Mike Luoma Writes Science Fiction, Comic Books, and This Blog...
Sunday, March 31, 2013
More Holy Shit from Mike Luoma...
Here's a comic for Easter... from 2008. Before I knew how to letter... but I tried!
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Finder And The Wishing Stone...
The Adventures of Alibi Jones continue – another done-in-one adventure on this episode!
Hear the audio adaptation of the comic book story Alibi Jones and the Wishing Stone! Out of the pages of Alibi
Jones and The Sunrise of Hur,
Finder returns. Finding Alibi on
Ceres Central, the cosmic hippie thinks Alibi can track down an alien artifact
people call the "Wishing Stone"... The story will soon appear in the
pages of The Adventures of Alibi Jones #2 from Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Comics, with art by Meisha!
Links:
Promo this week for The 2013 Wicked Women
Writers Challenge: http://wickedwomenwriters.wordpress.com/
Links:
The Adventures of Alibi Jones #1 - The Comic Book - Print: http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=8020
The Adventures of Alibi Jones: Six
Short Stories – FREE Audio
Book –
Alibi Jones and The Sunrise of Hur – Now FREE at
Podiobooks!
Panthea Obscura #1
– Free Download! http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=87267
We’re part
of the Comic Related Podcasting Network – you can find us each week at http://comicrelated.com.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Looking for a Colorist
We're on the home stretch of The Adventures of Alibi Jones #2 and we're looking for COLOR! If you're a colorist and you're interested in coming on board, you could be working on cool pages like this one with Art by Dave Siddall and Inks by Matt Grant!
Get in touch with me if you're interested - Mike Luoma - at glowinthedarkradio@gmail.com
Get in touch with me if you're interested - Mike Luoma - at glowinthedarkradio@gmail.com
20% Off My Print Books Through March 31st!
The lovely folks at Lulu just sent this along... use "VERNUM" at checkout to get 20% off Everything at Lulu - of course, I'm hoping you'll pick up one of MY books... conveniently gathered here: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/mikeluoma
You could get my latest novel Alibi Jones and the Sunrise of Hur as a quality paperback for around $12... if I'm doing the math right. Again, the savings code is good site-wide. Enjoy!
You could get my latest novel Alibi Jones and the Sunrise of Hur as a quality paperback for around $12... if I'm doing the math right. Again, the savings code is good site-wide. Enjoy!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
A Late Episode "About Time"
Listen in for the audio adaptation of a comic book story!
Old lovers, Time-travel and threatening Aliens in mysterious armor - science
fiction adventure in Alibi Jones: About Time!
Alibi's old high school flame Shirra shows up with a mysterious stolen package... and a whole
lot of trouble on her trail!
Links:
Links:
The Adventures of
Alibi Jones #1 - The Comic
Book - Print: http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=8020
The Adventures of Alibi Jones: Six
Short Stories – FREE Audio
Book –
Alibi Jones and The Sunrise of Hur – Now FREE at
Podiobooks!
Panthea Obscura #1
– Free Download! http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=87267
We’re part
of the Comic Related Podcasting Network – you can find us each week at http://comicrelated.com.
Promo
included for the April 1 pre-sale of Garaaga's Children: Ancients.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
"We Know Better"
The main conclusion the Republican Party drew from their losses in 2012 after the recent "GOP Postmortem" conducted by Reince Priebus? Their policies are sound, their principles are correct, but their message was off. They spread the blame for bad messaging around - mostly they blame the press for "distorting" their message, but they also infer that folks like Todd Akin with his "legitimate rape" comment didn't help.
They're correct, in part. Their "message" was rejected by a majority of the American people. But the rest of the GOP "postmortem" assessment smacks of self-delusion - they're not acknowledging that their policies and principles were rejected soundly as well. In their delusion, the GOP is venturing into dangerous territory for any American political party - the realm of "We Know Better" - The American people only *think* they know what they want and need - the GOP Knows Better.
We've seen this before. One party develops their ideals into principles and policies approved of by the American people, but then begins to swing ideologically toward their extreme as the party grows more successful. In the face of resistance to their swing from the American public, the party retrenches instead of adapting - because "We Know Better."
