‘One other thing,’ Cleena whispered.
‘Yeah?’ Sevki sounded both distracted and worried, a dangerous combination.
‘If we can’t get out of the building through the exits, see if you can find another way for us to escape.’
‘And why would you try to escape with the professor?’
‘Because he’s got answers to some of what’s wrecked my world. I want to know those answers.’
‘Want some advice?’
‘No.’ Cleena reached behind her and freed the pistol.
‘It sounds to me like whatever hole you stepped into over here, you’re only digging yourself in deeper.’
‘You’re really harshing my mellow, Sevki.’
At that moment, the scar-faced man reached the top of the stairs at the other end of the hallway. He locked eyes with Cleena. She cursed and reached for the doorknob only to find it locked.
‘There’s an organization,’ Olympia told Lourds, ‘a society pledged to secrecy, that protects these documents. That book that you stole from those men in the catacombs was part of those documents.’
‘But Qayin and his people aren’t part of this protective organization?’
‘No.’ Olympia shook her head emphatically. ‘Qayin and his followers are something else. They want the Joy Scroll for their own purposes.’
‘What purposes?’
‘They want the power represented by the Joy Scroll.’
‘What power would that be?’
‘We don’t know for sure. John of Patmos was in ill health when he saw the visions. He was already an old man. Seeing those visions, and dictating what he had seen to the acolytes, exhausted him. He never again climbed from his bed.’
‘So this protective group, I assume, came from the acolytes?’
Olympia nodded. ‘They call themselves the Brotherhood of the Last Scroll of John.’
‘I suppose they had to call themselves something, but that’s not going to fit easily on stationery.’
‘This isn’t humorous. There’s a lot riding on it.’
‘The fate of the world,’ Lourds said, and couldn’t help feeling completely ridiculous when he said it.
‘I asked for permission to bring you here,’ Olympia said softly. ‘There was a lot of resistance to my suggestion, but after you found Atlantis, the Elders were more open to the idea.’
‘If there was a translation involved, I should’ve been your first choice. In fact, you should have told me about this years ago.’
‘The choice was not mine to make. If it weren’t for my brother, they wouldn’t have listened to me at all.’
‘Your brother? Joachim?’ Lourds had never met Olympia’s younger brother. She rarely talked of him and he thought some kind of family rift had existed.
‘Yes.’
‘From the way you’ve never talked about him, I didn’t think the two of you were close.’
‘I couldn’t talk about him.’
‘Because what he was doing was a secret.’
‘This isn’t a joke, Thomas.’
Lourds looked back at the image of the snarling dragon on the computer monitor. For the moment, he struggled to set aside his doubts. After all, he hadn’t been certain about Atlantis either.
‘You choose to believe that books from the Library of Alexandria still exist.’ Olympia gazed into his eyes. ‘I’ve never said anything to dissuade you from your hope of finding those books. But that’s all you have: hope. I have these documents. And you have whatever you found out from that book.’
‘All right. But if all this is so secret and the Brotherhood is so tight-lipped, how did Qayin and his people find out about the Joy Scroll?’
‘Just as there are those who worship God, there are also those who worship Satan.’
‘That’s going too far.’
‘Is it? Think about the name of the man who kidnapped you.’
‘Qayin?’
‘Yes. Did you stop to think where that name came from?’
‘I suspected a mother and father.’ Lourds’ sarcasm deserted him when he realized what she was getting at. ‘Qayin is different in other languages.’
Olympia nodded. ‘In English it can be translated into Cain.’
‘As in, “And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him”? That Cain?’
‘Yes.’
‘You believe that the descendants of Cain are pursuing the Joy Scroll?’ Lourds couldn’t hold back his incredulity.
‘God banished Cain after he murdered his brother,’ Olympia said. ‘And he marked him. Perhaps Cain’s descendants feared the legacy of that mark and chose to follow a path other than one of righteousness because they were already doomed.’
