The Lost Symbol Chapter 62-66

CHAPTER 62Im under Second Street.Langdons eyes remained tightly debar as the conveyor rumbled by means of the darkness toward the Adams Building. He did his best non to picture the tons of earth overhead and the narrow tube through with(predicate) which he was forthwith traveling. He could hear Katherine breathing several(prenominal) yards bring out front of him, unless so far, she had non uttered a word.Shes in shock. Langdon was not looking forward to presentment her just somewhat her brothers severed hand. You ware to, Robert. She ineluctably to kat once.Katherine? Langdon finally give tongue to, without opening his eyes. are you okay?A tremulous, disembo unwrapd component replied somewhither up ahead. Robert, the pyramid youre carrying. Its Peters, isnt it?Yes, Langdon replied.A capacious silence followed. I presuppose . . . that pyramid is why my mother was murder.Langdon was well aware that Isabel Solomon had been murdered ten years ago, only if he didnt k right off the details, and Peter had neer mentioned whateverthing slightly a pyramid. What are you talking astir(predicate)?Katherines voice fill up with sensation as she recounted the harrowing events of that night, how the tattooed populace had broken into their estate. It was a capacious time ago, moreover Ill never for push defend that he de realityded a pyramid. He utter he heard about the pyramid in prison, from my nephew, Zachary . . . unspoiled before he killed him.Langdon listened in amazement. The tragedy within the Solomon family was almost beyond belief. Katherine continued, telling Langdon that she had al styles believed the intruder was killed that night . . . that is, until this equivalent earthly concern had resur sided today, be as Peters psychiatrist and luring Katherine to his home. He knew backstage things about my brother, my mothers death, and even my work, she say anxiously, things he could only have learned from my brother. And so I sure him . . . and thats how he got interior the Smithsonian Museum Support Center. Katherine took a deep breath and told Langdon she was nearly certain the man had destroyed her lab tonight.Langdon listened in utter shock. For several moments, the two of them lay together in silence on the pathetic conveyor. Langdon knew he had an obligation to share with Katherine the rest of tonights terrible news. He began slowly, and as gently as he possibly could he told her how her brother had entrusted him with a small mail boat years earlier, how Langdon had been tricked into bringing this package to Washington tonight, and finally, about her brothers hand having been found in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building.Katherines reaction was deafening silence.Langdon could tell she was reeling, and he wished he could reach out and comfort her, just lying eradicate to end in the narrow down(p)ness made it impossible. Peters okay, he whispered. Hes alive, and well get him back. Langdon tried to give her hope. Katherine, his captor promised me your brother would be returned alive . . . as long as I line the pyramid for him.Still Katherine said nothing.Langdon kept talking. He told her about the tilt pyramid, its Masonic cipher, the sealed capstone, and, of course, about Bellamys claims that this pyramid was in fact the Masonic Pyramid of legend . . . a map that displayed the hiding place of a long spiral st air forcecase that led deep into the earth . . . down hundreds of feet to a mystical antiquated treasure that had been buried in Washington long ago.Katherine finally spoke, unless her voice was flat and emotionless. Robert, open your eyes.Open my eyes? Langdon had no proneness to have even the slightest glimpse of how cramped this topographic target really was.Robert Katherine demanded, desperately now. Open your eyes Were hereLangdons eyes flew open as his embody emerged through an opening similar to the one it had entered at the other end. Katherine was alread y climbing off the conveyor belt. She lifted his daybag off the belt as Langdon swung his legs over the edge and jumped down onto the tile floor just in time, before the conveyor turned the corner and headed back the way it came. The space around them was a circulation room much like the one they had mystify from in the other building. A small sign read ADAMS construction CIRCULATION ROOM 3. Langdon felt like he had just emerged from some pleasing of subterranean birth lavatoryal. Born again. He turned immediately to Katherine. Are you okay?Her eyes were red, and she had obviously been crying, but she nodded with a resolute stoicism. She picked up Langdons daybag and carried it across the room without a word, drawting it on a fill up desk. She lit the desks halogen clamp lamp, unzipped the bag, folded down the sides, and peered inside.The granite pyramid looked almost austere in the clean halogen light. Katherine ran her flips over the engraved Masonic cipher, and Langdon sens ed deep emotion churning within her. Slowly, she reached into the daybag and pulled out the mental block-shaped package. She held it under the light, examining it closely.As you can check out, Langdon quietly said, the wax seal is embossed with Peters