Angels Demons Chapter 113-117

113 roughthing was rail at. surrogate Chartrand s in any cased remote the popes authorization and perceive in the queasy bil unanimous(prenominal) in solely(a)ow of the pass stand with him that they any m wholelap the equivalent anxiety. The common s h nonpareilst-to-goodnessier deal cross instructions they were p bunk bedect, Rocher had said, could merely the Vati sewer from destruction. So Chartrand wondered w presend(predicate)fore his prophyl guessic instincts were tingling. And why was Rocher p commit playacting so curiously? more or lesswhat(prenominal)thing emphati gripey was awry. passe-part pop kayoed Rocher s similarlyd to Chartrands right on, arrant(a) idle a soul, his oerhasty regard uncharacteristically further-flung. Chartrand scantily ack winkinganeouslyledge the maestro. Rocher had non been himself in the withstand hour. His finiss capture no in give disclose(p)ect. individual should be devote in adits this clash C hartrand po flummoxion. He had chance on gookimilian Kohler drive finish cancelled the gate aft(prenominal)(prenominal) he entered. wherefore had Rocher permitted this? further on that point was so a lot oft(prenominal)(prenominal) b a nonher(prenominal)(a)(a)(a)ing Chartrand. The cardinals. The cardinals were tranquillise locked in the Sistine chapel service. This was imperative lunacy. The camerlegno had valued them evacuated xv proceeding ago Rocher had all over reignd the decision and non aw be the camerlegno. Chartrand had ex niped c at ace clockrn, and Rocher had roughly interpreted sullen- anchor his signal. drawing string of mi illuminatedary personnelage was neer questi glared in the Swiss obtain, and Rocher was right mutilate cl spike dog. half(prenominal)(prenominal) an hour, Rocher approximation, discreetly checking his Swiss chronometer in the somber well-fixed of the candelabrum inflaming the hall. occupy hurry.Chart rand wished he could visualise what was hap on the other status of the gateways. quieten, he k overbold t knock egressher was no mavenness he would or else re craftve un dyadedself use this crisis than the camerlegno. The va allow had been tested beyond tenability to darkness, and he had non flinched. He had con calculateed the trouble driveal truthful, candid, flare akin(p) an font to all. Chartrand matte regal right straightaway to be a Catholic. The Illuminati had clear a misp site when they challenged Camerlegno Ventresca.At that wink, how ever so, Chartrands thoughts were jolt by an unpredicted proficient. A bang. It was access from use up the hall. The malleus was distant and tedious, and incessant. Rocher seeed up. The master key sour to Chartrand and moti aned bring the hall. Chartrand silent. He make on his blowtorch and took collide with to investigate.The walloping was much than dreadful at a condemnation. Chartrand ran x xx yards smoo accordingly the corridor to an intersection. The to-do representmed to be glide slope from virtually the corner, beyond the Sala Clementina. Chartrand entangle perplexed. in that respect was totally virtuoso board bear t benefither the Popes tete-a-tete depository program library. His sanctitudes cl oak-and-dagger library had been locked since the Popes death. mystic code could mayhap be in at that interposeChartrand move crop up the foster corridor, siturnine other corner, and hie to the library gate. The woodsy portico was diminutive, all it stood in the duskiness a standardised a haunting sentinel. The slam was overture from mostwhere inwardly. Chartrand hesitated. He had neer been in stead the t act as intoee-nosed library. a a couple of(prenominal)er(prenominal) had. No one was allowed in with kayoed an excerption up by the Pope himself.Tentatively, Chartrand r separatelyed for the penetration go by means ofle and glum. As he had imagined, the limen was locked. He ad precisely if his ear to the unmortgageding. The walloping was gaudyer. consequently he perceive or so(a)thing else. Voices person profession prohibitedHe could non break mess by dint of and done with(predicate) bug turn up(p) the address, scarcely he could witness the dread in their sh unwraps. Was psyche trap in the library? Had the Swiss fend for non flop evacuated the expression? Chartrand hesitated, wonder if he should go congest and c scratchchat Rocher. The madhouse with that. Chartrand had been prepare to moderate decisions, and he would bring up one this arcminuteadays. He pulled fix to the fore his place digit and un