Trifariam, The Lost Codex (2012)

by Diego Rodriguez

  We were getting close with the square numbers, we should carry on down that route, thought James.

  Mary had been lying face down on the bed for a few minutes now, completely silent, constantly staring at a piece of paper which sat on the pillow and which had written on it the sequence in rather large numbers. Her head was starting to get heavy and her neck was stiff. She was ready to tear the paper up into thousands of pieces when James burst into a smile of satisfaction and those magic words came from his lips.

  “I’ve got it! I know what the next number is!”

  Mary jumped off the bed and eyed the paper James was clutching in his hands. The whole page was filled with practically indecipherable alphanumeric scrawl. Beneath it was a formula which had been underlined over and over again: n*(n+1)-1

  “We were thinking it was a difficult sequence to solve, but really it’s one of the simplest there is. Each number in the list is the result of multiplying the previous number by the one which follows in natural numerical order, before subtracting one unit.” Mary looked at him proudly as he continued with his explanation. “Using the formula, we could easily work out which number comes after 29. It would be (29*30)-1, which makes 869. Therefore the number that is missing between the parentheses in the first sequence is 756029, the result of multiplying 869 by 870 and subtracting one. If we take away 340704 from that number, it gives us 415325, which is the first number we’re looking for.”

  “Amazing. Math isn’t my strong point. Even if I’d spent all day working on it, I’d never have got the right answer. Is the second sequence the same?”

  “Not exactly, but it is similar. It is solved in the same way, but in this case you have to subtract two.” Mary couldn’t help but smile and kept on listening. “115938 is the number which fills the parentheses in the second sequence, and clearly it is the result of multiplying 340 by 341 and subtracting 2. If we add 6994 to this number, we get 122932 which is the second secret number.”

  “You’re a genius,” declared Mary, who hadn’t wasted a second in typing them into the laptop.

  James’ mood dipped when he saw how Mary’s face went from showing unbridled joy to being as white as a sheet. She had realized that neither of the numbers, nor any of the different combinations formed with them, was the sought-after password.

  “Richard might be a bastard but he isn’t stupid. Obviously the two numbers aren’t the password, but we should be able to work it out when we put them together with the third clue.”

  Mary looked at the laptop screen again - she had forgotten that there was a third message. Before humanity puts an end to it, it will put an end to us, she pondered as she repeated the words over and over. “It could be a type of animal which is at risk of becoming extinct because the human race is senselessly killing it.”

  “Umm, but… what animal could turn against mankind to the point of destruction? No, I think Richard is referring to the whole planet here. Do you remember what he told us about the repercussions that solar flares and supervolcanoes could have for the Earth? It’s clear that man’s careless activity on the planet over the last few years is causing catastrophic damage. Scientists think that if we continue the way we have been doing, Earth will end up rebelling and destroying us all.”

  “So we have the numbers 415325 and 122932, as well as a riddle to which the solution is ‘Earth’. What would the initials N.E. stand for?”

  “They seem to be the initials from somebody’s name, probably the person to whom that quotation is attributed. Type it into a search engine and see what comes up.”

  Mary did as she was told but she shook her head when nothing was found.

  “And what if the riddle is telling us where we have to put in the numbers from the sequences in order to find out the password?”

  James bit his lower lip, something he did often when he was thinking. “But how can two digits from a possible six tell us where to search? Although… I don’t think…”

  “Tell me! We have to try everything and we don’t have much time!”

  “It’s probably nothing, but… do you have Google Earth installed on your laptop?”

  Mary raised an eyebrow and frowned before she nodded. She had often used it to virtually visit the cities where she was going to work and thus have a preconceived idea of what they would be like.

  The program opened on the computer screen and, as was always the case, the image of the Earth with space and stars behind occupied the right half of the screen.

  On the left was a drop-down menu with recently visited places and a series of configuration options.

  “I was thinking that the numbers could possibly represent the latitude and longitude coordinates of some point on the planet. Each number is made up of six digits, so that the first two could be the degrees, the next two the minutes and the last two the seconds. Plus, the initials N.E. might represent ‘north’ and ‘east’ respectively.”

  James hovered the cursor over search box and typed in the following series: 41 53′ 25″N 12 29′ 32″E. He clicked the search button and crossed his fingers, mentally willing it to work. The program started automatically. It was as if an extremely powerful satellite was crossing the Atlantic, before stopping in Europe or, more precisely, Italy. All of a sudden, and at unusual speed, it started to zoom in through the thick layer of cloud and heading for the center of the country. The image was extremely blurred at first, but over time it became clearer and clearer until the great city of Rome had filled the screen.

  The two of them looked at the screen without blinking. The coordinates entered by James appeared just over the most well-known landmark of Ancient Rome: the Coliseum.

  “We have to admit, Richard is some genius,” declared Mary. “It would never have occurred to me to hide a password in such an overelaborate yet splendid way.”

