American Heroes Series - 01 - Resurrection (32 page)

“And the tooth?” he whispered.

“In the pocket of the suitcase, Your Eminence.”

Baldemar nodded faintly and ran his finger along the old material one last time before turning to Olivia. There was something unsettling in his eyes as he focused on her and she instinctively shrank as he approached.

“Do you want to help the world, Olivia?” he asked softly.

She knew it was a trick question; she could just tell. “I’m not sure. What do I have to do?”

Baldemar sat down on the couch next to her; she was leaning so far away from him that she was practically sitting on Joseph’s lap.

“We want you to help us create this new world that will keep it strong and save the planet,” he said. “Would you like to do this?”

She wasn’t sure what he was driving at; she didn’t trust him. “What do I have to do?”

Baldemar seemed to ponder his reply. When he answered, it was seemingly off the subject.

“Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, my family was a great Teutonic family,” he said quietly. “I was born in Germany, in fact. We can trace my family lineage back to the thirteenth century.  My ancestors were Templars.”

Olivia’s eyes widened. “Knights?”

“Yes,” Baldemar nodded. “Templars who once had that Robe which is now back in my hands, back where it belongs.  Two of my ancestors were at the fall of Castle Domme in Southern France when King Phillip IV ordered the dissolution of the Templars.  The truth was the king was heavily in debt and jealous of the property and treasures that the Templars had collected.  He enlisted the help of rebel English, among others, to help him arrest the Templars and steal their property.  This robe was part of that treasure.”

“And you’re going to crown Joseph with the Robe now that you have it?”

“Something like that, yes.”

Olivia digested his explanation. “But I don’t understand,” she said. “How are you going to form a new Holy Roman Empire? What about all of the other countries in Europe? They won’t want to give up their independence to join up.”

“We have many supporters in many countries. We will start here, in Rome, and eventually spread over the face of Europe. It will come in time. All conquest does.”

She watched him a moment, carefully understanding his words. “Isn’t that what Hitler wanted, too? To create a big united Germany all over Europe?”

Baldemar smiled faintly. “More or less. But Hitler did not have the backing of the Church.”

“And you will? You’re saying that the Pope supports all of this?”

“I will support it, as the Pope.”

She frowned.  “But there’s already a pope.               

“All popes must die. Sometimes at God’s choosing, sometimes at the choosing of others.”

“Choosing of others?” she repeated, perplexed. “How could someone choose the pope’s death?”

“The issue is not how the pope dies, but when. Sometimes death is necessary to bring about a great good. Our Holy Father’s time will soon come to an end and a new age will dawn.”

She still wasn’t quite following him; he was speaking in riddles, but riddles enough that he had her attention. “So if the pope dies, you’re next in line?”

Baldemar cocked a modest eyebrow. “It is a near certainty,” he said softly. “And as the new pope, I would have the privilege of crowing Joseph and beginning our brave new reign of Enlightenment.  This will be our new world.”

She didn’t like the way he said it. There was danger in his tone and she shut her mouth, not wanting to take the conversation any further.  Even at her young age, the implication was something very ugly. Cardinal Wildegrav frightened her on more levels than she could comprehend and she was suddenly very, very scared.

“I can’t help you with any of this,” she was beginning to beg. “Please let me go home.”

“But you are so wrong,” Baldemar said seriously. “You will help more than you realize. You, darling, will be the mother of the next Christ.”

Her eyes widened. “What?” she choked. “What are you talking about?”

Baldemar rose and went to the suitcase.  He began unzipping the side pocket where a small box was wedged. He drew it forth, pondering what looked like a ring box.  Then he popped it open, revealing the tooth inside.  He stared at it a moment, sighing faintly as he put it under the light to get a better look.  After several long and tense moments, he gently closed the box and looked at Nat.

“It’s perfect,” he said quietly. “You are to take Olivia and the tooth over to the Hospital San Pietro Fatebenefratelli.  Go to Admitting and ask for Dr. Giovanni Antonio Gioia. Tell him that I sent you. He will know how to proceed from there.”

Nat nodded shortly and stood up, heading straight for Olivia. She panicked when she saw him coming.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she bolted up before Joseph could grab her. “I’ll scream my head off if you try and take me anywhere. I want to go home!”

