Langdon fell silent.
"I humbly submit," Bellamy said, "that your towering Masonic Pyramid is only this . . . a modest stone whose golden capstone reaches high enough to be touched by God. High enough that an enlightened man can reach down and touch it."
Silence hung between the two men for several seconds.
Langdon felt an unexpected pulse of excitement as he looked down at the pyramid, seeing it in a new light. His eyes moved again to the Masonic cipher. "But this code . . . it seems so . . ."
"Simple?"
Langdon nodded. "Almost anyone could decipher this."
Bellamy smiled and retrieved a pencil and paper for Langdon. "Then perhaps you should enlighten us?"
Langdon felt uneasy about reading the code, and yet considering the circumstances, it seemed a minor betrayal of Peter's trust. Moreover, whatever the engraving said, he could not imagine that it unveiled a secret hiding place of anything at all . . . much less that of one of history's greatest treasures.
Langdon accepted the pencil from Bellamy and tapped it on his chin as he studied the cipher. The code was so simple that he barely needed pencil and paper. Even so, he wanted to ensure he made no mistakes, and so he dutifully put pencil to paper and wrote down the most common decryption key for a Masonic cipher. The key consisted of four grids--two plain and two dotted--with the alphabet running through them in order. Each letter of the alphabet was now positioned inside a uniquely shaped "enclosure" or "pen." The shape of each letter's enclosure became the symbol for that letter.
The scheme was so simple, it was almost infantile. Langdon double-checked his handiwork. Feeling confident the decryption key was correct, he now turned his attention back to the code inscribed on the pyramid. To decipher it, all he had to do was to find the matching shape on his decryption key and write down the letter inside it. The first character on the pyramid looked like a down arrow or a chalice. Langdon quickly found the chalice-shaped segment on the decryption key. It was located in the lower left-hand corner and enclosed the letter S.
Langdon wrote down S.
The next symbol on the pyramid was a dotted square missing its right side. That shape on the decryption grid enclosed the letter O.
He wrote down O.
The third symbol was a simple square, which enclosed the letter E.
Langdon wrote down E.
SOE...
He continued, picking up speed until he had completed the entire grid.
Now, as he gazed down at his finished translation, Langdon let out a puzzled sigh. Hardly what I'd call a eureka moment.
Bellamy's face showed the hint of a smile. "As you know, Professor, the Ancient Mysteries are reserved only for the truly enlightened."
"Right," Langdon said, frowning. Apparently, I don't qualify.
CHAPTER 50
In a basement office deep inside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the same sixteen- character Masonic cipher glowed brightly on a high-definition computer monitor. Senior OS analyst Nola Kaye sat alone and studied the image that had been e-mailed to her ten minutes ago by her boss, Director Inoue Sato.
Is this some kind of joke? Nola knew it was not, of course; Director Sato had no sense of humor, and the events of tonight were anything but a joking matter. Nola's high-level clearance within the CIA's all-seeing Office of Security had opened her eyes to the shadow worlds of power. But what Nola had witnessed in the last twenty-four hours had changed her impressions forever of the secrets that powerful men kept.
"Yes, Director," Nola now said, cradling the phone on her shoulder as she talked to Sato. "The engraving is indeed the Masonic cipher. However, the cleartext is meaningless. It appears to be a grid of random letters." She gazed down at her decryption.
"It must say something," Sato insisted.
"Not unless it has a second layer of encryption that I'm not aware of."
"Any guesses?" Sato asked.
"It's a grid-based matrix, so I could run the usual--Vigenre, grilles, trellises, and so forth--but no promises, especially if it's a onetime pad."
"Do what you can. And do it fast. How about the X-ray?"
Nola swiveled her chair to a second system, which displayed a standard security X-ray of someone's bag. Sato had requested information on what appeared to be a small pyramid inside a cube-shaped box. Normally, a two-inch-tall object would not be an issue of national security unless it was made of enriched plutonium. This one was not. It was made of something almost equally startling.
"Image-density analysis was conclusive," Nola said. "Nineteen-point-three grams per cubic centimeter. It's pure gold. Very, very valuable."
"Anything else?"
"Actually, yes. The density scan picked up minor irregularities on the surface of the gold pyramid. It turns out the gold is engraved with text."
"Really?" Sato sounded hopeful. "What does it say?"
"I can't tell yet. The inscription is extremely faint. I'm trying to enhance with filters, but the resolution on the X-ray is not great."
"Okay, keep trying. Call me when you have something."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And, Nola?" Sato's tone turned ominous. "As with everything you have learned in the last twenty-four hours, the images of the stone pyramid and gold capstone are classified at the highest levels of security. You are to consult no one. You report to me directly. I want to make sure that is clear."
"Of course, ma'am."
"Good. Keep me posted." Sato hung up.
Nola rubbed her eyes and looked blearily back at her computer screens. She had not slept in over thirty-six hours, and she knew damn well she would not sleep again until this crisis had reached its conclusion.
Whatever that may be.
Back at the Capitol Visitor Center, four black-clad CIA field-op specialists stood at the entrance to the tunnel, peering hungrily down the dimly lit shaft like a pack of dogs eager for the hunt.
Sato approached, having just hung up from a call. "Gentlemen," she said, still holding the Architect's key, "are your mission parameters clear?"
"Affirmative," the lead agent replied. "We have two targets. The first is an engraved stone pyramid, approximately one foot tall. The second is a smaller, cube-shaped package, approximately two inches tall. Both were last seen in Robert Langdon's shoulder bag."
"Correct," Sato said. "These two items must be retrieved quickly and intact. Do you have any questions?"
"Parameters for use of force?"
Sato's shoulder was still throbbing from where Bellamy had struck her with a bone. "As I said, it is of critical importance that these items be retrieved."
"Understood." The four men turned and headed into the darkness of the tunnel. Sato lit a cigarette and watched them disappear.
CHAPTER 51
Katherine Solomon had always been a prudent driver, but now she was pushing her Volvo at over ninety as she fled blindly up the Suitland Parkway. Her trembling foot had been lodged on the accelerator for a full mile before her panic began to lift. She now realized her uncontrollable shivering was no longer solely from fear.
I'm freezing.
The wintry night air was gushing through her shattered window, buffeting her body like an arctic wind. Her stockinged feet were numb, and she reached down for her spare pair of shoes, which she kept beneath the passenger seat. As she did, she felt a stab of pain from the bruise on her throat, where the powerful hand had latched on to her neck.
The man who had smashed through her window bore no resemblance to the blond-haired gentleman whom Katherine knew as Dr. Christopher Abaddon. His thick hair and smooth, tanned complexion had disappeared. His shaved head, bare chest, and makeup-smeared face had been unveiled as a terrifying tapestry of tattoos.