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  2. The Lost Symbol
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The young man exited the building and walked back across the great lawn to his modest dwelling on the grounds. By the time he entered his flat, he could feel his curiosity gnawing at him. The old man clearly had been upset by the question posed by Mr. Bellamy . . . and yet the question had seemed strange, almost meaningless.

 

Is there no help for the widow's son?

 

In his wildest imagination, he could not guess what this could mean. Puzzled, he went to his computer and typed in a search for this precise phrase.

 

To his great surprise, page after page of references appeared, all citing this exact question. He read the information in wonderment. It seemed Warren Bellamy was not the first person in history to ask this strange question. These same words had been uttered centuries ago . . . by King Solomon as he mourned a murdered friend. The question was allegedly still spoken today by Masons, who used it as a kind of encoded cry for help. Warren Bellamy, it seemed, was sending a distress call to a fellow Mason.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 68

 

Albrecht D�rer?

 

Katherine was trying to put the pieces together as she hurried with Langdon through the basement of the Adams Building. A.D. stands for Albrecht D�rer? The famous sixteenth-century German engraver and painter was one of her brother's favorite artists, and Katherine was vaguely familiar with his work. Even so, she could not imagine how D�rer would be any help to them in this case. For one thing, he's been dead more than four hundred years.

 

"D�rer is symbolically perfect," Langdon was saying as they followed the trail of illuminated EXIT signs. "He was the ultimate Renaissance mind--artist, philosopher, alchemist, and a lifelong student of the Ancient Mysteries. To this day, nobody fully understands the messages hidden in D�rer's art."

 

"That may be true," she said. "But how does `1514 Albrecht D�rer' explain how to decipher the pyramid?" They reached a locked door, and Langdon used Bellamy's key card to get through.

 

"The number 1514," Langdon said as they hurried up the stairs, "is pointing us to a very specific piece of D�rer's work." They came into a huge corridor. Langdon glanced around and then pointed left. "This way." They moved quickly again. "Albrecht D�rer actually hid the number 1514 in his most mysterious piece of art--Melencolia I--which he completed in the year 1514. It's considered the seminal work of the Northern European Renaissance."

 

Peter had once shown Katherine Melencolia I in an old book on ancient mysticism, but she didn't recall any hidden number 1514.

 

"As you may know," Langdon said, sounding excited, "Melencolia I depicts mankind's struggle to comprehend the Ancient Mysteries. The symbolism in Melencolia I is so complex it makes Leonardo da Vinci look overt."

 

Katherine stopped abruptly and looked at Langdon. "Robert, Melencolia I is here in Washington. It hangs in the National Gallery."

 

"Yes," he said with a smile, "and something tells me that's not a coincidence. The gallery is closed at this hour, but I know the curator and--"

 

"Forget it, Robert, I know what happens when you go to museums." Katherine headed off into a nearby alcove, where she saw a desk with a computer.

 

Langdon followed, looking unhappy.

 

"Let's do this the easier way." It seemed Professor Langdon, the art connoisseur, was having an ethical dilemma about using the Internet when an original was so nearby. Katherine stepped behind the desk and powered up the computer. When the machine finally came to life, she realized she had another problem. "There's no icon for a browser."

 

"It's an internal library network." Langdon pointed to an icon on the desktop. "Try that."

 

Katherine clicked on the icon marked DIGITAL COLLECTIONS. The computer accessed a new screen, and Langdon pointed again. Katherine clicked on his choice of icon: FINE PRINTS COLLECTION. The screen refreshed. FINE PRINTS: SEARCH.

 

"Type in `Albrecht D�rer.' "

 

Katherine entered the name and then clicked the search key. Within seconds, the screen began displaying a series of thumbnail images. All of the images looked to be similar in style--intricate black-and-white engravings. D�rer had apparently done dozens of similar engravings.

 

Katherine scanned the alphabetical list of his artwork.

 

Adam and Eve

 

Betrayal of Christ Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

 

Great Passion

 

Last Supper

 

Seeing all the biblical titles, Katherine recalled that D�rer practiced something called Mystic Christianity--a fusion of early Christianity, alchemy, astrology, and science.

 

Science . . .

 

The image of her lab in flames rushed through her mind. She could barely process the long-term ramifications, but for the moment, her thoughts turned to her assistant, Trish. I hope she made it out.

 

Langdon was saying something about D�rer's version of the Last Supper, but Katherine was barely listening. She had just seen the link for Melencolia I.

 

She clicked the mouse, and the page refreshed with general information.

 

Melencolia I, 1514

 

Albrecht D�rer

 

(engraving on laid paper)

 

Rosenwald Collection

 

National Gallery of Art

 

Washington, D.C.

 

 

When she scrolled down, a high-res digital image of D�rer's masterpiece appeared in all its glory.

 

Katherine stared in bewilderment, having forgotten just how strange it was.

 

Langdon gave an understanding chuckle. "As I said, it's cryptic."

 

Melencolia I consisted of a brooding figure with giant wings, seated in front of a stone building, surrounded by the most disparate and bizarre collection of objects imaginable--measuring scales, an emaciated dog, carpenter's tools, an hourglass, various geometric solids, a hanging bell, a putto, a blade, a ladder.

 

Katherine vaguely recalled her brother telling her that the winged figure was a representation of "human genius"--a great thinker with chin in hand, looking depressed, still unable to achieve enlightenment. The genius is surrounded with all of the symbols of his human intellect--objects of science, math, philosophy, nature, geometry, even carpentry--and yet is still unable to climb the ladder to true enlightenment. Even the human genius has difficulty comprehending the Ancient Mysteries.

 

"Symbolically," Langdon said, "this represents mankind's failed attempt to transform human intellect into godlike power. In alchemical terms, it represents our inability to turn lead into gold."

 

"Not a particularly encouraging message," Katherine agreed. "So how does it help us?" She did not see the hidden number 1514 that Langdon was talking about.

 

"Order from chaos," Langdon said, flashing a lopsided grin. "Just as your brother promised." He reached in his pocket and pulled out the grid of letters he had written earlier from the Masonic cipher. "Right now, this grid is meaningless." He spread the paper out on the desk.

 

 

Katherine eyed the grid. Definitely meaningless.

 

"But D�rer will transform it."

 

"And how might he do that?"

 

"Linguistic alchemy." Langdon motioned to the computer screen. "Look carefully. Hidden in this masterpiece is something that will make sense of our sixteen letters." He waited. "Do you see it yet? Look for the number 1514."

 

Katherine was in no mood to play classroom. "Robert, I see nothing--an orb, a ladder, a knife, a polyhedron, a scale? I give up." "Look! There in the background. Carved into that building behind the angel? Beneath the bell? D�rer engraved a square that is full of numbers."

 

Katherine now saw the square that contained numbers, among them 1514.

 

"Katherine, that square is the key to deciphering the pyramid!"

 

She shot him a surprised look. "That's not just any square," Langdon said, grinning.

 

"That, Ms. Solomon, is a magic square."

 

 

 

CHAPTER 69

 

Where the hell are they taking me?

 

Bellamy was still blindfolded in the back of an SUV. After a short stop somewhere close to the Library of Congress, the vehicle had continued on . . . but only for a minute. Now the SUV had stopped again, having again traveled only about a block.

 

Bellamy heard muffled voices talking.

 

"Sorry . . . impossible . . ." an authoritative voice was saying. " . . . closed at this hour . . ."

 

The man driving the SUV replied with equal authority. "CIA investigation . . . national security . . ." Apparently the exchange of words and IDs was persuasive, because the tone shifted immediately.

 

"Yes, of course . . . service entrance . . ." There was the loud grinding of what sounded like a garage door, and as it opened, the voice added, "Shall I accompany you? Once you're inside, you won't be able to get through--"

 

"No. We have access already."

 

If the guard was surprised, it was too late. The SUV was moving again. It advanced about fifty yards and then came to a stop. The heavy door rumbled closed again behind them.

 

Silence.

 

Bellamy realized he was trembling. With a bang, the SUV's rear hatch flew open. Bellamy felt a sharp pain in his shoulders as someone dragged him out by his arms, then lifted him to his feet. Without a word, a powerful force led him across a wide expanse of pavement. There was a strange, earthy smell here that he could not place. There were footsteps of someone else walking with them, but whoever it was had yet to speak.

 

They stopped at a door, and Bellamy heard an electronic ping. The door clicked open. Bellamy was manhandled through several corridors and could not help but notice that the air was warmer and more humid. An indoor pool, maybe? No. The smell in the air was not chlorine . . . it was far more earthy and primal.

 

Where the hell are we?! Bellamy knew he could not be more than a block or two from the Capitol Building. Again they stopped, and again he heard the electronic beep of a security door. This one slid open with a hiss. As they pushed him through, the smell that hit him was unmistakable.

 

Bellamy now realized where they were. My God! He came here often, although never through the service entrance. This magnificent glass building was only three hundred yards from the Capitol Building and was technically part of the Capitol Complex. I run this place! Bellamy now realized it was his own key fob that was giving them access.

 

Powerful arms pushed him through the doorway, leading him down a familiar, winding walkway. The heavy, damp warmth of this place usually felt comforting to him. Tonight, he was sweating.

 

What are we doing here?!

 

Bellamy was halted suddenly and seated on a bench. The man with the muscles unhooked his handcuffs only long enough to reaffix them to the bench behind his back.

 

"What do you want from me?" Bellamy demanded, heart pounding wildly.

 

The only response he received was the sound of boots walking off and the glass door sliding shut.

 

Then silence.

 

Dead silence.

 

They're just going to leave me here? Bellamy was sweating more heavily now as he struggled to release his hands. I can't even take off my blindfold?

 

"Help!" he shouted. "Anybody!"

 

Even as he called out in panic, Bellamy knew nobody was going to hear him. This massive glass room--known as the Jungle--was entirely airtight when the doors were closed. They left me in the Jungle, he thought. Nobody will find me until morning.

 

Then he heard it.

 

The sound was barely audible, but it terrified Bellamy like no sound he had ever heard in his life. Something breathing. Very close.

 

He was not alone on the bench.

 

The sudden hiss of a sulfur match sizzled so close to his face that he could feel the heat. Bellamy recoiled, instinctively yanking hard at his chains.

 

Then, without warning, a hand was on his face, removing his blindfold.

 

The flame before him reflected in the black eyes of Inoue Sato as she pressed the match against the cigarette dangling from her lips, only inches away from Bellamy's face.

 

She glared at him in the moonlight that filtered down through the glass ceiling. She looked pleased to see his fear.

 

"So, Mr. Bellamy," Sato said, shaking out the match. "Where shall we begin?"

 

 

 

CHAPTER 70

 

A magic square. Katherine nodded as she eyed the numbered square in D�rer's engraving. Most people would have thought Langdon had lost his mind, but Katherine had quickly realized he was right.

 

The term magic square referred not to something mystical but to something mathematical--it was the name given to a grid of consecutive numbers arranged in such a way that all the rows, columns, and diagonals added up to the same thing. Created some four thousand years ago by mathematicians in Egypt and India, magic squares were still believed by some to hold magical powers. Katherine had read that even nowadays devout Indians drew special three-by-three magic squares called the Kubera Kolam on their pooja altars. Primarily, though, modern man had relegated magic squares to the category of "recreational mathematics," some people still deriving pleasure from the quest to discover new "magical" configurations. Sudoku for geniuses.

 

Katherine quickly analyzed D�rer's square, adding up the numbers in several rows and columns. "Thirty-four," she said. "Every direction adds up to thirty-four."

 

"Exactly," Langdon said. "But did you know that this magic square is famous because D�rer accomplished the seemingly impossible?" He quickly showed Katherine that in addition to making the rows, columns, and diagonals add up to thirty-four, D�rer had also found a way to make the four quadrants, the four center squares, and even the four corner squares add up to that number. "Most amazing, though, was D�rer's ability to position the numbers 15 and 14 together in the bottom row as an indication of the year in which he accomplished this incredible feat!"

 

Katherine scanned the numbers, amazed by all the combinations.

 

Langdon's tone grew more excited now. "Extraordinarily, Melencolia I represents the very first time in history that a magic square appeared in European art. Some historians believe this was D�rer's encoded way of indicating that the Ancient Mysteries had traveled outside the Egyptian Mystery Schools and were now held by the European secret societies." Langdon paused. "Which brings us back to . . . this."

 

He motioned to the slip of paper bearing the grid of letters from the stone pyramid. "I assume the layout looks familiar now?" Langdon asked.

 

"Four-by-four square."

 

Langdon picked up the pencil and carefully transcribed D�rer's numbered magic square onto the slip of paper, directly beside the lettered square. Katherine was now seeing just how easy this was going to be. He stood poised, pencil in hand, and yet . . . strangely, after all this enthusiasm, he seemed to hesitate.

 

"Robert?"

 

He turned to her, his expression one of trepidation. "Are you sure we want to do this? Peter expressly--"

 

"Robert, if you don't want to decipher this engraving, then I will." She held out her hand for the pencil.

 

Langdon could tell there would be no deterring her and so he acquiesced, turning his attention back to the pyramid. Carefully, he superimposed the magic square over the pyramid's grid of letters and assigned each letter a number. Then he created a new grid, placing the Masonic cipher's letters in the new order as defined by the sequence in D�rer's magic square.

 

When Langdon was finished, they both examined the result. Katherine immediately felt confused. "It's still gibberish."

 

Langdon remained silent a long moment. "Actually, Katherine, it's not gibberish." His eyes brightened again with the thrill of discovery. "It's . . . Latin."

 

In a long, dark corridor, an old blind man shuffled as quickly as he could toward his office. When he finally arrived, he collapsed in his desk chair, his old bones grateful for the reprieve. His answering machine was beeping. He pressed the button and listened.

