The Templar Concordat

by Terrence O'Brien

  The Pope smiled. “You mean they don’t operate under their own name, but use a bunch of fronts… like, maybe the Templars use a bunch of fronts?”

  The Marshall laughed. “Yeah, except we’re on your side and they want you dead. We think they are behind the Vatican bombing. In fact, we’re sure of it.”

  The Pope thought about the recent series of killings of Middle Eastern men in Rome and other European cities. The long arm of the Templars? But some questions are better not asked.

  “You said both parties had to agree to cooperate with the other.” The Pope turned to Agretti. “Is that what the Concordat says, Alberto?”

  “Yes, Holiness.”

  “If I say yes, do we have a deal?”

  “If you say yes, we have a deal.”

  “How long do I have to reply?”

  “We would like an answer tomorrow. I presume you want to think about it.” The Marshall nodded to the folder Agretti clutched. “That’s what is says. If you agree, both you and the Templar Master will document it by adding your personal endorsements to that Concordat, and also to the one in Zurich. The Templars keep their copy, and the Vatican Secretary of State keeps yours. As you have seen, the endorsements are there for each Pope and Master who came to an agreement over the years.”

  The Pope drummed his fingers on the table and stared into the Marshall’s eyes. The Marshall calmly returned the stare.

  Agretti began to sputter, but the Pope silenced him with a look.

  “Let me think on this.”

  The Marshall nodded.

  “But before I start thinking, who is this Master you keep talking about?”

  “That is something you will learn, if you accept the offer.”

  “And I imagine I will learn who you are also?”

  “That’s it.”

  It was 1:00 am when the Marshall stood and shook the Pope’s hand. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Pope Dominic. I mean that. I think we can work together.”

  “Likewise, Sir. Please convey my compliments to the Templar Master.”

  That had gone very poorly, thought Agretti, very, very poorly.

  Switzerland - Friday, April 17

  One week after Jean gave Callahan the list of materials, equipment, and supplies she needed, a truck drove up and unloaded every single thing she had requested. They even sent a chemist to work on the ink and the dyes.

  “Not my place to say,” the chemist said when Jean asked who he worked for. “You’ll have to talk to Callahan.” He took over the chalet laundry room, set up his lab, and started cooking up the ink and dye recipes Jean gave him.

  They finalized the Latin for the treaty with some unknown Latin expert on a private Internet chat line. Jean was good, but whoever she was dealing with was better.

  “This guy knows his Latin, and knows his history,” Jean told Marie.

  “Oh, I can assure you he does. He certainly does.” If Jean and the Archivist ever met, it would probably be love at first sight.

  Jean began practice runs of the treaty on modern paper to see how it looked, and one page after another ended up in a crumpled ball on the floor when lines were just too long or too short, a word had to be changed to balance the look of the page, or a sentence had to be redone to position key words in the area of the page unreadable to the naked eye, but visible under special light filters. She couldn’t just write the treaty, but had to put each and every word in just the right spot.

  The biggest problem was the one and only piece of Twelfth Century parchment, so their first attempt at the treaty was their first, last, and final attempt. The margin for error didn’t exist. One single mistake the first time was failure. Jean wondered about her fate if that happened, but it was a strong motivator to do the best work she had ever done.

  Perhaps the trickiest part of the operation was aging the parchment. It already was eight hundred years old, but the real treaty had its ink applied eight-hundred years ago, and everything aged together. This forgery was an application of ink on top of the aged parchment. So the page had to be treated after the script, gilding, seals, and scrollwork were all applied.

  When Jean went down to the laundry room, the chemist and a man with a long pony tail were ripping pages from an actual Twelfth Century bible, a real Twelfth Century bible, experimenting on them, and then throwing them in the trash. Where had they stolen that? It could never be replaced.

  They cooked pages, heated them, microwaved them, applied solvent, held them near a propane torch, and destroyed every page they used in their experiments. They destroyed half the book before finally settling on a variable irradiation technique that bombarded the page strongest at the center, and diminished in strength toward the edges.

  Then they gave her a title page with large script and generous white space and had her pen as much of the treaty in the white space as possible. They whooped and high fived when the irradiated page turned a medium brown near the middle and light beige near the edges. After twenty more pages were sacrificed, they were satisfied they had the right method. It was an exact match to the coloration of the original treaty in Jean’s pictures. Some of it could be read with the naked eye, and the rest needed special light filters to be read.

  Vatican - Sunday, April 19

  Agretti was relieved to see the Pope almost looking like a Pope in a white cassock with a silver cross around his neck. No running shorts or cowboy boots. The cassock was far shorter than most, something the chief Vatican tailor said the Pope insisted upon. “He said cassocks are dangerous. He trips on his big feet.”

  “What do you think, Alberto? This Templar thing. I have to decide.”

  “You know what I think of the Templars, Holiness. The Church should have nothing to do with them. This Concordat is an abomination, but it was created by a sitting Pope and it binds all of his successors. So, we are stuck with it, but we don’t need Templars when we have the Holy Spirit to guide and protect the Church.”

