Shrouded In Silence

34





With the coming of November, the nights stretched longer and fewer tourists walked the streets. Sensing that too much time was passing, the leader of The Scorpions had called a meeting in the catacombs beneath the Church of Domine Quo Vadis. Located on the Appia Antica, the ancient Appian Way, the church supposedly stood at the spot where St. Peter was challenged to return to Rome and face crucifixion from Nero. The catacombs beneath the sanctuary remained so extensive, a novice could quickly get lost and disappear. Each of the three men had agreed to arrive thirty minutes apart to avoid notice.

As always, the general showed up last and found his two comrades waiting not far from the entrance to the ancient burial grounds. Each man had on the required black mask.

"I changed our location for tonight's meeting in case anyone picked up any aspect of our trail," the general said in a low gruff voice. "Nothing showed up in the papers about our killing the two Americans. Dropping them in the Mediterranean took care of that, but we can't be too careful."

The other two men nodded.

"Been giving considerable thought to our next attack. How about you? Anything come up?"

"Still thinking about hitting the American Embassy?" the first man asked. "Seeing that thing come down in flames pushes all my buttons."

"Not me," the second answered. "We'd be too exposed at that location. Even though we killed the upstarts from America last time, they had a point. We can't appear to be local amateurs on the prowl or we're dead. An attack on the embassy could make us look bad and wreck everything."

Silence settled over the discussion. The general sat quietly absorbing what he had heard. "I don't like to admit it," he finally said. "But unfortunately, you have a correct view of bombing the American Embassy. They've been hit in other countries and aren't about to let up military coverage here in Rome. With soldiers stationed around with M16s ready to fire, the bombing could well end up being out last attack."

"OK," the first man said. "Then, there's the possibilities with this American egghead Jack Townsend. How about cracking that shell with a few bullets to the brain?"

"Yeah," the general said. "He's out of the coma now. I thought Townsend would die in the explosion, and then I was sure he'd kick it lying up there in that hospital bed, but the guy came out of the bed all alive. Amazing, but the man is still highly vulnerable."

"This reporter Corisini at the Il Messaggero newspaper ran several stories on how Townsend's medical condition is progressing," the second man said. "That keeps the man's name out there where everyone knows he is an American."

"This time we've got to make sure that the public understands we're making these hits to bring down American influence," the general said. "That's the whole point."

"Yeah, we've got to do a more complete job of forcing the government to pay attention to the fact that Americans got their sticky fingers too deep in our economy. Maybe, we should write a manifesto of some sort and stick it on his body."

"I'd go for a letter to the newspaper after it's all over," the other terrorist said. "That Corsini guy would be the perfect recipient. Send him an explanation with the suggestion that they read it at Townsend's funeral."

The two men laughed.

"That's not such a bad idea," the general said. "Apart from the funeral nonsense, we could mail a letter to Il Messaggero laying out all details of our discontent. Townsend's body would demonstrate we mean business. His wife's turned into a real homebody type on the computer, flying around trying to get their show back on the road. We need to hit her as well."

Leaning forward, the general spoke in hushed tones. "Our next target will be the Townsends. The man's got a broken arm in a plaster cast so he's limited in his ability to resist. We'll have to identify the best time and place to hit them. I'll take care of that angle, then one of you will be the shooter or bomber, depending on what works best. Are we agreed?"

The two men nodded.

"Got it then. We're going to kill Jack and Michelle Townsend."