Vatican Abdicator Read online

  “That’s enough, Krish.”

  “They’re off!” the scientist says cheerfully.

  BC turns to the Pope.

  “M’Bekke, now we’ll discuss some matters of state. I promise, I did call you up here as a member of our war council.”

  “Thank you, BC”

  “Let’s talk about Mars.”

  The Khalif turns to BC. “What are these matters of state we need to discuss?” He doesn’t let BC

  answer, but instead continues on, “As I stated before: I recognize you as the civil authority in charge of Mars, and you recognize me as the spiritual leader of the Universal Islamic Nation, our UIN. We are in agreement, are we not?”

  “We are in agreement. Are you willing to sign documents to that effect?” BC asks him. “Let’s put it in writing, put it out there, show everyone humanity is united – why not?” He tries persuading the Khalif.

  “Fine. Draw them up and I will read them, and sign them as warranted.”

  “Great!” BC is elated. But doubt creeps quickly back in and he grows more cautious. “Why are you being so agreeable?” he asks the Khalif.

  “What choice do I have? We have few ships left thanks to the attacks by the Eldred and Dolomay, and few people left thanks to the plague. The few meager supplies we receive come from you and the UTZ. I can offer my people religious instruction and hope through the Prophet, from Allah, may he always be praised. But I cannot pretend we can fight you any longer. We’ve gained nothing by fighting! And so, we follow your… er, leadership,” he says, looking down at the table top. He looks back up, looks BC in the eye. “But we will not change who we are! Islam will not change for you, Bernard Campion. We will cooperate, but we will not compromise who we are inside. Know this, even as we cooperate on your new book.”

  “I don’t ask you to change who you are inside,” BC insists. “I don’t question your spiritual leadership, Khalif. That’s between you and the people of your faith. The book I propose will be what you will it to be, not what I want. It may not even come into being if we can’t all agree on what’s in it…

  but we’ll see, huh? It’s an exercise in trying to get along, in tolerance. Instead of intolerance,” BC smirks.

  “Get it? In tolerance… Intolerance?”

  “Ugh, I can’t believe you’re cracking a joke,” Anita groans. Krish snickers. Dell remains silent, as does Governor Erskine. M’Bekke tries to hide a grin.

  “Just trying to lighten the mood a little,” BC says defensively, looking around the table. The Khalif is actually smiling.

  “No, that is fine. I like good wordplay,” the Khalif says. His smile grows almost mischievous.

  “And even bad wordplay like that makes me smile.”

  BC grins.

  He has a sense of humor! There is hope…

  “I’ll take what I can get,” BC says, meaning it on many levels.

  “Indeed,” the Khalif answers, his smile replaced by a knowing look as he ponders the many meanings. “All is submission to the will of Allah,” he says after a pause. “You seem to have his favor, at the moment.”

  “You think so?” BC asks. “I hope so!”

  “I pray it is so,” the Khalif says. “Otherwise, all is lost. Allah be praised.”

  “Indeed. Allah be praised,” BC agrees.

  The Khalif raises an eyebrow, but nods in appreciation of BC’s declaration. Then he leans in towards BC and speaks conspiratorially, almost whispering, “I hope you can do this. I hope we can all pull together and win. But I have serious doubts. And these aliens are all ruthless. Do you really think we can beat them?”

  “I’ll level with you. I don’t know,” BC answers in a slightly louder voice. “But we’re working on it. The Project scientists,” he gestures over at Anita, Krish and Dell, “have been dissecting a captured Eldred ship. We’re learning more about them every day. We’ve found that they may be technically more advanced than us in some ways, but they have no imagination. That gives us an edge! The Eldred, like Dolomay, don’t have religion. They don’t seem to know love! I think these things give us power, as long as we use them for our own good, to unite us, instead of to divide us. We have the power of love. We have the power of Allah. And we have the gift of imagination we can draw from. These give me hope!”

  “I hope you are right,” the Khalif says, nodding, “though I sense you are indulging in hyperbole.”

  “What is truth?” BC asks.

