The Tenth Cycle: A Thriller (A Rossler Foundation Mystery Book 1)

by JC Ryan

  Nevertheless, Daniel’s research had convinced him that there was some sort of message being conveyed with all of these facts, almost like a flashing neon light saying ‘look here’. Maybe he was looking at the sign instead of what it pointed to, he decided, not realizing he had hit the nail on the head.

  He considered the weekend a success when he persuaded Sarah to see him on Saturday evening for a date, rather than a research meeting. As was his habit, he was the perfect gentleman, sensing that a woman like Sarah couldn’t be rushed. Conveniently, an open-air concert in a local park was on tap, so after a pleasant dinner, they listened companionably to light classical music, before Daniel escorted her home.

  On Monday they met at her office to look at everything he had produced so far and also report to Prof Barry. That’s when she burst his bubble.

  “Daniel, you have to admit that all you have here is a rehash of the original article. Sure, you’ve documented the claims, but there are no answers here. I’m sorry, but I simply have no more time for it.”

  Daniel’s voice was tight as he risked the next question. “What about me? Do you have any more time for me?”

  Sarah’s eyes flew to his. “What do you mean, Daniel?”

  “I mean, I value our friendship. Can we stay in touch? Is that too much to ask?”

  In truth, Sarah’s thoughts had too often turned to Daniel already. She had to admit he was different, not only from her stereotype of a journalist, but also from any man who had caught her interest. He admired her intellect, unlike her former fiancé. Fit, good-looking, articulate and thoughtful, he was someone whose friendship she valued, too.

  “Of course not, Daniel. I’d like to stay in touch.”

  Daniel had been holding his breath for her answer. Now it whooshed out of him forcibly, causing Sarah to raise her eyebrows.

  “I live in my own little world,” he explained. “They know me here.”

  Laughing, Sarah pushed at him hard enough that he had to catch his balance. “Only call me if you can refrain from those terrible jokes.”

  “I’ll do my best, ma’am,” he returned with a mocking smile. She had no doubt she had just given him incentive to coin even more of them.

  But, the more Daniel thought about the waste of time and the questions he would still like to answer, the more he determined that this would become his ‘pet project’. Maybe that Pulitzer wasn’t such a long shot after all. As he prepared to discuss it with Kingston when he reported that the story couldn’t be written yet, Daniel made sure to make some well-targeted remarks about the valuable contact he had made in Sarah, as well as her indication that she would look favorably upon introducing him to others at the Institute for interviews and articles about their latest research, including the paper that would be her ticket to tenure next year if her hopes panned out. The latter point was a bit of an exaggeration, but he had no doubt that he could make good on the claim. The bonus, of course, was that he would be able to have a good excuse to continue to see her. This much Daniel knew: Sarah was open to that. There was no other way to interpret what she had said.

  Chapter 5 - Mathematics Is A Language

  Throughout the next month, Daniel subtly courted Sarah with calls and a couple of visits and hikes around Providence. His willingness to poke fun at himself and his circumspect treatment of her charmed Sarah. After a painful breakup with the former fiancé who didn’t appreciate her accomplishment in attaining her PhD, Daniel was a breath of fresh air. Sarah warmed to him and they were soon enjoying a lighthearted relationship that nevertheless hadn’t progressed to anything physical, though it tested Daniel’s resolve. He’d give anything to know if she would respond to a kiss, or his arm around her.

  Early in July, Daniel saw that his calendar had a notation for a lecture by Dr. Ben Zacharias titled ‘The Language of the Pyramid.’ Daniel had read papers by Dr. Zacharias, world-renowned for his theories on the mathematics of the Great Pyramid. This was not to be missed, and he thought Sarah might enjoy it as well. He gave her a call, inviting her to attend. He had told her that he still had an interest in the Great Pyramid, and she indulged his occasional mini-lectures on his discoveries.