  The Pope leaned back on a windowsill and folded his arms. “Protection? Interesting. Where was the Holy Spirit when that bomb ripped through the crowd on Easter? Ever wonder if the Holy Spirit might have enough confidence to let us take care of ourselves?”

  “That’s not the point, Holiness. I’m sure that in the fullness of time the plan of God will be revealed, and it’s not for us to demand explanations.”

  “Yes, yes, I’m sure it will. I just can’t wait that long.” What do I have, he wondered? I’m fifty-five now. Maybe I live to ninety with my good genes. Thirty-five years isn’t really that much time.

  “Alberto, is it possible the Holy Spirit sent that Templar Marshall? Perhaps in the fullness of time that will be revealed, too.” The Pope had never seen Agretti speechless. That struck home, the Pope thought. You pompous little worm.

  “Look at it this way, Alberto. Terrorists struck last year, maybe those Hashashin, and nearly killed the Pope. They did manage to kill staff and visitors. Then that Easter massacre. Face it, we are at war, and we’re losing. And if we don’t get off our butts, it’s going to get worse. The Templars might be just what we need.

  “Who else do we turn to? We don’t have our own troops. We have a great intelligence network, but no operational capability. Do we rely on the Americans? Every four years they lurch in a different direction, and they have an even shorter attention span. The Europeans? They can’t even take care of themselves. And the saintly Third World is so wrapped up in its Swiss bank accounts they can’t even come up for air.”

  The Pope hopped down from his perch on the windowsill and began to take long strides along the windows. “Let me tell you something, Alberto. Vulnerability is not a virtue. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with strength. I’ll be damned if anyone else is going to die here because we won’t stand up and fight when we have to.”

  Agretti watched the pacing and saw the man transform from Pope to predator, just as he had the previous night with the Templar. God save him, was this a return to the warrior Popes? Templars
, terrorists, warriors, and predators?

  “We need them.” The Pope collapsed into one of the cheap orange office chairs. “I wish we didn’t, and I wish I could decline in good conscience, but I can’t. This isn’t the world I wish it was, but it’s the only one we have. I’m accepting an alliance with the Templars.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Cairo - Tuesday, April 21

  When Hammid entered “Treaty of Tuscany” into Google, it returned 22,325 hits. Two weeks ago, it had returned zero. How many would it return in another two weeks? Fifty thousand? Five hundred thousand? The Old Man’s ideas about gradually letting details of the treaty leak out looked better every day. Thousands of people all over the world were advancing his cause with their well-intentioned investigation and earnest discussion. Web sites, discussion forums, and even legal blogs had taken up the treaty. Just sprinkle a few seeds in the right spots.

  Let the press do your work, the Old Man had cautioned. “They don’t care if it’s true, they just want to get their story on TV. They will do anything for better ratings. They package the news as entertainment. They have little education, but they consider themselves worldly and informed. They know nothing of history, not even their own. The more outlandish the story, the harder they work to make it true. And never, never underestimate how much they resent that they do not rule their own societies. They know they are smarter than everyone else. See how much they interview each other? And it is only a cruel trick of fate that they are not in charge.”

  What the Old Man didn’t yet realize was the press had become the stepchild of the Internet. Now the press meekly followed wherever the Internet pointed.

  But now the time had come for Hammid to step forward, and let the Arab and Muslim world see their champion. Let them see who stood up for them, let them see what a real leader looked like.

  * * *

  In the continuing story of the Treaty of Tuscany, CNN has learned the man in possession of the treaty is Hammid Al Dossary, a Saudi, and son of the mysterious billionaire financier, Abdul Al Dossary.

  We visited with Mr. Al Dossary earlier today in Cairo.

  CNN: Mr. Al Dossary, do you have the Treaty of Tuscany?

  Al Dossary: Yes.

  CNN: Do you have it with you, here in this hotel suite?

  Al Dossary: No, no. It is in a far more secure place than this hotel. It must be protected.

  CNN: Can you tell us where it is at this moment?

  Al Dossary: John, I can tell you it is safe and being examined by experts.

  CNN: There have been some very unsettling reports about the contents of the treaty. Can you shed some light on that?

  Al Dossary: I regret to say the treaty is very disturbing. First, it calls for the virtual elimination of Islam from the world, and second, it proclaims this to be a duty binding on all Christians to the end of time. You can understand how that would appear to over one billion Muslims peacefully living all over the globe.

  CNN: But isn’t this over eight hundred years ago? How can that possibly have any effect on people today? The Vatican isn’t even aware of it, and historians have universally expressed ignorance of the treaty.

  Al Dossary: Of course, I can’t speak for the Vatican. You’ll have to deal with them yourself. And history? We learn as we discover. This has now been discovered. That’s how we learn about the past. This is a wonderful opportunity for historians. But I can tell you this was promulgated to all the faithful by two Popes and it specified any who did not accept it were anathema and expelled from membership in the Church.

  CNN: But surely that wouldn’t apply today.

  Al Dossary: Again, I urge you to ask these questions of the Vatican, but under the Church’s doctrine of infallibility, the Pope cannot be wrong in such matters… in this case two Popes. So, the infallible order applies to all Christians today, just as it applied to all Christians in the year 1189. Very disturbing, indeed, and very disappointing.