  “Pontius Pilate?” the Khalif responds. “I’m not sure he’s a good model for you to be quoting.”

  He laughs.

  “You know Christian Scripture?” BC asks, surprised.

  “Don’t look so surprised! I am a student of many religions,” the Khalif informs him. BC smiles.

  “What?” the Khalif asks.

  “What could be better than a student of many religions, helping to shape a book reflecting all of them?” BC asks rhetorically. “Perhaps you are the perfect person… the right person, in the right place and at the right time!”

  “That is funny,” the Khalif says, rising from the table. “I was hoping the same was true of you,” he says to BC.

  BC stands up as he sees the Khalif is preparing to leave.

  “Khalif, when can we sign the documents?”

  “Prepare them, and then contact me. We should sign them on Mars, I should think.”

  “I think you’re right,” BC agrees. “So… I’ll see you there soon?”

  “Soon. Bring your cameras. I’m sure you’ll want ‘footage’ for the news,” the Khalif says with a minor hint of disdain in his voice. “Until then, good day,” he nods a brief bow, turns and leaves. BC sits back down and smiles.

  “That went better than I could have hoped,” he says to those still at the table, Erskine, Anita, M’Bekke, Krish and Dell.

  M’Bekke stands up to leave.

  “I must attend to matters back on Earth, back at Vatican City,” he tells them. “And soon, I’ll have a whole new batch of problems to attend to, thanks to your crazy ideas, BC! A new holy book…

  this will not go over well.” He smiles at BC despite his words. “I thank you all. I’m sure we’ll meet again soon, and you can all call me at the Vatican any time. Thank you,” he says. He gives BC a small nod, turns, and leaves the meeting room.

  BC looks back from the door.

  “The new Khalif seems almost reasonable,” Anita says with a hint of surprise in her voice.

  “I thought he would be the tough one! I was surprised M’Bekke was so… resistant,” BC admits.

  “The Curia must be getting to him!”

  Erskine gets up from the table.

  “This has all been fascinating. Can’t wait to see if this goes anywhere. What mankind hasn’t been able to do for 1500 or so years, you think you’ve pulled off in a matter of hours? We’ll see. But I’ve got a Moon to run. So, if you’ll excuse me?”

  “Certainly, governor,” BC tells her. “Thank you for attending.”

  “Keep me in the loop, huh?” she asks.

  “Of course,” BC assures her. He watches her leave.

  Hmmm… what about the Moon? Independent. Like Erskine. Should probably stay that way. Allied, but independent. Erskine is stable, wants the best for her people. We can probably count on her.

  Our love and our imagination. Our greatest weapons? So, then… are we doomed or what?

  “Were you just staring at her ass?” Anita asks BC.

  Jeesh! Speaking of imagination…

  “What? What kind of question was that? I was thinking about her, I mean, the Moon, you know, as an ally!”

  “While you were staring at her ass,” Krish interjects unhelpfully.

  “I was staring off into space!” BC protests.

  “Yeah, the space where her ass was,” Anita says. Suddenly, she snorts, and breaks out laughing.

  “I’m sorry. I was just trying to, you know, ‘lighten the mood a little’?”

  “Joking? What? Now you’re mocki
ng me? This council has really degenerated here. I get no respect!” BC protests.

  “I suggest you adjourn the meeting while you still cling to even a thread of respect,” Dell offers.

  “Meeting adjourned!” BC says, louder than he needs to.

  “Well done,” Dell says dryly, the hint of a smirk on his long face.

  “Enough meetings,” Krish exclaims. “Let’s get back to ripping that ship apart!”

  Krish and Dell take off to get back to work on the Eldred ship. BC and Anita are left alone in the cavernous conference hall.

  “I wasn’t looking at her ass,” BC insists, again.

  “What? Do you think I’m jealous or something?” Anita says. BC hears a little nervous tremble in her voice.

  “Maybe? I don’t know,” he shakes his head.

  “Don’t flatter yourself!” she says with a smirk.

  BC walks around the table to stand next to Anita.

  “What?” she says, playing ignorant.

