 GLICK-LIVE IN VATICAN CITY. Reporter Glick was apparently reporting by phone, the
connection scratchy. ". . . my videographer got the footage of the cardinal being removed from the Chigi
Chapel."
"Let me reiterate for our viewers," the anchorman in London was saying, "BBC reporter Gunther Glick is
the man who first broke this story. He has been in phone contact twice now with the alleged Illuminati
assassin. Gunther, you say the assassin phoned only moments ago to pass along a message from the
Illuminati?"
"He did."
"And their message was that the Illuminati were somehow responsible for the Pope's death?" The
anchorman sounded incredulous.
"Correct. The caller told me that the Pope's death was not a stroke, as the Vatican had thought, but rather
that the Pope had been poisoned by the Illuminati."
Everyone in the Pope's office froze.
"Poisoned?" the anchorman demanded. "But . . . but how!"
"They gave no specifics," Glick replied, "except to say that they killed him with a drug known as . .
."-there was a rustling of papers on the line-"something known as Heparin."
The camerlegno, Olivetti, and Rocher all exchanged confused looks.
"Heparin?" Rocher demanded, looking unnerved. "But isn't that . . . ?"
The camerlegno blanched. "The Pope's medication."
Vittoria was stunned. "The Pope was on Heparin?"
"He had thrombophlebitis," the camerlegno said. "He took an injection once a day."
Rocher looked flabbergasted. "But Heparin isn't a poison. Why would the Illuminati claim-"
"Heparin is lethal in the wrong dosages," Vittoria offered. "It's a powerful anticoagulant. An overdose
would cause massive internal bleeding and brain hemorrhages."
Olivetti eyed her suspiciously. "How would you know that?"
"Marine biologists use it on sea mammals in captivity to prevent blood clotting from decreased activity.
Animals have died from improper administration of the drug." She paused. "A Heparin overdose in a
human would cause symptoms easily mistaken for a stroke . . . especially in the absence of a proper
autopsy."
The camerlegno now looked deeply troubled.
"Signore," Olivetti said, "this is obviously an Illuminati ploy for publicity. Someone overdosing the Pope
would be impossible. Nobody had access. And even if we take the bait and try to refute their claim, how
could we? Papal law prohibits autopsy. Even with an autopsy, we would learn nothing. We would find
traces of Heparin in his body from his daily injections."
"True." The camerlegno's voice sharpened. "And yet something else troubles me. No one on the outside
knew His Holiness was taking this medication."
There was a silence.
"If he overdosed with Heparin," Vittoria said, "his body would show signs."
Olivetti spun toward her. "Ms. Vetra, in case you didn't hear me, papal autopsies are prohibited by
Vatican Law. We are not about to defile His Holiness's body by cutting him open just because an enemy
makes a taunting claim!"
Vittoria felt shamed. "I was not implying . . ." She had not meant to seem disrespectful. "I certainly was
not suggesting you exhume the Pope . . ." She hesitated, though. Something Robert told her in the Chigi
passed like a ghost through her mind. He had mentioned that papal sarcophagi were above ground and
never cemented shut, a throwback to the days of the pharaohs when sealing and burying a casket was
believed to trap the deceased's soul inside. Gravity had become the mortar of choice, with coffin lids
often weighing hundreds of pounds. Technically, she realized, it would be possible to-
"What sort of signs?" the camerlegno said suddenly.
Vittoria felt her heart flutter with fear. "Overdoses can cause bleeding of the oral mucosa."
"Oral what?"
"The victim's gums would bleed. Post mortem, the blood congeals and turns the inside of the mouth
black." Vittoria had once seen a photo taken at an aquarium in London where a pair of killer whales had
been mistakenly overdosed by their trainer. The whales floated lifeless in the tank, their mouths hanging
open and their tongues black as soot.
The camerlegno made no reply. He turned and stared out the window.
Rocher's voice had lost its optimism. "Signore, if this claim about poisoning is true . . ."
"It's not true," Olivetti declared. "Access to the Pope by an outsider is utterly impossible."
"If this claim is true," Rocher repeated, "and our Holy Father was poisoned, then that has profound
implications for our antimatter search. The alleged assassination implies a much deeper infiltration of
Vatican City than we had imagined. Searching the white zones may be inadequate. If we are
compromised to such a deep extent, we may not find the canister in time."
Olivetti leveled his captain with a cold stare. "Captain, I will tell you what is going to happen."
