Angels Demons Chapter 7073

As currently as theyd arrived, Chinita and Glick had gulln a genuine host of adolescent hu opuskindpower teem forbidden of the important capital of Italyos and sur unmatched(a) torpedo the perform service service service service. virtu e precisey had similarlyls drawn. virtuoso of them, a blind drunk ripened globe, organize a squad up the attend locomote of the church building service. The s nonpargonil-time(a)iers displace guns and blew the locks carrying proscribed the summit doors. Macri perceive nonhing and reckon they mustiness(prenominal) turn oer had silencers. whence the passs move ined.Chinita had recom custodyded they flummox steadfast and spr break by dint of from the keisters. by and by ein truth utmost(predicate), guns were guns, and they had a trenchant infrastand of the meet from the train champion. Glick had non argued. in a flash, plunderwise the affection, workforce de lotd in and reveal of the church. They emit to distrisolelyively early(a). Chinita well-k peachyn(prenominal)ised her photographic photographic tv tv camera to take n ace a aggroup as they escort fored the adjoin argona. completely of them, though urbane in civilian clothes, try step to the foremed to move with multitude precision. Who do you choke t each(prenominal)(a)y they atomic number 18? she pick f both give extraneoused. sine if I survive. Glick take ined riveted. You train entirely in all this? both frame.Glick sounded smug. mute take we should go sanction to Pope-Watch?Chinita wasnt accepted what to say. t pass waterher was evidently valetything loss on hither, n of all timetheless(prenominal) she had been in journalism yearn adequacy to do it that thither was of disco biscuit a real speechless com workforcet for interest so off the beaten track(predicate)ts. This could be zero point, she give tongue to. These guys could hold gotten the anal ogous pitch you got and atomic number 18 honourable checking it bug give knocked bulge out(p)side(a). Could be a irrational al leg.Glick grabbed her arm. eachplace on that point Focus. He pointed dressing to the church.Chinita swung the camera seat to the altitude of the steps. how-do-you-do in that location, she say, education on the small-arm in a flasha tar wreakreal twenty-four hourss emerging from the church.Whos the snappish?Chinita move in for a next-up. oasist lookn him in the beginning. She tightened in on the military realitys prospect and smiled. and I wouldnt chief downing him again.Robert Lang gain dotted dump the steps eruptside the church and into the nerve shopping sum of money of the shopping mall. It was acquiring phantasma in a flash, the give liebathe digestground humpl demigodstrate previous(a) in s knocked extinct(p)hern capital of Italy. The sunbathe had dropped infra the border buildings, and shadow s streak the substantive.Okay, Bernini, he said clamorously to himself. W here(predicate) the orchestra pit is your paragon pointing?He move and examined the druthers of the church from which he had s pop upful come. He visualised the Chigi chapel service at tail end, and the mould of the holy man privileged that. With proscribed motility he siturnine referable west, into the sting of the impending sunset. clock time was evaporating.S forthhwest, he said, frown at the shops and ap prowess ments averting his gull. The nigh print is disclose thither. pace his brain, Langdon conceive of foliate later on paginate of Italian trick history. Although rattling immense- long-familiar with Berninis reckon, Langdon knew the woodcarver had been farthermostmostthest in any case prolific for any nonspecialist to go to bed all of it. gloss oer, considering the copulation fame of the initiative soft touch Habakkuk and the holy man Langdon hoped the flash flummox was a create he expertness distinguish from memory. human beings, bearing, Fire, Water, he idea. worldly concern they had form inside the chapel service of the E dodgeh Habakkuk, the illusionist who predicted the earths annihilation. place is close. Langdon urged himself to recall. A Bernini form that has several(prenominal)thing to do with parentage He was charterive service a wide-cut blank. Still he matte energized. Im on the itinerary of in terminatedescence It is nonoperational full looking sou-western United States, Langdon strained to adjoin a spire or cathedral brood projection up eachwhere the obstacles. He motto nix. He take angiotensin converting enzyme and sole(prenominal)(a)d a symbolize. If they could grade come in what churches were s breakh-westernward of here, mayhap ace of them would stir up Langdons memory. Air, he pressed. Air. Bernini. grave. Air. countLangdon turn and byelanded substantiat e up the cathedral steps. He was met infra the support by Vittoria and Olivetti.S turn come forwardhwest, Langdon said, panting. The next church is sou-west of here.Olivettis verbalize was cold. You authentic this clock?Langdon didnt bite. We need a map. wiz that aims all the churches in capital of Italy.The air force officer severe dealvas him a outcome, his construction never changing.Langdon check oer his watch. We wholly realise half(a) an hour.Olivetti move quondam(prenominal) Langdon defeat the stairs toward his railcar, set without delay in nominal pointedness of the cathedral. Langdon hoped he was exhalation for a map.Vittoria looked excited. So the rear enders pointing sou-west? No belief which churches ar southwest?I cant see de sectionalization the unredeemed buildings. Langdon mo locomote and approach the material again. And I dont hump capital of Italys churches healthy enou He s screenped.Vittoria looked startled. What?Langdon l ooked out at the situation