  When she said yes, he casually offered her a choice; he would get her a hotel room, or she could spend the weekend with him in New York. In his guest room, of course. Their relationship had not yet progressed so far as even a kiss, but Daniel’s natural reticence was beginning to wear thin around the edges. He had hope that she would view this as a date, not research. To his delight, she opted for the guest room.

  Sarah drove to New York, arriving at mid-morning on the day of the lecture. She looked forward to the lecture, but even more she looked forward to seeing Daniel in his natural habitat. It promised to be fun, as well as enlightening. She was rather overwhelmed when Daniel ushered her onto the news floor. She wouldn’t have believed such excellent writing could come out of the vast, noisy, anthill the newsroom resembled. Daniel explained that the noise receded into white noise when he was working, and it was more distracting when it stopped, assuming that ever happened, than when it was in full voice.

  Daniel wondered if it was his imagination that their passing created a stir. He stopped by Owen’s desk to introduce Sarah, and received confirmation in the sparkle in Owen’s eyes as he greeted Sarah.

  “Pleasure to meet you! When you get tired of this mope, I’m available.” Sarah laughed lightly, while Daniel did his best to glare at his friend. As usual, he was completely unaware of the glances from his female colleagues, some of which would have surprised him. More than one woman that morning narrowed her eyes and took a long, assessing look at the beauty on his arm. There would be conversation about the couple later, among hopefuls for his affection, but his nickname among them was ‘Clueless’.

  Daniel looked around for Raj, and spotted him hanging back, apparently trying not to call attention to himself. Typical behavior for Raj, but not necessary under this circumstance. He motioned Raj forward and introduced him to Sarah, who flashed her brilliant smile and dazzled poor Raj as she had everyone else who saw it. She caused quite a stir in the deli, too, where Daniel was a regular but never came in with a woman unless it was in a group.

  Daniel and Sarah settled into their seats in the lecture theater a few minutes before the distinguished scholar made his appearance. Daniel switched his cell phone to record and placed it on the edge of the stage in front of his first-row seat. When Sarah took a small paper notepad from her purse, preparing to do it the old-fashioned way, he leaned over and whispered to her.

  “Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.”

  “What? Oh, my notepad? Well, it’s good for other things, too.” She whacked his arm with it to make her point, then stifled a giggle.

  Assuming an air of injury, Daniel suppressed the urge to take her in his arms and steal a kiss, but the moment had passed. Dr. Zacharias was being introduced.

  Dr. Zacharias began with a statement, “Before the turn of the last century, Josiah Willard Gibbs said, ‘Mathematics is a language.’ Indeed, it has been called the universal language. As we explore the mathematics of the Great Pyramid today, consider whether the message is just that; a message from the builders of the Great Pyramid.”

  Daniel’s interest was piqued. He had been approaching his questions from the stance that if he could solve the riddles involved in the construction, he would have the answers that would give his theory credence among Egyptologists and other archaeological scholars. What if that had been the wrong approach all along? Daniel listened as Dr. Zacharias cited fact after fact that begged for explanation.

  Beginning with the fact that the Great Pyramid is precisely located in the center of the land mass of the earth, could it be a coincidence that the curvature built into the sides of the pyramid exactly match the radius of the earth? Daniel could see that Sarah was taking rapid notes, but these were facts he already had stored in his database. He listened closely as the noted speaker went on with another quote about m
athematics being a language.

  "Mathematics is the language with which God wrote the universe. Galileo Galilei said that. Can we doubt it when we see that two facts intersect in the language of the Great Pyramid? The first is that the estimated weight of the pyramid, multiplied by ten to the eighth power gives us the earth’s mass. Can it then be a coincidence that twice the perimeter of the granite coffer, multiplied by the same ten to the eighth power, gives us a number exactly equal to the sun’s mean radius? Is this not a message that the builders of the Great Pyramid knew of the relationship of numbers that we did not know until centuries later?”

