Note: The last chapter was fairly restful, all things considered, and I know a lot of you were glad to see the potential Johanna-Abel-Esther triangle finally addressed. But now it's back to the dramatic again! Sorry that this story is taking a bit longer than the original "Unexpected Results" to get written, but now that I know I'm going for three full stories (yes, UR is going to be a three part story), I'm taking more time to plan and develop things.
By the way, as I mentioned earlier, there is a LiveJournal community up for our favorite neurotic nun! For more information, swing by my profile and scroll down a bit!
In All the Empty Places, Part V
"Sister Johanna..."
At the sound of Kate's voice, Johanna looked up from her computer where she was studying the blueprints of the Silent Noise system as the hologram rezzed up beside her desk.
"Sister Kate, what can I do for you?" she asked, pushing her long hair back from her face and sitting back in her chair.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your work."
Johanna shrugged. "It's not an interruption, I need a break anyway. I've been staring at these things so long my eyes are crossing."
"Well, you have been at it for two weeks straight," Kate said, her voice slightly reproving. "You are entitled to take a break every now and again, you know."
"I take breaks!" Johanna protested.
"Such as?"
The dark-haired nun began counting off on her fingers. "Weapons training with Father Tres, religion lessons with Father Abel, diplomatic instruction with Father Vaclav, physical training with Father Leon-"
"That's your idea of taking a break?" Kate exclaimed.
"Oh, and lest I forget, my physical rehab sessions-"
"Johanna-"
"Not to mention the security work I'm doing for her Eminence on the side..."
"And you think you're not doing too much?" The hologram sighed and shook her head. "You forget to stop to eat if someone doesn't come to remind you. Don't deny it, Father Nightroad has already expressed concern about it."
Johanna smiled ruefully.
"Yeah, bad habit from my days in college. But you know Father Abel, if he's even an hour late for lunch, he's convinced that he's dying of starvation."
"Do you at least sleep?!"
Johanna's smile slowly faded. "When I can, yes."
Kate's eyes looked troubled. "Still having nightmares?"
Although it was not something Johanna had discussed with the other AX members, Kate had found out by accident when she'd stopped by Johanna's quarters with a question only to find the nun curled up in a ball on her bed, shaking. After calming her down, the hologram had learned that since her return to Rome, Johanna had been plagued by nightmares of her experiences in Antwerp - small wonder, after being assaulted by a vampire, abducted from Memling's estate, and suffering at the hands of the Rosencreutz Order. Although Kate had originally wanted to bring the matter to the attention of Cardinal Caterina, Johanna had made Kate promise not to mention it to anyone else.
The other Sister nodded, rubbing her temples. "Yeah... and what's even more aggravating is that I feel like I have a hole in my mind."
"Father Nightroad mentioned something in his report about the use of a neural flare on you," Kate said softly. "They do affect short-term memory."
"I know," Johanna sighed again. "I just wish I could figure out what was so important that they erased part of my memory. But it'll come back to me eventually."
"And it might come back sooner if you actually took the time to sleep and eat!" Kate scolded her, trying to lighten the mood.
Johanna laughed at her. "So is that why you're here? To make sure I eat?"
"Not exactly, no, although if you take a moment to, I'd be happier. No, her Eminence would like to see you in her office right away."
"Sure." Johanna slowly got to her feet, took hold of her crutches, and began making her way toward the door.
"You still have to use those things?" Kate asked, looking sympathetic, and Johanna shrugged.
"Only after I get tired. I don't quite have the stamina I used to, such as it was. But the rehab helps - I can get around in the middle of the day without them as long as I'm not running. But by the end of the day..." She shrugged again. "I'll get there eventually."
As Johanna entered Caterina's office, the Cardinal glanced up from the papers she had been studying with a faint smile. "Ah, Sister Johanna, thank you for coming so promptly."
"Your Eminence." Johanna bowed her head briefly in respect, then she saw Father William rise from the other chair that faced Caterina's desk. "Hello again, Professor."
"Sister." William drew out a chair for Johanna to be seated before taking the seat beside her.
Caterina signed the last of the documents before her, then set them aside, folded her hands, and gave Johanna and William her full attention. "Before we begin, I would like to compliment you both on your work on the Silent Noise system these last couple of weeks. Your diligence in its investigation is most commendable."
"Thank you, my lady," Johanna said with a faint blush. "But a lot of the credit belongs to Father William, he's the real scientist. I just thrash about until I hit the right answer by accident."
"That's not entirely true," William contradicted her gently. "You have provided some extremely useful insights during our work. It's easy to get so caught up in looking for the complicated answers that you end up missing the simpler ones."
Johanna shrugged. "Still, he's the expert. I just help out. But Father William's been a big help in making sure I keep up with him. Never hurts to have two people who know about the same thing."
