Adrian D'Hage - The Omega scroll

Roma

The Holy Father’s first meeting with his new Secretary of State had gone well until Petroni was surprised and annoyed over a trivial matter exercising the Holy Father’s mind.

‘I understand that Father Donelli is presently serving in the Middle East, Lorenzo.’

‘A most promising priest, Holiness. He was sent there to broaden his experience.’

‘How long has he been there?’ the Pope asked.

Lorenzo Petroni was on guard, but not quickly enough, and he instantly regretted the tactical slip of acknowledging the ability of the dangerously competent Donelli.

‘I’m not sure, Holiness,’ Petroni lied easily. ‘Perhaps eighteen months.’

‘I think you will find it is longer than that, if my sources are accurate.’

Inwardly Cardinal Petroni was fuming; outwardly he maintained his practised calm and said nothing, waiting for the old Pope’s next move. The first Vatican Council might have agreed in 1870 that the Holy Father was infallible but the new Cardinal Secretary of State was determined to curb the Holy Father’s power if it wasn’t being used correctly. When it suited Petroni there could be a degree of fallibility in the infallible.

‘More than five years, in fact,’ the old Pope said. ‘I’m not sure why we sent him to the Middle East for such a long period but I understand he’s been serving in a small village that is part Christian and part Muslim. We may be able to use, as you put it, his “broader experience” here in the Vatican.’

‘What did you have in mind, Holiness?’ Petroni asked warily.

‘The rise of Islam is an interesting phenomenon,’ the Pope replied enigmatically. ‘A very real threat to the true Faith. Perhaps it is time we had a closer look as to what our response to it might be, and to the other faiths, especially Judaism. It would seem that a man of Father Donelli’s talent and experience might be an excellent choice for such a task. Do you think you could find a position for him? As a bishop?’ His Holiness asked.

Petroni suppressed his anger. ‘I will look into it, Holiness. There are probably no positions immediately vacant but I’m sure a suitable appointment can be found over time.’ Lorenzo Petroni was far too adroit to make an outright refusal of the old Pope’s request. Far better to accede and give the impression that the request would be actioned.

The Pope had also been around Vatican politics for a long time and he was not about to be put off by his most senior bureaucrat.

‘We had hoped that we could do it more quickly than that. We are desirous of bringing the best available talent into the Vatican where it can be most effective. Islam is a very real threat and, as you pointed out at the beginning of our conversation, Father Donelli is a most promising priest. One day, Lorenzo, you and I will need to be replaced.’

Yes, Petroni thought, you have been Pope for a long time. Too long.

‘Of course, Holiness, but promotion?’ Petroni persisted. ‘There are many others with longer experience and greater claims? Such an early promotion might cause resentment, but more importantly I would be concerned that it might actually jeopardise Father Donelli’s career if we put too much responsibility on him before he is ready.’ Petroni maintained a look of polite concern. In the face of the stubborn old Pope’s pointed resort to the royal ‘we’, his mind went into tactical overdrive. He needed to appeal to the Pope’s sense of fairness and get him to change direction rather than appear to be resisting.

‘I have met Father Donelli and I’m sure he will handle an important policy area like inter-faith dialogue very well, and I would hardly term it an early promotion,’ the Pope added meaningfully.

‘Of course, Holiness.’

Comprehensively outmanoeuvred, the Secretary of State stormed back to his office, his lips compressed into a thin line of fury. Bishop Donelli would now need very careful watching.

Milano

A llegra felt a surge of excitement as she accompanied Professor Rosselli to her first major public lecture. The theatre seated over four hundred and as she and her mentor walked to the stage she realised that it was overflowing. Students, lecturers and members of the public were still filing in and sitting in the aisles.

‘Not a bad turnout,’ Rosselli whispered. ‘Must be my good looks!’

‘Radiocarbon dating,’ she began, after Professor Rosselli had introduced her, ‘was developed in the years following WWII by a team of scientists led by Professor Willard F. Libby at the University of Chicago. His discovery has been described as having one of the most profound impacts on our thinking and as a result, in 1960, Professor Libby was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Not all of you are familiar with the principles of carbon dating,’ Allegra continued, ‘so if those of you who are will bear with me, I will start with a short summary.’ Allegra switched on the overhead and took a pen from her pocket.

‘Carbon is one of the most abundant elements in the universe. It was one of the first elements to appear shortly after the Big Bang, some twelve to thirteen billion years ago. The vast majority of carbon consists of stable carbon, what we call carbon twelve or ^ 12 C. But carbon also exists as carbon fourteen or ^ 14 C, which is unstable and radioactive, and over time decays, giving off energy in the form of electrons and reverting back to nitrogen.’

Allegra walked away from the overhead to stand in front of the lecturn. ‘Some of you will be asking “so what”? How does that help us date something like the Dead Sea Scrolls, for example, something that has significant implications for the doctrine of the Church,’ she added, glancing at the man in the front row in a green and yellow checked sports coat who was shaking his head vigorously.

‘Professor Libby and his team discovered that carbon fourteen has a half-life of 5568 years, so if we start with 100 grams of carbon fourteen, 5568 years later we will only have 50 grams and in another 5568 years 25 grams, and so on. This standard rate of decay is the key to radiocarbon dating because the ratio of carbon fourteen to the stable carbon twelve can be measured very accurately.’

In the projection room at the back of the theatre Giorgio Felici put on a pair of fine leather gloves, opened his well-used tool box and extracted the Russian-made Vinovka Snaiperskaja Spetsialnaya sniper rifle with its integral silencer from the felt-lined interior. Unseen, he rested the barrel in one of the square wooden openings and focused the cross-hairs of the sights on Professor Rosselli sitting at the table on the stage. With a minimum of movement he swung the sights onto Dr Bassetti. Pert little breasts, he thought dispassionately, and casually wondered what she would be like in bed.

Allegra explained how plants obtained all their carbon atoms from the atmosphere and how animals and humans gained carbon from eating the plants.

‘Therefore, at any one time, the ratio of carbon fourteen to carbon twelve is the same in the plants, and therefore in humans and animals, as the ratio in the atmosphere.’

To complete her introduction Allegra explained the crux of the theory. ‘When a plant or an animal or human dies, the intake of carbon atoms stops, which starts up a time clock and the ratio of carbon fourteen to carbon twelve is fixed at that point. Carbon twelve is stable and the amount in the body remains unchanged. At the moment of death the amount of carbon fourteen starts to decrease, as does the ratio. By precisely measuring the ratio of carbon fourteen to carbon twelve we can get a very accurate measure of the age of a sample. It raises some interesting questions about the evolution of man over a relatively short period of hundreds of thousands of years compared to the age of the Earth, which is measured in billions.’