Marco retreated to the altar and made ready to flee back down the nave. But he spotted another man garbed in a Swiss uniform. The man bent near a pew and yanked the imbedded bolt from the wood.
With terror overwhelming the pain in his belly, Marco turned toward the right transept, but again he was thwarted. A third figure stepped from the shadows of a confessional box, lifting another crossbow.
He was trapped.
The basilica was shaped like a crucifix, and three of its legs were now blocked by assassins. That left only one direction to flee. Toward the apse, the head of the cross. But it was a dead end.
Still, Marco hurried into the apse.
Ahead rose the Altar of the Chair of Peter, a massive gilt monument of saints and angels that housed the wooden seat of Saint Peter. Above it, an oval alabaster window revealed the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove.
But the window was dark and offered no hope.
Marco turned his back on the window and searched around him. To his left sat the tomb of Urban VIII. A statue of the grim reaper in the form of a skeleton climbed from the pope’s marble crypt, heralding the final fate of all men…and perhaps Marco’s own doom.
Marco whispered in Latin, “Lilium et Rosa.”
The Lily and the Rose.
Back in the twelfth century, an Irish saint named Malachy had a vision of all the popes from his century to the end of the world. According to his vision, there would be 112 popes in total. He described each with a short cryptic phrase. In the case of Urban VIII—who was born five centuries after Malachy’s death—the pope was named “the lily and the rose.” And like all such prophecies, the description proved accurate. Pope Urban VIII had been born in Florence, whose coat of arms was the red lily.
But what was most disturbing of all was that the current pope was next-to-last on Saint Malachy’s list. According to the prophecy, the next leader of the Church would be the one to see the world end.
Marco had never believed such fancies before—but with his fingers clutched tight around the tiny leather satchel, he wondered how close they truly were to Armageddon.
Footsteps warned Marco. One of the assassins was closing in. He had only enough time for one move.
He acted quickly. Stanching his bleeding to leave no trace, he moved off to the side to hide what must be preserved. Once done, he returned to the center of the apse. With no other recourse, he dropped to his knees to await his death. The footsteps neared the altar. A figure moved into view. The man stopped and stared around.
It was not one of the assassins.
And not even a stranger.
Marco groaned with recognition, which drew the newcomer’s attention. The man stiffened in surprise, then hurried over.
“Marco?”
Too weak to gain his feet, all Marco could do was stare, momentarily trapped between hope and suspicion. But as the man rushed toward him, his bearing was plainly full of concern. He was Marco’s former teacher, the man who had set up this midnight rendezvous.
“Monsignor Verona…,” Marco gasped, setting aside any suspicions, knowing in his heart that this man would never betray him. Marco lifted an arm and raised an empty hand. His other hand clutched the feathered end of the crossbow bolt still imbedded in his belly.
A single flicker of light drew Marco’s attention downward. He watched the red diode on the crossbow bolt suddenly blink to green.
No…
The explosion blew Marco across the marble floor. He left a trail of blood, smoke, and a smear of entrails. His belly was left a gutted ruin as he fell to his side at the foot of the altar. His eyes rolled and settled on the towering gilt monument above him.
A name rose hazily to his mind.
Petrus Romanus.
Peter the Roman.
That was the final name on Saint Malachy’s prophetic list, the man who would follow the current Holy Father and become the last pope on earth.
With Marco’s failure this night, such a doom could not be stopped.
Marco’s vision darkened. His ears grew deaf. He had no strength left to speak. Lying on his side, he stared across the apse to the tomb of Pope Urban, to the bronze skeleton climbing out of the pope’s crypt. From its bony finger, Marco had hung the tiny satchel that he’d protected for so long. He pictured the ancient mark burned into its leather.
It held the only hope for the world.
He prayed with his last breath that it would be enough.
FIRST
THE SPIRAL AND THE CROSS
VIATUS®
Tuesday, May 9—For immediate release
VIATUS SETS SIGHTS ON WORLDWIDE FOOD SECURITY
OSLO, NORWAY (BUSINESS WIRE)—Viatus International, the world’s market-leading petrochemical company, announced today the creation of its new Crop Biogenetics Research and Development Division.
“The mission of the new division is to develop technologies that will boost agricultural productivity to meet the rising global demand for food, feed, and fuel,” said Ivar Karlsen, CEO of Viatus International.
“With the establishment of our company’s Crop Biogenics division,” Karlsen said, “we intend to meet this challenge with all our resources, establishing the equivalent of an agricultural Manhattan Project. Failure is not an option—not for our company, not for the world.”
In recent years, the company’s patented hybridization and transgenic technologies have increased grain, corn, and rice yields by 35 percent. Karlsen said Viatus anticipates doubling its improved yield rate within the next five years.
Karlsen explained the necessity for such a new division during his keynote speech today at the World Food Summit in Buenos Aires. Citing the World Health Organization, he noted that one-third of the world is facing starvation. “We are in a global food crisis,” he said. “Most of those suffering are in the Third World. Food riots are spreading worldwide and further destabilizing dangerous regions around the globe.”
Food security, Karlsen said, has surpassed oil and water as one of the new millennium’s greatest crises and challenges. “Both from a humanitarian standpoint and from a concern about global security, it is vital to hasten food production through innovation and biotechnology.”
Leading the way in agricultural innovation: Viatus International is a Fortune 100 company based in Oslo, Norway. Founded in 1802, Viatus provides products in 180 countries around the globe, enhancing lives and life quality through research and innovation. It is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol VI. The name Viatus is based on the Latin via, the way, and vita, life.
1
October 9, 4:55 A.M.
Mali, West Africa
Gunfire woke Jason Gorman from a bone-deep sleep. It took him an extra half breath to remember where he was. He’d been dreaming of swimming in the lake at his father’s vacation house in upstate New York. But the mosquito netting that cocooned his cot and the predawn chill of the desert jolted him back to the present.