  CNN: Given the explosive nature of these charges, when will the world see the treaty?

  Al Dossary: The world will see the treaty when we have finished our work. As I said, it is our duty to be very, very careful.

  CNN: Can you tell our viewers how you came into possession of the treaty? Where did you get it?

  Al Dossary: Yes, John. It was found by a workman in the excavations for the new parking facility under the Vatican. When it found its way to us, we realized its importance, and have taken every precaution to safeguard it.

  CNN: Doesn’t that make it the property of the Vatican? If it was found under the Vatican?

  Al Dossary: John, take a walk through the great museums of the West. Look in the British Museum, the Louvre, or the Vatican Library itself. Countless artifacts from all over the world have been taken by force from their lands of origin. Perhaps you might ask when these priceless treasures will be returned to their rightful owners? But, until then, I think this treaty, which is aimed at Muslims, will find a quite fitting home among its targets.

  CNN: Would you, Mr. Al Dossary, be willing to submit the manuscript to rigorous testing to determine its authenticity? Testing by an international organization?

  Al Dossary: That is certainly something I would consider.

  Hammid played the interview for the fourth time on the video recorder in his hotel suite. He did look good. He was confident, serious, concerned for his fellow Muslims, and in control. The CNN crew asked all the questions he had given them before the interview, and when he ushered them out, the CNN producer shoved his card at him and promised to be available night and day, twenty-four hours, he said, to get this story out to the world. The Old Man was right about these people. Throw them a bone and watch them jump.

  Ten minutes after the CNN crew left, the Arabic Al Jazeera TV crew arrived and asked the same questions, just with more emphasis on the idea that all Christians today were obliged by their religion to eliminate Islam.

  The Al Jazeera interview let him express an indignation and anger absent in the English interview, and promise to stand up for all Muslims and Arabs in facing down the West. Arabic was so much better for stirring the passions. And he did look like a leader, a passionate leader no longer willing to put up with the exploitation of his people. As many had shown before, that was a winning formula.

  He dialed Dhahran on his cell phone. “Abdullah, get our people moving. All of them. I want Cairo, Karachi, Jakarta, Sudan, Somalia, Morocco… everywhere. All of them. The interviews have been broadcast. English and Arabic.”

  “Yes, I saw the Al Jazeera interview. We all did. This is a great thing we do.”

  We? Thought Hammid. Where does he get the “We?”

  “I want you to be specific when you talk to them. This must start in the mosques, not the streets. Do you understand this?”

  “Yes, Sheik, in the mosques.”

  “Let the imams spread the word at the mosques, then let the people follow their own course. Every city will be different. Let it flow. Let the Pakistanis follow their own course, and let the Turks do it their way. This must be a true expression of the different Muslim peoples of the world. When they leave the mosques, they will do what we want without any further prompting.” Was he getting like the Old Man, he wondered.

  “Yes, Sheik, I’ll get on it immediately.”

  Hammid broke the connection. Sheik? Now, that was progress. It was the first time anyone had called him that, and he liked it. He must have done a better interview than he thought.

  * * *

  CNN is receiving reports today of rioting in half a dozen major cities in the Muslim world. Reports are coming in from Karachi, Cairo, Beirut, Istanbul, Jakarta, and Tehran. CNN’s Greg Powell in Karachi has the details.

  Thank you, Peter, as you can see behind me here, Pakistani army units have set up road-blocks to keep the thousands of rioters from the center of the city. Hospitals have reported at least twenty-two dead and scores more injured as this mob surged through the city after reports that Western armies were prepar
ing gas attacks to enforce the Treaty of Tuscany demand that Islam be eliminated from the world. Most of the deaths, we are told, occurred at the facilities of the Catholic Relief Organization not far from here. Ironically, sources tell us that most of those workers are not Christian, but Muslims employed by the organization.

  This is Greg Powell with CNN International in Karachi, Pakistan.

  Thank you, Greg, and now we go to Laura Kent covering a developing story outside the gates of Vatican City in Rome. Laura, what can you tell us of events there?

  Well, Peter, I’m standing just outside the gates to the giant St. Peter’s Piazza. It was just behind us, as you know, in the Basilica of St. Peter, that a tragic bomb took the lives of over a thousand people on Easter Sunday.

  Another life was added to that toll this afternoon when a twenty-one-year-old Muslim student from Yemen immolated himself in front of the Vatican. Onlookers say he stood silently for ten minutes, then reached into a shopping bag, took out a can of gasoline, and poured it over his head. He then struck a match and quickly succumbed to the flames.

  This all happened as a group of about one hundred Muslims was protesting in front of the Vatican at the time, and they are as shocked as everyone else. They stress to us that this is strongly condemned by Islamic teaching, but sources say the student was despondent over recent revelations about the Treaty of Tuscany.

  We’re waiting for a name on the victim, Peter, and will pass it along just as soon as we get it.

  This is Laura Kent, CNN International, Vatican City, Rome.

  When Mancini walked back in the Vatican after looking at the burned victim on the sidewalk, he gave the order to lock down. If the Pope didn’t like it, he was sure he’d hear about it.