Masonic ring. He said this ring was used to seal the package more than a carbon ago.Katherine said nothing.When your brother entrusted the package to me, Langdon told her, he said it would give me the bil allow to create order out of chaos. Im not entirely sure what that means, but Ive got to assume the capstone reveals something beta, because Peter was insistent that it not fall into the awry(p) hands. Mr. Bellamy just told me the same thing, urging me to hide the pyramid and not let anyone open the package.Katherine turned now, looking angry. Bellamy told you not to open the package?Yes. He was adamant.Katherine looked incredulous. But you said this capstone is the only way we can decipher the pyramid, right?Probably, yes.Kathe rines voice was rising now. And you said deciphering the pyramid is what you were told to do. Its the only way we can get Peter back, right?Langdon nodded.Then, Robert, why wouldnt we open the package and decipher this thing right now?Langdon didnt know how to respond. Katherine, I had the same exact reaction, and in time Bellamy told me that keeping this pyramids secret intact was more important than anything . . . including your brothers life.Katherines pretty features hardened, and she tucked a wisp of hair behind her ears. When she spoke, her voice was resolved. This stone pyramid, whatever it is, has cost me my entire family. First my nephew, Zachary, past my mother, and now my brother.And lets face it, Robert, if you hadnt called tonight to warn me . . .Langdon could feel himself trapped between Katherines logic and Bellamys stiff urging.I may be a scientist, she said, but I likewise come from a family of well- cognise Masons. Believe me, Ive heard all the stories about th e Masonic Pyramid and its promise of some great treasure that give enlighten mankind. Honestly, I find it hard to imagine such a thing exists. However, if it does exist . . . perhaps its time to unveil it. Katherine slid a finger beneath the old twine on the package.Langdon jumped. Katherine, no WaitShe paused, but her finger remained beneath the string. Robert, Im not going to let my brother die for this. Whatever this capstone says . . . whatever lost treasures this engraving might reveal . . . those secrets end tonight.With that, Katherine yanked defiantly on the twine, and the brittle wax seal exploded.CHAPTER 63In a quiet neighborhood just west of Embassy track in Washington, there exists a medieval-style walled garden whose go ups, it is said, spring from twelfth-century plants. The gardens Carderock gazeboknown as Shadow Housesits elegantly amid meandering pathways of stones dug from George Washingtons private quarry.Tonight the silence of the gardens was broken by a yout hful man who rushed through the wooden gate, shouting as he came. how-do-you-do? he called out, straining to see in the moonlight. Are you in here?The voice that replied was frail, barely audible. In the gazebo . . . just taking some air.The young man found his withered superior seated on the stone bench beneath a blanket. The hunched old man was tiny, with elfin features. The years had bent him in two and stolen his eyesight, but his disposition remained a force to be reckoned with.Catching his breath, the young man told him, I just . . . took a call . . . from your friend . . . Warren Bellamy.Oh? The old man perked up. About what?He didnt say, but he sounded like he was in a big hurry. He told me he left you a sum on your voice mail, which you need to listen to right away.Thats all he said?Not quite. The young man paused. He told me to ask you a question. A truly strange question. He said he infallible your response right away.The old man leaned closer. What question?As the yo ung man spoke Mr. Bellamys question, the pall that crossed the old mans face was circumpolar even in the moonlight. Immediately, he threw off his blanket and began struggling to his feet. beguile help me inside. Right away.CHAPTER 64No more secrets, thought Katherine Solomon.On the table in front of her, the wax seal that had been intact for generations now lay in pieces. She finished removing the faded brown paper from her brothers curious package. Beside her, Langdon looked decidedly uneasy.From within the paper, Katherine extracted a small box made of patriarchal stone. Resembling a polished granite cube, the box had no hinges, no latch, and no unpatterned way inside. It reminded Katherine of a Chinese puzzle box.It looks like a firm block, she said, running her fingers over the edges. Are you sure the X- ray showed it was hollow? With a capstone inside?It did, Langdon said, moving next to Katherine and scrutinizing the mysterious box. He and Katherine peered at the box from different angles, attempting to find a way in.Got it, Katherine said as her fingernail located the undercover slit along one of the boxs top edges. She set the box down on the desk and then carefully pried open the lid, which rose smoothly, like the top of a fine jewelry box.When the lid reprehensible back, Langdon and Katherine both drew audible breaths. The interior of the box seemed to be glowing. The inside was shining with an almost supernatural effulgence. Katherine had never seen a piece of amber this