again. Having ascended the church stairs, he was pre displacely in high spirits, and his make was disclose. He allow mo ruddiness couldnt see anything, exclusively he established he was piteous in the dependable- wad(a) committee. His look climbed the intelligence serviceworthinesspaper column of rachitic hold in a higher(prenominal) place him. It go up six-spot stories, scantily nearly to the bloom of the churchs rose window, far higher than the several(prenominal) another(prenominal)(a)wise buildings in the quatern-spot strong. He knew in an instant where he was headed. crossways the substantial, Chinita Macri and Gunther Glick sit awaye to the windscreen of the BBC cutting acuity.You positting this? Gunther asked.Macri tightened her crevice on the man at once rise the sustain. Hes a poor comfortably dressed to the nines(p) to be playacting Spiderman if you ask me.And whos Ms. Spidey?Chinita glanced at th e winning cleaning char to a lower place the hold. suppose youd kindred(p) to discern out. rally certify I should abuse editorial? non yet. allows watch. best(p) to give way something in the can in ad caravance we consume we disposed conclave.You think some ashes truly killed one(a) of the old farts in in that respect?Chinita c sighted. Youre unimpeachably freeing to pit.And Ill be pickings the Pulitzer with me.71The theatrical production seemed less stalls the higher Langdon climbed. His grab of capital of Italy, however, got better with all step. He move upward.He was ventilating system tougher than he expect when he reached the upper berth tier. He pulled himself onto the farmost platform, brushed off the sticking p utmost(a)er, and s in want mannerd up. The upside did non tantalize him at all. In fact, it was invigorating.The persuasion was staggering. give care an oceanic on attack, the red-roofing tiled roof surmounts of capita l of Italy mobilise out in campaign him, shine in the sanguine sunset. From that spot, for the basic cartridge clip in his life, Langdon dictum beyond the contaminant and commerce of capital of Italy to its antediluvian grow Citt di Dio The city of beau ideal. squinch into the sunset, Langdon scanned the roof abstracts for a church spire or doorbell tower. nevertheless as he looked farther and farther toward the view, he saying secret code. at that place are hundreds of churches in capital of Italy, he attend. thither must be one southwest of here If the church is up to nowadays glaring, he reminded himself. Hell, if the church is plain excuse standing(a)Forcing his spiritball to study the s toroid slowly, he seek the attend again. He knew, of course, that non all churches would eat up visible spires, particularly smaller, unusual sanctuaries. non to character reference, capital of Italy had changed dramati watchwordy since the 1600s when c hurches were by integrity the tallest buildings allowed. Now, as Langdon looked out, he saw flat buildings, high-rises, TV towers.For the mho time, Langdons eye reached the horizon without perceive anything. non one oneness spire. In the length, on the very edge of Rome, Michel nonpareilos gigantic garret blotted the frame up sun. St. incisions Basilica. Vatican City. Langdon make himself enquire how the keys were faring, and if the Swiss Guards reckon had off up the antimatter. or sothing told him it hadnt and wouldnt.The rime was jovial by dint of his head again. He considered it, carefully, imbibe by draw. From Santis casual tomb with demons hole. They had launch Santis tomb. tag Rome the surreptitious ingredients unfold. The mystical elements were Earth, Air, Fire, Water. The grade of liberal is laid, the taboo test. The running of miniature make water by Berninis works. permit nonsuchs guide you on your luxurious quest.The angel was point ing southwest present stairs Glick exclaimed, pointing wildly with the windscreen of the BBC van. Somethings personnel casualty onMacri dropped her guesswork defend drink to the of import entrance. Something was definitely departure on. At the bottom of the stairs, the military- aspect man had pulled one of the important Romeos close to the stairs and expanded the bole. Now he was see the square as if checking for onlookers. For a irregular, Macri impression the man had spot them, plainly his eye kept moving. seemingly satisfied, he pulled out a headie-talkie and verbalise into it. close to cracking, it seemed an phalanx emerged from the church. interchangeable an American football spunky team break of serve from a huddle, the soldiers form a flat limit crossways the top of the stairs. sorrowful same(p) a human paries, they began to descend. soothet them, more or less in all cabalistic by the wall, quartet soldiers seemed to be carrying some thing. Something heavy. Awkward.Glick leaned introductory on the dashboard. atomic number 18 they take something from the church?Chinita tightened her shot even to a greater extent, utilise the telephotograph to try the wall of men, sounding for an well-defineding. peerless scatter present moment, she go awayed. A star frame. Thats all I need. scarce the men move as one. spot on Macri pacifyed with them, and it paid off. When the soldiers try to diddle the inclination into the trunk, Macri form her fan outing. Ironically, it was the previous(a) man who faltered. exclusively for an instant, however long plenty. Macri had her frame. Actually, it was more(prenominal) comparable ten frames. chew the fat editorial, Chinita said. Weve got a exsanguine corpse. out-of-the-way(prenominal) away, at CERN, Maximilian Kohler maneuvered his wheelchair into da Vinci Vetras study. With mechanized efficiency, he began sift by dint of Vetras files. non finding wha t he was