Thank you to Lily Anne Michaels Lili93 for her review
Chapter 3:
Vatican City was still as breath-taking as Jemma had remembered it. Being a reseacher of religious myths, Jemma had taken quiet a few trips into the center of Christian faith. Then it dawned on her she was actually going to enter the Vatican and everything started to spin.
I'm going into the Vatican to stop an age old order from blowing it sky-high. Jeeze, wait until Grandpa hears about this. Jemma chuckled to herself. The copters docked once more and the groups were hushed to awaiting cars. "If I may ask but what's the other huge problem?" Jemma inquried. The guards said nothing as the cars raced to the Vatican. Kai pulled out his phone and dailed a number.
-----------
In the second car, Miguel pulled his phone into view and answered it. "Sir?"
"How long do we have left?" Kai asked. Miguel mouthed the question to Mathilda who checked through certain data before giving him the results. Miguel cursed to himself.
"We have 40 hours to find the container sir." Miguel informed. Kai let a out sigh follwed by a quick "Understood" before hanging up. Miguel could tell he was not happy.
----------
By the time both teams got to the Vatican, members of the Swiss guard was already up in arms. Stationed in front of the Vatican were two black vans. Both were unmarked. Bryan smiled to himself. "Right on time." he chuckled. Kai glanced over his shoulder, clearly understanding Bryan's idea.
"I take it that this is your doing."
Bryan nodded his head. "I took the liberty of ordering two of our vans here. Everything is loaded inside and waiting. The Vans are also armoured. Just in case." he explained. The Barthez Division were quick to their van. Bryan opened the back door of the first van allowing his team-mates in first. Jemma stood with her hands on her hips.
"Now wait just a cotten pickin' minute here! How the hell could these two vans get here before us? It's impossible." she pointed out. Bryan smirked to himself and shrugged a little. Tala was out of the van again and making his way towards Kai.
"Our business."
Jemma's smirk matched Bryan's. "Oh I get it. Just like The Philadelphia Experiment. Gotcha! Don't ask, don't tell." she giggled. Bryan disappeared inside the van leaving Tala and Kai talking. Jemma watched closely. Tala handed Kai something but their fingers touched a little too long. Jemma scratched her chin a little. She decided to keep quiet about it as Tala dashed off back to the van. "Whatcha got there slim?" Jemma inquried. In the palm of Kai's hand was a hands-free ear piece.
The duo were led up into Vatican. Jemma stared in amazment. All the letters she had written to get inside had been rejected but now....Jemma didn't notice that the guard had stopped and plowed right into him. He glared at her while she rubbed her nose and opened the door to the Swiss guard office.
It was Chaos.
The third guard who Jemma knew was a member of the Tornatore guards left the duo. The second guard was also gone. The first silently ordered them to wait by the door and made his way cover to a tall man. The pair spoke quickly before the taller man's phone went off. The first guard came back. "Commander Placido will see you shortly." Kai nodded his thanks as the guard left. Commander Placido was only on the phone for a minute tops before making his way towards Kai and Jemma. Kai fixed the hands-free ear piece into his ear and checked if everyone in the vans could hear. He was pleased to know that they could.
"I am Comader Placido. You are?" He jabbed a finger at Jemma who seemed too interested in the room around her. Kai decided to answer for both of them.
"This is Jemma Aeris Scott. She's a symbolist. I am Kai Hiwatari, head of the Biovolt company. You phoned my office today. Something about a container with the logo of the company on." Kai answered. Placido sucked in some air through his teeth before nodding his head. He motioned for the two to follow and headed off to what looked like a control room. Kai grabbed Jemma's elbow and yanked her behind. Once infront of a large screen, Placido jabbed a finger at it.
"Explain."
Jemma's eyes widened as she stared at the antimatter container. Behind it the words Illuminati were scrawled on the wall in big black letters. Her eyes traveled down to the counter and gulped. "Kai, I think the Barthez Division made a mistake. It says we only have 6 hours to find it." she informed. Kai glared at the screen before placing two fingers against the ear-piece. Mathilda had heard Jemma.