The liberals and the Democrats were certain they knew better as the sixties went on and then turned into the seventies. At that time the GOP were able to take advantage of the Democrats telling the Southern Dems they were wrong about racism - "We Know Better" - the GOP's "Southern Strategy" then peeled away the Dixiecrats and turned them into Republicans. Were the Democrats "correct"? Yup.
But here's the thing - the American public responds very poorly to being told they're wrong, to being told a political party "knows better" about what they want and need than they do. It smacks of Elitism.
The GOP of the 1970s capitalized on this to such a large degree they fused the term "liberal" to an errant definition implying liberal government is dominated by Big Brother Social Programs where you're a victim of an elitist, leftist state that "knows better" than you. Following the country's economic collapse post-Vietnam, this allowed them to discredit the Democrats' policies and principles, ultimately leading to the election of Ronald Reagan.That false characterization still haunts the left today.
It was quite a trick - the Democrats' own "We Know Better" attitude allowed the right to label a movement trying to get the greatest good for the greatest number as, somehow, impossibly, "elitist". And in so doing, they diverted attention from the fact that their GOP policies, dominated by "trickle-down economics" were ACTUAL elitist policies, creating a redistribution of wealth upward, concentrating the country's wealth in the hands of a moneyed elite few in number. It set the stage for a great number of low-information voters to identify themselves as right-wingers even as they voted against their own economic self-interest, a trend that continues today. Powerful stuff.
Now the GOP is now engaging in their own version of "We Know Better". In part they have to - their contributing supporters seem to demand this approach. It also seems to energize their base.
It remains to be seen if the Democrats can capitalize on this - can the left show the right for the elitists they are? Can they stir up the American public's resentment at being told someone else "knows better" than they do? And can they pull it off without themselves coming off - once again - as elitists? Don't know. Have many doubts, as a matter of fact. Recognizing this opportunity exists would be a good first step...
They're correct, in part. Their "message" was rejected by a majority of the American people. But the rest of the GOP "postmortem" assessment smacks of self-delusion - they're not acknowledging that their policies and principles were rejected soundly as well. In their delusion, the GOP is venturing into dangerous territory for any American political party - the realm of "We Know Better" - The American people only *think* they know what they want and need - the GOP Knows Better.
We've seen this before. One party develops their ideals into principles and policies approved of by the American people, but then begins to swing ideologically toward their extreme as the party grows more successful. In the face of resistance to their swing from the American public, the party retrenches instead of adapting - because "We Know Better."
The liberals and the Democrats were certain they knew better as the sixties went on and then turned into the seventies. At that time the GOP were able to take advantage of the Democrats telling the Southern Dems they were wrong about racism - "We Know Better" - the GOP's "Southern Strategy" then peeled away the Dixiecrats and turned them into Republicans. Were the Democrats "correct"? Yup.
But here's the thing - the American public responds very poorly to being told they're wrong, to being told a political party "knows better" about what they want and need than they do. It smacks of Elitism.
The GOP of the 1970s capitalized on this to such a large degree they fused the term "liberal" to an errant definition implying liberal government is dominated by Big Brother Social Programs where you're a victim of an elitist, leftist state that "knows better" than you. Following the country's economic collapse post-Vietnam, this allowed them to discredit the Democrats' policies and principles, ultimately leading to the election of Ronald Reagan.That false characterization still haunts the left today.
It was quite a trick - the Democrats' own "We Know Better" attitude allowed the right to label a movement trying to get the greatest good for the greatest number as, somehow, impossibly, "elitist". And in so doing, they diverted attention from the fact that their GOP policies, dominated by "trickle-down economics" were ACTUAL elitist policies, creating a redistribution of wealth upward, concentrating the country's wealth in the hands of a moneyed elite few in number. It set the stage for a great number of low-information voters to identify themselves as right-wingers even as they voted against their own economic self-interest, a trend that continues today. Powerful stuff.
Now the GOP is now engaging in their own version of "We Know Better". In part they have to - their contributing supporters seem to demand this approach. It also seems to energize their base.
It remains to be seen if the Democrats can capitalize on this - can the left show the right for the elitists they are? Can they stir up the American public's resentment at being told someone else "knows better" than they do? And can they pull it off without themselves coming off - once again - as elitists? Don't know. Have many doubts, as a matter of fact. Recognizing this opportunity exists would be a good first step...