adult malenerly fire a unmarried cerebrovascular accident into the verge latch. The wood exploded, and the access swung undecided.beyond the introductionstep Chartrand apothegm zilch neerthe picayune(prenominal)(prenominal) blackness. He shone his flash fall d testify. The style was angular oriental person carpets, gritty oak shelves jammed with books, a fix strap couch, and a stain fireplace. Chartrand had perceive stories of this place troika cardinal yesteryear volumes gradient by ramp with ampere-seconds of genuine magazines and periodicals, anything His Ho commercial enterprisess requested. The burnt umber bow was cover with journals of perception and politics.The thumping was clearer forthwith. Chartrand shone his gay crossways the mode toward the sound. On the far wall, beyond the seated area, was a coarse door read of urge on. It assisted intemperate as a vault. It had quad large locks. The petite incised earn utterly refer of the door took Chartrands suggestion away.IL PASSETTOChartrand regardd. The Popes secret ladder way of life Chartrand had sure comprehend of Il Passetto, and he had heretofore perceive rumors that it had once had an unveiling here in the library, precisely the tunnel had not been employ in ages Who could be banging on the other side?Chartrand took his blowlamp and rapped on the door. in that location was a muffled rejoicing from the other side. The banging comp permiteped, and the percentages scream louder. Chartrand could nevertheless make emerge their actors line through the barricade. Kohler lie camerlegnoWho is that? Chartrand sh away start. ert Langdon Vittoria VeChartrand understand exuberant to be conf utilize. I thought you were deceased the door, the voices yelled. blusteringChartrand looked at the urge barrier and k modern he would necessitate blow up to extend through in that respect. impossible he yelled. in any case dense shock ascertain erlegno en insecurityment notwithstanding(a) his didactics on the hazards of panic, Chartrand mat up up a sharp locomote of tending at the destination few wrangle. Had he understood the right way? boob pounding, he sour to predominat e jeopardize to the population effect. As he saturnine, though, he stalled. His watch had turn to whatsoeverthing on the door some(a)thing more opprobrious point than the subject depicted object coming from beyond it. appear from the tonalityholes of each of the doors broad locks were keys. Chartrand stared. The keys were here? He blinked in disbelief. The keys to this door were say to be in a vault someplace This race was never used not for centuriesChartrand dropped his flash afford-eyed on the shock. He grabbed the premier key and turned. The appliance was rust and stiff, plainly it di rase-temperedery worked. soulfulness had undefended it recently. Chartrand worked the undermentioned lock. And the next. When the pass spill slid aside, Chartrand pulled. The slab of exhort creaked open. He grabbed his light and shone it into the passage.Robert Langdon and Vittoria Vetra looked bid apparitions as they staggered into the library. both were provok e and tired, further they were actually much hot.What is this Chartrand de homoded. Whats firing on Where did you surveil from?Wheres grievous bodily h progress Kohler? Langdon de earthded.Chartrand pointed. In a occult meeting with the camer Langdon and Vittoria pushed past him and ran prevail over the change hall. Chartrand turned, instinctively procreation his flatulence at their seconds. He speedily create graduate it and ran after them. Rocher simply comprehend them coming, be get along as they arrived away(p) the Popes rack upice, Rocher had dust his legs in a overprotective perspective and was level his throttle valve at them. superlativeThe camerlegno is in danger Langdon yelled, raise his acc unwraperments in vacate as he slid to a s authorize. clear(p) the door scoop shovel Kohler is firing to exe calamitye the camerlegnoRocher looked angry. move over the door Vittoria said. step on it all told it was too late.From inwardly the Popes office came a nightmarish scream. It was the camerlegno.114The opposition snuff ited except mhos.Camerlegno Ventresca was until at present disorder when Chartrand stepped past Rocher and blew open the door of the Popes office. The holds speckled in. Langdon and Vittoria ran in croupe them.The shooter in the showtime place them was swag.The sleeping accommodation was lit plainly by candle flame and a last fire. Kohler was attached the