  “Just thinking about our greatest weapons,” he tells her. “Imagination and lo…”

  “Shhh…” she says, closing the distance between them and holding a finger up to his lips. She looks around, then back at BC. She lets her finger drop as she leans in to kiss him. “Don’t say the ‘L’

  word just now,” she says as BC kisses her back.

  Okay… I won’t say it. But what else should I call it?

  They lose themselves for a few minutes, but finally separate. BC looks at Anita, smiling.

  “What?” She says.

  “Nothing,” BC answers. “I just can’t stop smiling. Perma-grin. Hey, you’re smiling, too.”

  “I am?” she asks, and she tries to stop. She can’t. She tries to look serious but a grin cracks out across her face.

  “Why not allow ourselves a little happiness?” BC asks her. “We don’t have to be serious all the time.”

  “I feel like I do,” Anita says. “I’ve always been… I was always the serious little girl.”

  She looks down at the floor. This time her smile does drop. BC reaches over to gently lift her face up.

  “Hey,” he says to her softly. “There will be plenty of time to be serious later.” He leans in and they kiss again.

  “Come back to my rooms?” he asks her when they break apart again.

  “Yeah,” she says quietly. She grabs hold of his hand and squeezes it tight. They walk out of the hall and back to BC’s rooms, together.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The com alarm goes off and wakes BC up from a sound sleep. He wakes up alone. Anita left yesterday. She headed out to the asteroids, back to oversee the Project operations out there. Glad she was able to spend the time here that she did. She can only do so much from the Moon. Still, the weeks just flew right by.

  The original Project asteroid base was trashed pretty badly by Dolomay in his raid two months ago, but the shipyard and the base on Ceres are up and running. Anita had to get back out there to keep the operation humming along.

  He misses her sleeping beside him.

  BC and Anita spent most of their off hours together during the last two months, as the Project regrouped on the Moon. It was nice to have Anita around for the holidays. She and BC managed to both work and play together, without it getting awkward.

  It’s been a good couple of months. Now the Project scientists have headed back out to the asteroids, this time to Ceres. They went public with Ceres Station, now officially known as the new base of The Project.

  BC smiles as he gets ready to face the day, thinking about Anita as he gets refreshed and dressed.

  So far, so good. We keep it all business all day, let ourselves go after hours. We have fun. Sometimes I’m surprised at her stamina. Man, it’s like she’s still trying to kill me… by wearing me out! It’s probably just this initial rush, the first blush, whatever you call it. Just don’t call it ‘love’ around Anita! I think she planned for the Project to leave just before Valentines Day on purpose…

  She doesn’t like the word, but I do think I love that woman.

  Love and imagination, our best weapons against Dolomay and the Eldred. Dolomay has disappeared for the time being. He took a beating, losing all but one ship. BC and his allies assume he’s gone to ground, found a base to hide in to lick his wounds and regroup. He’s been quiet. He hasn’t returned to the Project asteroid base. There’s no telling where he is. The Domo and The Flaze have not been complaining, so he hasn’t been hitting their bases. The Eldred have kept their presence known, but haven’t attacked again. They have scout ships which appear near Mars every day but don’t engage other ships.

  The Eldred are also keeping a menacing fleet presence near the Project base at Cat’s Eye. Several Project ships have had Eldred “escorts” as they traveled to the outer bases, Crankshaft, Rigel Four and Dimwit included.

  We never agreed to remain inside of the orbit Jupiter, did we? Even the UTZ Council was smarter than that. Ah, the UTZ Council…

  The UTZ Council hasn’t been meeting. BC’s war council has met more often. The war council meets in person. No one attends over the com, for risk of eavesdropping. Wentworth finally joined. The Khalif comes when he can, as does M’Bekke. Governor Erskine attends often. The Project crew did… until they all left yesterday Maybe we need a new meeting place.

  There’s the com again.

  The com alarm is going off.

  “Yeah?” BC answers.

  “Campion? Erskine here. We’ve got company.”

  Oh shit! Here we go!

  “The Eldred? Are they attacking? Here?”