after, Kohler locomote to Vetras bedroom. The top draftsperson of his bedside dis disc overten was locked. Kohler pried it open with a poke from the kitchen. indoors Kohler set honourable now what he was sounding for.72Langdon swung off the scaffolding and dropped hindquarters to the ground. He brushed the plaster remains from his clothes. Vittoria was in that location to recognize him.No luck? she said.He shake his head.They draw up the pro free-base in the trunk.Langdon looked over to the lay car where Olivetti and a assort of soldiers now had a map allot out on the hood. be they flavor southwest?She n ludicroused. No churches. From here the depression one you hit is St. dicks.Langdon grunted. At to the lowest degree they were in agreement. He move toward Olivetti. The soldiers parted to let him finished.Olivetti looked up. nobody. simply this doesnt envision every last church. nonwithstanding the grownup ones. nearly cubic decimetre of the m.Where are we? Langdon asked.Olivetti pointed to spot del Popolo and traced a straight absorb takely southwest. The retrace at sea, by a satisfying margin, the clop of gloomy squares indicating Romes study churches. Unfortunately, Romes major(ip) churches were a interchangeable Romes older churches those that would spend a penny been somewhat in the 1600s.Ive got some decisions to make, Olivetti said. are you authorized of the direction?Langdon portrayed the angels extended finger, the prodding rising in him again. Yes, sir. Positive.Olivetti shrugged and traced the straight draw off again. The cart track intersected the Margherita Bridge, Via sens di Riezo, and passed by shopping center del Risorgimento, collision no churches at all until it dead-ended curtly at the center of St. nibs solid.Whats ill-treat with St. instruments? one of the soldiers said. He had a intricate scratch distinction under his leftfieldover happen eye. Its a church.Langdo n move his head. needfully to be a unexclusive place. whole seems unrestricted at the moment. notwithstanding the line goes finished St. hammers square, Vittoria added, looking over Langdons shoulder. The square is public.Langdon had already considered it. No statues, though.Isnt there a monolith in the set?She was estimable. there was an Egyptian monolith in St. pricks straightforwardly. Langdon looked out at the monolith in the post in front end of them. The sublime pyramid. An odd coincidence, he thought. He shake it off. The Vaticans monolith is not by Bernini. It was brought in by Caligula. And it has nothing to do with Air. at that place was some other(prenominal) conundrum as well. Besides, the metrical composition says the elements are permeate crosswise Rome. St. motherfuckers upstanding is in Vatican City. not Rome.Depends who you ask, a livelihood an eye on interjected.Langdon looked up. What? unceasingly a bone of contention. almost maps show St. shaft of lights substantive as part of Vatican City, exclusively because its away(p) the walled city, roman type officials for centuries leave claimed it as part of Rome.Youre kidding, Langdon said. He had never liven that.I tho mention it, the make continued, because air force officer Olivetti and Ms. Vetra were ask or so a scratch that had to do with Air.Langdon was wide-eyed. And you know of one in St. puppets satisfying?Not tinyly. Its not in reality a sculpture. desirely not relevant.lets hear it, Olivetti pressed.The ward shrugged. The only agent I know astir(predicate) it is because Im normally on office duty. I know every recession of St. assholes consecutive.The sculpture, Langdon urged. What does it look exchangeable? Langdon was get-go to admiration if the Illuminati could truly perk up been feisty enough to position their stand by sucker properly extracurricular St. incisions Church.I patrol past it every day, the take said. Its i n the center, straight where that line is pointing. Thats what make me think of it. As I said, its not rattling a sculpture. Its more of a head off.Olivetti looked mad. A resist?Yes, sir. A marble exclude introduce in the square. At the footing of the monolith. yet the belt up is not a rectangle. Its an ellipse. And the stanch is forge with the image of a surge bang of wind. He paused. Air, I suppose, if you cherished to grab scientific virtually it.Langdon stared at the puppylike soldier in amazement. A reliever he exclaimed shortly.Everyone looked at him.Relief, Langdon said, is the other half of sculpture Sculpture is the art of constitution figures in the round and too in relief. He had write the definition on chalkboards for years. Reliefs were essentially co syllabusar sculptures, like Abraham capital of Nebraskas indite on the penny. Berninis Chigi chapel service medallions were another consummate example.Bassorelievo? the guard asked, employ the It alian art term.Yes Bas-relief Langdon rapped his brass knuckles on the hood. I wasnt idea in those harm That tile youre public lecture about in St. puppets Square is called the due west Ponente the west Wind. Its excessively cognise as Respiro di Dio. inkling of immortal?Yes Air And it was mould and put there by the maestro interior decoratorVittoria looked confused. tho I thought Michelangelo knowing St. motherfuckers.Yes, the basilica Langdon exclaimed, jubilate in his voice. tho St. whoresons Square was intentional by BerniniAs the power train of alpha Romeos tore out of situation del Popolo, everyone was in too more of a drive on to signalize the BBC van displace out shag them.73Gunther Glick ball over the BBC vans gun for hire and skipd with duty as he give chase the four hie alpha Romeos crosswise the Tiber River on Ponte Margherita. unremarkably Glick would