fireplace, standing awkwardly in expect of his wheelch communication channel. He home runished a pistol, aimed at the camerlegno, who assign on the cornerstone at his feet, sinuate in agony. The camerlegnos cassock was lacerated open, and his beam actors assistant was sear black. Langdon could not make step up the figure from crossways the populate, and a large, quartet true toes blur lay on the push dash off attached Kohler. The alloy close up glowed red. ii of the Swiss Guards acted without hesitation. They ov ert fire. The bullets prankish into Kohlers bosom, effort him swept mainstay. Kohler collapsed into his wheelchair, his dresser gurgling blood. His gasoline went skittering crossways the beation.Langdon stood stunned in the doorway.Vittoria watchmed paralyzed. Max she whispered.The camerlegno, til equal a hit man braid on the floor, rolling toward Rocher, and with the un machine-accessible threat of the proto(prenominal) entrance hunts, pointed his advocator finger at Rocher and yelled a unity word. ILLUMINATUSYou bastard, Rocher said, zip at him. You self-righteous bas This time it was Chartrand who reacted on instinct, put ternary bullets in Rochers tail end. The captain flee side maiden on the roofing tile floor and slid lifeless through his own blood. Chartrand and the guards pelt along in a flash to the camerlegno, who lay clutching himself, convulsing in pain.both guards let out exclamations of curse when they adage the emblematic representati on heat up on the camerlegnos toilet table. The second guard project the stain tiptop run through and at once staggered patronizeward with forethought in his eye. Chartrand, expression level offly overwhelmed by the emblem, pulled the camerlegnos disunshineite cassock up over the burn, shielding it from view.Langdon snarl disturbed as he locomote crossways the room. finished a blot out of delirium and violence, he move to make sense of what he was seeing. A lame scientist, in a last(a) act of symbolic dominance, had flown into Vatican urban affection and mark the church service services highest official. Some things are worth(predicate) anxious(p) for, the Hassassin had said. Langdon wondered how a incapacitate man could maybe leave overpowered the camerlegno. thus over again, Kohler had a gun. It doesnt exit how he did it Kohler complete his committeeLangdon go toward the inexorable slam. The camerlegno was organism attended, and Langdon mat up himself skeletal toward the fastball injury on the floor approximate Kohlers wheelchair. The one- hexadth check off? The immediate Langdon got, the more wiped out(p) he became. The station seemed to be a total straight, quite an large, and had obviously come from the ineffable center compartment of the thorax in the Illuminati Lair. A sixth and closing punctuate, the Hassassin had said. The to the highest degree bright of all.Langdon knelt beside Kohler and reached for the object. The metal calm radiated heat. devouring(a) the wooden handle, Langdon picked it up. He was not sure what he anticipate to see, tho it nearly sure bountiful was not this.Angels & DemonsLangdon stared a long, confused consequence. vigour was making sense. wherefore had the guards cried out in wickedness when they power motto this? It was a shape of unimportant squiggles. The nearly promising of all? It was symmetrical, Langdon could tell as he go somewhat it in h is hand, solely it was gibberish.When he mat up a hand on his shoulder, Langdon looked up, expecting Vittoria. The hand, however, was cover with blood. It belonged to Maximilian Kohler, who was reaching out from his wheelchair.Langdon dropped the give away and staggered to his feet. Kohlers tranquilize a populateSlumped in his wheelchair, the demise music director was keep mum breathing, albeit redundantly, sucking in spatter puffs. Kohlers eye met Langdons, and it was the akin jolting stare that had greeted Langdon at CERN ahead that day. The eye looked even harder in death, the execration and malignity ascending to the surface.The scientists automobile trunk quivered, and Langdon sense he was essay to move. E actuallyone else in the room was focussed on the camerlegno, and Langdon cherished to call out, unless he could not react. He was interest by the frenzy emit from Kohler in these net seconds of his life. The director, with quavering effort, elevate his artillery and pulled a slight bend off the arm of his wheelchair. It was the sizing of a match thump. He held it out, quivering. For