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_This is where you can get your fiction fix at the Skeptics Post. We intend on publishing a few books each year a few chapters at a time. If you own the rights to a novel, preferably one you wrote, and you'd like to see it here on the Skeptic's Post send it to Submissions@skepticspost.com and we'll consider it. We like thrillers that deal with government or religion, we also enjoy mysteries if they're well done but we'll consider most anything. If you decide to submit a novel to us please include a short letter giving us the right to publish it and send a couple chapter sample and a synopsis of the novel. The work does not have to be previously published but if it's not we'd suggest you at least self publish on Kindle and Nook before you send it to us, maybe having it here will get you some exposure and make you a best selling author, probably not but who knows. If you have a cover file and a link to where the book can be purchased send that in as well and we'll put it up when we publish your work.

Our current selection is On This Rock by Dave Leonard. It's a good example of the type of thing we like because it blends fiction with facts and it offers up a real alternative version of established history. This book is fiction but it contains enough interesting historical facts that make the storyline, or a similar storyline, quite plausible. If the basis for this book was ever proven to be true it would destroy the Catholic Church as we know it, in fact, the Skeptic thinks this book is far more explosive than than the DaVinci Code because it deals specifically with the Catholic Church and not with all of Christendom. The Skeptic read this book a couple years ago and it got him interested in the history of the Catholic Church and that led to some of the articles you can read here at the Skeptics Post. Hopefully one of the books you send in will interest the Skeptic just as much as this one. If it does you can be assured you'll see it down the road on the Skeptics Post.

We are getting a number of requests from writers to publish their work so we are going to consider publishing more than one author at a time. The consensus here is that the most we could do is three at any given time but this will take some time. We need to read at least a few chapters of your novel so if you want to see your work here send it in as described above, we will consider anything but thrillers and historical novels dealing with government or religion will get the most consideration. Once again, we can't guarantee you'll see any increase in sales or exposure but we think any publicity is good publicity.
Dave Leonard reports his sales are up since the Skeptics Post first published his novel on the site.

The Skeptics Post has received several emails asking if we would place links on the site to help authors sell their books without serializing them. We hadn't planned planned on it and we don't want to fill a page with links to books, the main reason is if we accept one we really think we need to accept all so what we will do is put up a limited amount of links. You can get more information HERE.

An Old Black Marble by Florin Nicoara

Check out the first few chapters of An Old Black Marble here.

If you like it you can buy it here.

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On This Rock
by Dave Leonard

Chapters 4-7 Added 3/22

_On This Rock
A Novel by Dave Leonard

Copyright© 2009 by Dave Leonard
All rights reserved This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

_  Some interesting quotes and facts

 

 

 

 

 

Simon Magus is a real historical figure who was credited with having founded a Universal Religion in Rome at the time St Peter was supposedly in Rome.

 

Second century historian St Justin Martyr of Rome describes Simon as a man who claimed to be a God. Justin says that Simon came to Rome during the reign of the Emperor Claudius and by his magic arts won many followers and these followers erected a statue of him with the inscription "Simon the Holy God"

 

There is not a single source, other than Roman Catholic tradition, that places Peter in Rome at that time or any other time. In fact many histories of the period mention that Peter could not possibly have been in Rome at any point. The Bible itself describes his whereabouts at many stages of his life but it never once places him in Rome.

 

An ossuary bearing the inscription Simon bar Jona was discovered in Jerusalem at Dominus Flevit on the Mount of Olives in 1953. Simon bar Jona was the birth name of St Peter. Many people believe this is the actual grave of St Peter.

 

Many people believe modern day Freemasonry is descended from the Knights Templar.

 

The Spirituali was a real group comprised of Catholic Clergy and laymen, including Michelangelo and Cardinal Reginald Pole, an English nobleman.

 

In his book, Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, Father Charles Chiniquy quotes a Catholic bishop as saying, “We are also determined to take possession of the United States…what will those so-called giants think when not a single senator or member of Congress will be chosen, unless he has submitted to our Holy Father, the pope.

Abraham Lincoln told Father Charles Chiniquy he knew the Jesuits were trying to kill him and that he knew they would never quit trying.

 

John Surratt, a Lincoln assassination conspirator, escaped the hangman after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. With the aid of a large network of Catholic priests he found his way to the Vatican where he served as a Papal Zouave.

 

Michelangelo Tamburini, Father General of the Jesuits from 1706-1731 said, “I govern, not only to Paris, but to China; not only to China, but to all the world, without anyone knowing how I do it.”

 

Orestes Brownson, noted 19th century intellectual and prominent Catholic said, “Undoubtedly it is the intention of the pope to possess this country. In this intention he is aided by the Jesuits, and all the Catholic prelates and priests.”

The Jesuit Oath quoted in this novel comes from the Congressional Record 1913, P3216

 

Prologue

 

 

In a small cabin tucked away in the woods of Virginia, not very far from Washington DC, a short, slight man wearing an old tattered suit sat alone in the early evening darkness. He was trying to get some rest after a long and arduous journey but the cabin was cold and there was no heat. There was a fireplace but he didn’t dare to light a fire on the off chance the flickering light might be spotted through a window. He’d traveled thousands of miles to get here so he thought one more night without the comfort of a warm fire wouldn’t kill him. But, the man who had been chasing him ever since he’d left Rome would and Father Quinn knew it. His kind had killed many times through the years.

The man had almost caught up with him at Grand Central Station in New York the previous morning but Father Quinn managed to escape when the man slipped and fell. Father Quinn caught the train to Washington where he rented a small car and drove to this little cabin. The cabin was quite isolated but with the help of a crudely sketched map sent to him by his friend, Seth Appleton, he found it without much trouble.

It had been two years since Father Quinn had first started corresponding with Seth Appleton. Although they’d only met the one time in person they’d become quite close friends through their correspondence and now Father Quinn was counting on Seth to help him escape from his pursuer. Seth had told him he’d be there in the morning.

 Father Quinn had been assigned to work at the Vatican for over thirty years and would likely have spent the remainder of his life there if he hadn’t stumbled on something that would fundamentally change his feelings towards his Church. Quite by accident he’d overheard a couple priests talking quietly about something they called the Order of Simon Magus. Since he’d been at the Vatican so many years and had never heard of any such Order he asked them about it but they quickly dismissed him. As he walked away one of them called out to him and warned him that he’d be wise to forget he’d ever heard the name of Simon Magus. Of course Father Quinn had heard the name before, virtually every priest had, Simon Magus was a well known person in ancient Rome, but he’d never heard of the Order of Simon Magus. What troubled the old priest was that he couldn’t understand why the priests were so concerned that he’d heard them talking the supposed Order. Father Quinn was used to infighting at the Vatican but there was something eerily frightening about the way the priests spoke to him. After that incident it seemed to him that his life had somehow changed but he couldn’t exactly put a finger on just what made him feel that way.

It was only a few weeks after that incident that he was walking across St Peter’s Square when a tourist stopped him. The man asked him a question about a story he’d heard regarding an ossuary that had been discovered in Jerusalem. Before the question was out of the man’s mouth Father Quinn knew what he was talking about. It wasn’t unusual for tourists to ask about that ossuary. It was something the Vatican had been trying to explain for over fifty years without much success. In 1953 an ossuary had been discovered on the Mount of Olives by two Catholic priests and the inscription on it claimed that the bones inside belonged to Simon bar Jona, the original name of St Peter. It had long been a source of embarrassment to the Vatican who continued to claim that St Peter was buried right under the altar of St Peter’s Basilica.

After telling the man that he really wasn’t sure where St Peter’s mortal remains were buried, a strange position for a Catholic priest to take, the two men struck up a conversation and found they actually had quite a lot in common. The two men left the Vatican together that day and spent a couple hours talking over a good meal. The man was Seth Appleton and although Father Quinn didn’t know it at the time, Seth was no ordinary tourist. He was at the Vatican searching for someone exactly like Father Quinn and he had spoken to several other priests before deciding to confide in him. When Seth had finished explaining his true purpose for being at the Vatican Father Quinn understood why the conversation he’d overheard about the Order of Simon Magus had troubled him so much. By the time they parted Father Quinn even surprised himself by agreeing to act as Seth’s eyes and ears inside the Vatican.

The first couple years he thought what he was doing for the American seemed rather foolish. It mostly involved writing letters to Seth about seemingly mundane and insignificant events that were taking place. But Seth seemed interested and he kept asking for more so Alec dutifully complied and sent more information. Then, about a month ago, a series of events rattled the world and suddenly his friend Seth’s concerns seemed all too real. Father Quinn’s current trouble actually began with the death of the newly elected pope only one week into his papacy. His death was shocking to most of the world but inside the Vatican it seemed to barely raise an official eyebrow. The pope was said to have been in perfect health and was only sixty-four years old when he was found dead in his bed one morning by his camerlengo. The official explanation was a heart attack but since no autopsy was ever conducted no one would be able to say that with certainty.

Maybe even more shocking than the sudden death of the pope was the election of his successor. When the cardinals held their second conclave in two weeks they shocked everyone by electing an American. Not just any American but a very young, by papal standards, fifty-three year old outspoken cardinal who was originally from Maryland, Cardinal Jonah Benedetti. Jonah had been working at the Vatican for most of his career but nonetheless his election had the world’s press in a feeding frenzy.  They were starving for information about the first ever American pope.

Now all of this might have been interesting enough by itself but it was especially intriguing that the new pope, who’d taken the name Pius XIII, was making the very people who’d just elected him nervous, extremely nervous. He continued to talk up an idea that he’d been espousing for years. When he was a younger man no one had taken him too seriously when he talked about increasing the Vatican’s influence. But now, he was the pope and he surprised everyone by continuing to insist he’d been very serious indeed when he said he wanted to restore the Church to at least some of its former glory.

Father Quinn sent a letter to Seth informing him of these developments. He was surprised when he immediately received a response from his friend Seth asking him for a favor and advising him to leave the Vatican as soon as possible. Initially he hesitated but ultimately he agreed. There was a certain document that Seth told him he’d find in a small underground chapel at the Vatican and Seth needed it. When he followed the directions Seth had sent him he found the hidden chapel easily enough but finding the document was something else altogether. The collection was exactly where Seth said it would be but it was far more voluminous than he ever could have imagined. In spite of the fact the chapel was quite cool Father Quinn was perspiring as he searched for the specific document Seth wanted but he was so nervous he’d be caught he found it difficult to concentrate. In addition to his fear, he had to deal with the fact that the filing system in this room was almost indecipherable to him. After searching for over an hour he finally had what he believed to be the document Seth had requested, a list of the current members of the Order of Simon Magus. He wasn’t positive it was a complete list but he was far too nervous to continue looking so he put everything back as it was and left with the document tucked away under his robe.

