r
camera #86. It's supposed to be at the far end."
There was a long silence on the radio. The waiting technician broke a light sweat. Finally his radio
clicked.
"The camera isn't here," the voice said. "I can see where it was mounted, though. Somebody must have
removed it."
The technician exhaled heavily. "Thanks. Hold on a second, will you?"
Sighing, he redirected his attention to the bank of video screens in front of him. Huge portions of the
complex were open to the public, and wireless cameras had gone missing before, usually stolen by
visiting pranksters looking for souvenirs. But as soon as a camera left the facility and was out of range,
the signal was lost, and the screen went blank. Perplexed, the technician gazed up at the monitor. A
crystal clear image was still coming from camera #86.
If the camera was stolen, he wondered, why are we still getting a signal? He knew, of course, there was
only one explanation. The camera was still inside the complex, and someone had simply moved it. But
who? And why?
He studied the monitor a long moment. Finally he picked up his walkie-talkie. "Are there any closets in
that stairwell? Any cupboards or dark alcoves?"
The voice replying sounded confused. "No. Why?"
The technician frowned. "Never mind. Thanks for your help." He turned off his walkie-talkie and pursed
his lips.
Considering the small size of the video camera and the fact that it was wireless, the technician knew that
camera #86 could be transmitting from just about anywhere within the heavily guarded compound-a
densely packed collection of thirty-two separate buildings covering a half-mile radius. The only clue was
that the camera seemed to have been placed somewhere dark. Of course, that wasn't much help. The
complex contained endless dark locations-maintenance closets, heating ducts, gardening sheds, bedroom
wardrobes, even a labyrinth of underground tunnels. Camera #86 could take weeks to locate.
But that's the least of my problems, he thought.
Despite the dilemma posed by the camera's relocation, there was another far more unsettling matter at
hand. The technician gazed up at the image the lost camera was transmitting. It was a stationary object. A
modern-looking device like nothing the technician had ever seen. He studied the blinking electronic
display at its base.
Although the guard had undergone rigorous training preparing him for tense situations, he still sensed his
pulse rising. He told himself not to panic. There had to be an explanation. The object appeared too small
to be of significant danger. Then again, its presence inside the complex was troubling. Very troubling,
indeed.
Today of all days, he thought.
Security was always a top priority for his employer, but today, more than any other day in the past twelve
years, security was of the utmost importance. The technician stared at the object for a long time and
sensed the rumblings of a distant gathering storm.
Then, sweating, he dialed his superior.
17
N ot many children could say they remembered the day they met their father, but Vittoria Vetra could.
She was eight years old, living where she always had, Orfanotrofio di Siena, a Catholic orphanage near
Florence, deserted by parents she never knew. It was raining that day. The nuns had called for her twice to
come to dinner, but as always she pretended not to hear. She lay outside in the courtyard, staring up at the
raindrops . . . feeling them hit her body . . . trying to guess where one would land next. The nuns called
again, threatening that pneumonia might make an insufferably headstrong child a lot less curious about
nature.
I can't hear you, Vittoria thought.
She was soaked to the bone when the young priest came out to get her. She didn't know him. He was new
there. Vittoria waited for him to grab her and drag her back inside. But he didn't. Instead, to her wonder,
he lay down beside her, soaking his robes in a puddle.
"They say you ask a lot of questions," the young man said.
Vittoria scowled. "Are questions bad?"
He laughed. "Guess they were right."
"What are you doing out here?"
"Same thing you're doing . . . wondering why raindrops fall."
"I'm not wondering why they fall! I already know!"
The priest gave her an astonished look. "You do?"
"Sister Francisca says raindrops are angels' tears coming down to wash away our sins."
"Wow!" he said, sounding amazed. "So that explains it."
"No it doesn't!" the girl fired back. "Raindrops fall because everything falls! Everything falls! Not just
rain!"
The priest scratched his head, looking perplexed. "You know, young lady, you're right. Everything does
fall. It must be gravity."
"It must be what?"
He gave her an astonished look. "You haven't heard of gravity?"
"No."
The priest shrugged sadly. "Too bad. Gravity answers a lot of questions."
Vittoria sat up. "What's gravity?" she demanded. "Tell me!"
The priest gave her a wink. "What do you say I tell you over dinner."
