The Lucifer Code (30 page)

‘In 398
AD
,’ Joachim interrupted.

Lourds sipped his beer. ‘I suppose there’s a lot of rote work in the Brotherhood.’

Joachim smiled.

‘While holding his office,’ Lourds went on, ‘John Chrysostom ran foul of Theophilus, who was Patriarch of Alexandria at the time, and Emperor Arcadius’s wife—’

‘Aelia Eudoxia,’ Joachim supplied.

‘Thank you. With the patriarch, John Chrysostom refused to bow down, and with the empress, John Chrysostom took to task women who chose to flaunt their wealth in clothing. The patriarch and the empress arranged the Synod of the Oak in 403
AD
and banished John Chrysostom. The people became enraged and demanded that he be returned to his position.’

‘There was more to it than that,’ Joachim said. ‘On the very night that John Chrysostom was arrested, an earthquake occurred. Many people, including the empress, believed it was a sign from God.’

Lourds thought he remembered something like that, but wasn’t certain. ‘During that confrontation, the first Church of the Holy Wisdom was destroyed.’ He studied Joachim. ‘How are you sure that the Joy Scroll wasn’t incinerated in the fire that claimed the church?’

‘Because the Joy Scroll was hidden in the maze of tunnels beneath the church.’

‘Beneath the church?’ Lourds rubbed at the stubble that covered his jaw. ‘Not in the church?’

‘Exactly.’

‘Then why haven’t you found the Joy Scroll before now? Your Brotherhood has had sixteen hundred years to accomplish that.’

‘Because for many years we weren’t supposed to find it. Emperor Constantine and a few members of the Brotherhood knew the hiding place where the scroll was kept. Despite being in a land where everyone felt the scroll was protected, the emperor and the elder brothers knew that many enemies remained outside the city walls. The choice was made to keep the number of people who knew where the scroll was to a handful. Each generation in turn handed down the knowledge of the scroll to only a few people. That number was cut further after the Nika Riots.’

‘The war between the Blue and the Green,’ Lourds said.

‘Yes.’

‘What is the War between the Blue and the Green?’ Cleena asked.

‘During this time, the early 530s, I believe,’ Lourds said.

‘532,’ Joachim supplied, then smiled. ‘It is as you say. A
lot
of rote work.’

‘There were a lot of social associations called
demes
. They supported the different teams that competed in chariot racing and other contests.’

‘You mean like bookies?’ Cleena asked.

‘Nothing so small,’ Olympia said. ‘Think of the
demes
like long lines of political parties and street gangs. It wasn’t just about the sporting events. They actively pursued social issues of the times and fought against those they didn’t like. Battles often broke out in the streets between the different groups and the emperor’s soldiers.’

‘To make matters worse,’ Lourds said, ‘many of those
demes
were patronized by Roman aristocrats. Several of them believed they deserved the throne more than Emperor Justinian, who currently held the throne. There was a riot in 531 that resulted in murder. Members of the Blues and Greens were arrested and held accountable. Most of them were hanged. However, early in 532 …’ He looked at Joachim.

‘On the tenth of January, to be exact,’ Joachim said.

‘One of the Blues and one of the Greens managed to thwart their guards and flee into the crowd that had already formed to protest against the hangings. Already stretched thin between internal strife and negotiations with Persia, Justinian elected to rescind the death sentences and give the men life sentences.’

‘I assume they didn’t take it,’ Cleena said.

‘No,’ Lourds agreed. ‘The chariot races took place at the Hippodrome next to the palace and the Church of the Holy Wisdom. During the course of the day, violence broke out and swelled into a riot that lasted five days and left the second church burned to the ground.’

‘And still the Joy Scroll remained hidden,’ Joachim said.

‘Hidden or lost?’ Lourds countered.

‘Hidden only. But, as I said, the Brotherhood decided to limit the number of people who knew the Joy Scroll’s hiding place.’

‘Why?’

‘Because the city seemed to be in chaos. There were enemies outside the gates and unrest throughout the streets. It was feared that if anyone knew the power of the scroll and its whereabouts, there would be no stopping those who came after it. The Elders locked themselves away in the underground tunnels. Those that were chosen never again saw the light of day.’

