The Secret Chapel (god's lions)

by John Lyman

  Chapter 52

  A young Italian couple sat on an ancient stone wall overlooking the coast. They had driven their car to a scenic observation point overlooking the sea and were watching the surf crash below. The moon was full and reflected off two dots in the distance that grew in size and captured the young couple’s attention. The moving dots continued to grow in size until two large gray helicopters loomed right in front of them and passed overhead, almost blowing them off the wall.

  The helicopters hugged the treetops, racing inland toward preprogrammed GPS coordinates. The men inside wore night-vision goggles that made the hilly terrain of the countryside below appear painted in an iridescent green light.

  Down on the highway leading to the isolated village, Leo and the others were speeding along the tight, narrow road in the black SUV en route to Morelli’s house. They were still about ten minutes away when the two choppers passed overhead. Leo said a silent prayer. Please let us be in time. Off in the distance, they could see the glow of a fire. The men in the SUV exchanged glances. Oh, God, they were too late.

  Daniel and Sarah had taken a bold step. They had known from the beginning that they were decoys. The only thing these men could be after was the backpack they had carried to throw off anyone trying to follow Leo and John to the Vatican. Luckily, Daniel had used the backpack to carry his radio gear into the tower, and it now rested in the corner beside them. He picked up two pieces of wood from the blasted trap door and placed them inside. They were about to play their trump card.

  Bullets continued to fly up through the floor as he took a deep breath and ran forward in a zigzag pattern across the floor and threw the backpack down into the stairwell below.

  Suddenly, the firing stopped. They could hear excited voices and footsteps running down the stairway inside the tower. Daniel pushed his eye against the slit in the stone wall, while Sarah kept the shotgun pointed directly at the hole in the floor. He saw the men standing in the circular driveway surrounding the short priest who now held the backpack.

  The priest opened it and pulled out the pieces of wood before throwing it to the ground and glaring up at the tower. As he stood there, shaking with anger, his cell phone rang. Reluctantly, he answered it and began talking with someone. He clinched his fist and snapped the phone shut while screaming in fury and shouting orders to the men. Three of the men in suits grabbed something out of the trunk of one of the cars and ran toward the tower. Now what? Daniel wondered.

  Within moments, he had his answer. The smell of gasoline preceded the smoke that began to drift up from below. The men hadn’t gotten what they wanted and were now taking their revenge. He ran to the opening in the floor and stared in horror as flames enveloped the bottom of the tower and began to climb the wooden stairway. There was no way out. They were trapped in the top of a chimney.

  The smoke grew thicker as Daniel peered out through the narrow slit. The men weren’t leaving. They were standing in the driveway, watching the fire. They wanted to watch them burn!

  Daniel had to think. The fire was raging closer, and the only way out was up. He searched the beams below the wooden roof and turned to face Sarah. “Lock your hands together, and give me a boost.”

  She understood immediately as he stepped into her intertwined fingers and pulled himself up into the rafters.

  “Hand me the shotgun,” he shouted through the smoke. She grabbed it and passed it up to him before he reached down with one strong arm and pulled her up beside him. Without waiting, he fired the shotgun into the old wooden shingles, blowing a hole in the roof.

  Sarah looked into his eyes. “I’m afraid we’re only delaying the inevitable.”

  He paused to look at her. This was one brave girl. She hadn’t flinched throughout this whole ordeal. “As long as we’re alive, there’s always hope. Maybe there’s a pile of hay or something we can jump down into.”

  She smiled back at him as they climbed through the hole onto the sloping roof. Smoke poured from the opening beside them as they peered over the edge. The men below were watching. They were smiling. A rage boiled up in Daniel as he searched for a way out.

  Suddenly, a loud noise filled the air as a fierce wind almost knocked them from their perch. A large gray helicopter with a blue Star of David on its side sped overhead and began circling above, while another flew in low and hovered over the circular driveway. The once-smiling men below began running in panic as ropes descended from the helicopter over the driveway and a team of Israeli commandos slid down to the ground while firing in all directions.