  Daniel could hardly contain his elation. Here was an expert that was raising the same questions and anomalies that he had catalogued. Not only that, but Dr. Zacharias was posing a theory that would account for it; it was a message! But, what message? And who had left it? Hoping the answers would be forthcoming, Daniel quickly made a note on his iPad; ‘It’s in the math’. He was so engaged in the revelations as they came, that he almost forgot even Sarah, equally engaged, at his side.

  As Zacharias went on, methodically cataloging the mathematical facts, it boggled the mind. When Dr. Zacharias suggested he pause the lecture for a break, Daniel’s mental sigh of relief was almost audible. It was humbling to think that he had all these facts, or most of them, and had not thought to put them together in this way.

  “What do you think so far?” Daniel asked Sarah, as they settled into their seats again after having gone in separate directions to restroom facilities.

  “I think there are an awful lot of wild coincidences,” she said.

  “Are you serious? You think this is all coincidence?”

  “No, quite the opposite. I think it’s too much to be coincidence. I hope he has some answers soon, I’m dying of curiosity here. I mean, what are the chances if a tornado were to hit a scrap yard, that it would assemble a complete Boeing 747, in perfect flying condition, complete with pilot and passengers?”

  Daniel’s eyes lit up at the hint that Sarah was catching his obsession, not to mention that she seemed to finally get his sense of humor. He laughed too loudly, drawing stares from the people around them. Sarah rolled her eyes at him and then winked. Daniel’s eyes widened. Was she flirting with him?

  Sarah’s sharp mind would be an asset in his quest, no doubt about it. Something told him, though, that if Dr. Zacharias had answers, he would have led with them, and saved these facts to back it up. He hoped he was wrong. Excusing himself for a moment, he went in search of the professor who arranged the lecture and gave him a note for Dr. Zacharias, asking for an interview after the lecture.

  Intermission over, Dr. Zacharias took the stage again.

  “’For the things of this world cannot be made known without a knowledge of mathematics.’ I think by now, we can all agree with Roger Bacon, can we not? Without a knowledge of mathematics, we would not be aware that there is perhaps a message in the Great Pyramid, one we have yet to decipher. We would not know of these parallels, fact piled upon fact that attempt to grab our attention and say ‘look, we have something to say to you, pay attention’."

  By the time the lecture was finished, Daniel had collected a headache, numerous incoherent notes, several new facts, the notion that Sarah was more engaged in the story than ever and a conviction that the math held the answer. Dr. Zacharias, as Daniel expected, had not put forth a theory that could account for all this. If he could get away with that, why couldn’t Daniel get away with publishing a story that raised questions it couldn’t answer?

  “What did you think?” she asked. Daniel replied truthfully that he didn’t see how Dr. Zacharias could get away with listing the facts and pointing out the coincidences without reaching a conclusion, while he couldn’t.

  “Oh, but he did reach a conclusion.”

  “What? I didn’t hear one!”

  “Then you weren’t listening. His conclusion was that the math in the pyramid is a message. It’s up to someone else to decipher it.”

  Daniel grumbled that the difference was minute, but he couldn’t articulate why his story was similar in intent to Dr. Zacharias’ message, without Sarah shooting down all the similarities he could name. She was doing it in such a cute way that he couldn’t be mad, and it became a game, with him bringing up ever more ridiculous similarities, and Sarah grinning more broadly each time she countered him.

  Dr. Zacharias was a few minutes late for their meeting, and Daniel was beginning to wonder if he had been stood up when the man rushed into the staff lounge apologizing.

  “Many students wanted more answers,” he said. “I may give another lecture soon.”

  “That would be very interesting, Dr. Zacharias,” Daniel said. “I’d like a few more answers myself. First, I need to make a confession.”

  Dr. Zacharias’ eyebrows went up in question, and Daniel hastened to explain.

  “I will use some of what we talk about today, as well as the notes I took during your lecture, in a column soon. But I had an ulterior motive in asking to speak with you. May I explain?”

  “I suppose you’d better, since you got me here under false pretenses.” The sting of the words was taken away by Dr. Zacharias’ broad smile. He was a good sport.

