Inquisitor's Promise (Act Two, Chapter Three)
Aeneas has to keep his promises. His father's mission will be completed. And while he's at it, he will become Galatea's lord and Inquisitor. But love and politics are an explosive combination.
Chapter Three: The Holy Father
Riding atop an airship, Aeneas was looking outside a window. It was a pretty large one, made for sightseeing. Outside is the City of Roma, the seat of the Holy See and the residence of the Pope. The Inquisitor was close to his destination.
Like most major Terran cities, Roma was a hive city jutting out of the Earth into the sky. What differentiated the capital of the Papal States from other hive cities were the numerous churches, Cathedrals, Basilicas, and monasteries in which much of them could be seen from the sky. They were numerous even by the standards of 74th century Christendom.
To the right of Aeneas was Shaka, looking outside another window. The pathfinder looked deep in thought.
Aeneas decided to approach Shaka once more. The man might not be the most talkative of individuals, but Aeneas could tell that he was a good man.
“Enjoying the view?” Aeneas asked in an attempt to make small talk.
“Somewhat,” Shaka answered.
Once more, there was an awkward silence between the two. Aeneas cringed inwardly. He knew that this was the most likely outcome of this interaction. The Inquisitor was thinking of something to break the silence, but it was actually Shaka who did so.
“I’ve been to Roma many times before, when I was a child.”
Aeneas looked at Shaka in shock, but he was not about to let this opportunity pass. “Is that so? Vacation?”
“No,” Shaka answered. “My father was an Inquisitor, he brought me here while he visited the Holy Office.”
Aeneas nodded and smiled. He was finally beginning to make some common ground with the mercenary.
“But you’re not an Inquisitor yourself,” Aeneas pointed out. “Why is that?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Shaka said hurriedly.
By the look of his interlocutor’s face, Aeneas knew that this was a very sensitive topic. Thus, the Inquisitor let it go. And the conversation died down once again.
After landing on the sky port of Roma, Aeneas went directly to the Holy Office. Though he was the only one who did so, he was not alone in making the trip to Roma.
The airship that Aeneas went on was no passenger airship. In fact, it was a military one, designed specifically to transport soldiers and other military related assets. Before Aeneas left for Nepoli, he had recruited soldiers from the Nepolian Marines and the Prochytan Militia to accompany him.
But these men did not leave their families behind. Rather, they traveled with their wives and children in tow. The airship of Aeneas became a mobile camp for his forces. Such was the organization of a mobile military unit in the Holy League Era.
Lavinia tagged along too. Despite his misgivings, her swarmlings provided his forces with the numbers that he could not afford to pass up.
While Aeneas was meeting with the Pope, the rest of his group hung around in Roma. The natives in Roma warmly welcomed Aeneas’ soldiers. A peculiar aspect of the military organization that Aeneas’ forces had was that the civilians benefitted from their presence. Even in war, they helped the local community and would leave them in a better state than when they had found them. After all, looting had been condemned by the Papal statement on Just War.
Meeting the Pope turned out to be easier than Aeneas had anticipated. Of course, His Holiness had told the Inquisitor to simply drop by whenever. But Aeneas did not take those words literally.
Inside of the Basilica of St. Peter, Aeneas looked in awe of the various icons, statues, paintings, and relics that were there. Thousands of years of history dotted this place. More importantly, they spoke to the transcendent element beyond the stars but at same time amongst humanity down here on Earth.
Aeneas passed by the beautifully adorned chapel and entered into a small room. In front of him was an elderly man adorned in a robe of white and gold. Atop his head was a white mitre, the headdress most associated with his office. Aeneas met this man when he was fully-inducted into the Inquisition: His Holiness Pope Peter Paul III.
The Inquisitor knelt before the Pope and kissed his ring.
“Welcome, Inquisitor Aquilanus,” the older man said. He motioned towards a chair next to him. “Please take a seat.”
Aeneas stood up, moved the chair closer, and sat down. As Aeneas stood face to face with the Pope, he couldn’t help but feel intimidated. Over seven thousand years of history stood right in front of him. Empires come and go, but the Church had remained, even older than the Dark Age Civilization which had left its heavy marks on Earth.
“Your Holiness,” the Inquisitor acknowledged.
“Let us get right to the point. You wish to take over your father’s mission, right?” the Pope asked.
“Yes, Your Holiness,” Aeneas answered. “My father had entrusted me with it.”
But the Pope was unimpressed. “And why should I play along? Why should I hand over a mission of such importance to an Inquisitor so green?”
Not expecting His Holiness to be quite so blunt, Aeneas was shocked. “My father…”
“I know your father’s wish. I can scarcely think any man alive that I would trust with my life more,” the Pope said. “But the late Grand Inquisitor is not the last word on this. We have other Inquisitors, those more experienced than you are.”
Aeneas’ heart dropped when he heard this; His Holiness had made a good point. After all, the Inquisitor was only 24 years old; not at all experienced.
