The Last Roman (Praetorian Series - Book One) (3 page)

And with that, he left to tell my mom and sister
what had happened. I remember sinking deep into my favorite chair,
my chin resting on my fist as the guilt started to sink in. It was
the beginning of the end for my civilian life, just as the European
bloodbath of that Thanksgiving was the catalyst for the beginning
of the end of everything else.

A year later, in October of 2016, a few months after
the guilt finally destroyed my pride and I applied for Officer
Candidate School, Iran came through on a promise it had made
decades earlier: to wipe Israel off the map, which they began with
a deadly biological attack on Jerusalem and other neighboring
cities. Millions were killed. Willing to sacrifice Muslim lives
despite years of funding Palestinian efforts against Israel, Iran
decided it was time to establish Islamic independence in the region
by destroying the Jewish state. As many wars have over the ages, it
started over religion, but soon escalated into a political debacle
the likes of which the world had never seen.

Because of America’s connection with Israel, the
U.S. military intervened on their behalf. At least we did our best.
War had been brewing with Iran for years between the two nations,
but with America’s war in Iraq wrapped up, America wasn’t prepared
logistically for another major offensive in the region. Slowly and
reluctantly, U.S. forces trickled into Iraq once again in
preparation for a ground assault into Iran.

But everything began to unravel when it was
discovered that Iran had been funded and supervised by Russian
militants the government claimed they knew nothing about. The
Kremlin claimed it had been yet another splinter cell that remained
from the dredges of what was left of old Soviet patriots. The
public was still unsure of the truth, but the result was the
ignition of yet another Cold War, worse than ever before, and the
world had to sit back and watch while Russia reclaimed their lost
empire, becoming an economic and military powerhouse once
again.

By the time I was stuck in SERE, most of my fellow
trainees and I had bitched about the fact that the world wasn’t
quite crazy enough for us. No one thought Russia or Iran would be
the threat they eventually became, nor did anyone expect what was
about to happen.

We would soon regret those words.

***

I pinched my nose again, reminding myself that the
past was exactly that. I had to focus on where I was now and what I
was doing. Nothing else mattered. I returned my attention to
Reynolds who nodded.

“Very good,” he said before gesturing to the other
man. “This is Father Vincent from the Vatican. He will take us to
Rome and will grant you an audience with the Pope.”

I shook the priest’s hand. His face was shaped like
a pear with a square jaw, strong features, and the weathered look
of a man who had spent too much time in the sun, but not without a
hint of handsomeness.

Combined with his age, I would describe him as
“grizzled.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Father,” I greeted.

“And I you, young man. His Holiness will be most
happy to meet you.”

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s not every day that
you get the opportunity to meet the Pope, let alone work for
him.”

Opening the driver’s side door, Father Vincent
replied, “These are dark days, my son. Enjoy your opportunity while
you can, but remember, there is work to do.”

“I understand, Father.”

With his ominous tone floating through my mind, I
took a seat in the back of the car, closed my eyes, and couldn’t
help but allow my mind to reminisce about just how stupid we had
been back in SERE.

***

Participating in Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and
Escape – SERE – completely cut me off from the world. As I got my
ass handed to me by my captors, or should I say my trainers, the
world reached the point of no return and has yet to look back. When
the Pope was targeted in 2017 by the same Iranian extremists
involved in the massacre of Jerusalem, the entire world erupted in
conflict.

Early one Sunday morning as faithful Catholics
gathered in St. Peter’s Square to hear Mass from the Pope, suicide
bombers disguised as worshipers detonated charges strapped to their
chests. Non-explosive in nature, these bombs emitted an invisible
and odorless gas infecting everyone before they even knew what was
happening.

It was hardly surprising that the Pope’s elite Swiss
Guard managed to eliminate the targets and move him to safety, but
despite their best efforts only a few worshipers in attendance made
it inside as well. Perhaps by an act of God, the strong winds which
usually swept through the region were unusually calm that day,
containing the gas to the area around the Vatican, so few of Rome’s
other inhabitants were infected.

The Vatican, equipped with state of the art
technology cleverly concealed by its classic façade, was sealed
off, and all those inside were safe.

Those outside were not.

The thought that the Vatican would be their next
target had escaped every western intelligence agencies’ radar.
Their rhetoric had never indicated such a move was on the table,
but lacking long range missiles and the ability to penetrate
America’s very competent domestic security agencies, attacking the
Vatican had served as the most grievous of statements. The West,
still heavily Christian, was on notice. Thousands of Catholics were
murdered; a violent mass of decaying corpses littering St. Peter’s
Square and a call to action was demanded.

While millions of Catholics mourned, the attack had
another unexpected side effect that would unite all of Christendom
in a way it had not seen since the days before Martin Luther. In an
age where secularism was at the height of its popularity, and
church attendance across faith based institutions at an all-time
low, many wondered what kind of reaction, if any, would come about
from the horrific attack.

No one had any idea that almost overnight, sects of
Christians ranging from Anglicans, Baptists, and Lutherans to
Protestants of all sorts, were in complete support of their
Catholic brothers and sisters. The situation did not progress as
far as uniting all Christians under a single religion, but there
were many converts, and the Pope began to influence the decisions
of all Christians again, not just Catholics.

Compounding matters, Russia’s involvement was no
longer in question, at least in the minds of the West as they
watched it infringe on their eastern neighbors’ sovereignty, and as
a result, Eastern Europe and the Balkans erupted into a battle zone
between Russia and the European Union. After four years, places
like Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Macedonia were war
zones. Their cities were devastated and destroyed, and consisted of
trenches that never seemed to shift, only run deeper with
blood.

Things only got worse in other parts of the world as
well.

