Chapter 4

It was a cold December evening in Rome, the Italian capital, characterized by low temperatures and a heavy snowfall ushered in by the Arctic blast. Its knock-on effect was a threat to their mission, but not to the dream liner, as it touched down beautifully in time with men and equipment at the Leonardo da Vinci International airport, defying poor visibility caused by the snowstorm.

It was a moment of reckoning for Deloria, the embodiment of a military saying of "one shot one kill" to put her expertise to the test.

Aided by one of the world's most sophisticated precision rifles ever created in the history of mankind: the M40-A5 sniper rifle.

The members of her entourage code-named, "the Pacific three," comprised of a female driver named Skopje, and a ghost sniper called Demeter, were Deloria's network of trusted friends with her being the theatre commander.

They were all muffled up in black over-coats with fingerless gloves, snow harts and long boots that went beyond their knees and were soon driven off in a Chevrolet Tahoe.

Demeter, the Israeli sniper specialist was hired to carry out the strike. However, her capability to carry out the assignment was beginning to diminish as they approached the imposing structures at Saint Peter's Basilica. Deloria thought the reason behind it was money but she was grossly wrong.

She turned to Deloria and said to her, "had I known it was here, I wouldn't have accepted the offer."

"Why?" Asked Deloria.

"It's a sacrilege of the highest order to kill on holy grounds during a sacred event of this magnitude." She even attempted going against the agreement at the last minute but changed her mind.

"I should have informed you beforehand," said Deloria, "but good to have your allegiance despite the contract going against your doctrine. Now let's set the ball rolling, shall we?"

"Here is the job description and our modus operandi: our target is a Seminarian partaking in the Papal Mass this New year's eve.

I shall go into the Chapel of Pieta and lure him out, from there, you do the unthinkable, is that clear?"

The SUV is now parked at the Via de La Conciliazione, a street leading to Saint Peter's Basilica.

"To gain entrance into the square, we have to possess tickets, these tickets are hard to come by due to high demand from faithful who will come from across the continents. The good news is that I have been able to obtain one for each of us.

Secondly, the security architecture of the Holy City is appalling. To penetrate through the firewalls with our equipment, the cooperation of an insider would be necessary. But I have good news for you; there is a "Judas" who is ready to collect from us "thirty pieces of silver coins" to betray the security system of the city. But be warned that buying one out of a thousand army does not warrant us to do as we like. The help within will only assist us to go beyond the security checkpoints at the entrance. Once our tools are in, his part of the deal has been accomplished and wouldn't be held responsible for anything that might crop up later and should blame ourselves if we are caught at that point.

For the operation to be successful, we have to stick to our deft manoeuvring system to beat the ever-at-alert forces. You will need to digest the map of this facility in your possession quickly to be able to penetrate high into the rooftops, under the pretext of a press. In that Sheep's skin, you shall hide yourself in-between the Vatican State Seal and the statues of Alexander Vii monument. From there, you pump in bullets into his skull.

"Ladies, we are driving at this moment." Said Longoria. Skopje starts the car engine and drives slowly along the 500-metre long street packed with pedestrians on both sides.

Delima Hebdo, a flag officer, recognized the white Chevrolet carrying a unique registration number: "Corp Technique 03 ITL" and walks to the driver's side of the door and knocks on the dark glasses with a folded finger. Skopje wounded down the glass. Longoria recognized him but did not utter a word to him. He ran a lazy check on the interior of the car with his eyes just to fulfil all righteousness.

"Good luck," he said to them, "do be careful not to fall into my men's trap." Longoria nodded and the glass went up

"Congratulations people," she

said, "we've made it through our first hurdle, 70 per cent of the job has been done. From here, I go to the Chapel of the pieta. Demeter, you take that direction; confront any situation professionally and kill if it permits you to do so but leave no traces. And you, Skopje, stay alive and be watchful in the car."

Demeter sets out with her bag pack, pacing hurriedly to her destination and soon found herself in a large hall. She made a brief stop and checked around for an elevator. Luckily, she sighted one but changed her mind and chose to take the staircase.

She took the first, second, third fourth and then fifth steps. She was about to take the sixth one when she heard a voice shouted, "Halt!" Someone barked from across the hall with a sonic boom, it was a uniformed man. The security man walked up to her gallantly and spoke to her in Italian saying, "Cosa hai in Borsa?"

"Um," she said in perplex, "sorry, I don't

understand what you said buddy, could you speak English, please?"

"OK, what you have in your bag?" he asked in weak English.

"Press," she replied, "reporter with the Italian National Television."

"May I see your pass?" He asked.

"pass? What Pass?" Asked Demeter.

"The evidence that permits you to operate in this premises."

Though Demeter does not carry any, if she does, it was supposed to be displayed on her person but she did not, so he suspected a foul play.

Demeter tried to reach for her bag but the guard denied her.

"How did you get in here?" He asked, looking at her menacingly. "It's a restricted area, nobody is allowed to loiter around here. Kindly step outside this minute or I raise an alarm."

Demeter was agitated and worried that her best-laid plans were about to be aborted. She looked to her left and then to her right and above in search of persons and cameras but found non.

"Okay," she said, "I will move."

When he saw that Demeter has fully obliged to his demands, he laid down his guard and followed her closely.

Without warning, Demeter rushed him and hit him in-between his legs with her knee.

The man fell to the floor and remained motionless. She then drags him to a female convenience and locked him up and proceeded to the rooftops.

Demeter looked horrified, "I hate myself for what I just did," she said, "this is not part of what I have bargained for."

Meanwhile, Deloria was comfortably seated at the front pew in the Chapel of the Pieta where Alessandro, her runaway man is among the few to serve at the mass on that day as an altar server. A once in a lifetime blessing for a seminarian to serve at the Papal Mass. It was the best role he could have as he gets close to the Holy Father, only a few steps away, for a large part of the Mass.

Before the celebration began, all the deacon and altar servers lined up in the chapel and the Pontiff went down the line and shook everyone's hand. When it reached the turn of Alessandro, he presented him with the Zucchetto, a white skull cap. It is a tradition in the Vatican that if you meet the Pope and gave him a white Zucchetto, he will put it on his head and then give it back to you. So now Alessandro has a skull cap worn by the Pope.

It was an incredible moment for Longoria to make eye contact with her lover at the altar with the Holy Father and was full of love and admiration for him.

During the Mass, Alessandro Epifany placed vessels on the altar and removed them after communion. He knelt at the foot of the altar during the consecration and used the thurible, a metal censer in which incense is burned to scent the Blessed sacrament. When he wasn't doing anything, he was standing just a few steps away from the Argentine-born Pope during the liturgy of the Eucharist.

At the tail end of the Eucharist, Longoria slipped out of the Church and had a chat with Demeter.

"What is the position of things with you," she asked. "very tough at first, Longoria but everything is under control now and I've made headway; am at the zenith of the roofs and taken position. All is now set at my end, waiting for a signal from you but the downside of it is that am freezing to death."

"You will be fine, Demeter. Soonest, it will be done and over."

Barely ten minutes later, Deloria alerted her to look a few metres to the right near the Vatican Totem, that she will be making an appearance there shortly, and that she should strike while the iron is hot.

At the end of the Mass, a large number of people flooded the premises of the Pieta, giving Demeter a hard time locating her victim. The slightest opportunity she got to take a shot was adequately utilized and the ghost warrior made a Carlous impact on her target with a shot faster than a transporter beam from Star Trek. Her kill fell flat with blood spills everywhere, causing pandemonium at the scene.

"Nice shot," said Deloria. "Now pack your gadgets and leave with the urgency of a late traveller trying to catch a flight."