Laura 02 The God Code (21 page)

“This is the Police, land immediately!” sounds over the loudspeaker of the approaching police helicopter.

Abraham’s heart sinks, the police do not stand a chance. Cold air rushes into the helicopter as the side door is opened again. Suddenly the sickening sound of the minigun spewing its hot lead towards the unsuspecting police helicopter mixes with the helicopter’s engine noise. The machine gun suddenly stops and for a second only the engine noise enters the open door, then suddenly an explosion comes from below as the police helicopter crashes into the ground. The door is closed a last time, and then Abraham passes out.

Half an hour later, Vice President Wilburn stands smiling in the Situation Room while watching CCN on the main display, breaking the news that President Abraham has been kidnapped by unknown attackers. The room is quickly filling up with high ranking officials as they take their seats, including cabinet members. They are all there to confirm Wilburn temporarily becoming acting President. Exactly, as he planned.

***

At the back entrance of the Vatican, Bartolomeo looks on as a black Ford Explorer with tinted windows pulls up to the gates Bartolomeo is guarding. The gate is only used by delivery vehicles, and he has no scheduled delivery. He also doubts that this is a delivery. Signaling with his right arm, he shows the driver that he needs to go around to the main entrance. Possibly a confused and lost driver, get a few of them a month.

Slowly the back door opens and a man dressed in a black suit with a white tie steps out.

“You are at the wrong gate.”

“We are additional security for tomorrow’s event on the Pope’s orders.” Without waiting for a reply, the man walks to the rear of the vehicle, opens the tailgate and pulls out two gear bags.

“I have no such information or orders,” Bartolomeo replies, looking at his schedule book.

“It is okay, I will take them in.” Phil’s voice behind Bartolomeo startles him.

“Evening Sir, I did not expect to see you here. I was not told about any people arriving tonight.” Bartolomeo is unsure why Sergio is not there to escort the people in, as he is the head of security not Phil.

“It is special precautions for a threat on the Pope’s life, very few people know,” Phil replies, hoping Bartolomeo buys it.

“Understood, but I still need authorization from Sergio, I will call him.” Bartolomeo pulls the two way radio from his belt and presses the button to talk.

Bartolomeo’s face changes to confusion as he sees blood dripping on the radio. Slowly he looks up and is just in time to see a woman standing next to the vehicle with a Ruger 22 pistol in her hands. Andrea fires again, hitting Bartolomeo in the head, the shot silenced. As his body drops to the ground, Andrea walks forward until she is at the gate.

“You Phil?”

“Yyyess,” Phil stutters, looking at Bartolomeo’s body.

“Open the gate then,” Andrea replies in a commanding tone.

The first man brings the two gear bags to the gate and is joined by a second man in a black suit.

Together they pick up Bartolomeo’s body and take it to the SUV. Phil follows their every move, unable to look away.

“Hey you, moron, open the gate or you get the same!” Andrea is getting restless, they are too exposed.

“The key, I need the key, on the guard’s body!”

Andrea walks over to the SUV and searches Bartolomeo’s body, while the men quickly clean up the blood on the ground with water bottles. After finding the keys, Andrea walks over and opens the gate, then waits for the men to join her, bringing the gear. As she locks the gate again, Phil comments, “The security will know something is wrong in 20 minutes when he does not check in.”

“Just blame it on Victor, say that the assassin must be here already.” Andrea picks up her bag as she speaks.

“No, if Sergio hears that one of his guards has been killed, he will not allow us to proceed with our plans. They will cancel tomorrow’s service and the whole place will be crawling with guards.”

Thinking for a second, Andrea signals the driver of the SUV to climb out, then waits until he reaches the gate before speaking.

“Change of plan, park the vehicle down the road and then change into the guard’s uniform. You will have to fool the security so that they are not alarmed.” The man only nods, then leaves to follow his orders.

“Sorted, let’s go,” Andrea commands.

“You can stay in my room, you will not be disturbed. Tomorrow you can sneak into the garden,” Phil comments, and starts to lead the way to his private room.

“No, take us into the garden. There is too much risk of being spotted in the day.”