  “May I introduce Dr. Sarah Clarke, of the Joukowsky Institute?”

  “Dr. Clarke, I’m pleased to meet you. I read your dissertation. Brilliant work.”

  Sarah couldn’t help but smile at the man, whose stunned expression betrayed his sudden attraction to her. Daniel smirked. At least he wasn’t the only one to fall head over heels in love every time she turned on that 150-megawatt smile. He observed as the good doctor visibly pulled himself together, no doubt reminding himself that he had a wife, not to mention children and grandchildren.

  “If I may…”

  Dr. Zacharias dragged his attention from Sarah to listen politely to Daniel, who began to explain his predicament. Reluctant to admit that the story had already been killed, he mentioned the difficulty of pulling the facts together in such a way as to not ruffle the scientific community. As he stated it, his goal was to put forth a theory that contradicted the current accepted facts, while providing answers to the questions that the loss of the current theory would pose. As Daniel spoke, the other man grew more animated and could hardly contain his need to speak.

  “Mr. Rossler, you must abandon all that, it is a smokescreen.”

  “Smokescreen? Are you saying that the anomalies are deliberate attempts to keep scientists from learning the truth?”

  “I would hesitate to put it in so many words. One never knows who might be listening. But I can tell you this, the answer is in the mathematics.”

  “That’s why we were so fascinated by your lecture, sir. What else can you tell us? For example, what will be the subject of your second lecture?”

  “I have been considering that. Of course, I can’t afford to be labeled a crackpot, but there are some very interesting discoveries coming out of Giza that few seem to be talking about. My only conclusion must be that the information is being deliberately suppressed.”

  Daniel sat back, the answer to one of his questions clear now. All along, he wondered why the scientific community couldn’t see the problems that to him were as plain as the pens in their pocket protectors. So they did know! And what could be the secret that an entire community of egotistical researchers would keep secret? He was about to find out.

  “In 2008, a Brit named Andrew Collins discovered, or rather re-discovered, a system of caves under the pyramid complex at Giza,” Zacharias said. “There’s some back-story to it, and I’ll give you the sources so you can get the full impact. But the bottom line is, Collins discovered some catacombs that led into a vast underground system, and the Secretary General for Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities flatly denied that it was true. However, he then took a team to investigate, and over a year later was forced to admit that it was true.”

  “What does all this mean? What did you mean when y
ou said the answers are in the math?” Daniel asked.

  “It’s the only thing that makes sense. If some ancient civilization was trying to leave a message for future generations, mathematics would be the only reliable language. Suppose Atlantis did exist, and suppose they knew that a disaster would destroy their civilization. Would they want to leave a record? Would they leave it someplace where the disaster couldn’t touch it? I’m not saying this is the case. I’m asking, what if? The discovery of this cave system has some interesting possibilities, but rather than hamper your research with my theories, why don’t I give you the sources and let you research it for yourselves. If you dare.”

  Zacharias hadn’t meant it as a challenge, only an observation that Sarah’s career may not be able to afford to go there, either. But Daniel took it as a gauntlet thrown down in front of him. His chin went up and his eyes took on a stubborn look.

  “Oh, I dare, all right. Nothing could stop me. Dr. Zacharias, thank you for the tip.”

  “You’re very welcome. I would be most interested in what you discover.”

  “May we call on you for help if we get stuck?”

  “Certainly, as long as you leave my name out of it. And speaking of my name, about this ‘interview’…”

  “It won’t mention any of this, you have my word on it. You’ve been very helpful, sir. Thank you.”

  “Don’t mention it. And I mean that literally,” Zacharias joked.

  After he walked away, Sarah turned to Daniel. “I liked him.”

  “I did, too, but man, I hope this doesn’t lead us to Atlantis. That would be almost as bad as aliens.”

  “What do you have against aliens and unknown civilizations?” she retorted. “It could explain a lot.”