Angels Demons Chapter 80-81

80When Langdon had left the Vatican Secret Archives lone close to(prenominal) both hours ago, he had n forever imagined he would see them again. Now, winded from having jogged the wide-cut way with his Swiss Guard escort, Langdon found himself back at the record erstwhile again.His escort, the endure got with the scar, now led Langdon through the rows of translucent cubicles. The closeness of the archives felt somehow to a greater extent forbidding now, and Langdon was thankful when the guard broke it.Over present, I think, he give tongue to, escorting Langdon to the back of the chamber where a series of sm aller vaults distri howeverion channeld the wall. The guard scanned the titles on the vaults and motioned to one of them. Yes, here it is. Right where the commander said it would be.Langdon read the title. Attivi Vaticani. Vatican assets? He scanned the list of contents. genuine estate currency Vatican Bank antiquities The list went on.Paperwork of all Vatican assets, the guard said.Langdon looked at the cubicle. Jesus. eve in the dark, he could differentiate it was packed.My commander said that some(prenominal) Bernini created while to a lower place Vatican byplay would be listed here as an asset.Langdon nodded, realizing the commanders instincts further might pay off. In Berninis day, allthing an artist created while under the patronage of the pontiff became, by law, property of the Vatican. It was more same feudalism than patronage, scarcely if top artists lived well and seldom complained. Including works placed in churches after-school(prenominal) Vatican City?The soldier gave him an odd look. Of course. All Catholic churches in capital of Italy atomic number 18 property of the Vatican.Langdon looked at the list in his hand. It contained the names of the 20 or so churches that were located on a direct line with West Ponentes breath. The third altar of science was one of them, and Langdon hoped he had while to figure out which i t was. Under other circumstances, he would gladly feed explored each church in person. Today, however, he had about twenty proceeding to ferret out what he was looking for the one church containing a Bernini testimonial to fire.Langdon walked to the vaults electronic revolving door. The guard did non follow. Langdon sensed an uncertain hesitation. He smiled. The airs fine. Thin, but breathable.My orders argon to escort you here and then return immediately to the certificate center.Youre leaving?Yes. The Swiss Guard argon non allowed inface the archives. I am breaching protocol by escorting you this far. The commander reminded me of that.Breaching protocol? Do you absorb any idea what is going on here tonight? Whose side is your damn commander onAll friendliness disappe ard from the guards face. The scar under his eye twitched. The guard stared, looking suddenly a lot alike(p) Olivetti himself.I apologize, Langdon said, regretting the comment. Its salutary I could use some divine service.The guard did non blink. I am trained to follow orders. Not debate them. When you find what you are looking for, contact the commander immediately.Langdon was flustered. precisely where give he be?The guard removed his walkie-talkie and set it on a nearby table. Channel one. Then he disappeared into the dark.81The television in the Office of the Pope was an oversized Hitachi hidden in a sunken cabinet opposite his desk. The doors to the cabinet were now open, and everyone gathered around. Vittoria moved in close. As the block out warmed up, a young female newsperson came into view. She was a doe-eyed brunette.For MSNBC news, she announced, this is Kelly Horan-Jones, live from Vatican City. The image behind her was a night quip of St. Peters Basilica with all its lights blazing.Youre non live, Rocher snapped. Thats stock footage The lights in the basilica are out.Olivetti silenced him with a hiss.The reporter continued, sounding tense. Shocking developments in t he Vatican elections this compensateing. We have reports that two members of the College of Cardinals have been brutally murdered in Rome.Olivetti swore under his breath.As the reporter continued, a guard appeared at the door, breathless. Commander, the central switchboard reports every line lit. Theyre requesting our official position on Disconnect it, Olivetti said, never winning his eyes from the TV.The guard looked uncertain. But, commander GoThe guard ran off.Vittoria sensed the camerlegno had valued to say something but had stopped himself. Instead, the man stared long and hard at Olivetti before turning back to the television.MSNBC was now running read. The Swiss Guards carried the consistence of Cardinal Ebner down the stairs away(p) Santa Maria del Popolo and lifted him into an of import Romeo. The tape froze and zoomed in as the cardinals naked clay became visible exclusively before they deposited him in the trunk of the car.Who the hell shot this footage? Olive tti demanded.The MSNBC reporter kept talking. This is believed to be the body of Cardinal Ebner of Frankfurt, Germany. The men removing his body from the church are believed to be Vatican Swiss Guard. The reporter looked like she was making every parkway to appear appropriately moved. They closed in on her face, and she became even more somber. At this time, MSNBC would like to issue our attestants a discretionary warning. The images we are about to show are nonwithstandingionally vivid and whitethorn not be suitable for all audiences.Vittoria grunted at the stations feigned concern for viewer sensibility, recognizing the warning as simply what it was the ultimate media teaser line. Nobody ever changed channels after a promise like that.The reporter drive it home. Again, this footage may be shocking to some viewers.What footage? Olivetti demanded. You serious showed The shot that alter the screen was of a couple in St. Peters Square, moving through the crowd. Vittoria