  The fire was now flicking out of the hole in the roof and the smoke was burning their lungs. Above them, a line with two harnesses attached had been lowered from the first helicopter and was now dangling before them. Daniel strapped Sarah in and grabbed on before signaling the pilot. The helicopter lifted skyward as the roof of the tower became fully engulfed in flames and began to collapse. Daniel and Sarah held each other tightly as they flew over the treetops in the moonlight before finally being winched onboard.

  Racing up the highway, the SUV containing Leo and the others turned into the driveway just in time to see the Israeli commandos chasing the men into the forest surrounding the house. Several of the men had made the mistake of trying to take on the Israelis and had opened fire on them with their automatic weapons before they were instantly dropped by three commandos.

  Leo and the others leapt from their vehicle and ran to the clearing where the second helicopter was landing. Daniel and Sarah stepped out of the open door of the aircraft and were immediately embraced by their friends. They turned back to look at the burning tower and watched with sadness at the loss of such a historic structure and their former place of refuge. It had offered protection to men hundreds of years ago and had protected them tonight.

  Luckily, with most of the wood inside the tower already burned, the fire had begun to die out, and the thick stone walls kept it from spreading to the rest of the house. A half-dozen commandos surrounded Leo and the others, while the security men who had survived were rounded up and herded back to the house to be handed over to the Italian police. Not wanting to explain their presence in Italy, or the six bodies on the ground, the Israelis handcuffed the remaining men together below the statue of the angel and headed for their chopper.

  Daniel noticed that the short priest was not among them, but they had no time to search for him. In the distance, they heard the sound of sirens and saw a line of flashing blue lights coming up the narrow country road. The Israeli commander began motioning for the Bible Code Team to get onboard one of the helicopters, and after a few more high-fives, everyone jumped onboard and strapped themselves in. Both choppers then filled with grinning commandos before finally lifting off in the direction of the sea, while the Swiss Guard security men in the SUV stood guard over the men shackled together in the fountain under the angel and waited for the Italian police.

  A mile up the road, a black limousine pulled to a stop. Within minutes, a short priest emerged from the brush and opened the door. Inside the limo, a young, handsome dark-haired man sat bathed in the blue glow from the screen of his laptop computer. He was impeccably dressed, as befitted one of the richest and most powerful men in Italy. He motioned for the priest to get in, and they slowly drove off into the night.

  The priest looked nervously at the silent man next to him. “I’m sorry about the book, sir.”

  The normally warm and charismatic demeanor of the man changed. He looked up from his computer and stared at the priest with cold black eyes. The priest involuntarily recoiled and wondered if he should continue to speak. This was no ordinary man he was sitting next to, but someone chosen by Satan himself to protect his secrets here on earth.

  “I didn’t know until your phone call a few minutes ago that the book had been destroyed in the chapel,” Emilio said. “When I discovered that the backpack I took from them in the catacombs was empty, I figured they had taken the real one containing the book to Morelli’s house in the countr
y.”

  The man continued to stare at him silently, totally unnerving the priest.

  “Obviously, I was wrong. Is there anything else you wish me to do for you tonight, sir?”

  The man switched his gaze back to his computer screen, giving the priest a reprieve from the otherworldly stare he had endured for the past few moments.

  “Don’t worry, Emilio. No harm has been done.” He continued to gaze into the blue light emanating from his laptop.

  The priest was taken by surprise. “But, sir, the book. There’s nothing left of it but ashes now.”

  The man turned and gave the priest a sinister smile that was just as frightening as his most menacing glare. “I always have a backup plan.” He hit a key on the keyboard, and a series of pages began running across the screen. Emilio stared at it in wonder. The writing and language were foreign to him.

  “What is it, sir?”

