Pentecost (31 page)
“You found the stones?” she said, amazed that they had been pulled intact from the flames. She reached for the case, laid it on the desk and opened it. They lay benign, all twelve, just pieces of rock, each with its own place carved so that they sat snugly. She recognized her own stone, remembering when her father had given it to her, no hint of what powers it might contain.
“This one is mine, you know, and that is my sister’s. You have no right to keep these.”
“But I think you appreciate their potential power now.” Marietti said. “Perhaps it’s best that they rest together in our vault. No one will come for you or your family again if we have them.”
She traced the outline of her stone with a fingertip. Then she nodded and closed the lid, without relinquishing the box. Marietti stood.
“You deserve to see them laid to rest. Come, we’ll go down together.”
Morgan glanced sideways at Jake as they entered the elevator. They had still not spoken directly. His eyes were dark and hooded, as if he had withdrawn into his agent self. The Jake she had seen in the ruins of the Biosphere was hidden again. She was confused by his conflicting signals and didn’t trust her feelings enough to speak so she stood away from him in the elevator as they descended into the depths of the ARKANE vaults.
Marietti stopped in front of the main vault door. It looked like an ancient portal, but inlaid with modern steel bars, protected by a high level security system. He scanned his retina and entered a passcode. Jake spoke his keywords to authenticate the entry. The doors opened and Marietti waved Morgan inside.
“Few outsiders see this, but I thought you’d find it interesting.”
A puff of cool air blew over them from the humidity controlled vault as they walked through the doors. Morgan marveled at the size of the hall in front of her. It stretched into the distance with separate opaque sealed rooms for books, religious artifacts and unknown objects hidden inside.
“This is our treasure vault,” Marietti said, “where we keep the most precious and dangerous artifacts. Here are the manuscripts of heresy and occult knowledge, the bones of martyred saints and secrets the world would have us keep.”
“Or you would keep from the world,” she countered, but followed him down the hallway. Marietti stopped in front of a doorway and led her in. It was dark and cool inside; a dim light outlined boxes, paintings and scrolls all in numbered places around the walls.
“The light must stay dim to protect what is here, but these are secrets that the stones can rest easy with, Morgan.”
She didn’t relinquish the box.
“After what you’ve put me through, after leaving me and my family to die and taking the stones, how can you ask me to give these back to you? There’s more to ARKANE than protecting religious secrets for the good of mankind, I know that. Why should the stones stay with you?”
Marietti sighed, age showing in his face.
“We couldn’t let the power of the stones into the world and you’re a resourceful woman. Clearly, you inspired great loyalty in Jake, and you both made it out, with the stones so no harm done. This time. But this is a safe place for them now, especially if you work with us. Think about it. I know you’re intrigued by what lies within these vaults and we can give you access. You’re a scholar. Knowledge is what you seek.” He paused. “... And perhaps adventure as well.”
Morgan looked around the vault, at the cornucopia of intoxicating possibility. She bent and gently laid the case of stones down in their allotted place, as if saying goodbye. She backed out of the vault as Marietti followed.
“I’ve just got my life back,” she said. “I’ve found my family again and have a chance for a normal life. I’ve seen what you do and I don’t want this crazy dangerous ARKANE life. The price is too high.”
She looked pointedly at Jake then. He met her eyes with a challenge, saying nothing to stop her. Turning away, Morgan began to walk down the long corridor back towards the elevator. Marietti called after her.
“A war is coming, Morgan. A religious battle where millions may die and ARKANE is the only group capable of stopping it. Thanatos will not give up this easily. We need you.”
She stopped for a second, but didn’t turn around as he finished.
“Ask Ben. Ask him about your parents and the pale horse of Thanatos. You’ve heard of the prophecy, that the stones will be together in the end times. Those times are upon us. Ask him, and then call me.”
She walked on faster then, away from his haunting voice. Up in the elevator through the levels and into the light of another London day, to be lost in the tourist crowds of Trafalgar Square.
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Author’s Note
Thank you for joining Morgan on the hunt for the Pentecost stones. I hope you enjoyed the ride! One of my favorite parts of thriller novels is when the author outlines where some of the ideas came from. Now I can share my own inspiration, where research meets fiction.
The Pentecost stones and the Apostles after the book of Acts
Whatever your personal beliefs about God, the Bible is full of inspiration for writers. I have a Masters degree in Theology and I find myself returning again and again to the realm of the spiritual for ideas.
The Biblical book of Acts, Chapter 2, describes the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Apostles of Jesus. They spoke in tongues, preached to crowds and performed miracles. However, there is no biblical tradition of the stones of the Apostles. That is my fiction but it certainly seems to be the last time the Apostles were together in one place as the twelve scattered across the known world. Is it possible they took symbols of brotherhood with them?