 It didn’t take him long to realize that he had not escaped unnoticed and before he was out of Rome he knew he was being followed. Probably by a Jesuit he thought, the Jesuits had been doing the Vatican’s dirty work for centuries and they were notoriously ruthless. The leader of the Jesuits was addressed as Father General which Father Quinn thought perfectly explained what they were all about.

And that’s how he found himself in the cold cabin in Virginia, shivering in the dark and afraid for his life. The night passed slowly and he prayed for sleep to come but the chill night air made it difficult but sometime around three he finally drifted off to sleep.

Shortly after sunrise that same morning Seth Appleton arrived at the cabin and parked his Cadillac behind Father Quinn’s rental car. A bit overweight and fast approaching sixty it took him a minute to climb out of the car. He looked around carefully and seeing nothing that looked amiss he approached the front door cautiously nevertheless. Before knocking on the door he peeked through a small window in the door. He could see his friend sleeping on the sofa. Breathing a sigh of relief he knocked on the door and waited.

He waited a minute and knocked again, softly, he didn’t want to startle the older priest. Seth looked through the window again but Father Quinn had not moved and Seth felt his chest beginning to tighten and his pulse quicken. He softly knocked once more hoping that his friend was just sleeping but he was beginning to fear that wasn’t the case. Seth knocked again, but louder now, and when he looked inside there was still no response. Placing his hand on the doorknob he twisted it slowly to the right and pushed the door, it was not locked and it opened wide.

Seth walked to the sofa. The cabin was dark in spite of the bright sunshine outside and it wasn’t until he was a few feet from the priest that he could see the large hole in the side of his head. There wasn’t much blood, probably because he was killed almost instantly. Surveying the scene he noticed a piece of folded white paper on the end table. It was held in place by a small gold cross. “Nice touch.” He said to no one. Seth picked up the paper and read the one word message. TRAITOR.

Seth picked up the phone with a gloved hand so as not to leave any fingerprints and called 911. He told the operator he’d found a dead body but he declined to give her any further information. He checked Father Quinn’s pockets and searched the cabin thoroughly for the list he’d asked his friend to bring along but he found nothing. He said a quick prayer for his friend and left the area quickly and drove away before he picked up his cell phone and made a call. “Hi, this is Seth.”

“Did our friend from Rome make it here okay?”

“He made alright…but he didn’t survive the night.”

“They got him?”

“They got him.”

“You think it was…”

Seth interrupted, “The Jesuits are the only ones who’d want to kill a poor old priest like this.”

“So no sign of the stuff he was carrying for us?”

“The only thing I found was a note that simply said ‘traitor’ in big block letters. It was sitting on a table by his head. They used a gold cross as a paperweight.”

 

 

Chapter 1

September 1985

The Vatican

 

 

Father Joshua Cole waited nervously in his room for his friend, Father Jonah Benedetti, to arrive. Jonah was known throughout the Vatican as a man with a very hot temper and that wasn’t making Joshua any more comfortable. Many times in the past, and often for no discernable reason, he’d seen Jonah unload on fellow priests, low level Vatican employees and even the occasional tourist. While Jonah could be charming Joshua always felt he was on the verge of an explosion but nevertheless they remained good friends. Unfortunately for Joshua the news he had to tell Jonah would likely test their friendship and that infamous temper. 

This wasn’t the first time in Joshua’s life that his natural curiosity had caused him problems but it certainly was the most frightening. He felt like he’d made a mistake, a very serious mistake that might cost him that friendship and perhaps more. In the past the worst thing he could recall happening to him as a direct result of his endless curiosity was when he was attending seminary. He had a professor who Joshua felt didn’t know the material as well as he should and Joshua questioned him relentlessly which angered and embarrassed the man. The professor refused to call on him for the remainder of the semester, flunked him, and told him never to enroll in one of his classes again. Father Cole had a feeling things would go much worse for him this time.

Joshua was an only child raised in a small Massachusetts town. His parents divorced when he was ten years old and he’d spent the rest of his childhood being passed back and forth from mother to father and back again. His mother was an alcoholic who, when she managed to stay sober, was a good mother. She encouraged her son to better himself and to always strive to do the right thing. The trouble was when she was drinking she was a different person altogether. She was a barfly who brought home a wide variety of men and even the occasional woman and made no attempt to hide any of her activities from her young son. Joshua witnessed all this without ever passing judgment on her; he just watched and stayed out of her way.

His father owned a small two pump gas station with two service bays and lived in a small apartment over the garage after the divorce. When Joshua was staying with him he slept on a pullout sofa and worked in the garage. When he was young that work involved nothing more than pumping gas and checking oil but eventually he became a good mechanic. He continued to work for his father off and on until he graduated from St John’s Seminary.

Joshua wasn’t raised a Catholic, in fact he wasn’t really exposed to religion of any sort as a child. The first time he even considered going to church was when he was living with his father at the gas station. A neighbor invited him to attend services at the local Baptist Church but his father discouraged his regular attendance. Bill Cole knew all about the Baptist’s well known hatred of drinking and card playing and he didn’t want his son to go through life not knowing those simple pleasures. Joshua first became interested in the priesthood when he was sixteen and he met a priest who had his car serviced at his father’s station. The ornate Church where he served was just a block from the gas station and Joshua spent a lot of time there talking to Father Butler about anything that crossed his mind. It was his first prolonged exposure to organized religion of any kind. His own father was nominally a Protestant but he never attended any church that Joshua was aware of and his mother had never expressed any religious views at all. The priest took an interest in the teenager and encouraged him to attend mass which Joshua did and eventually he converted to Catholicism. He wasn’t sure how much Church dogma he really believed but attending mass seemed to give his life a purpose and Father Butler encouraged him to pursue his education. He developed an interest in history and old documents and studied to be an archivist.

The road to the priesthood could not have been any more different for young Jonah Benedetti. Raised in a prominent and very strict Catholic family from Baltimore, his very first memories were of his parents telling him that they had dedicated his life to God. If he so much as dared to mention that he was thinking of becoming anything other than a priest one parent or the other quickly made it clear to him that it was out of the question. They were so effective in their brainwashing of their boy by the time he reached his sixteenth birthday he never again allowed himself to dream of being anything other than a priest. He began to allow himself to consider the possibility of working in the Vatican, living in close proximity to the Holy Father and walking where the Saints once walked.

Once in a while, if he was feeling particularly optimistic, he even allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to wear the Ring of the Fisherman himself. Of course he knew it was extremely unlikely because never in the history of the Church had an American been elected pope. But ever the optimist he thought there had to be a first time, there were always firsts in every field.

Both young men were academically gifted and it wasn’t long after they each graduated from seminary that they found their separate roads to the Vatican. It was mere coincidence that they were both assigned there at the same time. They met shortly after they’d arrived when Joshua stopped Jonah in St Peter’s Square to ask for directions and Jonah had to admit he was just as lost as Joshua. It turned out they were both looking for the same place and in the process of locating the building they became close friends. Ten short years later they’d both risen fast in their chosen careers and were both held in high regard by their colleagues.

Joshua loved his work which was in the highly secretive Vatican archives; he couldn’t have imagined working in a more exciting place. To the average person working in what amounted to an extremely small country with a bunch of priests might not sound like the ideal job but to a trained archivist it was as close to heaven as one could be. But as the years passed it gradually dawned on him that it wasn’t serving God that made him so happy but the work itself. It wasn’t that he didn’t love God, he’d grown to believe deeply in a Higher Power. But he did begin to wonder just how much this particular Church cared about the same things he imagined God would care about.

 What Joshua really loved were the old documents, looking at them, reading them, touching them and just being in the same room with them. They seemed to have the ability to take him back to another time and he loved it. He called it time travel and he had the ability to lose himself in the documents and imagine what the world was like when each document was written. There were plenty other archives around the world where someone with his experience could find a job and he began to think he might be just as happy somewhere else, someplace that didn’t control every aspect of his personal life. Granted there weren’t many places in the world with the kind of material the Vatican had in its possession but increasingly he could feel the tug of the outside world pulling at him. The fact that he had doubts about the church he served made him realize that after ten years in the priesthood it might be time to call it quits. After all, many of the documents he worked with on a daily basis only served to remind him that the Catholic Church was hardly what Christ envisioned when he founded his Church.

On top of that, the corruption that existed within the Church troubled him and the lack of any serious effort to reign it in made it even more difficult for him to think of staying much longer. How could these supposed men of God abuse children and what was worse, how could their bishops and cardinals work so hard to cover it up, even at the expense of the young victims? That was hardly the only issue that bothered him but it was certainly the most visible lately. To Joshua the church seemed more interested in temporal power than the work of saving souls. It seemed to Joshua that the men who worked at the Vatican cared about money and power and little else. If it wasn’t for the clerical clothing they wore Joshua thought this place wasn’t much different than any other place of business. Oh, they certainly paid lip service to the Lord’s work for public consumption but behind the scenes it was clear to Joshua that saving souls was far from the chief concern of this Church. Working in the archives he’d read many church documents that left no doubt what issues they really cared about and it tried his increasingly fragile faith in the Church. It had been this way from the very beginnings of the Church and it continued to this day. Popes had always cared more about having kings and emperors swearing their loyalty to the Holy See than they ever did for the soul of any pauper struggling to survive.

Those were the issues on his mind when he finally went to see his superior, Bishop Rioux,  to tell him he planned on leaving the priesthood for a career in the secular world. Bishop Rioux was a fat man with bad breath and terrible body odor but he had a great intellect and had gone out of his way to help Joshua when he first arrived to work in the Vatican archives. Joshua expected him to try and convince him to stay but to his surprise Bishop Rioux seemed to understand his position perfectly.

Bishop Rioux put his arm around Joshua’s shoulder and said, “You know Joshua, many years ago I had a similar crisis of faith myself but I found a way to deal with it within the Church. If you’re interested I could introduce you to some people who might be able to help you.” He kept Joshua in his office for what seemed an eternity and told him about a group within the church that tried to fill the needs of priests dealing with a loss of faith. Although Joshua had already decided to leave he thought he owed the Church one last chance to win him back and told the bishop he’d be willing to try anything.

Joshua was assigned to a fellow priest who spent hours talking to Joshua every day. It was a strange couple months for Joshua, instead of receiving the expected counseling it felt as if he were being recruited by a cult. They didn’t speak of God’s love or salvation but they spoke continually of the Church and its place in the world.