‘Different religions disagree about that mark. Judaism speaks of the mark as one of mercy. God let it be known that anyone who harmed Cain would be punished seven times as much as Cain was. That can be viewed as a preventative measure.’
‘Either way, we believe that name was deliberately chosen.’
‘Why?’
‘Because as long as the Brotherhood has existed, there has also been a Qayin.’
‘Surely you don’t believe it’s been the same individual.’ Although Lourds couldn’t bring himself to believe that might be true, the thought still chilled him.
‘It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we get the Joy Scroll translated.’
‘Why now? What has made now any different to, say, a few years ago when you and I first met?’
‘Because the Brotherhood doesn’t trust anyone outside its own ranks,’ Olympia told him. ‘It has taken years to persuade them that you are the right person for this. Even then they didn’t want to listen to me. If you hadn’t been abducted by Qayin, if you hadn’t got hold of that book – and been able to translate it – you would’ve been tested.’
‘And if I’d failed?’
‘You would never have learnt about the Joy Scroll, much less been offered a chance to translate it.’
‘What if, after being abducted and shot at, I decided I wanted no part of translating that scroll?’
Olympia grinned at him. ‘I know you enjoy my companionship, but no matter how good we are together, I don’t flatter myself into thinking that I’m the reason you stayed in Istanbul. If you could have found a way to take that book with you out of the country, I think you would have left. If you had felt you could’ve learned enough from a copy of it, you would have copied it and then taken the first jet out of here.’
Lourds knew she had him.
‘All your protests aside? I knew all I had to do was mention I had a manuscript no one else could read. Your vanity alone would have hooked you.’
Lourds resettled his hat on his head. ‘I refuse to believe I’m that predictable.’
‘When it comes to translation conundrums, everyone can predict how you will act.’
‘Surely I’m not that transparent.’
‘Yes, you are. It’s just one of the reasons I care for you so much, and one of the reasons I know better than to try to hang on to you.’
Lourds fixed his gaze on the image of the dragon. ‘I’ll want to see the original documents.’
‘Once you prove to the Brotherhood that you translated that book, that won’t be a problem.’
‘What about the Joy Scroll?’
Olympia frowned. ‘That’s a bit more problematic, but I promise it will depend on your abilities more than our decision.’
Before Lourds could ask her how that was problematic, the frosted-glass door pane shattered and fell into the room. The redhead from the airport stood on the other side of the door with a pistol her hand.
16
Istanbul University
Beyazit Square
Istanbul, Turkey
19 March 2010
‘Get up.’ The redhead waved her pistol at Lourds.
Calmly, Lourds stood and blocked Olympia from Cleena’s field of fire. The move wasn’t out of bravery as
much as it was feeling responsible for endangering Olympia. Obviously she’s still intent on collecting her bounty, Lourds thought sourly.
As clearly and calmly as he could, hoping his voice didn’t crack and she wouldn’t shoot him, he said, ‘Olympia, phone the police. Tell them what’s going on.’
‘Thomas, who is this woman?’ Olympia demanded.
Lourds couldn’t believe it. A woman had shown up in the office with a weapon, and Olympia wanted to know who she was in a tone that suggested jealousy.
‘This is the woman who kidnapped me from the airport. Call the police.’
Cleena glanced down the hallway. ‘We don’t have time for the police. They’re coming.’
‘Who?’ Lourds asked automatically. ‘The police?’
‘Not the police. If I knew who these people were, I’d have given you names. They’re big, scary guys. And they have guns.’
‘Everybody you know seems to have guns,’ Lourds said.
‘Don’t blame me. They’re after you. I could have ducked out and not risked my neck. And you want to blame me for this?’
‘How did you find me?’ he asked.
An exasperated look filled Cleena’s face. ‘You’re kidding, right? You’re here to speak at the university. It’s been in all the papers. Especially after the scene at the airport. All Istanbul, those who care, know you’re here.’