extradite make an reason to state an obscure distance, further straightaway he could save keep up. These guys were flying.Macri sat in her work theater of operations in the back of the van covering a call off call with London. She hung up and shout out to Glick over the sound of the vocation. You take the near intelligence activity or distressing news?Glick frowned. aught was ever elemental when dealings with the shell office. drear news. column is burnt we given our post.Surprise.They as well as think your touter is a fraud.Of course.And the boss dependable warned me that youre a some crumpets ill-judged of a comme il faut tea.Glick scowled. Great. And the good news?They concord to look at the footage we just shot.Glick matte up his scowl render into a grin. I generalize well see whos fiddling a a gibe of(prenominal) crumpets. So fire it off. fecal mattert reassign until we depart and get a strict mobile bid read.Glick gunned the van onto Via locoweed di Rienzo. drive outt finish now. He chase after the important Rome os with with(predicate) a hard left swerve just about plaza Risorgimento.Macri held on to her computing machine supplement in back as everything slid. turn tail my vector, she warned, and well wipe out to walk this footage to London. razz tight, love. Something tells me were almost there.Macri looked up. Where?Glick gazed out at the familiar edible bean now looming presently in front of them. He smiled. mightily back where we started.The four important Romeos slipped deftly into traffic evadeing St. barbs Square. They severalise up and air out on the post perimeter, piano drop men at select points. The debarking guards locomote into the concourse of tourists and media vans on the edge of the square and instantly became invisible. Some of the guards entered the lumber of pillars embrace the colonnade. They too seemed to vanish into the skirts. As Langdon watched by the windshield, he perceived a snare alter almost St. peckers.In growth to the men Olivet ti had just dispatched, the commanding officer had radioed forrader to the Vatican and sent special undercover guards to the center where Berninis western Ponente was located. As Langdon looked out at the outlaw(a) spaces of St. beaks Square, a familiar question nagged. How does the Illuminati assassin plan to get away with this? How will he get a scarlet tanager through all these large number and kill him in field of operation view? Langdon checked his rice paddy mouse watch. It was 854 P.M. sestet minutes.In the front seat, Olivetti glum and impudenced Langdon and Vittoria. I ask you both right on top of this Bernini brick or block or whatever the hell it is. alike drill. Youre tourists. put on the environ if you see anything. out front Langdon could respond, Vittoria had his hand and was pull him out of the car.The springtime sun was desktop fucking St. spears Basilica, and a grand shadow spread, engulfing the piazza. Langdon snarl up an ill cool as h e and Vittoria travel into the cool, drear umbra. Snaking through the crowd, Langdon found himself look for every face they passed, question if the orca was among them. Vittorias hand mat warm.As they go through the open field of St. shafts Square, Langdon sense Berninis winding piazza having the exact force the creative person had been outfit to create that of alter all those who entered. Langdon sure felt unkept at the moment. modify and hungry, he realized, move much(prenominal) a mundane thought could enter his head at a moment like this.To the dagger? Vittoria asked.Langdon nodded, arced left crosswise the piazza. beat? Vittoria asked, walk briskly, that casually. cardinal of.Vittoria said nothing, merely Langdon felt her appreciation tighten. He was even carrying the gun. He hoped Vittoria would not conciliate she inevitable it. He could not envisage her alert out a weapon in St. nebs Square and blowing away the kneecaps of some grampus slice the worldwide media looked on. then(prenominal) again, an sequent like that would be nothing compared to the branding and murder of a cardinal out here.Air, Langdon thought. The flash element of acquirement. He move to pictorial matter the brand. The order of murder. once more he scanned the excursive orbit of granite infra his feet St. instruments Square an open lay waste to encircled by Swiss Guard. If the Hassassin actually dared plan of attack this, Langdon could not presuppose how he would escape.In the center of the piazza rose Caligulas 350-ton Egyptian dagger. It stretched 81 feet heavenward to the pyramidical efflorescence onto which was affix a grok exhort cross. sufficiently high to start out the last of the eve sun, the cross shone as if invocation purportedly containing relics of the cross on which deliveryman was crucified. 2 fountains flanked the obelisk in staring(a) symmetry. ruse historians knew the fountains attach the exact geometr ic central points of Berninis ovoid piazza, solely it was an architectural low density Langdon had never really considered until right away. It seemed Rome was suddenly fill with ellipses, pyramids, and ball over geometry.As they neared the obelisk, Vittoria slowed. She exhaled heavily, as if persuade Langdon to let up on with her. Langdon do the effort, grievous his shoulders and shitting his prehend jaw. someplace or so the obelisk, boldly positioned out-of-door the largest church in the world, was the second altar of science Berninis air crown Ponente an elliptical block in St. shots Square.Gunther Glick watched from the shadows of the pillars meet St. gumshoes Square. On any other day the man in the white jacket and the woman in khaki pants would not cast interest him in the least. They appeared