Nothing about his guide or their conversations seemed designed to help him strengthen his faith but rather to help him deal with the fact that his faith had deserted him. He wanted more than ever to resign from the church and leave it all behind but his curiosity about this group got the better of him. Joshua found it impossible to imagine that this secretive organization could have existed inside the Vatican without his knowledge for the ten years he’d been here. He became obsessed with finding out everything he could about this group and he allowed his guide to think that he couldn’t wait to become a member. He told himself that once he found out what it was all about he’d resign and be on his way, with his curiosity satisfied. Two and a half months after his initial conversation with Bishop Rioux he was told that he’d been accepted into the group and he was invited to join the mysterious group known as the Order of Simon Magus.

His first meeting was to be held almost immediately after he agreed to join the group. But before he was even allowed to enter the room where the initiation ceremony would be held he was required to swear an oath. An oath that he would never reveal any of the secrets that were about to be revealed to him upon penalty of death, not just death, but apparently a very painful death. The harsh language of the oath didn’t surprise him, he knew many secret organizations required similar oaths. When he became a priest he had taken an oath that was surprisingly ominous. He remembered wondering at that time how many Catholics would be troubled if they knew the oaths their priests spoke before they were allowed to be called a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. The oath damned all other religions and required allegiance to the pope over all else, including one’s country. This oath, however, took it all a step beyond that and somehow these men seemed to take all of this very seriously. Especially the part that spoke of just how he would die if he so much as breathed a single word to anyone of the group’s existence, they seemed very serious about that particular point. He elected to take the oath in spite of the ultimate sanction it promised for betrayal. A friend of his from the States had joined the Freemasons a few years ago and apparently they too had a penalty of death in their own oath. But it was obvious that his friend didn’t take it very seriously because he’d proceeded to tell Joshua all the details of his membership that would supposedly get his throat cut from ear to ear and worse. Maybe the Freemasons didn’t mean it when they threatened death to oath breakers, or maybe they didn’t know about his friend’s betrayal because his friend was still very much alive. Joshua expected that the Order of Simon Magus probably treated breaking the oath in a fashion pretty similar to the Freemasons, a lot of talk but not much else.

The room where he took his oath was dark, the only light coming from a few candles. Joshua wasn’t even sure what building the room was in, he was blindfolded at the altar in St Peter’s Basilica and led on a long walk by his guide. He was sure he never went out of doors after the blindfold was applied but that didn’t mean much, the Vatican was riddled with tunnels and he could be just about anywhere. Everything seemed suitably eerie enough for the occasion and Joshua was duly impressed by the theatrics. He wondered why these secretive organizations felt the need to be so ritualistic and dramatic but he supposed it must come from some need men harbored to feel a part of something exciting and perhaps even dangerous.

Once the oath had been sworn a large door opened and he was escorted into another room that looked very much like a medieval chapel. It was dark and the walls were constructed of large stones, the floor was also paved with stone that was worn very smooth by centuries of use. But who exactly used the room he wondered, and why the hell didn’t he know about it? After working in the Vatican for ten years with access to all the plans and drawings that the Vatican possessed he didn’t believe there was anything he didn’t know about the physical assets of the Church. Yet, he’d never heard so much as a whisper of this place or seen it on any plans of the Vatican. As his eyes adjusted to the low light he saw a man, sitting on an elaborate throne. The man wore a purple robe and an elaborate crown, a three tiered crown like popes had worn for centuries. Pope Paul VI was the last pope to have a coronation and every pope since then had declined to wear the crown, at least in public. The combination of a dimly lit room and a small spotlight that shone directly in his eyes made it impossible to positively identify the man but Joshua assumed it was the current pope. Though he couldn’t recognize the man on the throne he had no trouble seeing the man who replaced the guide who had led him into the room, it was his good friend, Jonah Benedetti.

Jonah hugged him and shook his hand, “Welcome Joshua, I was hoping that you’d eventually find your way to us. Once you get to know what we’re all about you’ll understand why I couldn’t invite you to join. I wanted you here but it’s not a group that just anyone can join. You must show us by your actions that you are worthy and sincerely interested. I’m really happy to say you’ve done just that.”

Joshua wondered just what there was to be so happy about, supposedly he was here because he’d lost his faith in God, that would hardly seem the occasion for joy of any kind.

The ceremony included a very brief and sketchy history of the Order of Simon Magus delivered by an older priest who Joshua recognized as Father Giovanni Giordano. Father Giordano worked for the Cardinal Secretary who was probably the most important person in the Vatican other than the pope himself.

When Father Giordano was finished Joshua was led through what amounted to an interactive stage play. He was lead through a series of imagined situations where he met a variety of characters. The last station was at the altar of the small chapel where another priest chanted for a few minutes in Latin. Joshua couldn’t understand most of what was being said because the pronunciation of the speaker was horrible. When the chanting was completed the priest poured oil over Joshua’s head and said ‘vos es iunctus nobis’, Latin for you are joined with us. That part the priest got right and Joshua understood quite clearly.

After the strange ceremony, Joshua was required to sign a written oath, it was only slightly more intimidating than the one he’d just spoken outside this room. After he’d signed it in the appropriate place Jonah took a sharp instrument and before Joshua knew what was happening he’d made a small incision on Joshua’s right forefinger. Jonah squeezed his finger and the blood was allowed to drip freely over his signature.

When the signature was sufficiently bloody Jonah took Joshua’s hand and slipped a ring on his right ring finger and said, “Welcome to the Order of Simon Magus Joshua.”

Joshua looked at the ring, it bore the initials SM and the Latin inscription tantum nobis. The ring looked like a man’s wedding band and the inscriptions were small and difficult to see from more than a few inches away. His attention to the ring was distracted when the small gathering in the room began to chant in Latin. A infractus sacramentum est nex. Joshua knew his Latin well and what the strange gathering was telling him was that if he broke his oath it would mean certain death, a certain and violent death.  He felt a chill run up his spine and wondered for the first time if his curiosity might have gotten the best of him, just like that cat he’d heard so much about when he was a child. He fervently hoped he wouldn’t meet the same fate as the cat. As the group filed out of the room they followed a route that led them by the man on the throne where each man stopped, bowed his head and kissed his hand. Joshua watched and followed their example, he wanted to get a closer look at the man on the throne but he kept his head bowed. Today might not be the day to show any disrespect to his new friends. He knelt before the man and kissed his hand.

When it was over Jonah went with him to his room where they talked late into the night about the Order of Simon Magus. He explained that he’d been a member of the Order of Simon Magus for over three years and as time went by he was sure that Joshua would come to understand everything much more clearly and love it as much as he did.

“Why is it impossible to see the face of the man on the throne? Is he ashamed of what he’s doing?”

“He’s not ashamed. I know who he is and you can probably guess but you’ll know for sure soon enough. There are a series of steps you must take in order to be entrusted with all of the secrets of the Order. There are many secrets and we need to be sure that you can be trusted before we fully reveal ourselves to you.”

Joshua held up his hand and pointed at the ring he now wore. “What’s with the ring?”

“It’s just a way for our members to identify each other. As I’m sure you noticed it’s not very impressive but when you see a similar ring on a member of the Catholic clergy you can be assured the man wearing the ring is a member, and a friend.” He held up his own hand. “I’ll bet you never even noticed I wear mine all the time.”

“You’re right, until this moment I never noticed it at all.”

“As it should be Joshua.”

“How many of us are there?”

“As a percentage of all Catholic clergy we are a very small number but we are the ones who have controlled this Church from its very beginnings.” Jonah smiled, “We control this immense organization and nobody knows how we do it except for us. In fact, the priests and bishops of this Church are by and large unaware they are even being controlled at all.”

“And you like this Jonah?”

“No, I love it and you will too Joshua…I promise.”

When Jonah finally left Joshua spent what was left of the night tossing and turning in his bed unable to sleep. Why did he allow himself to get wrapped up in this business? He could have left the Church, lots of priests left. It was hardly unheard of for a priest to return to civilian life, in fact nowadays many were leaving. The church was never happy to see a good man leave but as far as he knew no one was ever killed for it. The oath and the chanting were haunting him.

Eventually he fell asleep but almost as soon as he did his alarm sounded and he woke up in a fog. Joshua’s first thought was the whole thing had been a dream but the incision on his finger reminded him that it was all too real. Before his faith began to fail him the first thing Joshua did every morning was to say his prayers but after what he’d seen last night, prayer was the last thing on his mind.

Not wanting to put off what he knew he had to do he called Jonah to tell him he wanted to leave and pursue a different line of work. Unfortunately, Jonah was busy and couldn’t see him until later that day so Joshua decided to go about his regular duties and go to work in the archives. Looking at the same faces he saw every day now seemed to take on new importance to him. How many of these men were members of the Order of Simon Magus? Were they watching him, looking for signs of betrayal already? Jonah said he wouldn’t be fully trusted initially, maybe there were members all around him, watching him, waiting for him to make a mistake. He just didn’t know. How could he have been a priest this long and not known anything about this group? It all seemed very surreal and very unnerving. Whoever they were, they sure knew how to keep a secret, you had to give them that.

He worked quietly in his office and avoided talking with his coworkers all morning. The thought suddenly dawned on him that now that he was a member of this secret Order he might not be allowed to resign. He certainly couldn’t just go to Bishop Rioux as he had a couple of months ago and tell him he wanted to leave. Bishop Rioux was the one who steered him to the Order of Simon Magus in the first place.

His phone rang just after two, it was Jonah, “So what’s so important that you need to see me today? After all the talking we did last night I can’t imagine there’s anything new to say already.”

“I’d rather wait until I can see you in person Jonah if you don’t mind.”

“For such an old and dear friend it’s not a problem. Shall I come to see you at your office or would you like to come here?”

Joshua hoped to have it in a more casual setting and invited Jonah to his room. Jonah agreed and arrived exactly when he said he would. And that’s when Joshua Cole found out just how seriously Jonah took the Order of Simon Magus.

“You want to leave the Order of Simon Magus now?” Joshua saw Jonah’s legendary temper beginning to show itself. “You haven’t even been a member for twenty-four hours.”

“It’s not so much that I want to leave Jonah but it just doesn’t feel right for me. I was really uncomfortable.”

“Not nearly as uncomfortable as you’re going to be.” Joshua noticed a vein in Jonah’s neck as it began to bulge.

“I know leaving like this is probably something that the Order doesn’t approve of but you don’t have a thing to worry about. The secret is safe with me, I won’t say a word to anyone.”