 

"It's Warren Bellamy," said the hushed whisper of his friend and Masonic brother. "I'm afraid I have alarming news . . ."

 

Katherine Solomon's eyes shot back to the grid of letters, reexamining the text. Sure enough, a Latin word now materialized before her eyes. Jeova. Katherine had not studied Latin, but this word was familiar from her reading of ancient Hebrew texts. Jeova. Jehovah. As her eyes continued to trace downward, reading the grid like a book, she was surprised to realize she could read the entire text of the pyramid.

 

Jeova Sanctus Unus.

 

She knew its meaning at once. This phrase was ubiquitous in modern translations of Hebrew scripture. In the Torah, the God of the Hebrews was known by many names--Jeova, Jehovah, Jeshua, Yahweh, the Source, the Elohim--but many Roman translations had consolidated the confusing nomenclature into a single Latin phrase: Jeova Sanctus Unus.

 

"One true God?" she whispered to herself. The phrase certainly did not seem like something that would help them find her brother. "That's this pyramid's secret message? One true God? I thought this was a map."

 

Langdon looked equally perplexed, the excitement in his eyes evaporating. "This decryption obviously is correct, but . . ."

 

"The man who has my brother wants to know a location." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "This is not going to make him very happy."

 

"Katherine," Langdon said, heaving a sigh. "I've been afraid of this. All night, I've had a feeling we're treating as reality a collection of myths and allegories. Maybe this inscription is pointing to a metaphorical location--telling us that the true potential of man can be accessed only through the one true God."

 

"But that makes no sense!" Katherine replied, her jaw now clenched in frustration. "My family protected this pyramid for generations! One true God? That's the secret? And the CIA considers this an issue of national security? Either they're lying or we're missing something!"

 

Langdon shrugged in accord.

 

Just then, his phone began to ring.

 

In a cluttered office lined with old books, the old man hunched over his desk, clutching a phone receiver in his arthritic hand.

 

The line rang and rang.

 

At last, a tentative voice answered. "Hello?" The voice was deep but uncertain.

 

The old man whispered, "I was told you require sanctuary."

 

The man on the line seemed startled. "Who is this? Did Warren Bell--" "No names, please," the old man said. "Tell me, have you successfully protected the map that was entrusted to you?"

 

A startled pause. "Yes . . . but I don't think it matters. It doesn't say much. If it is a map, it seems to be more metaphorical than--"

 

"No, the map is quite real, I assure you. And it points to a very real location. You must keep it safe. I cannot impress upon you enough how important this is. You are being pursued, but if you can travel unseen to my location, I will provide sanctuary . . . and answers."

 

The man hesitated, apparently uncertain.

 

"My friend," the old man began, choosing his words carefully. "There is a refuge in Rome, north of the Tiber, which contains ten stones from Mount Sinai, one from heaven itself, and one with the visage of Luke's dark father. Do you know my location?"

 

There was a long pause on the line, and then the man replied, "Yes, I do."

 

The old man smiled. I thought you might, Professor. "Come at once. Make sure you're not followed."

 

 

 

CHAPTER 71

 

Mal'akh stood naked in the billowing warmth of his steam shower. He felt pure again, having washed off the last remaining scent of ethanol. As the eucalyptus-infused vapors permeated his skin, he could feel his pores opening to the heat. Then he began his ritual.

 

First, he rubbed depilatory chemicals across his tattooed body and scalp, removing any traces of body hair. Hairless were the gods of the seven islands of Heliades. Then he massaged Abramelin oil into his softened and receptive flesh. Abramelin is the sacred oil of the great Magi. Then he turned his shower lever hard to the left, and the water turned ice cold. He stood beneath the frigid water for a full minute to close his pores and trap the heat and energy within his core. The cold served as a reminder of the icy river in which this transformation had begun.

 

When he stepped from the shower, he was shivering, but within seconds, his core heat emanated up through his layers of flesh and warmed him. Mal'akh's insides felt like a furnace. He stood naked before the mirror and admired his form . . . perhaps the last time he would see himself as a mere mortal. His feet were the talons of a hawk. His legs--Boaz and Jachin--were the ancient pillars of wisdom. His hips and abdomen were the archways of mystical power. Hanging beneath the archway, his massive sex organ bore the tattooed symbols of his destiny. In another life, this heavy shaft of flesh had been his source of carnal pleasure. But no longer.

 

I have been purified.

 

Like the mystical eunuch monks of Katharoi, Mal'akh had removed his testicles. He had sacrificed his physical potency for a more worthy one. Gods have no gender. Having shed the human imperfection of gender along with the earthly pull of sexual temptation, Mal'akh had become like Ouranos, Attis, Sporus, and the great castrati magicians of Arthurian legend. Every spiritual metamorphosis is preceded by a physical one. Such was the lesson of all the great gods . . . from Osiris, to Tammuz, to Jesus, to Shiva, to the Buddha himself.

 

I must shed the man who clothes me.

 

Abruptly, Mal'akh drew his gaze upward, past the double-headed phoenix on his chest, past the collage of ancient sigils adorning his face, and directly to the top of his head. He tipped his head toward the mirror, barely able to see the circle of bare flesh that waited there. This location on the body was sacred. Known as the fontanel, it was the one area of the human skull that remained open at birth. An oculus to the brain. Although this physiological portal closes within a matter of months, it remains a symbolic vestige of the lost connection between the outer and inner worlds.

 

Mal'akh studied the sacred patch of virginal skin, which was enclosed by the crownlike circle of an ouroboros--a mystical snake devouring its own tail. The bare flesh seemed to stare back at him . . . bright with promise.

 

Robert Langdon soon would uncover the great treasure that Mal'akh required. Once Mal'akh possessed it, the void on top of his head would be filled, and he would at last be prepared for his final transformation.

 

Mal'akh padded across his bedroom and took from his bottom drawer a long strip of white silk. As he had done many times before, he wrapped it around his groin and buttocks. Then he went downstairs.

 

In his office, his computer had received an e-mail message.

 

It was from his contact:

 

WHAT YOU REQUIRE IS NOW WITHIN REACH.

 

I WILL CONTACT YOU WITHIN THE HOUR. PATIENCE.

 

Mal'akh smiled. It was time to make final preparations. CHAPTER 72

 

The CIA field agent was in a foul mood as he descended from the reading-room balcony. Bellamy lied to us. The agent had seen no heat signatures whatsoever upstairs near the Moses statue, nor anywhere else upstairs for that matter.

 

So where the hell did Langdon go?

 

The agent retraced his steps now to the only place they'd spotted any heat signatures at all--the library's distribution hub. He descended the stairs again, moving beneath the octagonal console. The noise of the rumbling conveyors was grating. Advancing into the space, he flipped down his thermal goggles and scanned the room. Nothing. He looked toward the stacks, where the mangled door still showed hot from the explosion. Other than that, he saw no--

 

Holy shit!

 

The agent jumped back as an unexpected luminescence drifted into his field of vision. Like a pair of ghosts, the dimly glowing imprints of two humanoids had just emerged from the wall on a conveyor belt. Heat signatures.

 

Stunned, the agent watched as the two apparitions circled the room on the conveyor loop and then disappeared headfirst into a narrow hole in the wall. They rode the conveyor out? That's insanity.

 

In addition to realizing they had just lost Robert Langdon through a hole in the wall, the field agent was now aware that he had another problem. Langdon's not alone?

 

He was just about to switch on his transceiver and call the team leader, but the team leader beat him to it.

 

"All points, we've got an abandoned Volvo on the plaza in front of the library. Registered to one Katherine Solomon. Eyewitness says she entered the library not long ago. We suspect she's with Robert Langdon. Director Sato has ordered that we find them both immediately."

 

"I've got heat signatures for both of them!" shouted the field agent in the distribution room. He explained the situation.

 

"For Christ's sake!" the team leader replied. "Where the hell does the conveyor go?"

 

The field agent was already consulting the employee reference schematic on the bulletin board. "Adams Building," he replied. "One block from here." "All points. Redirect to the Adams Building! NOW!"

 

 

 

CHAPTER 73

 

Sanctuary. Answers.

 

The words echoed in Langdon's mind as he and Katherine burst through a side door of the Adams Building and out into the cold winter night. The mysterious caller had conveyed his location cryptically, but Langdon had understood. Katherine's reaction to their destination had been surprisingly sanguine: Where better to find One True God?

 

Now the question was how to get there.

 

Langdon spun in place, trying to get his bearings. It was dark, but thankfully the weather had cleared. They were standing in a small courtyard. In the distance, the Capitol Dome looked startlingly far away, and Langdon realized this was the first moment he had stepped outside since arriving at the Capitol several hours ago.

 

So much for my lecture.

 

"Robert, look." Katherine pointed toward the silhouette of the Jefferson Building.

 

Langdon's first reaction on seeing the building was astonishment that they had traveled so far underground on a conveyor belt. His second reaction, however, was alarm. The Jefferson Building was now abuzz with activity--trucks and cars pulling in, men shouting. Is that a searchlight?

 

Langdon grabbed Katherine's hand. "Come on."

 

They ran northeast across the courtyard, quickly disappearing from view behind an elegant U- shaped building, which Langdon realized was the Folger Shakespeare Library. This particular building seemed appropriate camouflage for them tonight, as it housed the original Latin manuscript of Francis Bacon's New Atlantis, the utopian vision on which the American forefathers had allegedly modeled a new world based on ancient knowledge. Even so, Langdon would not be stopping.

 

We need a cab.

 

They arrived at the corner of Third Street and East Capitol. The traffic was sparse, and Langdon felt fading hope as he scanned for taxis. He and Katherine hurried northward on Third Street, putting distance between themselves and the Library of Congress. It was not until they had gone an entire block that Langdon finally spotted a cab rounding the corner. He flagged it down, and the cab pulled over.

 

Middle Eastern music played on his radio, and the young Arab driver gave them a friendly smile. "Where to?" the driver asked as they jumped into the car.

 

"We need to go to--"

 

"Northwest!" Katherine interjected, pointing up Third Street away from the Jefferson Building. "Drive toward Union Station, then left on Massachusetts Avenue. We'll tell you when to stop."

 

The driver shrugged, closed the Plexiglas divider, and turned his music back on.

 

Katherine shot Langdon an admonishing look as if to say: "Leave no trail." She pointed out the window, directing Langdon's attention to a black helicopter that was skimming in low, approaching the area. Shit. Sato was apparently dead serious about recovering Solomon's pyramid.

 

As they watched the helicopter land between the Jefferson and Adams buildings, Katherine turned to him, looking increasingly worried. "Can I see your cell phone for a second?"

 

Langdon handed her his phone.

 

"Peter told me you have an eidetic memory?" she said, rolling down her window. "And that you remember every phone number you've ever dialed?"

 

"That's true, but--"

 

Katherine hurled his phone out into the night. Langdon spun in his seat and watched as his cell phone cartwheeled and splintered into pieces on the pavement behind them. "Why did you do that!"

 

"Off the grid," Katherine said, her eyes grave. "This pyramid is our only hope of finding my brother, and I have no intention of letting the CIA steal it from us."

 

In the front seat, Omar Amirana bobbed his head and hummed along with his music. Tonight had been slow, and he felt blessed to finally have a fare. His cab was just passing Stanton Park, when the familiar voice of his company dispatcher crackled over the radio.

 

"This is Dispatch. All vehicles in the area of the National Mall. We have just received a bulletin from government authorities regarding two fugitives in the area of the Adams Building . . ."

 

Omar listened in amazement as Dispatch described the precise couple in his cab. He stole an uneasy glance in his rearview mirror. Omar had to admit, the tall guy did look familiar somehow. Did I see him on America's Most Wanted?

 

Gingerly, Omar reached for his radio handset. "Dispatch?" he said, speaking quietly into the transceiver. "This is cab one-three-four. The two people you asked about--they are in my cab . . . right now."

 

Dispatch immediately advised Omar what to do. Omar's hands were trembling as he called the phone number Dispatch had given him. The voice that answered was tight and efficient, like that of a soldier.

 

"This is Agent Turner Simkins, CIA field ops. Who is this?"

 

"Um . . . I'm the taxi driver?" Omar said. "I was told to call about the two--"

 

"Are the fugitives currently in your vehicle? Answer only yes or no."

 

"Yes."

 

"Can they hear this conversation? Yes or no?"

 

"No. The slider is--"

 

"Where are you taking them?"

 

"Northwest on Massachusetts."

 

"Specific destination?"

 

"They didn't say."

 

The agent hesitated. "Is the male passenger carrying a leather bag?"

 

Omar glanced in the rearview mirror, and his eyes went wide. "Yes! That bag doesn't have explosives or anything in--"

 

"Listen carefully," the agent said. "You are in no danger so long as you follow my directions exactly. Is that clear?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"What is your name?"

 

"Omar," he said, breaking a sweat.

 

"Listen, Omar," the man said calmly. "You're doing great. I want you to drive as slowly as possible while I get my team out in front of you. Do you understand?" "Yes, sir."

 

"Also, is your cab equipped with an intercom system so you can communicate with them in the backseat?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Good. Here's what I want you to do."

 

 

 

CHAPTER 74

 

The Jungle, as it is known, is the centerpiece of the U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG)--America's living museum--located adjacent to the U.S. Capitol Building. Technically a rain forest, the Jungle is housed in a towering greenhouse, complete with soaring rubber trees, strangler figs, and a canopy catwalk for more daring tourists.

 

Normally, Warren Bellamy felt nurtured by the Jungle's earthy smells and the sunlight glinting through the mist that filtered down from the vapor nozzles in the glass ceiling. Tonight, however, lit only by moonlight, the Jungle terrified him. He was sweating profusely, writhing against the cramps that now stabbed at his arms, still pinned painfully behind him.

