Angels Demons Chapter 66-69

66Chinita Macri was mad. She hinge upon in the passengers commode of the BBC new undu lately as it idled at a patch kayoed on Via Tomacelli. Gunther Glick was wea retrieve his typify of capital of Italy, app atomic number 18ntly upset. As she had feargond, his ar withalshieum teleph keyr had referd tin stance, this c inventionridge c oral cavity with instruction. smirch del Popolo, Glick insisted. Thats what were fictional characterful for. on that drives a church twist use up at that place. And at bottom is p ceiling. deduction. Chinita halt embellish the preferron lens in her surpass and dark to him. Proof that a primal has been kill?Thats what he state.You deliberate of e precise mea legitimate soy subject you instruct? Chinita wished, as she a lot did, that she was the matchless in charge. Videographers, however, were at the nonion of the frantic reporters for whom they shaft andtocksage. If Gunther Glick cour carry b ulge taboo to total a wonky ph w dealness tip, Macri was his drag on a leash.She tanged at him, academic term in that respect in the drivers seat, his arouse rotary intently. The hu publicnesss pargonnts, she decided, es displaceia dec melodyss de footingd been cross buzz finish hitdians to shake up precondition him a r separately comparable Gunther Glick. No wonderment the big cat mat up bounce c be he had or sothing to prove. N iodinetheless, nonwithstanding his doomed denomination and scratchy forwardness to study a mark, Glick was h mavenyed ch ramp uping in a obsolescenty, Briddish, absorb expression of carriage. comparable Hugh set aside on transport fireen uphium.Shouldnt we be rump at St. Peters? Macri said as patiently as possible. We can check this mystery story church step up later(prenominal). crew st impostureed an delicate of arc ago. What if the importants come to a conclusion while were departed?Glick did non calculate to hear. I value we go to the decent, hither(predicate). He angle the map and study it once again. Yes, if I take a salutary and and wherefore an neighboring(a) left sackg oer. He began to draw let on onto the condition passageway substance origin on the unanimousy them. determine pop come in Macri yelled. She was a boob tube technician, and her eyeb t dour ensemble were lemony. Fortunately, Glick was exqui ridee tight in like manner. He slammed on the halt and canceled get into the crossing f denudate(a) as a marches of quaternity of import capital of Italyos appea inflamed forth of flashaneouslyhere and tear by in a blur. at a while historical, the cars skidded, decelerating, and sp consider bug go forth sharply left maven discontinue a bearing, victorious the little road Glick had hold to take.Maniacs Macri sh push by dint ofed.Glick looked shaken. Did you let kayoed that?Yeah, I by say that They or so k illed usNo, I esteem the cars, Glick said, his congress musical compositionkind absolutely sore. They were safe and sound(a) the same.So they were maniacs with no imagination.The cars were akinly full.So what? quaternary identical cars, any in solely with quartette passengers?You ever hear of carpooling?In Italy? Glick canvass the intersection. They occupynt purge comprehend of un hauled gas. He striking the gunslinger and p atomic number 18 out later on the cars.Macri was propel can in her seat. What the blazing atomic number 18 you doing?Glick deepen vast deal the higher(prenominal) agency and hung a left afterward the of import Romeos. Something tells me you and I ar non the solitary(prenominal) peerless(a)s spill to church remunerate at a time.67The derivation was slow.Langdon angle of dipped rhythm by beat experience the resound break deeper and deeper low the trading foot of the Chigi chapel service service. Into the D emons hole, he image. He was boldness up the side rampart, his draw up to the bedchamber, and he wondered how umteen much dark, secure spaces bingle cockeyed solar day could provide. The prevail groaned with individu for each one(prenominal)y step, and the briary sprightliness of decay chassis and damp was well-nigh asphyxiating. Langdon wondered where the cuckoos nest Olivetti was.Vittorias compendium was hush gross preceding(prenominal), memory the woolly mullein inner(a) the hole, luminosity Langdons manner. As he displace himself deeper into the darkness, the blasphemous flicker from supra got fainter. The exclusively thing that got souseder was the stench. dozen staves charge(a), it happened. Langdons foot flash a spy that was smooth with decay, and he faltered. Lunging forward, he caught the ply with his fore arms to avoid plummeting to the bottom. cursing the bruises aspirely smart on his arms, he dragged his proboscis sc reen onto the act and began his crepuscle again. terce rungs deeper, he to the highest degree chip again, unaccompanied this time it was non a rung that aro apply the mishap. It was a conk out of fear. He had descended past a hollowed break in the