Jonah seemed to calm down, “We’re not worried about that in the least.”

“Good, because the last thing I’d like to do is upset the Church where I spent the last ten years of my life.

“We’re not worried because it’s very likely you won’t be around to tell anyone about us. As I’m sure you remember the oath you took specifies certain penalties if it’s broken.”

Joshua looked at his friend hoping he’d see some sign that he was joking but Jonah looked very serious. “You don’t mean that …”

“I  mean that it’s very likely that you’ll be put to death Joshua. It doesn’t make me feel good to say it to such a good friend but you did take the oath voluntarily.”

“You’re not serious Jonah? Are you seriously threatening to have me killed? What in God’s name have I done to deserve that? All I said was that after giving this all due consideration I’ve decided to resign. I’m going back to the States to start a new life. I’m no threat to the Church or to your club.”

“My club,” Jonah laughed derisively, “Is that what you call the Order of Simon Magus? What do you think Joshua, do you think this is like it was when you were a small child playing in a little clubhouse with your little friends? The Order of Simon Magus is a far cry from that, we’ve made and destroyed governments and kings throughout history, we’re older than the Catholic Church itself. This is deadly serious business Joshua. I’m sure your guide told you all this before you were allowed to take even the preliminary oath. If you had doubts that would have been the time to express them, resignation is no longer an option that’s open to you. You’re an intelligent man Joshua and I’m sure you understood the words you uttered when you swore your oath. And…I’m sure you understood the chant you heard after you spoke the oath.”

“I was curious Jonah, just really curious. I was ready to leave the Catholic Church but then this was presented to me as something that might increase my faith, at least that’s the way I understood it. Now, I don’t really know what this is all about but it doesn’t seem to be about serving God and that’s why I became a priest in the first place.”

“Why did you take the oath when you were waiting to enter the chapel? Before you took that oath you could have simply walked away, now my friend…now… I don’t think there is any walking away.”

Joshua laughed uneasily, “Okay Jonah, you’ve had your fun. Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on now?”

“What’s going on Joshua is that you’ve essentially joined another Church, a very old Church and unlike most Churches you can’t just walk away from us, this is a Church that requires a lifetime membership and we take that very seriously.

You would have learned all this if you had elected to stay and serve but since you’ve decided to leave you may as well know why you have to die. I’m not obligated to tell you a thing mind you but you’re my best friend, on that basis and that basis alone I think I owe you an explanation. Our Order has been in Rome since the beginning of what the world calls Christianity. Shortly after we were formed we founded what became known as the Roman Catholic Church. Our Church was here first and we invented the Catholic faith as sort of an alternative Christian faith. In your reading of the Scriptures have you ever seen anything that even remotely resembles Catholicism Joshua? Simon Magus sort of blended Paganism and Christianity, it made the Romans more comfortable with us. All of this has served us well over the years and we are not about to allow you or anyone else to threaten what we have built.”

Joshua was stunned, “So the Catholic faith is a sham? Millions of people around the world believe in this Church and you’re telling me it’s nothing more than a front for the Order of Simon Magus? I don’t understand the structure, is it separate from the Catholic Church?”

Jonah answered against his better judgment, “We are one Church, it’s just that some of us know the real truth of our origins and others do not. No one in our Order believes for a minute that we could be as successful as we are if the public knew the truth. They love the fantasy of St Peter as the first pope and then being crucified and buried here in Rome. So those of us in the Order of Simon Magus keep our existence a secret but never doubt we are the ones who make the rules. We invented confession you know, we use it to gain useful information about Church members. When did Jesus ever say to go to a priest and confess anything, he taught his Apostles to pray directly to God to ask for forgiveness. We’re a Church within a Church, we make the rules, we invent the dogma, there is no God, there’s only the desire to believe in a better life after this miserable existence. Those of us who understand this are the ones who rule this world Joshua and you had the opportunity to join us.”

“So for the last ten years of my life I’ve been serving a false Church?”

“You never had a clue?”

“I told you that my faith was not as strong as it should be but I didn’t doubt God’s existence. I questioned this Church but I never questioned the sincerity of the Church.”

“Do you read the scriptures Joshua?”

“Of course I do, you shouldn’t even have to ask that question.”

“Well tell me Father Cole, where does it say in the scriptures that Peter was the first pope, for that matter where does it even say that he was ever in Rome?”

“It says that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church, doesn’t it?”

“Pretty weak case, don’t you think? Jesus could have been talking about damn near anything. I think you should look at Acts 8:9, you’ll meet the first real pope there.”

I really wish that you hadn’t done this Joshua, you would have been a real asset to us. But for the time being you’re to stay in your apartment until the disciplinary council meets to decide your punishment. Your meals will be brought to you and you are to talk to no one, is that clear?”

“Jonah, we’re friends, isn’t there a way you could just not tell them about this and I could sort of slip out of town and disappear, please?”

“We are friends Joshua but that’s secondary to me. I’m loyal to the Order of Simon Magus.”

Joshua nodded his head to indicate he understood.

“What you’ve done is unforgivable Joshua and I don’t give you much hope, not much at all. I’ll let you in on one more of our secrets, Vatican security answers to the Order, not the Church you thought you joined years ago. If you leave your room you’ll be jailed immediately.” With that said Jonah turned his back and left Joshua’s room.

Joshua heard nothing for two days, his only contact with the outside world was with the priest who brought him his meals. He spent his time reading the scriptures and trying to make sense of what Jonah had said about the first pope. He started reading the book of Acts but he was so worried about the decision of the council he couldn’t concentrate. It sounded like Jonah was saying this Simon Magus, and not Simon Peter, was the first pope.  His comment about Peter never having been in Rome certainly seemed to indicate that he didn’t think St Peter was the first pope. While he was eating his supper on the second day his door opened and Jonah walked in with Bishop Rioux.

Before Joshua could even stand Bishop Rioux said, “I wanted you to know how disappointed I was when I heard you wanted to leave us Joshua. You’ve hurt a lot of people and now it’s been left to me to decide if you live or die.”

Joshua looked at Jonah and said, “I thought you said a disciplinary council would decide.”

Bishop Rioux answered “They did and they ordered you to be executed but your friend here begged for your life and the council gave me the unenviable task of deciding whether or not you could be trusted. Unfortunately, your track record makes me think you are a most untrustworthy creature. Barely one day after joining us you decided that you want to resign? Only one day after you took an oath that clearly stated that once you are a member there is no leaving? The oath is very clear on that point. From my point of view Father, you don’t sound like a man who can be trusted at all but your friend Jonah has convinced the council to reconsider their decision. So why don’t you tell me why you shouldn’t die tonight.”

When Joshua heard Bishop Rioux say that he might very well die tonight he swallowed hard and said, “All I can say Bishop Rioux is that I beg for your forgiveness and would urge you to show me a kindness that I don’t deserve.”

“What you say is true Father, you don’t deserve any kindness from the Order of Simon Magus. If that is your entire argument to save your life, you will lose it tonight.”

“Bishop Rioux, I’m not sure what argument you wish to hear but I will say that whatever little information I’ve learned of the Order of Simon Magus will never go any further than it has right now, I swear. I just want the chance to live a simple life back in the United States. I’ll be no trouble to the Order of Simon Magus…you can be sure of that.”

“You can swear whatever you choose Father, your oaths apparently mean nothing to you.”

“I never meant to break my oath Eminence, I spoke it without thinking. My curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to learn more about your Order. I honestly never thought for a moment I wouldn’t be able to leave. The oath I’m swearing to you today is one that I am taking with no reservations. I will not reveal the Order of Simon Magus to a living soul in exchange for my life.”

With anger dripping from his voice the Bishop responded, “Under ordinary circumstances it’s an argument that would fall on deaf ears but because of the pleas of your friend and my respect for him you’ll live.”

Joshua breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Thank you both…”

The Bishop interrupted, “You’ll live…under the following conditions. You are to let us know where you are living, you are to become a communicant of the closest Roman Catholic Church and you will make your confession every week. At that confession you will confess your sins honestly and fully to your priest and you should understand I consider it a sin for you to even think of violating your promise that you made here today. Is that clear to you?”

“I’m required to remain a member of the Catholic Church?”

“It’s that or you will be executed. I want you to understand that your death sentence is not commuted, it is only stayed for now. If you miss a single confession the sentence will be carried out, there’ll be no second chances.”

Jonah looked at him and shrugged, “It’s the best I could get for you Father Cole. I sincerely hope you’ll accept.”

“I appreciate it Father Benedetti, it’s not exactly what I was hoping for but it sure beats the alternative. Will I be able to contact you? I’d hate to lose our friendship over this.”

Jonah smiled at him, “You know my phone number but I think it would be better if you waited for some considerable time before you use it.”

Bishop Rioux said, “Father Benedetti will give you the details of how you are to stay in contact with us. Good bye Father.” Before he left he held out his hand, “I’ll take that ring Father Cole.”

 

Chapter 2

Present Time

 

 

Susan Cassidy was at home working on a story about a UFO that had supposedly landed outside of a small town in Colorado. It was most likely a hoax and she knew it but there was always the slightest chance it wasn’t and that’s what excited her. Susan was a freelance writer who wrote mostly about conspiracies and stuff that serious journalists in general shied away from for fear of being labeled kooks. Susan didn’t pay much attention to what anyone thought of her, she wrote about what interested her and so far it had provided her with a decent living. Her stories had been published in many national publications and she was working on a book about the Skull and Bones Society. If only she could find a publisher. Most of these conspiracies and UFO sightings turned out to be nothing more than someone’s overactive imagination but at least this one in Colorado had more than one supposedly responsible witness. Susan had a school teacher and a cop who were out in the woods doing what came natural when the strange craft supposedly landed no more than a half mile away. Both of them were willing to talk to her as long as she didn’t mention their names in the story; it wasn’t so much that they were afraid of being labeled as nuts as they didn’t want their spouses to find out about their weekly trysts under the pines.

She was just about to call the cop to follow up on her last interview with him when her phone rang; she didn’t recognize the number on the caller ID and almost didn’t answer but just before the call went to voice mail she picked up. The voice on the other end of the line got right to the point and asked if she’d be interested in writing a serious piece about the Freemasons and the Catholic Church. As someone who had come to specialize in stories about conspiracies and secret organizations she loved this stuff, “I’m always interested in a good story about the Freemasons but it’s going to have to be something really different, you know what I mean, a different take on the subject. The Freemason thing has been done to death lately and if you don’t have a really unique take on them I doubt I could sell it. The Catholic Church thing is getting a bit overdone too but if it’s any good… is it any good?”

