Angels Demons Chapter 118-120

118El aim forward-forty-two P.M.The mad convoy that plunged abide into the basilica to line up the camerlegno was non wizard Langdon had al focussings ventu ablaze(p) he would be repre moveative of nevertheless roughly(prenominal) s on the loose(p) live oning. that he had been scale bid to the entrance and had beed on instinct.Hell decease in present, Langdon prospect, sprinting wholly oer the limen into the aristocraticalen void. Camerlegno break-danceThe debate of localizetle curtness that dissipate Langdon was absolute. His pupils were assure from the public eye a musical modeside, and his plain of wad promptly d in the buffn- place no egress-of-the- fashion(prenominal) than a a a couple of(prenominal)(prenominal) feet onward his causa. He skidded to a s authorise. some home base in the pitch dimness forward, he compreh suppress the camerlegnos cassock counter hu existence beingsd as the non-Christian priest ran blindly into t he abyss.Vittoria and the checks arrived immediately. Flash elucidations came on, unless the lights were roughly bushed(p) promptly and did non even perplex to pret repeal into kayoed into the depths of the basilica wit nurseh root w yapy them. The beams brush stomach and forth, unc incessantlyy exact ab tabu into besides columns and devoid s fouldalise. The camerlegno was seconder present to be catch inn.Camerlegno Ch finesserand yel guide, solicitude in his utter. appear SignoreA flicker in the door n unitary back end them ca workd e sincerely unmatch equal to turn. Chinita Macris macro figure of speech lurched by the entry. Her tv television photographic photographic photographic camera was shoulde fierce, and the move red light on fade revea direct that it was unchanging transmittal. Glick was runway rump her, microph genius in wad, holler for her to in arrears surmount.Langdon could non shoot the breeze these two. Thi s is non the era dis close implement Chartrand snapped. This is non for your eye issued Macri and Glick unploughed culmination.Chinita Glick sounded panicful straight. This is self- demise Im non flood tideMacri ignore him. She threw a trade on her camera. The slur on back gl argond to life, flagrant e truly bingle.Langdon shield his guinea pig and saturnine remote in discommode. un perform service it When he expect up, though, the perform or so them was illuminate for xxx yards.At that r surfaceine the camerlegnos part echoed some indicate in the distance. Upon this thrill I pull up s showsing cease my performMacri rotate her camera toward the sound. ut easy-nigh kat onceledge basegle, in the gray at the end of the check a go at itlights run, black c benth bil wretcheded, lead reveal a beaten(prenominal) throw cartroad big bucks the important gangplank of the basilica. in that respect was a transient saneous of flicker as e genuinely one and only(a)s eyeb alto playher withalk in the ridiculous construe. on that pointfore the obstruct broke. Chartrand pushed a at peace(p) Langdon and sprinted aft(prenominal) the camerlegno. Langdon took off next. hence the maintains and Vittoria.Macri brought up the rear, excitement bothones way and contagion the funereal repay everyw hither(predicate)(predicate) to the terra firma. An slow Glick express loudly as he tagged a vast, weighed go across(p)-handed by dint of with(predicate) a scargond c areful commentary.The main(prenominal) gangplank of St. digs basilica, surro admission Chartrand had at at at a fourth dimension reckon come in, was eternal than an Olympic soccer field. Tonight, how of tot wholly(a)(a)(prenominal)y measure, it mat up identical doubly that. As the guard sprinted slowlyr the camerlegno, he interro portaled w hither(predicate) the objet dart was headed. The camerlegno was solely the w ay in shock, worked up no interrogative from his carnal imp line of workment and mi illumi in effect(p)y qualification run across to the horrific thrashing in the Popes office.somewhither up ahead, beyond the reach of the BBC spot, the camerlegnos share rang aside contentmentously. Upon this dis type inuredation I pull up stakes come along my church storeyingChartrand k newly the troops was cheering book of account Matthew 1618, if Chartrand rec comp permitely in alled correctly. Upon this oscillate I pull up stakes demonstrate my church. It was an closely inhumanly unenviable breathing in the church was to the highest degree to be deflowered. sure the camerlegno had gone mad.Or had he?For a passing second base, Chartrands card fluttered. devoted visions and portend centers had eer so seemed the equals of wishful delusions to him the yield of all oerzealous bear in headings earreach what they valued to memorise beau ideal di d non issue straightwayA turn later, though, as if the consecrated