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Alibi Jone is In Over His Head! w/Timeline BONUS
The
Adventures of Alibi Jones continue! Listen in as Mike Luoma reads his
short story "Alibi Jones In Over His Head" – an encore presentation –
on this episode of Glow-in-the-Dark Radio. This
story actually takes place inside of
Chapter Fourteen of the novel Alibi Jones
and The Sunrise of Hur, as Alibi negotiates with the Kee'Klick. It
became a separate short story when Juan Carlos Quattordio illustrated it for Earthbound Comics Presents #1. The comic
book short can now be found in The
Adventures of Alibi Jones #1 from Glow-in-the-Dark
Radio Comics. It's Free Audio Science Fiction Adventure with Alibi
Jones! There's also
exclusive BONUS material – listen after the story for the Alibi
Jones Timeline!
Panthea
Obscura #1 – Free Download! http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=87267
The
Adventures of Alibi Jones #1 (comic book) –
Digital
Download: http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=94851
We’re part
of the Comic Related Podcasting Network – you can find us each week at http://comicrelated.com.
The Alibi Jones Timeline
The Adventures of
Alibi Jones occur in the 22nd century. This timeline features
brief, hopefully not too spoilerish summaries of events in the stories and
novels, published and about to be published, so far.
Alibi Jones is the son of Bernard Campion, aka BC, the
former Vatican Assassin who became the first Prime Representative and founder
of the Solar Alliance after the Eldred war. Because of the circumstances, we
actually know when Alibi was conceived – during events in the novel Vatican Assassin, when BC and
Alibi's mother Ruth first meet and get to know each other on Fortune Station.
2110 – Alibi Jones is born. At first, his father does not
know he has a son. Ruth doesn't tell BC about the pregnancy or the birth.
2113 – (Vatican Abdicator/"Alibi Jones: Father's Day") When Alibi Jones is 3 years old,
his mother takes him to meet his father. Then Ruth shoots and kills BC. Ruth is
arrested and committed. Alibi is given into the care of Anita Capituna, BC's
ex-fiance and new Prime Representative of the Solar Alliance.
Alibi Jones grows up with his "Aunt" Anita, mostly
on Ceres Central but also for a few months here and there in other places, as
she tours the Solar Alliance over the course of her nearly twenty year tenure
as Prime Rep. She retires to Ceres Central and becomes its governor in 2131.
Alibi joins the Solar Alliance Mediation Corps after graduation from college
and begins training in negotiations and conflict resolution.
2134 – ("Alibi
Jones: Blind Eye") Alibi takes on his first major assignments in the
Mediation Corps. He negotiates a trade deal between the Dakhur and the Flaze
(that later is shown to have problems...). Alibi runs into his old friend
Shirra as well.
2135 – (Alibi Jones) While trying to track down an
old friend, Alibi discovers a Tek'Tah operation providing human specimens for
experimentation to a surviving member of the race known as the Ancient Enemy!
Meets Kit the Dakhur and Katie Ramsey. Alibi and Katie begin seeing each other.
2136 – ("Alibi
Jones: Vacation") Alibi and Katie see each other for a while, but their
relationship runs hot and cold. They go visit Kit at his new assignment on the
world called "Paradise".
2137 – (Alibi Jones and The Sunrise of Hur) Although
Alibi and Katie are no longer together, they attend Kit and his mate-to-be
Trish's Joining Ceremony. The joyous occasion is marred when Rene Laveillur's
thugs invade and kidnap Katie, killing Dakhur in the process. The Dakhur relic
The Sunrise of Hur disappears after the ceremony.
– ("Alibi Jones
In Over His Head" – during events in ...Sunrise of Hur) Alibi
visits the aquatic race the Kee'Klick on their world Kee'ere. Getting to know a
new alien race can be a tricky business.
– ("Alibi Jones:
About Time") After Alibi and Katie finally go their separate ways and
Kit goes off to do his own thing, Alibi finds himself alone. His Aunt Anita
invites him to stay with her on Ceres Central for a bit of R&R. Alibi's old
girlfriend Shirra shoes up with a device stolen from The Devrizium. The supposed
start of the Time War of The Devrizium.
2138 – ("Alibi
Jones: Remember Two Things") The Devrizium attack. Alibi can't be sure
which reality he's living in, which timeline is real. He tries to sort it out.
– ("Alibi Jones
and the Wishing Stone") Finder tracks down Alibi on Ceres Central with
a proposition. He thinks Alibi's the one who can find a certain something he's
been trying to track down.