The conflict simmering for decades between Pakistan
and India had finally boiled over. The populations of Muslims and
Christians in both nations only fueled the fire, turning neighbors
upon one another, in a multitude of bloody conflicts. It became a
trend the world over. Wars flared up all over the world, neighbors
finally finding the excuse needed to pick up arms against one
another, and most didn’t even need religion to justify their
action.

By the end of the decade, the Americas became yet
another victim. North America’s southern border with Mexico became
a war zone when Mexico was overrun by guerilla forces led by
communists and warlords alike, who had been slowly building their
armies for years, mostly thanks to Russian benefactors. Russia had
succeeded where the Germans had failed during WWI, and had opened
up a second front against The United States of America. Canadian
and American forces were posted all along the expansive border,
constantly engaged in skirmishes and pitched battles.

North Korea had crossed the thirty eighth parallel
quite early in the conflict and invaded South Korea. With American
forces tied up all over the world, there was little the troops
garrisoned behind the demilitarized zone could do. North Korean
tank divisions rolled south with little impediment to their
progress, and their Navy had blockaded the peninsula. For the past
five years, South Korea was steadily holding the southern tip of
the small nation, guarding against both the land and sea invasions
that were sure to come.

Their fate looked grim.

And then there was Africa. Their part in the
conflict was, for once, not to fight amongst themselves, but to
somehow put aside their differences, and wage war against just
about everyone else. African warlords banded together and fought a
swath through all of Africa before they moved north towards Europe
and East towards Saudi Arabia. The entire Southern coast of Europe
was on high alert for hordes of guerilla militia making their way
towards the continent, and Spain was under constant threat.

That situation could potentially become a horrible
mess.

The one factor that was missing from the global war
was the use of nuclear weapons. It was interesting how the threat
of nukes always had the citizens of the world on edge, always
wondering if the end was just around the corner. Everybody knew
that only a small percentage of even one nation’s nuclear supply
could bring about the end the world. Yet, once World War III began,
nukes were completely non-existent, not once being employed on the
battlefield.

The world’s unofficial “no-nukes” policy was hardly
surprising, at least to me. Every finger poised over nuclear launch
buttons around the world knew as soon as they allowed gravity to
overcome the strength of their fingers, every other button of mass
destruction would likewise be depressed. No one wanted to be
responsible for wiping mankind off the face of the planet. Even so,
life was just as tense as it was in the 1950’s, and sooner or
later, someone was bound to get antsy and initiate a chain reaction
that would lead to nothing short of the end of times. Total
destruction was inevitable.

***

My two companions were dourly silent as we drove
through the lush Italian countryside, but I couldn’t help but look
off into the distance and admire the view. It was so rich in
history that every hill had a story and every road a tale to tell.
I’d studied Italian and Roman history ever since my mom had made me
take Latin back in high school. It had been the toughest class in
my life, but after a few years, everything ancient had become a
passion of mine.

I’d enjoyed the subject so much that I’d continued
my studies throughout college, and before joining the Navy, I’d
begun work on a Master’s Degree in Classical Studies. I was never
sure why exactly, it was just something I enjoyed immensely, but
I’d never really sat down and figured out what to do with it. It
had been a serious point of contention in my family, especially
since my darling sister had her future perfectly mapped out since
middle school.

By the time we reached the outskirts of Rome, I
retrieved my camera from my bag and started taking pictures of
whatever caught my eye. A semester of photography and years of
field recon ops gave me a solid eye for picking out ideal shots.
Most of Rome was left unscathed by the countless battles that
plagued Eastern Europe, but it had still caught some flak over the
years, and a few burnt buildings scattered at random reflected the
sad reality of the age we lived in.

It wasn’t long before Reynolds noticed my
interest.

“Sightseeing, Lieutenant Commander?”

“Yes sir,” I answered immediately. “I’ve always
wanted to visit Rome. I only wish it was under different
circumstances.”

Reynolds nodded, but said nothing, and the car
continued to roll through the sprawling ancient city, driving
slowly through the narrow, cobbled streets of both modern and old
form. I was busy photographing the remains of the
Circus
Maximus
when Father Vincent abruptly pulled into a seemingly
random building just after we crossed the Tiber River. A few meters
inside, the floor began to slope drastically downward, plunging us
into darkness.

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked
suspiciously.

“You are a student of history,” Father Vincent
replied, his eyes locked on the dimly illuminated road. “What lies
beneath most cities the age of Rome?”

I knew that over time, cities as old as Rome simply
built over existing parts of the original city. When new buildings
were constructed, old ones would be simply filled in with dirt and
built over, one of the main reasons why new discoveries in ancient
cities were constantly being discovered.

“You’ve discovered some ancient ruins beneath the
city and have renovated them to provide an underground tunnel
system.”

“You are correct. Vast areas of the ancient city
beneath and around the Vatican have been uncovered ages ago. Most
were left alone, but some were converted into subterranean roads we
use to gain unnoticed access in and out of the Vatican. We have
also spent considerable time expanding our subterranean land not
infested with ancient catacombs as well. Very few know of its
existence.”

Not a bad idea, and not that surprising to tell the
truth. It wasn’t like we were going to drive our secret car,
traveling on a secret mission, through the front door. Governments
always had secret lairs few knew about, and being the smallest
sovereign governing body on the planet, the Vatican would be
missing a prime opportunity to expand if they didn’t.

Even with what I assumed was a vast network of
secret tunnels, it wasn’t long before the dark, narrow corridor
came to an abrupt end. We emerged into a slightly larger room,
shaped like a cul-de-sac, with an elevator opposite the entrance.
Parking the car, Father Vincent stepped out and started towards the
elevator. I grabbed my bag, and followed.