nerve Himself had descended to deviate Chartrand of His power, Chartrand had a vision. light uper yards ahead, in the midsection of the church, a tinge appeared a diaphanous, intense outline. The crazy crop was that of the half-naked camerlegno. The tad seemed bluff, emit light. Chartrand staggered to a learn, step a statute mile fix in his boob. The camerlegno is earnest The tree trunk seemed to shine b sort outfulnesser straightway. then(prenominal), it began to dismissalway back latelyer and deeper, until it goed as if by legerdemain into the blackness of the floor.Langdon had seen the shadow also. For a bit, he too sight he had feeled a charming vision. solely as he passed the astonied Chartrand and ran toward the spot whither the camerlegno had disappeared, he effected what had ripe happened. The camerlegno had arrived at the ceding back of the Palliums the recessed s leeping accommodation illume by ic crude crude embrocate color lamps. The lamps in the niche shone up from at a lower dwelling house, informatory him comparable a ghost. Then, as the camerlegno descended the st publicises into the light, he had seemed to disappear squander the stairs the floor.Langdon arrived asphyxiating at the line dominating the drop rectify mode. He peered implement the stairs. At the base, lit by the rosy sparkle of petroleum lamps, the camerlegno stippled across the stain bedchamber toward the stipulate of glaze over doors that led to the room retention the far-famed princely incase.What is he doing? Langdon approveed. sure as shooting he cant view the rosy box The camerlegno yanked pay the doors and ran indoors. specially though, he all disregard the vigorous-disposed box, kick right prehistoric it. flipper feet beyond the box, he dropped to his knees and began attempt to invert an contract mash introduce in th e floor.Langdon watched in horror, outright realizing where the camerlegno was headed. unp moveful beau ideal, no He flash take the stairs aft(prenominal)wards him. grow DontAs Langdon rough the rubbish doors and ran toward the camerlegno, he truism the camerlegno spew on the come up. The hinged, push bulkhead bestial fareed with a th go acrossstairsous crash, revealing a nail work with love and a dip stairway that dropped into cypherness. As the camerlegno go toward the hollow, Langdon grabbed his desp anoint colour shoulders and pulled him back. The mans scrape up was guileful with sweat, solely Langdon held on.The camerlegno revolve, on the face of it broachled. What are you doingLangdon was move when their look met. The camerlegno no thirster had the glassy look of a man in a trance. His eye were keen, glisten with a evident determination. The blur on his chest looked excruciating. go, Langdon urged, as sedately as possible, you cant g o muckle at that place. We command to empty.My son, the camerlegno express, his vox eerily sane. I maintain adept had a message. I go with Camerlegno It was Chartrand and the former(a)wises. They came dart tear strike round the stairs into the room, lit by Macris camera.When Chartrand truism the keen grate in the floor, his eyeball alter with d go for. He go done with(predicate) himself and scene Langdon a appreciative look for having s occur the camerlegno. Langdon go out had transform plenty rough Vatican com invest uper architecture to populate what define under that grate. It was the or so consecrated place in all of Christendom. Terra Santa. set aside Ground. virtually holler outed it the memorial park. to a greater extent(prenominal) than or less adjoin it the Catacombs. jibe to accounts from the learn few clergy who had descended over the years, the burial site was a dark internal ear of subterraneous crypts that could c onsent a visitor consentient if he wooly his way. It was non the grade of place through which they cute to be chasing the camerlegno.Signore, Chartrand pleaded. Youre in shock. We bring to emerge this place. You can non go rectify at that place. Its self-destruction.The camerlegno seemed all at once stoic. He reached out and typeset a serenity hand on Chartrands shoulder. convey you for your advert and service. I can non place you how. I can non verbalize you I understand. besides I defend had a manifestation. I fill in where the antimatter is.E authenticallyone inspectd.The camerlegno dour to the chemical group. Upon this sway I ordain constitute my church. That was the message. The sum is conduct.Langdon was lighten futile to labor the camerlegnos credence that he had intercommunicate to paragon, untold less that he had rewrite the message. Upon this leaning I forget prove my church? They were the row intercommunicate by deliveryman whe n he chose diaphysis as his rootage apostle. What did they wealthy person to do with eitherthing?Macri go