“You’ll never find a better story or a better source for a story on Freemasonry or the Church, I promise.”

“Okay, you’ve piqued my interest, so tell me what you have that’s new and exciting that makes this story different than all the rest?” Susan grabbed a pen and a pad. “Oh, by the way, who are you, what’s your name?

“I hate to start our relationship like this Ms. Cassidy but I’d rather not get into that until we get a chance to meet and I can determine for myself if what I’ve heard about you is true. I think if you’ll bear with me it will be well worth your time.”

“I’m a busy woman and I don’t have time for a lot of bullshit. If this is a joke or you don’t have what you claim to have you may as well tell me now because it doesn’t take me long to cut through the crap.”

“Ms. Cassidy, with all due respect, you haven’t had a substantial piece published in some time now. You’re working on a story about a UFO that I seriously doubt even you believe. I’d think you would be grateful for the chance to break something really big. What I’m talking about here is a story that could be a real career maker.”

“Hold on now, I have a…”

The voice on the phone interrupted her, “I didn’t mean to say you don’t have a nice little career but this could be the break that catapults you to a whole new level.”

How the hell does he know what I’m working on? Susan ignored the comment on her career, it was true but he didn’t need to point it out, at least not so bluntly, “What’s your angle Mr.….”

“As I said, I’d rather wait on the introductions until I meet you in person. It’s doubtful there’ll be a problem as we’ve researched you quite thoroughly but I still must insist on meeting you in person before we commit to letting you write this story. If that’s a deal breaker we can move on to the next name on our list. He wasn’t our first choice but he’ll probably do…”

“Okay, okay where and when?”

“Your place in ten minutes.”

Susan looked at the mess that surrounded her, papers, books and magazines were everywhere and she was wearing her old boyfriend’s boxers and a baggy tee shirt. “Oh, I don’t think that’s going to work at all. How about you give me a little time to get dressed up and I’ll let you treat me to lunch?

The voice on the phone said, “I realize you’d like to make a good impression Ms. Cassidy but I’ve seen your home and it’s a little late for that. Besides I’m not at all interested in your housekeeping habits.”

Susan interrupted him, “You’ve been in my house?”

“Of course not, that would be trespassing, but I’ve seen the pictures our investigators took of the place. Don’t worry, no one took anything and as far as the mess you live in goes…well…I always say an empty desk is a sign of an empty mind. Judging you by that standard alone, you must have a very interesting mind indeed. So I’d still prefer to meet at your home but I’ll give you twenty minutes instead of ten so you can put on some decent clothes.”

Susan was getting edgy, “How do you know how I’m dressed? Are you watching me?” She looked around the room for signs of a camera.

“Susan, may I call you Susan?” The caller didn’t wait for permission, he just continued. “No one is watching you but I did tell you that we checked you out very thoroughly, you clean up very nicely but you tend to the sloppy side when you’re home alone.”

“You’re really creeping me out, you know that?”

“I don’t mean to, I assure you. But if this is bothering you perhaps you’re not the right person for the job after all. The story I have for you will require someone who doesn’t frighten very easily.”

Susan wasn’t going to blow what might be a big story just because she was a little freaked out. “Fine, I’ll see you in twenty minutes. I’d give you directions but it sounds like you don’t need them.”

She hung up the phone and headed to her bedroom to get dressed. Susan was blessed with a metabolism that kept her slim without much effort and she wasn’t unaware of the way men looked at her. She’d heard it was tough for a woman over thirty to get married but she couldn’t swear to that from her own experience, she was always being asked out and she was closer to forty than she cared to admit. She didn’t accept many of these invitations because none of her potential suitors really interested her that much, it seemed most of the men she met were interested in money or sex or both but not so much in her work. Susan had watched many eyes glaze over through the years when she started talking about the Freemasons, UFO’s or any number of other subjects that fascinated her. Standing five foot six and weighing in at a hundred ten pounds she was hardly an imposing figure but in a pair of stilettos and a tight skirt she had a look that intimidated many men. Not knowing what to expect when her mystery guest arrived she opted for a pair of faded jeans and a white silk blouse. A little lipstick and a dab of perfume on her wrists and she was ready just in time. The knock on her front door was loud and whoever it was kept it up way too long for her taste.

She opened the door and before she had a chance to say a word her guest stepped inside and was standing in her living room. He looked to be about sixty years old, he was a little overweight and had pure white hair and shyness obviously wasn’t an issue for him. He stuck out his hand and said, “Nice to meet you Susan.”

Susan returned the handshake and the greeting, “Nice to meet you too Mr.….?”

“Appleton, Seth Appleton. Just so you know, I’ve read just about everything you’ve written and I think you write a damn good story, damned good. I like your choice of subject matter and I like your take on the subjects you choose, it’s all very entertaining and occasionally even somewhat believable…even when the topic itself is unbelievable. You might want to lay off the UFO stuff though…it could ruin your reputation as a serious writer. I read an article you wrote on the Knight’s Templar a couple of years ago that I think really caught the spirit of the Knights quite well. It came across as sympathetic to their plight but still probing at the same time.”

“Thank you. You said you had a new take on the Freemasons for me?”

“I said I had a new take for a story on the Freemasons and their relationship with the Catholic Church. I still haven’t decided whether or not you’re the one to write it.”

“What will it take for you to decide and how long before you think you’ll know? Should I be treating this visit like a job interview?”

Seth chuckled and asked, “Do you mind if I have a seat? I’ve been trying to get into a little better shape lately and my legs are killing me, all the exercise, you must know how it is.”

She didn’t really know much about exercise as she never did much of it so she ignored that part of his question. “Of course I don’t mind Mr. Appleton, have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, I’m fine and call me Seth, please. I’ll get right to the point, the people I represent have authorized me to make the decision on who gets to write this story and when we get started on it. If you have the time we can talk about it right now.”

“I’m listening.”

“So what exactly do you know about the relationship between the Freemasons and the Catholic Church?”

“I know it’s pretty acrimonious, especially from the Church’s point of view. I don’t think the Church allows members to join the Masons and if they do I believe they’re excommunicated, at least I think they’re supposed to be anyway. I don’t think the Masons bar Catholics from joining though.”

“All true but do you know where the problems began?”

Susan told him what she knew. “The Knights Templar supposedly found something digging around in Jerusalem around 1129. I think most people believe they must have found something that could endanger the Church because they were suddenly given carte blanche by the pope to operate as they pleased. They founded what was to become what amounted to the first international banking system. The Knights were allowed to charge interest when Christians in general were forbidden from that type of activity and it wasn’t very long before they were very wealthy and very powerful.”

Seth smiled at her and asked, “And what do you suppose they could have possibly found that would cause the Church to grant them such unique privileges?”

She continued, “Holy Blood Holy Grail and other books claim that they found proof that Jesus fathered a child. It’s fiction but The DaVinci Code makes the same case. I believe they claim the child was a girl named Sarah, her descendants supposedly became the royal families of Europe or something like that. If that story proved accurate the Church might be irreparably harmed, it would make everything they teach sort of a lie wouldn’t it?”

Seth continued, “So what would something the Knights Templar found about the Church have to do with the Freemasons?”

“Aren’t the Freemasons the modern day descendants of the Knights Templar?”

“So they tell me. So what do you think Susan, did Jesus have a child?”

“It’s possible, he was human after all.”

“But do you think he did?”

Susan answered, “You know, this may surprise you, given what I do for a living but I haven’t really formed an opinion on the subject. Still…I’m going to say no. The story just never rang true to me, Jesus, at least from my perspective, never planned on establishing an earthly kingdom, it just wasn’t his thing. He always spoke of a kingdom in heaven. Why in the world would he need an earthly heir for that?”

Seth smiled at her, “Good answer. We couldn’t have someone doing this for us if they believed in all that crap. Holy Blood Holy Grail makes the case that the Holy Grail is Mary Magdalene. If that were truly the case, the basis of all of Christianity would be in question. I can tell you categorically that what the Knights found implicated only the Catholic Church, and not all of Christianity. They found something that called into question the very founding of Catholicism. We know exactly what they found out about the Church and believe me, it’s just as shocking but all too true. The only thing most books on the Knights Templar have right is that they did hide a huge fortune and a bunch of religious relics but that is nothing compared with the discovery that caused the Church to grant them such unprecedented power.”

Susan came to attention and asked, “So what was it? And where is the treasure?”

“I’m sorry to say I can’t answer either question. I won’t tell you right now what they discovered and I can’t tell you where the treasure is because I don’t know. I tend to think that the treasure is probably buried under Roslyn Chapel but a good case could be made that it’s in Switzerland. Recently some folks are making the case that’s how Switzerland got into the international banking business in the first place. The thinking is that the Knights who survived the heresy trials went there and put their knowledge of banking, and maybe their treasure, to good use. It doesn’t matter, the Knight’s treasure isn’t why I’m here.”

“Interesting but you won’t tell me what they discovered? It’s going to be a little tough to write a story if you won’t tell me what you know about the subject, isn’t it?”

“We have our reasons, very serious reasons, for wanting to get this to come out right now but I don’t want you to just write a story filled with quotes you get from me. The story will have much more credence if you dig up the information on your own, plus you’ll know the material better if you happened to be asked about it. Say maybe at a press conference.”

She grimaced, “So the story you want to give me is a secret and you want me to figure it out on my own? I don’t have a clue what the Knights found there. It seems to me if it was anything other than the story everyone read about in Holy Blood, Holy Grail someone much smarter than me would have written about it by now.”

“It’s been hinted at here and there but to date, no one has put all the pieces together.”

Susan asked, “And you’re not going to tell me anything?”

“First of all, after meeting you I want to tell you officially that we’d like you to be the one who writes this story, if you’re interested of course. It may get tedious and tough on occasion and you’ll probably grow to hate hearing from me but if you stick with it, it’ll be well worth your while.”

“Wow, you make it sound so tempting.”

Seth laughed, “Well I didn’t want you to think it’s going to be nothing but fun and games. It’s serious business and I wanted you to be aware of that from the very beginning.”

“I understand, I was just trying to be funny. Explain to me one more time why you don’t just use someone you know.”

“As I said before we don’t want anyone who is associated with us in any way whatsoever. If the article were to come out and it was proven the writer was linked to us the Church would simply point that out and label it Catholic bashing. It wouldn’t do us any good at all. On the other hand if you write the article and start to get a lot of grief for it we could come in and put in our two cents defending you. We would say that your research coincides very well with what we know to be true. It may not work out exactly like that, things rarely go the way people plan, but ideally that’s we hope it develops.”

