The Noah Satellite

by Allan E Petersen

  He spoke with a deep baritone voice that implied a begrudging arrogance. Clearly he was not pleased at orders from Commander Razk to have this meeting. He added,

  “I generally do not like to release such sensitive and damaging information of our dark past to sceptics of our faith.”

  The Cardinal then cast a stern and piercing glare across the desk. There was abhorrence in his tone.

  “When it comes to faith, I was informed that you are not one of us.”

  Then, somehow a softer tone escaped and offered,

  “Perhaps I can help you find the proper path.”

  This was not where Santo wanted to meeting to go. His dislike of others forcing what they thought to be the only and proper path irritated him. He thought there were enough people in this world running around frantically yelling, ‘believe what I believe or I will kill you.’ To Santo, it was an attack on his cynicism and indifference to faith. Like a good soldier, he felt the need to counterattack. Trying hard to stifle a sneer, something he was not good at in situations like this, he countered,

  “I guess I feel that throughout history, crusades and wars over religious ideology have killed enough people. Perhaps it is time to allow each person their own private thoughts on such matters.”

  Albeit with difficulty the Cardinal sat straight up and poised to confront what he clearly thought was a great assault on his faith. To arm for what he was about to say, he clapped his palms together in prayer fashion and said,

  “Then indeed there would be no guidance in the faith. We are all sheep who must be led in the proper direction. We need shepherds, do we not?”

  Not willing to let it go, Santo forgot the principle strategy of combat. Never do battle in an enemy’s stronghold. So, right here in a combat zone held strong by the enemy, he foolishly countered,

  “Because so many have died in religious conflicts, it is almost as if the devil invented a god simply for the sake of battle and souls. Could it be that a belief in God is an evil thing, a creation of the devil?”

  That may have been Santo’s thought but in this office it was one best kept to himself. The insult caused flames of rage to shoot from piercing eyes and engulf the heathen. When the Cardinal saw that it had no effect, he took great breaths to calm his raging heart. He eventually countered with,

  “I don’t think much of you. You have the reek of a man created by the devil. Perhaps you might do well to heed the teachings of Jesus Christ.”

  “Yeah, I have heard of him.”

  Catching on to the slight, he added,

  “Possibly a reflective walk through that beautiful garden on your estate and smelling the roses might help. God created roses for just that purpose.”

  Suddenly a warning signal rang loud in Santo’s head. He let it go for now, but only for now and countered,

  “While doing that, I suppose one should always be mindful of the thorns.”

  If there was an ounce of evil in the Cardinal, it showed in his most malicious sneer.

  Continuing with his great displeasure of this meeting, Cardinal Leone Alighieri separated his palms and spread them wide while saying,

  “As a man of faith and obedience to my superiors, I shall obey Commander Razk’s orders and release this material to an enemy of the church. Unlike you, I have faith and trust that he is doing the right thing.”

  Inferring that he too was not happy, Santo faked indifference and said,

  “I too simply follow orders.”

  If it was meant to even the playing field, it didn’t work. The Cardinal simply and rudely slid a small stack of papers across his desk toward Santo.

  Seeing the hard copies, Santo understood why the House of the Nazarene was not able to infiltrate the Vatican computers and access the information he sought. They were not digitized. Suddenly Santo realized that what he was about to read was of a most sensitive matter to the Vatican. Before the Cardinal could change his mind, Santo quickly pulled the papers toward him.

  He expected to be led to a reading area or at the least a table with a lamp but after a long questioning glare it was clear the Cardinal intended for the heathen to stay right there and read the report. Clearly the top secret papers were not going to leave Cardinal Leone Alighieri’s sight. It was a small matter to Santo. Accepting the begrudged offering, he undid the red ribbon tied around the sealed papers. He then pretended to fiddle with a plain looking ring on his left hand.

  Unfortunately the original report was written Latin and now translated into modern Italian. What made it harder to understand was the vernacular of a church flair. Although Santo understood Italian, he was not adept enough at coming anywhere near understanding anything on these pages. He looked up at the Cardinal and as expected, saw a contented sneer. Santo, accustomed to one-upmanship, simply smiled back, looked down and pretended to be attentive to the confused document. The Cardinal watched as Santo pretended to be engrossed with the contents and sweeping his left hand across each page.

  After recording all the pages, he looked up at the apparently defeated Cardinal. Maybe this heathen could understand the language after all. Santo smiled his version of a snicker across the opulent desk and said,

  “Thank you Cardinal Leone Alighieri. I’m sure that releasing this sensitive material to one such as me must have been very difficult for you. My only condolence to your concern is to promise what I promised Commander Razk, that what I read will remain in the highest confidence.”

  As he got up, he reached out to hand the papers back to the Cardinal. They were not accepted. He simply pointed to the desk. Santo understood the inference was to ‘just get the hell out of my office’. He politely nodded and dropped them onto the desk. Santo knew the protocol of not turning your back to a sitting Cardinal. However, for various reasons, that sort of respect was not shown here. He simply turned and walked toward the door. A buzz was heard and the door all too slowly opened. Knowing what was recorded in his ring and that he had angered the Cardinal, he quickly walked out of the office.