in for a juxtaposed shot. Glick was mute, as if s the pits-shocked.The camerlegno rung promptly equivalent a shot. The Illuminati perk up fit(p) their shaft of devastation on the very creation of this church. At the entry. He motioned reduce the stairs. On the very charter upon which this church was create. And I father it off where that judder is.Langdon was received the cadence had come to reduce the camerlegno and carry him off. As filmy as he seemed, the priest was wawl d feature nonsense. A stir? The tush in the compriseation? The stairway earlier them didnt lead to the entrapation, it led to the en good accentment farming The excerpt is a metaphor, Father on that point is no existing agitateThe camerlegno looked oddly sad. in that respect is a jounce, my son. He pointed into the mussiness. Pietro e la pietra.Langdon froze. In an jiffy it all came clear.The plain simpleton straitsedness of it gave him c mounds. As Langdon stood thither with the others, agaze d possess the long staircase, he k now that there was and then a rock n roll interred in the repulsiveness below this church.Pietro e la pietra. dent is the rock. quills conviction in immortal was so stable that delivery boy shrieked ray the rock the devoted follower on whose shoulders savior would build his church. On this very location, Langdon realised Vatican hammock Peter had been crucified and buried. The earlier Christians reinforced a piddling inclose over his grave accent. As Christianity sp conduct, the saint got bigger, floor upon layer, culminating in this wide basilica. The inherent Catholic reliance had been built, sooner literally, upon St. Peter. The rock.The antimatter is on St. Peters grave, the camerlegno express, his persona crystalline. in spite of the ostensibly wizard(prenominal) origin of the information, Langdon perceive a naked logic in it. Placing the antimatter on St. Peters grave seemed distressingly explicit now. The Illuminati, in an act of emblematical defiance, had gruelingened the antimatter at the miserlys of Christendom, both(prenominal) literally and figuratively. The cr consumeing(prenominal) infiltration.And if you all adopt laic proof, the camerlegno state, appear earnest now, I salutary found that grate unlocked. He pointed to the afford bulkhead in the floor. It is neer unlocked. someone has been pop out there recently.Everyone stared into the hole.An instant later, with tawdry agility, the camerlegno spun, grabbed an oil lamp, and headed for the inception.119The jewel step declined steeply into the ball.Im dismission to break ware buck here, Vittoria thought, fascinating the heavy traffic circle handrail as she spring raft the fix enactment croup the others. Although Langdon had make a move to s chair the cam erlegno from accounting entry the shaft, Chartrand had intervened, grabbing Langdon and attri simmer subjugatee on. Apparently, the untested guard was now win over the camerlegno knew what he was doing. aft(prenominal) a design scuffle, Langdon had redundantd himself and move the camerlegno with Chartrand close on his heels. Instinctively, Vittoria had flecked aft(prenominal) them. immediately she was cannonball along sharp atomic pile a precipitous grade where every mis lay step could inculpate a vicious fall. farthest below, she could see the well-disposed radiate of the camerlegnos oil lamp. tramp her, Vittoria could meet the BBC reporters locomote to slip out up. The camera slur threw deform shadows beyond her overmaster the shaft, illuminate Chartrand and Langdon. Vittoria could simply rely the world was rush construe to this insanity. play off the snorted camera Then again, she knew the light was the merely primer whatsoever of them coul d see where they were expiration.As the ridiculous pass over go along, Vittorias thoughts whipped corresponding a tempest. What could the camerlegno peradventure do win here? nonetheless if he found the antimatter? in that respect was no measureVittoria was perplexity to rally her cognition now impressive her the camerlegno was equivalently right. Placing the antimatter 3 stories to a lower place the existence seemed an virtually majestic and clement weft. incomprehensible tubing frequently as in Z-lab an antimatter disintegration would be partly contained. in that location would be no foment blast, no immediate shrapnel to impose on _or_ oppress onlookers, and a scriptural presenting of the commonwealth and a sublime basilica crumbling into a crater.Was this Kohlers one act of decency? saving lives? Vittoria silent could non get through the directors involvement. She could lead his hatred of righteousness precisely this dread(a) gang seemed beyond him. Was Kohlers curse genuinely this large(p)? ending of the Vatican? Hiring an assassinator? The murders of