The Code - Genesis - Book I (18 page)

“I understand.”  He takes a deep breath and continues. “It…it was supposed to be a gift for my mother.  My mom was an anthropologist.  My dad is a doctor, retired now. While she has an affinity for artifacts, he loves puzzles and numbers.  I guess if you look at the parental equation, it makes sense that I’m their son.”

“Are we talking about your brief history of crime here or about your life story?”

“I’m getting there.  You want the truth…then you need to know everything about this.”  Natan nods.  Josh continues, “Anyway, my mom had just had a stroke and nothing seemed to be helping.  I felt lost.  I wanted to see her passion, her joy return.  Before the stroke, my mother was a remarkable woman…a woman of value and depth.  Her spirit could stun a room quiet.  And then…after it happened…it was a time when I never saw her more hollow in her life.  I felt that I needed to fix it…to fix her.” 

             
Josh’s memory leads him to central
London
where he stands with a friend across the street from the Big Ben clock.  The friend holds a box that he hands to Josh.  Josh continues his story for Natan. “A friend of mine in
London
said he had come across an artifact that was for sale.  I flew there, leaving my mother for three days so that I could check it out and make the purchase.  If it was what he said it was…it was going to be the
cure
.”

Josh opens the box from his friend, pulling out an African pottery shard.  He

smiles.  He confides to Natan, “My mother loved most artifacts, but she had a special

affinity for African ones.”  Josh remembers putting the artifact back in the box, reaching into his pocket for a check, and handing his friend the payment. 

He continues, “I bought it without realizing what happened.  I made a mistake.”  Natan listens intently, drifting for a moment to her memory of Josh’s mother with a younger Josh at the dinner table.  Josh continues his story, “As you know, they confiscated it as soon as I returned to
Boston
and my mother never received it.  She knew nothing of the ordeal and still doesn’t.  My dad and I kept it from her.  I was charged with one count of purchasing stolen property and one count of smuggling.  I plea bargained out.  My sentence was that I had to spend a year in
Mexico
teaching math to underprivileged kids.  And I only got that because through his medical practice, my dad knew a young political star on the rise with strong connections in D.C.”

Natan interrupts, “Congressman Bradshaw…”

“Yeah. 
Kent
used some of his connections and they made it possible for me to list the entire thing as “volunteer service” so that it wouldn’t affect my career.”

“This Bradshaw fellow sure lays it on the line for you, doesn’t he?” Natan affirms.

“He’s a good guy…and I feel just terrible about his current situation.  That’s why I asked you for help,” Josh replies.

“Whatever happened with your mother, Professor?”

Josh tears up. “She came back on her own…I shouldn’t have doubted her.”  He composes himself. “Well, Agent Natan, you now know about the two dishonest things I’ve done in my life.”

“Two?” she asks.

“Trespassing in
Mexico
was the second,” he concedes.

Natan looks at Josh, realizing that she has the truth she wants. “Right.  Any other secrets I should know about before we plunge further?”

“Yeah…you could have just asked me, Agent Natan.  I would have told you.” 

“Why didn’t you offer me this information in the beginning?” she asks.

“What about you?” he offers.

“What about me?” she replies.

Josh probes, “And you shared all of the skeletons in your closet in
the short time we’ve known one another?  What about your secrets?”

“I see your point.  Trust is a funny thing, isn’t it?” Natan replies.

“It sure is.”  Josh flashes back to sitting at his computer, pages of binary code

information strewn around him. 
She can’t know.
The words echo in his mind.

Inside the car Josh hands the pages back to Natan.  She takes them.  “You can

keep these.  Now, can you please tell me what’s going on with this situation with Dr. Berk?  Why, even after finding the
Boston
matrix information, did you feel the need to explore this?” he says. 

“It’s complicated,” Natan replies.  Josh waits for an answer.  Natan continues, “I’m grappling with all that is going on here, Professor. I already told you…I did some research online and found some information about his work.  I went to see him to learn more. 

“And?” he asks.

Natan replies, “And…he told me about finding a similar code in the two classics I mentioned and that the Bible Code was basically a joke.”

“I’m not laughing,” Josh replies.

“I wasn’t either.  But if the Code is real, then why hasn’t he found my information in there?  If I’m so damn important, why hasn’t anyone else found this information?”  Natan jokes, “Does the Bible Code hide information at will or what?”

“Of course not…that’s impossible,” he says.

“Well…apparently, so is the Code itself,” she counters.

“Agent Natan, the problem is that Dr. Berk and most others who review the Code don’t know what to look for.”

“What do you mean?” Natan asks.

“It’s like September eleventh.  Several researchers found matrices with information about
September 11, 2001
…after it happened.  People type in words for events that have already occurred and then they find matrices linking words that describe the event and they make a connection.”  Josh watches Natan’s unchanging expression.  He continues, “For example, with Hitler…in the early 1900s who would know enough about Hitler to investigate him in the Code?  The people then wouldn’t have been able to recognize the information.  Though, if they could have known about it, they may have been able to prevent World War II.  It’s ironic, actually.”

Natan replies, “…because we can’t know the future until it actually happens.”
             

“Bingo,” he says. “And, by then, it’s moot, isn’t it?  This is actually a good thing for us, but not for predicting the future.  That’s why I hoped the symbols would help guide us where the Bible Code couldn’t.” 