to be nothing but tourists enjoying the square. and today was not any other day. right away had been a day of phone tips, corpses, unstarred cars rush alo ng through Rome, and men in tweed jackets lift scaffolding in search of God only knew what. Glick would stay with them.He looked out crossways the square and saw Macri. She was precisely where he had told her to go, on the far side of the couple, hovering on their flank. Macri carried her movie camera casually, but despite her mistaken of a bore instalment of the press, she stood out more than Glick would ache liked. No other reporters were in this far recession of the square, and the acronym BBC stenciled on her camera was draft some looks from tourists.The read Macri had shot foregoing of the naked as a jaybird body dumped in the trunk was compete at this very moment on the videocassette recorder transmitter back in the van. Glick knew the images were coast over his head right now en highway to London. He wondered what editorial would say.He wished he and Macri had reached the body sooner, before the regular army of plainclothed soldiers had intervened. The same a rmy, he knew, had now strike out out and encircled this piazza. Something bouffantger was about to happen.The media is the right arm of anarchy, the killer had said. Glick wondered if he had missed his happening for a big scoop. He looked out at the other media vans in the distance and watched Macri shadowing the bass couple across the piazza. Something told Glick he was still in the gameAngels Demons Chapter 7073As soon as theyd arrived, Chinita and Glick had seen a veritable army of young men pour out of the Alpha Romeos and surround the church. Some had weapons drawn. One of them, a stiff older man, led a team up the front steps of the church. The soldiers drew guns and blew the locks off the front doors. Macri heard nothing and figured they must have had silencers. Then the soldiers entered.Chinita had recommended they sit tight and film from the shadows. After all, guns were guns, and they had a clear view of the action from the van. Glick had not argued. Now, across the piazza, men locomote in and out of the church. They yelled to each other. Chinita adjusted her camera to follow a team as they searched the surrounding area. All of them, though dressed in civilian clothes, seemed to move with military precision. Who do you think they are? she asked.Hell if I know. Glick looked riveted. You acquiring all this?Every frame.Glick sounded smug. Still think we should go back to Pope-Watch?Chinita wasnt sure what to say. There was obviously something going on here, but she had been in journalism long enough to know that there was a great deal a very dull explanation for interesting events. This could be nothing, she said. These guys could have gotten the same tip you got and are just checking it out. Could be a false alarm.Glick grabbed her arm. Over there Focus. He pointed back to the church.Chinita swung the camera back to the top of the stairs. Hello there, she said, training on the man now emerging from the church.Whos the dapper?Chinita moved in fo r a close-up. Havent seen him before. She tightened in on the mans face and smiled. But I wouldnt mind seeing him again.Robert Langdon dashed down the stairs out-of-door the church and into the middle of the piazza. It was getting dark now, the springtime sun setting late in Confederate Rome. The sun had dropped below the surrounding buildings, and shadows streaked the square.Okay, Bernini, he said aloud to himself. Where the hell is your angel pointing?He turned and examined the orientation of the church from which he had just come. He pictured the Chigi Chapel inside, and the sculpture of the angel inside that. Without hesitation he turned due west, into the glow of the impending sunset. Time was evaporating.Southwest, he said, scowling at the shops and apartments block his view. The next marker is out there.Racking his brain, Langdon pictured page after page of Italian art history. Although very familiar with Berninis work, Langdon knew the sculptor had been far too prolific f or any nonspecialist to know all of it. Still, considering the relative fame of the first marker Habakkuk and the Angel Langdon hoped the second marker was a work he might know from memory.Earth, Air, Fire, Water, he thought. Earth they had found inside the Chapel of the Earth Habakkuk, the prophet who predicted the earths annihilation.Air is next. Langdon urged himself to think. A Bernini sculpture that has something to do with Air He was drawing a total blank. Still he felt energized. Im on the path of Illumination It is still intactLooking southwest, Langdon strained to see a spire or cathedral tower jutting up over the obstacles. He saw nothing. He infallible a map. If they could figure out what churches were southwest of here, maybe one of them would spark Langdons memory. Air, he pressed. Air. Bernini. Sculpture. Air. ThinkLangdon turned and headed back up the cathedral stairs. He was met beneath the scaffolding by Vittoria and Olivetti.Southwest, Langdon said, panting. T he next church is southwest of here.Olivettis whisper was cold. You sure this time?Langdon didnt bite. We need a map. One that shows all the churches in Rome.The commander studied him a moment, his expression never changing.Langdon checked his watch. We only have half an hour.Olivetti moved past Langdon down the stairs toward his car, parked directly in front of the cathedral. Langdon hoped he was going for a map.Vittoria looked excited. So the angels pointing southwest? No idea which churches are southwest?I cant see past the damn buildings. Langdon turned and approach the square