The young priest was Leonardo Vetra. Although he had been an award-winning physics student while in
university, he'd heard another call and gone into the seminary. Leonardo and Vittoria became unlikely
best friends in the lonely world of nuns and regulations. Vittoria made Leonardo laugh, and he took her
under his wing, teaching her that beautiful things like rainbows and the rivers had many explanations. He
told her about light, planets, stars, and all of nature through the eyes of both God and science. Vittoria's
innate intellect and curiosity made her a captivating student. Leonardo protected her like a daughter.
Vittoria was happy too. She had never known the joy of having a father. When every other adult answered
her questions with a slap on the wrist, Leonardo spent hours showing her books. He even asked what her
ideas were. Vittoria prayed Leonardo would stay with her forever. Then one day, her worst nightmare
came true. Father Leonardo told her he was leaving the orphanage.
"I'm moving to Switzerland," Leonardo said. "I have a grant to study physics at the University of
Geneva."
"Physics?" Vittoria cried. "I thought you loved God!"
"I do, very much. Which is why I want to study his divine rules. The laws of physics are the canvas God
laid down on which to paint his masterpiece."
Vittoria was devastated. But Father Leonardo had some other news. He told Vittoria he had spoken to his
superiors, and they said it was okay if Father Leonardo adopted her.
"Would you like me to adopt you?" Leonardo asked.
"What's adopt mean?" Vittoria said.
Father Leonardo told her.
Vittoria hugged him for five minutes, crying tears of joy. "Oh yes! Yes!"
Leonardo told her he had to leave for a while and get their new home settled in Switzerland, but he
promised to send for her in six months. It was the longest wait of Vittoria's life, but Leonardo kept his
word. Five days before her ninth birthday, Vittoria moved to Geneva. She attended Geneva International
School during the day and learned from her father at night.
Three years later Leonardo Vetra was hired by CERN. Vittoria and Leonardo relocated to a wonderland
the likes of which the young Vittoria had never imagined.
Vittoria Vetra's body felt numb as she strode down the LHC tunnel. She saw her muted reflection in the
LHC and sensed her father's absence. Normally she existed in a state of deep calm, in harmony with the
world around her. But now, very suddenly, nothing made sense. The last three hours had been a blur.
It had been 10 A.M. in the Balearic Islands when Kohler's call came through. Your father has been
murdered. Come home immediately. Despite the sweltering heat on the deck of the dive boat, the words
had chilled her to the bone, Kohler's emotionless tone hurting as much as the news.
Now she had returned home. But home to what? CERN, her world since she was twelve, seemed suddenly
foreign. Her father, the man who had made it magical, was gone.
Deep breaths, she told herself, but she couldn't calm her mind. The questions circled faster and faster.
Who killed her father? And why? Who was this American "specialist"? Why was Kohler insisting on
seeing the lab?
Kohler had said there was evidence that her father's murder was related to the current project. What
evidence? Nobody knew what we were working on! And even if someone found out, why would they kill
him?
As she moved down the LHC tunnel toward her father's lab, Vittoria realized she was about to unveil her
father's greatest achievement without him there. She had pictured this moment much differently. She had
imagined her father calling CERN's top scientists to his lab, showing them his discovery, watching their
awestruck faces. Then he would beam with fatherly pride as he explained to them how it had been one of
Vittoria's ideas that had helped him make the project a reality . . . that his daughter had been integral in
his breakthrough. Vittoria felt a lump in her throat. My father and I were supposed to share this moment
together. But here she was alone. No colleagues. No happy faces. Just an American stranger and
Maximilian Kohler.
Maximilian Kohler. Der König.
Even as a child, Vittoria had disliked the man. Although she eventually came to respect his potent
intellect, his icy demeanor always seemed inhuman, the exact antithesis of her father's warmth. Kohler
pursued science for its immaculate logic . . . her father for its spiritual wonder. And yet oddly there had
always seemed to be an unspoken respect between the two men. Genius, someone had once explained to
her, accepts genius unconditionally.
Genius, she thought. My father . . . Dad. Dead.
The entry to Leonardo Vetra's lab was a long sterile hallway paved entirely in white tile. Langdon felt
like he was entering some kind of underground insane asylum. Lining the corridor were dozens of framed,
black-and-white images. Although Langdon had made a career of studying images, these were entirely
al