“Okay, this way. Stay with me, I will show you where there are no security cameras, and of the ones there are, which ones are normally ignored by the Monitor Room.”

Phil leads Andrea and her two assistants through a maze of buildings and dark passages, until they come to the garden.

“Where will the Pope be exposed?” Andrea asks.

“The Pope is brought into the garden by armored car, up to this point where he will then get out and briefly pray at the altar. From there he normally makes a short walk in the garden with two armed guards while the car follows close by. When the Pope is done, the car will pick him up on signal from the guards and take him back for him to prepare for the service. This is where we think Victor will approach him, your opportunity to kill them both.”

“We will kill the Pope, Victor, the guards, and the American team. We will not leave any survivors to tell what really happened,” Andrea replies coldly.

Phil freezes for a moment, then replies, “Just make it look like Victor killed the Pope and the guards.”

“I know my job, now leave, or I add you to the list,” Andrea replies angrily.

Phil suddenly feels a cold chill running up his spine and hastily leaves the garden for the safety of his room. As he walks down the last corridor to his room, Sergio comes up behind him.

“Phil, a word with you.” Sergio suddenly talking behind Phil almost makes him jump, but he holds his composure.

“Yes, what is it?” Phil is tired and irritated; so much depends on everything running smoothly.

“We are the Papal Swiss Guard. We have been protecting the Pope for hundreds of years, and will continue to do so for eternity. We should be protecting the Pope, not outside people.” Sergio is fuming. He wants to punch Phil if only he could.

“These orders are from the Pope himself. You and one of your guards will accompany the Pope into the garden as normal, but the American team will provide cover. We recognize that your men have all had military training, but they have not dealt with this man before. The team has been specially picked as they have worked with men like him in the past and know his moves. If he suspects something is different or that we are waiting for him, he will either kill the Pope at a distance, or disappear and return on a day that we will not be ready. He also has valuable information with him that we need.” Sergio does not know that they plan to kill Victor and the Pope, and frame Victor for the Pope’s death. Phil cannot afford Sergio and his men getting in the way.

“Fine.” Sergio turns on his heels as he replies, and walks away with fire in his step.

***

“Laura. Laura, we need to get ready.” Victor is gently shaking Laura by the shoulder.

Sleepily Laura opens her eyes, then rubs the sleep from them while asking, “You sure about this?”

Victor looks directly at her as he replies. “No, I do not know if they will be waiting for us, but it has to be done. We need to find answers, and if the Pope did not order the hit, then maybe he can point us in the direction of who did and also help us out.”

“Why would he help us?” Laura is now sitting upright.

“He wants the scrolls. Come, let’s get you ready.”

Victor already has a harness on that includes a parachute. As Laura gets up, Victor pulls a harness from a bag and helps Laura climb into the harness, adjusting the straps for her.

“How do I operate it?” Laura asks, not sure she wants to go through with jumping out of the airplane.

“This cord here is to deploy the main parachute, and this one is to cut it if it tangles up, then you pull this one to deploy the backup chute. Once deployed, you will have two lines you pull on to steer with, but you do not need to worry about that.”

“Why?” Laura asks unsurely.

“Because these are large military parachutes, capable of carrying a large soldier with gear. We will jump together with my parachute. We will hook in and I will do the steering, you just hang back and enjoy the ride.”

Laura relaxes a bit, knowing she will be close to Victor and that he will be in control. Suddenly they feel the airplane slowing down and descending.

Five minutes later the copilot comes to them. “We are nearing the Vatican. We will declare an emergency and divert as close as we can to the Vatican, allowing you to glide in easily. When we announce we are as close as we can go, jump. Jose informed me that your friend in Rome was able to deliver the package you requested. It is in the east corner of the garden, in the bushes next to the wall.”

“Thank you. You had best get back to the cockpit, it is going to get windy in here,” Victor responds.

“Good luck,” the copilot replies, and then turns around to return to the cockpit.

Victor and Laura walk to one of the emergency doors, where Victor quickly clips Laura’s harness to him, pulling them tightly together. He can feel her heart beating wildly, but she remains brave.

“Laura, you will be okay.”