 

Director Sato paced before him, puffing calmly on her cigarette--the equivalent of ecoterrorism in this carefully calibrated environment. Her face looked almost demonic in the smoke-filled moonlight that streamed down through the glass ceiling overhead.

 

"So then," Sato continued, "when you arrived at the Capitol tonight, and you discovered that I was already there . . . you made a decision. Rather than making your presence known to me, you descended quietly into the SBB, where, at great risk to yourself, you attacked Chief Anderson and myself, and you helped Langdon escape with the pyramid and capstone." She rubbed her shoulder. "An interesting choice."

 

A choice I would make again, Bellamy thought. "Where is Peter?" he demanded angrily.

 

"How would I know?" Sato said.

 

"You seem to know everything else!" Bellamy fired back at her, making no attempt to hide his suspicion that she was somehow behind all this. "You knew to go to the Capitol Building. You knew to find Robert Langdon. And you even knew to X-ray Langdon's bag to find the capstone. Obviously, someone is giving you a lot of inside information." Sato laughed coldly and stepped closer to him. "Mr. Bellamy, is that why you attacked me? Do you think I'm the enemy? Do you think I'm trying to steal your little pyramid?" Sato took a drag on her cigarette and blew the smoke out of her nostrils. "Listen carefully. No one understands better than I do the importance of keeping secrets. I believe, as you do, that there is certain information to which the masses should not be privy. Tonight, however, there are forces at work that I fear you have not yet grasped. The man who kidnapped Peter Solomon holds enormous power . . . a power that you apparently have yet to realize. Believe me, he is a walking time bomb . . . capable of initiating a series of events that will profoundly change the world as you know it."

 

"I don't understand." Bellamy shifted on the bench, his arms aching in his handcuffs.

 

"You don't need to understand. You need to obey. Right now, my only hope of averting a major disaster is to cooperate with this man . . . and to give him exactly what he wants. Which means, you are going to call Mr. Langdon and tell him to turn himself in, along with the pyramid and capstone. Once Langdon is in my custody, he will decrypt the pyramid's inscription, obtain whatever information this man is demanding, and provide him with exactly what he wants."

 

The location of the spiral staircase that leads to the Ancient Mysteries? "I can't do that. I've taken vows of secrecy."

 

Sato erupted. "I don't give a damn what you've vowed, I will throw you in prison so fast--"

 

"Threaten me all you like," Bellamy said defiantly. "I will not help you."

 

Sato took a deep breath and spoke now in a fearsome whisper. "Mr. Bellamy, you have no idea what's really going on tonight, do you?"

 

The tense silence hung for several seconds, finally broken by the sound of Sato's phone. She plunged her hand into her pocket and eagerly snatched it out. "Talk to me," she answered, listening carefully to the reply. "Where is their taxi now? How long? Okay, good. Bring them to the U.S. Botanic Garden. Service entrance. And make sure you get me that god-damn pyramid and capstone."

 

Sato hung up and turned back to Bellamy with a smug smile. "Well then . . . it seems you're fast outliving your usefulness."

 

 

 

CHAPTER 75 Robert Langdon stared blankly into space, feeling too tired to urge the slow-moving taxi driver to pick up the pace. Beside him, Katherine had fallen silent, too, looking frustrated by their lack of understanding of what made the pyramid so special. They had again been through everything they knew about the pyramid, the capstone, and the evening's strange events; they still had no ideas as to how this pyramid could possibly be considered a map to anything at all.

 

Jeova Sanctus Unus? The secret hides within The Order?

 

Their mysterious contact had promised them answers if they could meet him at a specific place. A refuge in Rome, north of the Tiber. Langdon knew the forefathers' "new Rome" had been renamed Washington early in her history, and yet vestiges of their original dream remained: the Tiber's waters still flowed into the Potomac; senators still convened beneath a replica of St. Peter's dome; and Vulcan and Minerva still watched over the Rotunda's long-extinguished flame.

 

The answers sought by Langdon and Katherine were apparently waiting for them just a few miles ahead. Northwest on Massachusetts Avenue. Their destination was indeed a refuge . . . north of Washington's Tiber Creek. Langdon wished the driver would speed up.

 

Abruptly, Katherine jolted upright in her seat, as if she had made a sudden realization. "Oh my God, Robert!" She turned to him, her face going white. She hesitated a moment and then spoke emphatically. "We're going the wrong way!"

 

"No, this is right," Langdon countered. "It's northwest on Massachu--"

 

"No! I mean we're going to the wrong place!"

 

Langdon was mystified. He had already told Katherine how he knew what location was being described by the mysterious caller. It contains ten stones from Mount Sinai, one from heaven itself, and one with the visage of Luke's dark father. Only one building on earth could make those claims. And that was exactly where this taxi was headed.

 

"Katherine, I'm certain the location is correct."

 

"No!" she shouted. "We don't need to go there anymore. I figured out the pyramid and capstone! I know what this is all about!"

 

Langdon was amazed. "You understand it?"

 

"Yes! We have to go to Freedom Plaza instead!"

 

Now Langdon was lost. Freedom Plaza, although nearby, seemed totally irrelevant.

 

"Jeova Sanctus Unus!" Katherine said. "The One True God of the Hebrews. The sacred symbol of the Hebrews is the Jewish star--the Seal of Solomon--an important symbol to the Masons!" She fished a dollar bill out of her pocket. "Give me your pen." Bewildered, Langdon pulled a pen from his jacket.

 

"Look." She spread the bill out on her thigh and took his pen, pointing to the Great Seal on the back. "If you superimpose Solomon's seal on the Great Seal of the United States . . ." She drew the symbol of a Jewish star precisely over the pyramid. "Look what you get!"

 

Langdon looked down at the bill and then back at Katherine as if she were mad.

 

"Robert, look more closely! Don't you see what I'm pointing at?"

 

He glanced back at the drawing.

 

 

What in the world is she getting at? Langdon had seen this image before. It was popular among conspiracy theorists as "proof" that the Masons held secret influence over our early nation. When the six-pointed star was laid perfectly over the Great Seal of the United States, the star's top vertex fit perfectly over the Masonic all-seeing eye . . . and, quite eerily, the other five vertices clearly pointed to the letters M-A-S-O-N.

 

"Katherine, that's just a coincidence, and I still don't see how it has anything to do with Freedom Plaza."

 

"Look again!" she said, sounding almost angry now. "You're not looking where I am pointing! Right there. Don't you see it?"

 

An instant later, Langdon saw it.

 

CIA field-operations leader Turner Simkins stood outside the Adams Building and pressed his cell phone tightly to his ear, straining to hear the conversation now taking place in the back of the taxi. Something just happened. His team was about to board the modified Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter to head northwest and set up a roadblock, but now it seemed the situation had suddenly changed.

 

Seconds ago, Katherine Solomon had begun insisting they were going to the wrong destination. Her explanation--something about the dollar bill and Jewish stars--made no sense to the team leader, nor, apparently, to Robert Langdon. At least at first. Now, however, Langdon seemed to have grasped her meaning.

 

"My God, you're right!" Langdon blurted. "I didn't see it earlier!"

 

Suddenly Simkins could hear someone banging on the driver's divider, and then it slid open. "Change of plans," Katherine shouted to the driver. "Take us to Freedom Plaza!"

 

"Freedom Plaza?" the cabbie said, sounding nervous. "Not northwest on Massachusetts?"

 

"Forget that!" Katherine shouted. "Freedom Plaza! Go left here! Here! HERE!"

 

Agent Simkins heard the cab screeching around a corner. Katherine was talking excitedly again to Langdon, saying something about the famous bronze cast of the Great Seal embedded in the plaza.

 

"Ma'am, just to confirm," the cabbie's voice interjected, sounding tense. "We're going to Freedom Plaza--on the corner of Pennsylvania and Thirteenth?"

 

"Yes!" Katherine said. "Hurry!"

 

"It's very close. Two minutes."

 

Simkins smiled. Nicely done, Omar. As he dashed toward the idling helicopter, he shouted to his team. "We've got them! Freedom Plaza! Move!"

 

 

 

CHAPTER 76 Freedom Plaza is a map.

 

Located at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Thirteenth Street, the plaza's vast surface of inlaid stone depicts the streets of Washington as they were originally envisioned by Pierre L'Enfant. The plaza is a popular tourist destination not only because the giant map is fun to walk on, but also because Martin Luther King Jr., for whom Freedom Plaza is named, wrote much of his "I Have a Dream" speech in the nearby Willard Hotel.

 

D.C. cabdriver Omar Amirana brought tourists to Freedom Plaza all the time, but tonight, his two passengers were obviously no ordinary sightseers. The CIA is chasing them? Omar had barely come to a stop at the curb before the man and woman had jumped out.

 

"Stay right here!" the man in the tweed coat told Omar. "We'll be right back!"

 

Omar watched the two people dash out onto the wide-open spaces of the enormous map, pointing and shouting as they scanned the geometry of intersecting streets. Omar grabbed his cell phone off the dashboard. "Sir, are you still there?"

 

"Yes, Omar!" a voice shouted, barely audible over a thundering noise on his end of the line. "Where are they now?"

 

"Out on the map. It seems like they're looking for something."

 

"Do not let them out of your sight," the agent shouted. "I'm almost there!"

 

Omar watched as the two fugitives quickly found the plaza's famous Great Seal--one of the largest bronze medallions ever cast. They stood over it a moment and quickly began pointing to the southwest. Then the man in tweed came racing back toward the cab. Omar quickly set his phone down on the dashboard as the man arrived, breathless.

 

"Which direction is Alexandria, Virginia?" he demanded.

 

"Alexandria?" Omar pointed southwest, the exact same direction the man and woman had just pointed toward.

 

"I knew it!" the man whispered beneath his breath. He spun and shouted back to the woman. "You're right! Alexandria!"

 

The woman now pointed across the plaza to an illuminated "Metro" sign nearby. "The Blue Line goes directly there. We want King Street Station!"

 

Omar felt a surge of panic. Oh no.

 

The man turned back to Omar and handed him entirely too many bills for the fare. "Thanks. We're all set." He hoisted his leather bag and ran off.

 

"Wait! I can drive you! I go there all the time!"

 

But it was too late. The man and woman were already dashing across the plaza. They disappeared down the stairs into the Metro Center subway station.

 

Omar grabbed his cell phone. "Sir! They ran down into the subway! I couldn't stop them! They're taking the Blue Line to Alexandria!"

 

"Stay right there!" the agent shouted. "I'll be there in fifteen seconds!"

 

Omar looked down at the wad of bills the man had given him. The bill on top was apparently the one they had been writing on. It had a Jewish star on top of the Great Seal of the United States. Sure enough, the star's points fell on letters that spelled MASON.

 

Without warning, Omar felt a deafening vibration all around him, as if a tractor trailer were about to collide with his cab. He looked up, but the street was deserted. The noise increased, and suddenly a sleek black helicopter dropped down out of the night and landed hard in the middle of the plaza map.

 

A group of black-clad men jumped out. Most ran toward the subway station, but one came dashing toward Omar's cab. He yanked open the passenger door. "Omar? Is that you?"

 

Omar nodded, speechless.

 

"Did they say where they were headed?" the agent demanded.

 

"Alexandria! King Street Station," Omar blurted. "I offered to drive, but--"

 

"Did they say where in Alexandria they were going?"

 

"No! They looked at the medallion of the Great Seal on the plaza, then they asked about Alexandria, and they paid me with this." He handed the agent the dollar bill with the bizarre diagram. As the agent studied the bill, Omar suddenly put it all together. The Masons! Alexandria! One of the most famous Masonic buildings in America was in Alexandria. "That's it!" he blurted. "The George Washington Masonic Memorial! It's directly across from King Street Station!"

 

"That it is," the agent said, apparently having just come to the same realization as the rest of the agents came sprinting back from the station.

 

"We missed them!" one of the men yelled. "Blue Line just left! They're not down there!"

 

Agent Simkins checked his watch and turned back to Omar. "How long does the subway take to Alexandria?" "Ten minutes at least. Probably more."

 

"Omar, you've done an excellent job. Thank you."

 

"Sure. What's this all about?!"

 

But Agent Simkins was already running back to the chopper, shouting as he went. "King Street Station! We'll get there before they do!"

 

Bewildered, Omar watched the great black bird lift off. It banked hard to the south across Pennsylvania Avenue, and then thundered off into the night.

 

Underneath the cabbie's feet, a subway train was picking up speed as it headed away from Freedom Plaza. On board, Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon sat breathless, neither one saying a word as the train whisked them toward their destination.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 77

 

The memory always began the same way.

 

He was falling . . . plummeting backward toward an ice-covered river at the bottom of a deep ravine. Above him, the merciless gray eyes of Peter Solomon stared down over the barrel of Andros's handgun. As he fell, the world above him receded, everything disappearing as he was enveloped by the cloud of billowing mist from the waterfall upstream.

 

For an instant, everything was white, like heaven.

 

Then he hit the ice.

 

Cold. Black. Pain.

 

He was tumbling . . . being dragged by a powerful force that pounded him relentlessly across rocks in an impossibly cold void. His lungs ached for air, and yet his chest muscles had contracted so violently in the cold that he was unable even to inhale.

 

I'm under the ice.

 

The ice near the waterfall was apparently thin on account of the turbulent water, and Andros had broken directly through it. Now he was being washed downstream, trapped beneath a transparent ceiling. He clawed at the underside of the ice, trying to break out, but he had no leverage. The searing pain from the bullet hole in his shoulder was evaporating, as was the sting of the bird shot; both were blotted out now by the crippling throb of his body going numb.

