Time: Modern Day
Location: Vatican City

Petros(Carter) left Carlos to his own devices studying and researching at one of the computers while talking small talk to Sol the guard. He entered the red door into the Inner Vault, as he had done a few times now.

He had been intrigued by the layout of the Inner Vault and the number of security cameras there were. He wondered who was watching besides him.

On the computer next to his was a split screen showing four views. Top left, he easily recognised as the corridor outside the Black Pope's and what was Graz's but now his office.

Top right was the outside of the red door. He could see Carlos chatting to Sol but couldn't hear what they were saying.

The two bottom screens were unfamiliar to him. One showed what appeared to be a lift door. The other the inside of an empty lift.

He had resolved the day before to try and discover the whereabouts of this mysterious lift.

Petros(Carter) found the lift at the very end of the corridor of storage cabinets of secret documents spanning the last century.

He ignored the tendency to pick out one of the documents or CDs along the way that had distracted him multiple times on this journey previously. At last he found himself in front of the lift. On the lift doors was a full length decal of a storm complete with lightning bolts. There were two words in large letters on the door 'Thunder Vault'. To the untrained eye it appeared to be a mural painting of a storm.

A closer inspection of the lightning bolt on the right revealed the small screen embedded within and the bolt ending in a yellow button blending in with the painting.

Petros(Carter) pressed the button but nothing happened. He then noticed a recessed area between the screen and the button. He recognised the shape immediately. Taking the SPA key from his concealed cassock pocket he placed it in the recess.

The SPA key stayed there defying gravity and being held by some mysterious and unseen magnetic force. A six digit number flashed on the screen for one, two, three seconds. '565 656' and was gone.

The door slid silently open, revealing the inside of the lift he'd seen before on the CCTV feed. Petros(Carter) grabbed the SPA key but it was held fast, it would not budge. He began to panic when the door beeped and started to close. He had to decide quickly.

He abandoned the SPA key in favour of exploring what lay beyond the lift. As he entered the door stopped. He was faced by a screen at the back of the lift that displayed a software-generated keypad.
One beep. . . two. . .
Petros(Carter) quickly entered the six digit code from his father's memory '565 656.'

On the third beep the screen changed to six, what appeared to be level indicators.
G, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 with the G illuminated suggesting that whatever was in the Thunder Vault was spread over five floors underground.

The lift beeped. . . one. . . two. . .
Petros(Carter) played it safe and pressed '1'. The lift doors silently closed behind him and the lift began a speedy descent for what seemed a minute. It stopped. The lift beeped again this time an alphabet screen appeared. He quickly hit the upper case and typed in SPA and enter just as the third beep rang out. The entrance door in front of him slid silently open.
A chill went through him as he wondered what would happen if he didn't know the codes, and made a mistake or was too slow to beat the beeps. Both he and Carter decided that they would rather not know.

The view as Petros(Carter) stepped out into the Thunder Vault was breathtakingly old world. It looked like what you would expect a Charles Dickins library to have looked like. The decor was a plush green and gold wallpapered scene with period mahogany furniture. Two side-by-side bureaus with high-backed chairs in front of a superb Chesterfield divan. Behind the divan was a faux fireplace with realistic-looking fake logs burning cozily. A scene that would suit the snow-covered scene depicted in the faux windows displayed on both sides even though it was ten a.m. on a warm autumn morning in the Vatican.

The only thing that belied the ambiance conjured up by the decor was the two computer screens on the bureau desks.

As soon as Petros(Carter) stepped out of the lift the doors silently closed behind him. The silence was disturbed by a whirring sound as the CCTV camera adjusted to take the new intruder into view.

Petros(Carter) once again pondered on just who might be interested in his visit to the Thunder Vault or maybe it was just the Security Surveillance cameras typical of installations like this. Paranoia aside it was probably just Sol keeping an eye on him for security purposes, nothing more.

Graz smiled as he watched the curious look on Petros(Carter)'s face, remembering his own questioning thoughts when he first saw the security arrangements inside the inner sanctum of the Thunder Vault.

He also remembered being fascinated by the name and wondering who on Earth might have chosen such a name for the home of all the earth shattering Secrets it held.

He was soon to learn it had been named over seventy five years ago by the Black Pope at the time, head of the Jesuit army as he described the storm that would envelop the Church if these Secrets were ever to escape the Vault.

