Free The Secret of Fatima by Peter J; Tanous

mind—his love for Katie versus his love for the Church. Was this a given for priests? Did all priests have this screeching cacophony, this tortured conflict?
    Back on track to the assignment. He was here to investigate a possible overthrow of the Catholic Church by a radical group. They think a false prophet has gone soft regarding doctrine. Sounds easy enough . Kevin sighed.
    Kevin remembered the intercepted message Cardinal Porter had given him. He stopped moving and retrieved it from his pocket.
    VISITOR 5/29 BEIRUT. TRIGGER SALE
    SATIN PO$ 6/2
    (Note: unsure if correct translation but nothing better found)
    An idea came to him. He grabbed his iPhone and called Toby Beck, a CIA friend, an expert in crypto. He and Toby went way back. In Iraq they were army officers together. From their time there, they shared some dark secrets.
    Toby answered his phone. “This you, Kevin?”
    â€œYes. How are you, Toby?”
    â€œGood, good. What’s going on?”
    After explaining he was in Rome on a Church mission, Kevin continued, “I need some decoding help, buddy. I have an intercepted message that needs your eye.”
    â€œI’m in that business, Kev,” Toby said. “I can give you a secure number to relay it as a PDF. Can you do that?”
    Kevin recalled he had a copy machine in his quarters. He jumped up to see if it could scan and send the document to Toby. It could. “Can do, Toby. I’ll send it right away.”
    â€œI’ll get back to you,” Toby said and hung up.
    His iPhone buzzed a half hour later. It couldn’t be from Toby, could it?
    â€œKevin, it’s Max. I just got an advance copy of the papal encyclical that’s coming out tomorrow.”
    â€œHow bad is it?” Kevin asked.
    â€œBad. The pope appears to be changing the rule on birth control. Contraception will be permitted for married couples.”
    â€œIs that a big deal? For decades American priests have been avoiding it in the confessional. The majority of practicing Catholics pay no attention to that rule.”
    â€œThe short answer, my friend, is that it’s a very big deal. Church leadership must have known this would enrage conservatives like Opus Mundi. I just hope they’re prepared for how it’ll affect them.”
    Kevin had nothing to say. A second call beeped in on Kevin’s mobile. “I’ll call you back, Max,” Kevin said, and hung up. He answered the second call. It was Toby.
    â€œMy ass is on the line for this, pal, but frankly I don’t give a shit. I’ve got some stuff for you,” Toby said.
    Kevin knew he’d need to return the favor someday, but it was worth it.
    â€œYou’re a good man, Toby. I appreciate your help,” said Kevin.
    â€œAnyway,” Toby continued, “Visitor is likely just that—a visitor or someone by that name. Satin Po$ 6/2 has nothing to do with cloth. When you go through the various combinations it appears that this isn’t even in code. Your guys got lucky. Satin should be two words, Sat in. It likely means Satellite in Position 6/2, or June 2nd. That’s early next month. The word ‘trigger’ is puzzling. One of our guys thinks it means to initiate, the other one thinks it’s literal, means what it appears to mean—a trigger, like on a weapon.”
    â€œThis isn’t making much sense to me, Toby.”
    â€œWell, this might help. The Vatican owns three satellites which were launched privately. They’re used primarily for communications and for Vatican TV broadcast transmissions. Anyway, our guys tracked a signal directing one of the satellites to a new orbit starting on June 1st. We don’t know why they did that, of course, but the new trajectory is interesting.” Toby paused. “This is a strange question, but does the Vatican have any, uh, initiatives in the Middle East?”
    â€œNot that I know of,” Kevin said, although Cardinal