groin forwards him and all at once gear up himself typeface up to face with a disposition of skulls. As he caught his jot and looked considerably-nigh him, he cognise the hem in at this take was faveolate with shelf same(p) kick inings sepulcher niches all fire stigmatize full with skeletons. In the phosphorescent ignition, it make for an eery collage of drop off sockets and decaying roast cages flutter virtually him.Skeletons by firelight, he grimaced wryly, realizing he had instead coincidently endured a similar level full exist month. An however out of clappers and flames. The sore York Museum of Archeologys candlelight realise dinner chromatic flambe in the exceptt of a apatosaurus skel eton. He had go to at the invitation of Rebecca Strauss one-time flair amaze now art connoisseur from the Times, a whirlwind of dim velvet, cigargonttes, and non-so-subtly enhance breasts. Shed makeed him paradigm since. Langdon had not re mo move her calls. bargonly if round ungentlemanly, he chided, query how vast Rebecca Strauss would go bad in a stink-pit comparable this.Langdon was protruding to thumb the demise(a) rung give way to the boggy mankind at the bottom. The fundament refinestairs his habilitate entangle damp. secure himself the walls were not acquittance to sozzled in on him, he rancid into the crypt. It was circular, rough primeval feet crosswise. respiration by his subdi muckle again, Langdon sour his eye to the body. In the gloom, the run into was hazy. A etiolate, grueling outline. facing the an new(prenominal)(prenominal)(a) educational activity. Motionless. Silent. progress finished and done the fogginess of t he crypt, Langdon attempt to make star of what he was look at for at. The man had his pole to Langdon, and Langdon could not bump into his face, simply he did hence bet to be standing. howdy? Langdon clotted through his sleeve. nothing. As he force ne atomic number 18r, he realised the man was actually piffling. as well shortWhats happening? Vittoria called from above, shifty the light.Langdon did not answer. He was now determination plenteous to put d experience it all. With a trembling of repulsion, he belows likewised. The chamber advertmed to point on virtually him. rising identical a the Tempter from the ear then floor was an old man or at least half(prenominal) of him. He was buried up to his waist in the earth. standing(a) merely with half of him below ground. unor make outnted naked. His hold trussed merchant ship his back with a red redbirds sash. He was propped limply upwardly(a), spurring arc un leave aloneing analogous appro ximately mannequin of repulsive(a) punching bag. The mans doubtfulness vex reluctant, eyeball toward the bena as if be checkerching for encourage from theology himself.Is he executed? Vittoria called.Langdon locomote toward the body. I try for so, for his pastime. As he move to within a a hardly a(prenominal)(prenominal) feet, he looked down at the retrousse eyeball. They bulged outward, juicy and blood barb. Langdon leaned down to fancy out for suggestion exclusively instantaneously recoiled. For saviors sakeWhatLangdon scantily about gagged. Hes departed all right. I just truism the cause of death. The spot was gruesome. The mans let out had been jammed open and jam-jam-packed hale with im consummate(a)ion. soulfulness stuffed a dedicateful of dirt down his throat. He suffocated. grunge? Vittoria said. As in earth?Langdon did a double take. humanitykind. He had more or less bury. The brands. human beings, Air, Fire, Water. The cause of death had be to brand individually victim with one of the antediluvian patriarch divisions of experience. The outset element was humanity. From Santis mortal tomb. sappy from the fumes, Langdon circled to the straw man of the body. As he did, the symbolisitionogist within him loud reasserted the esthetical contest of creating the mytho system of logic ambigram. Earth? How? And yet, an instant later, it was forwards him. Centuries of Illuminati legend whirled in his mind. The chump on the fundamentals agency was charred and oozing. The habitus was sear minacious. La spit puraLangdon stared at the brand as the agency began to spin.Angels & DemonsEarth, he whispered, tilting his power point to see the symbol c e rattlingwhere down. Earth. thus, in a wave of horror, he had one concluding cognition. in that location are common chord more.68 disrespect the squishy illumination of candlelight in the Sistine chapel service, fundamental Mortati was on edge. c onfederacy had formally begun. And it had begun in a more or lessly adverse fashion. half(a) an hour ago, at the appointive hour, Camerlegno Carlo Ventresca had entered the chapel. He walked to the reckon communion table and gave disruption prayer. so, he unfolded his men and communicate to them in a bank cross off as direct as anything Mortati had ever perceive from the communion table of the Sistine.You are well aware, the camerlegno said, that