Chapter Four

Paul had thought that the plane journey had been frightening until he had got into the car with Sivlia. He had no idea a Fiat Punto could go so fast. She drove a steady 150kph the whole time they were on the motorway. He was glad he had opted for the back seat. Jason was not bothered by it at all, he liked to speed a little himself. That is why, when they had organised the hire car it had been decided that Paul would drive. Funny how things don't always go the way you expect

"So why do you want to go to Fátima?" Silvia asked Jason.

"Curiosity more than anything, I just want to see a place where people actually believe that such a thing took place. I mean do they really parade around with a statue of the Virgin Mary' on a pedestal?"

"Yes, and they would find your comments insulting" Silvia was not a catholic, but she respected other peoples beliefs.

"I read that the Pope said the 'Virgin' had saved him from his death, in the assassination attempt on the 13 may 1981..." Added Paul

"Yes that is one of the days of the apparitions" Silvia responded. "So what do you think of the recent apparitions?" She looked into her rear view mirror at Paul. He shifted in his seat.

"That, is what we are here to find out." Interrupted Jason, "The recent apparitions happened nowhere near Fátima, but in the Algarve. Why is that I wonder?"

"I don't know," Silvia answered vaguely, "I haven't really thought about it."

The fact was, she had, and lately it was the only thing she could think of. The past week on New York, had been what had prompted her to come back to Portugal, it was the only way to find out if her life had been a complete lie. The terrible things her mother had told her before she had left just couldn't be true. The letters from her grandfather she had found hidden in the trunk in her mother's attic; the ones her mother had never wanted her to find. She could not even think about her father...
Silvia was so deep in thought that she nearly missed the turning and without any warning or consideration for her passengers she slammed on the brakes and veered to the right, into her lane.

"Are you out of your fucking mind!?" Paul shouted at her.

She slammed on the breaks again, pulled into the hard shoulder and got out of the car.

"What the hell is up with her?" Asked Jason.

"I think you were right Jason I think she is a wacko".

Silvia just stood in front of the car.

"Do  you think I should go and see if she is OK?", Paul asked Jason.

"Not a clue, she might attack you"

They both laughed.

Silvia wiped away her tears, she did not want them to see that she had been crying, and most certainly did not want to come across all needy and weepy, not at all. She had to pull herself together and fast, she needed them both and she knew it, it had been fate that had brought them together. They could help her, she knew they could.

She walked back to the car.

"I am sorry, I think I am over tired, maybe I shouldn't be driving"

Paul was somewhat relieved.

"I'll drive", he declared jumping into the driver's seat. It would not be difficult, the GPS was already logged on to their destination. Technology, where would we be without it?

The rest of the journey was calm, Silvia had fallen asleep and Jason tapped away on his laptop, the sound was soothing. Jason had been writing more and more lately, more than likely he was updating his blogs, or Facebook.

"What are you writing?"
"The usual, verbs adjectives and stuff"

"Har har, You have been writing since we left London, are you onto something?"

Jason rubbed his eyes and shut down his laptop.
"I don't know, I mean that is the things with conspiracies, you never really know, until you are in the thick of it. Then it is too late. You are either dead meat, or just another paranoid freak."

"What happened to that woman?" asked Paul.

"Jenny? Not a clue, I never heard form her again."

"Maybe she was abducted by aliens again," Paul laughed

"Hey, it is no laughing matter," protested Jason

"Come on Jason, you don't still believe in Alien abductions?"

"I never have believed in Alien abductions."

"Sorry I forgot", mocked Paul, "you believe that these people are abducted by the military, used for experiments that they can't do legally, blasted with a virtual reality and sent back home with a twisted conception of what happened to them."

"They only usually come back with the memories they are 'programmed' to remember after their virtually reality", confirmed Jason, "but Jenny remembered the real 'Aliens' and the 'space ship'".

"What do you mean?" Paul was puzzled.

"Well it is all a scenario like a Hollywood film set only the victims are usually so drugged they don't take any of it in. It is quite a shabby set too. The aliens she described were a bunch of men in white coats. Not like the way others have described them. Jenny was taken a few years ago and the recent death of her father kind of gave her a instant recall of her memory files. She was pregnant when she was abducted and when she came back she wasn't"

"Why would they want babies for god's sake? Come on Jay, they could not get away with things like that, not this day and age. Look how the world is wired these days, someone craps in a bucket in South America today and it is on Youtube by tomorrow, they just couldn't get away with it".

