by Mike Luoma
“Well, it turns out some of that power is mental power. Psionic ability. And Dolomay’s using that power, his power, to twist Al-Salid. He was all set to cooperate and suggested this meeting! We were supposed to meet to work out a unified front against The Eldred! Instead, Al-Salid turned on me as if we’d never spoken before! He sounded belligerent, ready to fight. It had to be Dolomay, messing with his head! I figure Dolomay plans on taking over the UIN from behind the scenes,” BC tells her. “He could remember high tech from the distant past that’s more advanced than what we have now. He may be able to help the UIN arm themselves with more advanced weapons, get them ready to fight. Think of the advantage that gives them!”
“This is bad, then, isn’t it?” Anita asks him.
“Yup.”
“This is weird.”
“Weird?” BC asks, confused.
“I’m talking to you. But sitting here next to me is your simulacrum. Dell and his scientists did a pretty good job making your double. I’m talking to the real you over the com, thousands of miles away, and yet
“you” are sitting here in my room, staring at me blankly. It’s eerie. It’ll be good to see the real you. Are you coming back here or going to Rome?”
“There. The Moon. I’m going to duck in and replace my double there next to you, slip back in as if nothing happened. Is the charade still working?
“So far. You’ve kept a pretty low profile.”
“Good.”
“See you when you get back here.”
“Bye, Anita.”
BC signs off.
“So, the Pope has a girlfriend, huh?” Drex cracks.
“No!” BC answers with a hint of defensiveness. “Why do you say that?”
“The way you talked to each other,” Drex explains. “Just the way you both sounded, something about that. Sorry. Didn’t realize it was a touchy subject, anyways.”
“It’s not. I mean, we’re not…” BC stops. “Never mind.”
The rest of the trip is quiet.
BC watches through the viewport as the Moon slowly grows larger. Sunlight glints off the main dome. The flashes would be blinding if not for the filters built into the window. The ship makes the final approach to Lunar Prime’s port on a course that takes them over the city. They come in low over the Vatican Mission, rebuilt just over a year ago after being leveled in the UIN
attacks on Christmas Day, 2109. BC can’t help but smile.
I’m glad Marc Edwards made me pitch in and start rebuilding. Can’t help but feel proud when I see the place I helped build. God! Ninety percent of the station is new, after about eighty percent of the old place was destroyed in the UIN’s Christmas raids. Funny. Everyone calls it
“Lunar Prime” now. Used to always be “Reagan Station”. But Meredith McEntyre and her husband, even Governor Erskine, have tried to make it “Lunar Prime” exclusively. Mostly to assert their independence, their neutrality. Seems to have worked. There are few other ships in the port. A commercial supply freighter is leaving as Drex maneuvers their ship in for a landing. The port is quiet as BC and Drex disembark. Armed Lunar Security Corps members stand guard near the exits, stationed in greater numbers since Governor Erskine announced her quarantine back in March.
“Hey.”
BC almost jumps, startled to see Anita standing there.
“I didn’t see you there.”
“Didn’t mean to scare you,” she says with a grin.
BC catches Drex smirking. The pilot gives him a wink.
She does sound glad to see me.
“Here, put this on.”
She hands him a blonde wig and hooded robe. She looks around to see if anyone is watching them.
“My disguise?” BC asks, wrinkling his brow.
“Just put it on!” She snaps, getting frustrated with him.
BC throws on the “disguise”. He brings the hood up to cover his new blonde tresses. Dressed in his disguise, he follows Anita out of the spaceport.
BC inhales the humid air as they cross the atrium, enjoying the aroma of the growing vegetation. He looks up at the young trees reaching for the bright dome overhead.
Still have a way to go to replace the old ones, but they’re getting there. Probably grow faster in the lower gravity.
BC and Anita pass a few people making their way across the public space, but no one pays any notice. They leave the open space of the dome and walk on through the winding corridors that lead to the Vatican Mission and his quarters.
BC can’t help but do a double take as they enter his rooms. His manufactured double sits facing the door staring out into space, immobile.
So… that’s what I look like? Weird.