Without warning, she cursed and ducked into the room just as bullets shattered the doorframe. Lourds stepped back and nearly fell on top of the desk. Olympia’s frightened scream echoed in his ears and galvanized him into action. He reached down for his backpack and slung it on. Cleena ducked back round the door and fired several quick shots, then came inside and took cover.
She glared at Lourds. ‘At gunpoint, do you always have to ask so many questions?’
Lourds glared back. ‘I’m not up on all the protocol for getting abducted.’
‘I’m not abducting you. I’m protecting you.’
‘By bringing these men here?’ Olympia still had the phone pressed against her ear.
‘I didn’t bring those men here.’ Cleena sounded really put out.
‘I’d have seen someone following us,’ Olympia insisted.
‘You haven’t seen me for the last few days,’ the woman snapped. ‘You’ve been busy tearing up the sheets at the hotel. I’ve been expecting footage on YouTube. Now let’s get moving. They want the professor. I don’t think they care if either one of us are alive.’
‘I’m on the line to the police.’ Olympia spoke rapidly in Turkish.
Another fusillade of bullets slammed into the open door and tore gouges in the wood.
‘The police won’t get here fast enough.’ Cleena changed magazines in her pistol and released the slide. ‘By the time they get here, you’ll either be in the custody of those men – or you’ll be dead. It’s a cellphone. Take it with you. You can talk to the police on the way. Just try to keep up and dodge the bullets.’
She grabbed Lourds by the elbow, but he resisted. He trusted her not to shoot him. She had, in a way, saved his life down in the catacombs. And she hadn’t shot him. Yet. She cursed again and tried to push him into motion.
‘Cleena MacKenna,’ a man’s voice boomed.
Lourds immediately recognized the accent as American, probably by way of Philadelphia. He looked at Cleena as she returned to the door.
‘Cleena? That’s your name?’ Lourds asked.
‘So not the time for introductions,’ she growled.
‘Cleena MacKenna,’ the man called again, ‘you don’t have to die today. You can just walk away from this. We’re just here for the professor. Back away and you can go.’
Cleena looked at Lourds. ‘Do you believe him?’
Lourds started to answer, but wasn’t sure what he was going to say.
‘I don’t believe him,’ Cleena went on. She looked around. ‘There’s a back door to this room?’
‘I don’t know,’ Lourds replied.
Cleena shot a scathing glance at Olympia. ‘You could have mentioned there’s a back door to this office.’
Olympia crossed her arms and looked defiant. ‘The police are on their way. I have them on speaker phone.’
‘I don’t think the speaker-phone function is going to stop those guys.’
Olympia raised her voice and said for the benefit of the men outside, ‘I have called the police. They are on their way.’
Cleena ignored her and raced to the back of the room. ‘Where’s the door?’ she asked. A second later, she swivelled her head to the left and looked at the bookshelf covering one of the walls. ‘Shelving and books cover that wall.’
Lourds realized she was talking to someone else, not him. Then he saw the glint of metal in her ear.
‘Okay, okay. I’ll look.’ Cleena raked a shelf clear of books. The heavy volumes toppled to the floor, along with a snow globe containing a statue of the Greek god, Poseidon.
‘Hey!’ Olympia protested. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’
Abruptly, out in the hallway the fire alarm rang, strident and harsh. Lourds guessed that someone, a student or a professor, had set it off. That had been good. At least all the students would get clear of the situation.
‘Ma’am,’ a man’s voice called from the phone in Turkish, ‘is something wrong? Is everything all right?’
Undeterred, Cleena moved on to the second shelf and began clearing those as well. In the shadowy recesses, the door was hard to see, but Lourds spotted the straight lines. Impulsively, he went to help the woman, wading over and through the books.
‘Thomas?’ Olympia called.
‘Ma’am?’ the Istanbul policeman enquired loudly. ‘Please stay on the line.’
‘There’s a door back here.’ Lourds pulled at the higher shelving.