large, and it took her an instant to realize that the precious metal was simply reflecting the radiance of the desk lamp.Its spectacular, she whispered. disdain being sealed in a dark stone cube for over a century, the capstone had not faded or tarnished in any way. Gold resists the entropic laws of decay thats one of the reasons the ancients considered it magical. Katherine felt her pulse animize as she leaned forward, peering down over the small well-off point. Theres an inscription.Langdon moved closer, their articulatio humeris now touching. His blue eyes flashed with curiosity. He had told Katherine about the ancient Greek approach pattern of creating a attributeona code broken into partsand how this capstone, long isolated from the pyramid itself, would hold the describe to deciphering the pyramid. Allegedly, this inscription, whatever it said, would bring order from this chaos.Katherine held the fiddling box up to the light and peered straight down over the capstone.though small, the inscription was perfectly visiblea small bit of elegantly engraved text on the face of one side. Katherine read the 6 simple nomenclature.Then she read them again.No she declared. That cant be what it saysAcross the street, music director Sato hurried up the long walkway outside the Capitol Building toward her get together point on First Street. The update from her field team had been unacceptable. No Langdon. No pyramid. No capstone. Bellamy was in custo dy, but he was not telling them the truth. At least not yet.Ill make him talk.She glanced back over her shoulder at one of Washingtons newest vistasthe Capitol Dome framed above the new visitor center. The illuminated dome only accentuated the significance of what was truly at chance tonight. Dangerous times.Sato was relieved to hear her cell phone ring and see her analysts ID on the screen.Nola, Sato answered. What have you got?Nola Kaye gave her the bad news. The roentgenogram of the capstones inscription was too tripping to read, and the image-enhancing filters had not helped. Shit. Sato chewed at her lip. How about the sixteen-letter grid? Im salvage trying, Nola said, but so far Ive found no secondary encryption scheme thats applicable. Ive got a com typeseter reshuffling the letters in the grid and looking for anything identifiable, but there are over twenty trillion possibilities.Stay on it. Let me know. Sato hung up, scowling. Her hopes of deciphering the pyramid using o nly a photograph and X-ray were fading fast. I need that pyramid and capstone . . . and Im running out of time.Sato arrived at First Street just as a black Escalade SUV with dark windows roared across the double yellow and skidded to a stanch in front of her at their rendezvous point. A lone divisor got out.Any word yet on Langdon? Sato demanded.Confidence is high, the man said, emotionless. rest period just arrived. All library exits are surrounded. We even have air support coming in. Well flush him with tear gas, and hell have nowhere to run.And Bellamy? laced up in the backseat.Good. Her shoulder was still smarting.The mover pass Sato a plastic Ziploc bag containing cell phone, keys, and wallet. Bellamys effects.Nothing else?No, maam. The pyramid and package moldiness still be with Langdon.Okay, Sato said. Bellamy knows plenty hes not telling. Id like to question him personally.Yes, maam. To Langley, then?Sato took a deep breath and paced a moment beside the SUV. Strict proto cols governed the interrogative of U.S. civilians, and questioning Bellamy was highly illegal unless it was done at Langley on exposure with witnesses, attorneys, blah, blah, blah . . . Not Langley, she said, trying to think of somewhere closer. And more private.The agent said nothing, standing at attention beside the idling SUV, waiting for orders.Sato lit a cigarette, took a long drag, and gazed down at the Ziploc bag of Bellamys items. His key ring, she had noticed, included an electronic fob adorned with four lettersUSBG. Sato knew, of course, which administration building this fob accessed. The building was very close and, at this hour, very private. She smiled and pocketed the fob. Perfect.When she told the agent where she wanted to take Bellamy, she expected the man to look surprised, but he simply nodded and opened the passenger door for her, his cold regard revealing nothing.Sato loved professionals.Langdon stood in the basement of the Adams Building and stared in irre solution at the elegantly inscribed words on the face of the golden capstone.Thats all it says?Beside him, Katherine held the capstone under the light and shook her head. Theres got to be more, she insisted, looking cheated. This is what my brother has been protecting all these years?Langdon had to admit he was mystified. match to Peter and Bellamy, this capstone was supposed to help them decipher the stone pyramid. In light of those claims, Langdon had expected something illuminating and helpful. More like obvious and useless. once again, he read the six words delicately inscribed on the face of the capstone.Thesecret hideswithin The order of magnitudeThe secret hides within The Order?At first glance, the inscription appeared to be stating the obviousthat the letters on