– ("Alibi Jones:
When I Get Older") Another attack by The Devrizium. Alibi wakes up an
old man. Why doesn't he remember growing old?
– The shifting timelines of The Time War of The Devrizium
make charting this part of Alibi's life an iffy proposition. But by late 2138
things seemed to have settled down.
2139 – (Alibi Jones and the Hornet's Nest) Word
begins to spread of Alibi's role in the destruction of Kismet. He's forced to
leave the Mediation Corps and relocate. His new assignment puts him out beyond
the borders of the Solar Alliance.
– ("Alibi Jones
and the Ghost In The Machine") Alibi and his crew investigate
sightings of a ghost ship – a hulking alien vessel has been spotted in remote
deep space, along with the apparition of an SAIF pilot pleading "Don't let
me die AGAIN!"
And then...
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Pulp Adventure With A Woman Vigilante Warrior
As I'm wide awake on this Monday night - I'm blaming the cold medicine - you get the benefits of my insomnia as I've decided to put together a post compiling all the places you can get a FREE download of my eBook short story SOUVERAIN: THE KID! It's your chance to read a pulpy adventure tale for free!
Set in the later years of the Iraq war, Souverain ventures out on her own beyond the Green Zone to help the women and children of Baghdad survive, when no one else will. In "The Kid", Souverain is faced with leaving a legacy as her world changes.
Souverain is the vigilante warrior woman mentioned in this post's title, a character created by Ben Ferrari. I wrote three stories for her that Ben illustrated that appeared in Lady Fight #2 - #4, collected in Souverain #1 - all released by Earthbound Comics. The prose short "The Kid" also appeared in the Souverain #1 collection. Later, Ben and I released it as a stand-alone free eBook to see if we could reach out to new audiences with our work beyond the world of comics, maybe draw some new people in.
You get the benefit of that decision - a free eBook, a short story by me. Free.
At Smashwords - All eReaders: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/156138
Barnes & Noble Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/souverain-mike-luoma/1112037298
SONY eBookstore: https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/mike-luoma/souverain-the-kid/_/R-400000000000000723759
KOBO Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Souverain-The-Kid/book-o4qasxf6UU6KbOfmzSYBZg/page1.html
DriveThruFiction: http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/101718/Souverain%3A-The-Kid
Enjoy!
Set in the later years of the Iraq war, Souverain ventures out on her own beyond the Green Zone to help the women and children of Baghdad survive, when no one else will. In "The Kid", Souverain is faced with leaving a legacy as her world changes.
You get the benefit of that decision - a free eBook, a short story by me. Free.
At Smashwords - All eReaders: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/156138
Barnes & Noble Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/souverain-mike-luoma/1112037298
SONY eBookstore: https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/mike-luoma/souverain-the-kid/_/R-400000000000000723759
KOBO Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Souverain-The-Kid/book-o4qasxf6UU6KbOfmzSYBZg/page1.html
DriveThruFiction: http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/101718/Souverain%3A-The-Kid
Enjoy!
Saturday, March 09, 2013
The End Of Alibi Jones?
This is IT! The Grand Finale of Mike Luoma’s Alibi
Jones and The Sunrise of Hur! Glow-in-the-Dark Radio’s Free Audio Science
Fiction Adventure, with Alibi Jones, Kit, and Katie leaving Kismet,
making their way to Hur and hopefully freedom. Chapter Twenty-Nine – the final
chapter of the novel!
Panthea Obscura #1 – Free Download! http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=87267
There’s a promo for the 2013 Wicked Women Writers Challenge:
http://wickedwomenwriters.wordpress.com/
We’re part of the Comic Related Podcasting
Network – you can find us each week at http://comicrelated.com.
Saturday, March 02, 2013
Gotta Get Away!
Audio Science Fiction Adventure! Dive into over a
half-hour’s entertainment as Alibi Jones, Kit and Katie try to leave
the planet, Kismet. Alibi is making up a plan as they go – will it work? Or
will they be stuck on the world where Alibi and Kit are guaranteed to be
killed? Find out, on this episode of Glow-in-the-Dark Radio, with the
penultimate chapter - Chapter Twenty-Eight - of Mike Luoma’s Alibi
Jones and The Sunrise of Hur – Free Science Fiction Adventure!