‘Olympia, you don’t think those men are really here after me, do you? I don’t make enemies like this. They have to be after the book I got down in the catacombs. And if they find out you know something about it, they’re not going to stop at just questioning me.’
Cleena swung round with a shelf and nearly caught Lourds in the face with it. She locked eyes with Olympia. ‘Get over here!’
‘Don’t tell me-’
Out in the hallway, something metallic struck the floor and skidded to a stop near the door. Lourds took in the spherical shape, then redoubled his efforts to get to the door.
‘They’ve got a grenade!’
‘It opens inwards!’ Cleena yelled.
Understanding, Lourds reached for the doorknob but found it lacking. Someone had taken it off. As he turned to Cleena, she shoved him aside with her free hand and fired the pistol three times at the locking mechanism. The bullets cored through the cheap metal and splintered the wood. Before the echoes of the shots died away, Olympia had joined them and the grenade blew up.
The tremendous noise deafened Lourds and vibrated through his body. He expected shrapnel to rip through him, but it didn’t. Bright lights and gas followed the explosion. Flash-bang, he realized. He’d read about those in the novels he consumed during long plane flights and dead time at sites. Those grenades were used to confuse and disorient people.
Cleena grabbed his arm and shoved him towards the door, which still hadn’t opened. Lourds saw her mouth moving but heard nothing. Knowing what she wanted, he set his shoulder to the door and threw his weight against it. The door shivered and sprang open, revealing that it had been covered over by Sheetrock on the other side. Evidently some alterations had been done to increase office space.
The other room was thankfully empty. Lourds didn’t want anyone else in danger or joining their little group. His attempt to open the door ripped it from its hinges and it smashed into someone’s painstaking model reproduction of the Ottoman Siege of Constantinople in 1453. Ships and warriors went flying, followed by the blue waters of the Golden Horn and the fabricated brown coastline.
Olympia followed, almost running over Lourds in her haste. She h
eld the cellphone to her ear, but if anyone was on the other end she apparently couldn’t hear any better than Lourds.
He looked round the room, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do next. They were still on the third floor, too high to risk jumping and breaking a leg.
Olympia grabbed his arm and, when he turned to face her, spoke to him anxiously. He read her lips, missing it the first time because she was speaking her native tongue, not English.
‘Where do we go?’
‘I don’t know,’ he replied enunciating carefully. ‘Up? Down?’
He used his hands in case she couldn’t read his lips. His mouth, eyes and nose all stung from the gas contained in the flash-bang. Tears blurred his vision as he swept his gaze round the room. Two sharp cracks pierced his deafness and he recognized the sounds as gunshots. Anxiously, he peered back into the opening, wondering if Cleena had made it out of Olympia’s office alive.
She barrelled through and hit him full on. Lourds wrapped his arms round her and they fell to the floor on his back. Cleena glared at him as if he were a bumbling moron, which – Lourds reflected irritably – was unfair. He’d been concerned about her. She forced herself up and partially kneed him in the crotch while doing so. Lourds was certain he’d cried out and was glad no one had been able to hear him. Then his thoughts focused on survival again.
Smoke rolled into the room from the grenade. It got harder to breathe. He didn’t know how they were going to get out of the office. They were still in a death trap.
Eckart stood his ground in the hallway with his pistol up. His left hand was wrapped tightly round his right so the semi-automatic pistol’s recoil would respond perfectly and not jam. He peered through the smoke, expecting Lourds and the two women to emerge at any second. The flash-bang held pepper gas as well as the pyrotechnics.
No one came out.
‘Humboldt,’ Eckart called over the com. Three of his men had set up behind him. Three others held the stairs at the other end of the hall. There was no way their target could escape. ‘Set up outside that office.’
‘Yes, sir.’ The man ran forward without hesitation. He wore a mask against the effects of the pepper gas. He waited a moment, then peered round the door.
The Lucifer Code Page 20