“And thus,” His Holiness continued. He slammed his palm at his hand-rest to emphasize his point. “It can be seen as prudent if I were to instead hand over this responsibility to another. Will you not relinquish this heavy responsibility, Inquisitor Aquilanus?”
Aeneas knew that this was not a decision to be made lightly. The Pope was absolutely correct that it would be prudent to simply hand over this assignment to an older and more experienced Inquisitor. Perhaps it would be better if Aeneas simply surrender his mission. But that would mean breaking the promise that he made to his father.
No.
That was unacceptable. He would not, could not, break that promise. And if the Holy Father saw things otherwise, then so be it.
“No, Your Holiness,” Aeneas said with his voice showing great resolve. “If you believe that I am not the man for the mission, then that is your prerogative to hand it over to another Inquisitor. But I will not shirk my responsibility! I will not break my promise!”
The Pope was not angry at Aeneas’ declaration. In fact, he was quite pleased. And the Holy Father clapped his hands enthusiastically.
“Well done, Inquisitor Aquilanus.” His Holiness said. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
“You mean…,” Aeneas said. He suspected that something was afoot.
“Yes, I was testing you,” the Pope affirmed. “I needed to see your resolve and so I gave you a way out. I am pleased that you didn’t take it. I’ve seen the work you’ve put in. You’re a good Inquisitor, Aeneas.”
“Thank you, Your Holiness. You honor me,” Aeneas said, his heart beamed with joy.
“Now then, let’s get back to the business at hand…”
“The Grey Globe,” Aeneas stated.
Yes.” the Pope nodded. “I’m sure you’ve heard of the fleets we lost to that thing.”
“My father told me,” Aeneas said. “But there’s so much about it that I still need to know about.”
“Where do I begin?”
This was a difficult question for Aeneas. He had so many questions to ask, he might as well just get them out of the way.
“I see,” Aeneas said. “Let’s start with their identity? What, or who are they?”
“We did not know yet,” His Holiness said regretfully. “It appears that they are an ancient people, dating back to the Dark Age of Technology.”
“How did we even know of that?”
“The recordkeepers managed to deduce that.”
Aeneas thought of the recordkeepers, the tiny creatures who resided in the Great Pyramid of Mesr. These people had been responsible for the rise of the Holy League, and yet they remained an enigma.
“If they are so old,” Aeneas said. “Why do they want to fight us?”
“Revenge,” the Pope stated.
“For what?” Aeneas asked in confusion. “What grudge could they possibly have against us?”
“I honestly don’t know, Inquisitor,” the Pope answered. “All I know is that we are still transcribing their language with the help of the recordkeepers. And ‘vengeance’ was a common theme we found when we tried to communicate with them.”
“That’s not good,” Aeneas said grimly. “We have a powerful enemy who have a grudge against us, and we don’t even know what it is.”
“Even worse than that,” the Pope added. “They have the ability to destroy all life on this Earth.”
This revelation sent Aeneas jumping from his seat. “What? Surely you exaggerate, Your Holiness?”
The Pope shook his head sadly. “I wish I was. But the Grey Globe did not just destroy fleets, they’ve destroyed planets in the Electrosphere. Entire populations in them, at any rate.”
“But, how?”
“They Grey Globe have the ability to absorb creatures and assimilate them into its network, so to speak,” the Pope said. He then took a deep breath in preparation for what he was about to say next. “Including human beings.”
“And they’ve ‘assimilated’ many planets in the Electrosphere?” Aeneas asked. Although he already knew the answer to that question.
“Indeed,” the Pope stated glumly.
The Holy Father then took out a small chip and handed it over to Aeneas.
“Take it,” the Pope said. “Put it into your nav-comm and it will show you what the Grey Globe is truly capable of.”
“Thank you, Your Holiness.”
Thinking that this was his cue to leave, Aeneas began to stand up. But he was stopped by the Pope who raised his hand to indicate that he had more to say.
“I assume that you are to travel around the Earth?” the Pope asked knowingly.
“Yes, Your Holiness. To unite the Holy League,” Aeneas answered.
“Then you must go to Veneto first. I have commissioned a Seraphim-Class Starship for you to use. I am sure that it will be an upgrade over the airship that you currently travel in,” the Holy Father explained.
“Thank you, Your Holiness,” Aeneas said gratefully. He bowed respectfully while doing so.
“And one final thing.”
The Pope then took out what looked to be a small stick, it was a baton; golden and red in color, it bore the Holy See’s symbol: two intersecting keys beneath the Papal crown. Aeneas’ eyes widened as he recognized that baton from his studies.
“Your Holiness, you mean to…”
The Pope nodded solemnly at Aeneas.
“By the powers invested in me as the successor of St. Peter, I hereby appoint you, Aeneas Aquilanus, to be the Captain General of the Church and Supreme Commander of the Holy League Forces.”