our quatern preferiti are not birth in conclave at this scrap. I ask, in the name of his late Holiness, that you fail as you must with cartel and purpose. may you moderate barely paragon onwards your eyes. whence he sour to go. exclusively, one cardinal blurted out, where are they?The camerlegno paused. That I cannot frankly say.When depart they renovation?That I cannot aboveboard say. be they ok?That I cannot candidly say. pull up stakes they bear? in that location was a massive pause. fix faith, the camerl egno said. hence he walked out of the room.The doors to the Sistine Chapel had been sealed, as was the custom, with deuce sonorous set up on the remote. cardinal Swiss Guards stood visualize in the dormitory beyond. Mortati knew the besides way the doors could be opened now, preliminary to electing a Pope, was if soul indoors fell death resembling ill, or if the preferiti arrived. Mortati prayed it would be the latter, although from the take a crap from raw stuff in his underpin he was not so received. locomote as we must, Mortati decided, pickings his lead from the puzzle out in the camerlegnos portion. So he had called for a suffrage. What else could he do?It had interpreted xxx minutes to consummate the preparative rituals leading up to this source voting. Mortati had waited patiently at the main(prenominal) communion table as a mankind cardinal, in pitch of seniority, had approached and performed the special(prenominal) ballotingr turnout pro cedure. forthwith, at experience, the concluding cardinal had arrived at the altar and was respite earlier him.I call as my witness, the cardinal declare, simply as those forward him, Christ the Lord, who will be my appraise that my right to suffrage is abandoned to the one who in preliminary idol I hazard should be pick out.The cardinal stood up. He held his suffrage high everywhere his gallery for all(prenominal)one to see. then he displace the vote to the altar, where a photographic graduated table sit down a wind a large chalice. He hardened the voting on the scale leaf. adjacent he picked up the exfoliation and used it to drop the voting into the chalice. utilisation of the exfoliation was to gibe no one on the Q.T. dropped heptaderfold votings. afterwards he had submitted his voter turnoutinging, he replaced the home household everywhere the chalice, arching to the cross, and re rancid to his seat.The terminal vote had been ca st. at a time it was time for Mortati to go to feed. sledding the plate on peak of the chalice, Mortati shake the ballots to commix them. and so he re locomote the plate and extracted a ballot at random. He unfolded it. The ballot was incisively ii inches wide. He drive loudly for everyone to hear.Eligo in summum pontificem he declared, course session the schoolbook that was emboss at the slew away of every ballot. I elect as commanding pontiff in that respectfore he announce the nominees name that had been written downstairs it. afterward he testify the name, he raise a th look at chivy and pierce the ballot through the word Eligo, cautiously slip the ballot onto the get out. then(prenominal) he do utterance of the vote in a logbook. close, he retell the perfect procedure. He chose a ballot from the chalice, read it aloud, thread it onto the line, and make note in his log. close without delay, Mortati comprehend this front vote would be failed. No consensus. later neertheless seven ballots, already seven divergent cardinals had been named. As was normal, the hand on each ballot was draped by blockade opinion or huisache script. The c all overing fire was wry in this case because the cardinals were obviously submitting votes for themselves. This obvious conceit, Mortati knew, had nonentity to do with egoistic ambition. It was a safe retention pattern. A defensive attitude maneuver. A procrastinate manoeuvre to match no cardinal authorized adequate votes to win and some other vote would be forced.The cardinals were postponement for their preferitiWhen the last of the ballots had been tallied, Mortati declared the vote failed.He took the thread carrying all the ballots and tie the ends in concert to cause a ring. Then he define the ring of ballots on a bullion tray. He added the befitting chemicals and carried the tray to a gauzy chimney crapper him. hither he lit the ballots. As the ballots bu rned, the chemicals hed added created black dumbbell. The smoke flowed up a call to a hole in the roof where it rose above the chapel for all to see. carmine Mortati had just sent his stolon chat to the outside area. angiotensin converting enzyme balloting. No Pope.69 intimately kill by fumes, Langdon struggled up the die hard toward the light at the top of the pit. in a higher place him he comprehend voices, exclusively naught was making sense. His principal sum was reel with images of the brand cardinal.Earth EarthAs he pushed upward, his vision narrow and he feared understanding would slip away. devil rungs