"They can, because people are more interested in seeing the guy crap in a bucket, can't you see the full picture? Believe me you have no idea of the things that go on on this planet."

The discussion was getting a little heated.

"I am a journalist of course I know."

"With all due respect Paul you have never been out of London.".

Paul had to admit, he had been somewhat, sheltered. He blamed his parents for that, although not in the traditional Freudian sense, as a cop out, but because of the way they had brought him up. Devout Jehovah Witness's, they had smothered him in God, and God's plan since he was born; He had worn a suit since he was 3 years old, a habit he just couldn't seem to break.

"I just have to believe that people are not that evil."

Silvia stirred in the back seat alarming them a little.

"So do you reckon you have a chance then," asked Jason tilting his head in Silvia's direction.

"I am not sure I want to after that little episode earlier."

Silvia yawned and sat up, both of them hoped she hadn't heard what they had just said. She hadn't.
Yawning once again and stretching her arms over her head and asked,
 "Are we there yet?"

Chapter Three

"Doctor Raymond Banial, the Pope would like to see you now"

Doctor Banial entered the Pope's chamber, trembling with anticipation; he could hardly believe he was actually there in the Vatican. When Father Santos opened the door, the Doctor’s heart sank and he actually gasped when he saw the Pope laid out on the bed. He looked very ill indeed, in fact, if Doctor Banial had not known better he would have sworn he was there to do a post mortem.

Father Santos placed his hand on the Doctor's arm.

"You must tell nobody how ill he is. The Media has been informed that he has undergone an operation and he will be well again after a week or so, after a complete rest". He tightened his grip.

“Only four people know the truth, and one of them is the Holy Father"

"Don't worry, it is in my own interest that I agreed to do this“, the doctor stammered “do you think I am going to go to the press with this?"

"You understand we have to be extremely careful. You came highly recommended for your discretion". Father Santos released his grip a little, "I just hope you live up to your reputation"

He turned to the pope and made the sign of the cross and sighed,  he left the room, leaving the Doctor alone with the Holy Father.

The Pope lay in the bed motionless; it was a frightening scenario. In an induced coma and connected up to a life support system, he was basically dead. Only modern technology was keeping him alive, if that was what you could call, 'being alive'. His lungs crackled and wheezed. Doctor Banial couldn't believe how they had managed to keep it so secret. How had this not got out? This Pope had only been elected just over a year ago and now he was in this state, he had seemed so healthy.

They should get younger Popes he thought.

The Doctor had to concentrate on the job at hand and the first task was to examine the Pope. The examination wouldn't take too long, just a few blood tests and skin tissue samples should be enough. He could do all the tests he needed there and then, thanks to technology. He opened up his case and set up his mobile laboratory. It was basically a computer with lots of interesting extras, a digital microscope and tissue growth simulator. Wasn’t technology amazing these days?
The Pope had a good colour considering his condition. The extra oxygen had paid off, we didn't want any dead skin tissue.

The Doctor scraped a skin sample from the forehead and another two from each cheek. He placed them carefully onto a glass slide and slid them into the respective compartment in his digital microscope. He typed in a few details and received the results instantly.

“Such healthy skin for a man in his 80s” he said out loud as if talking to the Pope himself, “a lot to say for a saintly life!"

The skin sample was perfect. He carefully wrapped placed them on slides for another test he would prefer to do at his laboratory, and packed them into his case. 

"Now for the blood," he said, talking himself through whole the operation.
He took out a 30ml syringe and a rubber band, he placed the rubber band around the Popes flaccid arm and tightened it as much as he could. The veins could hardly be seen. 

This may not be as easy as I thought!

He didn't want to have to dig about for a vein; this would cause too much bruising. He had to go somewhere less conspicuous, but then again nobody was allowed to see him, so he thought he may as well, what difference would it make? After a struggle he managed to get the amount he needed and tested it. The blood type was also compatible. 

This was the final step, the information they had been waiting for, finally it was possible! 
He tidied up his equipment, washed his hands and walked over to the door. He turned the handle but couldn't open it.

It was locked.