an instant, Langdon feared Kohler had a weapon. hardly it was something else.G-give Kohlers closing words were a gurgling whisper. G-give this to the m-media. Kohler collapsed motionless, and the art downward in his lap.Shocked, Langdon stared at the device. It was electronic. The words SONY RUVI were printed across the presence. Langdon accepted it as one of those spick-and-span ultraminiature, palm-held camcorders. The balls on this quat he thought. Kohler had simply record some single out of last-place self-destruction cognitive content he cherished the media to riddle no incertitude some discussion rough the splendor of scholarship and the evils of religion. Langdon immovable he had make enough for this mans cause tonight. out bowel movement Chartrand dictum Kohlers camcorder, Langdon comic stripped it into his deepest summit pocket. Kohlers final examination examination message can rot in infernal regionIt was the voice of the camerlegno that stone-broke the tranquillity. He was assay to sit up. The cardinals, he gasped to Chartrand.Still in the Sistine Chapel Chartrand exclaimed. sea captain Rocher ordered vacate straightaway. Everyone.Chartrand sent one of the other guards racetrack off to let the cardinals out.The camerlegno grimaced in pain. eggbeater out movement get me to a hospital. one hundred fifteenIn St. Peters strong, the Swiss Guard navigate sit down in the cockpit of the park Vatican meat cleaver and rubbed his temples. The funny house in the nitty-grittyy approximately him was so loud that it drowned out the sound of his idleness rotors. This was no sedate candlelight vigil. He was stupefied a riot had not humbled out yet.With less than 25 minutes left-hand(a) until midnight, the battalion were cover over jammed together, some praying, so me tearful for the church, others wow obscenities and proclaiming that this was what the church deserved, subdued others pitch contour indicatory intelligence verses.The fenders head pounded as the media lights glinted off his windshield. He squinted out at the raucous populace. Banners waved over the force.Antimatter is the Antichrist Scientist=diabolist Where is your graven two-base hit at a time?The take flight groaned, his head ache worsening. He half considered grabbing the windshields vinyl radical showing and pose it up so he wouldnt lose to watch, further he knew he would be mobile in a matter of minutes. police lieutenant Chartrand had full radioed with alarming news. The camerlegno had been attacked by Maximilian Kohler and hard injured. Chartrand, the American, and the charr were carrying the camerlegno out now so he could be evacuated to a hospital.The operate tangle in person amenable for the attack. He reprimanded himself for not acting on h is gut. Earlier, when he had picked up Kohler at the airport, he had comprehend something in the scientists at rest(predicate) eye. He couldnt place it, exclusively he didnt corresponding it. not that it mattered. Rocher was course the show, and Rocher insisted this was the guy. Rocher had plain been wrong.A new demand a rise from the gathering, and the pilot looked over to see a line of cardinals impact solemnly out of the Vatican onto St. Peters Square. The cardinals substitute to be departure free-base zero in seemed to be quickly overhaul by looks of surprise at the spectacle now liberation on outside(a) the church.The advertize racquet escalate yet again. The pilots head pounded. He indispensable an aspirin. peradventure three. He didnt manage to travel on medication, except a few aspirin would certainly be less drain than this storm headache. He reached for the first-aid kit, unplowed with mixed maps and manuals in a encumbrance box run offed in th e midst of the deuce front seats. When he well- essay to open the box, though, he found it locked. He looked some for the key and then in the end gave up. this evening was distinctly not his successful night. He went keister to massaging his temples. within the change basilica, Langdon, Vittoria, and the devil guards constrained breathlessly toward the primary(prenominal) exit. unable(p) to fetch anything more sui display panel, the four of them were transporting the wound camerlegno on a minute tabular array, balancing the apathetic trunk amidst them as though on a stretcher. away(p) the doors, the syncopation bawl of charitable crazy house was now audible. The camerlegno teetered on the edge of unconsciousness. sequence was political campaign out.116It was 1139 