"But that's impossible! We have 40 to 30 hours to find the container. It couldn't have changed that quick!" she exclaimed. Kai frowned. She did have a point. If the antimatter was set to go off in 48 hours, how in the name of hell could it have counted down so quick. Jemma pouted a little and glanced over to Kai.
"Maybe....whoever stole it messed around with the wires. They could have tampered with it." Before Kai could hear Mathilda's view, Placido's hard glare was on him again.
"Is this yours?" he asked. Kai nodded his head. "That what is it doing here?" Placido roared. Through the ear-piece Kai could hear the Barthez Division try to explain the sudden loss of time. Jemma continued to stare at the container.
"It was stolen from Biovolt early hours of this morning. The battery life of the container was 48 hours but it appears someone has tampered with it. I take it you have no idea where it is." Kai shot back. Placido's nostrails flared dangerously.
"Are you even aware what's happening right at this minute?" he inquried. Kai said nothing. He clearly did not know what was happening. Jemma, on the other hand, nodded her head while her eyes never left the screen. She had heard all about it that morning before leaving for work. It was one of the rare times she actually watched the news.
"Conclave. The pope died of a stroke and now you are in the middle of choicing another one." Jemma finally turned away from the screen. "You have to get everyone out of here before it goes." She was met with a dry laugh from Placido. Although Jemma had mostly been scorned and laughed at for her ideas, this type of laugh was the worst of all. "What the hell are you laughing at? Don't just stand there. Get everyone out!" Jemma yelled. Placido moved so he was inches away from her face. He was surprised that Jemma did not back down.
"We have not begun searching for your container." Kai's face paled further as Jemma stood rooted to the spot. "I have four missing Cardinals and I will not split up my forces to look for this thing. I do not like my security cameras tampered with, nor do I like strange objects appearing out of nowhere." he replied.
"Then let us see the camerlengo! We have to warn everyone!" Jemma insisted. Once again Placido laughed dryly. Kai clasped a hand on Jemma's wrist before she decided to strike the commander down.
"The Camerlengo is in the office of the pope, preparing for Conclave." Placido stopped and turned his attention to another guard. He saluted before mutting something. Neither Jemma nor Kai caught a word. Placido nodded his head and looked at the duo. "My office now."
------------
Enrique Tornatore gave out a small sigh but did not move from his perch. The Tornatore household were over-joyed to learn that Santino Tornatore, Enrique's father, had been selected as one of the four possible options for Pope. Santino was the favourtie and everyone was sure he was going to be elected. The entire Tornatore household were Catholic although Enrique traded his faith for the women of Italy. His grandmother however was strictly Catholic.
At the moment Angelia Tornatore was in heavy prayer, asking for hope and support for her son. Enrique stood outside the room she was in and waited silently.
"You can't lock us in here damn it!"
The blond's ear perked up. He knew that voice. Enrique glanced round the corner of the wall he lent against and watched as Placido shoved a two-toned haired male into his office. The blue haired female remained where she was and continued to rant. Enrique squited slightly. He couldn't be sure if it was her.
"Get your hands off me! I swear to the pagan gods if you don't let us see..." The female's rant was cut off when the door to Placido's offce was slammed shut and locked tightly. Enrique watched as Placido ordered a guard to stand watch before feeling a large shadow fall over him.
"Hey Lazzaro. Do you still have Placido's office number stored in your phone?" Enrique asked. Lazzaro, Ex-Swiss guard and Commander of the Tornatore guards, nodded his head and fished his phone from his pocket. Lazzaro searched the number and hit dail before handing it to the smaller male. "Thanks." Enrique placed it to his ear.
------------------
"Let us out of here!"