Graz went back to his current task of assessing the likely outcome of the important upcoming US election, or Selection as SPECTRE USA liked to call them. He was scanning through media releases and also checking up on what Petros(Carter) was interested in. He was surprised to see a promo for an upcoming After Dark series of interviews with the principal candidates.

So that's why we haven't heard much from Layla and the other nosey members of the Cheval family. Good. Hope they stay there, he mused.

Graz had had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach ever since Dan had raised his concern about Petros(Carter) after his release from the hospital. Graz wasn't sure what his changing eye colour meant but there were other little things that appeared to be not quite right with his son. A strange thought or knowing went through his head as he watched his son navigate his entry into the Thunder Vault . . . his mind was tormented . . .

He knows . . . he knows I'm his father. Dan must have told him. No . . . he wouldn't dare, not without telling me first. It's something else. It's just the different way he looks at me, ever since the incident. He seems puzzled. Maybe he can't fathom why he is still alive, let alone promoted to Guardian Angel Michaelus. It's unnerving though. The way he looks at me and at Anton. It gives me the creeps. Anton must see it too. I'm having trouble enough as it is controlling Anton after Petros killed his father in front of him.

As Guardian he knows everything or soon will. Anton doesn't know why I'm protecting him. He would have dispensed with him on the day if he'd had his way. I need to send him away for a while. Perhaps to America to assist SPECTRE USA with the very important Selection. Process over there.

Then there is the ISLA problem in Syria. I think I'll ask Anton if he thinks his sister is ready yet. With Enrico off the scene now, we can open up to females in a number of areas. Maybe I should bring the Church up to date with the current social trends. We need to prepare in many ways before the dam breaks. Petros needs all our support . . . not people plotting against him. I'll have to get a strict psych evaluation of Netty to determine if Anton may have told her too much.

She would be the perfect personal security guard for Petros. A good distraction. I've seen the photos on Anton's phone. She's quite the looker. She's going to be an asset for us, as a girl, if she is half as good as Anton is at the family business.

He needs a Personal Assistant too. Perhaps a girl as well. A little something to take his mind off what happened to Amelia, and Cat. Who would've picked him falling for a prostitute after Amelia. Although she did look uncannily like her. And shit! Wait till he finds out what happened to his real mother. We are going to have to manage that very carefully when the time comes. Blame it all on Enrico. Hope that he doesn't plan on going on yet another vendetta.

We almost didn't get away with the last one. It took all my skill and cunning to convince Anton to dispose of his father's body quietly. He still refuses to tell me how he did it let alone what he told the family.

I was extremely lucky to convince him that it was what Andre would have expected and wanted. To protect the secrets in death as much as in life was always his destiny, as it is Anton's, and to a lesser extent his sister, Netty's. I doubt I could manage it again with either of them though.

Graz lost interest as Petros(Carter) entered the lift and pressed one.

That'll keep him occupied for a goodly while. He chuckled to himself, remembering how it was with him. I need to talk to Dan anyway. We are going to need access to some extraordinary amounts if we are to get our way in the USA. The electorate is starting to wake up to how corrupt the system is by design, unfortunately for us. Any leaking of Secrets could spell disaster in November!

Petros(Carter) logged into the computer on the left bureau. It asked for a password. He guessed SPA565656. He was right. He was in. He remembered what he had seen in the outer vault about conspiracy theories and the Nazis. He did a SPAsearch by typing 'Nazi aliens'.

He was shocked when he saw a photo he had seen on a conspiracy site on Youtube a year before. Only this photo when clicked led to a grainy 8mm movie clip of an alien flying saucer complete with swastikas emblazoned on the sides.

Petros(Carter)'s jaw dropped when the craft suddenly lifted off the ground straight up in the air about fifty meters, wobbled a bit then came crashing to earth in a cloud of dust. Three scientists in white lab coats raced in to, presumably, assess the damage to the craft.

Then, amazingly, another three persons appeared left of camera. Not in white lab coats, not assessing the damage, not human!

The creature leading appeared to be female, dressed in a white shiny metallic fabric.
It was flanked by two more alien creatures that appeared to be male in some form of black military garb.
They went up to the three scientists, the female had some unseen interaction with them.

They all turned and began their retreat. Behind them the female creature also turned towards the camera, opened its mouth and a snake like fang emerged.
It was clearly displeased.

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