  The purpose of a bright red Alfa Romeo was to be overtly conspicuous. The implication was that there was no secrecy in his drive through Rome or to the Vatican security gate. He was just an ordinary person out for a drive. That strategy had now changed. Santo was experienced enough to read the Cardinal’s body language. He was not good at hiding his distrust and suspicion of the sensitive material walking out of his office. There was no doubt that he was not aware that Santo had recorded the pages but he knew the sensitive material was locked away in the man’s memory. Despite Commander Razk’s clearance of the man, a suspicious Cardinal Leone Alighieri was going to fulfil his mandate of ‘Keeper of Secrets’ and Santo knew that.

  After clearing the security gate, he turned south, back to the estate the way he came. Once in the heavy traffic he turned on the car radio. Instead of music coming from the speakers he said,

  “Requesting evacuation procedure, seventeen north, mountain two.”

  Still driving south, he looked in the mirror to see if he was being followed. It was obvious that whoever was in the black car back there was not good at what he was doing.

  It took some maneuvering through heavy traffic to get two cars between him and the black car but it was finally accomplished. Now following an escape route flashing on the GPS screen, Santo simply drove as instructed. Although it seemed strange, he nevertheless obeyed and suddenly turned into a very narrow alley between two five story brick buildings. When seeing how tight it was, the maneuver suddenly became very clear. It was brilliant.

  The smaller Alfa Romeo just barely squeezed through but the larger following car could not. At the other end, approaching another busy street, Santo stopped and jumped out. Another man with similar dark hair and wearing the same white shirt waved ‘hello’ and as he jumped into the Alfa Romeo, Santo waved ‘good-bye’. He then casually walked over to a parked car and got into the passenger side. The driver, a heavy set man in a black suit clearly not custom tailored, turned to him and casually
asked,

  “Good afternoon Captain. Did we get into a spot of trouble with the Vatican again?”

  The red and conspicuous Alfa Romeo turned north and Santo’s new ride turned south.

  Chapter 34

  Now at the garage on the estate where his D-wing was concealed, Santo thanked the driver for the ride. Before entering the garage he stood and watched the rescue car drive down the winding path to the mansion and stop in front. The driver got out and casually walked through the front door. Now sitting in the D-wing, he did not program for an exit to the stratosphere yet. He closed the canopy and swiped his ring hand across the crystal plate beside the controls. Instantly the recording was transferred to Maria’s private office.

  When it was all done, he programmed for manual control, slipped out of the garage and in the wink of an eye shot straight up to 34,000 feet. Thinking that he was safe from human eyes, he hovered there and prepared to read the information stolen from Cardinal Leone Alighieri. He then gave the computer an oral command.

  “Translate to Portuguese and give oral report of document.”

  Hovering at 34,000 feet, Santo sat back and listened to a crisp clear computer generated voice.

  “In the time of Pope Gregory XI, the last of the great Avignon Popes, a disturbing ancient document discovered in the catacombs under the Vatican came to light. It documented the discovery of a foul kingdom controlled by the devil’s army. It was a report of witches and flying discs. It was so evil that the Keeper of the Faith and Trilogy of Cardinals felt that it had to be acted on with great force.”

  Santo understood that something most evil and damaging to the faith had been discovered in the ancient kingdom of King Krassimir Vladan. The computer continued,

  “A deplorable mockery to our faith was confirmed by witnesses seeing witches flying on brooms above the treetops and across the face of the moon. Endorsing the suspicion of unholy ground and great insult to our faith was the name of a manor, ‘Witch of the Manor’. In what was considered a desecration and blasphemy of the faith, it was documented that King Vladan had married a witch, the same one seen flying through the forest of the Royal Estate.”

  What Santo heard so far deeply held his attention. When the proximity alarm suddenly started flashing and buzzing he was jolted to alertness. He was hovering at 34,000 feet and saw the curvature of the planet. He therefore understood that he was not looking for a speeding car. Looking in all directions for the danger, he saw nothing. It was then the computer indicated that an airplane about ten miles ahead was quickly approaching his location. He knew it was against Nazarene policy to hover at these low altitudes, specifically in air lanes and so after a slight reprimand to broken rules, programmed for an identification of the plane. His ID program identified it as Italian, Meridiana Airline Boing 747.

  He was pleased that it was not air force jets racing to confirm a UFO and knowing that his stealth program was on he was not worried about being spotted. Just then, his computer picked up the pilot’s transmission to ground control. There was a slight urgency in the pilot’s question.

  “Meridiana Flight 1347 to ground control. Do you have an unknown on radar in our quadrant?”

  Air controllers hate to hear questions like that for it generally implies they have missed something on their screens. After a careful and hurried check of his radar, the tower came back,

  “Negative flight 1347. You have a clear sky in front of you.”