 

The current was accelerating, slingshotting him around a bend in the river. His body screamed for oxygen. Suddenly he was tangled in branches, lodged against a tree that had fallen into the water. Think! He groped wildly at the branch, working his way toward the surface, finding the spot where the branch pierced up through the ice. His fingertips found the tiny space of open water surrounding the branch, and he pulled at the edges, trying to break the hole wider; once, twice, the opening was growing, now several inches across.

 

Propping himself against the branch, he tipped his head back and pressed his mouth against the small opening. The winter air that poured into his lungs felt warm. The sudden burst of oxygen fueled his hope. He planted his feet on the tree trunk and pressed his back and shoulders forcefully upward. The ice around the fallen tree, perforated by branches and debris, was weakened already, and as he drove his powerful legs into the trunk, his head and shoulders broke through the ice, crashing up into the winter night. Air poured into his lungs. Still mostly submerged, he wriggled desperately upward, pushing with his legs, pulling with his arms, until finally he was out of the water, lying breathless on the bare ice.

 

Andros tore off his soaked ski mask and pocketed it, glancing back upstream for Peter Solomon. The bend in the river obscured his view. His chest was burning again. Quietly, he dragged a small branch over the hole in the ice in order to hide it. The hole would be frozen again by morning.

 

As Andros staggered into the woods, it began to snow. He had no idea how far he had run when he stumbled out of the woods onto an embankment beside a small highway. He was delirious and hypothermic. The snow was falling harder now, and a single set of headlights approached in the distance. Andros waved wildly, and the lone pickup truck immediately pulled over. It had Vermont plates. An old man in a red plaid shirt jumped out.

 

Andros staggered toward him, holding his bleeding chest. "A hunter . . . shot me! I need a . . . hospital!"

 

Without hesitation, the old man helped Andros up into the passenger seat of the truck and turned up the heater. "Where's the nearest hospital?!"

 

Andros had no idea, but he pointed south. "Next exit." We're not going to a hospital.

 

The old man from Vermont was reported missing the next day, but nobody had any idea where on his journey from Vermont he might have disappeared in the blinding snowstorm. Nor did anyone link his disappearance to the other news story that dominated the headlines the next day--the shocking murder of Isabel Solomon.

 

When Andros awoke, he was lying in a desolate bedroom of a cheap motel that had been boarded up for the season. He recalled breaking in and binding his wounds with torn bedsheets, and then burrowing into a flimsy bed beneath a pile of musty blankets. He was famished.

 

He limped to the bathroom and saw the pile of bloody bird-shot pellets in the sink. He vaguely recalled prying them out of his chest. Raising his eyes to the dirty mirror, he reluctantly unwrapped his bloody bandages to survey the damage. The hard muscles of his chest and abdomen had stopped the bird shot from penetrating too deep, and yet his body, once perfect, was now ruined with wounds. The single bullet fired by Peter Solomon had apparently gone cleanly through his shoulder, leaving a bloody crater.

 

Making matters worse, Andros had failed to obtain that for which he had traveled all this distance. The pyramid. His stomach growled, and he limped outside to the man's truck, hoping maybe to find food. The pickup was now covered with heavy snow, and Andros wondered how long he had been sleeping in this old motel. Thank God I woke up. Andros found no food anywhere in the front seat, but he did find some arthritis painkillers in the glove compartment. He took a handful, washing them down with several mouthfuls of snow.

 

I need food.

 

A few hours later, the pickup that pulled out from behind the old motel looked nothing like the truck that had pulled in two days earlier. The cab cap was missing, as were the hubcaps, bumper stickers, and all of the trim. The Vermont plates were gone, replaced by those from an old maintenance truck Andros had found parked by the motel Dumpster, into which he had thrown all the bloody sheets, bird shot, and other evidence that he had ever been at the motel.

 

Andros had not given up on the pyramid, but for the moment it would have to wait. He needed to hide, heal, and above all, eat. He found a roadside diner where he gorged himself on eggs, bacon, hash browns, and three glasses of orange juice. When he was done, he ordered more food to go. Back on the road, Andros listened to the truck's old radio. He had not seen a television or newspaper since his ordeal, and when he finally heard a local news station, the report stunned him.

 

"FBI investigators," a news announcer said, "continue their search for the armed intruder who murdered Isabel Solomon in her Potomac home two days ago. The murderer is believed to have fallen through the ice and been washed out to sea."

 

Andros froze. Murdered Isabel Solomon? He drove on in bewildered silence, listening to the full report.

 

It was time to get far, far away from this place.

 

The Upper West Side apartment offered breathtaking views of Central Park. Andros had chosen it because the sea of green outside his window reminded him of his lost view of the Adriatic. Although he knew he should be happy to be alive, he was not. The emptiness had never left him, and he found himself fixated on his failed attempt to steal Peter Solomon's pyramid.

 

Andros had spent long hours researching the Legend of the Masonic Pyramid, and although nobody seemed to agree on whether or not the pyramid was real, they all concurred on its famous promise of vast wisdom and power. The Masonic Pyramid is real, Andros told himself. My inside information is irrefutable.

 

Fate had placed the pyramid within Andros's reach, and he knew that ignoring it was like holding a winning lottery ticket and never cashing it in. I am the only non-Mason alive who knows the pyramid is real . . . as well as the identity of the man who guards it.

 

Months had passed, and although his body had healed, Andros was no longer the cocky specimen he had been in Greece. He had stopped working out, and he had stopped admiring himself naked in the mirror. He felt as if his body were beginning to show signs of age. His once-perfect skin was a patchwork of scars, and this only depressed him further. He still relied on the painkillers that had nursed him through his recovery, and he felt himself slipping back to the lifestyle that had put him in Soganlik Prison. He didn't care. The body craves what the body craves.

 

One night, he was in Greenwich Village buying drugs from a man whose forearm had been tattooed with a long, jagged lightning bolt. Andros asked him about it, and the man told him the tattoo was covering a long scar he had gotten in a car accident. "Seeing the scar every day reminded me of the accident," the dealer said, "and so I tattooed over it with a symbol of personal power. I took back control."

 

That night, high on his new stash of drugs, Andros staggered into a local tattoo parlor and took off his shirt. "I want to hide these scars," he announced. I want to take back control.

 

"Hide them?" The tattoo artist eyed his chest. "With what?"

 

"Tattoos."

 

"Yes . . . I mean tattoos of what?"

 

Andros shrugged, wanting nothing more than to hide the ugly reminders of his past. "I don't know. You choose."

 

The artist shook his head and handed Andros a pamphlet on the ancient and sacred tradition of tattooing. "Come back when you're ready."

 

Andros discovered that the New York Public Library had in its collection fifty-three books on tattooing, and within a few weeks, he had read them all. Having rediscovered his passion for reading, he began carrying entire backpacks of books back and forth between the library and his apartment, where he voraciously devoured them while overlooking Central Park.

 

These books on tattoos had opened a door to a strange world Andros had never known existed--a world of symbols, mysticism, mythology, and the magical arts. The more he read, the more he realized how blind he had been. He began keeping notebooks of his ideas, his sketches, and his strange dreams. When he could no longer find what he wanted at the library, he paid rare-book dealers to purchase for him some of the most esoteric texts on earth.

 

De Praestigiis Daemonum . . . Lemegeton . . . Ars Almadel . . . Grimorium Verum . . . Ars Notoria . . . and on and on. He read them all, becoming more and more certain that the world still had many treasures yet to offer him. There are secrets out there that transcend human understanding.

 

Then he discovered the writings of Aleister Crowley--a visionary mystic from the early 1900s-- whom the church had deemed "the most evil man who ever lived." Great minds are always feared by lesser minds. Andros learned about the power of ritual and incantation. He learned that sacred words, if properly spoken, functioned like keys that opened gateways to other worlds. There is a shadow universe beyond this one . . . a world from which I can draw power. And although Andros longed to harness that power, he knew there were rules and tasks to be completed beforehand.

 

Become something holy, Crowley wrote. Make yourself sacred.

 

The ancient rite of "sacred making" had once been the law of the land. From the early Hebrews who made burnt offerings at the Temple, to the Mayans who beheaded humans atop the pyramids of Chich�n Itz�, to Jesus Christ, who offered his body on the cross, the ancients understood God's requirement for sacrifice. Sacrifice was the original ritual by which humans drew favor from the gods and made themselves holy.

 

Sacra--sacred.

 

Face-- make.

 

Even though the rite of sacrifice had been abandoned eons ago, its power remained. There had been a handful of modern mystics, including Aleister Crowley, who practiced the Art, perfecting it over time, and transforming themselves gradually into something more. Andros craved to transform himself as they had. And yet he knew he would have to cross a dangerous bridge to do so.

 

Blood is all that separates the light from the dark.

 

One night, a crow flew through Andros's open bathroom window and got trapped in his apartment. Andros watched the bird flutter around for a while and then finally stop, apparently accepting its inability to escape. Andros had learned enough to recognize a sign. I am being urged onward.

 

Clutching the bird in one hand, he stood at the makeshift altar in his kitchen and raised a sharp knife, speaking aloud the incantation he had memorized.

 

"Camiach, Eomiahe, Emial, Macbal, Emoii, Zazean . . . by the most holy names of the angels in the Book of Assamaian, I conjure thee that thou assist me in this operation by the power of the One True God." Andros now lowered the knife and carefully pierced the large vein on the right wing of the panicked bird. The crow began to bleed. As he watched the stream of red liquid flowing down into the metal cup he had placed as a receptacle, he felt an unexpected chill in the air. Nonetheless, he continued.

 

"Almighty Adonai, Arathron, Ashai, Elohim, Elohi, Elion, Asher Eheieh, Shaddai . . . be my aid, so that this blood may have power and efficacy in all wherein I shall wish, and in all that I shall demand."

 

That night, he dreamed of birds . . . of a giant phoenix rising from a billowing fire. The next morning, he awoke with an energy he had not felt since childhood. He went running in the park, faster and farther than he'd imagined possible. When he could run no longer, he stopped to do pushups and sit-ups. Countless repetitions. Still he had energy.

 

That night, again, he dreamed of the phoenix.

 

Autumn had fallen again on Central Park, and the wildlife were scurrying about searching for food for winter. Andros despised the cold, and yet his carefully hidden traps were now overflowing with live rats and squirrels. He took them home in his backpack, performing rituals of increasing complexity.

 

Emanual, Massiach, Yod, He, Vaud . . . please find me worthy.

 

The blood rituals fueled his vitality. Andros felt younger every day. He continued to read day and night--ancient mystical texts, epic medieval poems, the early philosophers--and the more he learned about the true nature of things, the more he realized that all hope for mankind was lost. They are blind . . . wandering aimlessly in a world they will never understand.

 

Andros was still a man, but he sensed he was evolving into something else. Something greater. Something sacred. His massive physique had emerged from dormancy, more powerful now than ever before. He finally understood its true purpose. My body is but a vessel for my most potent treasure . . . my mind.

 

Andros knew his true potential had not yet been realized, and he delved deeper. What is my destiny? All the ancient texts spoke of good and evil . . . and of man's need to choose between them. I made my choice long ago, he knew, and yet he felt no remorse. What is evil, if not a natural law? Darkness followed light. Chaos followed order. Entropy was fundamental. Everything decayed. The perfectly ordered crystal eventually turned into random particles of dust.

 

There are those who create . . . and those who destroy.

 

It was not until Andros read John Milton's Paradise Lost that he saw his destiny materialize before him. He read of the great fallen angel . . . the warrior demon who fought against the light . . . the valiant one . . . the angel called Moloch. Moloch walked the earth as a god. The angel's name, Andros later learned, when translated to the ancient tongue, became Mal'akh.

 

And so shall I.

 

Like all great transformations, this one had to begin with a sacrifice . . . but not of rats, nor birds. No, this transformation required a true sacrifice.

 

There is but one worthy sacrifice.

 

Suddenly he had a sense of clarity unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life. His entire destiny had materialized. For three straight days he sketched on an enormous sheet of paper. When he was done, he had created a blueprint of what he would become.

 

He hung the life-size sketch on his wall and gazed into it as if into a mirror.

 

I am a masterpiece.

 

The next day, he took his drawing to the tattoo parlor.

 

He was ready.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 78

 

The George Washington Masonic Memorial stands atop Shuter's Hill in Alexandria, Virginia. Built in three distinct tiers of increasing architectural complexity from bottom to top--Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian--the structure stands as a physical symbol of man's intellectual ascent. Inspired by the ancient Pharos lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt, this soaring tower is capped by an Egyptian pyramid with a flamelike finial.

 

Inside the spectacular marble foyer sits a massive bronze of George Washington in full Masonic regalia, along with the actual trowel he used to lay the cornerstone of the Capitol Building. Above the foyer, nine different levels bear names like the Grotto, the Crypt Room, and the Knights Templar Chapel. Among the treasures housed within these spaces are over twenty thousand volumes of Masonic writings, a dazzling replica of the Ark of the Covenant, and even a scale model of the throne room in King Solomon's Temple.

 

CIA agent Simkins checked his watch as the modified UH-60 chopper skimmed in low over the Potomac. Six minutes until their train arrives. He exhaled and gazed out the window at the shining Masonic Memorial on the horizon. He had to admit, the brilliantly shining tower was as impressive as any building on the National Mall. Simkins had never been inside the memorial, and tonight would be no different. If all went according to plan, Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon would never make it out of the subway station.

 

"Over there!" Simkins shouted to the pilot, pointing down at the King Street subway station across from the memorial. The pilot banked the helicopter and set it down on a grassy area at the foot of Shuter's Hill.

 

Pedestrians looked up in surprise as Simkins and his team piled out, dashed across the street, and ran down into King Street Station. In the stairwell, several departing passengers leaped out of the way, plastering themselves to the walls as the phalanx of armed men in black thundered past them.

 

The King Street Station was larger than Simkins had anticipated, apparently serving several different lines--Blue, Yellow, and Amtrak. He raced over to the Metro map on the wall, found Freedom Plaza and the direct line to this location.