Vatican Assassin #4 – download: http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/coming_product_info.php?products_id=111421
Vatican Assassin #4 – print: http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=8142
We’re part of the Comic Related Podcasting Network – you can
find us each week at http://comicrelated.com.
Friday, March 01, 2013
Choosing A New Pope
When I was writing Vatican Ambassador a few years ago, I did a ton of research into the practices of the Vatican, the Curia, and into the process by which the College of Cardinals picks a new pope. Though raised Roman Catholic and an active church participant up and through my teen years, it was still fascinating to learn about the papal selection process in greater depth than I'd been exposed to through experience.
Now, I'm writing about the Vatican and the New catholic Church in the year 2110. The small "c" is deliberate - this new, ecumenical Christian church of the future is "catholic" in the word's broader sense. However, to entice the actual Catholics to join, the new church did agree to let them bring along the trappings of the papacy. Figured that gave me the literary license to use what I wanted and streamline the rest in the context of my story...
Thought you might enjoy reading an excerpt from Vatican Ambassador that gives a little insight into the process. This first part of Chapter Fourteen features lead character BC's quick ascendancy into the College of Cardinals and participation in the process of choosing a new Pope. Here's a bit of Vatican Ambassador:
Now, I'm writing about the Vatican and the New catholic Church in the year 2110. The small "c" is deliberate - this new, ecumenical Christian church of the future is "catholic" in the word's broader sense. However, to entice the actual Catholics to join, the new church did agree to let them bring along the trappings of the papacy. Figured that gave me the literary license to use what I wanted and streamline the rest in the context of my story...
Thought you might enjoy reading an excerpt from Vatican Ambassador that gives a little insight into the process. This first part of Chapter Fourteen features lead character BC's quick ascendancy into the College of Cardinals and participation in the process of choosing a new Pope. Here's a bit of Vatican Ambassador:
When mass numbers
of people get sick, things break down. Even as humanity advances, it still
takes raw people power to keep the machines running.
BC has a hell of a
time booking passage down to Earth. When he finally secures a ride, the flight
itself is nearly empty.
The Rio Di Janeiro
spaceport on Earth is another shock. Many of the shops and stores are
shuttered. Other travelers are scarce.
BC hunts around for
a connecting flight to Vatican City. It takes a few hours. He books his flight
and calls the Vatican to let them know he’s on the way.
BC lands in Rome to
a very different greeting. The media have somehow been alerted. Reporters
surround the gate at the airport as BC disembarks. They spot BC and begin
hurling questions at him.
"Ambassador!
Where have you been?"
"Father
Campion! What do you know about the plague?"
"Why haven’t
you been infected, Father Campion?"
"How did it
happen?"
"Do you think
this is the work of the UIN?"
"What’s your
reaction to the Pope’s death?"
BC ignores them all
best he can as he walks past. He breathes a sigh of relief when he spots a
waiting Vatican transport with his name on it. He hops in and rolls away from
the pursuing, clamoring crowd.
Aside from the media dogs, there weren’t
many other people there at the port.
How bad is it?
BC is sent to the
College of Cardinals immediately upon his arrival at the Vatican, his luggage
whisked away to some rooms he’s told he’ll be shown to later. Cardinals
Hardwick and Terpa are waiting for BC when he arrives outside the Sistine
Chapel.
"Cardinal
Campion, you’re just in time!" Terpa says, greeting BC.
"What? I’m not
a Cardinal…" BC demurs.
Terpa and Hardwick
nod.
"You
are," Terpa says to him.
"But I was
never even a Bishop… That’s a done deal?" BC asks.
"A done
deal," Hardwick says. "There aren’t many of us left," he tells
BC. "You were elevated in absentia
by the late Pope Peter the Third, under special circumstances. We’ll make it
official while you’re here in Rome. You’ll be elevated to bishop at the same
time."
"Okay,"
BC says, surprised, trying to think.
Made a Cardinal against my will! These
people are desperate.
"How bad has
this sickness gotten?" BC asks them.
"It’s
bad," Terpa says. "It is a plague such as the world has never seen.
Billions are dying, Cardinal Campion. Not all who are exposed are infected… it
seems to affect people at random. It’s very strange."
"The UTZ
Scientists have announced cures twice," Hardwick says, "only to find
their announcements have been premature, that their measures don’t measure
up."
