Chapter 75

The chartered turboprop was just passing over the twinkling lights of Monaco when Aringarosahung up on Fache for the second time. He reached for the airsickness bag again but felt too drainedeven to be sick.

　　Just let it be over!

　　Fache's newest update seemed unfathomable, and yet almost nothing tonight made sense anymore.

　　What is going on? Everything had spiraled wildly out of control. What have I gotten Silas into?

　　What have I gotten myself into!

　　On shaky legs, Aringarosa walked to the cockpit. "I need to change destinations."The pilot glanced over his shoulder and laughed. "You're joking, right?""No. I have to get to London immediately.""Father, this is a charter flight, not a taxi.""I will pay you extra, of course. How much? London is only one hour farther north and requiresalmost no change of direction, so—""It's not a question of money, Father, there are other issues.""Ten thousand euro. Right now."The pilot turned, his eyes wide with shock. "How much? What kind of priest carries that kind ofcash?"Aringarosa walked back to his black briefcase¹, opened it, and removed one of the bearer bonds. Hehanded it to the pilot.

　　"What is this?" the pilot demanded.

　　"A ten-thousand-euro bearer bond drawn² on the Vatican Bank."The pilot looked dubious³.

　　"It's the same as cash.""Only cash is cash," the pilot said, handing the bond back.

　　Aringarosa felt weak as he steadied himself against the cockpit door. "This is a matter of life ordeath. You must help me. I need to get to London."The pilot eyed the bishop⁴'s gold ring. "Real diamonds?"Aringarosa looked at the ring. "I could not possibly part with this."The pilot shrugged⁵, turning and focusing back out the windshield.

　　Aringarosa felt a deepening sadness. He looked at the ring. Everything it represented was about tobe lost to the bishop anyway. After a long moment, he slid the ring from his finger and placed itgently on the instrument panel.

　　Aringarosa slunk out of the cockpit and sat back down. Fifteen seconds later, he could feel the pilotbanking a few more degrees to the north.

　　Even so, Aringarosa's moment of glory was in shambles⁶.

　　It had all begun as a holy cause. A brilliantly crafted scheme. Now, like a house of cards, it wascollapsing in on itself... and the end was nowhere in sight.

阿林加洛沙主教再次把法希打来的电话挂了时，他乘坐的那架可供住宿的涡轮螺旋桨飞机，正飞越过灯火闪烁的摩纳哥城上空。他又一次跑到专为晕机者准备的袋子前，然而他太累了，即使想吐也吐不出来。就让它结束吧！

最近法希花样百出，似乎总让人难以预测。不过今晚，一切差不多都变得毫无意义了。事情进展得如何？所有的事情变化之迅速，实在令人难以控制。我让塞拉斯去干了些什么？！我自己又干了些什么？！

阿林加洛沙双腿颤抖着，走到飞机的座舱。"你给我掉转方向吧。"

飞机驾驶员转身瞥了他一眼，笑道："你是在开玩笑，对吧？"

"不，我要马上到伦敦去。"

"神父，你是在包机，又不是坐出租汽车。"

"当然，我会给你补偿的。你要多少？从这里往北飞伦敦只要一个小时，而且几乎不要改变方向，所以--""神父，这不光是钱的问题，还有别的一些东西。"

"我给你一万欧元，你马上给我换个航向吧。"

驾驶员转过身，吃惊地睁大了双眼："你说多少？你是什么神父啊，怎么带这么多的现金？"

阿林加洛沙折回到他的黑色公文包前，将它打开，拿出一张不记名债券，然后递给飞机驾驶员。

"这是什么？"驾驶员问道。

"梵蒂冈银行开具的不记名债券，面值一万欧元。"

驾驶员一脸疑惑。

"它跟现金一样可以通用。"

"可我要的是现金。"驾驶员说着，把债券递了回来。

阿林加洛沙主教紧挨着座舱门才没有倒下，他太虚弱了。"这关系到生死存亡的问题。

你得帮帮我。我必须马上到伦敦去。"驾驶员一眼看到这位主教手上戴着的金戒指："给我来点货真价实的东西怎么样？"

阿林加洛沙主教看了看戒指："我可少不了这戒指啊。"

驾驶员耸了耸肩，转过身，一动不动地望着后面挡风玻璃窗的外面。

阿林加洛沙内心涌起一股浓浓的悲哀。他看了看戒指。不管怎么说，它所代表的一切，对他这位主教来说，很快就会不存在了。过了很长很长时间，他才把戒指从手指上摘下来，轻轻地放在飞机的仪表板上。

阿林加洛沙主教悄悄地从座舱溜了出去，到后面的座位上一屁股坐了下来。十五秒后，他感觉到驾驶员往北倾斜了几度。

即便如此，阿林加洛沙主教还是看不出前景有多么的美妙。

所有的一切都源于一个神圣的目标，一次精心策划的安排。然而现在，它就像一座纸牌做的房子，顷刻间坍塌了……至于结局如何，谁也不能预料。

1 briefcase   

n.手提箱，公事皮包

参考例句：

• He packed a briefcase with what might be required.他把所有可能需要的东西都装进公文包。
• He requested the old man to look after the briefcase.他请求那位老人照看这个公事包。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

4 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

5 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 shambles   

n.混乱之处；废墟

参考例句：

• My room is a shambles.我房间里乱七八糟。
• The fighting reduced the city to a shambles.这场战斗使这座城市成了一片废墟。