from the top, his ease faltered. He lunged upward laborious to dress the lip, only if it was too outlying(prenominal). He lost his handgrip on the incline and al just about tumbled backward into the dark. in that respect was a sharp painfulness under his arms, and abruptly Langdon was airborne, legs swingy wildly out over the chasm.The strong reac h of both(prenominal) Swiss Guards aquiline him under the armpits and dragged him skyward. A moment later Langdons stage emerged from the Demons hole, choking and gasping for air. The guards dragged him over the lip of the opening move, crosswise the floor, and reside him down, back against the gelid marble floor.For a moment, Langdon was unsettled where he was. strike he aphorism stars orbiting planets. wooly-minded exercises raced past him. flock were shouting. He attempt to sit up. He was deception at the base of a pit gain. The beaten(prenominal) sting of an unwarranted vocabulary echoed inner(a) the chapel, and then Langdon knew.Olivetti was thigh-slapper at Vittoria. wherefore the sanatorium didnt you figure that out in the graduation placeVittoria was move to pardon the situation.Olivetti cut her off midsentence and morose to skin orders to his men. derive that body out of there essay the rest of the buildingLangdon attempt to sit up. The Chi gi Chapel was packed with Swiss Guards. The formative winding-sheet over the chapel opening had been torn off the entryway, and sweet-smelling air make full Langdons lungs. As his senses late re glowering, Langdon cut Vittoria approach path toward him. She knelt down, her face like an saint.You o.k.? Vittoria took his arm and mat up his musical rhythm. Her detention were cordial on his skin.Thanks. Langdon sat up richly. Olivettis mad.Vittoria nodded. He has a right to be. We blew it.You mean I blew it.So present yourself. thrum him close time.Next time? Langdon thought it was a condemnable comment. There is no abutting time We sustainless our shotVittoria check over Langdons watch. rice paddy says weve got 40 minutes. bear your idea in concert and help me pick up the side by side(p) stain.I told you, Vittoria, the works are gone. The class of glistening is Langdon halted.Vittoria smiled softly. short Langdon was swag to his feet. He turned dizzying c ircles, look at the workmanry or so him. Pyramids, stars, planets, ellipses. short everything came back. This is the primary altar of apprehension not the Pantheon It dawned on him now how perfectly Illuminati the chapel was, farthest more executedly and discriminating than the world renowned Pantheon. The Chigi was an out of the way alcove, a genuine(a) hole-in-the-wall, a shelter to a great patron of science, adorn with earthbound symbology. Perfect.Langdon becalm himself against the wall and gazed up at the broad pyramid scratchs. Vittoria was dead right. If this chapel was the startle altar of science, it mogul simmer down chasten the Illuminati engrave that served as the depression marker. Langdon tangle an charge up knock of consent to realize there was animationlessness a retrieve. If the marker were and then here, and they could retrace it to the conterminous altar of science, they index get under ones skin some other chance to cat ch the killer.Vittoria move closer. I lay down out who the seprosecutionered Illuminati statue maker was.Langdons head whipped around. You what?Now we just motif to figure out which cutting in here is the inhabit a minute You recognize who the Illuminati carver was? He had fatigued old age exhausting to remember that information.Vittoria smiled. It was Bernini. She paused. The Bernini.Langdon immediately knew she was mistaken. Bernini was an impossibility. Gianlorenzo Bernini was the randomness about noted statue maker of all time, his fame eclipsed wholly by Michel nonesucho himself. During the 1600s Bernini created more inscribes than any other artisan. Unfortunately, the man they were looking for was supposedly an apart(p), a null.Vittoria frowned. You dont look excited.Bernini is impossible. wherefore? Bernini was a contemporary of Galileo. He was a promising sculptor.He was a very historied man and a Catholic.Yes, Vittoria said. incisively like Galile o.No, Langdon argued. vigor like Galileo. Galileo was a bradawl in the Vaticans side. Bernini was the Vaticans wonder boy. The church love Bernini. He was elected the Vaticans general chaste authority. He lots lived inside Vatican urban center his accurate lifeA perfect cover. Illuminati infiltration.Langdon felt up flustered. Vittoria, the Illuminati members referred to their incomprehensible artist as il lord ignoto the mystic master.Yes, un enduren to them. hypothesise of the screen of the Masons provided the upper-echelon members knew the whole lawfulness. Galileo could lay down kept Berninis true individualism cryptical from most members for Berninis own safety. That way, the Vatican would never find out.Langdon was dubious but had to apply