  “It’s our Bible. Satan’s book for the end of days. That Jesuit priest had it copied into a computer in Israel in case anything happened to it. I simply hacked into their database and retrieved it. We no longer have the power of the book itself, so let them have their rapture when the time comes. At least we still have the words, and they will remain safe with me until the time comes when our master arrives and we rule the world in Satan’s name.”

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  Lev and John relaxed on the rear deck of the Carmela while Ariella napped on the sofa in the rear salon. The yacht was tied up alongside its dock in Caesarea as the crew went about the daily ritual of scrubbing away the corrosive effects of the salt from the sea. On the flat-screen TV over the bar, the men watched the limited clean-up efforts that continued in and around Houston. The city was a shell of its former self, and the daily pictures that bounced off satellites to TV’s around the globe showed that it had been reduced to a frontier-like existence.

  Radioactivity was still high and would remain at lethal levels for years to come before rebuilding could safely begin. In Rome, the news of the pope’s sudden death had stunned the world, and Catholics in every city on earth kept a close eye on the Vatican as the conclave of cardinals cast their votes for the next pontiff.

  Lev lit a cigar and laid back in his deck chair. “Are you ready for the big day?”

  John smiled back at his future father-in-law. “I’m as ready as I ever will be. I never knew so much planning could go into a wedding. Ariella is really excited.”

  Lev peered into the salon at the sleeping form of his daughter on one of the couches with Camp curled up at her feet. “She doesn’t seem too excited right now.”

  “She’s exhausted. I think she’s been on the phone for two solid days now. All her friends here in Israel are coming, along with my family and friends from America. She wants to have the ceremony on the beach next to the villa.”

  “I thought she would choose the beach. Her mother and I were married there, and Ariella said it was one of your favorite places.”

  “I can’t think of a more beautiful spot. By the way, Lev, thanks for the wedding gift.”

  Lev glanced sideways at John with a look of mock surprise. “What gift?”

  “Ariella told me about it yesterday. I hear you’re giving us a house.”

  “It’s the house Ariella was raised in. We had just moved into the villa when her mother died, so most of her childhood memories of us as a family are in that little house. My wife designed it, you know. That’s probably another reason Ariella has always held a special place in her heart for it. It’s in a great location close to the sea and has the most beautiful garden on the property. I can’t imagine anyone else ever living there. I hope you and Ariella will be as happy there as Carmela and I were.” Lev looked over at John and winked. “It will be a great place to raise my grandchildren.”

  Laughter erupted above them as Father’s Leo and Morelli came bouncing down the stairs from the top deck. Morelli flopped down in a deck chair, while Leo stood and looked out over the ancient harbor. The harbor at Caesarea had been built by Herod the Great at the site of an old Phoenician port in 22 BC and was dedicated to Caesar Augustus.

  Leo and Morelli were in Israel for John and Ariella’s wedding. They had both been hard at work beneath the Vatican for the past six months overseeing the construction of a new underground center surrounding the ancient chapel. The mysterious chapel was now considered one of the most holy places in the world.

  In addition to spending time at the chapel, Leo had also been sifting through ancient scrolls in the Vatican library for hints of any ancient Christian sects who had once lived in Rome and who might have been led by a prophet. He believed that the people who constructed the ancient chapel and painted the images depicting future events must have been Christians inspired by God, and Leo hoped that someday the code would reveal their secret.

  Sarah had returned to America and she and Daniel e-mailed daily. They would be seeing each other again for the first time in months at John and Ariella’s wedding. The wedding would be the perfect backdrop for a reunion of everyone who had participated in finding the Devil’s Bible and delivering it to the chapel where the miracle of the angels had occurred.

  Water continued to pour forth from the Negev Desert, and families were moving there from all over Israel to start farms as the government worked to harness the power of the water. Oil companies from around the globe were drilling for oil under contract from the Israeli government, and the country was now as rich as Saudi Arabia.

