by John Lyman
“Please, Mr. Bignoti.” The pope reached down and lifted the short man to his feet. “Thank you for welcoming us into your hotel. Cardinal Amodeo has told me much about you.”
Arnolfo looked like he was close to fainting as he mumbled something unintelligible and looked over at Leo.
“I apologize, my friend,” Leo said, “I should have told you who my guests were.”
Arnolfo’s hands shook as he tried to smile. “That’s quite alright, Cardinal. A man needs a little excitement in his life every now and then. It’s good for the blood.” Without taking his eyes off the pope, he reached behind him and pulled a set of brass keys off their hooks. “I have some beautiful suites on the third floor that have just been remodeled. Do you have any luggage, Your Holiness?”
“No, you might say we’ve been traveling light over the past few days.”
“I will make sure you have anything you need. Just give me a list and my daughter will do the shopping for you. She’s very good at that.”
“Thank you. That’s very kind, but I’ve heard it’s getting hard to find food in the city. Is your family well supplied?”
“Yes, Your Holiness. Our cellar is well-stocked and we share with our neighbors. For all its worth, we can still use paper money, and the farmers have said that they will still be bringing meat and produce to market as usual. The people I worry about are the ones who shop in the big stores on the outskirts of the city. Most of them rely on their little plastic cards. What’s going to happen to them?”
“I wish I could answer that question, Arnolfo, but I can promise you that we will do everything in our power to return things to normal as soon as possible.”
“That’s a very consoling thought, Your Holiness, but from what we’ve heard things are only going to get worse. We may have to go to my sister’s farm in Umbria, and you’re more than welcome to come with us.”
As Arnolfo was smiling at the thought of bringing the pope with him to his sister’s house, two Swiss Guards came charging through the lobby doors carrying Eduardo Acerbi wrapped in a rain coat. “We need to get Mr. Acerbi up to a room as soon as possible,” one of them said, grasping Eduardo under the arms.
“Your friend looks ill,” Arnolfo said. “Would you like me to send for a doctor?”
“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Bignoti,” Francois said. “A doctor is already on the way.”
“Yes ... yes ... of course,” Arnolfo stammered as two more Swiss Guards entered the lobby and stood by the door with their guns drawn. “If you would all be so kind as to follow me, I’ll take you all to your rooms and have some wine and food sent up right away.”
Wrapping his arm around the bony shoulder of the diminutive hotel owner, the pope walked by his side as they entered the ancient, cage-like elevator. “A glass of wine would be most welcome now, Mr. Bignoti.”
Sliding the elevator doors closed, Arnolfo looked up into the pope’s striking blue eyes. “I can’t believe you’re really here, Your Holiness. Wait until I tell my wife that the pope is staying in our little hotel.”
CHAPTER 39
Sandwiched between the borders of Egypt and Jordan, the soldiers from Team 5 could see the stars for the first time in days as they stepped from the Israeli sub Leviathan into the humid night air permeating the naval base. Following their mission in Babylon, they had transferred to a sub for their journey up into the Red Sea before moving into the Gulf of Aqaba, where they finally docked at the small naval base in Eilat. From there they would travel overland to their secret base forty-five miles away in the barren Negev Desert.
Waiting for them was Danny Zamir, Lev Wasserman, and Alon Lavi, who had arrived in Tel Aviv the day before aboard the Tekuma and had been driven to Team 5’s base in the Negev Desert under the cover of darkness after being picked up by Nava in Lev’s old Land Rover.
Arriving at the base at the height of a sand storm, the men of Team 5 braced themselves against the abrasive wind that whipped around the corners of the cinder-block buildings that made up their bare-bones base. The sand storms that regularly swept the barren desert around them had blasted every exposed surface with a fine grit, covering the buildings in a patina that mimicked the look of the land.
Shuffling into the briefing while still trying to brush away the powder-like dust that clung stubbornly to their uniforms, the men traded jokes and shared in the camaraderie born from living through a suicidal mission that had everyone scratching their heads when they finally realized they had survived.
Zamir’s thick eyebrows waved up and down as he surveyed the room full of soldiers, his eyes finally landing on the mission commander—his own son, Ben Zamir.
“Commander, while we wait for Lev and Daniel, I’d like to hear more about this monstrous computer you and your team discovered beneath Acerbi’s compound in Babylon. From what I’ve heard, you were all lucky to escape with your lives. I’ve seen the mission pictures. You took a huge chance going into a fortified position like that, not to mention the fact that you were probably outnumbered by at least twenty to one.”
“Yes, sir,” Ben answered. “Daniel called it a quantum computer. According to him, the technology needed to build a computer like that hasn’t been invented yet. We took a few pictures for the analysts to go over.”
“Well, apparently it has been invented,” the elder Zamir snapped back.
Ben eyed his father like a teenager who had snuck into the house after curfew. He knew he had taken a risk, and that his father’s gruff response was just a reaction to the stress the old man had felt waiting for his only son to return from a mission that had been given low odds of survival from the beginning.
“Must have been tough being raised by a guy like that,” Sergeant Efron whispered to Ben.
