"This is bad. I mean really bad." The young man scratched at his disheveled hair. He looked around the grim faces of the men in the attic of the hotel. "Do you know how bad this is? Now they know we're here. We won't be able to leave!" Antonio exclaimed. There was no arguing. Everyone knew it. Because of their failure, the streets were now full of New Vatican agents, searching for them. They were going door to door, looking for the townspeople and AX members who had fled the office that morning.
"I shouldn't have let you lot talk me into it," Eulis said gloomily as he peaked out of a crack in the curtains. He looked down at the soldiers and armored vehicles that were moving up and down the street. "Its only a matter of time before they find us! They're going to make us pay for what we did!" Eulis spat out.
"You agreed with the plan before we went, Count of Estonia. You cannot accuse us," Tres replied. His voice was monotonous and metallic. He was applying emergency treatment to his wounded right leg. He looked up momentarily to peer at Eulis. "The reason that the plan failed was that you let the chance we had to secure Alfonso d'Este go. You are responsible for the failure. Your psychological weakness."
"Psychological weakness? Are you saying that I have a problem?"
"Affirmative."
Eulis fell silent. The mechanical soldier's reply had been harsh.
"You abandoned your responsibility in the face of danger. And that was why the plan failed," Tres didn't relent.
"You... you..." Eulis was livid. He reflexively reached for the rapier at his hip. As soon as his hand found the handle though, he hesitated and opened and closed his hand around it.
Tres, on the other hand, stared at Eulis. He had no intention of apologizing for what he said.
"Come." Abel sighed. This wasn't going to accomplish anything. He thought that he should calm the situation down, but...
"Someone! Anyone!"
Along with a small electric crackle, there was a woman's voice. It was an emergency call from the Iron Maiden, which was stationed about fifteen-thousand feet above Tallinn. Abel pushed the headphones to his ear. "What's happened, Kate?" Abel was disconcerted by the tone in Kate's voice. "Has something happened up there?"
"The Department of Inquisition."
There was quite a lot of disturbance in the signal because she was fifteen-thousand feet away. However, there was more disturbance in the audio feed than Abel expected.
"The Department of Inquisition is acting. Three ships, including the Jahoel, are heading for Tallinn!"
"What?!" Abel tensed at this unexpected revelation. He looked up at Tres.
They had carefully slipped under the RADAR of several countries to get here. That was why it had taken three days to arrive in Tallinn. How could they have been traced?!
"I've intercepted a secret communications of the church. It sounds like they will be here around midnight tonight. You need to pull back straight away!"
"Tonight." Abel choked. His throat was dry. They only had fourteen hours!
"What's the matter?" Eulis asked. He could see that the priests were uneasy. He seemed to have forgotten his earlier rage.
"What happened?"
"The Department of Inquisition is coming here, after us," Abel said, resigned; he closed his eyes as he continued: "They'll be here tonight."
"What?!"
All of the townsfolk went pale. The stories about the Department of Inquisition had reached even these remote areas. If they found the remnants of New Vatican here, then that would be the end. A battle would begin that would engulf the town and all its residents.
"What are you going to do?" Unsurprisingly, it was Eulis who screamed hysterically at the AX Agents above the chatter. "This is all your fault! If they come, then it's the end for Tallinn!"
Abel bit down on his lip as he took the verbal assault. Even Tres was silent now. Eulis was right. It was the end for Tallinn. Neither the Department of the Inquisition nor New Vatican would care that innocent citizens would be caught up in the fighting. No matter who won, the streets of Tallinn would be littered with corpses, either way.
All the hopes of AX finding Cherubim and saving Caterina were dashed. There was no way they could re-enter the castle and capture Cherubim before the Department of the Inquisition arrived in Tallinn. The only option left was to return to Rome and rescue Caterina, but the chances of that happening were very low.
They were defeated.
It seemed only destruction and slaughter loomed on the horizon. The silence in the room was so intense, its inhabitants could almost feel the weight of it pushing down on them.
"Abel, this may be a very slim chance..."
There was one person in the room, though, who hadn't lost hope yet: Antonio Borgia. The Bishop of Valencia scratched his head and laid out a map on the desk.
"We wait for the battle and then we sneak back into the castle. While New Vatican and the Department of the Inquisition are caught up with each other, we'll take what we want!"
"Antonio, I don't think that would work. We might get what we want, but what about the residents of this town?" Abel nibbled on his lip as he considered the townspeople. He looked over at them and shook his head. "If a battle begins, a lot of people will be caught up in it and will die... We should leave here; at least we might attract the Department of the Inquisition away."
"Even if they do follow us, they'll still notice New Vatican's presence here. It'll still mean the end for this town. And I have thought about their safety. They don't have to be caught up in this. Why don't they all evacuate the city?