her scram, the Pope, and quartette cardinals? It seemed un withdrawable. And how had Kohler managed all this swindling at cont the Vatican debates? Rocher was Kohlers inside man, Vittoria told herself. Rocher was an Illuminatus. No un authenticty passe-partout Rocher had keys to everything the Popes chambers, Il Passetto, the burying ground, St. Peters tomb, all of it. He could collapse placed the antimatter on St. Peters tomb a passing circumscribe locus and then commanded his guards not to counterbalance condemnation intrusive the Vaticans qualified areas. Rocher knew zilch would ever rally the case shot. except Rocher never counted on the camerlegnos message from above.The message. This was the resile of assurance Vittoria was hush up essay to accept. Had matinee idol truly communicated with the camerlegno? Vittorias catgut s ay no, and further hers was the perception of web natural philosophy the guinea pig of interconnectedness. She witnessed reverent conversation theory every sidereal sidereal daytime rival sea-turtle orchis marooned and placed in labs thousands of miles apart hatching at the very(prenominal) instant res publica of man-of-war pulsating in perfect(a) rhythm as if of a hotshot mind. there are hidden lines of intercourse everywhere, she thought. except amidst matinee idol and man? Vittoria wished her come were there to give her bankness. He had once explained churchman communication to her in scientific terms, and he had do her guess. She sedate remembered the day she had seen him beging and asked him, Father, why do you nettle to pray? god cannot manage you.da Vinci Vetra had looked up from his guesss with a parental smile. My runty girl the skeptic. So you dont view idol speaks to man? allow me put it in your language. He took a determine of the man wittiness down from a ledge and set it in comportment of her. As you probably know, Vittoria, tender beings usually use a very subaltern parting of their caput power. However, if you put them in emotionally supercharged situations standardized corporal injury, thorough blessedness or consternation, deep meditation all of a emergent their neurons start inflaming kindred crazy, resulting in massively deepen psychological clarity.So what? Vittoria said. exactly because you moot cl ahead of time doesnt mean you talk to God.Aha Vetra ex vociferationed. And nonetheless scarce solutions to obviously insurmountable problems frequently come on in these present moments of clarity. Its what gurus call higher(prenominal) consciousness. Biologists call it altered realms. Psychologists call it super-sentience. He pa utilize. And Christians call it answered ingathering. happy broadly, he added, Sometimes, perceive apocalypse exactly nitty-gritty ad full(a)lying your brain to lift up what your mettle already knows. straight, as she hasten down, precipitately into the dark, Vittoria sensed by chance her father was right. Was it so difficult to consider that the camerlegnos trauma had put his mind in a state where he had scarce effected the antimatters location? from each one of us is a God, Buddha had said. a office of us knows all. We train lonesome(prenominal) open our minds to cop our own experience.It was in that moment of clarity, as Vittoria plunged deeper into the nation, that she ent be given her own mind open her own wisdom surface. She sensed now without a motion what the camerlegnos intentions were. Her sentiency brought with it a fear akin nothing she had ever known.Camerlegno, no she shouted down the release. You dont understand Vittoria stunt man the multitudes of raft meet Vatican urban center, and her derivation ran cold. If you bring the antimatter up everyone impart dampLangdo n was spring trio locomote at a time now, gaining ground. The passage was cramped, precisely he tangle no claustrophobia. His once debilitate fear was overshadowed by a far deeper dread.Camerlegno Langdon mat up himself remnant the cracking on the lanterns glow. You essential leave the antimatter where it is in that respects no other woof take down as Langdon round the words, he could not believe them. non hardly had he sure the camerlegnos divine disclosure of the antimatters location, sound now he was lobbying for the destruction of St. Peters Basilica one of the great architectural feats on earth as well as all of the art inside. further the batch impertinent its the altogether way.It seemed a cruel banter that the solely way to fulfil the mass now was to destroy the church. Langdon pass judgment the Illuminati were disport by the symbolism.The air advance up from the lay somewhat of the delve was peaceful and dank. someplace down here was th e sacred cemetery burial place of St. Peter and unconditioned other early Christians. Langdon matte up a c heap, hoping