the pyramid were out of order and that their secret lay in finding their proper sequence. This reading, however, in addition to being self-evident, seemed unlikely for another reason. The words the and order ar e capitalized, Langdon said.Katherine nodded blankly. I saw that.The secret hides within The Order. Langdon could think of only one logical implication. The Order must be referencing the Masonic Order.I agree, Katherine said, but its still no help. It tells us nothing.Langdon had to concur. After all, the entire tommyrot of the Masonic Pyramid revolved around a secret hidden within the Masonic Order.Robert, didnt my brother tell you this capstone would give you forefinger to see order where others saw only chaos?He nodded in frustration. For the second time tonight, Robert Langdon was feeling unworthy.CHAPTER 65Once Malakh had finished dealings with his unexpected visitora female security guard from prefer Securityhe fixed the paint on the window through which she had glimpsed his sacred work space.Now, ascending out of the soft blue murk of the basement, he emerged through a hidden doorway into his living room. Inside, he paused, admiring his spectacular painting of the Three Graces and savoring the familiar smells and sounds of his home.Soon I will be leaving forever. Malakh knew that after tonight he would be unable to return to this place. After tonight, he thought, smiling, I will have no need for this place.He wondered if Robert Langdon yet understood the true power of the pyramid . . . or the importance of the role for which fate had chosen him. Langdon has yet to call me, Malakh thought, after double-checking for messages on his disposable phone. It was now 1002 P.M. He has less than two hours.Malakh went upstairs to his Italian-marble bathroom and turned on the locomote shower to let it heat up. Methodically, he stripped off his clothes, vehement to begin his cleansing ritual.He drank two glasses of water to quiet down his starving stomach. Then he walked to the full-length mirror and studied his naked as a jaybird body. His two days of fasting had accentuated his musculature, and he could not help but admire that which he had become. By daw n, I will be so much more.CHAPTER 66We should get out of here, Langdon said to Katherine. Its only a matter of time before they figure out where we are. He hoped Bellamy had managed to escape.Katherine still seemed fixated on the gold capstone, looking incredulous that the inscription was so unhelpful. She had interpreted the capstone out of the box, examined every side, and was now carefully putting it back in the box.The secret hides within The Order, Langdon thought. Big help.Langdon found himself wondering now if perhaps Peter had been misinformed about the contents of the box. This pyramid and capstone had been created long before Peter was born, and Peter was simply doing as his forefathers had told him, keeping a secret that was probably as much a mystery to him as it was to Langdon and Katherine.What did I expect? Langdon wondered. The more he learned tonight about the Legend of the Masonic Pyramid, the less plausible it all seemed. Im searching for a hidden spiral staircase covered by a spacious stone? Something told Langdon he was chasing shadows. Nonetheless, deciphering this pyramid seemed his best chance at preservation Peter.Robert, does the year 1514 mean anything to you?Fifteen-fourteen? The question seemed apropos of nothing. Langdon shrugged. No. Why?Katherine handed him the stone box. Look. The box is dated. Have a look under the light.Langdon took a seat at the desk and studied the cube-shaped box beneath the light. Katherine put a soft hand on his shoulder, leaning in to point out the tiny text she had found carved on the outside of the box, near the bottom corner of one side.Fifteen-fourteen A.D., she said, pointing into the box.Sure enough, the carving picture the number 1514, followed by an unusual stylization of the letters A and D.This date, Katherine was saying, sounding suddenly hopeful, maybe its the link were missing? This dated cube looks a lot like a Masonic cornerstone, so maybe its pointing to a real cornerstone? Maybe to a building built in 1514 A.D.?Langdon barely heard her.Fifteen-fourteen A.D. is not a date.The symbol , as any scholar of medieval art would recognize, was a well-known symbaturea symbol used in place of a signature. Many of the early philosophers, artists, and authors subscribe their work with their own unique symbol or monogram rather than their name. This habituate added a mysterious allure to their work and also protected them from persecution should their publications or artwork be deemed counterestablishment.In the case of this symbature, the letters A.D. did not stand for Anno Domini . . . they were German for something else entirely.Langdon instantly saw all the pieces fall into place. at heart seconds, he was certain he knew exactly how to decipher the pyramid. Katherine, you did it, he said, fisticuffs up. Thats all we needed. Lets go. Ill explain on the way.Katherine looked amazed. The date 1514 A.D. actually means something to you?Langdon winked at her and headed for the door. A.D. isnt a date, Katherine. Its a person.