Ben grinned. “Let’s just say I didn’t get away with much.”
From a side door, Lev Wasserman entered the room followed by a group of computer scientists that had just arrived from the University in Jerusalem. Taking seats next to Danny Zamir, Lev pushed a button on a wireless controller and a picture of the black sphere filled the large screen on the wall behind them. “Is this the computer?” Zamir asked the commandos.
“Yes, sir,” Ben replied. “The sphere itself stood almost four stories over our heads, but we were standing on a metal grating over a pit filled with fiber optic wires connected to the bottom of the thing. We estimated that the space below us was another forty feet deep.”
Lev pulled a cigar from his shirt pocket and lit it with a match. “I can see that. You managed to take some good pictures. This thing certainly appears to have all the hallmarks of a quantum computer. From Daniel’s description of the crystal he found, plus all the laser and liquid nitrogen cooling systems used to keep it cool, it looks as if someone has solved a multitude of problems twenty years ahead of schedule.”
Lev paused as he blew out a ring of smoke. “I believe everyone here is up to speed on the worldwide shutdown of the internet and every computer-controlled piece of hardware around the globe. According to some hasty calculations my colleagues and I just made in an effort to estimate the computing power it would take to achieve something on that scale, we believe this computer is only the tip of the iceberg. There are probably more of them out there somewhere.”
“From what we overheard,” Ben said, “the computer we saw was the first one they had built, because they were waiting for the crystal we found to fire the thing up.”
“It was their first quantum computer,” a voice called out from the back of the room. Everyone turned to see Daniel standing next to two computer scientists, and he was holding the blue disk they had brought back from Babylon. “This computer disk is like nothing any of us has ever seen before. It’s made from sapphire and platinum, and according to what we’ve learned so far, it was designed to last for at least a million years.”
“A million years!” Zamir shouted. “Why on earth would anyone make something that could store data for a million years?”
“Apparent
ly the person who made it ... because this disk is thousands of years old.” Amidst a chorus of disbelieving shouts, Daniel walked to the front of the room and handed the disk to Lev.
“Everyone calm down!” Zamir shouted.
Rotating the disk in his hands, Lev stared at his reflection in its shimmering surface. It was like looking at a jewel. “You’ll have to pardon me if I seem a little skeptical, Daniel,” Lev said, “but just how were you able to determine its age?”
“From the language, Professor. Surprisingly, that disk is compatible with modern computers, because we just downloaded data from it into one of our secure computers in the other room.”
“Secure computers?” Zamir questioned.
“Yes, sir. They’re not plugged into the internet and no one but us has access to them. Anyway, as I was saying, the language is very ancient, and the reason I know that is because it’s the same language we discovered in the Devil’s Bible.”
By now the soldiers in the room were becoming visibly uncomfortable.
“The exact same language?” Lev asked.
“Yes, although we’ve only been able to decode a small portion of it, we can tell that it’s the same ancient language Satan used for his bible. Not only that, but the disk also contains a partial schematic diagram of a quantum computer. There’s also a kind of map showing how other computers like it can be linked together all over the world, but unfortunately it doesn’t give any definite locations.”
Lev handed the disk to Zamir. “You say a partial plan for the computer?”
“Yes, but we haven’t had time to look at every file yet. There’s a ton of information there, and it’s going to take a team effort to sift through it all. There’s also a lot of very technical engineering stuff I can’t even begin to explain.”
For the first time in their lives, those who knew Danny Zamir saw his face turn pale. “So, what you’re saying is that this computer disk is thousands of years old because it contains the same ancient language as the book you and your team discovered in the Negev Desert last year, and that it also contains descriptions of technology that doesn’t even exist yet. Is that correct?”
Daniel looked nervously around the room at all the silent faces staring back at him. “Yes, sir. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
For a moment no one spoke, and then, clearing his throat, Lev Wasserman stood at his end of the table. “I know a lot of this is new to many of you, but I’m afraid we’re now locked in a battle with forces we can’t even begin to understand. Aside from all of this talk about ancient languages and technology that supposedly doesn’t exist yet, suffice it to say that we now find ourselves in the position of having to deal with an invisible enemy that rules from cyberspace and has just wiped out our computer-controlled infrastructures.
“In other words, no more smart phones, no more communication via the internet, no more GPS ... the list is endless, because we’ve become totally dependent on computers to run our lives. Practically every technological achievement we’ve worked so hard to build over the past fifty years is now down the toilet, and this quantum computer we’ve just discovered has apparently taken over every internet-connected piece of hardware on and off the planet, because it’s also reached out into space and taken over all of the satellites circling the globe. This thing has also taken control of all of our communications networks, the power grid, refineries, our transportation systems ... even our ability to distribute food. We’re even seeing it begin to jump across the air-gap into computer systems that aren’t connected to the internet; probably the result of spies plugging infected thumb drives into strategic computers. Life as we know it is in the hands of a single entity that can now dictate its terms to us or throw us back to the Stone Age if we fail to cooperate. In other words, gentlemen, we are no longer in control of our own destiny, so I suggest we get down to the business of trying to figure out a way to defeat this new threat before we find ourselves slaves to an enemy we know nothing about.”