Nat suddenly grabbed her around the neck, shoving her up against the wall before Joseph could stop him.  Olivia’s face was turning red as Nat pressed his body up against her to trap her.

“Scream and I’ll kill you right now,” he hissed. “There are a million other teenagers in the world that we can use for this so don’t think you’re special. Whether you live or die is of no difference to me. So scream if you want to.  Be quiet and you’ll live through this. It’s your choice.”

Olivia began to weep hysterically and he squeezed her neck tighter until she screamed just so she could breathe. He eased up.

“Well?” he demanded. “What’s your choice?”

She was trying to speak but couldn’t because of the pressure he was putting on her throat, so he eased up a little more. “Well?” he asked again.

“I’ll… I’ll be quiet,” she whispered.

Nat let her go immediately and she collapsed against the wall, a weeping, gasping mess.

“You’d better,” he growled.

The Cardinal came up behind Nat, moving him out of the way.  He knelt down before the frightened girl.

“Olivia,” he tried to sound kind after Nat’s scare tactics. “You will bring about a whole new world. There will be a place of honor for you.  Don’t be frightened; be excited. You will be the key to a new world for everyone and you will secure your place in history.”

She looked up at him, terrified. Her hair was hanging in her face as she spoke. “What… what are you going to do?”

Baldemar smiled and tried to touch her hand, but she yanked it away. “A very nice doctor will put you to sleep for a little while and then you will wake up. A little while later, he will put you to sleep again and you will wake up with a child inside you. That child must be brought to term so we are going to have you as our guest for a while.”

Olivia’s eyes widened and her tears returned en force. “A baby?” she wept. “You want me to have a baby?”

The Cardinal nodded. “You see, we plan to extract DNA from that tooth you found in The Lucius Robe. We will put the DNA in one of your unfertilized eggs and implant it in your womb when it has begun to multiply. It can be done; we have a very good fertility specialist that is willing to do this. He is a man very loyal to the Church and to what we are attempting to accomplish.  But we need your cooperation.”

She was a weeping, snotty mess. “I just want to go home.”

“Bring the child to full term and you shall. All we ask of you is to be the mother for the new Christ. It is such an honor, Olivia. I wish you would understand that.” He paused as he watched her cry. “Our Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, was about your age when she gave birth to Jesus. You will be the new Blessed Virgin, an icon for a new age. You
are
virgin, aren’t you?”

He was asking a horribly personal question, making her more hysterical. But she nodded, embarrassed, overwhelmed. “Of course.”

Baldemar smiled. “Wonderful,” he said soothingly. “God will reward you, Olivia, for giving birth to another holy son. You will have a great place in his kingdom here on earth. Isn’t that wonderful?”

She couldn’t answer him, too far gone with hysteria. Joseph, extremely unhappy at the way Olivia was being treated, carefully pushed past the cardinal and picked her up off the floor.  Olivia clung to him and wept as he carried her from the room.  Coral, mascara smears down her face, followed Joseph while Nat hung behind.  Soon they were alone in the room.

By this time, Baldemar’s gentle expression was vanished. “I don’t care how you do it, but make sure this does not fail,” he instructed in a cold voice. “If you have to drug her for the next nine months to keep her quiet, you’ll do it. I want that child born healthy. Is that clear?”

Nat nodded slowly. “It is, Your Eminence. “

“And send Coral home. We don’t need her anymore.”

“With pleasure.”

The Cardinal watched Nat silently leave the room. He knew how ruthless the man was and he knew, without a doubt, that his plans would be carried out.      

***

Their flight from Paris to Rome left at seven o’clock in the evening later that same day. Ethan, Cydney, Tyler, J.D., Christophe Dulay, Agents Penryn and Daniels were on it.  Tyler had been able to visit the Louvre for a couple of hours with his dad and Cydney, but they had to hurry back to the hotel to collect their baggage so they could make their flight to Rome. Tyler was disappointed that he only got to see a fraction of the Louvre, but he was excited to be going to Rome.  He wanted to go straight to the Colosseum when they got there.  It would seem the lure of gladiators held more excitement for him than the Mona Lisa.