 

"Blue Line, southbound platform!" Simkins shouted. "Get down there and clear everyone out!" His team dashed off.

 

Simkins rushed over to the ticket booth, flashed his identification, and shouted to the woman inside. "The next train from Metro Center--what time is it due?!"

 

The woman inside looked frightened. "I'm not sure. Blue Line arrives every eleven minutes. There's no set schedule."

 

"How long since the last train?"

 

"Five . . . six minutes, maybe? No more than that."

 

Turner did the math. Perfect. The next train had to be Langdon's.

 

Inside a fast-moving subway car, Katherine Solomon shifted uncomfortably on the hard plastic seat. The bright fluorescent lights overhead hurt her eyes, and she fought the impulse to let her eyelids close, even for a second. Langdon sat beside her in the empty car, staring blankly down at the leather bag at his feet. His eyelids looked heavy, too, as if the rhythmic sway of the moving car were lulling him into a trance.

 

Katherine pictured the strange contents of Langdon's bag. Why does the CIA want this pyramid? Bellamy had said that Sato might be pursuing the pyramid because she knew its true potential. But even if this pyramid somehow did reveal the hiding place of ancient secrets, Katherine found it hard to believe that its promise of primeval mystical wisdom would interest the CIA.

 

Then again, she reminded herself, the CIA had been caught several times running parapsychological or psi programs that bordered on ancient magic and mysticism. In 1995, the "Stargate/Scannate" scandal had exposed a classified CIA technology called remote viewing--a kind of telepathic mind travel that enabled a "viewer" to transport his mind's eye to any location on earth and spy there, without being physically present. Of course, the technology was nothing new. Mystics called it astral projection, and yogis called it out-of-body experience. Unfortunately, horrified American taxpayers called it absurd, and the program had been scuttled. At least publicly.

 

Ironically, Katherine saw remarkable connections between the CIA's failed programs and her own breakthroughs in Noetic Science.

 

Katherine felt eager to call the police and find out if they had discovered anything in Kalorama Heights, but she and Langdon were phoneless now, and making contact with the authorities would probably be a mistake anyway; there was no telling how far Sato's reach extended.

 

Patience, Katherine. Within minutes, they would be in a safe hiding place, guests of a man who had assured them he could provide answers. Katherine hoped his answers, whatever they might be, would help her save her brother.

 

"Robert?" she whispered, glancing up at the subway map. "Next stop is ours."

 

Langdon emerged slowly from his daydream. "Right, thanks." As the train rumbled toward the station, he collected his daybag and gave Katherine an uncertain glance. "Let's just hope our arrival is uneventful."

 

By the time Turner Simkins dashed down to join his men, the subway platform had been entirely cleared, and his team was fanning out, taking up positions behind the support pillars that ran the length of the platform. A distant rumble echoed in the tunnel at the other end of the platform, and as it grew louder, Simkins felt the push of stale warm air billowing around him.

 

No escape, Mr. Langdon.

 

Simkins turned to the two agents he had told to join him on the platform. "Identification and weapons out. These trains are automated, but they all have a conductor who opens the doors. Find him."

 

The train's headlamp now appeared down the tunnel, and the sound of squealing brakes pierced the air. As the train burst into the station and began slowing down, Simkins and his two agents leaned out over the track, waving CIA identification badges and straining to make eye contact with the conductor before he could open the doors.

 

The train was closing fast. In the third car, Simkins finally saw the startled face of the conductor, who was apparently trying to figure out why three men in black were all waving identification badges at him. Simkins jogged toward the train, which was now nearing a full stop.

 

"CIA!" Simkins shouted, holding up his ID. "Do NOT open the doors!" As the train glided slowly past him, he went toward the conductor's car, shouting in at him. "Do not open your doors! Do you understand?! Do NOT open your doors!"

 

The train came to a full stop, its wide-eyed conductor nodding repeatedly. "What's wrong?!" the man demanded through his side window.

 

"Don't let this train move," Simkins said. "And don't open the doors."

 

"Okay."

 

"Can you let us into the first car?"

 

The conductor nodded. Looking fearful, he stepped out of the train, closing the door behind him. He escorted Simkins and his men to the first car, where he manually opened the door.

 

"Lock it behind us," Simkins said, pulling his weapon. Simkins and his men stepped quickly into the stark light of the first car. The conductor locked the door behind them.

 

The first car contained only four passengers--three teenage boys and an old woman--all of whom looked understandably startled to see three armed men entering. Simkins held up his ID. "Everything's fine. Just stay seated."

 

Simkins and his men now began their sweep, pushing toward the back of the sealed train one car at a time--"squeezing toothpaste," as it was called during his training at the Farm. Very few passengers were on this train, and halfway to the back, the agents still had seen nobody even remotely resembling the description of Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon. Nonetheless, Simkins remained confident. There was absolutely no place to hide on a subway car. No bathrooms, no storage, and no alternative exits. Even if the targets had seen them board the train and fled to the back, there was no way out. Prying open a door was almost impossible, and Simkins had men watching the platform and both sides of the train anyway.

 

Patience.

 

By the time Simkins reached the second-to-last car, however, he was feeling edgy. This penultimate car had only one passenger--a Chinese man. Simkins and his agents moved through, scanning for any place to hide. There was none.

 

"Last car," Simkins said, raising his weapon as the threesome moved toward the threshold of the train's final section. As they stepped into the last car, all three of them immediately stopped and stared.

 

What the . . . ?! Simkins raced to the rear of the deserted cabin, searching behind all the seats. He spun back to his men, blood boiling. "Where the hell did they go?!" CHAPTER 79

 

Eight miles due north of Alexandria, Virginia, Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon strode calmly across a wide expanse of frost-covered lawn.

 

"You should be an actress," Langdon said, still impressed by Katherine's quick thinking and improvisational skills.

 

"You weren't half bad yourself." She gave him a smile.

 

At first, Langdon had been mystified by Katherine's abrupt antics in the taxi. Without warning, she had suddenly demanded they go to Freedom Plaza based on some revelation about a Jewish star and the Great Seal of the United States. She drew a well-known conspiracy-theory image on a dollar bill and then insisted Langdon look closely where she was pointing.

 

Finally, Langdon realized that Katherine was pointing not at the dollar bill but at a tiny indicator bulb on the back of the driver's seat. The bulb was so covered with grime that he had not even noticed it. As he leaned forward, however, he could see that the bulb was illuminated, emitting a dull red glow. He could also see the two faint words directly beneath the lit bulb.

 

--INTERCOM ON--

 

Startled, Langdon glanced back at Katherine, whose frantic eyes were urging him to look into the front seat. He obeyed, stealing a discreet glance through the divider. The cabby's cell phone was on the dash, wide open, illuminated, facing the intercom speaker. An instant later, Langdon understood Katherine's actions.

 

They know we're in this cab . . . they've been listening to us.

 

Langdon had no idea how much time he and Katherine had until their taxi was stopped and surrounded, but he knew they had to act fast. Instantly, he'd begun playing along, realizing that Katherine's desire to go to Freedom Plaza had nothing to do with the pyramid but rather with its being a large subway station--Metro Center--from which they could take the Red, Blue, or Orange lines in any of six different directions.

 

They jumped out of the taxi at Freedom Plaza, and Langdon took over, doing some improvising of his own, leaving a trail to the Masonic Memorial in Alexandria before he and Katherine ran down into the subway station, dashing past the Blue Line platforms and continuing on to the Red Line, where they caught a train in the opposite direction.

 

Traveling six stops northbound to Tenleytown, they emerged all alone into a quiet, upscale neighborhood. Their destination, the tallest structure for miles, was immediately visible on the horizon, just off Massachusetts Avenue on a vast expanse of manicured lawn. Now "off the grid," as Katherine called it, the two of them walked across the damp grass. On their right was a medieval-style garden, famous for its ancient rosebushes and Shadow House gazebo. They moved past the garden, directly toward the magnificent building to which they had been summoned. A refuge containing ten stones from Mount Sinai, one from heaven itself, and one with the visage of Luke's dark father.

 

"I've never been here at night," Katherine said, gazing up at the brightly lit towers. "It's spectacular."

 

Langdon agreed, having forgotten how impressive this place truly was. This neo-Gothic masterpiece stood at the north end of Embassy Row. He hadn't been here for years, not since writing a piece about it for a kids' magazine in hopes of generating some excitement among young Americans to come see this amazing landmark. His article--"Moses, Moon Rocks, and Star Wars"--had been part of the tourist literature for years.

 

Washington National Cathedral, Langdon thought, feeling an unexpected anticipation at being back after all these years. Where better to ask about One True God?

 

"This cathedral really has ten stones from Mount Sinai?" Katherine asked, gazing up at the twin bell towers.

 

Langdon nodded. "Near the main altar. They symbolize the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai."

 

"And there's a lunar rock?"

 

A rock from heaven itself. "Yes. One of the stained-glass windows is called the Space Window and has a fragment of moon rock embedded in it."

 

"Okay, but you can't be serious about the last thing." Katherine glanced over, her pretty eyes flashing skepticism. "A statue of . . . Darth Vader?"

 

Langdon chuckled. "Luke Skywalker's dark father? Absolutely. Vader is one of the National Cathedral's most popular grotesques." He pointed high into the west towers. "Tough to see him at night, but he's there."

 

"What in the world is Darth Vader doing on Washington National Cathedral?"

 

"A contest for kids to carve a gargoyle that depicted the face of evil. Darth won."

 

They reached the grand staircase to the main entrance, which was set back in an eighty-foot archway beneath a breathtaking rose window. As they began climbing, Langdon's mind shifted to the mysterious stranger who had called him. No names, please . . . Tell me, have you successfully protected the map that was entrusted to you? Langdon's shoulder ached from carrying the heavy stone pyramid, and he was looking forward to setting it down. Sanctuary and answers. As they approached the top of the stairs, they were met with an imposing pair of wooden doors. "Do we just knock?" Katherine asked.

 

Langdon had been wondering the same thing, except that now one of the doors was creaking open.

 

"Who's there?" a frail voice said. The face of a withered old man appeared in the doorway. He wore priest's robes and a blank stare. His eyes were opaque and white, clouded with cataracts.

 

"My name is Robert Langdon," he replied. "Katherine Solomon and I are seeking sanctuary."

 

The blind man exhaled in relief. "Thank God. I've been expecting you."

 

 

 

CHAPTER 80

 

Warren Bellamy felt a sudden ray of hope.

 

Inside the Jungle, Director Sato had just received a phone call from a field agent and had immediately flown into a tirade. "Well, you damn well better find them!" she shouted into her phone. "We're running out of time!" She had hung up and was now stalking back and forth in front of Bellamy as if trying to decide what to do next.

 

Finally, she stopped directly in front of him and turned. "Mr. Bellamy, I'm going to ask you this once, and only once." She stared deep into his eyes. "Yes or no--do you have any idea where Robert Langdon might have gone?"

 

Bellamy had more than a good idea, but he shook his head. "No."

 

Sato's piercing gaze had never left his eyes. "Unfortunately, part of my job is to know when people are lying."

 

Bellamy averted his eyes. "Sorry, I can't help you."

 

"Architect Bellamy," Sato said, "tonight just after seven P.M., you were having dinner in a restaurant outside the city when you received a phone call from a man who told you he had kidnapped Peter Solomon."

 

Bellamy felt an instant chill and returned his eyes to hers. How could you possibly know that?! "The man," Sato continued, "told you that he had sent Robert Langdon to the Capitol Building and given Langdon a task to complete . . . a task that required your help. He warned that if Langdon failed in this task, your friend Peter Solomon would die. Panicked, you called all of Peter's numbers but failed to reach him. Understandably, you then raced to the Capitol."

 

Bellamy could not imagine how Sato knew about this phone call.

 

"As you fled the Capitol," Sato said behind the smoldering tip of her cigarette, "you sent a text message to Solomon's kidnapper, assuring him that you and Langdon had been successful in obtaining the Masonic Pyramid."

 

Where is she getting her information? Bellamy wondered. Not even Langdon knows I sent that text message. Immediately after entering the tunnel to the Library of Congress, Bellamy had stepped into the electrical room to plug in the construction lighting. In the privacy of that moment, he had decided to send a quick text message to Solomon's captor, telling him about Sato's involvement, but reassuring him that he-- Bellamy--and Langdon had obtained the Masonic Pyramid and would indeed cooperate with his demands. It was a lie, of course, but Bellamy hoped the reassurance might buy time, both for Peter Solomon and also to hide the pyramid.

 

"Who told you I sent a text?" Bellamy demanded.

 

Sato tossed Bellamy's cell phone on the bench next to him. "Hardly rocket science."

 

Bellamy now remembered his phone and keys had been taken from him by the agents who captured him.

 

"As for the rest of my inside information," Sato said, "the Patriot Act gives me the right to place a wiretap on the phone of anyone I consider a viable threat to national security. I consider Peter Solomon to be such a threat, and last night I took action."

 

Bellamy could barely get his mind around what she was telling him. "You're tapping Peter Solomon's phone?"

 

"Yes. This is how I knew the kidnapper called you at the restaurant. You called Peter's cell phone and left an anxious message explaining what had just happened."

 

Bellamy realized she was right.

 

"We had also intercepted a call from Robert Langdon, who was in the Capitol Building, deeply confused to learn he had been tricked into coming there. I went to the Capitol at once, arriving before you because I was closer. As for how I knew to check the X-ray of Langdon's bag . . . in light of my realization that Langdon was involved in all of this, I had my staff reexamine a seemingly innocuous early-morning call between Langdon and Peter Solomon's cell phone, in which the kidnapper, posing as Solomon's assistant, persuaded Langdon to come for a lecture and also to bring a small package that Peter had entrusted to him. When Langdon was not forthcoming with me about the package he was carrying, I requested the X-ray of his bag."