‘That’s insane,’ Cleena whispered.

Lourds didn’t disagree, but he knew that the practice wasn’t unique.

‘Ultimately that proved their undoing, didn’t it?’ Lourds asked. ‘Too few people with the knowledge, and all of them grouped in one place.’

‘They did the best they were able,’ Joachim said. ‘They thought what they were doing was the best and safest thing to do.’

‘The Brotherhood just hadn’t counted on the Fourth Crusade,’ Lourds said.

‘Maybe I’m misunderstanding here,’ Cleena said, ‘but weren’t the Crusades fought between the Muslims and the Christians?’

‘Yes,’ Lourds said, ‘and no. At the outset, the Fourth Crusade was supposed to be an invasion of Muslim Jerusalem by way of Egypt. Instead, The Roman Catholic Church chose to invade and sack Constantinople. The siege and battles lasted five years. At the end of that time, much of Constantinople lay in ruins. Thousands of citizens were dead in the street or displaced from their homes. Everything of value that the crusaders could find was taken.’

‘But they didn’t get the scroll,’ Joachim said quietly.

Lourds looked at the man. ‘You’re sure about that?’

‘The world still stands and spins in her orbit, Professor Lourds. That’s how I know. Once that scroll reaches the wrong hands, all we know will be lost. I promise you that.’

‘What happened to the Elder brothers?’

‘They stayed in the tunnels below the church. Their guards were slain, but they managed to lock themselves into a small sanctuary. They starved or thirsted to death before anyone could reach them. Much treasure was found, or I should say lost in those tunnels where the king’s soldiers tried to hide it, but the Joy Scroll remains.’

For a moment, Lourds thought about everything Joachim had revealed. Then he tapped the book in front of him with a forefinger.

‘Where’d you get this?’ he asked.

‘Most of the documents in that book were written after the Elders were known to be dead. Some of the papers were copied from notes they had managed to write and leave in a crack in the ceiling of the room where they died.’

Images of the abandoned monks filled Lourds’ mind. What must it have been like to be closed up in a tomb while thirsting and starving to death?

And all you had to do to be free was share one secret
.

Lourds didn’t think he could have done it. Then again, he hadn’t thought he would be able to steal the book from Qayin and his followers either.

Yet he had.

‘I’ve been patient so far, Professor Lourds, out of respect for what you have done and gone through, and because my sister believes in you,’ Joachim said.

‘I told you if anyone can do this, Thomas would be the one,’ Olympia said in Turkish.

‘English,’ Cleena stated. ‘Speak English for the slow kids.’

Olympia repeated her comment in English, which only drew a snort from Cleena.

‘I need you to prove to me that you can help us.’ Joachim’s dark gaze held Lourds. ‘Can you do that?’

Lourds nodded. ‘I can, but first I need you to do one more thing for me.’

Joachim leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest, obviously displeased.

Ignoring the man, Lourds opened the book to the page with the rubbing. He indicated the image.

‘This. I need to know where you got this.’

Joachim shook his head. ‘There’s nothing there.’

‘
You’ve
found nothing there.’ Lourds leaned back in his own chair. ‘I will.’

‘What makes you so sure?’

‘This rubbing was taken from a stone in the room where the older monks gave their lives to protect the secret of the Joy Scroll.’

Olympia turned to her brother. ‘Is that true?’

Holding his gaze steadily on Lourds, Joachim didn’t answer.

‘Joachim?’

Finally, Joachim nodded. ‘That was where it was found. But you could only be guessing that.’

Lourds turned back a few pages and tapped again. ‘This is one of the pages that were also found in that room. Or am I still just guessing?’

Joachim stared at the page, then back at Lourds. ‘How do you know this?’

‘Because I can read this page now.’ Lourds couldn’t help smiling at his obvious success, especially when Joachim’s eyes widened still further. ‘Would you like to know what it says?’

CHAPTER

18

Central Business District

King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia

19 March 2010

T
he hotel suite was nothing more than an overly comfortable prison cell. Webster knew that and barely tolerated the situation. He wanted to leave the room just to prove that he could. And maybe he wanted to push Prince Khalid to see how far the young man would go.

