It could threaten the entire mission, possibly even their own lives if they didn’t get it under control as soon as possible: the space toilet was defective. At 8:14 CET, the vacuum pump that collected the liquid and solid waste of the ISS crew (who had to be able to aim precisely while sitting fi...
»You’re running out of time, Micama. He is on his way. Wearily Electors. He is already here. Kill me and I will show you the way off this island.« »I cannot do that.« »You have to, Peter. If you ever want to leave this island alive. Oanio yore vohima. And it is not just you who will die. Many peo...
The exercise and the mild spring air lightened his mood instantly. After all, he was still in Rome, in the Eternal City, the city that he loved. The unexpected video that had aired during the RAI I morning news had left him with little time to reflect on his dream of the night before. At some poi...
Maria knew the church. Santa Croce in Gerusalemme was one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome, famous for its passion relics, among them the panel with the inscription »INRI,« which had hung on Christ's Cross. It was said that Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, had brought it ...
In the vicinity of Santiago de Compostela, they had discovered the horribly mutilated body of Cardinal Torres, who had been one of the favorites for the upcoming election of the new pope. In Milan, a priest had been murdered; again, literally chopped to pieces with a machete. Last night, there ha...
»That is irrelevant,« he said. »We have to meet. In one hour. At the ›Tre Cani‹ in Trastevere. You know the restaurant.« »I don’t have to do anything,« Cardinal Menendez grumbled into his private cell phone, whose number was known to only four people in the Vatican. »I will…« »In one hour, Cardin...
The satisfaction of having given it your all. The astonishment over the simplicity of everyday life. The painful feeling of missing a loved one who has died. Peter looked around the room in which he had woken up. It looked like a hospital ward. Whitewashed and rough walls, a sink, a framed art pr...
Guests or prisoners?« »I don’t know. What matters is that we are alive and together.« She gave a sigh. She hadn’t really expected any other answer. A strong wind was rising from the ocean and rolling up the pale cliffs, bringing with it scattered white cumulus clouds and the scent of salt and sea...