"No," the camerlegno said, turning suddenly. "I will tell you what is going to happen." He looked directly
at Olivetti. "This has gone far enough. In twenty minutes I will be making a decision whether or not to
cancel conclave and evacuate Vatican City. My decision will be final. Is that clear?"
Olivetti did not blink. Nor did he respond.
The camerlegno spoke forcefully now, as though tapping a hidden reserve of power. "Captain Rocher,
you will complete your search of the white zones and report directly to me when you are finished."
Rocher nodded, throwing Olivetti an uneasy glance.
The camerlegno then singled out two guards. "I want the BBC reporter, Mr. Glick, in this office
immediately. If the Illuminati have been communicating with him, he may be able to help us. Go."
The two soldiers disappeared.
Now the camerlegno turned and addressed the remaining guards. "Gentlemen, I will not permit any more
loss of life this evening. By ten o'clock you will locate the remaining two cardinals and capture the
monster responsible for these murders. Do I make myself understood?"
"But, signore," Olivetti argued, "we have no idea where-"
"Mr. Langdon is working on that. He seems capable. I have faith."
With that, the camerlegno strode for the door, a new determination in his step. On his way out, he pointed
to three guards. "You three, come with me. Now."
The guards followed.
In the doorway, the camerlegno stopped. He turned to Vittoria. "Ms. Vetra. You too. Please come with
me."
Vittoria hesitated. "Where are we going?"
He headed out the door. "To see an old friend."
82
A t CERN, secretary Sylvie Baudeloque was hungry, wishing she could go home. To her dismay,
Kohler had apparently survived his trip to the infirmary; he had phoned and demanded-not asked,
demanded-that Sylvie stay late this evening. No explanation.
Over the years, Sylvie had programmed herself to ignore Kohler's bizarre mood swings and
eccentricities-his silent treatments, his unnerving propensity to secretly film meetings with his
wheelchair's porta-video. She secretly hoped one day he would shoot himself during his weekly visit to
CERN's recreational pistol range, but apparently he was a pretty good shot.
Now, sitting alone at her desk, Sylvie heard her stomach growling. Kohler had not yet returned, nor had
he given her any additional work for the evening. To hell with sitting here bored and starving, she
decided. She left Kohler a note and headed for the staff dining commons to grab a quick bite.
She never made it.
As she passed CERN's recreational "suites de loisir"- a long hallway of lounges with televisions-she
noticed the rooms were overflowing with employees who had apparently abandoned dinner to watch the
news. Something big was going on. Sylvie entered the first suite. It was packed with byte-heads-wild
young computer programmers. When she saw the headlines on the TV, she gasped.
TERROR AT THE VATICAN
Sylvie listened to the report, unable to believe her ears. Some ancient brotherhood killing cardinals? What
did that prove? Their hatred? Their dominance? Their ignorance?
And yet, incredibly, the mood in this suite seemed anything but somber.
Two young techies ran by waving T-shirts that bore a picture of Bill Gates and the message: AND THE
GEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH!
"Illuminati!" one shouted. "I told you these guys were real!"
"Incredible! I thought it was just a game!"
"They killed the Pope, man! The Pope!"
"Jeez! I wonder how many points you get for that?"
They ran off laughing.
Sylvie stood in stunned amazement. As a Catholic working among scientists, she occasionally endured
the antireligious whisperings, but the party these kids seemed to be having was all-out euphoria over the
church's loss. How could they be so callous? Why the hatred?
For Sylvie, the church had always been an innocuous entity . . . a place of fellowship and introspection . .
. sometimes just a place to sing out loud without people staring at her. The church recorded the
benchmarks of her life-funerals, weddings, baptisms, holidays-and it asked for nothing in return. Even
the monetary dues were voluntary. Her children emerged from Sunday School every week uplifted, filled
with ideas about helping others and being kinder. What could possibly be wrong with that?
It never ceased to amaze her that so many of CERN's so-called "brilliant minds" failed to comprehend the
importance of the church. Did they really believe quarks and mesons inspired the average human being?
Or that equations could replace someone's need for faith in the divine?
Dazed, Sylvie moved down the hallway past the other lounges. All the TV rooms were packed. She began
wondering now about the call Kohler had gotten from the Vatican earlier. Coincidence? Perhaps. The
Vatican called CERN from time to time as a "courtesy" before issuing scathing statements condemning
CERN's research-most recently for CERN's breakthroughs in nanotechnology, a field the church
denounced because of its implications for genetic engineering. CERN never cared. Invariably, within
minutes after a Vatican salvo, Kohler's phone would ring off the hook with tech-in