The Gods' Gambit (17 page)

James cut the connection. He was clear about two things.
Lino had not been frank with him. And he was scared.

* * *

James felt his shoulder being nudged gently and Pema’s voice
calling his name. Opening his eyes proved difficult. He felt as though he had
only been asleep for a few minutes, but the clock said 5.30 a.m. “What is it,
Pema?” he asked in a voice changed by interrupted deep sleep.

“Sorry to wake you so early,” Pema said with embarrassment.
“I didn’t want to leave you asleep while I’m out. There are people in the
forest. I’m gonna go check on it.”

The sleepiness left James immediately. He got up and started
putting his clothes on. “Pema, the time you shielded me from everything has
passed. I’ll go to check it. You stay here.”

Pema made a face but didn’t argue. “Be careful. I saw a few
silhouettes and torches flashing in the woods above the road,” she said with
concern.

There was less than an hour until dawn. It was clear enough
to walk in the open without torchlight, but James took a torch because it was
still dark in the woods. He peered into the area where Pema had spotted people.
This was the lowest part of the terrain. There was a narrow strip of trees and
behind was a hedge separating the estate from the road. He couldn’t see anybody
there. He crossed the field and continued along the hedge. The hedge was low
and he could see the road. He caught a glimpse of a car and a van driving off
from a lay-by. Both vehicles picked up speed quickly and disappeared up the
nearest side road.

James walked until he reached a gap in the hedge. It led to
a public footpath on the other side which followed the borders of the Whiteway
Estate, separating it from Woodsman Green Park. His torchlight illuminated
fresh footprints in the wet grass. This in itself was not alarming. Tourists or
joggers sometimes went through the gap by mistake. Normally, they quickly
turned back after realizing that they had entered private property. Probably
the same had happened here.

James walked back towards the house. He was missing
something. The distant roar of a car engine suddenly made him realize what it
was. One of the cars he had seen driving off from the lay-by was a gold Peugeot
– the same car he had seen at Elizabeth’s funeral and later on the road.
“Coincidence,” he muttered to himself.

Pema was waiting for him at the entrance.

“Everything’s OK. Some early-bird jogger had got onto the
estate by mistake,” James explained.

“I’ll make you breakfast,” said Pema.

“Just tea. Then I’ll take some flowers to Elizabeth.”

“You need to eat. You’ve lost weight,” Pema insisted.

“I’m not at all hungry,” he responded.

They went to the kitchen. Pema made tea and they sat at the
table.

“I know how you feel,” she said softly. “I felt it myself
when my father and my brother were killed. The pain will subside but will never
go completely.”

James didn’t answer for a while. He sat and stared with
unblinking eyes into his teacup. “She didn’t deserve to die like that,” he said
eventually. “I think about our little girl, too …” His voice tailed off.

“Great sorrow, great loss,” Pema said with deep sadness.
“They paid a big karmic price. For that they will have a good rebirth.”

“It’s not fair,” James said in a hollow voice.

“We’ll pray for them every day. You shouldn’t allow grief to
bring you down. Elizabeth wouldn’t want that.”

“I know. But there are moments when it’s impossible to
resist.” On a sudden impulse to share his strange experiences with Pema, James
added, “I sometimes see her in visions.”

Pema glanced at him, intrigued. “Sorrow has settled inside
you. It unlocks some of your special qualities. You may experience unusual
things. No need to have fear or aversion.”

“It’s just that I have to remind myself that it’s not real …
I saw her with the baby…” James described the vision.

Pema stayed silent for a while. Her eyelids were lowered and
her eyes looked like two narrow slits. James was surprised to see her doing
that. It was the way she ‘read’ dreams to find the hidden messages encoded
within them. He guessed she was applying the same method to his vision. Her
following words confirmed his assumption.

“This wasn’t your baby. Such a vision is most probably a
warning,” Pema said in a solemn tone.

“Warning about what?”

“A danger may await your future child.”