"I’m afraid
many people are sure it’s the work of the Muslims," Terpa tells him.
"Really?"
BC asks.
"We’ve seen
the polls," Hardwick says. "We hear it from our own people."
"It’s not the
Muslims," BC tells them. They both stare at him. Terpa finally breaks the
silence.
"What…"
she says, and then she pauses. "How do you know?" she asks him.
"Mars has been silent, closed off."
Hardwick shakes his
head.
"There’s been
no traffic from Mars," he tells BC, "and no communications, either.
There’s no way to know how the UIN has been effected."
"I know
that," BC admits, "but I also know that this ‘plague’ wasn’t caused
by the UIN."
"You know? Well…" Terpa says.
"…what are you saying? This is natural? Or is someone else responsible?"
she asks BC.
"I’ve spoken
with some UTZ scientists," BC says, stretching the truth. "They think
it may be extraterrestrial."
I don’t want to tell them about The Project…
yet.
"We’ve heard
that, too," Hardwick says. "But couldn’t they have found a virus or
something on Mars and somehow, I don’t know, ‘weaponized’ it? That would make
it ‘extraterrestrial’, wouldn’t it?"
Now he’s a Cardinal and a
scientist?
"Not really…
They don’t have the technology to create this
sickness," BC explains. "Our
scientists admit that even they
couldn’t create this."
"I haven’t
heard any of them admit that," Hardwick says, the question in his voice.
"They haven’t
publicly," BC tells him.
"Oh."
A group of young
priests appear from inside the chapel and approach them.
"Primus inter
pares? Your eminence?" the lead priest, a young African woman wearing
bright blue clerical robes addresses Cardinal Hardwick.
"Yes, Reverend
Chiamaka?"
"It’s time.
The other Cardinals are waiting for you and the Secretary Cardinal to begin the
Papal Conclave," Chiamaka says, nodding to Cardinal Terpa as well.
"The chimney has been prepared. The chapel has been swept for any possible
surveillance devices. All is in readiness, awaiting only the three of
you."
"Well, then…
as the Dean of the College of Cardinals, I officially invite you to join the
conclave, Cardinal Campion!" Hardwick says to BC, extending his hand.
"Right now? I
accept, I guess," BC says tentatively. He shakes Hardwick’s hand. They
enter the chapel and the doors crash shut and are sealed behind them.
"Come,"
Hardwick says to BC and Terpa, "We have work to do."
The Sistine Chapel… Gets to me every time…
I didn’t know there was damage in here, too.
It was never hit directly. It was one of the few buildings they protected.
Sadly, there has
been some damage. Some of the wall frescoes are now cracked, or broken, with
pieces fallen off. Several of Michelangelo’s masterpieces on the ceiling have lost
chunks, ugly white patches showing through some of the master’s work.
Sad to see… Huh, there’s old Jeremiah up
there… some say it’s a self portrait by Michelangelo… funny, I never read
Jeremiah’s book until forced to by The Light. He puts the cur in curmudgeon.
Look at him up there, angry and puzzled. Guess we have that in common…
"Watch where
you’re going," Hardwick cautions BC. BC’s been so busy looking up he
didn’t notice the chair he was about to walk into. The chapel has been
furnished for the affair: large, red velvet cushioned, oaken thrones are
arrayed along the side walls, facing each other.
BC looks around.
Staring up at the ceiling he didn’t see the other Cardinals gathered around the
altar. There aren’t as many as he’d thought there would be. He tries to make a
quick count.
There are only about fifty people here… and
a lot of them are pretty young to be Cardinals!
"Where’s
everybody else? I thought we had over two hundred Cardinals in the
College?" BC asks Hardwick and Terpa.
"We did,"
Terpa says.
"We now have
59 Cardinals," Hardwick says sadly.
"Counting
me?" BC asks.
"Counting
you," Hardwick tells him.
"Oh. I see."
"Have a
seat," Hardwick says, indicating a throne for BC.
"Thank
you," BC says. Hardwick nods. He and Terpa then continue on up to the
altar.
A throne… a throne of my own…
BC sits down. He
looks across the chapel at some of the other Cardinals, already seated.
I feel like I just walked into a party I was
not invited to… Talk about not belonging somewhere… what?
The Cardinal on the
throne next to BC is talking to him in a soft voice. All BC hears is, "by
the Cardinal Camerlengo, stand."
