shall scribe my name, written in my blood, in testimony.”

  “Go ye then into all the world, and take possession of all the lands in the name of the Pope. He who will not accept him, the Lord Jesus, let him be exterminated.” The Jesuit bent down, picked the sword up, and turning the blade to his own heart, and the hilt to the Novice said, “Will you do that?”

  The Novice took hold of the hilt. “I will,” he said, eyes closed head held high.

  A breeze quickly began to make its way around the chamber, as if a door had been opened. It circled the chamber throwing a shivering chill into the air.

  The Novice opened his eyes and looked around the darkened chamber, expecting that someone must have entered. Instead, when his gaze returned to the spot where The Jesuit stood, found that it was empty.

  The Jesuit was gone.

  Only the Novice remained. He stood in the dark, sword in hand and God’s commandment in his heart.

  FIFTEEN

  CARDINAL WILLIAM CELENT peered out of the window from the second story Vatican flat that had been his home for more than forty years. He watched helplessly as Dominic fled through the Vatican Museum Gate and out into the maze of old Roman streets. He stood motionless, only his eyes moving to keep pace with Dominic, until Dominic rounded a corner and was out of sight.