st raight off recognized the two hatful as Robert and herself. In the corner of the screen was a text overlay Courtesy of the BBC. A bell was tolling.Oh, no, Vittoria said aloud. Oh no.The camerlegno looked confused. He turn to Olivetti. I thought you said you confiscated this tapeSuddenly, on television, a child was screaming. The image panned to find a lowly girl pointing at what appeared to be a bloody homeless man. Robert Langdon entered curtly into the frame, trying to help the little girl. The shot tightened.Everyone in the Popes self-confidence stared in horrified silence as the drama unfolded before them. The cardinals body knock down face first onto the pavement. Vittoria appeared and called orders. There was blood. A brand. A ghastly, failed attempt to distribute CPR.This astonishing footage, the reporter was saying, was shot only minutes ago outside the Vatican. Our sources tell us this is the body of Cardinal Lamasse from France. How he came to be robed this way and why he was not in conclave breathe a mystery. So far, the Vatican has refused to comment. The tape began to roll again.Refused comment? Rocher said. Give us a damn minuteThe reporter was unagitated talking, her eyebrows furrowing with intensity. Although MSNBC has yet to keep up a motive for the attack, our sources tell us that responsibility for the murders has been pleaded by a group calling themselves the Illuminati.Olivetti exploded. What find out more about the Illuminati by visiting our website at Non e posibile Olivetti declared. He switched channels.This station had a Hispanic male reporter. a satanic cult known as the Illuminati, who some historians believe Olivetti began pressing the foreign wildly. Every channel was in the warmness of a live update. Most were in English. Swiss Guards removing a body from a church earlier this evening. The body is believed to be that of Cardinal lights in the basilica and museums are extinguished leaving speculation bequea th be speaking with conspiracy theorist Tyler Tingley, about this shocking resurgence rumors of two more assassinatorations planned for later this evening questioning now whether grandiloquent hopeful Cardinal Baggia is among the missing Vittoria turned away. Everything was happening so fast. right(prenominal) the windowpane, in the settling dark, the raw magnetism of human tragedy seemed to be sucking people toward Vatican City. The crowd in the square thickened roughly by the instant. Pedestrians streamed toward them while a new batch of media personnel deliver vans and staked their claim in St. Peters Square.Olivetti set down the remote control and turned to the camerlegno. Signore, I cannot imagine how this could happen. We to a faultk the tape that was in that cameraThe camerlegno looked momentarily too stunned to speak.Nobody said a word. The Swiss Guards stood rigid at attention.It appears, the camerlegno said finally, sounding too devastated to be angry, that we have not contained this crisis as well as I was led to believe. He looked out the window at the gathering masses. I require to key an address.Olivetti shook his head. No, signore. That is exactly what the Illuminati want you to do confirm them, empower them. We must remain slow.And these people? The camerlegno pointed out the window. There get out be tens of thousands shortly. Then hundreds of thousands. Continuing this antic only puts them in danger. I need to warn them. Then we need to evacuate our College of Cardinals.There is still time. Let Captain Rocher find the antimatter.The camerlegno turned. be you attempting to give me an order?No, I am giving you advice. If you are have-to doe with about the people outside, we can announce a gas let out and clear the area, but admitting we are hostage is dangerous.Commander, I will only say this once. I will not use this office as a pulpit to lie to the world. If I announce anything at all, it will be the truth.The truth? That Vatican City is threatened to be destroyed by satanic terrorists? It only weakens our position.The camerlegno glared. How much weaker could our position be?Rocher shouted suddenly, grabbing the remote and increasing the volume on the television. Everyone turned.On air, the woman from MSNBC now looked rattling unnerved. Superimposed beside her was a photo of the late Pope. breaking information. This just in from the BBC She glanced off camera as if to confirm she was really supposed to make this announcement. Apparently getting confirmation, she turned and grimly faced the viewers. The Illuminati have just claimed responsibility for She hesitated. They have claimed responsibility for the closing of the Pope fifteen age ago.The camerlegnos jaw fell.Rocher dropped the remote control.Vittoria could barely process the information.By Vatican law, the woman continued, no formal autopsy is ever performed on a Pope, so the Illuminati claim of murder cannot be confirmed. Nonetheless, the Illuminati hold that the cause of the late Popes death was not a barb as the Vatican reported, but tipsiness.The room went totally silent again.Olivetti erupted. Madness A bold-faced lieRocher began flipping channels again. The bulletin seemed to spread like a plague from station to station. Everyone had the same story. Headlines competed for optimal sensationalism.Murder at the Vatican Pope Poisoned Satan Touches House of GodThe camerlegno looked away. God help us.As Rocher flipped, he passed a BBC station. tipped me off about the killing at Santa Maria de Popolo Wait the camerlegno said. Back.Rocher went back. On screen, a prim-looking man sat at a BBC news desk. Superimposed over his shoulder was a still snapshot of an odd-looking man with a red beard. Underneath his photo, it saidGunther Glick wear in Vatican CityReporter Glick was apparently reporting by phone, the continuative scratchy. my videographer got the footage of the cardinal being removed from the Chigi Chap el.Let me reiterate