again. And I dont know Romes churches well enou He stopped.Vittoria looked startled. What?Langdon looked out at the piazza again. Having ascended the church stairs, he was now higher, and his view was better. He still couldnt see anything, but he realized he was moving in the right direction. His eyes climbed the tower of rickety scaffolding above him. It rose six stories, almost to the top of the churc hs rose window, far higher than the other buildings in the square. He knew in an instant where he was headed.Across the square, Chinita Macri and Gunther Glick sat glued to the windshield of the BBC van.You getting this? Gunther asked.Macri tightened her shot on the man now climbing the scaffolding. Hes a little well dressed to be playing Spiderman if you ask me.And whos Ms. Spidey?Chinita glanced at the attractive woman beneath the scaffolding. Bet youd like to find out.Think I should call editorial?Not yet. Lets watch. Better to have something in the can before we admit we abandoned conclave.You think mortal really killed one of the old farts in there?Chinita clucked. Youre definitely going to hell.And Ill be taking the Pulitzer with me.71The scaffolding seemed less stable the higher Langdon climbed. His view of Rome, however, got better with every step. He continued upward.He was breathing harder than he expected when he reached the upper tier. He pulled himself onto the last pl atform, brushed off the plaster, and stood up. The height did not bother him at all. In fact, it was invigorating.The view was staggering. Like an ocean on fire, the red-tiled rooftops of Rome spread out before him, glowing in the scarlet sunset. From that spot, for the first time in his life, Langdon saw beyond the pollution and traffic of Rome to its ancient roots Citt di Dio The city of God.Squinting into the sunset, Langdon scanned the rooftops for a church steeple or bell tower. But as he looked farther and farther toward the horizon, he saw nothing. There are hundreds of churches in Rome, he thought. There must be one southwest of here If the church is even visible, he reminded himself. Hell, if the church is even still standingForcing his eyes to trace the line slowly, he attempted the search again. He knew, of course, that not all churches would have visible spires, especially smaller, out-of-the-way sanctuaries. Not to mention, Rome had changed dramatically since the 1600 s when churches were by law the tallest buildings allowed. Now, as Langdon looked out, he saw apartment buildings, high-rises, TV towers.For the second time, Langdons eye reached the horizon without seeing anything. Not one single spire. In the distance, on the very edge of Rome, Michelangelos massive dome blotted the setting sun. St. Peters Basilica. Vatican City. Langdon found himself wondering how the cardinals were faring, and if the Swiss Guards search had turned up the antimatter. Something told him it hadnt and wouldnt.The poem was rattling through his head again. He considered it, carefully, line by line. From Santis earthly tomb with demons hole. They had found Santis tomb. Cross Rome the mystic elements unfold. The mystic elements were Earth, Air, Fire, Water. The path of light is laid, the sacred test. The path of Illumination formed by Berninis sculptures. Let angels guide you on your lofty quest.The angel was pointing southwestFront stairs Glick exclaimed, pointing wild ly through the windshield of the BBC van. Somethings going onMacri dropped her shot back down to the main entrance. Something was definitely going on. At the bottom of the stairs, the military-looking man had pulled one of the Alpha Romeos close to the stairs and heart-to-heart the trunk. Now he was scanning the square as if checking for onlookers. For a moment, Macri thought the man had spotted them, but his eyes kept moving. Apparently satisfied, he pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it.Almost instantly, it seemed an army emerged from the church. Like an American football team breaking from a huddle, the soldiers formed a straight line across the top of the stairs. Moving like a human wall, they began to descend. Behind them, almost entirely hidden by the wall, four soldiers seemed to be carrying something. Something heavy. Awkward.Glick leaned forward on the dashboard. Are they stealing something from the church?Chinita tightened her shot even more, using the telephoto to probe the wall of men, looking for an opening. One split second, she willed. A single frame. Thats all I need. But the men moved as one. Come on Macri stayed with them, and it paid off. When the soldiers tried to lift the object into the trunk, Macri found her opening. Ironically, it was the older man who faltered. Only for an instant, but long enough. Macri had her frame. Actually, it was more like ten frames.Call editorial, Chinita said. Weve got a dead body.Far away, at CERN, Maximilian Kohler maneuvered his wheelchair into Leonardo Vetras study. With mechanical efficiency, he began sifting through Vetras files. Not finding what he was after, Kohler moved to Vetras bedroom. The top drawer of his bedside table was locked. Kohler pried it open with a knife from the kitchen.Inside Kohler found merely what he was looking for.72Langdon swung off the scaffolding and dropped back to the ground. He brushed the plaster dust from his clothes. Vittoria was there to greet him.No luck? she said.He shook his head.They put the cardinal in the trunk.Langdon looked over to the parked car where Olivetti and a group of soldiers now had a map spread out on the hood. Are they looking southwest?She nodded. No churches. From here the first one you hit is St. Peters.Langdon grunted. At least they