It took Professor Martines little more than a minute to reach the office of the Cardinal Secretary of State where he was met by a dazed Father Thomas.
‘His Eminence… he’s just committed…’ Father Thomas ran to an adjoining door.
Even for a seasoned psychiatrist Professor Martines was brought up short with what he found. Lorenzo Petroni’s brains, or what was left of them, were dripping down the wall opposite the window that overlooked the Piazza San Pietro. The autopsy would find a single shot through the roof of his mouth. Petroni’s body lay beside his desk on the royal blue carpet, the black. 38 Beretta Cheetah on the floor nearby. The back of his head was missing. Vincenzo Martines could hear Father Thomas being sick in the Secretary of State’s bathroom.
Professor Martines shut the double doors to the Secretary of State’s office and waited for Father Thomas. Several nuns and one or two priests, consternation marking their faces, were gathering outside.
‘Do you feel you can stay?’ Professor Martines asked Father Thomas when he emerged from the bathroom. ‘For the time being we need to make sure no one comes in here.’
Father Thomas could only nod in reply.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
The Hindu Kush
T he wind was light but at high altitude there was no warmth in the late afternoon sun that caught the granite and snow of the north-west frontier and Tirich Mir. Inside the cave complex Dr Hussein Tretyakov had handed over yet another of the deadly suitcase bombs to Abdul Basheer, who was now poring over a travel map of Sydney.
‘There has been a slight change in our plans,’ Basheer said quietly. ‘I have decided to hit the infidel in a way he will least expect. Sydney will be attacked first, followed by Manchester and Chicago. While he is distracted by those attacks, in the ensuing panic we will hit New York and London.
‘Sydney is especially vulnerable. We will deliver the bomb from the air and we have an excellent choice of surrounding airfields that are not subject to checks. The flight plan will be a standard vector into the nearby suburban Bankstown airfield. Our plane will not have to deviate from its flight path until the last minutes before final approach.’
‘That deviation will be picked up by air traffic control?’ Tretyakov ventured.
‘Of course, but by then it will be too late. In a few short minutes our aircraft will be over the central business district. Unlike the Americans, the Australian infidels do not employ fighter aircraft on patrols over their cities so they will not be able to stop us. What will be the effect of an air-burst over that city?’ Abdul Basheer asked.
‘It will be similar to New York and London,’ Hussein replied, ‘although the air-burst will cause greater damage to the buildings and infrastructure. I have calculated that if the bomb is exploded above the city, perhaps two hundred thousand people will be killed by the blast, and hundreds of thousands more will die of burns and radiation. The Sydney Harbour Bridge will be twisted and buckled, and buildings and people around ground zero will be vaporised.’
‘The loss of life is unfortunate,’ Basheer said finally, ‘but it will send a warning to the rest of the world that we will not stand by while our women and children are arrogantly slaughtered in Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir, and countless other countries where the infidel has set up his military machines.’
Hussein nodded, the memory of his wife and daughters still tearing at his heart.
‘The attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought WWII to an end,’ Basheer observed. ‘It is time for us to do the same. God willing, Muhammad, peace be upon him, and Islam will prevail.’
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Roma
O n his way back to the Papal apartments, Professor Martines reflected on his earlier diagnosis and suspicions. Back in the dining room, he quietly expressed his fears.
‘Sometimes it is difficult to determine if someone falls into the category of a psychopath, Holiness, unless the patient is willing to undergo psychological testing and have relevant medical experts observe their behaviour. The symptoms include an inability to connect with others, a charismatic and charming manner and a lack of remorse or responsibility for their actions. Those who are incapable of love often substitute it with a desperate pursuit of power. I have suspected this for many years and done nothing,’ Professor Martines concluded sadly.
‘You can’t blame yourself, Vincenzo,’ Giovanni said gently. ‘Lorenzo Petroni was a very troubled soul. However, he was not your patient nor was he willing to seek help. May he rest in peace. Do we know what causes this condition?’
‘Not exactly, although it is often associated with trauma in childhood. A lot of research is being conducted into genetic influence, and the questions of nature versus nurture come up – whether these types of people are born or made. It is a very difficult question.’ Professor Martines excused himself to attend to the removal of Cardinal Petroni’s body and to start organising forensic investigations and inquiries.
‘Should we handle this in-house, Holiness?’ Vittorio asked, mindful of the intense media interest that Petroni’s suicide would cause.
‘No, Vittorio, we will not cover this up. Make a simple announcement to the media that his death will be subject to an autopsy and a police report, independent of the Vatican.’
‘Could I suggest,’ Tom offered, ‘that you include something along the lines that you have sent your condolences to Cardinal Petroni’s family, and that until the independent investigation has been concluded, it would not be helpful to speculate on the reasons behind the death of the Cardinal Secretary of State. It won’t hold them off for long, but it will give you some breathing space.’
‘Thank you,’ Giovanni said gratefully. ‘I’m obviously going to need some media training.’
‘We can fix that,’ Tom said, allowing himself a wry smile.
Giovanni turned to David, his face reflecting the gravity of what he suspected he was about to be told. ‘You were going to explain the last part of the Omega Scroll,’ he said.
‘In the Omega Scroll the Essenes have recorded a cryptic message from the civilisation that dispatched the DNA which reads, “in order that life might continue beyond nuclear attack”,’ David said.
‘I have an open mind on this,’ Allegra added, ‘although it’s interesting that there have been a number of unexplained explosions recorded hundreds of thousands of light years into space. Several leading scientists are convinced they are not supernovas but more closely resemble nuclear blasts.’
‘In another galaxy?’ Tom asked.
Allegra nodded. ‘It’s certainly possible. They may have been trying to warn us, as well as sending DNA into distant galaxies, including ours, in the hope that life might continue.’
‘The Omega Scroll goes further,’ David said, ‘with a terrible warning for us, regardless of whether another civilisation is involved. The threat to us from a nuclear attack is now very real.’ He moved across to the last of the three sections of the Omega Scroll and began to read: ‘And two Revelations will ridicule a third, though the Revelations be from Abraham, all of them. The third will have its Alpha in Mount Hira but its Omega in Tirich Mir, and in the beginning, the third will triumph over the first and second, but in the end, civilisation will be annihilated.’
‘Muhammad and al-Qaeda,’ Tom said quietly. ‘The Alpha and Omega of Islam.’
‘And two Revelations will ridicule a third?’ Father Vittorio looked puzzled.
‘Before Muhammad received his revelations from God at the hands of the Angel Gabriel, from which he wrote the Qur’an,’ Allegra explained, ‘the Jews and the Christians used to ridicule the Arabs. Al-Lah, which in Arabic means “God”, had sent a multitude of prophets to the Jews and Christians, but none to the Arabs, and as the Arabs had received no revelations in their own language, the Jews and Christians claimed God had not included them in his plan.’
Tom nodded. ‘And two Revelations will ridicule a third. We are still doing that now,’ he added grimly. ‘Many