Susan said, “Before I agree to this I want to know that I’m going to get at least a little help on this, you know, a few guidelines here and there. Oh, while we’re talking about the job…is this a paying job or am I doing this because you seem like a nice grandfatherly type who needs some help?”

“Ouch, grandfather? Boy, you go right for the jugular don’t you? Would it have killed you to say fatherly?”

“Sorry…Dad.”

Seth chuckled, “You’ll get all the help we can give you. You have my word. I’ll give you a private number where you can reach me at anytime if you run into something interesting. I can guide you but it’s important that you know I won’t spoon feed the story to you. And this is a paying job by the way. I can offer you twenty thousand plus any expenses you incur and you’ll get all the credit and any money that you can negotiate with a publisher. If the job proves to be more difficult than either of us anticipates we might up the compensation. If that’s acceptable we can talk about it right now. Do you have the time?”

“I’m going to be honest and say yes but only because I think you probably know what my schedule is better than I do. Let me get my notebook and we can get started. By the way, I could use the money, when do I get paid?”

Seth leaned back in his chair and dug into his pocket, he pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. It was stuffed with hundred dollar bills. “That’s half of it, you’ll get the rest when the article is finished and accepted. The first thing you should know is that the reason we decided to undertake this at this time is because of the newly elected Pope Pius XIII.”

“You contacted me because of the new pope?”

Seth took a deep breath and said, “He’s a very dangerous man.”

“What’s he going to do, call up the Swiss Guard and invade America?” She laughed at her own joke and waited for Seth to join her in a laugh but when he remained silent she asked, “That’s not it is it? You don’t think he’s going to invade, do you? I mean all he has is the Swiss Guard, right?”

“I’ll leave his plans up to him. Let’s just say he’s a very dangerous man and we think he has to be stopped, but we need help and you’re it. At least I hope you are.”

“May I ask who these people are that you represent?”

“I’m sorry, I thought you must have figured that out for yourself.”

“The Freemasons?”

Seth smiled at her and said, “I think we’ll get along just fine Susan.”

 

 

 

Chapter 3

 

 

“Is there anything else before I go Holiness?” The young pope and Cardinal Maffi were just finishing up a long meeting where Pope Pius XIII had laid out some of the his plans for the future of his Church and the cardinal was anxious to get back to his office so he could catch a nap. He wasn’t a young man anymore and the meeting had taxed his endurance.

Pope Pius XIII had just been elected to the papacy after the extremely brief reign of his predecessor. In a strange replay of John Paul I’s death after only a month in office Pius XIII took the papacy after Paul VII died after only one week in the chair of St Peter. He died suddenly from what appeared to be a massive heart attack. There were rumors of murder as there always were when a pope died under what could only be described as unusual circumstances. But in the Vatican, unlike the real world, there would be no real investigation. The Vatican would claim they were looking into the death but everyone inside the walls knew it would never result in any arrests. The Vatican’s place in the world is equal to any other nation, maybe more than equal given its tiny size and its small number of citizens, but it has the right to make its own laws and rules which are not subject to scrutiny from anyone but the pope. This new pope was a young man which came as quite a shock to the world, the College of Cardinals tended to elect much older men to that office. What really startled everyone wasn’t his age, young men had been elected before, but his nationality, he was an American. No American had ever even been under serious consideration for the office but here he was, an American pope and only fifty-three years old. In addition to that, he’d spent virtually his entire career at the Vatican, usually the Church liked its popes to be more well rounded but Jonah Benedetti had sought out and nurtured the friendship of his fellow cardinals. With a combination of charm and intelligence they came to see him as a reasonable choice. He came from an old well-established Catholic family from Baltimore. They’d been there since the very first Catholics had come to the Maryland shore in the early sixteen hundreds. Maryland was founded by George Calvert because he wanted Catholics to have a safe haven in the Protestant new world. Catholics were outnumbered in Maryland by Protestants but they held most of the political power in the colony and this pope’s ancestors were at the very center of that power from the beginning.

“Yes, there is one thing Eminence, get me the file we keep on the former Father Cole.”

“Father Cole, Holiness?”

“Yes Eminence, he resigned from the priesthood back in 1985 and we’ve kept a file on him since then, surely you must remember him? He and I were once the very best of friends as you probably know. It must be rather a large file by now and I’d like to have a look at it. Could you have it sent here for me this afternoon?”

Cardinal Maffi was aware of the situation concerning Father Cole but it had slipped his mind.  He was getting old, well into his seventies now and lots of things slipped past him these days. As he recalled, years ago, the Vatican was very concerned about Father Cole but after he moved back to the states he had done exactly as he was asked to do and as the years went by he was largely forgotten. The priest who sent the reports to the Vatican continued to do so but eventually it got to the point where nobody paid much attention or even bothered to read the reports concerning the former priest. In time, as is the case with many bureaucracies, the reports were received, stamped and simply filed away without one pair of human eyes so much as giving it the once over. Joshua lived in Massachusetts now and the last time Cardinal Maffi had looked at the dossier, at least ten years ago, there appeared to be nothing that would be of any concern to the Order of Simon Magus. Joshua was apparently doing exactly as he was told to do and the priest who wrote the reports, a Father Walter Dionne, had nothing but praise for the life Joshua had made for himself.

“It will be on your desk within the hour Holiness.” With that Cardinal Maffi left and headed back to his own office. Of all the things the new Pontiff could have asked for he wanted a file on a Joshua Cole. It didn’t make much sense to Cardinal Maffi but he asked his secretary to accommodate the request of the Holy Father and within a half hour a papal clerk was in the pope’s outer office with the large file on a cart. As instructed, the secretary immediately brought the file to the pope who dropped what he was working on, opened the file and spread the contents out on his desk. The first thing that caught his eye was the young priest who was originally assigned the task of hearing Joshua’s confessions was still on the job. In his early twenties when he began the assignment he was now in his mid forties and still sending in reports. Jonah couldn’t help wondering how close the priest and the former priest had become over the years. He read a few of the more recent reports and quickly realized the priest was merely going through the motions, every week’s report was almost identical to the previous week’s. Of course it would be, how could he possibly avoid becoming bored and sloppy after so many years? Worse still, what if Joshua and this priest had become real friends and the reports were all just total fabrications? Joshua was bright and charming and would likely be able to use that to his advantage with a priest who probably had no interest in doing the reports in the first place. These, and many other possibilities, crossed his mind and none of them gave him much comfort. Jonah had big plans for his Church and if someone with Joshua’s knowledge of the Order of Simon Magus realized what he was up to he could cause Jonah more than a few problems. As far as Jonah knew, Joshua Cole was the only living soul on earth who was even aware of the Order of Simon Magus who wasn’t an active member.

Jonah’s election was accomplished by the narrowest of margins and even though the job was now his for life he intended to work at it as if he had to stand for re-election like any other politician. In Jonah’s view the Church was in terrible condition and he meant to change that. Since a few centuries after the death of Christ if a man or woman aspired to lead a nation as its king or queen they needed the blessing of the pope. The pope held this power because he controlled the minds of the population of these countries and he held this control because men believed the pope was God’s Vicar on earth and who would be willing to argue with God? The people would never give their assent to being governed by someone that the Church didn’t approve of and until Henry VIII of Great Britain dared to tell the Church to go to hell the pope was unquestionably the most powerful man on earth. Now, centuries later, the church was relegated to such a minor role in society that even Catholic politicians ignored the teachings of the Church for political gain. It disgusted and angered Jonah.

Jonah knew the glory days were probably gone for good but he was convinced he could return the Church to at least a small measure of its former self. It wouldn’t be easy and it would take some extreme measures but he was determined and prepared to do what it would take.

As he continued to scan the latest reports from his priest in Massachusetts he wondered what his old friend thought when he learned that Jonah had been elected pope. He imagined he wasn’t very happy about it. The question for Jonah was, would Joshua continue to honor his agreement and keep his silence or would he become a problem?

Chapter 4

 

 

Joshua Cole drove carefully down the narrow road that led to the little cottage he’d lived in for the last twenty-five years. The road twisted and turned every couple hundred feet and if a person didn’t pay attention they might find themselves sitting the living room of some unfortunate homeowner. Joshua knew this all too well because a decade ago he found himself doing just that. That particular day the road was covered in a thick sheet of ice and the sanding trucks had somehow neglected to sand the most treacherous road in town. Joshua was in a hurry to get home and entered a turn too fast. He hit the brakes and tried to turn but his car didn’t respond and he plowed straight into the home of Nicholas Paresi, a member of the city council. His car finally came to a stop no more than three feet from the councilman’s couch where the startled couple were watching the evening news. Fortunately no one was injured except for the head of road maintenance who was demoted back to truck driver shortly after the incident. In the years after Joshua’s accident Little Neck Road was always the first road in town to be plowed and sanded until Mr. Paresi lost his council seat.

Joshua’s cottage was located in an area of Ipswich known as Little Neck and it sat directly on the ocean. The house was a small two bedroom cottage with a wall of windows facing the ocean, the cedar shake siding was weathered to a light gray color and best of all, from Joshua’s perspective, there was virtually no yard maintenance. The cottage was surrounded by wild rose bushes that offered a measure of security because no one in his right mind would attempt to force his way through that thorny hedge. From his cottage he could see Plum Island to the northeast and the town of Rockport was almost due east across a stretch of about six miles of ocean. On most pleasant summer nights there was a pretty good chance Joshua could be found sitting on his back porch drinking a beer and smoking a nice mild cigar. With the lights of Rockport shining in the distance  and the stars overhead he couldn’t imagine any other place on earth he’d rather be. Something as simple as listening to the ocean waves lapping at the shore gave him a sense of calm the Church never really did.

The twenty-five years since he’d left the Church had passed quickly, too quickly. Joshua had aged well, he was slightly less than six feet tall and weighed about 180 pounds, about the same weight as he was when he left the Vatican. His dark hair was somewhat thinner and was graying like the shingles on his house but overall he was happy with his appearance. The people he worked with considered him pleasant and friendly but slightly stand offish. Most of the women wondered why he didn’t have a wife or girlfriend, occasionally one of them would stop waiting for him to ask her out and asked him first but he always politely declined. Some wondered if he was gay but he was never seen with any men either and more than a few coworkers noticed that he seemed to show an appreciation for the female form. It didn’t go unnoticed that he would always look up when he heard the clicking of high heels walking by his office door.