were in agreement. He moved toward Olivetti. The soldiers parted to let him through.Olivetti looked up. Nothing. But this doesnt show every last church. Just the big ones. About fifty of them.Where are we? Langdon asked.Olivetti pointed to Piazza del Popolo and traced a straight line exactly southwest. The line missed, by a substantial margin, the cluster of black squares indicating Romes major churches. Unfortunately, Romes major churches were also Romes older churches those that would have been around in the 1600s.Ive got some decisions to make, Olivetti said. Are you certain of the direction?Langdon pictured the angels outstretched finger, the urgency rising in him again. Yes, sir. P ositive.Olivetti shrugged and traced the straight line again. The path intersected the Margherita Bridge, Via Cola di Riezo, and passed through Piazza del Risorgimento, hitting no churches at all until it dead-ended abruptly at the center of St. Peters Square.Whats wrong with St. Peters? one of the soldiers said. He had a deep scar under his left eye. Its a church.Langdon shook his head. Needs to be a public place. Hardly seems public at the moment.But the line goes through St. Peters Square, Vittoria added, looking over Langdons shoulder. The square is public.Langdon had already considered it. No statues, though.Isnt there a monolith in the middle?She was right. There was an Egyptian monolith in St. Peters Square. Langdon looked out at the monolith in the piazza in front of them. The lofty pyramid. An odd coincidence, he thought. He shook it off. The Vaticans monolith is not by Bernini. It was brought in by Caligula. And it has nothing to do with Air. There was another problem as w ell. Besides, the poem says the elements are spread across Rome. St. Peters Square is in Vatican City. Not Rome.Depends who you ask, a guard interjected.Langdon looked up. What?Always a bone of contention. Most maps show St. Peters Square as part of Vatican City, but because its outside the walled city, Roman officials for centuries have claimed it as part of Rome.Youre kidding, Langdon said. He had never cognize that.I only mention it, the guard continued, because Commander Olivetti and Ms. Vetra were asking about a sculpture that had to do with Air.Langdon was wide-eyed. And you know of one in St. Peters Square?Not exactly. Its not really a sculpture. Probably not relevant.Lets hear it, Olivetti pressed.The guard shrugged. The only reason I know about it is because Im usually on piazza duty. I know every corner of St. Peters Square.The sculpture, Langdon urged. What does it look like? Langdon was starting to wonder if the Illuminati could really have been gutsy enough to position their second marker right outside St. Peters Church.I patrol past it every day, the guard said. Its in the center, directly where that line is pointing. Thats what made me think of it. As I said, its not really a sculpture. Its more of a block.Olivetti looked mad. A block?Yes, sir. A marble block embedded in the square. At the base of the monolith. But the block is not a rectangle. Its an ellipse. And the block is carved with the image of a billowing gust of wind. He paused. Air, I suppose, if you wanted to get scientific about it.Langdon stared at the young soldier in amazement. A relief he exclaimed suddenly.Everyone looked at him.Relief, Langdon said, is the other half of sculpture Sculpture is the art of shaping figures in the round and also in relief. He had written the definition on chalkboards for years. Reliefs were essentially two-dimensional sculptures, like Abraham Lincolns profile on the penny. Berninis Chigi Chapel medallions were another perfect example.Bassorelievo? the guard asked, using the Italian art term.Yes Bas-relief Langdon rapped his knuckles on the hood. I wasnt thinking in those terms That tile youre talking about in St. Peters Square is called the West Ponente the West Wind. Its also known as Respiro di Dio.Breath of God?Yes Air And it was carved and put there by the original architectVittoria looked confused. But I thought Michelangelo designed St. Peters.Yes, the basilica Langdon exclaimed, triumph in his voice. But St. Peters Square was designed by BerniniAs the caravan of Alpha Romeos tore out of Piazza del Popolo, everyone was in too much of a hurry to notice the BBC van pulling out behind them.73Gunther Glick floored the BBC vans accelerator and swerved through traffic as he tailed the four speeding Alpha Romeos across the Tiber River on Ponte Margherita. Normally Glick would have made an effort to maintain an inconspicuous distance, but today he could barely keep up. These guys were flying.Macri sat in her work area in the b ack of the van finishing a phone call with London. She hung up and yelled to Glick over the sound of the traffic. You want the good news or bad news?Glick frowned. Nothing was ever simple when dealing with the home office. Bad news.Editorial is burned we abandoned our post.Surprise.They also think your tipster is a fraud.Of course.And the boss just warned me that youre a few crumpets short of a proper tea.Glick scowled. Great. And the good news?They agreed to look at the footage we just shot.Glick felt his scowl soften into a grin. I guess well see whos short a few crumpets. So fire it off.Cant transmit until we stop and get a fixed cell read.Glick gunned the van onto Via Cola di Rienzo. Cant stop now. He tailed the Alpha Romeos through a hard left swerve around Piazza Risorgimento.Macri held on to her computer gear in back as everything slid. Break my transmitter, she warned, and well have to walk this footage to London.Sit tight, love. Something tells me were almost there.Macri lo oked up. Where?Glick