The Galileo Gambit by Gary McAvoy

Author:Gary McAvoy [McAvoy, Gary & Moore, Ronald L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781954123342
Published: 2023-06-11T23:00:00+00:00

Father Nick Bannon sat in a chair next to Pope Ignatius, who was lying in bed propped up against a cascade of pillows. The two men were watching the live feed of the retrial from Chicago. At the break after Michael’s testimony, Nick waited for the pope to speak first.

“Well, if there was anybody left in the world who had not heard that I had a son, they certainly know now.”

“Shall I prepare Bishop Sharma’s excommunication, or will a transfer to the Diocese of Antarctica be sufficient?” Nick joked.

“From your lips to God’s ears,” the pope replied. “No, I don’t think Sharma is the one we have to look out for. He may be a snake, but he’s not the head of the snake. He wouldn’t have acted so brazenly without cover. The question is whether it’s his boss, or one of the other cardinals who is thinking they are going to replace me soon.”

“There is no shortage of those, to be sure,” Nick agreed, “but I could come up with a short list of candidates for Sharma’s benefactor.”

“As could I,” the pope groaned and rolled toward his left side, his right hand clutching his left bicep. Nick quickly rose to his feet and put a hand on the pope’s shoulder.

“Shall I call for the doctor?”

“No, Nick, it will pass. You know there is nothing the doctors can do at this point. No sense in feeding the vultures any more meat than they are already getting today. And no calling Michael. He has enough on his plate without worrying about me. There is still time. Not a lot, but enough.”

“As you wish. Is there anything I can do for you?”

The pope was about to answer when the phone beside his bed emitted a staccato buzzing sound. Nick recognized it as the ringtone originating from the pope’s reception desk, which another assistant was covering while Nick was attending to His Holiness.

Nick picked up the receiver. “Yes?”

“Cardinal Caputo is here to see the Holy Father.”

“Hold on.” Nick put the phone on Hold and turned to the pope. “Speaking of snakes, Cardinal Caputo is here to see you. Do you want to grant him an audience?”

“I suppose I should. Help me to the desk and turn off that TV.”

When the assistant admitted Cardinal Caputo to the office, Father Bannon met him at the door and escorted him to where the pope was sitting at his desk in a wheelchair. The cardinal knelt and kissed the pope’s ring, then rose to stand before the desk.

“Holy Father, I just watched the beginning of the retrial of Galileo in Chicago. If you ask me to, I will recall Bishop Sharma immediately,” Caputo blurted out. Then, realizing that he should have let the pope speak first, he became quiet, hoping the slight would be overlooked.

“Why? What did Bishop Sharma do?”

“Were you not watching?”

“I have many important matters that require my attention, Boris. That is not particularly one of them. I suppose, then, that you did have the

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