  Now it worked. After typing in the word Coliseum, the laptop screen went black momentarily before turning back on, with the operating system starting up correctly. They were inside his computer.

  Chapter 48

  Either he has a supercomputer, or this thing switched on faster than normal, thought James without saying a word.

  Mary looked at him hesitantly, but she seemed to be able to read his mind.

  “The computer was in sleep mode. Richard left some applications open, maybe we can find something.”

  They both looked at the taskbar, just to the right of the Windows “Start” button. Richard had left several windows open on purpose, probably so he could look through them later. There were five in total.

  The first two were webpages which contained rather concise information about the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, illustrated by photographs. They seemed to have been created by tourists who had been left so in awe after their visit to Teotihuacan that they wanted to share their memories and experiences with more people. However, these pages didn’t merely spout historical information about the Teotihuacan civilization, but went more in-depth in an attempt to create an aura of mystery around the culture.

  The third window was a text document which contained detailed information about the land on which the city was built: its possible points of entry and exit, both on foot and by car, the woodland which surrounded it, comprehensive details on nearby towns and their inhabitants and, finally, the precise number of open-air terraces in the area along with their location.

  “The son of a bitch is planning something,” said James, his teeth grinding in rage.

  The fourth window surprised Mary even more than James. It was a webpage which had been discontinued due to its content, according to a text across the top of the page. It displayed what appeared to be very truthful information about freemasonry. It covered a range of topics: its origins, internal hierarchy, political and religious beliefs, ambitions and even possible members.

  A sentence underlined in red made them think. It read:

  THE FREEMASONS ALREADY CONTROL THE HIGHEST POSITIONS OF POWER

  Mary clicked to enlarge the las
t window. When it came into, their hearts began pounding in their chests. All was not lost. It was the homepage of an e-mail provider and although Richard had logged off, a line of text filled them with sudden and overwhelming optimism. It was an e-mail address with an empty box below for the password.

  “I’m sure Anthony would have been able to help us right now, but those bastards… Do you know any way of accessing his account?”

  Mary cleared her throat and after a few seconds’ hesitation, she took out her old cellphone from her pocket. Then she spoke to James in a friendly voice. “I have a friend who is a computer expert. For years he worked for a company dedicated to researching and developing antivirus software. From what he told me, he didn’t agree with company policy because it was they themselves who developed the virus and the antivirus, so he resigned.”

  “What? I don’t get it.”

  “It was because they created the virus and unleashed it on the web. When millions of computers were infected, they released a sophisticated program onto the market which would provide a solution. That’s how the vast majority of those companies operate nowadays. Now he works for a powerful multinational developing software and webpages for businesses, and he heads the security department. His role is to develop the security strategies needed to protect them from untimely visitors. Perhaps he can help us.”

  Before James could even respond, she had started to dial his number. She didn’t have to wait long. It hadn’t even rung twice when a loud raspy voice picked up the phone. He seemed surprised.

  “Hi, Mary! How are you?”

  “Hi, Marcus. Well, I’m a little busy, and you… how are you these days?”

  “I see you still miss me. When will you accept my invitation for dinner?”

  Mary bristled for a moment. She remembered all those times Marcus had asked her out to dinner, like he did with his other female friends, but she had always politely turned him down. In fact, she knew full well that “dinner” was just a pretext to lure her into bed. Marcus only ever thought about two things: bits and sex. He was like a forty year old man who was stuck in adolescence.

  Mary changed the topic completely. “I’m very busy at the moment - I have a little problem. Could you help me?”

  “You know I’d do anything for you.”

  While she was dialing, Mary had come up with the perfect excuse. He wouldn’t suspect a thing. “I’m working on a dig in Mexico. We think one of our colleagues is passing on private information about our discoveries via e-mail to another archaeologist who apparently wants to beat us to it.” James was sitting on the bed, looking at her amazed. Her facial expressions, her intonation, her way of explaining were all perfect. Anybody would have believed her. “Could you help us and become a hacker for the day?”

  After an uncomfortable silence on the other end of the line, he cleared his throat. “So you want me to steal the account from this little friend of yours and hand it over to you.”

  “Could you?”

  “Maybe, but… what do I get in return?”

  “Umm, what if we brought forward that dinner we’re due? But I’m warning you, it will only be dinner. Nothing more.”

  Marcus’ cackling was so loud that James could hear it clearly. “Give me a little time, and I’ll let you know when I’ve got it. What’s his e-mail address?”

  Mary turned around and again looked at the screen of Richard’s laptop. “R_M@gv.pnt.com. I owe you one.”

  “No, you owe me dinner,” he said in fits of laughter, then he put down the phone.

  “We have to go,” said James once the conversation was over. “Richard has got to be on his way.”

  James got back inside the laundry cart, this time careful to put a clean sheet over his face. They opened the door of the room and left as quickly as they could. They turned the corner of the corridor and continued along another which would take them straight to the elevator. They had thought about getting changed inside it and abandoning the cart, but as they were waiting, they saw Richard’s shadow materialize on the staircase which led to that floor.