“No jokes about being beside yourself,” Anita warns BC with a smile. BC takes off the hooded robe, lifts the wig off of his head and puts it loosely on the simulacrum.
“Huh. Now I know what I just like.”
“Check this out,” Anita says. She takes out a small control device. She points it at the double, and the face begins to melt and shift. Suddenly it no longer looks like BC. The features have shifted to resemble someone else, or have perhaps reset to some neutral expression and looks.
“Keyword: twin. Command word: homecoming,” Anita says to the simulacrum. The no-longer-BC’s double gets up silently. It starts to walk. The wig falls from its head as it leaves the room.
“What did you do?” BC asks Anita.
“I triggered his homing beacon. He’s heading back to Dell and Krish, preprogrammed to find his way back to the Project base on the dark side.” She looks BC up and down, and her nose wrinkles. “Are you going to change?”
BC only just realizes he’s been wearing the same tech jumpsuit for a couple of days. Heh… I’ve gotta be kinda ripe!
“And refresh,” BC says. “Will you excuse me?”
“Certainly.”
BC leaves Anita in his living room and heads for the refresher and a clean change of clothes. After he gets out of the refresher, he finds himself frozen as he stares at the pressed white three piece suits that hang in his closet in front of him, his papal “uniforms”, the white suits he had the Vatican Tailors create for him in an attempt to modernize the Pope’s wardrobe.
Don’t really want to wear one of those suits again! It doesn’t feel right! Really don’t think I can do this anymore… the Pope part, anyway. Two and a half months of this is too much!
Besides… How can I be Pope and lead our war efforts? Think I’ll put on some civvies for now…
BC opts for a simple t-shirt and jeans instead of his papal attire. He walks back into the living room and discovers a guest.
“BC, look who’s here. Your ambassador,” Anita says.
M’Bekke stands resplendent in a red patterned robe that combines traditional African attire with his New catholic Church Cardinal’s gear. His bright smile for BC shines out from his dark ebony complexion. His brown eyes glow with the warmth of friendship.
“M’Bekke!” BC smiles, greeting his old friend.
“BC! So good to have the real you back!” M’Bekke exclaims.
“What? You didn’t like my body double?” BC jokingly asks.
“Just not the same. Although he was better behaved…”
“Hey, thanks.”
“No suit?” Anita asks, noticing BC’s casual dress.
“Nah.” BC says, letting it trail. He looks at M’Bekke, tagged out in full regalia, and an idea hits him. A way out…
Brilliant! That’s it. Can I do that?
Fuck it, I’m doing it. I’m the fucking Pope! For now…
“I have heard things didn’t work out so well on Mars,” M’Bekke says to BC. “Al Salid was not as responsive as you’d hoped?”
“Did not go well. No,” BC admits, sounding distracted. He’s a little preoccupied by his new idea.
“M’Bekke, how would you feel about a promotion?”
“A promotion?”
“A Promotion,” BC confirms, smiling broadly
at M’Bekke. “I have a great idea!”
“Uh-oh,” Anita and M’Bekke say nearly in unison.
“M’Bekke. Anita… I’m going to abdicate. I just can’t be pope anymore!” BC blurts it out.
“What?” Anita and M’Bekke ask, again almost together.
“I can’t be pope anymore. It’s not me. I’m not it!” BC shakes his head. “We’re facing the renewed battle between The Eldred and the Ancient Enemy, and we’re caught right in the middle. I need to be able to do things, and go places, that the Pope just can’t do, or go to. I can’t be Pope and lead the war against the Eldred.”
“There were military Popes, back in medieval times,” M’Bekke observes. BC keeps shaking his head.
“I mean, look at it: I shouldn’t have gone on this trip to Mars, because I’m the fucking pope!” he says, a little louder than he meant to. He calms himself. “But I’m going to have to do stuff like that if there is a war. So I’m naming you Pope in my absence, M’Bekke. I’m abdicating, and I name you as my successor!”
Anita and M’Bekke can only stare in wonder at BC.
BC returns their stares with a smile.
“You’re insane,” Anita says, breaking the silence. She glares at him. “You can’t do this.”