He thought he heard the Pope utter something, he turned around reluctantly to face him but the Pope hadn't moved and just lay there as before, his mouth covered. How could he make any utterances? He was in a coma! He turned and tried the door again. It continued locked. 
He heard the sound again, like a faint whisper. He tried to figure out from which direction it as coming from. It wasn't coming from the bed, it seemed to be coming from above.

He looked up to the ceiling, and the door jerked open

 "Father Santos," Panted the Doctor, "you frightened the life out of me!"

"Why should you be scared? This is the holiest place on the planet". Father Santos smiled his lips narrowed into a rather strange smile, unlike the one before. It made the Doctor feel quite cold.

"So when can we start?" The Father asked him, lips still narrowed and eyes squinted.

"As soon as you get things in order" said Doctor Banial rather vaguely.

"What about today?" asked Father Santos

Doctor Banial had not counted on that at all.  Today! Wouldn't that be too soon? He thought. Then again...the sooner the better, no time like the present, today it would have to be.

The Doctor felt clammy and needed some fresh air, he found it difficult to breath, the air had suddenly become so dense and stale.

"Let's go and have something to eat and we can discuss the other matters surrounding this intervention", said Father Santos as he lead him in a different direction from the one they had came from before. "I also have someone I want you to meet".

He opened the door of a large ornately decorated room, it was almost like they had gone back in time. The furniture was antique and the carpets were like non he had ever seen before, it almost looked as if they were made of gold. A large round oak table was in the centre surrounded by four chairs. The table was set for three.

A man sat near the window, Dr. Banial couldn't see his face, he was silhouetted by the light from outside. 

"This is Father Adriano" said Father Santos introducing them to each other.

They shook hands and sat down at the table. Father Santos rang a small bell and a young man entered pulling a trolley full of covered silver trays behind him. They all sat in silence as he placed the food on the table. Father Santos said something to him in Italian and he left as quickly as he had entered.

"Now we can get down to business “Father Santos’ eyes gleamed, "but first we eat".

The two Father's laughed together, as Father Santos poured three glasses of red wine. 
Doctor Banial only laughed because he felt he had to, he wasn't sure that he should be there at all now, he was having second thoughts. Although now it seemed it was a little late for that, he was in too deep. It had all been fine, right up until the moment he had wanted to leave the popes chambers. He hadn't had any bad feelings about it at all, until then.

The three of them held up their glasses and made a toast.

"Science is long and life is short", said Father Santos. "To the future!"

"To the future" said Father Adriano and Doctor Banial both at the same time. As the glasses clinked together, Doctor Banial swore he heard the same whisper that he had heard earlier in the Pope's chamber.

Chapter Two

Once in the air, being in a plane was not that much different to being on a bus, only you were 33,000 feet above the earth! Paul focused on his work for the time being, and tried not to look out of the window too much, gladly Jason had the window seat.

After an hour or so the hostess came round with some plastic food, which they both refused. Paul needed to stretch his legs and possibly even go to the bathroom.

The one near to Silvia might be vacant, he thought to himself as placed his laptop under the seat in front of him.

"I know what you are going to say Jason", he said as he stood up "but I just can't let this one go..."

"I am not saying anything".

Jason didn't even take his eyes from his PC screen, but sniggered never-the-less.

As Paul walked towards the back of the plane, he observed the other passengers, engrossed in their work, either on their Laptops, iphones or Tablets. Common names for modern hi-tech every day equipment, yet most people over fifty years old did not have any idea what they were, let alone how to use them. Technology had advanced in such an unpredictable way. Weren't we all supposed to have robots now? We had androids, but  instead of the friendly human like automated slaves, an android today is an operating system for mobile devices such as Smartphones and Tablets. A world based on communication yet it seemed that nobody did so in the tradition sense any more. Paul had once observed a group of teenagers in a bistro, communicating with each other only through text messages. What was the world coming to? We had become the androids, human like, and slaves to modern technology.

He eyed Silvia in her window seat as he approached. She just stared out of the window, looking worried about something. Paul had no idea what somebody as attractive as Sivlia could possibly have to worry about.

His eyes fixed only on Silvia he didn't see the hostess's arm swinging in his direction, he sent the plastic coffee cup spinning into the air and coffee down his shirt. To match the stains on his trousers. Silvia looked up and smiled at him. The hostess was very polite and apologised as she wiped his trousers with a napkin, even though it had been Paul's fault.

