Again each cardinal wrote his choice on the paper inscribed with the words in Latin,' Eligo in summum pontificem,' which translated to ' I elect as Supreme Pontiff…'
Again, one by one they approached the altar and spoke the words, "I call as my witness, Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who, before God, I think should be elected".
Finally, the right number of ballots had been received for this vote and the tallying procedure was repeated.
The first scrutineer took a ballot, noted the name on it, and passed it to the second scrutineer, who noted the name and passed it to the third scrutineer.
The third scrutineer read aloud the name on the ballot, pierced the ballot with a needle through the word Eligo at the top of the paper, and slid the ballot onto a string of thread.
Once all ballots were read, the scrutineers wrote down the official count on a separate sheet of paper.
"This is excruciating," Illya whispered to his partner.
"Hey, this is history in the making,"Solo replied.
They had seen nothing so far to prove anything untoward was happening.
Napoleon and Illya continued watching as the third scrutineer knotted the ends of the thread on which the ballots were sewn to preserve the vote.
The ballots were placed in a receptacle and the votes were read, listing which candidates received how many votes.
There was no clear majority, so another vote would be necessary.
A moan of frustration echoed within the Chapel.
After the vote all the ballots and notes were again burned, much to the disappointment of those waiting outside as well as within the chapel.
It was then a small break was decided upon for a light meal, and back to start over again. At this time, the assistants were granted access to the Cardinals to see to their needs.
"Your Eminence,"Napoleon addressed Spellerman. "What happens next?"
"After our break the next round begins with new scrutineers who will replace the original three."
"That shoots down the idea of hanky panky on their part," Napoleon leaned over, whispering to his partner. Solo's thoughts that there might be more than one Thrushie nesting in the conclave was an unsettling but realistic idea.
"One or all of the next scrutineers could be in league with our THRUSH friends."
"My thoughts exactly, my dear Father Ceasare," Illya nodded his agreement.
The break gave Napoleon and Illya the opportunity they needed, and with the help of their two accomplice cardinals, they planted bugs on the leading candidates places at the tables.
A few extras were added as well in the event other candidates materialized.
Cardinal Spellerman and Cardinal Wiśniewski allowed listening devices on themselves as well, though they made the UNCLE agents swear that they would not listen if in the event confessions were heard by them or any of the priests who made their confessions.
The devices allowed Napoleon and Illya to listen in on discussions that were happening among the cardinals, though technically it was forbidden, campaigning still happened.
Candidates and their suitability needed to be discussed. Who would be the best men here to lead the Catholic church into the future?
Still it was key words like 'plan' and 'THRUSH' for which the agents listened. Thrushies had big mouths and liked to chatter, even in whispers.
Without discussing it, Illya planted a bug in the restroom as well as the rooms occupied by the leading Cardinals and their assistants over in the Domus Marthae Sanctae. It was a lot of work, and he needed to do it quickly, forcing him to forego lunch.
Once the break was concluded and everyone returned to the chapel, the campaigning began in earnest.
It resulted in a monumental amount of conversations on which to eavesdrop. The UNCLE communicator pens picked up the signals, and with some fine tuning they could zero in on a specific conversation merely by pointing the pens in the right direction and letting them act as antennae.
The agents listened in, each wearing a minute earbud not visible to anyone.
It was one of the other bugs that got Illya's attention; he was seated off to the side pretending to read the bible while he held his communicator his hand. This signal wasn't strong as it was coming from the lavatory.
Two men, both priests, as all the cardinals were accounted for, were speaking with each other.
He distinctly heard the phrase "time to execute the plan," though he was unsure who the speakers were. That was when he decided to take a stroll with the excuse of needing to use the loo.
Rather than going inside he stood still outside the door, carefully listening to the conversation once the sound of a flushing toilet was silenced.
"Did you take care of the ballots?" One man asked.
"They're ready for when the right vote comes," came a single reply.
Illya now recognized the voices once he could hear them clearly. They were the conclavists for Cardinal Siriano. One named Father Santoro, and the other Father Minelli, if they were even priests at all.
While doing his eavesdropping, someone came up behind the Russian and hit him hard on the back of the head. Illya dropped to the floor, not unconscious but stunned. He couldn't see who it was and a second later he felt the prick of a needle in his neck.
The Russian woke in one of the upstairs rooms with a doctor hovering over him, saying he must have passed out and hit his head. "He'sa rather thin, so I might presume that he'sa not eating all his meals. Meager though they are, he should no skip any of them. The stress here will sap one's energy, so the calories they are needed."
The physician was speaking to Napoleon but standing beside him was Father Paulo Santoro, one of the Siriano assistants.
"Father Kumiega, I am so relieved you are all right," Santoro said. "I found you lying unconscious on the floor outside the gabinetto. "
"What happened?" Napoleon asked, though he saw a cautionary glance from Illya.
His head was momentarily fuzzy, but Illya remembered everything quite clearly before being hit on the head and feeling the needle shoved into his neck. Though he'd said nothing about it, thinking it best to play dumb.
"Do you remember anything?" Santoro asked.
"Other than going to use the lavatory, no."
The doctor held up Illya's earpiece. "And what may I ask is this?"
Illya pretended to be embarrassed, and in truth he was at letting someone getting the drop on him.
"It is for a radio,"Illya pulled what looked like a small transistor from his trouser pocket.