In my research, I found that little is known of what actually happened to those twelve men and what is documented is contradictory and confusing. I used multiple sources to try to locate where the likely resting place of the stones might be if they had been left with the bodies of the Apostles. Some are well known, like James and Peter, but others have disappeared into myth, like Simon the Zealot.
A National Geographic article in March 2012 goes into some of the research I also used. More details here:
http://joannapenn.com/national-geographic-apostles/
Resurgam comet
The Resurgam comet is fictitious although I based the information on some of the theories around comet Elenin which did pass close to the Earth during the period of the Japan earthquake and tsunami.
The related Biblical verses are: Mark chapter 13, Matthew 27:51-52, 28:2, Revelation 6:12-14
Locations in the book
I have tried to be accurate in the physical description of the locations in the story, most of which I have been to in person. I’m a travel junkie and particularly love places of religious and cultural significance.
INDIA.
Manikarnika ghat in Varanasi is indeed where bodies are burnt and Hindus believe they can escape the endless cycle of rebirth. I’ve been on one of those boats watching the burning bodies. As a Westerner, it was a profound experience that affected me deeply. This first scene was the birth of the idea for the whole book.
ENGLAND.
Oxford is my spiritual home and the place I return to in my dreams and in real life as often as I can. Steeped in myth and history, it crops up in every story in my head. Morgan’s office in Bath Place is a real location, but it’s a hotel. The Turf pub is just behind it. Blackfriars is on St Giles and I attended tutorials there myself when I did Theology at Mansfield College, but I have taken liberties with the interior and layout. The Pitt Rivers Museum is a wonderful treasure trove of inspiration that you can now roam online as well as in the flesh. In London, Trafalgar Square is well known as a tourist destination, but I don’t know what lies beneath it!
SPAIN.
Santiago de Compostela does have a silver reliquary of St James and also the largest swinging censer in the world. I found this when roaming the cathedral online and just had to use it as an escape route for Jake. The vision of Pope Leo XIII is from real Church archives.
IRAN.
There is a church of St Mary in Tabriz and the Armenian faith is one of the oldest in the world. I took liberties with the actual location as there was little definite information. It seems certain that one or more of the Apostles made it that far east.
ITALY.
The Pope does take Mass in St Peter’s regularly and anyone can attend. My husband and I stumbled in there for Epiphany in January 2010 and were amazed at how close you can get to him. There is a glass case holding the remains of Pope Pius X, and the statue of Alexander does feature a skeleton with an hourglass. Venice is flooded increasingly more often each year and may indeed be underwater one day, hopefully not in our lifetime. There is a spectacular Pentecost mural in the Basilica San Marco which reshaped the whole plot after our visit there. Amalfi is the supposed resting place of St Andrew.
ISRAEL.
Jerusalem is one of my perpetual inspirations, having travelled there a number of times. The church of the Holy Sepulchre is as crazy as I describe and the Ethiopian Coptics did live on the roof when I last visited.
TUNISIA.
The wadi at Nefta is a real place but everything about the citadel is fictional.
USA.
The founders of modern psychology did indeed visit Clark University in 1909 and there is a statue of Freud on a bench. I visited the Biosphere 2 in Arizona years ago and was entranced by the various habitats. The glass ziggurat came to mind as somewhere that would explode dramatically, and the storms in Arizona make the crazy weather a possibility.
Carl Jung, The Red Book and Wolfgang Pauli
One of my abiding fascinations is psychology, particularly when it relates to religion and faith. I have read Carl Jung for years and almost trained as a psychologist, but that would have been another life.
The Red Book was opened to the public in 2009 and I have a copy myself. It contains a painting by Jung of a pillar of fire spouting from a grey stone in a room as I describe in the book. But of course, I made up the interpretation of the picture.
Jung did travel in North Africa and also to North America and Clark University. He also counseled physicist Wolfgang Pauli on his dreams, the wasp being one of his real nightmares. The relationship of these men to the Apostles of Jesus is fictional.
Any mistakes in the research are purely my own.
ABOUT J.F.PENN
Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She was voted one of The Guardian Top 100 Creative Professionals in the UK 2013.
She lives in London, England but spent 11 years in Australia and New Zealand. Joanna worked for 13 years as an international business consultant within the IT industry but is now a full-time author-entrepreneur. Joanna has a Master’s degree in Theology from the University of Oxford, Mansfield College and a Graduate Diploma in Psychology from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Joanna is a PADI Divemaster and enjoys traveling as often as possible. She is obsessed with religion and psychology and loves to read, drink pinot noir and soak up European culture through art, architecture and food.
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