“I … won’t have a child.”

“Don’t do this to yourself …” Pema paused. “I know that the
time is not right for what I’m about to say. But it must be said. You need a
woman next to you … And an heir who can bring part of you into the future …”

James looked at her sharply. Her words seemed so alien to
him right now. “You’re right,” he said. “It’s not the time for this. I’m going
to take flowers to Elizabeth.”

Florence, Italy

The taxi crossed the Arno River over the bridge Ponte alle
Grazie and continued north-west, moving away from the historical centre of
Florence. Lino looked out of the left-hand window, trying to catch a glimpse of
the Basilica di Santa Croce in the distance. The Basilica was the principal
church of the Franciscan brotherhood in Florence – and one of his favourite
places in the town. He felt a special connection with this beautiful temple
that, as claimed, had been founded by Saint Francisco himself.

Lino spotted the temple’s roof and immediately sensed a flow
of power running through his veins. He prayed in his mind to Saint Francisco
for the success of his endeavour. Since he had lain his hands on the ‘Gnostic
Hymn Manifesto’, his attempts to penetrate deeper into the structure of the
Church of Angels had been unsuccessful. That had brought him back to an
undesirable state of frustration and re-opened some old wounds in his soul. He
felt somehow guilty because the years of effort against the intangible enemy
had borne so little fruit.

It was not the first time that Lino had found himself in
such a depressing situation. Before the Church of Angels, he had sneaked in a
similar manner into other sects and spiritualist groups. He had maintained a
virtual presence in some satanic and occult Internet sites. He had learned a
lot first-hand about the drives, the aims and the practices of those people. He
had even developed friendly relationships with some of them. Based on this
knowledge, he was convinced that all of them shared some kind of common
propelling point. Yet he had always encountered a wall when attempting to find
out who was behind them. The knowledge about that unifying base and its
proactive role had led him to a fundamental discovery, which he called
‘Ecumenism of the Evil’. He was convinced that some mighty clandestine
organization had taken over many secret societies and sects and had been using
and guiding them according to its own goals and interests.

He asked the driver to turn into the next street and to
stop. He paid and waited on the pavement with his hands thrust into the side
pockets of his short jacket until the taxi disappeared. Then he turned round
and walked back, more or less following the route they had just passed. He
always acted in a similar manner when travelling to a Church of Angels meeting.
He never used his own car. He took a taxi and asked to be brought to a place
about fifteen to twenty minutes’ walking distance from the building where the
Church’s adherents were to meet and then headed there on foot. He did the same
after the meetings finished. He also kept a trimmed beard to disguise his
appearance, because he was afraid somebody from the Church of Angels would
discover who he really was. His pictures were often published in the
pro-Catholic weekly newspaper
La Nostra Fede
. For a number of years, he
had written articles for that newspaper under his real name. If somebody
recognized him, all the effort he had made to infiltrate the Church of Angels would
have been in vain.

The hall where the Church of Angels conducted its meetings
occupied almost the entire first floor of a four-storey building. Metal grids
protected its windows. Lino passed under the windows, pushed open the black
gate and entered the lobby, where the cloakroom and toilets were.

A man wearing a private security services uniform stood in
front of the inner door of the meeting hall, near the cloakroom. He smiled
artificially at Lino while he checked in his jacket. Because of the muted sound
of voices coming from the hall, Lino estimated that many people had gathered
inside. Tonight, a special discussion was scheduled with two prominent maestros
of the Church. One was an Italian man, the other a Russian, who was leader of
the Church in his country. Lino guessed that such an unusually large gathering
was because of their presence.

He entered and looked for an empty seat among the rows of
chairs. He chose a place at the end of the third row and sat down. From there
he had a good view of the stage, upon which was an elongated coffee table with
microphones on it and three chairs.

The woman sitting on Lino’s left – slim, middle-aged with
fluffy hair – who had met him a few times already, accosted him
enthusiastically. “Hi. This will be a great event. Our guests are highly
developed souls. Being in their presence alone is quite beneficial.”