The flight from Paris to Rome was only a couple of hours long.  They were on a smaller plane with two seats, an aisle, and then two seats, so Ethan and Tyler sat together while Cydney sat with J.D.  Christophe, Penryn and Daniels were somewhere towards the back of the plane. Cydney read a magazine while J.D. snored heavily next to her.

Cydney was pensive and apprehensive. Her thoughts lingered on her daughter and the desperation the young girl must have felt writing a message on the back of a bathroom stall door. But Ethan and J.D. gave Olivia a lot of credit for her cleverness.  She had, throughout this entire event, proven to be resourceful and strong. Cydney was proud of Olivia for her exhibition of strength, but she just wanted her daughter back.  A fifteen-year-old shouldn’t have to be so resourceful.

She could see Ethan’s profile between the seats up ahead as he talked with his son. She watched his gorgeous features as he interacted with Tyler and she found herself staring at him for most of the first half of the flight.  He was almost too good to be true, this FBI agent whom she had fallen madly, deeply in love with.  She couldn’t help think what her parents would say or what Kyle would say; they would be shocked initially, of course, but deep down, they would be very happy that she was moving on with her life. So, she suspected, would Brad.

Visions of Brad Hetherington popped into her mind for a moment as she listened to the drone of the engines. About five feet nine inches, Brad had been built like a fireplug with massive shoulders and a broad chest. He’d had dark blue eyes and a flashy, mega-watt smile. When Olivia had been a toddler, she’s had trouble with her ‘L’s’ and Brad used to gently tease his daughter about her lazy tongue in the hopes that she would practice proper speech.  The word “dollar” came out “dah-yer”. “Olivia” had been pronounced “Oh-yivia”. Cydney laughed to herself as she remembered the way Brad used to mimic Olivia.  Olivia, of course, would squeal in protest but she knew Daddy wasn’t serious. She’d very much loved her father, and she’d missed him terribly for eight years.

Odd how Ethan had helped heal in eight days what eight years couldn’t do. Cydney’s scabbed wound had turned into a scar, strong with Ethan’s healing powers. She knew Olivia would be thrilled that her mother was marrying him; she could tell that Olivia had liked him a great deal. Brad Hetherington was gone but the women he left behind were finally ready to move on. Cydney knew that Brad would have been very happy about that.  It was time.

The flight attendant came around with fruit, cheese and wine for a snack. Cydney took a little tray of cheese and fruit and J.D., roused from a deep sleep by the smell of pungent cheese, woke up in time to collect his food. As the flight attendant moved on to Ethan and Tyler, J.D. rubbed his eyes and put his tray down.

“Good morning,” Cydney said.

J.D. grunted. “Good morning,” he took the plastic off the cup of wine. “How long have we been in the air?”

“About an hour. We should start the descent soon.”

“Good,” he took a drink of his wine and a big bite of the strong cheese.  Chewing, he looked at Cydney as if suddenly seeing her for the first time.  When their eyes met, he smiled weakly. “Sorry I haven’t been good conversation.”

She grinned. “As I recall, you did the same thing on the flight to Paris. You must be one of those people who react hypnotically to an airplane.”

He nodded. “I do,” he said. “I haven’t seen a plane take off in years. I’m usually asleep by the time it rolls out from the gate.”

She laughed softly and sipped her wine. It took her a moment to realize that J.D. was holding his cup at her.

“Congratulations,” he said softly. “Ethan told me.”

She smiled, somewhat shyly, and clinked her plastic cup against his. “Thanks,” she replied. “I know it seems really, really soon, but, well….”

J.D. put up a hand to prevent any further explanation. “When it’s right, it’s right,” he said. “From what I heard, he was attracted to you from the start. Between you and me, I’m relieved.”

“Why?”

J.D. wriggled his eyebrows. “I’ve known Ethan for nine years,” he lowered his voice so Ethan, seated directly in front of him, wouldn’t hear. “When Kimberly left him, he was a changed man. Bitter, rude… just changed. It was like something went out of him when she left with Tyler. When he’d get around women, he usually turned into such an ass that I was afraid to let him interact with women in general. He’d usually leave them in tears.”

Cydney’s eyes widened. “Really?”

J.D. nodded and took another drink of wine. “I don’t think he’s really dated anybody in eight years and certainly not anybody seriously.”