Paul's eyes were still on Silvia and the hostess could have poured boiling water over him at this point and he would not have even felt it. Silvia's smile was incredible. The urge to urinate grew and he rushed to the bathroom. As he washed his hands he looked into the mirror and had an imaginary conversion with Silvia:
"Hi, erm...I was wondering if...you...we, could meet up somewhere." To which Silvia responded: "Yes my parents own a large villa near the coast and we are having a barbecue there tomorrow evening..."
"I'll be there.."

Paul had a condition when it came to women, he was prone to fantasise yet not act on it. Jason always tried to lend a helping hand, but more often than not it wouldn't go well. Paul would become obsessed, by the limerent objects of his desires, and his lack of communication with them would often scare them away. He was having a grave case of limerence right there and then in the toilet cubicle of the Boeing 747, and knew that he had to break the chain and act on his emotions.
But then what was he going to do? Ask her out? The were on a plane!! He had no idea where she was going, well he knew she was going to Portugal, but where exactly he had no idea. He wasn't even sure if he knew where he was going.

He took a deep breath and opened the door.

The seat next to her was vacant, he hadn't even noticed that on the way to the toilet. Now was his chance! He leaned awkwardly on the chair arm and asked if he could sit down.

Silvia turned towards him a little startled to find him so close, but showed no sign of protest.

"Sure, the seat has been vacant since we boarded"

Paul noticed how she said 'we' in the collective sense, he was not sure if she meant, 'we' as passengers, or 'we' as being himself and Silvia.
He had to snap out of it!

"Are you OK?" Silvia asked him

"Yes...erm....just, it is my first time flying and I am a bit nervous"

"You should try flying from the USA, that is a six hour flight!"

"No thanks, I am barely managing to keep it together on this one"
He decided to think of her as a journalistic project and instead of feeling like he was 'chatting her up', he could pretend he was interviewing her.

"So did you get a connecting flight from the USA to Heathrow then?"

"Yes, I got my connecting flight at Heathrow. I have been officially flying for more that 7 hours in the last 10", she yawned.

Aha, that explained why she was so stressed at the airport, this strategy was actually working a treat for him, his reasoning was not affected at all.

"So how long are you thinking of staying here?", he asked trying to look as relaxed as possible, but felt that some how he just was just not pulling it off.

Silvia's eyes seemed to glaze over a little.

"I...I am not really sure...until I find what I am looking for"

"Ah, you mean like a kind of spiritual quest, to find yourself?".

"Yes, something like that..." Silvia quickly changed  the subject.
"We should be landing soon, I am quite looking forward to getting back to the hotel, and taking a long bath".

"Where are you gong to take it?" snorted Paul a little geeky.
"In the hotel" Silvia answered puzzled.

Paul could see that she either did not share the same sense of humour, or was just not in the mood.

The loudspeaker gave off a little feedback and the stewardess made an announcement.

"Due to technical difficulties we are going to be landing in Lisbon Airport and not in Faro Airport as originally scheduled, we apologise for the inconvenience"

The passengers started to talk amongst themselves and voices were raised a little. Paul did not even want to hear what technical difficulties they were encountering, or even think about how they were going to get to the Algarve from Lisbon at 10:30 in the evening.

"I am just going to have a word with Jason, we are going to have to make alternate arrangements, to get to the Algarve."

"Sure..."

Silvia's response was distant. Paul thought that maybe Jason was right, maybe she was a wacko.

"Hey, so what's the plan now then?" Paul asked Jason as he hurriedly buckled up in his seat.

"Well first we have to hope that the plane doesn't crash, and then if we actually do land, the airline company will probably book us into a hotel."

"Har har" sneered Paul

"So how did it go with the redhead?" asked Jason, rather intrigued that Paul had approached her on his own.

"Eh..hard to tell really, she is hard work".