Although there were no armed guards outside Webster’s door, they were posted at all the entrances to the building. He didn’t doubt that the room was bugged as well. If he had been in charge, he would’ve had the room wired for sound and video. That was why he was using one of the CIA’s white noise generators to cover his phone call.

For the last few hours, he had plied himself with liquor to take the edge off, and consoled himself with Vicky DeAngelo’s carnal attentions. For an older woman, she was a demanding and generous lover. Webster had been surprised, but his mind had focused on the promise brewing in Saudi Arabia and the threat building in Istanbul. In the end, though, Vicky proved to be as much like him as he had believed her to be. Once the fighting had broken out in the streets, she had deserted his bed and returned to her room and her computer to take control of the reporters still loyal to her within the country. News streamed from those reporters on the ground, but Prince Khalid’s soldiers worked hurriedly to find them and shut them down. Some of them had already been killed, but Prince Khalid hadn’t approached Vicky about the matter.

Webster stood to one side of the polarized balcony window and let the loose folds of the drapes conceal him. Beyond the glass, under the night sky, the city spread in neat squares, some of them lighted and some of them not. Power hadn’t been connected to all the new areas. Webster had turned the lights out behind him; he was more comfortable in the darkness. He held the sat-phone close to his ear as he spoke. Out in the streets, armed forces patrolled in heavy numbers. Tanks as well as soldiers moved constantly.

On the other side of the room, the muted television showed smuggled footage from Saudi Arabia on WNN News. FOX, CNN and MSNBC also carried much of the same footage. A lot of it came from Vicky’s people.

Prince Khalid had made good on his promise to remove the enemies of his country. Within minutes after speaking to Webster, special teams had hit the streets and begun sweeping Shia, suspected Shia and Shia sympathizers from the cities. That also meant rousting out many American and European businessmen. It also meant that anyone who had a taint of Shia about them got the boot. A religious purge had started and the repercussions were building in strength. Webster felt the power of it around him, like a roaring dark tide. It wouldn’t be calmed and he looked forward to watching it feed.

Many of those persecuted people had fought, not wanting to relinquish their businesses or their wealth. Several of those people, in fact—Webster suspected—most of those people had been killed outright. Others received rough handling or worse as they were loaded onto trucks and taken to train stations where they were herded like cattle onto boxcars. From there they were deported to India and Pakistan. Having dealt with problems of displaced people before, neither India nor Pakistan welcomed the Shia refugees. The displaced people would create a huge drain on the economies of both countries, as well as tying up manpower to keep the inevitable refugee camps manageable.

Webster knew that Prince Khalid counted on those facts. The drain on the finances and the workload of the military would leave the borders of both those countries weak. If the arrivals hadn’t been Shia, or presumably Shia, neither Pakistan nor India would have tolerated the forced expulsion flooding into their countries. And the refugees would continue to come like locust plagues. Those countries would be torn apart by Shia within their own borders who wanted to protect the new arrivals, as well as Sunni predators who would see the refugee camps as easy targets in which to hunt their enemies. Some attacks there had already started.

‘If you’re looking at the same thing I am,’ President Michael Waggoner growled, ‘then I think we’re looking at the seeds of a Middle Eastern war the like of which we’ve never seen.’

Although most people wouldn’t have recognized the tension in the president’s voice, Webster had known the man for years. Waggoner was as close to losing his cool as Webster had ever heard.

‘I’m looking at it,’ Webster said. ‘On the television and in the streets here.’

Waggoner cursed, another thing he rarely did. ‘I hadn’t forgotten you were there in the middle of it, Elliott. Sending you there might not have been the best idea after all. I’m worried about you too.’

‘I know, Mike. It’s a tough time for all of us.’

‘Are you all right? If you think you or your people are in danger, just say the word. I’ve got a Marine special OPS HRT waiting on board an aircraft carrier nearby. The colonel says he and his teams can be there in twenty minutes or less to get you out.’

‘There’s no need to do that yet,’ Webster said. ‘We’re safe enough here at the moment. If we do pull out, it could be taken as a sign of weakness. We don’t want that hanging over us.’