"News of the outside world isa no permitted, Father Kumeiga. This is a grievous violation of the rules of conclave and I must report it." The doctor was quite angry.
If somehow Illya and Napoleon were revealed as impostors, the punishment would most likely be arrest and excommunication. In Napoleon's case that meant something but to Kuryakin it was an empty threat and held no meaning for him as he wasn't a Catholic, much less a believer.
As to being arrested, the 'get out of jail card' would be in the hands of Alexander Waverly. It would all be hush hush of course, and the secrets of the Papal conclave would remain intact.
"Oh you misunderstand Doctor," Illya half smiled," I have hearing difficulty as a result of a bomb exploding near me when I was child in Poland during the war. My regular hearing aid broke and I use this to amplify sound in order to help me hear. It is not very good as it does have a lot of background noise."
"Then how is it you hear me now?"
Illya gave a wry smile. "I read lips Doctor. Although for the sake of the conclave I do avert my eyes in order to give the cardinals their privacy, and the signal from this sound amplifier does not carry very far, so I do not hear what the electors are saying."
"Oh... ooooh, " YOU HAVE MY APOLOGIES, " the doctor raised his voice, thinking it was necessary.
Illya ignored the change in volume of course, "I feel well enough, may I return to my duties?"
"Doctor," Napoleon interrupted," there's no need speak up; he can read your lips, remember?"
"But of course. My apologies, it's a habit as my mama she is deaf. Now Father Kumeiga, perhaps it'sa not wise for you to go to the Cardinale," the doctor rubbed his chin with his fingers."There must be a reason why you fainted."
Illya gave a dismissive wave."You were correct in your assumption as I neglected to eat today, perhaps my blood glucose was too low."
"You have the diabetes?"
"No, but not eating does make me lightheaded from time to time. I did not eat supper last night, nor breakfast this morning as I was fasting while I prayed for the election of our new pope. It is my own fault for neglecting to eat, I should have known better. I suppose the excitement of attending my first Papal conclave made me forgetful. I will see it does not happen again. Now if you will excuse me Doctor, I must see to my cardinal's needs.
"No, not until you have something to eat. I will have one of the sister's bring you soup and bread."
Napoleon cast a wary look to his partner to just go along with it.
"Doctor, I will see that the good Father does exactly that. Now we've taken up too much of your valuable time," Napoleon managed to shoo the physician away along with Father Santoro.
The doctor was correct, being assistant to the cardinals during their arduous tasks, could take its toll, even though most of the priests were far younger than the Cardinal Electors.
The hours the agents had put in since their arrival in Rome had made the assignment quite taxing so far, on top of that, they were both still dealing with jet lag.
"Excuse me Father," Solo and Illya heard a voice outside the room. She was speaking to Santoro who was still there, apparently trying to do his own eavesdropping.
One of the sisters walked inside carrying a tray with a bowl of chicken broth and a large piece of Italian bread with butter, as well as a cup of tea.
She closed the door after herself, and put her fingers to her lips, signalling Napoleon and Illya to be quiet.
It was none other than April Dancer. She was clothed in a long dark habit, a broad white bib, along with the white headpiece and dark veil of a Franciscan nun and she made it look good.
She'd been planted as a backup by Waverly, unbeknownst to Solo and Kuryakin.
The sisters, like the assistants to the Cardinal electors had to be seen and not heard and only appeared with food, or to assist one of the doctors, if needed as they often had nursing skills. They were in no way permitted into the Sistine Chapel.
"Sorry I couldn't find any raspberry jam for your tea," she whispered.
Illya spoke softly, telling Napoleon and April of Siriano's assistants being up to something with the voting ballots, but what that was he hadn't heard before a third party attacked him.
He could only presume the injection was to make him forget, given Santoro was asking specifically about his memory.
Since Illya had developed a high tolerance to THRUSH drugs, it had no effect on him. It was a logical conclusion that his resistance to it proved it to be THRUSH concoction.
Napoleon brought up the fact that something about one of the scrutineers seemed familiar to him, and at great risk he'd managed to snap a photograph of the man, but had no idea how he was going to get it to headquarters in Rome.
April Dancer's presence solved that as he slipped the mini camera into her hand, giving it a little squeeze.
"I could kiss you right now," he whispered.
"Being celibate getting to you darling?"
"Is the Pope Catholic," he quipped.
"Sorry but I can't scratch your itch Napoleon, though I wouldn't mind helping you out," she flirted.
"You realize you just made my itch worse," he whispered leaning close to her, if her ear hadn't been covered with the headpiece and veil, he would have nibbled on it.
Illya, sitting there with his arms crossed in front of himself the whole time, finally spoke up.
"Excuse me, but must I be subjected to this? April will you stop being a cock tease, and you Father Cesare…"Illya wagged a finger at his partner.
"Father Kumiega, your language," April wagged her finger back at him.
"Yes, ahem," Napoleon cleared his throat, taking a step back from Dancer, raising the palms of his hands in front of himself.
"April, have the Rome office check our database.
Something is off with this guy. I can't quite put my finger on it. We need it post haste. I know he's a Cardinal, and not one of those in the running, but something is floating around in the back of my mind about him. I just can't put my finger on it."
April ignored Illya's warning and gave Solo a peck on the cheek before opening the door.
"Ummm yes Sister thank you. I'll see that Father Kumeiga eats it all." Napoleon raised his voice, for the benefit of Santoro, if in the event he was standing outside.
Luckily he wasn't there.