Laura gives Victor a weak smile back, but it does not help to slow her heart. In the cockpit the Captain looks at the instruments, they are heading straight for Vatican City, only 5 miles out.

“Unidentified aircraft, this is Abruzzo International Airport control tower, you are heading off course and are flying too low, return to altitude and turn bearing 270, This is your last warning. You are now entering a restricted airspace.”

The two pilots look at each other, before the Captain picks up the microphone and replies.

“Ladies and gentleman, you may now depart the aircraft.”

Upon hearing the message, Victor braces himself against the wall and holds on to a seat.

“Hold on Laura.” Before she can reply, he pulls the emergency release for the door. The door is immediately sucked away and the pressure in the aircraft drops as fast as the temperature. Ice cold wind howls into the aircraft, tugging on the two. Through the open door Laura can see the engines located on the wing. Victor and Laura shuffle out, suddenly the wind takes them. Everything goes upside down and the earth spins in several directions as they tumble around in the jet wash. Victor maneuvers his body from side to side while using his hands and arms to assist him in stopping them from spinning. As soon as he gains control he looks down at the ground. The city lights in the distance create a magnificent scene and he indicates to Laura to look down, however she is desperately trying not to vomit on him.

As her stomach settles and the dizziness fades, Laura looks down at an amazing sight. The Vatican is almost directly beneath them, rapidly getting bigger. She wants to tell Victor how beautiful the view is, but she is afraid that if she screams to compensate for the wind noise, more than just her voice will come out.

Inside the aircraft they jumped from, warning lights are flashing with alarms going off all over. The Captain picks up the microphone and responds to the ground control just as an Italian fighter jet pulls up next to him.

“Unidentified aircraft, you are in a restricted airspace, identify yourself and your intentions or you will be shot down.”

“This is flight Charlie Oscar 737 from Columbia. We are declaring an emergency. We have lost cabin pressure and are experiencing multiple system failures including our navigation system. Can you assist us to the nearest safe landing strip?”

“Flight Charlie Oscar 737, stand by as I check the outside of your airplane.” The fighter jet slowly pulls back and drops slowly from the cockpit of the Jetstream towards the tail.

“Roger flight Charlie Oscar 737, you have a door missing on your starboard side, any passengers?”

“Negative.”

“Roger that, stay on my wing and I will guide you to the nearest landing airstrip.”

“Thank you.” The Captain smiles, knowing his mission is done. They will claim diplomatic immunity when they land by declaring the airplane the personal property of the Columbian government, that General Conzales will back up.

Far below Laura and Victor are nearing the ground fast, and Victor pulls the cord to release the main chute. Laura looks up as a small parachute comes out of his backpack, and she is about to yell to Victor that the chute might be too small, when the main chute is pulled out by the pilot chute. There is a sudden tug on their harnesses as the shoot opens, and then everything slows down. The wind noise almost disappears and it is unnaturally silent. With the main chute open, Laura’s heart slows down, and she starts to enjoy the view. She has given up trying to get control of her hair, which is blowing all over, due to her hairband coming out when they jumped.

Now with the wind lessening, she tries again to make a quick ponytail, but her hair is too messed up. Victor steers them towards the edge of the garden, far away from any buildings and in total darkness. Expertly he lands them softly, and then quickly releases the chute to stop them from being pulled to the ground. He releases the clips holding the two harnesses together, and then starts rolling up the parachute. He has to hide it before anyone finds it.

“Wow that was something,” Laura comments while pulling the hair out of her face, which is now a total mess. Victor looks up from where he is folding up the parachute.

“Jup, seen that look before,” he replies smiling.

“Teaser,” Laura replies, then bursts out laughing as she remembers how her hair looked when she woke up in Machu Picchu. Victor finishes folding up the parachute and quickly takes his harness off, then helps Laura with hers. When he is done, he hides both harnesses in the bushes near the wall.

“Wait here, I will be back shortly,” Victor says, then disappears into the darkness. It is a new moon, and only the distant lights of the buildings illuminate the night, allowing Laura to see a few feet in front of her. Victor finds the gear bag easily, having been thrown over the wall by his contacts. Silently he makes his way back to Laura.