"Hey whilst you were chatting up the redhead, I was doing some research,..if we go just 130 km or so up north there is a place called Fátima"

"Yes, I read about that place, and was hoping we could find the time to go there actually. The apparitions of the Virgin Mary in 1917 were supposedly witnessed there"

"A little coincidental don't you think?" asked Jason "We are in 2017, it is 100 years later"

Paul had thought the same thing and had managed to make up an excuse to the journal about needing to go to Fátima for further investigation, and asking them to pay the bill. He had read a lot about it just before leaving, and according to his latest readings they were due to have a mega festival there to celebrate the centenary. He had felt there was a connection between their investigation in the Algarve and what happened 100 years ago.
Pope John Paul had been an avid fan of Fátima apparently and had been in contact with the last of the three "Pastorinhos", Lúcia, who had witnessed the apparitions. She, unlike the other children had lived long enough to be able to reveal what the Virgin had said to them.  The others had died at a young age of an epidemic outbreak and Lúcia had been the only one to reveal the secrets of Fátima. She had supposedly predicted, Pope John Paul's assassination attempt, after it had happened of course, and had in a sense, made him the man he was.  Mel Gibson used to visit her frequently also, no doubt she had been the inspiration behind his "Passion of Christ". Of course she had been locked away since she had seen the apparitions and become a nun, with hardly any contact with the outside world.
At the time when the three children had seen the Virgin Mary, it had caused a sensation. The event had been witnessed by over 70,000 people, mostly Catholics. Some of the more lucid witnesses suspected it was a mass hysteria and political maneuver to bring about the Russian revolution, whilst others had just 'believed'.

"What I am wondering now", said Paul "is what political maneuver they are planning this time?"

They spent the rest of the flight in deep conversation and in no time at all the plane had landed and they were once again in an airport terminal. The landing had been a little bumpy, but Paul was feeling rather exited about the investigation, now things were about take a different turn, this was real investigative journalism. This was the reason Paul had been chosen for the job he was good at finding connections and coincidences and more often than not it would lead him somewhere significant.
As long as a woman wasn't involved that is.
He watched Silvia and wondered what she was up to, running back and forth in the terminal. After ten minutes or so she came running over to them with a set of car keys.

"I have transportation" she gloated."Need a lift?"

"I think  we should stay here in the terminal until they relocate us to a hotel or something...don't you think Jason?"

Silvia laughed out loud.

"Welcome to Portugal! They are not relocating anybody until the morning when they will provide a bus to the Algarve which will take approximately 8 hours. So if you are lucky, you should get there at around 5pm tomorrow!"

Jason and Paul just looked at one another

"How long will it take to drive to Fátima?" Jason asked her

"This time of night... just over an hour"

"It is over 130 km away how can you do that in just over an hour?" Paul asked her.

"I know a short cut" She winked.

Silvia had decided to keep Jason and Paul close, even if it meant going out of her way a little. The plane had landed 45 minutes earlier so they could go to Fátima and even spend the night there, she hadn't intended to get started till the morning anyway, waking up in Fátima shouldn't make that much of a difference.

Chapter One

Paul had never been to Portugal before, in fact in all his 22 years he had never even stepped foot out of London before. He had the feeling now though that he had to do something different, anything. When he had been offered the story he had wanted to reject it, but when he was later informed that it would give him the chance to have a long awaited vacation in a five star hotel, all expenses paid for, he jumped at it. And he had to take his cameraman along, his life long friend Jason, this was destined to be a great vacation.

The more he had investigated the story, the more interesting  he had found it, even though he felt it must be just that; a story. It couldn't be real, not this day and age. We were talking pagan rituals and mass hysteria, in the centre of Europe. It could be so easy to fake something like that these days. The videos he had seen were pretty convincing though. There were certainly enough of them. Youtube was full of them, and they did not stray too far from all the other conspiracy videos, with aliens, New World Order plans to dominate the world, levitating gurus and haunted houses.

Conspiracy theories were not Paul’s domain, that was Jason’s department. Although Jason was the person with the most sober conspiracy theories he had ever known. He believed that the the real conspiracies were out in the open for all to see. Often hidden in a way that was visible to all but not perceivable.


“Here’s your coffee” Jason held out the plastic cup, and Paul peered over the top into the murky liquid

“It tastes better than it looks” Said Jason reassuringly  as he drank the last dregs of his own ‘plastic’ coffee. Paul watched him to see if he winced even slightly, but he didn't.

They sat in the terminal waiting to board, some technical difficulties had delayed the flight somewhat, and they would be leaving an hour later that scheduled. Jason played with his iphone, and Paul observed the redhead as she passed by in a frenzy again.