for our viewers, the anchorman in capital of the United Kingdom was saying, BBC reporter Gunther Glick is the man who first broke this story. He has been in phone contact twice now with the alleged Illuminati assassin. Gunther, you say the assassin phoned only moments ago to pass along a message from the Illuminati?He did.And their message was that the Illuminati were somehow responsible for the Popes death? The anchorman sounded incredulous.Correct. The caller told me that the Popes death was not a stroke, as the Vatican had thought, but rather that the Pope had been poisoned by the Illuminati.Everyone in the Popes office froze.Poisoned? the anchorman demanded. But but howThey gave no specifics, Glick replied, except to say that they killed him with a drug known as there was a rustling of papers on the line something known as Heparin.The camerlegno, Olivetti, and Rocher all exchanged confused looks.Heparin? Rocher demanded, looking unnerved. But isnt that?The camerlegno blanched. The Popes medication.Vittoria was stunned. The Pope was on Heparin?He had thrombophlebitis, the camerlegno said. He took an injection once a day.Rocher looked flabbergasted. But Heparin isnt a poison. Why would the Illuminati claim Heparin is lethal in the wrong dosages, Vittoria offered. Its a powerful anticoagulant. An overdose would cause massive inborn haemorrhage and brain hemorrhages.Olivetti eyed her suspiciously. How would you know that?Marine biologists use it on sea mammals in captivity to prevent blood clotting from change magnitude activity. Animals have died from improper administration of the drug. She paused. A Heparin overdose in a human would cause symptoms easily mistaken for a stroke especially in the absence of a proper autopsy.The camerlegno now looked late troubled.Signore, Olivetti said, this is obviously an Illuminati ploy for publicity. Someone overdosing the Pope would be impossible. Nobody had access. And even if we take the bait and try to refute their claim, how could we? Papal law prohibits autopsy. Even with an autopsy, we would learn nothing. We would find traces of Heparin in his body from his daily injections.True. The camerlegnos representative sharpened. And yet something else troubles me. No one on the outside knew His Holiness was winning this medication.There was a silence.If he overdosed with Heparin, Vittoria said, his body would show signs.Olivetti spun toward her. Ms. Vetra, in sheath you didnt hear me, grandiloquent autopsies are prohibited by Vatican Law. We are not about to defile His Holinesss body by cutting him open just because an enemy makes a taunting claimVittoria felt shamed. I was not implying She had not meant to seem disrespectful. I certainly was not suggesting you exhume the Pope She hesitated, though. Something Robert told her in the Chigi passed like a ghost through her mind. He had mentioned that papal sarcophagi were above ground and never cemented shut, a throwback to the days of the pharaohs when shut and burying a casket was believed to trap the deceaseds soul inside. Gravity had expire the mortar of choice, with coffin lids often weighing hundreds of pounds. Technically, she realized, it would be possible to What illuminate of signs? the camerlegno said suddenly.Vittoria felt her heart flutter with fear. Overdoses can cause bleeding of the oral mucosa.Oral what?The victims gums would bleed. Post mortem, the blood congeals and turns the inside of the mouth black. Vittoria had once seen a photo taken at an aquarium in London where a pair of killer whales had been mistakenly overdosed by their trainer. The whales floated lifeless in the tank, their mouths hanging open and their tongues black as soot.The camerlegno made no reply. He turned and stared out the window.Rochers voice had lost its optimism. Signore, if this claim about poisoning is trueIts not true, Olivetti declared. Access to the Pope by an outsider is abruptly impossible.If this claim is true, Rocher repeated, and our Holy Father was poisoned, then that has profound implications for our antimatter search. The alleged blackwash implies a much deeper infiltration of Vatican City than we had imagined. Searching the white zones may be inadequate. If we are compromised to such a deep extent, we may not find the canister in time.Olivetti leveled his captain with a cold stare. Captain, I will tell you what is going to happen.No, the camerlegno said, turning suddenly. I will tell you what is going to happen. He looked directly at Olivetti. This has gone far enough. In twenty minutes I will be making a ending whether or not to cancel conclave and evacuate Vatican City. My decision will be final. Is that clear?Olivetti did not blink. Nor did he respond.The camerlegno spoke forcefully now, as though tapping a hidden reserve of power. Captain Rocher, you will complete your search of the white zones and report directly to me when you are finished.Rocher nodded, throw ing Olivetti an vile glance.The camerlegno then singled out two guards. I want the BBC reporter, Mr. Glick, in this office immediately. If the Illuminati have been communicating with him, he may be able to help us. Go.The two soldiers disappeared.Now the camerlegno turned and addressed the remaining guards. Gentlemen, I will not permit any more loss of life this evening. By ten oclock you will locate the remaining two cardinals and capture the the Tempter responsible for these murders. Do I make myself understood?But, signore, Olivetti argued, we have no idea where Mr. Langdon is working on that. He seems capable. I have faith.With that, the camerlegno strode for the door, a new determination in his step. On his way out, he pointed to cardinal guards. You three, come with me. Now.The guards followed.In the doorway, the camerlegno stopped. He turned to Vittoria. Ms. Vetra. You too. Please come with me.Vittoria hesitated. Where are we going?He headed out the door. To see an old fr iend.