  “No. Oh, no! Not the Eldred! Don’t worry, it’s not an attack!” she tries to calm him down when she realizes she’s alarmed him.

  BC’s heart slows down after racing and skipping a beat.

  “Who, then? What company?”

  “The Domo and the Flaze have both sent representatives here, to the Moon. They’re asking to set up missions here to open trade with us, and to offer their aid. Or so they say.”

  Interesting… Surprising… wonder what brings this on? Seems too brave for them. Only one explanation.

  They’ve gotta be spies.

  “I see.”

  “And they’re asking to see you, Campion.”

  “Okay. I’ll be right… Where are you?”

  “We can meet in my offices,” she says. “We’ll need security. The alien… the Domo and the Flaze were very public in their appearance here.”

  “Really? Well,” BC pauses, thinking. “Maybe this is a good sign?”

  “Maybe,” Erskine agrees. “We’ll see.”

  Maybe we can use them to advantage.

  “You know, so long as they don’t do anything threatening, they could be a sign of hope for people,” BC suggests.

  “How so?” Erskine asks.

  “Well, it reinforces the idea that there are aliens out there that aren’t trying to kill us. Aliens that want to set up embassies and be our allies,” BC says. “Makes it seem that somehow the entire universe isn’t entirely against us, out to get us! After that press conference a couple months back, people know they exist. But if they’re here every day, it makes it all more real, makes what I said ring true.”

  “I see. So, see you here soon?” Erskine asks.

  “Yeah… I’m actually supposed to be heading out for Mars right away, but I’ll be there.”

  The Domo and The Flaze Representatives are waiting in Erskine’s office when BC arrives. The Flaze have greatly improved their translation units, and speak in simple but complete sentences.

  “Hello, Bernard Campion,” the Flaze representative’s translation unit says nearly simultaneously with its hissing and whispering in its own tongue.

  “Hello, Flaze representative, Domo representative.”

  “Hello, Bernard Campion,” the Domo says.

  “I must say it is a surprise to see you here on Lunar Prime,” BC tells the two aliens, “When I last spoke with representatives of your races,
they seemed certain we were doomed to be wiped out by the Eldred. It seems unusual to set up trade agreements with a doomed race,” BC observes.

  “You humans do not all share the same ideas,” the Domo representative counters. “The same is true for our races. Among the Domo, and, yes, even among the Flaze, there are those of us who believe otherwise and are willing to take the risk.”

  “We do not see it as a risk. And we are requesting separate facilities,” the Flaze says. “The Eldred will know we are a Flaze outpost. They will spare our mission if they attack.” The alien pauses, turns to address Governor Erskine. “Forgive me if I assume too much too soon. This would be what we would request for our Flaze mission here.”

  “I see,” Erskine responds. “That makes sense. I can understand that. And will the Domo want to build their own separate mission as well?” she asks the other alien.

  “Why…” the Domo pauses, considering its response, “why yes, we would. We Domo sometimes make other races… uncomfortable.”

  That’s a big admission! I can feel the drain just being in the same room. Good idea keeping the Domo apart. Have to tell Erskine to watch for any strange disappearances and deaths.

  The aliens and Erskine work out the basics of their requests. BC helps iron out a couple of small details, but he’s really not a necessary participant once the initial hurdles are jumped. The Domo still makes everyone else uneasy and vaguely tired and drained. But the aliens’

  requests are reasonable, and strikingly similar to the requests the Vatican once made prior to setting up the Vatican Mission at Lunar Prime.

  Erskine agrees to let the aliens set up missions, autonomous zones they will construct themselves, in a secure section of Lunar Prime currently devoid of development. The government of Lunar Prime agrees to maintain an airlock and security on the Lunar Prime side of the lock. BC leaves the meeting in Governor Erskine’s hands, and leaves one meeting for another. This one requires some traveling. BC hops a Stinger ship for the trip. He’s due on Mars for the official signing ceremony with the Khalif, as planet Mars agrees to official UTZ jurisdiction, while the UIN

  still remains an independent religious organization.