When he first began working at the museum he spent far too much time concerned for his safety, afraid the Order of Simon Magus might change their mind and send an assassin after all. But as the years passed and nothing happened he managed to relax and had truly enjoyed working there. He had a good career as an archivist for a major museum in Boston and was well respected by his colleagues for his professionalism and his intellect. The questions about his personal life that always seemed to be circulating amused him but he never paid any serious attention to them. As far as he knew, no one at the museum had a clue that he’d ever worked in the Vatican archives. He’d simply told them he was a former priest and left it at that. His social life was essentially nonexistent, mostly due to his decision not to involve others in his problems with Rome.

Most of the time his ride home from work involved nothing more than listening to some music and thinking about what he’d have for dinner. His tastes were eclectic and ranged from classical to country with even the occasional hymn thrown in for good measure. He wasn’t listening to music or thinking about food today though;  he couldn’t concentrate and he was glued to a news channel on his satellite radio listening to news reports about the newly elected pope. He couldn’t help but wonder what the election of his old friend Jonah might mean to him personally. His own experience with the Order of Simon Magus was so long ago and far away that it seemed more like a movie he’d seen rather than a part of his own life. The election of Jonah might not be so troubling to him except that Father Walt had asked him what he thought of the new pope and it made Joshua wonder if he knew more about Joshua’s past than he wanted to admit. Father Walt was Father Walter Dionne but everyone in the parish just called him Father Walt. He was a young man when he first began taking Joshua’s confessions all those years ago, now he was a slightly overweight, balding man just trying to enjoy every day as best he could. He once told Joshua that he’d love to leave the priesthood but he couldn’t think of another career that would provide him with free housing and meals in a beautiful seaside community for doing next to nothing. Joshua wasn’t sure if he was serious or not but the mere fact that he expressed the thought made Joshua more comfortable with him.

Joshua’s weekly visits to the church to make his so-called confession had become a ritual that he actually come to almost enjoy over the years. That surprised him because when he first began this routine, just a week after he’d left the Vatican, he’d found it tedious and irritating. The Church he once loved was a fraud and now they forced him to give a weekly confession that meant nothing to him. It was merely a way to keep an eye on him and remind him that he wasn’t going to be able to slip away from them unnoticed. A few years after he began giving the confessions Father Walt asked him what in the world he’d done to make the Church so angry.

Joshua asked him what he meant, “I’m just a good Catholic doing what every Catholic should do, trying to live a good life and confessing my sins when I fail to do the right thing.”

Father Walt didn’t buy it and he told Joshua exactly that but he didn’t push the issue. He simply told Joshua that the Vatican had never before asked him to report on one other person’s confession in such detail and if Joshua ever wanted to talk about it he’d be happy to listen. That conversation was the beginning of what became a friendship for both men. Joshua never did take Father Walt up on his offer but somehow just the fact that he made the offer was enough and the friendship developed.  Father Walt continued hearing Joshua’s confessions and dutifully sent his reports to the Vatican every week. Joshua made his confession every week, usually just saying that he’d had evil thoughts  and then the two men would walk the grounds of St Paul’s and talk about whatever they happened to find interesting that day. They played golf every now and then and they enjoyed a drink and a cigar every so often.  If Joshua wasn’t feeling well or was out of town on business Father Walt would fabricate the confession and file a report and no one had ever said a word to him that indicated the Vatican was aware he was doing it.

Joshua had successfully navigated the winding road that led to his home once more and was just pulling the car into the driveway when his cell phone rang. It was Father Walt and he sounded nervous, “I got a phone call from Rome today Joshua.”

Joshua chuckled uneasily, “The new boss checking in? Is that unusual?”

“It’s very unusual for a small parish priest to hear directly from Rome on anything Joshua, to hear that they’re interested in one particular parishioner is unheard of unless the individual is Joshua Cole I guess.”

Joshua shut the car off and walked over to a granite bench he’d installed that faced the ocean. Sitting on the hard cold surface he said, “I haven’t worried this much about what was happening over there in a long time but I’m getting that old familiar feeling Father. It’s nothing I’d want anyone else to experience. Who was it who called you? It wasn’t Jonah…the pope was it?”

“No, it was a Cardinal Maffi. He instructed me to review anything I might know about you and your activities and to call the Vatican tomorrow at noon, our time. I’m supposed to be ready to discuss your situation in detail. It seems the new Holy Father himself wants to have a chat with me regarding you.”

Joshua flipped the phone closed and stared out at the sea. He looked around nervously, as if he expected to see Jonah walking around the corner with an executioner in tow any minute. Joshua sat on the bench for ten minutes, staring quietly at the horizon. Normally the ocean calmed him but today it only reminded him that Rome wasn’t really as far away as he wished.

Joshua performed a quick search of his cottage to assure himself that he was really alone. Of course he was and he felt really silly after taking the time to look. He pulled a beer from the fridge, put on a warm jacket and went out on his porch to listen to the waves again. Trouble was, it still wasn’t having the desired effect.

After sitting there for an hour, hoping the ocean would work its magic for him, he finally gave up. He was no calmer but he thought he might have caught a cold.

Chapter 5

 

 

Susan Cassidy was frustrated, Seth Appleton had given her plenty of information about the Church and Freemasonry but he really didn’t point her in any specific direction and she wasn’t exactly sure where he wanted her to go with the story.  She was sitting in her favorite chair, a large overstuffed relic that she inherited from her father, watching the rain as it pounded against her windows and searching the web. Normally she loved days like this when the weather gave her a good excuse to stay at home and read a good book or indulge herself by watching an old movie on cable but today was different. Seth had already called a couple times since they’d met and asked how her research was going. While he didn’t exactly come out and say so she couldn’t help but think that he was really just concerned she wasn’t working hard enough. But the problem was it turned out that there were more conspiracy theories about the Catholic Church on the web than she imagined possible. She learned new terms like coadjutors, the Black Pope, Red Mass and countless others but those were terms that applied to a more modern day than when the Knights Templar were roaming around Europe.

The combination of not knowing exactly what Seth was looking for and hours of wasting time reading every page she found, she decided to concentrate on Jonah Benedetti, the new pope. The only firm information she felt Seth had given her was that he thought this new pope was dangerous. It had been a while since he’d been elected pope and the media was still running puff pieces on a regular basis about the young, handsome and very American pope. There was even one story that claimed he was a huge fan of American football. No American had ever been elected pope before and his election had come as a complete surprise to everyone outside of the Vatican. There were interviews with old friends and family members all suggesting that they knew early on that young Jonah was destined for greatness. Of course no one dared to dream he’d ever be elected pope, especially at such a young age, but when it happened no one claimed to be shocked. He had always been pious, intelligent and charming, even in his teen years he’d spoken of a career in the Church. The stories didn’t surprise her, the media loved this stuff but the sheer volume of the stories did, the Church had been old news for years now but it seemed that this new pope had revived an interest in Catholicism and he certainly did not seem dangerous.

She went back to looking at the conspiracy sites and just as she was about to close one website and open another, something piqued her interest. What caught her eye was a story that she vaguely remembered hearing about years ago but it had never gained much traction in the mainstream press. Apparently the bones of St Peter had been found in Jerusalem at the site of a Franciscan monastery by a pair of Italian priests named P.B. Bagatti and J.T. Milik in the nineteen fifties. A number of ossuaries were found with familiar Bible names and one of particular interest was inscribed, Simon Bar Jona,  the original name of Simon Peter, the man who was supposedly buried under a basilica named after him in Rome. If a pair of Catholic priests found what appeared to be the true bones of St Peter in Jerusalem why did the Church continue to claim the bones were in Rome?  Could this be what the Knight’s Templar had on the Church? That sort of information would, if well known, certainly cause any pope a serious case of indigestion. Seth had told her that what the Knights found had been hinted at before, maybe the Knights found this particular ossuary hundreds of years ago. If they had it’d be extremely damaging to the Roman Church’s claims of being founded by Peter with the blessing of Christ himself. The ossuaries were small enough that the Knights could have easily concealed them if the pope sent someone to try and retrieve them so they could make blackmailing the Church fairly simple for a group of armed soldiers like the Knight’s Templar.

It made sense to Susan but with nothing more than a hunch to go on she bookmarked the page and went looking for more information on Jonah Benedetti. A bright light suddenly filled her house and a crack of thunder shook the windows in the old place. The rain seemed to be coming down even harder and her driveway was beginning to resemble a river. She shivered a bit and continued looking for dirt on the Holy Father, it made her a little uncomfortable but it was a job and she’d already taken Seth’s money. The thought crossed her mind that maybe she shouldn’t be using the computer in a thunderstorm but she figured the odds of her frying her hard drive were in her favor so she continued looking. She found the usual biographical material, he was born in Baltimore to a prominent and very religious family, everyone knew he would be a priest one day and the stories of his many kindnesses filled page after page. There were occasional mentions of his mercurial temper but most of the people who seemed to know him best downplayed that part of his personality. His quick rise from a lowly priest to one of a former pope’s most trusted advisors was chronicled in a few magazine articles she found online. There was nothing she found about the man that gave any impression other than that of a serious and hard working cleric but the way Seth talked you would have thought he was practically the devil incarnate. She determined to continue looking for something to show Seth that she was, at the very least, trying.

Hours later, the rain had stopped and the sun came out just in time to provide her a beautiful sunset before darkness fell. The time had gone by so fast that the sunset was her first clue she had that it was so late. She was hungry and called Ginos Pizzeria for a small pepperoni and continued to work while she waited for it to arrive. There certainly was no lack of trivia about the new pope out there, he liked a good steak, he enjoyed sailing and hiking. When he was a young man he’d gotten a few speeding tickets but there was still nothing that made her believe he was a very dangerous man. The doorbell rang just as she clicked on a link to a story about two young American priests working in the Vatican. The old story included pictures of the pope as a young priest in various locations around the Vatican. After paying for the pizza and giving the deliveryman a generous tip, she used to work for tips so she always over tipped when she could afford to, she continued reading the story. It was a feel good piece about two young men who had become friends after arriving at the Vatican. They joked about all the girls they’d left behind in the States but they both stated they felt a strong calling to serve God and what better place to do that than at the Vatican? Susan wrote down the name of the second priest and made a note to try and get in touch with him for an interview.