Kai placed two fingers to the ear piece and listened to Mathilda. Kai didn't like what he heard. "If I'm correct sir, Jemma's idea of someone tampering with the container is the only option. There is no way that we could have lost that much time." Mathilda informed. Jemma continued to pound on the door.
"Pagan gods help me, if you don't open this door....."
Jemma's threat was cut off when the phone in the office began to ring loudly. Both Kai and Jemma stared at the object before Jemma looked at Kai. The russian shook his head. Jemma had that look in her eyes. "Don't you dare!" Jemma was already moving to the phone. "Jemma, I'm warning you. Don't you dare answer that phone!"
"Hello?" Too late. Jemma had already answered it. Kai slapped a hand over his forehead and cursed in russian, calling Jemma every name he could ever think of.
"I thought it was you when I heard you rant. How long has it been Jemma since you last visited?" The voice on the other end inquried. Jemma's eye lit up and a wide grin appeared on her face. Kai watched her. Whoever had phone did not want Placido. Jemma perched herself on the edge of the office desk.
"Enrique Tornatore. How have you been my woman chasing friend?" Jemma inquried. Enrique chuckled down the end of the phone. "Look I really need your help. I'm locked in a room with Kai Hiwatari. We need to talk to the camerlengo about the time bomb they're sitting on. Can you get us out?" Jemma questioned.
"Give me a sec." There came a shuffle on the other end of the phone.
-----------
"Grandma?"
Angelia finished her prayer before standing to her feet. Lazzaro kept his eyes peeled. "Is anything wrong Enrique?" The blond stepped closer to his grandmother. "Have you heard anything about your father and the other cardinals?" Enrique shook his head and Angelia sighed unhappily.
"You remember Jemma Aeris Scott don't you Grandma?" Angelia nodded her head. "Well...."
----------
Jemma placed the phone down much to Kai's surprise. "That was short." he muttered. Jemma said nothing to him and began to count down from 10. All of a suddenly that came a almight yell. Kai stared in surprise through the frosted glass to see what looked like a small women yelling at the guard outside.
"I demand you release those two at once!"
The guard remain firm. He explained as best he could that Placido had ordered him to stay guard. The woman was having none of it. "Lazzaro! Open that door. I don't care how, just do it!" she ordered. A huge shadow fell infront of the door and began to jiggle with the lock. The other guard ordered for Lazzaro to stop but his orders came form Angelia and he continued. Finally there came a clunk and the door swung open. Jemma grinned at the large figure in the door way.
"Lazzaro! How you been you old fart?" Jemma asked. Kai blinked and looked at Jemma, clearly confused by the turn of events. Lazzaro smiled warmly and stepped aside to allow the two out of the room. Heavy footsteps was heard coming down the corridor. "Uh oh. Here comes trouble." Jemma squeaked and hid behind Lazzaro.
"What on earth is going on here?" Placido thundered. He glared at the guard he had left in charge who avoided his stare. Angelia stood in front of Lazzaro. Although pushing the grand old age of 67, Angelia was like most woman in the Tornatore family. She was firey when she needed to be. She glared heatedly at Placido.
"So it was you! Do you not know who she is?" Angelia inquried pointing to Jemma's half-hidden form. Placido wrinkled his nose while Kai began to quickly explain the turn of events to his team. "She is a great friend of the Tornatore family. Locking her away like an animal is disrespectful not only to my family but to the Vatican." Angelia took a deep breath. "Now, where is my son? Where are the other Cardinals?" she questioned. Placido did not look at her, instead finding something far more interesting on the wall. "Answer me!"
Kai coughed to gain their attention. "I do not mean to be rude but we have to see the camerlengo. Perhaps we could explain the events to you on the way." he pointed out. Angelia nodded her head, pleased the idea and led the duo to the Pope's office. Enrique flanked Jemma's right, talking excitedly to her. Lazzaro flanked Kai's left, keeping a silent watch on the pair. Placido followed closely behind, glaring at the group as they made their closer to the Pope's office.