“Why not just send in an air strike?” Ben asked. “We could take out that thing with a single bunker-busting bomb.”
Lev carefully relit his cigar. “That might work if there was only one of them, but Daniel just said that they found plans on that disk describing how to link up similar computers all over the world. Whoever is behind this probably already has others just like it hidden in secure locations scattered around the globe. They would probably be back online with the flick of a switch. Also, the satellites that provide GPS coverage are out, so that pretty much negates your navigation and targeting computers if you try to send in an air strike.”
“We can still get through using old-fashioned dead reckoning,” Ben countered. “At least it would send a message that we’re not just going to lie down and let them dictate terms to us.”
Lev paused as the bluish smoke from his cigar drifted upward through his mop of curly grey hair. “I think we need to step back and think all of this through before we go launching attacks against someone who obviously has the technological advantage right now. Let’s all take a break and meet back in this room at 0500 hours.”
As the room began to clear, Lev pulled Danny Zamir aside. “I need to find a way to contact Cardinal Leo in Rome. We just uncovered some new phrases in the Bible code, and I think he needs to see them. Any ideas?”
“Normally, I would say we could keep using the burst transmission method we’ve been using in our submarine fleet, but with this new quantum computer I’m not so sure that’s even safe anymore. Regardless, we don’t have any subs in Italian waters right now that can get the message to the cardinal. We’ve been thinking of flying messages again.”
“Flying?”
“Yes. All commercial aircraft have been grounded, but military aircraft are still flying. Of course we know we’re being tracked, but whoever is behind this seems to be sitting back and watching for now.”
“Can they shoot a fighter down?”
“It’s possible given the fact that most air defense systems are controlled by computers. It depends on the individual country, but unless they’ve deactivated their weapons systems, the computers can still order their weapons to fire on any incoming aircraft. They can also interfere with the targeting and navigational capability of our aircraft, but like I said, they only seem interested in watching for now. We’ll try a test flight tonight and see what happens. They might be able to monitor the flight, but they can’t read a handwritten message carried by a pilot.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Lev said. “Can you have a plane standing by? I’ll have the message driven to the base.”
Zamir looked distracted as he waved his hand in the air. “Whatever you need, Professor.”
Lev dropped the remainder of his cigar in an empty coffee cup as he studied his friend. Something else was obviously bothering him. “What’s on your mind, my friend?”
“I just keep thinking about old man Acerbi, Lev,” Zamir answered. “What if everything he told us about his son is true ... and we did nothing to help him stop it?”
CHAPTER 40
Glancing down through the tall windows of her Madrid apartment, Evita Vargas stuffed the map Julian Wehling had given her down into her backpack as she watched a growing crowd gathering in front of the market across the street. All across town frightened-looking people were rushing to buy food from shelves that were rapidly emptying in the few stores that still remained open, and in the next few hours Evita knew that things were only going to get worse.
At the moment all she could think of was getting out of town, but first she had to contact Mendoza. All morning long she had been trying to call him, but the cell phones still weren’t working. He had to be at CNI headquarters. With public transportation closed down, that meant she had to walk ten blocks through mobs of panicked people.
Looking out across the surrounding rooftops, she could see smoke rising in different parts of the city, a sure sign that rioting had already begun. Somehow she had to reach Mendoza and talk him int
o fleeing the city with her, because in a situation like this a city was the worst place to be trapped in. Once people realized that there was no longer any food in the stores and that their cash had become worthless, their animal natures would kick in and they would begin to turn on one another.
Tossing her long black hair over her shoulders, she took a final look around her apartment and reached for the doorknob just as someone knocked on the door. Mendoza! Always erring on the side of caution, she reached into her purse and removed the little .22 caliber Beretta as she peered through the peep hole.
Standing in the hallway outside, Javier Mendoza was looking down at his watch. Evita smiled and jerked the door open. “Javier! Thank God you came! You don’t know how relieved I am to see you. I thought I was going to have to walk all the way to CNI headquarters to find you.”
“I just came from there. Everyone is leaving. In a few hours the authorities are going to lose control of the situation and mobs will begin taking over the city. Come on, I have a car downstairs, but I don’t know how long it will be there if someone discovers it has a full tank of gas.”
“Where are you planning on going?”
“Anywhere but here. I’m not sure yet.”
“I know exactly where we can go,” Evita said. Pulling the map from her backpack, she handed it to Mendoza.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a map. Julian Wehling gave it to me.”
“Who?”
“The man I asked you to do a background check on ... remember?”
“Oh yeah ... him. You must be pretty special, Evita, because he’s the real deal. You were speaking to Cathar royalty.”
“I know. That’s why we need to follow the map he gave me. It points the way to a Cathar stronghold in the Languedoc region of southern France.”
“You’re kidding! How long have you known about this?”
“Since the day I asked you to check up on him. He told me we should go there when things started to collapse. It’s almost as if he knew this was going to happen.”