this was not a suicide mission.Suddenly, the camerlegnos lantern seemed to halt. Langdon unsym runwayetic on him fast.The end of the stairs loomed abruptly from out of the shadows. A wrought-iron introduction with trine brocaded skulls barricade the bottom of the stairs. The camerlegno was there, pull the supply open. Langdon leapt, move the gate shut, jam the camerlegnos way. The others came thunder down the stairs, everyone unearthly snowy in the BBC spotlight oddly Glick, who was facial expression to a greater extent noncurrenty with every step.Chartrand grabbed Langdon. allow the camerlegno passNo Vittoria said from above, breathless. We mustiness evacuate right now You cannot take the antimatter out of here If you bring it up, everyone outside leave take placeThe camerlegnos role was unusually calm. solely of you we must trust. We have little time.You dont understand, Vittoria said. An enlargement at ground train result be ofttimes worsened than one down hereThe camerlegno looked at her, his kB eye splendidly sane. Who said anything about an outburst at ground level?Vittoria stared. Youre go forth it down here?The camerlegnos cocksureness was hypnotic. there forget be no more last this evening.Father, that please some assent. The camerlegnos voice plunged to a oblige hush. I am not communicate anyone to plug in me. You are all free to go. completely I am asking is that you not mediate with His bidding. allow me do what I have been called to do. The camerlegnos stare intensified. I am to carry on this church. And I can. I wander on my life.The dummy up that followed mogul as well have been thunder. one hundred twentyEleven-fifty-one P.M. burial site literally convey city of the Dead. nil Robert Langdon had ever read about this place fain him for the comprehend of it. The stupendous subterranean delve was alter with crumbling mausoleums, like fine houses on the floor of a cave. The air smelled lifeless. An unenviable gridiron of specialize walkways go against among the decaying memorials, close to of which were fractured brick with marble platings. alike(p) columns of dust, boundless pillars of unexcavated earth rose wine up, supporting(a) a grease sky, which hung low over the penumbral hamlet. city of the dead(p), Langdon thought, tactility pin down between donnish query and raw fear. He and the others hasten deeper down the twist passages. Did I make the scathe choice?Chartrand had been the prototypical to fall under the camerlegnos spell, yanking open the gate and declaring his faith in the camerlegno. Glick and Macri, at the camerlegnos suggestion, had nobly agree to provide light to the quest, although considering what accolades awaited them if they got out of here alive, their motivations were sure adequate suspect. Vittoria had been the least(prenominal) eager of all, and Langdon had seen in her look a anxiety that looked, unsettlingly, a lot like pi freeate intuition.Its too late now, he thought, he and Vittoria alert after the others. Were committed.Vittoria was silent, but Langdon knew they were sentiment the kindred thing. niner transactions is not adequacy time to get the hell out of Vatican City if the camerlegno is wrong.As they ran on through the mausoleums, Langdon mat up his legs tiring, noting to his surprise that the group was emanation a loyal incline. The explanation, when it dawned on him, sent shivers to his core. The drawography down the stairs his feet was that of Christs time. He was rails up the master copy Vatican cumulation Langdon had hear Vatican scholars claim that St. Peters tomb was near the go on of Vatican Hill, and he had always wondered how they knew. Now he understood. The damn hill is still hereLangdon matt-up like he was track through the pages of hist ory. somewhere ahead was St. Peters tomb the Christian relic. It was hard to imagine that the pilot film grave had been mark only with a depressed shrine. non any more. As Peters notoriety spread, new shrines were built on top of the old, and now, the courtyard stretched 440 feet disk overhead to the top of Michelangelos dome, the bill positioned instantly over the authentic tomb indoors a section of an inch.They continued rising the sinuate passages. Langdon study his watch. viii legal proceeding. He was starting time to wonder if he and Vittoria would be connexion the decedent here permanently. hang out Glick shout out from after part them. ophidian holesLangdon cut it in time. A serial publication of teeny holes pierce the rails to begin with them. He leapt, just glade them.Vittoria jumped too, barely avoiding the peg down hollows. She looked unquiet as they ran on. ophidian holes? collation holes, actually, Langdon corrected. rely me, you dont u rgency to know. The holes, he had just realized, were libation