 

Bellamy could barely think. Admittedly, everything Sato was saying was feasible, and yet something was not adding up. "But . . . how could you possibly think Peter Solomon is a threat to national security?"

 

"Believe me, Peter Solomon is a serious national-security threat," she snapped. "And frankly, Mr. Bellamy, so are you."

 

Bellamy sat bolt upright, the handcuffs chafing against his wrists. "I beg your pardon?!"

 

She forced a smile. "You Masons play a risky game. You keep a very, very dangerous secret."

 

Is she talking about the Ancient Mysteries?

 

"Thankfully, you've always done a good job of keeping your secrets hidden. Unfortunately, recently you've been careless, and tonight, your most dangerous secret is about to be unveiled to the world. And unless we can stop that from happening, I assure you the results will be catastrophic."

 

Bellamy stared in bewilderment.

 

"If you had not attacked me," Sato said, "you would have realized that you and I are on the same team."

 

The same team. The words sparked in Bellamy an idea that seemed almost impossible to fathom. Is Sato a member of Eastern Star? The Order of the Eastern Star--often considered a sister organization to the Masons--embraced a similar mystical philosophy of benevolence, secret wisdom, and spiritual open-mindedness. The same team? I'm in handcuffs! She's tapping Peter's phone!

 

"You will help me stop this man," Sato said. "He has the potential to bring about a cataclysm from which this country might not recover." Her face was like stone.

 

"Then why aren't you tracking him?"

 

Sato looked incredulous. "Do you think I'm not trying? My trace on Solomon's cell phone went dead before we got a location. His other number appears to be a disposable phone--which is almost impossible to track. The private-jet company told us that Langdon's flight was booked by Solomon's assistant, on Solomon's cell phone, with Solomon's Marquis Jet card. There is no trail. Not that it matters anyway. Even if we find out exactly where he is, I can't possibly risk moving in and trying to grab him."

 

"Why not?!"

 

"I'd prefer not to share that, as the information is classified," Sato said, patience clearly waning. "I am asking you to trust me on this."

 

"Well, I don't!"

 

Sato's eyes were like ice. She turned suddenly and shouted across the Jungle. "Agent Hartmann! The briefcase, please."

 

Bellamy heard the hiss of the electronic door, and an agent strode into the Jungle. He was carrying a sleek titanium briefcase, which he set on the ground beside the OS director.

 

"Leave us," Sato said.

 

As the agent departed, the door hissed again, and then everything fell silent.

 

Sato picked up the metal case, laid it across her lap, and popped the clasps. Then she raised her eyes slowly to Bellamy. "I did not want to do this, but our time is running out, and you've left me no choice."

 

Bellamy eyed the strange briefcase and felt a swell of fear. Is she going to torture me? He strained at his cuffs again. "What's in that case?!"

 

Sato smiled grimly. "Something that will persuade you to see things my way. I guarantee it."

 

 

 

CHAPTER 81

 

The subterranean space in which Mal'akh performed the Art was ingeniously hidden. His home's basement, to those who entered, appeared quite normal--a typical cellar with boiler, fuse box, woodpile, and a hodgepodge of storage. This visible cellar, however, was only a portion of Mal'akh's underground space. A sizable area had been walled off for his clandestine practices.

 

Mal'akh's private work space was a suite of small rooms, each with a specialized purpose. The area's sole entrance was a steep ramp secretly accessible through his living room, making the area's discovery virtually impossible.

 

Tonight, as Mal'akh descended the ramp, the tattooed sigils and signs on his flesh seemed to come alive in the cerulean glow of his basement's specialized lighting. Moving into the bluish haze, he walked past several closed doors and headed directly for the largest room at the end of the corridor.

 

The "sanctum sanctorum," as Mal'akh liked to call it, was a perfect twelve-foot square. Twelve are the signs of the zodiac. Twelve are the hours of the day. Twelve are the gates of heaven. In the center of the chamber was a stone table, a seven-by-seven square. Seven are the seals of Revelation. Seven are the steps of the Temple. Centered over the table hung a carefully calibrated light source that cycled through a spectrum of preordained colors, completing its cycle every six hours in accordance with the sacred Table of Planetary Hours. The hour of Yanor is blue. The hour of Nasnia is red. The hour of Salam is white.

 

Now was the hour of Caerra, meaning the light in the room had modulated to a soft purplish hue. Wearing only a silken loincloth wrapped around his buttocks and neutered sex organ, Mal'akh began his preparations.

 

He carefully combined the suffumigation chemicals that he would later ignite to sanctify the air. Then he folded the virgin silk robe that he would eventually don in place of his loincloth. And finally, he purified a flask of water for the anointing of his offering. When he was done, he placed all of these prepared ingredients on a side table.

 

Next he went to a shelf and retrieved a small ivory box, which he carried to the side table and placed with the other items. Although he was not yet ready to use it, he could not resist opening the lid and admiring this treasure.

 

The knife.

 

Inside the ivory box, nestled in a cradle of black velvet, shone the sacrificial knife that Mal'akh had been saving for tonight. He had purchased it for $1.6 million on the Middle Eastern antiquities black market last year.

 

The most famous knife in history.

 

Unimaginably old and believed lost, this precious blade was made of iron, attached to a bone handle. Over the ages, it had been in the possession of countless powerful individuals. In recent decades, however, it had disappeared, languishing in a secret private collection. Mal'akh had gone to enormous lengths to obtain it. The knife, he suspected, had not drawn blood for decades . . . possibly centuries. Tonight, this blade would again taste the power of the sacrifice for which it was honed.

 

Mal'akh gently lifted the knife from its cushioned compartment and reverently polished the blade with a silk cloth soaked in purified water. His skills had progressed greatly since his first rudimentary experiments in New York. The dark Art that Mal'akh practiced had been known by many names in many languages, but by any name, it was a precise science. This primeval technology had once held the key to the portals of power, but it had been banished long ago, relegated to the shadows of occultism and magic. Those few who still practiced this Art were considered madmen, but Mal'akh knew better. This is not work for those with dull faculties. The ancient dark Art, like modern science, was a discipline involving precise formulas, specific ingredients, and meticulous timing.

 

This Art was not the impotent black magic of today, often practiced halfheartedly by curious souls. This Art, like nuclear physics, had the potential to unleash enormous power. The warnings were dire: The unskilled practitioner runs the risk of being struck by a reflux current and destroyed.

 

Mal'akh finished admiring the sacred blade and turned his attention to a lone sheet of thick vellum lying on the table before him. He had made this vellum himself from the skin of a baby lamb. As was the protocol, the lamb was pure, having not yet reached sexual maturity. Beside the vellum was a quill pen he had made from the feather of a crow, a silver saucer, and three glimmering candles arranged around a solid-brass bowl. The bowl contained one inch of thick crimson liquid.

 

The liquid was Peter Solomon's blood.

 

Blood is the tincture of eternity.

 

Mal'akh picked up the quill pen, placed his left hand on the vellum, and dipping the quill tip in the blood, he carefully traced the outline of his open palm. When he was done, he added the five symbols of the Ancient Mysteries, one on each fingertip of the drawing.

 

The crown . . . to represent the king I shall become.

 

The star . . . to represent the heavens which have ordained my destiny.

 

The sun . . . to represent the illumination of my soul.

 

The lantern . . . to represent the feeble light of human understanding.

 

And the key . . . to represent the missing piece, that which tonight I shall at last possess.

 

Mal'akh completed his blood tracing and held up the vellum, admiring his work in the light of the three candles. He waited until the blood was dry and then folded the thick vellum three times. While chanting an ethereal ancient incantation, Mal'akh touched the vellum to the third candle, and it burst into flames. He set the flaming vellum on the silver saucer and let it burn. As it did, the carbon in the animal skin dissolved to a powdery black char. When the flame went out, Mal'akh carefully tapped the ashes into the brass bowl of blood. Then he stirred the mixture with the crow's feather.

 

The liquid turned a deeper crimson, nearly black.

 

Holding the bowl in both palms, Mal'akh raised it over his head and gave thanks, intoning the blood eukharistos of the ancients. Then he carefully poured the blackened mixture into a glass vial and corked it. This would be the ink with which Mal'akh would inscribe the untattooed flesh atop his head and complete his masterpiece. CHAPTER 82

 

Washington National Cathedral is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world and soars higher than a thirty-story skyscraper. Embellished with over two hundred stained-glass windows, a fifty- three-bell carillon, and a 10,647-pipe organ, this Gothic masterpiece can accommodate more than three thousand worshippers.

 

Tonight, however, the great cathedral was deserted.

 

Reverend Colin Galloway--dean of the cathedral--looked like he had been alive forever. Stooped and withered, he wore a simple black cassock and shuffled blindly ahead without a word. Langdon and Katherine followed in silence through the darkness of the four-hundred-foot- long nave's central aisle, which was curved ever so slightly to the left to create a softening optical illusion. When they reached the Great Crossing, the dean guided them through the rood screen--the symbolic divider between the public area and the sanctuary beyond.

 

The scent of frankincense hung in the air of the chancel. This sacred space was dark, illuminated only by indirect reflections in the foliated vaults overhead. Flags of the fifty states hung above the quire, which was ornately appointed with several carved reredos depicting biblical events. Dean Galloway continued on, apparently knowing this walk by heart. For a moment, Langdon thought they were headed straight for the high altar, where the ten stones from Mount Sinai were embedded, but the old dean finally turned left and groped his way through a discreetly hidden door that led into an administrative annex.

 

They moved down a short hallway to an office door bearing a brass nameplate:

 

THE REVEREND DR. COLIN GALLOWAY

 

CATHEDRAL DEAN

 

Galloway opened the door and turned on the lights, apparently accustomed to remembering this courtesy for his guests. He ushered them in and closed the door.

 

The dean's office was small but elegant, with high bookshelves, a desk, a carved armoire, and a private bathroom. On the walls hung sixteenth-century tapestries and several religious paintings. The old dean motioned to the two leather chairs directly opposite his desk. Langdon sat with Katherine and felt grateful finally to set his heavy shoulder bag on the floor at his feet.

 

Sanctuary and answers, Langdon thought, settling into the comfortable chair.

 

The aged man shuffled around behind his desk and eased himself down into his high-backed chair. Then, with a weary sigh, he raised his head, staring blankly out at them through clouded eyes. When he spoke, his voice was unexpectedly clear and strong.

 

"I realize we have never met," the old man said, "and yet I feel I know you both." He took out a handkerchief and dabbed his mouth. "Professor Langdon, I am familiar with your writings, including the clever piece you did on the symbolism of this cathedral. And, Ms. Solomon, your brother, Peter, and I have been Masonic brothers for many years now."

 

"Peter is in terrible trouble," Katherine said.

 

"So I have been told." The old man sighed. "And I will do everything in my power to help you."

 

Langdon saw no Masonic ring on the dean's finger, and yet he knew many Masons, especially those within the clergy, chose not to advertise their affiliation.

 

As they began to talk, it became clear that Dean Galloway already knew some of the night's events from Warren Bellamy's phone message. As Langdon and Katherine filled him in on the rest, the dean looked more and more troubled.

 

"And this man who has taken our beloved Peter," the dean said, "he is insisting you decipher the pyramid in exchange for Peter's life?"

 

"Yes," Langdon said. "He thinks it's a map that will lead him to the hiding place of the Ancient Mysteries."

 

The dean turned his eerie, opaque eyes toward Langdon. "My ears tell me you do not believe in such things."

 

Langdon did not want to waste time going down this road. "It doesn't matter what I believe. We need to help Peter. Unfortunately, when we deciphered the pyramid, it pointed nowhere."

 

The old man sat straighter. "You've deciphered the pyramid?"

 

Katherine interceded now, quickly explaining that despite Bellamy's warnings and her brother's request that Langdon not unwrap the package, she had done so, feeling her first priority was to help her brother however she could. She told the dean about the golden capstone, Albrecht D�rer's magic square, and how it decrypted the sixteen-letter Masonic cipher into the phrase Jeova Sanctus Unus.

 

"That's all it says?" the dean asked. "One True God?"

 

"Yes, sir," Langdon replied. "Apparently the pyramid is more of a metaphorical map than a geographic one."

 

The dean held out his hands. "Let me feel it." Langdon unzipped his bag and pulled out the pyramid, which he carefully hoisted up on the desk, setting it directly in front of the reverend.

 

Langdon and Katherine watched as the old man's frail hands examined every inch of the stone-- the engraved side, the smooth base, and the truncated top. When he was finished, he held out his hands again. "And the capstone?"

 

Langdon retrieved the small stone box, set it on the desk, and opened the lid. Then he removed the capstone and placed it into the old man's waiting hands. The dean performed a similar examination, feeling every inch, pausing on the capstone's engraving, apparently having some trouble reading the small, elegantly inscribed text.

 

"`The secret hides within The Order,'" Langdon offered. "And the words the and order are capitalized."

 

The old man's face was expressionless as he positioned the capstone on top of the pyramid and aligned it by sense of touch. He seemed to pause a moment, as if in prayer, and reverently ran his palms over the complete pyramid several times. Then he reached out and located the cube- shaped box, taking it in his hands, feeling it carefully, his fingers probing inside and out.

 

When he was done, he set down the box and leaned back in his chair. "So tell me," he demanded, his voice suddenly stern. "Why have you come to me?"

 

The question took Langdon off guard. "We came, sir, because you told us to. And Mr. Bellamy said we should trust you."

 

"And yet you did not trust him?"

 

"I'm sorry?"

 

The dean's white eyes stared directly through Langdon. "The package containing the capstone was sealed. Mr. Bellamy told you not to open it, and yet you did. In addition, Peter Solomon himself told you not to open it. And yet you did."