"What?"
BC asks in a hoarse whisper.
"Stand
up!" the old man snaps back at BC.
Cranky old dude! Well, I guess this is it…
Cardinal Camerlengo
Hardwick, Dean of the College of Cardinals, stands before the altar and swears
them all to secrecy. Terpa and two other Cardinals walk down the rows of chairs
and hand each of them a slip of paper.
"Please be
seated," Hardwick says as the last of the ballots is handed out. BC looks
at his slip.
"Eligo in
summum pontificem," BC reads. Luckily, there is a translation underneath
the words: I elect as supreme Pontiff...
BC looks around the
room. He notices others doing the same.
I don’t even know any of these people! Maybe
I’ll vote for myself… or Hardwick. Maybe Terpa… this church could use a female
pope, a first for the NcC and Christianity in general. This is just the first
ballot; it doesn’t mean anything anyway…
BC writes his own
name down and laughs.
Why not? I’m sure we’ll find out who the
real candidates are after this first vote.
Hardwick speaks
from the altar.
"Please bring
your ballot up, present it, and place it in this chalice," he tells the
assembly, indicating an ornate, oversized gold and silver chalice on the altar,
covered by a thin gold paten.
The Cardinals
process up to the altar in an orderly fashion. BC tries not to smirk as he
walks up to the altar, holds his vote aloft, and then slides it under the paten
and into the cup. He is one of the last to vote. As he heads back to his seat,
Terpa and the two other Cardinals line up with Hardwick for counting.
The counting takes
a while. Each name for each vote is read aloud three times: Terpa reads the
name aloud and writes it down on a tally sheet in front of her, then hands the
ballot to the next Cardinal. The next Cardinal reads the name aloud as well,
and then hands the ballot to the third Cardinal. The third repeats the name
again, and then runs a needle and thread through the ballot, creating a string
of punctured votes.
"Bernard
Campion," Terpa says aloud, about halfway through the ballots. Her eyes
lock with his briefly.
She does not look happy… guess she didn’t
like my little joke…
"Bernard
Campion," repeats the second Cardinal.
"Bernard Campion,"
echoes the third, and then he pokes the needle and thread through the ballot,
adding it to his string.
One ballot for BC…
More names are
called. It’s clear there won’t be a pope elected on this first vote, there are
too many names for any candidate to have received a full two-thirds.
"Bernard
Campion," Terpa says again, his name echoed by her two colleagues.
Wait a minute… Another ballot? Who else would
vote for me?
BC hears his name
come up again on two other ballots, his name repeated three times each time,
before the voting is over.
This is insane…
The first vote
finally over with no winner, Terpa and the other two Cardinals assisting in the
voting gather all other notes from around the room, and then head to the back
to burn the ballots and notes. The black smoke will let the outside world know
there’s been no decision. While they perform the ritual task, Hardwick
addresses the rest of the assembly.
"We do not
have a new pontiff yet," he tells them, "but we do have four
candidates who have received more than one vote. Cardinal Castellini of Turin
has five in his favor. Cardinal Kibwe of Nairobi has four, as does Cardinal
Hardwick, er, myself," he says, pausing awkwardly, visibly uncomfortable.
"And, finally, Cardinal Campion of the Vatican Mission on Lunar Prime has
three votes."
BC can feel the
eyes of the other Cardinals on him. Luckily, Hardwick continues, drawing back
their attention.
"We will vote
again tomorrow, twice in the morning, and twice in the afternoon, if
necessary," Hardwick tells them. "I would like to ask now for a vote
on the number of ballots we will have before we look for a simple majority
rather than a two-thirds majority.
"As time is of
the essence, I suggest six, in hopes that we can elect a new pope in our third
day. All in favor?"
The vote carries.
"Good!"
Hardwick exclaims.
"Please follow
Cardinal Terpa. She will lead you to the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where
you’ll be staying. It’s similar to a staff-less hotel. Everything you need is,
hopefully, provided. If there is
anything more that you require, please see Cardinal Terpa or myself. We
reconvene at 6 am tomorrow morning. Thank you, God Bless You all," he
says, finishing.
"Amen,"
the assembly answers back.
The Cardinals begin
filing out after Terpa, heading for their rooms.
(Continued in Mike Luoma's Vatican Ambassador!)
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