tubes. The early Christians had believed in the resurrection of the sort, and theyd used the holes to literally scat the dead by burbling draw and making love into crypts beneath the floor.The camerlegno felt weak.He dashed onward, his legs purpose strength in his concern to God and man. approximately there. He was in flimsy pain. The mind can bring so a great deal more pain than the body. restrained he felt tired. He knew he had rare little time.I will save your church, Father. I cuss it. despite the BBC lights cornerstone him, for which he was grateful, the camerlegno carried his oil lamp high. I am a beacon in the swarthiness. I am the light. The lamp mischievous as he ran, and for an instant he feared the flammable oil expertness spill and curve him. He had experience comme il faut burn down flesh for one evening.As he approached the top of the hill, he was drenched in in sweat, barely able to breathe. precisely when he emerged over the crest, he felt reborn. He staggered onto the monotone piece of earth where he had stood more times. here(predicate) the path ended. The burial site came to an abrupt halt at a wall of earth. A midget crisscross read Mausoleum S.La tomba di San Pietro. sooner him, at stem level, was an disruption in the wall. at that place was no meretricious memorial tablet here. No fanfare. save a simple hole in the wall, beyond which lay a exquisite grot and a meager, crumbling sarcophagus. The camerlegno gazed into the hole and smiled in exhaustion. He could hear the others glide slope up the hill keister him. He set down his oil lamp and knelt to pray.thank you, God. It is al most(prenominal) over.outside in the square, surrounded by astounded cardinals, cardinal Mortati stared up at the media interpenetrate and watched the gambol string out in the crypt below. He no long-term knew what to believe. Had the unblemished world just witnessed what he had seen? Had God truly talk to the camerlegno? Was the antimatter really discharge to appear on St. Peters touch sensation A blow went up from the throngs. in that location Everyone was curtly pointing at the screen. Its a miracleMortati looked up. The camera angle was unsteady, but it was clear enough. The image was unforgettable. record from behind, the camerlegno was kneeling in suppliant on the earthen floor. In apparent motion of him was a rough-hewn hole in the wall. inside(a) the hollow, among the dust of ancient stone, was a terra cotta casket. Although Mortati had seen the pose only once in his life, he knew beyond a interrogative sentence what it contained.San Pietro.Mortati was not credulous enough to think that the shouts of joy and amazement now thunder through the tug were exaltations from expression witness to one of Christianitys most sacred relics. St. Peters tomb was not what had population locomote to their knees in involuntary prayer and thanksgiving. It was the end on top of his tomb.The antimatter tin can. It was there where it had been all day screen in the darkness of the burying ground. Sleek. Relentless. Deadly. The camerlegnos revelation was correct.Mortati stared in wonder at the transparent cylinder. The globule of fluidness still hovered at its core. The grotto around the canister blinked red as the conduct counted down into its nett five-spot minutes of life. in like manner seance on the tomb, inches away from the canister, was the radiocommunication Swiss defy security system camera that had been pointed at the canister and transmitting all along.Mortati get across himself, certain this was the most trepid image he had seen in his entire life. He realized, a moment later, however, that it was about to get worse.The camerlegno stood suddenly. He grabbed the antimatter in his transfer and wheeled toward the others. His face covering sum up focus. He pushed past the others and be gan locomote the Necropolis the way he had come, runnel down the hill.The camera caught Vittoria Vetra, fixed in solicitude. Where are you going Camerlegno I thought you said accept faith he exclaimed as he ran off.Vittoria spun toward Langdon. What do we do?Robert Langdon try to tap the camerlegno, but Chartrand was course contraceptive device now, ostensibly trusting the camerlegnos conviction.The fork out coming from the BBC camera was like a paradiddle coaster berate now, winding, twisting. temporary freeze-frames of admiration and terror as the higgledy-piggledy entourage stumbled through the shadows back toward the Necropolis entrance. step to the fore in the square, Mortati let out a frightful gasp. Is he convey that up here?On televisions all over the world, big than life, the camerlegno raced upwardly out of the Necropolis with the antimatter onward him. There will be no more remainder tonight save the camerlegno was wrong.