 

"Sir," Katherine intervened, "we were trying to help my brother. The man who has him demanded we decipher--"

 

"I can appreciate that," the dean declared, "and yet what have you achieved by opening the package? Nothing. Peter's captor is looking for a location, and he will not be satisfied with the answer of Jeova Sanctus Unus."

 

"I agree," Langdon said, "but unfortunately that's all the pyramid says. As I mentioned, the map seems to be more figurative than--"

 

"You're mistaken, Professor," the dean said. "The Masonic Pyramid is a real map. It points to a real location. You do not understand that, because you have not yet deciphered the pyramid fully. Not even close."

 

Langdon and Katherine exchanged startled looks.

 

The dean laid his hands back on the pyramid, almost caressing it. "This map, like the Ancient Mysteries themselves, has many layers of meaning. Its true secret remains veiled from you."

 

"Dean Galloway," Langdon said, "we've been over every inch of the pyramid and capstone, and there's nothing else to see."

 

"Not in its current state, no. But objects change."

 

"Sir?"

 

"Professor, as you know, the promise of this pyramid is one of miraculous transformative power. Legend holds that this pyramid can change its shape . . . alter its physical form to reveal its secrets. Like the famed stone that released Excalibur into the hands of King Arthur, the Masonic Pyramid can transform itself if it so chooses . . . and reveal its secret to the worthy."

 

Langdon now sensed that the old man's advanced years had perhaps robbed him of his faculties. "I'm sorry, sir. Are you saying this pyramid can undergo a literal physical transformation?"

 

"Professor, if I were to reach out with my hand and transform this pyramid right before your eyes, would you believe what you had witnessed?"

 

Langdon had no idea how to respond. "I suppose I would have no choice."

 

"Very well, then. In a moment, I shall do exactly that." He dabbed his mouth again. "Let me remind you that there was an era when even the brightest minds perceived the earth as flat. For if the earth were round, then surely the oceans would spill off. Imagine how they would have mocked you if you proclaimed, `Not only is the world a sphere, but there is an invisible, mystical force that holds everything to its surface'!"

 

"There's a difference," Langdon said, "between the existence of gravity . . . and the ability to transform objects with a touch of your hand."

 

"Is there? Is it not possible that we are still living in the Dark Ages, still mocking the suggestion of `mystical' forces that we cannot see or comprehend. History, if it has taught us anything at all, has taught us that the strange ideas we deride today will one day be our celebrated truths. I claim I can transform this pyramid with a touch of my finger, and you question my sanity. I would expect more from an historian. History is replete with great minds who have all proclaimed the same thing . . . great minds who have all insisted that man possesses mystical abilities of which he is unaware."

 

Langdon knew the dean was correct. The famous Hermetic aphorism--Know ye not that ye are gods?--was one of the pillars of the Ancient Mysteries. As above, so below . . . Man created in God's image . . . Apotheosis. This persistent message of man's own divinity--of his hidden potential--was the recurring theme in the ancient texts of countless traditions. Even the Holy Bible cried out in Psalms 82:6: Ye are gods!

 

"Professor," the old man said, "I realize that you, like many educated people, live trapped between worlds--one foot in the spiritual, one foot in the physical. Your heart yearns to believe . . . but your intellect refuses to permit it. As an academic, you would be wise to learn from the great minds of history." He paused and cleared his throat. "If I'm remembering correctly, one of the greatest minds ever to live proclaimed: `That which is impenetrable to us really exists. Behind the secrets of nature remains something subtle, intangible, and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.' "

 

"Who said that?" Langdon said. "Gandhi?"

 

"No," Katherine interjected. "Albert Einstein."

 

Katherine Solomon had read every word Einstein had ever written and was struck by his profound respect for the mystical, as well as his predictions that the masses would one day feel the same. The religion of the future, Einstein had predicted, will be a cosmic religion. It will transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology.

 

Robert Langdon appeared to be struggling with the idea. Katherine could sense his rising frustration with the old Episcopal priest, and she understood. After all, they had traveled here for answers, and they had found instead a blind man who claimed he could transform objects with a touch of his hands. Even so, the old man's overt passion for mystical forces reminded Katherine of her brother.

 

"Father Galloway," Katherine said, "Peter is in trouble. The CIA is chasing us. And Warren Bellamy sent us to you for help. I don't know what this pyramid says or where it points, but if deciphering it means that we can help Peter, we need to do that. Mr. Bellamy may have preferred to sacrifice my brother's life to hide this pyramid, but my family has experienced nothing but pain because of it. Whatever secret it may hold, it ends tonight."

 

"You are correct," the old man replied, his tone dire. "It will all end tonight. You've guaranteed that." He sighed. "Ms. Solomon, when you broke the seal on that box, you set in motion a series of events from which there will be no return. There are forces at work tonight that you do not yet comprehend. There is no turning back."

 

Katherine stared dumbfounded at the reverend. There was something apocalyptic about his tone, as if he were referring to the Seven Seals of Revelation or Pandora's box.

 

"Respectfully, sir," Langdon interceded, "I can't imagine how a stone pyramid could set in motion anything at all."

 

"Of course you can't, Professor." The old man stared blindly through him. "You do not yet have eyes to see." CHAPTER 83

 

In the moist air of the Jungle, the Architect of the Capitol could feel the sweat now rolling down his back. His handcuffed wrists ached, but all of his attention remained riveted on the ominous titanium briefcase that Sato had just opened on the bench between them.

 

The contents of this case, Sato had told him, will persuade you to see things my way. I guarantee it.

 

The tiny Asian woman had unclasped the metal case away from Bellamy's line of sight, and he had yet to see its contents, but his imagination was running wild. Sato's hands were doing something inside the case, and Bellamy half expected her to extract a series of glistening, razor- sharp tools.

 

Suddenly a light source flickered inside the case, growing brighter, illuminating Sato's face from beneath. Her hands kept moving inside, and the light changed hue. After a few moments, she removed her hands, grasped the entire case, and turned it toward Bellamy so he could see inside.

 

Bellamy found himself squinting into the glow of what appeared to be some kind of futuristic laptop with a handheld phone receiver, two antennae, and a double keyboard. His initial surge of relief turned quickly to confusion.

 

The screen bore the CIA logo and the text:

 

SECURE LOG-IN

 

USER: INOUE SATO

 

SECURITY CLEARANCE: LEVEL 5

 

Beneath the laptop's log-in window, a progress icon was spinning:

 

ONE MOMENT PLEASE . . .

 

DECRYPTING FILE . . .

 

Bellamy's gaze shot back up to Sato, whose eyes were locked on his. "I had not wanted to show you this," she said. "But you've left me no choice." The screen flickered again, and Bellamy glanced back down as the file opened, its contents filling the entire LCD.

 

For several moments, Bellamy stared at the screen, trying to make sense of what he was looking at. Gradually, as it began to dawn on him, he felt the blood draining from his face. He stared in horror, unable to look away. "But this is . . . impossible!" he exclaimed. "How . . . could this be!"

 

Sato's face was grim. "You tell me, Mr. Bellamy. You tell me."

 

As the Architect of the Capitol began to fully comprehend the ramifications of what he was seeing, he could feel his entire world teetering precariously on the brink of disaster.

 

My God . . . I've made a terrible, terrible mistake!

 

 

 

CHAPTER 84

 

Dean Galloway felt alive.

 

Like all mortals, he knew the time was coming when he would shed his mortal shell, but tonight was not the night. His corporeal heart was beating strong and fast . . . and his mind felt sharp. There is work to be done.

 

As he ran his arthritic hands across the pyramid's smooth surfaces, he could scarcely believe what he was feeling. I never imagined I would live to witness this moment. For generations, the pieces of the symbolon map had been kept safely apart from one another. Now they were united at last. Galloway wondered if this was the foretold time.

 

Strangely, fate had selected two non-Masons to assemble the pyramid. Somehow, this seemed fitting. The Mysteries are moving out of the inner circles . . . out of darkness . . . into the light.

 

"Professor," he said, turning his head in the direction of Langdon's breathing. "Did Peter tell you why he wanted you to watch over the little package?"

 

"He said powerful people wanted to steal it from him," Langdon replied.

 

The dean nodded. "Yes, Peter told me the same thing."

 

"He did?" Katherine said suddenly on his left. "You and my brother spoke about this pyramid?"

 

"Of course," Galloway said. "Your brother and I have spoken on many things. I was once the Worshipful Master at the House of the Temple, and he comes to me for guidance at times. It was about a year ago that he came to me, deeply troubled. He sat exactly where you are now, and he asked me if I believed in supernatural premonitions."

 

"Premonitions?" Katherine sounded concerned. "You mean like . . . visions?"

 

"Not exactly. It was more visceral. Peter said he was feeling the growing presence of a dark force in his life. He sensed something was watching him . . . waiting . . . intending to do him great harm."

 

"Obviously he was right," Katherine said, "considering that the same man who killed our mother and Peter's son had come to Washington and become one of Peter's own Masonic brothers."

 

"True," Langdon said, "but it doesn't explain the involvement of the CIA."

 

Galloway was not so sure. "Men in power are always interested in greater power."

 

"But . . . the CIA?" Langdon challenged. "And mystical secrets? Something doesn't add up."

 

"Sure it does," Katherine said. "The CIA thrives on technological advancement and has always experimented with the mystical sciences--ESP, remote viewing, sensory deprivation, pharmacologically induced highly mentalized states. It's all the same thing--tapping the unseen potential of the human mind. If there's one thing I've learned from Peter, it's this: Science and mysticism are very closely related, distinguishable only by their approaches. They have identical goals . . . but different methods."

 

"Peter tells me," Galloway said, "that your field of study is a kind of modern mystical science?"

 

"Noetics," Katherine said, nodding. "And it's proving man has powers unlike anything we can imagine." She motioned to a stained-glass window depicting the familiar image of the "Luminous Jesus," that of Christ with rays of light flowing from his head and hands. "In fact, I just used a supercooled charge-coupled device to photograph the hands of a faith healer at work. The photos looked a lot like the image of Jesus in your stained-glass window . . . streams of energy pouring through the healer's fingertips."

 

The well-trained mind, Galloway thought, hiding a smile. How do you think Jesus healed the sick?

 

"I realize," Katherine said, "that modern medicine ridicules healers and shamans, but I saw this with my own eyes. My CCD cameras clearly photographed this man transmitting a massive energy field from his fingertips . . . and literally changing the cellular makeup of his patient. If that's not godlike power, then I don't know what is."

 

Dean Galloway let himself smile. Katherine had the same fiery passion as her brother. "Peter once compared Noetic Scientists to the early explorers who were mocked for embracing the heretical notion of a spherical earth. Almost overnight, these explorers went from fools to heroes, discovering uncharted worlds and expanding the horizons of everyone on the planet. Peter thinks you will do this as well. He has very high hopes for your work. After all, every great philosophical shift in history began with a single bold idea."

 

Galloway knew, of course, that one needn't go to a lab to witness proof of this bold new idea, this proposal of man's untapped potential. This very cathedral held healing prayer circles for the sick, and repeatedly had witnessed truly miraculous results, medically documented physical transformations. The question was not whether God had imbued man with great powers . . . but rather how we liberate those powers.

 

The old dean placed his hands reverently around the sides of the Masonic Pyramid and spoke very quietly. "My friends, I do not know exactly where this pyramid points . . . but I do know this. There is a great spiritual treasure buried out there somewhere . . . a treasure that has waited patiently in darkness for generations. I believe it is a catalyst that has the power to transform this world." He now touched the golden tip of the capstone. "And now that this pyramid is assembled . . . the time is fast approaching. And why shouldn't it? The promise of a great transformational enlightenment has been prophesied forever."

 

"Father," Langdon said, his tone challenging, "we're all familiar with the Revelation of Saint John and the literal meaning of the Apocalypse, but biblical prophecy hardly seems--"

 

"Oh, heavens, the Book of Revelation is a mess!" the dean said. "Nobody knows how to read that. I'm talking about clear minds writing in clear language--the predictions of Saint Augustine, Sir Francis Bacon, Newton, Einstein, the list goes on and on, all anticipating a transformative moment of enlightenment. Even Jesus himself said, `Nothing is hidden that will not be made known, nor secret that will not come to light.'"

 

"It's a safe prediction to make," Langdon said. "Knowledge grows exponentially. The more we know, the greater our ability to learn, and the faster we expand our knowledge base."

 

"Yes," Katherine added. "We see this in science all the time. Each new technology we invent becomes a tool with which to invent new technologies . . . and it snowballs. That's why science has advanced more in the last five years than in the previous five thousand. Exponential growth. Mathematically, as time passes, the exponential curve of progress becomes almost vertical, and new development occurs incredibly fast."

 

Silence fell in the dean's office, and Galloway sensed that his two guests still had no idea how this pyramid could possibly help them reveal anything further. That is why fate brought you to me, he thought. I have a role to play.

 

For many years, the Reverend Colin Galloway, along with his Masonic brothers, had played the role of gatekeeper. Now it was all changing.

 

I am no longer a gatekeeper . . . I am a guide.

 

"Professor Langdon?" Galloway said, reaching out across his desk. "Take my hand if you will." Robert Langdon felt uncertain as he stared across at Dean Galloway's outstretched palm.

 

Are we going to pray?

 

Politely, Langdon reached out and placed his right hand in the dean's withered hand. The old man grasped it firmly but did not begin to pray. Instead, he found Langdon's index finger and guided it downward into the stone box that had once housed the golden capstone.

 

"Your eyes have blinded you," the dean said. "If you saw with your fingertips as I do, you would realize this box has something left to teach you."

 

Dutifully, Langdon worked his fingertip around the inside of the box, but he felt nothing. The inside was perfectly smooth.

