The taxi arrived at the hotel, which was located in Divisoria, and the bespectacled young man disembarked. As he entered the hotel's lobby, he was met by two sannaysins, one male, one female, and three non-sannyasin members of the holy order. They greeted him warmly and some of the members of the welcoming committee looked at him with a certain degree of familiarity. They checked him in as Adaggio P. Conti and accompanied him to his room. They avoided talking about the order until the bellboy left.
"How are things going on here, Chela Kriya?" asked the new arrival as he closed the door behind the departing bellboy.
"Very bad, Chela Mahananda," the male sannyasin replied. "No new members. Our free seminars turn up zero attendance. There are fewer and fewer members attending our convocations. Many are going over to the Buddhists and Daoists."
"It's very bad indeed," concluded Mahananda, setting his bag on the bed to open it. "So, you have the weapon?"
He didn't bring any weapons, obviously, because he would be seized by airport officials if he did. Instead, it was arranged that the ashram of Cagayan would provide the weapon.
One of the non-sannyasin members, an elderly individual, approached and dropped a handbag onto the bed. Mahananda opened it. Inside was a .45 cal. pistol and silencer. "We hope that you will be able to save us from the evil monster Eric Ong, Chela Mahananda," he said.
Mahananda pulled the gun out and inspected it as the non-sannyasin member continued, "We have constantly prayed, meditated and radiated over this gun. The Cosmic will strike down Eric Ong with this weapon and you will be the agent of its vengeance."
Mahananda inspected the two clips that came with the gun. "This is the only way we can show compassion to our enemy," he murmured.
Not far away, at the cathedral, Cardinal Zhang was in his office. The work for the day had been done and there was now plenty of free time. The cardinal thought, then, that some calligraphy, which was one of his passions, was in order. Accordingly, he took a large sheet of paper and set it on his desk together with his personal jade seal. He used this seal when doing watercolor paintings and calligraphy and, occasionally, when he wrote documents in Chinese.
He ground an ink stick on his inkstone and poured water to prepare the ink. Outside, in the garden behind the archbishop's office, Father Lorenzo Guevarra was heard with his violin playing Soirees a Saint Petersburg. He was usually there in the afternoons if he didn't have anything to do.
From the kitchen came Sister Catherine Hayashi with a tray bearing the cardinal's afternoon tea.
The cardinal thought for a moment, closed his eyes and cleared his mind. Opening his eyes, he took his brush and dipped it into the ink and began to write. He was working on the word "Tian" (Heaven) when he suddenly made a mistake.
At the same time, Father Lorenzo hit a wrong note. At the same time, Sister Cathy tripped, spilling the tea.
"Oh my," she remarked, getting on her knees to clean the mess. "It's a good thing Cardinal Zhang's never seen this tea set before. I'll just get him the usual one, then."
Father Lorenzo stared at his violin, wondering how he came to hit that note.
The cardinal felt a strange chill. He shuddered. "Suddenly, I feel the approach of a murderous intent," he said to himself.
"How are things going on here, Chela Kriya?" asked the new arrival as he closed the door behind the departing bellboy.
"Very bad, Chela Mahananda," the male sannyasin replied. "No new members. Our free seminars turn up zero attendance. There are fewer and fewer members attending our convocations. Many are going over to the Buddhists and Daoists."
"It's very bad indeed," concluded Mahananda, setting his bag on the bed to open it. "So, you have the weapon?"
He didn't bring any weapons, obviously, because he would be seized by airport officials if he did. Instead, it was arranged that the ashram of Cagayan would provide the weapon.
One of the non-sannyasin members, an elderly individual, approached and dropped a handbag onto the bed. Mahananda opened it. Inside was a .45 cal. pistol and silencer. "We hope that you will be able to save us from the evil monster Eric Ong, Chela Mahananda," he said.
Mahananda pulled the gun out and inspected it as the non-sannyasin member continued, "We have constantly prayed, meditated and radiated over this gun. The Cosmic will strike down Eric Ong with this weapon and you will be the agent of its vengeance."
Mahananda inspected the two clips that came with the gun. "This is the only way we can show compassion to our enemy," he murmured.
Not far away, at the cathedral, Cardinal Zhang was in his office. The work for the day had been done and there was now plenty of free time. The cardinal thought, then, that some calligraphy, which was one of his passions, was in order. Accordingly, he took a large sheet of paper and set it on his desk together with his personal jade seal. He used this seal when doing watercolor paintings and calligraphy and, occasionally, when he wrote documents in Chinese.
He ground an ink stick on his inkstone and poured water to prepare the ink. Outside, in the garden behind the archbishop's office, Father Lorenzo Guevarra was heard with his violin playing Soirees a Saint Petersburg. He was usually there in the afternoons if he didn't have anything to do.
From the kitchen came Sister Catherine Hayashi with a tray bearing the cardinal's afternoon tea.
The cardinal thought for a moment, closed his eyes and cleared his mind. Opening his eyes, he took his brush and dipped it into the ink and began to write. He was working on the word "Tian" (Heaven) when he suddenly made a mistake.
At the same time, Father Lorenzo hit a wrong note. At the same time, Sister Cathy tripped, spilling the tea.
"Oh my," she remarked, getting on her knees to clean the mess. "It's a good thing Cardinal Zhang's never seen this tea set before. I'll just get him the usual one, then."
Father Lorenzo stared at his violin, wondering how he came to hit that note.
The cardinal felt a strange chill. He shuddered. "Suddenly, I feel the approach of a murderous intent," he said to himself.
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