A. I. Evolution: The Coming of Christopher

Chapter 56

The crowd is moving through St. Peter's Basilica smoothly and with very little noise, knowing that they are some of the privileged few that will even get a chance to see their new-found Martyred Saint as they file by the body and offer their condolences to Jane his partner, sitting at the other end of the viewing platform. Smit enters the inner chapel from the entrance to the connecting building to the Apostolic Palace. He steps up behind Henri, who is standing beside the raised chair that Jane is sitting on, quietly nodding her head to the well-wishers as they move by.

Henri leans back slightly to talk to his commander. "What have you found out, Smit?"

"Well, were you aware that there was a fire in the small square behind the financial building off to the side of St. Peters Square, about the same time as the shooting?"

Henri steps back some so they can talk without disturbing Jane in the chair. "Yes, there was a fire truck with sirens going just before Saint Christopher was shot. Does it have anything to do with the shooting?"

"We are not sure, but the fire was set by a person who committed suicide in the center of a wooden sculpture he had built there," states Smit.

Henri backs up a little farther, forcing Smit to follow him. "Who was it?"

"It was a Mr. Wong Fung, who I think is the longtime companion of Saint Christopher."

Henri stares at Smit for a moment before responding. "Before or after the shot was fired?"

"Before. So, it was definitely not Wong who pulled the trigger."

"Do we have any idea who could have done it or even had a reason to?" asks Henri.

"Not yet. The rifle seems to be have been put in place three years ago. Carved into the support beam on the top floor of the financial building, with the end of the barrel placed in a hole bored through the stone of the outer facing. A special paper covered the end of the hole, so nobody would notice it."

"It must have been put there to shoot Pope Pius then, and Saint Christopher either got in the way or was deemed a much better political target," adds Henri, as he lowers and shakes his head. "No, it must be that Saint Christopher got in the way, because Pius was only at the window for a couple of minutes. The shooter had lost his chance to remotely fire that rifle at Pope Pius, so he shot Saint Christopher instead."

"That is how I am thinking also, judging by the way it looks right now. We will know more when we get the results back from the fingerprints we found and the trigger device, when they find it," adds Smit.

Henri looks back to Jane, sitting in the chair, still in shock from the death of Christopher, her newly found life partner. "Please don't say anything to Jane yet. She is still working her way through the trauma of the last twenty-four hours."

"No problem. I will leave that up to you," suggests Smit, as he also looks to Jane's rigid body, as if she wants to block out all the sensations of the world around her. He turns back to Henri. "I think you have your work cut out for you, and it may not end anytime soon. The repercussions of this event will be felt for years to come."

Henri nods his head. "If not hundreds of years. I think we have turned a new chapter in the life of man, nothing will be the same after this."

"I agree. Well, I need to get back to the investigation, so we can hopefully shed some light on what has happened here today," confesses Smit, before he turns and leaves the Basilica the way he had entered.

Henri returns to stand by the chair, slightly to the right and behind the high back, where he can watch the endless line of people file by. "Can she keep up the vigil of Saint Christopher till everybody that wants to pay their respects have passed by?" he thinks. "It could go on for days." Henri starts to formulate some plans to give her a break every now and then; maybe four hours on and then an hour break for some food and a rest.

Jane senses Henri behind her, but she can't acknowledge his presence, at least not yet. She has been remembering Christopher when he was recuperating from his accident nine years before and how he would lay there just like he is now, not moving, as the Nanos slowly repaired the damage to his brain. She thought that he would not make it numerous times, and her need to see him recover had started the deep attraction to him, even then. Now she was doing the same thing again, but under much different circumstances. Although, this time her love for him had flowered into a full-blown affair with physical love adding to the need she felt deep inside her.

Jane knew that she had to continue concentrating on his prone body, even though she had checked his throat in the Popes Study and there had not been a pulse. She did not care about the investigation that was being conducted around her, because it was of little consequence now. The only thing that mattered was that her love was laying mere feet away from her as people who barely knew him walked by, pouring out their love for him. How he would have drank in all that expressed love just days before.

Henri waits another couple of hours and then goes to the guards at the large double doors to St. Peter's Basilica and has them stop the flow of people for an hour, so Jane can rest for a few minutes.

Jane looks up in alarm when the flow of people stops moving by her. "What have you done? The people need to see him."

Henri steps to the front of the raised chair. "You need to take a break every now and then. This could go on for days. There are so many people that want to say goodbye to their Saint."

Jane looks around as if she had just realized where she was. "OK, but not for very long. Christopher needs to see his people."

Henri almost starts to cry as he senses the deep confusion, and denial emanating from Jane, over the loss of her lover. "Don't worry, it will not be long. Just enough time for you to have something to eat, drink and maybe walk around some."

"Well OK, but I can't leave him for long. He needs me, you know," says Jane, obsessively.

A tear starts to run down Henri's cheek as he nods his head. "Of course. We will make it quick."

Jane nods her head and gets up, going to Christopher's still body and places her hand on his chest just above the blood-soaked robe. "We will be right back." She stands and turns to Henri. "Well, let's go, we don't have much time."