“Yes, of course. Very exciting,” Lino responded. “I haven’t
seen them till now.”

“Both are founders of the Church. Paolo is from North Italy.
He visits us from time to time. The name of the Russian is Lavrentie. He was
here last year.”

The volume of the buzzing voices in the meeting hall quickly
diminished and went into complete silence. On the stage, the two respected
adepts appeared, accompanied by Lino’s mentor, Silvio. They sat in the chairs
behind the table.

Master Silvio introduced the two guests for those who had
not seen them before. “The idea today is that we’ll have a free discussion.
Everybody can jump in at any time with questions, comments or opinions. I would
like Maestro Lavrentie to begin.” He turned to the Russian. “If you don’t mind
…”

“It’s a real pleasure to be amongst you again. In line with
what Señor Silvio just said, I would prefer to answer some questions.
Ask whatever is on your mind,” Lavrentie invited.

A man in the front row asked the first question. “The union
between a human and an angel is the core of your teaching. I’d like to ask if a
man has an individual guardian angel, or is any angel capable of forming unions
with many men in order to help and guide them?”

“Any union is the only one possible for both sides at that
time. The angels have a different potential. A man can be united with one angel
and at the same time be under the influence of another. That is a natural
thing.”

“What determines what kind of angel one could unite with?”
asked another in the audience.

“The unions are not predetermined. They depend on both
sides, on the characteristics of the human and the angel.”

“In the angel’s dimension, the will of the Creator is clearly
perceived,” Paolo added. “That’s why for a heavenly inhibitor it is easier to
‘recognize’ his human pair. On earth we have dimmed our link with the Creator
and we need the Church and its teaching in order to unite with an angel.”

“Why has this teaching become popular just now?” This
question came from the back of the hall.

“That is a complicated subject. In short, we could say that
now is the right time for that to happen. We’ve been under old religions for
thousands of years. They conform to an older type of humanity. Contemporary man
is much faster thinking, and he has a much more dynamic lifestyle.
Correspondingly, he needs ‘fast’ religion. Religion with a direct approach to
the Creator. The Church of Angels has appeared in response to that need. The angels
are creatures who live at the foot of the Creator’s throne. Union with such
creatures is the most direct approach for us,” responded Lavrentie.

“I would add it’s the easiest way as well,” said Paolo with
pathos. “What is a man under the old religions? A creature with a sinful
nature, doomed to suffer – in this world and, with very few exceptions, in the
one beyond. It is quite difficult for a man to elevate himself to a divine
standard according to the old religions. That is not a problem for our Church.
We offer a good life here and now and salvation in the afterlife. All this
becomes possible once we are united with angels. Then they become like a
carrier-rocket, ready to take us into the heavenly realms.”

Many in the audience applauded and cheered rapturously.

“Until now, the development of religious people was
concentrated in two fields: following religious and ethical rules and mystical
self-improvement. Both areas require the application of enormous effort without
any guarantee of success. Statistics show that in the present there are no
results at all. Don’t you notice that all the great saints and mystics are in
the past?” Paolo made a dramatic expression while waiting for the laughter
amongst the followers of the Church of Angels to subside.

“We refer to God with many names, but that doesn’t mean
there are many gods. Would you say something regarding the common source of all
spiritual traditions?” somebody suggested.

“Today’s multiple divisions between nations and the people
are the antithesis of the so-called ‘Golden Age’ of mankind,” said Lavrentie.
“In that time, religion and spirituality, groups and individuals existed
harmoniously as a whole. Harmony was a way of living. A total theocracy
embodied the world. Religion, society and individuality were inseparable parts
of life. Today, religion is part of society and it’s a matter of individual
choice. That is an anti-natural state. We need to recover that harmony, of
course in a way corresponding to contemporary living styles. The other way leads
to self-destruction.”