  Not accepting the report, the Captain asked his co-pilot to confirm the visual. It was then that the co-pilot spotted a small silvery object glistening in the sun far ahead. He responded,

  “Confirmed Captain. It looks like a small delta wing craft but it doesn’t show up on our radar. What do you think it is?”

  “I don’t know. It’s just sitting there but that’s impossible.”

  Fearing for the safety of his passengers and airplane, the pilot again contacted ground control.

  “Meridiana Flight 1347 to Tower. We are requesting a new heading and elevation.”

  After a careful check of his screen, ground control came back,

  “Request accepted. New heading 010 degrees to the right and drop to 30,000 feet.”

  Ground control then asked the question all pilots feared.

  “Meridiana Flight 1347, do you wish to report an Unknown Aerial Sighting?”

  Knowing that to report such anomalies had cost many pilots their job or at the very least, assigned to a desk, he looked questionably to his co-pilot. The co-pilot had spent years in the ‘other seat’ and was not about to end his aspirations of becoming a pilot by confirming a career ending UFO sighting. He shook his head and the pilot radioed back a very strong denial.

  “No ground control. We do not wish to report a UAS”

  As flight 1347 dropped elevation and banked off its flight path, Santo wondered how it was that they had spotted him. A quick check of his instruments told the story. Somehow, and he was sure it was not by his doing, the Stealth Mode had gone off line. After quickly programming for a reboot of the system the computer confirmed and flashed ‘on line’.

  Now looking over their shoulder and through the cockpit window, the pilot covered the mouthpiece with his hand, turned to his co-pilot and said,

  “Wow! Did you see that? It simply disappeared.”

  Yes, the co-pilot saw it but his career came first and so he simply shook his head and said,

  “I didn’t see nothing and I still don’t see nothing and I never saw nothing.”

  The pilot then removed his hand from the mouthpiece and called ground control.

  “It must have been the sun reflection in our cockpit window. Requesting return to flight path.”

  Chapter 35

  Perhaps a safer place to stop and listen to the document might have been in his office but curiosity had cracked the whip. He wanted to know right away. Staying at 34,000 feet but now in a confirmed stealth mode he continued listening to the computer’s oral report.

  “The Rhymen kingdom was an abomination to the church and had to be stopped. Under the advice of ‘angels’ sitting on the Council of the Trilogy of Cardinals, to protect the faith the witches must be destroyed and the door to the underworld must be slammed shut.”

  From the mouth of Quastima, Santo knew some of the dark history of the Vatican. He knew who the advising ‘angels’ on the Council really were.

  He continued listening to the report.

  “Our Holy Terror, a secret army of the Vatican eventually broke the siege and invaded the blasphemous and immoral castle. It was a terrible war of good versus evil. Men of blood fought valiantly against witches flying high and raining fiery arrows down on the attacking army. Flying shields appeared from the clouds and killed many righteous men with thunderous bolts of lightning. However, as always the Lord eventually reigned over evil and the castle fell. The brave Vatican Army chased the surviving heathens through the castle and slew them. Many were hiding and barricaded in the Royal Library. By the time the great oak doors became nothing more than splinters, to the surprise of all, the heathens were nowhere to be found. However, the witch of the manor, the wife of the king was located in a tower and turned to ashes.”

  It was a lot for Santo to take in but it did answer the question of why the Vatican attacked and looted King Krassimir Vladan Rhymen’s treasury. Since the soldiers of the Lord could not find the secret entrance to the gates of hell under the library floor, what better way to devastate and destroy a kingdom than to loot the treasury. It was also the best way to pay the conquering army and greatly add to Vatican vaults. After the disastrous move to Avignon, at times referred to as the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy and 67 years later back to Rome, the treasury had become greatly depleted. When compared to what Belle and Robert had discovered under the library floor, Santo understood whom the heathens and witches really were.

  On his return to the hangar, as usual Henrik was waiting for him with clipboard in hand. This time Santo did not mind the delay.
After all there was a major repair needed to the D-wing computers. Although a little surprised that Santo was actually taking the time to fill in the report, Henrik patiently waited for him to finish. Handing the clipboard back, Santo pointed to it and said,

  “Something happened to the stealth program. It turned off all by itself and I had to reboot it.”

  Henrik replied,

  “I’m not surprised. The D-wings and programs are thousands of years old and possibly degrading. I’ll contact Switzerland and request a new program. One should be available in a few minutes.”

  Chapter 36

  Santo politely knocked on Maria’s office door and entered. She was at her desk, looked up and pleasantly smiled when seeing who was approaching. Considering the day she was having with the rebellious computers, he was a nice distraction. Suspicious at the smile, he asked,

  “What’s that all about? Is my hair a mess or something?”

  Maintaining her pleasant nature she countered,

  “Your hair is always a mess. Can’t a woman smile at a handsome man once in a while?”

  “Sure. It happens to me all the time.”