“Um… Yeah,” M’Bekke finally speaks. “What she said.”
“C’mon,” BC insists. “It just makes sense. I’m too many things. It’s too much! I’m Pope. I’m CEO
of The Project. Head CEO of the UTZ Council. It’s crazy! So I’m making you Pope, M’Bekke,” BC
tells him. “It looks like we’ve got a war to fight. Personally, I can’t reconcile waging a war with being Pope.”
“This from the guy who used to kill for the Pope?” Anita says in disbelief.
“Really, now, BC, I don’t think anyone knows your resume better!” M’Bekke protests.
“I’ve… um, evolved. I think,” BC says. He shakes his head. “I’m not the same guy I used to be. And I just can’t do the Pope thing anymore.”
“Can I talk you out of this? Any of it? Like, say, the part where you’re making me Pope?” M’Bekke protests.
“Nope. It all flooded into my mind when I saw you, M’Bekke. Maybe it’s divine inspiration!” BC’s smile drops. “I’ve had a lot on my mind. I’m pretty sure we’re on the brink of war. The Eldred are scared. With Dolomay loose among the Muslims, the Eldred may start to treat all of us humans as if we are the Ancient Enemy. I’m also worried Dolomay will give the UIN a technological advantage against us, especially with their weapons,” BC says. He pauses for a little effect before he asks, “Who know what ancient but advanced knowledge he has?” BC looks back and forth at M’Bekke and Anita. “I think we have to figure either the UIN or the Eldred, or both, will be attacking us soon.”
“We’ll get hit by both sides!” Anita realizes.
“Caught in the middle of a million year old war,” M’Bekke observes. BC nods. He looks Anita in the eye.
“Anita, we’ve got to get The Project’s shipyard’s production ramped up. We’re gonna need as many armed Transpace Ships as The Project can crank out, fast.”
“Ramped up?” she says incredulously. “Our facilities aren’t even geared towards mass production, BC,”
Anita breaks the news to him. “We haven’t been about mass production for years!”
“Fine. But you used to be, right?” She nods. “So… you could be back in business with the right help, right? UTZ help: scientists, workforce, resources… They’re all at your disposal, Anita,” he informs her. “Here’s an idea: Why not make the shipyard out at the asteroid base work on smaller ships, and turn the UTZ shipyard here on the Moon into your major shipyard. It’s all at your disposal! You’re in charge!
But we need this, like, yesterday! I’m putting you in charge because I know you can do it,” BC tells her, trying to sound confident and encouraging.
“We… I guess we could. We can try,” she says a little reluctantly. “We’ve got more of a custom
‘shop’ on the asteroid base than a ‘shipyard’ these days, so I guess we will have to build up the UTZ
yards on the Moon. It makes the most sense. Although… We could build up another shipyard near the asteroid base, start from scratch using some of the old assembly line equipment from back when Dell and the boys were building UTZ ships,” she says, more to herself than to BC and M’Bekke. Anita gathers steam as she begins to think the process through. “We haven’t done weapons on a large scale in decades. We’ll need supplies…” she says, thinking out loud.
“You’ll have them,” BC assures her. “Wentworth has promised us whatever we need. Have our people contact his people. They’ll get you whatever you ask for.”
“Okay. Sure. Great. So… Anything else?” she asks him.
“That’s not enough?”
“Oh, it’s plenty,” she says with a quick laugh. “I thought we’d have a few days to relax before you got back here with good news from Mars. Instead you’re back early and all hell’s breaking loose!” she exclaims. “We’re about to be hit by an attack from either the UIN or the Eldred, or both; you’re trying to abdicate as Pope and throw poor M’Bekke here under that bus, and you want me to instantly ramp up ship production in facilities that are either inadequate, outdated or don’t yet exist. Does that about sum it up?” she asks, an angry edge creeping into her voice.
“How soon can you get started?” BC asks her, joking, trying to lighten the mood, but she scowls, frowns, makes a strange face.
“No time like the present, huh?” she says with a touch of venom in her voice. She gives BC a glaring look, then turns and leaves the room. BC watches her go, a little dazed. He stares at the space where she was.