“So, you’re saying Dr. Berk, a man whose colleagues believe ‘should have won a Nobel Prize, if Nobel Prizes were given for math,’ missed any information about me just because?” she questions.

“Why wouldn’t he?  He had no reason to search for you in the Code,” Josh says. “Even I found your information by accident…or through the grace of God…depending on how you look at it.”  Josh pauses. “Agent Natan.”

“Yeah?” She looks at him.

Josh probes further. “Did he seem interested in your inquest?”

“When I told him that the N.S.A. was reviewing the Bible Code, he seemed amused more than anything,” she replies.

“You don’t think you’ve intrigued his curiosity now?” Josh wonders aloud.

“Honestly, no,” she says. “He told me to tell the N.S.A. that it would be easier to prove the existence of Santa Claus than it would be to prove the Bible Code.”

“Well, good.  Now we can try to regain our focus…” Josh’s voice trails off as Natan hears a heartbeat again.  Wincing, she rubs her forehead with her hand, then sees a flash.
             
             

In her mind, Natan remembers her walk up to Dr. Berk’s building.  “Who can you

trust, Agent Natan?” A voice echoes from a building as she approaches.  Natan looks up toward the roof of a building across the way.  She sees a man with binoculars watching her.

Inside the car a concerned Josh shakes Natan. “Agent Natan.”  No reply.  “Agent

Natan!”  Josh shakes her again. 

Natan snaps back to reality.  “What?” 

“Are you okay?” he almost demands.

“I’m fine,” she replies weakly.

“You had me concerned there for a moment.  What just happened?” he asks.

Natan tries to joke it away as nothing. “I’ve just been having headaches the last few days accompanied with acid flashbacks from drugs I never used.”

“What?” he asks.

“I keep seeing flashes of light,” she replies.

“How many days has this been going on, Agent Natan?”

“Four or five,” she replies.

“Have you been experiencing any other symptoms?” he asks.

             
Natan hesitates. “Like what?”

“I don’t know…fainting…blacking out?” His voice trails off.

             
Natan replies, “I haven’t really blacked out as much as I’ve been having hallucinations.”

“What?!”  Josh sits dumbfounded.  “What do you mean…what kind of hallucinations?”
             

“It doesn’t matter, Professor.”

“It matters to me.  Tell me…please.  You can trust me, Agent Natan.”

Josh’s words echo in Natan’s head. 
You can trust me, Agent Natan.

She continues, “I get a headache and then I see a flash…and then…”

“
And then?” he probes.

“I see images, Professor
.
”

“Images…of what, Agent Natan?”

“I know it sounds crazy…” she hears the word
crazy
in her mind and pauses a moment for reflection.

Josh interrupts her by reaching out his hand to touch her arm.  “I believe you,” he says tenderly.

             
Natan shifts uncomfortably.  Josh pulls back his hand and continues, “This may have something to do with the Code.  Were you going to tell me about this?”

“It’s not like I even know what’s happening to me…” Natan admits.

“Agent Natan, have you noticed anything else physically?  Anything that may have a connection to the Code…”

Natan jokes, “Well, I ran into my coffee table a few weeks back.  You think that could have an affect on the world’s religious populations when kneeling for prayer or something?”  Josh sits in silence.  Natan continues, “Look.  So many things are happening lately…I don’t even know what’s what, let alone the fact that we’ve been experiencing technical difficulties…the fact that I’ve been remanded to desk duty at work…and the fact that I’m under surveillance at my house.”

             
Josh sits in shock as he watches her confession.  She continues, “There.  I think that gets us up to date.  You still feel deprived of information?”

“I’m bemused,” he replies. “Though, it’s apparent to me that you’re experiencing something here.”

“You think?” she retorts.

“I really think you should see someone about this, Agent Natan.”

“I don’t need a doctor, Professor.”

“I was thinking of a different type of professional,” he counters.

“I already have a therapist,” she replies.

“That isn’t what I meant,” he says. “Let me worry about it…I’ll look into it.  Now, tell me more about these images.  What do you see?”

She tries to describe them. “They’re like fractions of pictures…like, glimpses.”

“Glimpses of what?” he asks.

“I…I don’t really know what, Professor.”

“What have you seen, Agent Natan?”

Natan leans in, becoming serious.
Can I trust him?
 
He’s going to fi
nd out sooner or later.  No sens
e in walking away empty handed.  Perhaps a game of barter will do.
“I’ll tell you if you explain one thing to me.”
 

“What?” he asks.

Natan replies coyly, “Why isn’t there a Nobel Prize for math?”

“Ah…you’re kidding me, right?  This is a joke?” he asks.

“No…I’m serious,” she replies. “I need to know.  They have Nobel Prizes for everything but math?  Why?”

Josh is astounded. “You need this information right now…at this particular moment?”

“Absolutely, Professor.  You’re a math man…tell me.”

He simply says, “No.”

“No?  You don’t know?” Natan reels him in.

“Oh, I know.  You tell me about the images first and then I’ll tell you about the non-existent Nobel Prize for math,” he counters.

“You want me to trust you, Professor?”

“Can you, Agent Natan?”

“Actually, I do trust you, Professor…more than anyone in my life at the moment.” Josh softens.  Natan changes the subject, “One of the images was about you, Professor.”

“About me?” he asks, “I see where this is going…you were projecting in our argument at the University…”

Natan interrupts him. “Professor…do you want to know or what?”  Josh listens.