  Moshe’s wife, Hadar, called the men on the back deck to lunch, and soon, they were consuming turkey club sandwiches and drinking Cokes under the shade of the blue and white awning. The image of Saint Peter’s Square filled the flat screen TV over the bar as the camera zoomed across the crowd and focused on the small, thin smokestack above the Sistine Chapel. The whole world watched in anticipation as white smoke began to pour into the crisp morning air. A new pope had been chosen.

  The men watched intently as Saint Peter’s Basilica came into view and the camera panned across the square showing thousands of Catholics standing in front of the huge church anxiously awaiting their first sight of the new Pope. The newscasters continued to debate which cardinal had been chosen-their cameras now focused on the polished wooden doors that opened out onto a balcony at the front of the church facing Saint Peter’s Square. The doors opened, and after a brief pause, a cardinal dressed in red stepped out and looked over the crowd.

  He adjusted his glasses and read from a sheet of paper. Speaking in Italian, he addressed the throng below with the news that a new pope had been named. Since the eleventh century, almost all newly elected popes had chosen to voluntarily give up their baptismal names and pick a new name. The crowd waited breathlessly. Their long wait was rewarded when a tall figure dressed in white and wearing the signature white skull cap of the pope walked through the doors and out onto the balcony. He blessed the crowd as the cardinal beside him announced his new name to the world. Cardinal Marcus Lundahl was now Pope Michael in honor of the archangel who had come to his aid in the fight against Satan.

  A crewmember approached Father Morelli with a cell phone. “It’s for you, Father.”

  After a brief exchange, a wide smile crossed Morelli’s face as he thanked the caller and snapped the phone shut. Leo was still watching the proceedings at the Vatican on TV when Morelli tapped him on the shoulder.

  Leo cast a casual look at Morelli and took a sip of his Coke. “What is it, Anthony? Don’t you want to hear what Marcus … I mean, Pope Michael is about to say?”

  “I’m glad you’re sitting down, Father, because I have some news for you.”

  “For me? What is it?”

  “That was Pope Michael’s secretary on the phone. He wanted you to know that the new Pope’s first official act was to name you as a Prince of the Church. You are now Cardinal Leopold Amodeo.”

  Leo was stunned. His hearing seemed to disappear momentarily while his friends congratulated him with hugs
of joy. Lev took the Coke from Leo’s hand and replaced it with a flute of the Carmela’s finest champagne. Ariella sat up and yawned before noticing all the excitement and walked over to join John on the deck. When she heard the news, she threw her arms around Leo and told him how proud she was of him. She had gained a deep respect for this man, and over the past few months, he had become like a second father to her.

  Leo paused and looked at Morelli. “But what about you, Anthony? All your work…”

  “I was waiting for you to ask. I’m now a bishop and the new pope’s personal assistant.”

  Leo tilted his glass in Morelli’s direction. “Congratulations, my friend. You deserve even more.”

  A big grin crossed John’s face. “Just think. A cardinal and a bishop at our wedding … what Catholic could wish for more?”

  Ariella pinched him on the arm and reminded them that the new pope was about to speak on TV. They all gathered around the large screen and listened as Pope Michael looked out over the crowd and held his hands in the air. The multitude in the square grew silent with anticipation. Slowly and deliberately, the new pope began to speak.

  “Today, we begin a new era of the Church. I have started by appointing several new cardinals and bishops who will lead us in the years to come in the fight against evil in the world. We will be meeting in the next few weeks to discuss what can be done in the face of a worsening world crisis. I have complete confidence that we, together with God’s help, can convince leaders of other religions and nations to arrive at solutions that heretofore have not been considered by men in a world on the brink of some very dark days if we fail to act, and act swiftly. These are days that require men of action in the Church, and the soldiers of Christ will be called back to the field of battle. May God bless you and keep you safe in the days ahead.”

  With that short speech, the pope waved at the crowd below, and loud cheers went up in Saint Peter’s Square. Leo turned away from the screen and took a long sip from his glass before he and Morelli exchanged looks. Both realized that they were the soldiers the pope had just referred to.