I think she wanted to slap me just then. Why? What did I say? I thought she and I were maybe getting somewhere, but…
“You’re still insane, BC. I like that,” M’Bekke says, interrupting BC’s confusion. “So… Do you really think you can just make me the Pope?”
“I do. Hell, M’Bekke, you’re so much more suited to the job than I am! Plus, you look good in a robe,”
BC says with a nod at M’Bekke’s garments.
“You’re serious! I can’t believe you’re serious.”
BC smiles.
Funny, I’ve felt at peace since the thought occurred to me. Makes total sense. I’m tired of the contradictions. Tired of trying to be something I’m not.
“I’m serious,” BC assures him. “You won’t be the first black Pope, but you might be the first openly gay Pontiff.”
“Good thing you added that ‘openly’ part or I was going to have to correct you,” M’Bekke says with a laugh. He grows suddenly quiet.
The immensity of the office hitting him? I know how that feels. Overwhelming.
“BC… ” M’Bekke starts to say something. He stops, closes his eyes. They snap open and he waves his arms.
“No! I can’t do this!” he protests.
“Too late,” BC tells him. “It’s done. You’re the new Pope. Deal with it. I had to.”
“Yes. And you have obviously handled it immensely well,” M’Bekke cracks.
“Don’t be a bitch, M’Bekke. You’re the Pope now. It’s not becoming of you.”
“Never stopped you,” M’Bekke parries.
Silence falls for a long moment. M’Bekke finally breaks it.
“You’re sure?” he asks again.
“Yup.”
“Okay, then. What about the whole election process? Will the NcC even accept your decision? How is this legal? Binding?”
“It is because I say it is. It’s like a battlefield promotion in an emergency situation,” BC explains his logic to M’Bekke. “And you better start acting like the Pope because I’m going to stop acting like the Pope, and if you don’t act like the Pope, well… then no one will, and there’ll be no Pope. Worse case scenario: they call you ‘acting pope’.”
“Okay, then,” M’Bekke says. “I’m gonna go
now, BC. I must wrap my head around all the shit you have just laid on me,” M’Bekke says with a sigh.
“Well. That’s understandable,” BC says. “Thank you, M’Bekke.”
“I have to give you this, BC: it’s never dull around you these days.” M’Bekke gives BC a slight bow and leaves.
What’s with the bow? Jeesh!
Huh… after THAT I think I can finally relax, maybe get some rest. I hope I haven’t alienated either M’Bekke or Anita… it’s a lot to put on each of them… but they’re the only people I can trust to do these things. They’ll be fine…
BC secures his rooms and then settles in to rest. He lies down, closes his eyes, and tries to get a good night’s sleep.
Chapter Three
Despite frenzied preparations for war, BC has slept like a baby since he walked away from the papacy three months ago. The shift in responsibilities has worked out well. He’s spent most of his time on Lunar Prime, coordinating ship building efforts between the Project and the UTZ, directing plague victim relief efforts, keeping the peace in the UTZ, all while he tries to find out what’s going on with Dolomay and Al Salid on Mars.
Al Salid has responded to new overtures from BC, but only to acknowledge them. He has agreed to meetings on Lunar Prime with BC and M’Bekke, but continually postpones and reschedules the meetings as they approach.
Wentworth has been as good as his word, working with Anita all through the summer to get the shipyards up and running. BC hasn’t had to get too closely involved. Both Anita and Wentworth are more than capable of working without his supervision; both probably function better without him getting in their way. They’ve kept him in the loop with daily reports.
It’s been a slow process. But like a rusty old machine oiled up and cranked into life, the assembly lines have begun to function a little faster each day, with slightly greater efficiency. They’re finally building new ships and arming them with the new weaponry developed by the Project’s reverse engineering of alien tech.
And so BC can sleep.
BC lays on a cushion in a berth as he travels on one of Wentworth’s ships to meet with M’Bekke and Wentworth down at Vatican City. He drifts into consciousness awash in memories of three months ago. Abdicate! Best decision I made in a while… M’Bekke makes a good pope. And I’ve been able to stay away from the Vatican for three months.
