I
I
"No matter what you ask for, it's unlikely to be granted," said Minister of the Department of Doctrine Francesco di Medici, whose baritone was as hard and intimidating as a sturdy sword.
The setting autumn sun cast a soft red tint over the Pope's Palace Plaza adjoining the Department of Doctrine Palace, but there was no sign of warmth in Francesco's eyes as he gazed down from the window. "Cardinal Sforza has taken responsibility for her subordinate's misconduct and is under house arrest in Milan. As her subordinates, I can't let you take part in the formal operation. I thought you understood that much reason, Doctor Wordsworth?"
"I beg that you indulge me, Your Eminence Cardinal Medici," Doctor William Walter Wordsworth—AX agent "Professor"—replied, facing the cardinal's refined Albion profile. "The Department of Doctrine has the right to lead the operation to rescue the Pope, and the Department of Foreign Affairs has no objection to it doing so. We only want Your Eminence's permission to be allowed to participate as personnel in the operation."
"I'm entrusting the Pope's rescue to the Bureau of Inquisition," said Francesco. Considering the rare patience Francesco was showing Professor, it seemed as though he were treating the scholar, who also was his famous sister's subordinate, with extra care. "The operation plans already have been submitted, and the military institution has approved it. Immediately after the Pope's rescue, the entire army stationed around Brno will invade the city. There must be a way to annihilate the heretics. If these plans are changed now, it'll hinder the movements of the whole army. I need you to understand that it's impossible to add participants."
The cardinal's speech was especially cold, but it was true. The map of the Duchy of Bohemia displayed on the office monitor and the cluster of small lights that nearly obscured it were testament to that. Each one of the pinhead-size lights indicated multiple units of the combined Vatican-Bohemian allied army that was mobilized to crush the heretics who had rebelled in the local municipality in eastern Bohemia. The allies numbered thirty thousand. They and the heretic army of more than five thousand continued to stand off.
If the Vatican Army charged into the city now, it probably could eradicate the heretics calling themselves Neue Vatican from the area. But if they lost any more time, people who were dissatisfied with the government in Rome and who sympathized with Neue Vatican might emerge from among the neighboring lords or church workers. There already had been reports that one of the units of the church's army had seceded from its home unit and switched to the side of Neue Vatican. With every passing moment, the huge, finely tuned war machine continued to ferociously revolve. There was no room to thrust the foreign body called "AX" into its gears.
"If you say it can't be helped . . ." said Professor, bowing his head, "Well, thank you for explaining, despite the fact that you were so busy. I'll take my leave now." Professor started to exit the office, but he stopped suddenly in front of the door. He turned around—appearing as though he longed to continue gossiping over tea—to find that the cardinal had come to the door to see him out. "Oh, that's right. There was one more thing I wanted to tell you. Is that all right?"
"What?" asked Francesco.
Professor'
Professor's eyes stared into Francesco's face as he whispered: "It's about that missile that was stolen from the Assisi air base. According to our investigation, the missile currently should be in the city of Brno. I suppose Your Eminence has formulated some plan for its disposal?"
Holding the door open for his visitor, the cardinal's usually stern face appeared bewildered. "Missile? What are you talking about? I haven't received any such report."
For a moment, one pair of quiet blue eyes and one pair of sabre-colored eyes glared at each other. A second later, they separated as though nothing had happened.
"Excuse me, I seem to have remembered wrong," Professor said, lightly lifting his cane. "Sorry for taking so long and for suggesting something stupid. I have no excuse to do so, seeing as you're so busy."
"Please, never mind. I was happy to meet the famous Doctor Wordsworth. Next time, by all means, come and visit when not on business. I'd welcome it," Francesco replied. He watched as the scholarly priest walked down the long corridor of the Department of Doctrine, his chiseled profile brimming with shadows, downcast.
"Your Eminence?" called a voice from behind him.
Francesco glanced up, and then he turned toward a monitor on the wall like a bird that had spotted its prey. "Paula? How are the preparations there?"
"They're complete," replied Sister Paula, the Vice Chief of the Bureau of Inquisition, whose face filled the screen where the map had been. "Brother Philippe and I already are in place, so as soon as you give us orders, we can carry out our holy duty at any time. There's just one thing I want to confirm." Her expression on the monitor was profoundly calm as always; however, the masterful way that she delivered information had the tendency to make onlookers uneasy. "Is it really okay to dispose of the other matter first, rather than rescue His Holiness? In the event that our operation succeeds, I believe that there's an extremely high probability that the shaken Alfonso will murder His Holiness."
"I don't care. Your objectives at this time are to dispose of that and obliterate the false Pope. We're not rescuing the Pope," said Francesco without missing a beat. His countenance growing more dismal, he added: "If the worst happens and Alessandro is killed, it would have little effect on the Vatican itself. But if the world learns about that missile—its warhead, actually—that definitely would be a danger to Rome. We have to avoid that one by all means."
As Francesco bluffed, he felt a letter in his pocket that the heretics had sent to the cardinals' conference eight hours earlier. It was a top-secret document that he'd crushed in his hand right before it had reached its destination. In addition to the contents written in the letter, he had to obliterate the false Pope Alfonso and that which he'd seized from the world. If not, it might become a big scandal that would rattle the Vatican. If that could quietly be achieved, not even the Pope's life could be called a high price. The Vatican had to be put ahead of everything, because it was a superior government that had supported human society for a thousand years.
"I will repeat to the bitter end, Sister Paula, that you must dispose of that first. I don't care if you completely ignore the Pope's safety," insisted Francesco.
"Very well," Sister Paula replied as she reverently made the sign of the cross. "Bureau of Inquisition Sister Paula and Brother Philippe will now embark on our holy task. Please wait for news."