Vatican Assassin by Mike Luoma Page B

me what to do, tells me I’m doing the Lord’s work. He should know, right? He’d be the one guy who should know, who has the authority to say, “go, do this for God,” right? Like M’Bekke said, best not to think about it too hard or examine it too closely.
    I will take this guy out efficiently, as quietly as possible, and, hopefully, without a trace of evidence. Because it’s what I do.
    Mr. Longeux buzzes him again in about an hour.
    “Hello, Father. We’re out past the Moon’s basic scanner range. I’ll need you to fill me in on our trip. Reagan Station thinks we’re going to the Wentworth Station. Where are we going?”
    “I’ll tell you on the bridge, if that’s okay, Mr. Longeux.”
    “Sure, Father. I’ll come get you. I made some dinner, so we can eat after we set the course.”
    Longeux is at the stateroom door in about a minute. He and BC head down the corridor to the right, towards the front of the ship. They pass through three hatches, winding their way through a twisting section of corridor past several closed hatches. Longeux finally leads BC through one that opens onto a large living space.
    A table and four chairs dominates the center of the room. The top of the table and the backs of the chairs are green, piped in gold.
    “Oh look, all color coordinated!” Nice look, I guess. Better than red and gold! And there’s enough gray on the walls and ceilings to remind you you’re on a ship. Gold and green stripes continue to run waist high around the four gray walls of the room. Also around the edges of the room are two exercise machines, a food prep station, and a small but gaudy shrine.
    Wow, this guy’s hardcore. I thought the conspicuous crucifix around the neck was a little much. Wouldya look at that shrine? I’m sure the Cardinal would approve.
    “Like my shrine, Father?”
    “I was just thinking that the Cardinal would approve.”
    “Oh he does! He did, I mean. He’s seen it. I asked him to come on board when I finished it, so he could bless it. He said he’d never seen a finer shrine on any ship, bigger or smaller, and he blessed it himself. I’m kind of proud of it. You don’t think it’s overdone, do you, Father?”
    “The colors match your ship. The use of gold is quite striking.”
    “That crucifix used to hang over the altar of my town church back on Earth, back where I used to go to mass growing up. UIN terrorists bombed the church and our town about four years ago. The church burned down, but that crucifix was spared. It didn’t melt, even in the middle of the fire. The priests said it was a miracle.”
    “Really.”
    “I was only visiting at the time. I used to work at the rectory as a kid, I was even an Altar boy, Father.” Longeux laughs to himself as he remembers. “At any rate, I was visiting the priests when the first bomb went off. I helped them best I could. We got the fire put down. That crucifix was preserved. But then the group of terrorists came back. They had guns and Molotov cocktails. The priests asked me to take the crucifix with me. They asked me to save it and escape on my ship as they delayed the terrorists.
    “I could hear the shots as I ran to my ship. When I took off and saw the scene from above, it looked like half the town was on fire. There was no one left to give the crucifix back to, so I set up this shrine with it, in their honor.
    “I hope it brings me good luck... So, how do you like the gravity?”
    “Huh?”
    “Most ships this size don’t have artificial G. I rigged up this system myself. It cost me some cargo space but it’s worth it. Must be all right if you didn’t even notice!”
    BC bounces on his heels. “Nice job. Everything going smoothly?”
    “Absolutely. Let’s head up to the bridge and get going somewhere.”
    Longeux leads BC to a ladder in a recessed alcove across the room. There’s a hatch in the seven-foot high ceiling in the alcove. Longeux climbs the ladder, pushes up the hatch and climbs up through. BC