The Hand of Christ Read Online Free Page B

parchment had obviously been well kept.
    Leo removed the outer wrapping and dropped it to the floor; the sealed letter that he had read over and over again fell with it.
    On the letter was the Holy Seal of the Papal Arms with the recognizable papal tiara and crossed keys of a Pope stamped into the thick red wax of the letter’s seal. Underneath the seal, penned in heavy black calligraphy, were the letters “PPX.”
    Leo had instantly recognized the significance of the letters when he had first found the parchment three months ago. He bent over to pick it up from the floor but was disturbed suddenly by a knock at the door.
    “ Your Holiness, it is I, Geoffrey, may I enter?”
    Monsignor Geoffrey Hauptmann is the personal secretary to the new Pope. An extremely handsome man, at age 47 has been likened to the Catholic George Clooney. Athletic and with a sense of adventure, he plays a fantastic game of tennis, is a competitive skeet shooter, and even flies airplanes when possible.
    The Pope snatched the fallen letter from the floor and stood abruptly to his feet – too quickly for an old man he realized – and spun toward the door with the ancient parchment and letter still grasped in his hands.
    Leo didn’t answer. Geoffrey called out once more, “Your Holiness, are you awake? I have documents in need of your approval and signature.”
    Leo had become lightheaded and groaned a bit from rising much too quickly but retorted, “One moment, Geoffrey, give me just one moment.”
    Flustered by his need to act in secrecy, Leo placed his weight on top of the marble slab forcing it back into position which caused a piece to break off with an inordinately loud crack. Quickly, and with the parchment still in his hand, he put the golden cross back on the shelf and grabbed his pen.
    A shiver of nervousness surged through Geoffrey as he heard the loud noise through the door. Suddenly afraid for the Pope, and with his hand on the apartment door’s handle, Geoffrey cried out, “Your Holiness, are you alright, are you in need of assistance?”
    The Pope discerned the turn of the door handle, and not knowing what to do with the parchment, quickly tucked it under his robe.
    As Leo returned his attention to the door, he was surprised to see that Geoffrey was already half way to him and staring with obvious concern. “Your Holiness, please excuse my unannounced intrusion. I was worried. I had heard a loud noise; I thought that maybe you had fallen!”
    Leo was startled by how quickly the younger man had closed the distance from the door to where he now stood and answered, “No, Geoffrey, I did not fall, but thank you for your attention to my well being. I only hit my leg on the table. Please, help an old man back to his chair.”
    The Pope silently wondered why he had lied to Geoffrey and limped slightly as Geoffrey walked him to the chair that stood in front of his writing table. Geoffrey seemed unaware of the Pope’s lie as he scanned the face of the old man and the rest of the room.
    Geoffrey noticed the sweat on the Pope’s brow. He saw the cracked marble tile, too. He said nothing.

Chapter Three
    North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)
    Colorado Springs, CO
     
    Housed two thousand feet deep inside the protective solid granite heart of Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado is the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Originally, NORAD was chartered to monitor airspace in order to warn of and prevent air attacks against North America. Its primary focus was born from the escalating, but since then proven unfounded, fear of global nuclear war between the United States and the former USSR.
    At the end of the cold war, NORAD was faced with budgetary cutbacks, forcing the Air Force to reinvent NORAD’s usefulness and need.
    Drug runners became the target.
    NORAD redefined itself by developing an expertise in conducting counter-drug operations that included the use of advanced satellite live tracking technology. NORAD had