 

 

 

Chapter 6

Joshua woke on Saturday to find that the day had dawned sunny and breezy, exactly the type of day he loved. There were a few whitecaps on the ocean and he found himself much calmer than he had been the previous evening. The news of Father Walt being told to call the Vatican for a chat with the pope had unnerved him but after a good night’s sleep he felt much better. Popes never called local parish priests just to chat but that’s what Father Walt claimed he wanted. Joshua recalled how angry Jonah was all those years ago when he’d told him of his decision to leave the Order of Simon Magus the day after he joined, the memory of it made him wince. According to Bishop Rioux, Jonah had saved his life by pleading with the council but Joshua had spoken to Jonah only once since that time and it hadn’t gone very well. Joshua had called him about a year after the incident and while Jonah had been cordial he didn’t sound much like the friend Joshua knew from their days of working together. He didn’t exactly come right out and say it but he made it clear that talking to Joshua wasn’t something he wanted to do on a regular basis. Joshua took the hint and never called Jonah again and up until now he hadn’t spend a lot of time thinking about his old friend either.

Joshua had a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee for breakfast and then went outside to clean up the beach in front of his cottage. The beach didn’t really need cleaning but the idea was to kill time until about one o’clock when he would go see Father Walt and see if he’d be willing to tell him what Jonah had to say about him. As it turned out he didn’t have to wait that long, he was still on the beach looking for trash that wasn’t there when his cell phone rang and he heard Father Walt’s friendly voice, “Good afternoon Joshua, how are you today?”

“I’m not sure Father, I was hoping you could tell me.”

“Can I come over?”

“Of course you can, are you leaving now?”

“I’m on my way, I’ll see you in fifteen minutes. Oh, Joshua?”

“Yes?”
                  “Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as you might have imagined.”

Joshua breathed a sigh of relief and flipped the phone closed. He grabbed a quick shower and made another pot of coffee while he waited for his visitor. Father Walt was true to his word and just as Joshua was pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee he heard tires crunching on the gravel driveway. Joshua opened the door before his visitor had a chance to knock and said, “C’mon in Father.”

Father Walt shook his hand, smiled, and said, “I think you might have been worried for nothing Joshua. The Pontiff seemed to be in a good mood and told me that you two used to be thick as thieves years ago. Is that true?”

Joshua nodded his head, “Yeah, we were pretty good friends but that was half a lifetime ago.”

“Well the mystery just deepens then doesn’t it?”

“What do you mean Father?”

“Well, how long have we known each other Joshua? It’s over twenty years by my count and you’ve never said a word to me about why I’m sending these foolish reports to Rome every week. Until today, I wasn’t even aware you were once a priest. Of course the thought crossed my mind a few times but you never said anything about it and I didn’t want to pry.”

Joshua looked the priest in the eye and said, “I didn’t want to involve you in all my problems Father and even though you seem like a good friend… Well, for all I knew it could be all an act to gain my confidence. Priests are as capable of deceit as anyone, maybe more capable, in fact, I think a case could be made that the oath that priests take actually encourage that sort of thing.” Joshua paused and thought before he continued, “ I’m in a real tough spot Father, I’m doing exactly as I was told to do years ago and I’m hoping the Church will live up to her end of the bargain.”

“Joshua, I’m your friend, at least I consider you a friend. I’m not working with the Church to deceive you in any way whatsoever, I swear that to you. I do understand your reluctance to trust anyone though. Do you know how I started sending these reports to Rome? Sometime around nineteen eighty-five I got a phone call from the Vatican. I don’t even remember the name of the bishop that called me then but…”

“Rioux.”

“What?”

“Was it Rioux? The bishop?”

“Now that you say it, I think that could have his name. Is it important?”

“No, probably not.”

“Well he called and told me I was being given a very important task to perform for the Vatican. He said I was about to get a new parishioner named Joshua Cole and that I was to send the Vatican a report every week on the confession of this new parishioner. I was also told to keep an eye on you and include in my report any unusual activities. For twenty-five years I’ve done that and no one has ever once told me why I was asked to do it and suddenly the pope himself wants to talk to me about you.”

Joshua smiled at him, “And what unusual activities of mine have you reported to my former employer Father?”

“I’m happy to tell you that I’ve never found it necessary to include anything in those reports other than your confessions. Joshua, is there anything you can tell me about all this? Your secret would be safe with me, I’m just curious why the Vatican is so interested in you.”

Joshua chuckled, “You might say that’s what started this whole thing Father.”

“What’s that?”

“A little curiosity Father, it damn near killed me. Are you sure you still want to know what’s going on?”

“Well after hearing that I think the smart answer would be no…unfortunately, I’m clearly not as bright as my dear old mother imagined. If you’re willing to tell me anything at all, I’m more than willing to listen.”

“What do you know about the Order of Simon Magus Father?”

“Is that a special Order or a personal prelature of the Church, like Opus Dei?” He looked puzzled.

“Just tell me, have you ever heard of something called the Order of Simon Magus?”

“No, I can’t say I have. Why, what should I know about it?”

“If you haven’t heard of it I think it’s better that I just leave it that way Father. The best advice I have to give you is to never mention it to anyone if you don’t want to live in fear for your life.”

“You make it sound very dangerous Joshua.”

“Good, I want it to scare the hell out of you Father, it’s not something you want to know about…trust me. Now what did Jonah, I mean the pope, have to say to you?”

“He told me I was doing a good job on the reports and to keep up the good work. He was most insistent that I notify him immediately if I suspect or know you’ve left the area.”

“And you said?”

“I said what he wanted to hear. I told him I’d do exactly as he asked.”

“Did he tell you not to mention all this business to me?”

“I don’t think he thought he had to give me any explicit instructions regarding whether or not to tell you anything but I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate it if he knew. Let’s just say I’m not going to call him back and let him know what I’ve done.”

Joshua sighed, “I wish I could trust you Father, it’d make my life much easier if I knew for sure you were my friend and not working for Jonah.”

Father Walt said, “What you don’t know about me Joshua is I haven’t really cared much for our Church in years, the scandals are a disgrace and the lack of any kind of discipline makes it even worse. I’m always thinking that when people look at me they see a pedophile thanks to all the perverts this Church employs. If I thought I could leave and make a decent living doing something else I’d leave in a heartbeat but the truth is that I’ve gotten lazy here. It’s a nice place to live, I enjoy talking to the parishioners and to you especially. It’s an easy life and I doubt I could have it any better on the outside.”

“I wanted to quit once myself.”

“What happened?”

“I think it’s better if I keep quiet about it Father, maybe someday I’ll be able to tell you what’s going on but not yet, not today.”

They sat on the porch and had another cup of coffee but said nothing else of the Church, Joshua limited the conversation to talk of the weather and golf.

“What would you say to a good cigar Father?”

“I’d say come on, no one is that good, you must have something to confess.”

Joshua laughed, “Hey, all of a sudden my priest is a comedian.”

Chapter 7

Cardinal Maffi was the first to speak, “Did the call to America go well Holiness?”

“It’s difficult to say Eminence. The priest there seemed sincere and most anxious to make sure I thought he was doing a good job but …”

“But what Holiness?”

The Pontiff’s thoughts were drifting back to the days with Joshua before all the trouble began. They were exceptionally good friends and he was crushed when Joshua rejected the Order of Simon Magus. At the time he was very angry and came very close to saying nothing on his friend’s behalf but when the council imposed the death penalty he couldn’t allow it to go forward without speaking up. He argued forcibly for Joshua’s life and it was granted with the caveat that if Joshua did anything to harm the Order Jonah’s life could very well be in danger also.

“I’d like to send someone there to keep an eye on both of them for a while, just to insure no one is playing games with us.”

Cardinal Maffi said, “Holiness, I understand that you still think of him as a friend but you could just lift the stay on his execution and be done with it. Nothing to worry about then.”

“If it were anyone but Joshua I’d do it but he’s a good man, hell Maffi, he was my best friend. If I thought he was up to anything I’d have him killed but I think he’s just living his life as best he can. I sincerely doubt he means us any harm but you never know.”

“I’ll have someone there tomorrow Holiness, do you have a preference as to what guise he should take?”

“Anything but a priest, just have whoever you send pretend to be a good Catholic moving into town. Rent him a house someplace close to Joshua and maybe have him try to befriend Joshua. Or just have him watch him, whatever your man thinks best.”

“It’ll be done as you ask Holiness.”

“Eminence?”

“Yes?”

“Make sure you send a competent man. We can’t afford to screw this up. You understand that, right?”

“Of course and don’t worry Holiness.”

“It’s part of my job to worry Maffi.” He smiled at the cardinal and waited for a response but hearing nothing he said, “Okay then, I think we’re ready for the planning committee, are they all here?”

“They await you in the chapel.”

“Walk with me Eminence?”

“I think I’d better get someone working on your friend. Once I’m finished, I’ll join you in the chapel.”

“Of course Eminence, of course you’re right. I’ll see you in the chapel and don’t keep us waiting long.”

Pius XIII made his way down a long elaborate hallway and when he reached the end he knocked on what seemed like a solid wall. It creaked as someone on the opposite side opened a large door that opened into a stone room. It was the same room where Joshua was shocked by the ceremony he participated in over twenty years ago. Jonah looked out at the crowd gathered here, a group of thirteen Cardinals, or it would be once Maffi arrived. This was the planning committee of the Order of Simon Magus, it hadn’t been very active over the last century but Jonah had every intention of changing that. World events and modern technology had caused the Church to lose much of it’s historic importance and Jonah thought if someone didn’t do something drastic soon the Church would likely simply fade away, a victim of its own incompetence. The world wasn’t the same as when the Church last had great power, in those days the population consisted of mostly uneducated poor folks who had no choice but to believe the priests when they promised them an eternity in hell if they didn’t follow the Church. These days science had convinced millions of people that religion was a myth for stupid people. Once they were converted to the religion of science why would they care if the Church essentially faded away? They wouldn’t, in fact, they’d welcome it. That’s the way things were going in the world now he thought, Church attendance was way down and all the scandals had done even more damage to it’s already fragile credibility. Now, no one feared being excommunicated, it was almost a badge of honor to oppose the Church. Some of her own priests made a mockery of the Church by doing whatever they felt like doing with no regard whatsoever to what the Holy See had to say.

Cardinal Maffi entered the chapel by the door in the rear of the room. This was an informal session but the cardinals all wore their formal robes. It was expected of them whenever a meeting took place in their Stone Chapel. Jonah stood in front of his throne and called the group to order.

He began the meeting with a short prayer, “Simon Magus, Apostle of the true God we ask your blessing on this gathering of your children. Guide our actions and bless our undertakings. Amen.” Jonah knew there was probably not a single man in the room who believed in their God or any other God for that matter. The prayer was said only because that’s the way it was always done and if nothing else, the Order of Simon Magus valued order.