The unmarked Fiat sedan departing Castel Gandolfo snaked downward through the Alban Hillsinto the valley below. In the back seat, Bishop Aringarosa smiled, feeling the weight of the bearerbonds in the briefcase on his lap and wondering how long it would be before he and the Teachercould make the exchange.

　　Twenty million euro.

　　The sum would buy Aringarosa power far more valuable than that.

　　As his car sped back toward Rome, Aringarosa again found himself wondering why the Teacherhad not yet contacted him. Pulling his cell phone from his cassock pocket, he checked the carriersignal. Extremely faint.

　　"Cell service is intermittent up here," the driver said, glancing at him in the rearview mirror. "Inabout five minutes, we'll be out of the mountains, and service improves.""Thank you." Aringarosa felt a sudden surge of concern. No service in the mountains? Maybe theTeacher had been trying to reach him all this time. Maybe something had gone terribly wrong.

　　Quick............