"And that's why I've called you here," Caterina replied, folding her hands and looking at them both intently. "We've received word of two possible Rosencreutz plots involving the use of the Silent Noise sysstem - one in Londinium, the other in Lutetia."
"Lutetia?" Johanna asked in confusion.
"You would know it as..." William frowned for a moment, thinking. "Paris."
"Oh." She grimaced for having forgotten. Then her eyes went wide. "Wait a second, you can't throw a rock in Paris without hitting a church or a cathedral! And the same goes for London! How in the world are we supposed to find the Silent Noise system?"
"You see the problem," Caterina said dryly. "I was hoping that in your investigations, you might have discovered some way of tracking down the system."
"Short of it being activated, not really," Johanna admitted.
William, however, filled his pipe, lit it, and took a few thoughtful puffs, studiously ignoring the glare he got from Johanna. "However, it might be possible to eliminate some of them from our search based on the size of the mechanism, the number of bells required, the size of the organ required..."
"If we can get the specs on all the churches in Londinium and Lutetia," Johanna pointed out caustically.
"It's possible," Caterina said slowly. "The problem is doing it discreetly enough that the Rosencreutz doesn't catch on to what we're doing. But one thing at a time. Now, Sister Johanna, the Fathers have told me that you have a strong gift for linguistics. Is French one of those languages?"
"Oui, mais mon Français n'est pas aussi bon qu'il était par le passé." Yes, but my French is not as good as it was in the past.
"I've no doubt that your French is at least sufficient to this task," Caterina said with a smile, and Johanna grinned back. But then the Cardinal's smile became somber. "While I realize that you are still on medical leave, you are the only other AX operative besides Father William who knows the Silent Noise system. Since the Professor is originally from Londinium, and is quite familiar with the city, he will go to Albion, accompanied by Father Tres. You will need to go to the Franc Kingdom. I've not yet decided who will partner you on this assignment."
Johanna and William glanced at each other, startled, and then back at the Cardinal.
"But my lady, we still haven't gotten all the information we need in order to set up a cancellation harmonic!" Johanna protested.
"What?"
William rose to his feet and began to slowly pace, as he often did when lecturing his students. "Acoustical theory, your Eminence. In order to stop the Silent Noise system, a specific set of audio frequencies would need to be used to cancel out the effects of the system. However, we still haven't been able to reconstruct the original frequencies, even with the information we got from N... from Barcelona."
Caterina frowned. "We are running out of time, Father. Is there any way you can get that information?"
"Unfortunately, no-"
"Yes."
William and Johanna both spoke at the same time, and Caterina's eyes went from the priest to the nun.
"You know of a way, Sister?"
Johanna nodded slowly, and the Professor turned to look at her, his eyes narrowed.
"You're not thinking of-"
"Yes, I am. And if we're up against the Rosencreutz again, we don't have any choice."
"Exactly what are you two talking about?" Caterina demanded, and Johanna also got to her feet and moved slowly to the window to stare out over the courtyard.
"There are actually two people who have heard the original music used to trigger the Silent Noise system... and have heard it in its entirety."
As the dark-haired nun looked back over her shoulder, both William and Caterina were wearing identical frowns, but she went on.
"The first is Archbishop Alfonso d'Este, who is still in custody if memory serves. The other... is Father Abel."
"However, I imagine that my uncle is not going to just tell you what you want to know," Caterina said coldly, studying the Sister over her folded hands. "As for Abel... I was under the impression you've already asked him about the Silent Noise system."
"And he's told us everything he can remember," Johanna replied, before turning away again. She paused for a moment, then sighed and rested her forehead against the glass. "Or, I should say, everything he thinks he can remember."
Caterina stared at her for a moment, then rose to her feet as the full implications of Johanna's words hit her. "You're suggesting that we-"
"Yes."
"After your own experience?"
"Do we have any choice?" Johanna cried, abruptly whirling around and spreading her hands in a pleading gesture. "We run the risk of the Inquisitorial Department learning what we're up to, but unless you have a better idea, that's our only option."
For a long time, Caterina and Johanna stared at one another, with William's gaze going back and forth between the two.
Then at last, Caterina nodded. "Do it."
"Your Eminence-" William began, but Caterina cut him off.
"I'll have Father Havel assist you in getting inside. The four of you will need to get in, get the information you require, and get out as quickly as possible. Leave no evidence behind."
"Yes, your Eminence." Johanna nodded and carefully shuffled back to her chair for her crutches, then headed toward the door, but William's voice stopped her halfway across the office.
"You realize, however, what this means doing to Abel," the priest said quietly.
Johanna didn't turn around.
"Yes, I do. Which reminds me..."
The Sister looked back over her shoulder at Caterina.
"I understand that you're concerned about my morals and/or my judgment," Johanna asked quietly, meeting Caterina's eyes directly. As hard as she tried, though, she could not quite keep the bitterness out of her voice. "You may want to keep that in mind when deciding who to partner me with."
With that, she left.
To be continued...