  As quickly as she could, Mary pulled a white cap onto her head, looked at the floor, inserted her earphones and turned up the volume of the music and pretended to crudely chew gum. Although James had a sheet on top of him, he had left a couple of tiny holes through which he could see Mary’s face. Looking at her, something odd was going on.

  Richard passed by without realizing she was there, for him she was just another cleaner. He seemed angry and kept muttering words to himself incoherently. It was as if he wanted to speak to somebody over the phone but they hadn’t picked up.

  He reached the corner of the corridor in no time at all before disappearing from sight. When the elevator doors opened, Mary had already calmed down. Her breathing had quickened enormously during the last few minutes to the point where she was suffering from a mild attack of tachycardia by the time Richard was passing by right next to her.

  Mary stopped the elevator between the third and fourth floors, making it look as if there had been a technical problem. James took advantage of this and got out of the cart, while Mary had taken off all her cleaner’s uniform, standing in just a pair of red panties and matching bra. He couldn’t help but steal a sideways glance at her body while she did up the back zipper of a dress she had selected especially for the occasion, and which showed off her feminine curves.

  A certain tension hung in the air, perhaps sexual in nature, until it was broken by some unexpected vibration.

  James picked up the phone. “Hello?”

  “Where were you?! I’ve been looking all over the hotel for you. You weren’t answering my calls.”

  “Yeah, well… we had… gone for a walk to get our appetites up.”

  Richard wasn’t daft. It had taken James a while to get his words out, but he didn’t seem to care in the least.

  “Of course! Don’t expect me at dinner. I have to study the latest details in the book before we go to Teotihuacan tomorrow. I’ll eat in my room.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.”

  James stood frozen with the cellphone stuck to his ear. He had the funny feeling that Richard had hung up before he could even answer. He seemed to be in a real hurry. “He’s up to something,” said James, turning around. “We should escape with the fragment now we’ve got it, before they start to suspect. Plus, they won’t be able to do anything without one of the parts.”

  “But James, they’d move heaven and earth to find us. The only option is to complete the Trifariam and use it in our favor.”

  “And what if we give them the fragment and escape? Maybe in time they’ll stop chasing us.”

  Mary remained quiet. She seemed to agree with the idea. But after thinking about it for a few seconds, she took a breath and exhaled slowly. “We don’t know what hides behind Trifariam, or what it is used for. What if they use it for evil gains? Think of your daughter. Do you want that kind of future for her? And don’t you think they’ll come after your daughter in order to get to you?”

  “You’re right. We have to see this through to the end, however it damn well ends up!”

  They didn’t feel like eating even though it was dinnertime. They were expecting a crucial call which would allow them to find out their chasers’ intentions and thus save their lives.

  When they reached Mary’s room, James held her tightly against his chest, promising that he would look after her and never let anything happen to her. She in turn gave him a tender smile followed by a heartfelt kiss on the lips. Then she went into her room.

  As he watched the door close, James sighed an “I love you”, which went unheard by Mary.

  Chapter 49

  Rain had fallen during the whole night, sprinkling the dawn with dew which was unheard of at that time of year. The clouds had cleared in the early hours, leaving the sky totally clear. Although he had had a rough night during which he only managed to sleep for a couple of hours, James was completely fresh faced. He hadn’
t been able to shake that dreadful idea from his mind; Richard had tried to kill them. Due to the close friendship their parents had enjoyed throughout their whole childhood, they had ended up spending lots of time together, sealing a bond which he had considered unbreakable until the day before.

  He walked to the balcony as he finished smoothing his face with his favorite anti-ageing moisturizing cream. The sight of the tropical rainforest in the distance, the singing of the birds and the deep blue sky in the background brought him that moment of peace that he had desperately yearned for over the last few days.

  An eagle which was soaring from one side of the sky to another suddenly turned over in the air and swooped towards the ground at startling speed, probably going to pounce on a couple of partridges who had left their nest. If only we could be the hunter and they the prey this afternoon, thought James as he yawned and stretched.

  He looked towards the door, worried. He thought he had heard a noise.

  “James, are you there?” Mary’s sweet voice broke the silence in the room as she softly tapped on the door with her knuckles.

  She quickly rushed in as soon as it opened even a crack.

  “Has something happened? What’s the matter?”

  She sat down in the armchair which adorned the room. She looked tired, but she couldn’t stop smiling. Eventually, she switched on her laptop. “I just called Marcus. He got hold of the password.”

  “How?! So soon?! How the hell did he manage that?!”

  “From what he said, it was quite easy. He just had to lay the bait and wait for Richard to bite. He was a bit busy, so he didn’t go into great detail, but I do know that from the many options he had available, he decided to start with social engineering. It looks like it gave him good results.”

  “Social engineering? What’s that?”