Apocalypsis 1.01 Demons Read Online Free PDF

danger.«
    »I don’t think so,« Maria said, finally contributing to the conversation. »Don Luigi is right. You can’t simply resign yourself to your fate.«
    »But look, what do you think I should be doing?«
    Don Luigi poured him some more grappa. »We are experiencing perhaps the biggest crisis in the history of the church and of the world. The world is in danger, Peter. Perhaps you are a chosen one.«
    A chosen one.
    Peter was deeply dismayed by these words. Because they could not be true. It was impossible that they were true. He did not believe in God, not in any god. Every human being was alone in the world! His entire self-understanding was based on this conviction. Alone in the world and responsible for his own actions. This was why he had chosen the Catholic Church as an opponent when he was a young journalist, to prove that the Church was lying and manipulating people. Ellen had often reproached him for his attitude, claiming that his missionary atheism was basically as bad as the religious bigotry of the people he opposed.
    Peter moaned. »I gratefully decline – do you hear me? I decline! This is not my church! I have no reason to annihilate this church, nor do I have a reason to save it.«
    Don Luigi disregarded his words, once again with a hand gesture. »I know. You believe that you are an atheist, but trust me, I know better. If this were true, you would not have written about us so passionately. No, Peter. You are not an atheist, you are just a doubter. That’s good.«
    Peter wanted to object but his shock kept him quiet.
    A chosen one! You always knew it!
    Don Luigi was unperturbed. »The Pope has resigned,« he continued, »and knowing him, I am convinced that he had very good reasons to resign. Do you know that Monsignore Duncker, his private secretary, was murdered on the day of the Pope’s abdication?«
    »I thought he died in a helicopter accident.«
    »That’s the official version. The truth is that he was literally chopped to pieces with a machete. Terrible things are happening, Peter. The Pope’s chauffeur was also murdered.«
    »What about Sophia Eichner?«
    Don Luigi ignored the question. »Pope John Paul III still owned an apartment on Via Palermo. He bought it under the name of his driver and used it for certain unofficial meetings.«
    »You mean as a love nest?«
    »No, that’s not what I mean!« Suddenly Don Luigi’s voice was thundering through the room. »Even from you I expect a little respect for the highest office in the Church. Or is this asking too much?«
    »I’m sorry, Padre. What are you trying to tell me?«
    »Some power is attacking the Church. If you don’t prevent it from happening, the entire Vatican will explode, six days from today.«
    Peter groaned again and then he tried to think.
    »I need to speak to Laurenz,« he said finally. He showed Don Luigi and Maria the spiral symbol and told them in brief what Loretta had found out. However, neither the Padre nor Maria could come up with a possible connection between the symbol, the three fatalities and the resignation of the Pope.
    »Anyway,« Peter said, his voice firmer now. »I have to find Laurenz. Will you help me, Don Luigi?«

XIII
    May 9, 2011, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
    T he former Cardinal Secretary of State Menendez had his hands full. As Dean of the College of Cardinals, he had to prepare the conclave, and he was determined to fill the power vacuum that Franz Laurenz had left behind. He wanted to become the next pope, the first member of Opus Dei to become pope. Not an easy task in this crisis, which unnerved the voting Cardinals and filled them with suspicion.
    Menendez was still convinced that the former Pope had a personal agenda and that his resignation and his disappearance were part of his plan to split the Church. Menendez had sent out specially trained Opus Dei numeraries to search for Laurenz and he was in constant contact with representatives of different governments and secret-service