“She is well out of your league” said Jason

“Who?” asked Paul astonished at Jason's ability to see everything which goes on around him at all times, even when he was focused on updating his Facebook status.

“Ha ha, you know who” Jason laughed ironically “and she is American, you hate Americans”

“No I don’t!” Protested Paul. “I only hate one American, and that is Jim from the office, but every body hates him so I am not the only one”

They both laughed out loud, and Paul quickly pulled himself together as the redhead made her way towards him.

“She is coming over” he said in a panic tugging at Jason’s shirtsleeve, and spilling his coffee on his trousers.

“Excuse me, I was wondering if you are on the same flight as me, as I can’t seem to find any information, I know the flight was delayed but I am not sure which gate it is boarding from, here is my boarding pass”

She took a deep breath and held her hand out displaying her boarding pass. Paul only noticed her name, Silvia Rodrigues. He stood up and held out his hand.

“Hi Silvia, I am Paul and this is my colleague Jason”

Silvia shook his hand reluctantly and looked at Jason in the hope that he would provide her with the information she so desperately needed. Jason had noticed the flight number.

“Flight number BA345, yes, looks like you are with us”

Silvia sighed a great sigh of relief and sat next to Jason.

“I can finally relax a little before we board”

Paul got a text message from Jason.

>did you notice how she looked at me when she shook your hand?...lol<

He gave him a dig in the ribs.

“So what brings you to Portugal Silvia?” asked Jason.

“Ermm...family. I was born here and I have decided to leave the rat race and go back to my roots”

Paul squirmed about uncomfortably in his chair as Jason made polite conversation with Silvia, the girl Paul had got dibs on. He knew what Jason was doing the same thing he always did, digging for information. He was not doing it because he was a budding journalist at heart but because he know Paul was too shy to do it himself. He knew that any moment would come his cue to join in on the conversation.

“Hey Paul is a journalist, we are here to do a story.”

Silvia's eyes shifted to Paul and widened a little.

"You're a journalist?"

The enthusiasm soon passed and she began to look around at the flight information screens. Paul felt that Silvia was anxious about something. Maybe she was nervous about the flight.

"Yes" Paul answered, "we are both here to do a story on the recent..."

The loud speaker interrupted him and called all passengers to board

Silvia walked with them towards the gate, and onto the plane, without saying another word. Paul was hoping that she would be sitting next to them, but she wasn't. Her seat was at the back a few rows down from his, she sat down and he waved at her awkwardly.

"Well, there goes that opportunity" he said quietly to himself as he placed his hand luggage overhead.

"Hey, did you bring your charger for your laptop? He asked Jason, not sure if had had brought his own.

"Of course, I would have to be stupid not to" Jason sniggered.

They were finally on the plane, it had felt like they had been waiting in the airport forever. It suddenly struck Paul that he had never flown before and he started to feel a little anxious. He watched the other passengers settling down into their seats and looked around, he was dying to look behind him at Silvia. He didn't think he had ever seen such a good looking redhead before. Her hair was long and her skin pale, but a kind of pale. She had a great figure too...

"She is out of your league" laughed Jason

Sometimes Paul found it scary the way Jason could tell what he was thinking. He had always been able to do it, since they were kids. He would always finish his phrases off for him too, it was like they were connected somehow, yet Paul never had any idea what was on Jason's mind.

"Anyway, she is a complete wacko" Jason added "take it from one who knows, she is a girl with lots of baggage".

The stewardess told the passenger to fasten their seat belts and the jet engines started up, making Paul suddenly feel very apprehensive about the whole deal, Silvia included.

"How can you tell?"

Jason placed his lap top on the pull down tray in front of him and then turned to Paul.

"Did you see how stressed she was when she first approached us?"

Paul had to admit that he had noticed.

"and the way she lit up when I said you were a journalist?"

Paul held onto his seat as the plane started to taxi down the runway.

"Yes, it was almost like she had something to tell me, but then backed down".

The plane started to gain velocity and Paul could feel the g-force on his face, and body. He could no longer talk, he felt clammy and the palms of his hands began to sweat. The plane lifted and he felt like he did in his dreams when he was flying or running and the ground would disappear from underneath him.

"This is the worst part" said Jason calmly 
"because we can't use our laptops until we are totally airborne"

They both laughed.