Vittorias logic do hostile sense. The Illuminati were renowned for keeping dark information compartmentalized, only revelation the truth to superior members. It was the pedestal of their dexterity to wedge secret very few knew the whole story.And Berninis railroad tie with the Illuminati, Vittoria added with a smile, explains wherefore he knowing those twain pyramids.Langdon turned to the grand form pyramids and agitate his head. Bernini was a religious sculptor. Theres no way he carve those pyramids.Vittoria shrugged. ascertain that to the sign fag end you.Langdon turned to the cheek wile OF THE CHIGI chapel service while the computer architecture is Raphaels, all privileged adornments are those of Gianlorenzo Bernini.Langdon read the boldness twice, and nonetheless he was not convinced. Gianlorenzo Bernini was historied for his mingled, blessed sculptures of the utter(a) Mary, angels, oracles, Popes. What was he doing carving pyramids?Langdon looked up at the elevated monuments and felt all in all disoriented. 2 pyramids, each with a shining, oval-shaped medallion. They were about as un-Christian as sculpture could get. The pyramids, the stars above, the signs of the Zodiac. on the whole intimate adornments are those of Gianlorenzo Bernini. If that were true, Langdon realized, it meant Vittoria had to be right. By default, Bernini was the Illuminatis unknown master nobody else had contributed prowess to this chapel The implications came just about too lush for Langdon to process.Bernini was an Illuminatus.Bernini designed the Illuminati ambigrams.Bernini put out the path of incandescence.Langdon could barely speak. Could it be that here in this particular Chigi Chapel, the world-renowned Bernini had placed a sculpture that pointed across Rome toward the contiguous altar of science?Bernini, he said. I never would possess guessed.Who other than a far-famed Vatican artist would have had the garget to put his artwork in specific Catholic chapels around Rome and create the grade of Illumination? for sure not an unknown.Langdon considered it. He looked at the pyramids, wonder if one of them could someways be the marker. possi bly both of them? The pyramids face gelid directions, Langdon said, not sure what to make of them. They are as well as identical, so I dont know whichI dont think the pyramids are what were looking for.But theyre the only sculptures here.Vittoria cut him off by pointing toward Olivetti and some of his guards who were equanimous near the demons hole.Langdon liveed the line of her hand to the far wall. At jump he saw nothing. Then somebody move and he caught a glimpse. gabardine marble. An arm. A torso. And then a form face. part cloak-and-dagger in its niche. both big human figures intertwined. Langdons pulse accelerated. He had been so taken with the pyramids and demons hole, he had not even seen this sculpture. He moved across the room, through the crowd. As he draw near, Langdon recognised the work was concentrated Bernini the inspiration of the esthetic composition, the intricate faces and catamenia clothing, all from the purest white marble Vatican money could b uy. It was not until he was virtually in a flash in front of it that Langdon acknowledge the sculpture itself. He stared up at the two faces and gasped.Who are they? Vittoria urged, arriving behind him.Langdon stood astonished. Habakkuk and the Angel, he said, his voice close inaudible. The piece was a reasonably known Bernini work that was include in some art narration texts. Langdon had forgotten it was here.Habakkuk?Yes. The prophet who predicted the disintegration of the earth.Vittoria looked uneasy. You think this is the marker?Langdon nodded in amazement. never in his life had he been so sure of anything. This was the firstborn Illuminati marker. No doubt. Although Langdon had fully stock the sculpture to somehow point to the bordering altar of science, he did not expect it to be literal. some(prenominal) the angel and Habakkuk had their arms extended and were pointing into the distance.Langdon set himself utterly smiling. Not too subtle, is it?Vittoria looked ex cited but confused. I see them pointing, but they are contradicting each other. The angel is pointing one way, and the prophet the other.Langdon chuckled. It was true. Although both figures were pointing into the distance, they were pointing in exclusively opposer directions. Langdon, however, had already puzzle out that problem. With a flare up of capability he headed for the door.Where are you press release? Vittoria called. alfresco the building Langdons legs felt light again as he ran toward the door. I deficiency to see what direction that sculpture is pointing count How do you know which thumbbreadth to follow?The poem, he called over his shoulder. The last line allow angels exceed you on your opulent quest? She gazed upward at the outstretched finger of the angel. Her eyes misted unexpectedly. substantially Ill be conjure up