 

"Keep looking," Galloway prompted.

 

Finally, Langdon's fingertip felt something--a tiny raised circle--a minuscule dot in the center of the base of the box. He removed his hand and peered inside. The little circle was virtually invisible to the naked eye. What is that?

 

"Do you recognize that symbol?" Galloway asked.

 

"Symbol?" Langdon replied. "I can barely see anything at all."

 

"Push down on it."

 

Langdon did as he asked, pressing his fingertip down onto the spot. What does he think will happen?

 

"Hold your finger down," the dean said. "Apply pressure."

 

Langdon glanced over at Katherine, who looked puzzled as she tucked a wisp of hair behind her ears.

 

A few seconds later, the old dean finally nodded. "Okay, remove your hand. The alchemy is complete."

 

Alchemy? Robert Langdon removed his hand from the stone box and sat in bewildered silence. Nothing had changed at all. The box just sat there on the desk.

 

"Nothing," Langdon said.

 

"Look at your fingertip," the dean replied. "You should see a transformation."

 

Langdon looked at his finger, but the only transformation he could see was that he now had an indentation on his skin made by the circular nubbin--a tiny circle with a dot in the middle.

 

 

"Now do you recognize this symbol?" the dean asked.

 

Although Langdon recognized the symbol, he was more impressed that the dean had been able to feel the detail of it. Seeing with one's fingertips was apparently a learned skill.

 

"It's alchemical," Katherine said, sliding her chair closer and examining Langdon's finger. "It's the ancient symbol for gold."

 

"Indeed it is." The dean smiled and patted the box. "Professor, congratulations. You have just achieved what every alchemist in history has strived for. From a worthless substance, you've created gold."

 

Langdon frowned, unimpressed. The little parlor trick seemed to be no help at all. "An interesting idea, sir, but I'm afraid this symbol--a circle with a round dot in the middle--has dozens of meanings. It's called a circumpunct, and it's one of the most widely used symbols in history."

 

"What are you talking about?" the dean asked, sounding skeptical.

 

Langdon was stunned that a Mason was not more familiar with the spiritual importance of this symbol. "Sir, the circumpunct has countless meanings. In ancient Egypt, it was the symbol for Ra--the sun god--and modern astronomy still uses it as the solar symbol. In Eastern philosophy, it represents the spiritual insight of the Third Eye, the divine rose, and the sign of illumination. The Kabbalists use it to symbolize the Kether--the highest Sephiroth and `the most hidden of all hidden things.' Early mystics called it the Eye of God and it's the origin of the All-Seeing Eye on the Great Seal. The Pythagoreans used the circumpunct as the symbol of the Monad--the Divine Truth, the Prisca Sapientia, the at-one-ment of mind and soul, and the--"

 

"Enough!" Dean Galloway was chuckling now. "Professor, thank you. You are correct, of course."

 

Langdon now realized he had just been played. He knew all that. "The circumpunct," Galloway said, still smiling to himself, "is essentially the symbol of the Ancient Mysteries. For this reason, I would suggest that its presence in this box is not mere coincidence. Legend holds that the secrets of this map are hidden in the smallest of details."

 

"Fine," Katherine said, "but even if this symbol was inscribed there intentionally, it doesn't bring us any closer to deciphering the map, does it?"

 

"You mentioned earlier that the wax seal you broke was embossed with Peter's ring?"

 

"That's correct."

 

"And you said you have that ring with you?"

 

"I do." Langdon reached into his pocket, found the ring, took it out of the plastic bag, and placed it on the desk in front of the dean.

 

Galloway picked up the ring and began feeling its surfaces. "This unique ring was created at the same time as the Masonic Pyramid, and traditionally, it is worn by the Mason in charge of protecting the pyramid. Tonight, when I felt the tiny circumpunct on the bottom of the stone box, I realized that the ring is, in fact, part of the symbolon."

 

"It is?"

 

"I'm certain of it. Peter is my closest friend, and he wore this ring for many years. I am quite familiar with it." He handed the ring to Langdon. "See for yourself."

 

Langdon took the ring and examined it, running his fingers over the double-headed phoenix, the number 33, the words ORDO AB CHAO, and also the words All is revealed at the thirty-third degree. He felt nothing helpful. Then, as his fingers traced down around the outside of the band, he stopped short. Startled, he turned the ring over and eyed the very bottom of its band.

 

"Did you find it?" Galloway said.

 

"I think so, yes!" Langdon said.

 

Katherine slid her chair closer. "What?"

 

"The degree sign on the band," Langdon said, showing her. "It's so small that you don't really notice it with your eyes, but if you feel it, you can tell it's actually indented--like a tiny circular incision." The degree sign was centered on the bottom of the band . . . and admittedly looked to be the same size as the raised nubbin in the bottom of the cube.

 

"Is it the same size?" Katherine moved closer still, sounding excited now.

 

"There's one way to find out." He took the ring and lowered it into the box, aligning the two tiny circles. As he pushed down, the raised circle on the box slid into the ring's opening, and there was a faint but decisive click.

 

They all jumped.

 

Langdon waited, but nothing happened.

 

"What was that?!" the priest said.

 

"Nothing," Katherine replied. "The ring locked into place . . . but nothing else happened."

 

"No great transformation?" Galloway looked puzzled.

 

We're not done, Langdon realized, gazing down at the ring's embossed insignia--a double- headed phoenix and the number 33. All is revealed at the thirty-third degree. His mind filled with thoughts of Pythagoras, sacred geometry, and angles; he wondered if perhaps degrees had a mathematical meaning.

 

Slowly, heart beating faster now, he reached down and grasped the ring, which was affixed to the base of the cube. Then, slowly, he began turning the ring to the right. All is revealed at the thirty- third degree.

 

He turned the ring ten degrees . . . twenty degrees . . . thirty degrees--

 

What happened next, Langdon never saw coming.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 85

 

Transformation.

 

Dean Galloway heard it happen, and so he didn't need to see it.

 

Across the desk from him, Langdon and Katherine were dead silent, no doubt staring in mute astonishment at the stone cube, which had just transformed itself loudly before their very eyes.

 

Galloway couldn't help but smile. He had anticipated the result, and although he still had no idea how this development would ultimately help them solve the riddle of the pyramid, he was enjoying the rare chance to teach a Harvard symbologist something about symbols.

 

"Professor," the dean said, "few people realize that the Masons venerate the shape of the cube-- or ashlar, as we call it--because it is a three-dimensional representation of another symbol . . . a much older, two-dimensional symbol." Galloway didn't need to ask if the professor recognized the ancient symbol now lying before them on the desk. It was one of the most famous symbols in the world.

 

Robert Langdon's thoughts churned as he stared at the transformed box on the desk in front of him. I had no idea . . .

 

Moments ago, he had reached into the stone box, grasped the Masonic ring, and gently turned it. As he rotated the ring through thirty-three degrees, the cube had suddenly changed before his eyes. The square panels that made up the sides of the box fell away from one another as their hidden hinges released. The box collapsed all at once, its side panels and lid falling outward, slapping loudly on the desk.

 

 

The cube becomes a cross, Langdon thought. Symbolic alchemy.

 

Katherine looked bewildered by the sight of the collapsed cube. "The Masonic Pyramid relates to . . . Christianity?"

 

For a moment, Langdon had wondered the same thing. After all, the Christian crucifix was a respected symbol within the Masons, and certainly there were plenty of Christian Masons. However, Masons were also Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and those who had no name for their God. The presence of an exclusively Christian symbol seemed restrictive. Then the true meaning of this symbol had dawned on him.

 

"It's not a crucifix," Langdon said, standing up now. "The cross with the circumpunct in the middle is a binary symbol--two symbols fused to create one."

 

"What are you saying?" Katherine's eyes followed him as he paced the room.

 

"The cross," Langdon said, "was not a Christian symbol until the fourth century. Long before that, it was used by the Egyptians to represent the intersection of two dimensions--the human and the celestial. As above, so below. It was a visual representation of the juncture where man and God become one."

 

"Okay."

 

"The circumpunct," Langdon said, "we already know has many meanings--one of its most esoteric being the rose, the alchemical symbol for perfection. But, when you place a rose on the center of a cross, you create another symbol entirely--the Rose Cross."

 

Galloway reclined in his chair, smiling. "My, my. Now you're cooking."

 

Katherine stood now, too. "What am I missing?"

 

"The Rose Cross," Langdon explained, "is a common symbol in Freemasonry. In fact, one of the degrees of the Scottish Rite is called `Knights of the Rose Cross' and honors the early Rosicrucians, who contributed to Masonic mystical philosophy. Peter may have mentioned the Rosicrucians to you. Dozens of great scientists were members--John Dee, Elias Ashmole, Robert Fludd--"

 

"Absolutely," Katherine said. "I've read all of the Rosicrucian manifestos in my research."

 

Every scientist should, Langdon thought. The Order of the Rose Cross--or more formally the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis--had an enigmatic history that had greatly influenced science and closely paralleled the legend of the Ancient Mysteries . . . early sages possessing secret wisdom that was passed down through the ages and studied by only the brightest minds. Admittedly, history's list of famous Rosicrucians was a who's who of European Renaissance luminaries: Paracelsus, Bacon, Fludd, Descartes, Pascal, Spinoza, Newton, Leibniz.

 

According to Rosicrucian doctrine, the order was "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past," truths which had to be "concealed from the average man" and which promised great insight into "the spiritual realm." The brotherhood's symbol had blossomed over the years into a flowering rose on an ornate cross, but it had begun as a more modest dotted circle on an unadorned cross-- the simplest manifestation of the rose on the simplest manifestation of the cross.

 

"Peter and I often discuss Rosicrucian philosophy," Galloway told Katherine.

 

As the dean began outlining the interrelationship between Masonry and Rosicrucianism, Langdon felt his attention drawn back to the same nagging thought he'd had all night. Jeova Sanctus Unus. This phrase is linked to alchemy somehow. He still could not remember exactly what Peter had told him about the phrase, but for some reason, the mention of Rosicrucianism seemed to have rekindled the thought. Think, Robert!

 

"The Rosicrucian founder," Galloway was saying, "was allegedly a German mystic who went by the name Christian Rosenkreuz--a pseudonym obviously, perhaps even for Francis Bacon, who some historians believe founded the group himself, although there is no proof of--" "A pseudonym!" Langdon declared suddenly, startling even himself. "That's it! Jeova Sanctus Unus! It's a pseudonym!"

 

"What are you talking about?" Katherine demanded.

 

Langdon's pulse had quickened now. "All night, I've been trying to remember what Peter told me about Jeova Sanctus Unus and its relationship to alchemy. Finally I remembered! It's not about alchemy so much as about an alchemist! A very famous alchemist!"

 

Galloway chuckled. "It's about time, Professor. I mentioned his name twice and also the word pseudonym."

 

Langdon stared at the old dean. "You knew?"

 

"Well, I had my suspicions when you told me the engraving said Jeova Sanctus Unus and had been decrypted using D�rer's alchemical magic square, but when you found the Rose Cross, I was certain. As you probably know, the personal papers of the scientist in question included a very heavily annotated copy of the Rosicrucian manifestos."

 

"Who?" Katherine asked.

 

"One of the world's greatest scientists!" Langdon replied. "He was an alchemist, a member of the Royal Society of London, a Rosicrucian, and he signed some of his most secretive science papers with a pseudonym--`Jeova Sanctus Unus'!"

 

"One True God?" Katherine said. "Modest guy."

 

"Brilliant guy, actually," Galloway corrected. "He signed his name that way because, like the ancient Adepts, he understood himself as divine. In addition, because the sixteen letters in Jeova Sanctus Unus could be rearranged to spell his name in Latin, making it a perfect pseudonym."

 

Katherine now looked puzzled. "Jeova Sanctus Unus is an anagram of a famous alchemist's name in Latin?"

 

Langdon grabbed a piece of paper and pencil off the dean's desk, writing as he talked. "Latin interchanges the letters J for I and the letter V for U, which means Jeova Sanctus Unus can actually be perfectly rearranged to spell this man's name."

 

Langdon wrote down sixteen letters: Isaacus Neutonuus.

 

He handed the slip of paper to Katherine and said, "I think you've heard of him."

 

"Isaac Newton?" Katherine demanded, looking at the paper. "That's what the engraving on the pyramid was trying to tell us!"

 

For a moment, Langdon was back in Westminster Abbey, standing at Newton's pyramidical tomb, where he had experienced a similar epiphany. And tonight, the great scientist surfaces again. It was no coincidence, of course . . . the pyramids, mysteries, science, hidden knowledge . . . it was all intertwined. Newton's name had always been a recurring guidepost for those seeking secret knowledge.

 

"Isaac Newton," Galloway said, "must have something to do with how to decipher the meaning of the pyramid. I can't imagine what it would be, but--"

 

"Genius!" Katherine exclaimed, her eyes going wide. "That's how we transform the pyramid!"

 

"You understand?" Langdon said.

 

"Yes!" she said. "I can't believe we didn't see it! It has been staring us right in the face. A simple alchemical process. I can transform this pyramid using basic science! Newtonian science!"

 

Langdon strained to understand.

 

"Dean Galloway," Katherine said. "If you read the ring, it says--"

 

"Stop!" The old dean suddenly raised his finger in the air and motioned for silence. Gently, he cocked his head to the side, as if he were listening to something. After a moment, he stood up abruptly. "My friends, this pyramid obviously has secrets left to reveal. I don't know what Ms. Solomon is getting at, but if she knows your next step, then I have played my role. Pack up your things and say no more to me. Leave me in darkness for the moment. I would prefer to have no information to share should our visitors try to force me."

 

"Visitors?" Katherine said, listening. "I don't hear anyone."

 

"You will," Galloway said, heading for the door. "Hurry."

 

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