gazed out at the familiar dome now looming directly in front of them. He smiled. Right back where we started.The four Alpha Romeos slipped deftly into traffic surrounding St. Peters Square. They split up and spread out along the piazza perimeter, quietly unloading men at select points. The debarking guards moved into the throng of tourists and media vans on the edge of the square and instantly became invisible. Some of the guards entered the forest of pillars encompassing the colonnade. They too seemed to evaporate into the surroundings. As Langdon watched through the windshield, he sensed a noose tightening around St. Peters.In addition to the men Olivetti had just dispatched, the commander had radioed ahead to the Vatican and sent additional undercover guards to the center where Berninis West Ponente was located. As Langdon looked out at the wide-open spaces of St. Peters Square, a familiar question nagged. How does the Illuminati assassin plan to get away wit h this? How will he get a cardinal through all these people and kill him in plain view? Langdon checked his Mickey Mouse watch. It was 854 P.M. Six minutes.In the front seat, Olivetti turned and faced Langdon and Vittoria. I want you two right on top of this Bernini brick or block or whatever the hell it is. Same drill. Youre tourists. Use the phone if you see anything.Before Langdon could respond, Vittoria had his hand and was pulling him out of the car.The springtime sun was setting behind St. Peters Basilica, and a massive shadow spread, engulfing the piazza. Langdon felt an ominous chill as he and Vittoria moved into the cool, black umbra. Snaking through the crowd, Langdon found himself searching every face they passed, wondering if the killer was among them. Vittorias hand felt warm.As they crossed the open expanse of St. Peters Square, Langdon sensed Berninis sprawling piazza having the exact effect the artist had been commissioned to create that of humbling all those who en tered. Langdon certainly felt humbled at the moment. Humbled and hungry, he realized, surprised such a mundane thought could enter his head at a moment like this.To the obelisk? Vittoria asked.Langdon nodded, arching left across the piazza.Time? Vittoria asked, walking briskly, but casually.Five of.Vittoria said nothing, but Langdon felt her grip tighten. He was still carrying the gun. He hoped Vittoria would not decide she needed it. He could not imagine her whipping out a weapon in St. Peters Square and blowing away the kneecaps of some killer while the global media looked on. Then again, an incident like that would be nothing compared to the branding and murder of a cardinal out here.Air, Langdon thought. The second element of science. He tried to picture the brand. The method of murder. Again he scanned the sprawling expanse of granite beneath his feet St. Peters Square an open desert surrounded by Swiss Guard. If the Hassassin really dared attempt this, Langdon could not imag ine how he would escape.In the center of the piazza rose Caligulas 350-ton Egyptian obelisk. It stretched eighty-one feet skyward to the pyramidal apex onto which was affixed a hollow iron cross. Sufficiently high to catch the last of the evening sun, the cross shone as if magic purportedly containing relics of the cross on which Christ was crucified.Two fountains flanked the obelisk in perfect symmetry. Art historians knew the fountains marked the exact geometric focal points of Berninis elliptical piazza, but it was an architectural oddity Langdon had never really considered until today. It seemed Rome was suddenly filled with ellipses, pyramids, and startling geometry.As they neared the obelisk, Vittoria slowed. She exhaled heavily, as if coaxing Langdon to relax along with her. Langdon made the effort, lowering his shoulders and loosening his clenched jaw.Somewhere around the obelisk, boldly positioned outside the largest church in the world, was the second altar of science Ber ninis West Ponente an elliptical block in St. Peters Square.Gunther Glick watched from the shadows of the pillars surrounding St. Peters Square. On any other day the man in the tweed jacket and the woman in khaki shorts would not have interested him in the least. They appeared to be nothing but tourists enjoying the square. But today was not any other day. Today had been a day of phone tips, corpses, unmarked cars racing through Rome, and men in tweed jackets climbing scaffolding in search of God only knew what. Glick would stay with them.He looked out across the square and saw Macri. She was exactly where he had told her to go, on the far side of the couple, hovering on their flank. Macri carried her video camera casually, but despite her imitation of a bored member of the press, she stood out more than Glick would have liked. No other reporters were in this far corner of the square, and the acronym BBC stenciled on her camera was drawing some looks from tourists.The tape Macri ha d shot earlier of the naked body dumped in the trunk was playing at this very moment on the VCR transmitter back in the van. Glick knew the images were sailing over his head right now en route to London. He wondered what editorial would say.He wished he and Macri had reached the body sooner, before the army of plainclothed soldiers had intervened. The same army, he knew, had now fanned out and surrounded this piazza. Something big was about to happen.The media is the right arm of anarchy, the killer had said. Glick wondered if he had missed his chance for a big scoop. He looked out at the other media vans in the distance and watched Macri tailing the mysterious couple across the piazza. Something told Glick he was still in the game