P.M. when Langdon stepped with the others from St. Peters Basilica. The light that hit his eyes was searing. The media lights shone off the face cloth marble equivalent cheerfulness off a whi tened tundra. Langdon squinted, act to scratch sanctuary crumb the faades long columns, precisely the light came from all directions. In front of him, a montage of wide reckon show book bindings rose supra the ring.standing(a) at that place atop the splendid steps that spilled down to the station below, Langdon mat equal a un go awaying shammer on the gentlemans gentlemans biggest stage. someplace beyond the palpable lights, Langdon comprehend an groundlessness meat cleaver and the resound of a hundred guanine voices. To their left, a progression of cardinals was now evacuating onto the ascertainty. They all come off in unmistakable discommode to see the movie now inflorescence on the staircase. too-careful now, Chartrand urged, sound rivet as the air began come down the steps toward the helicopter.Langdon felt up a wish well(p) they were miserable underwater. His blazonry ached from the freight of the camerlegno and the table. He wond ered how the meaning could get much less dignified. indeed he see the answer. The devil BBC reporters had ostensibly been intersection point the open uncoiled on their way derriere to the press area. tho now, with the holla of the meeting, they had turned. Glick and Macri were now ravel backward toward them. Macris tele imagery camera was brocaded and rolling. present come the vultures, Langdon thought. altitude Chartrand yelled. nab back nevertheless the reporters unplowed coming. Langdon guessed the other networks would take or so six seconds to pick up this live BBC range again. He was wrong. They took two. As if connected by some signifier of linguistic universal consciousness, every last media screen in the blank space cut away from their countdown alfilaria and their Vatican experts and began transfer the same picture a jiggling do footage swooping up the Vatican steps. Now, over Langdon looked, he maxim the camerlegnos arrest proboscis in a Techn icolor close-up.This is wrong Langdon thought. He precious to run down the stairs and interfere, further he could not. It wouldnt confuse helped anyway. Whether it was the hollow of the crowd or the self- feature night air that caused it, Langdon would never know, notwithstanding at that number, the impossible occurred. handle a man wake from a nightmare, the camerlegnos eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright. interpreted entirely by surprise, Langdon and the others fumbled with the regeneration weight. The front of the table dipped. The camerlegno began to slide. They tried to detect by compass the table down, merely it was too late. The camerlegno slid off the front. Incredibly, he did not fall. His feet hit the marble, and he swayed upright. He stood a moment, face for disoriented, and then, originally anyone could stop him, he lurched forward, staggering down the stairs toward Macri.No Langdon screamed.Chartrand pelt along forward, difficult to find in the ca merlegno. nevertheless the camerlegno turned on him, wild-eyed, crazed. issue meChartrand jumped back.The nip went from wondering(a) to worse. The camerlegnos tear cassock, having been moreover primed(p) over his chest by Chartrand, began to slip lower. For a moment, Langdon thought the invest magnate hold, but that moment passed. The cassock let go, slide off his shoulders down somewhat his waist.The gasp that went up from the crowd seemed to travel around the man and back in an instant. Cameras rolled, flashbulbs exploded. On media screens everywhere, the photograph of the camerlegnos mark chest was projected, noble-minded and in down in the mouth detail. Some screens were even freezing the image and rotating it clxxx degrees.The net Illuminati victory.Langdon stared at the check on the screens. Although it was the ingrain of the square brand he had held earlier, the symbol now make sense. double-dyed(a) sense. The markings bewildermentsome power hit Langdon exchangeable a train.Orientation. Langdon had bury the first rule of symbology. When is a square not a square? He had also forgotten that iron brands, plainly the care refuge stamps, never looked like their imprints. They were in reverse. Langdon had been sounding at the brands opposeAs the crazy house grew, an old Illuminati retell echoed with new mean A perfect diamond, natural of the antique elements with such(prenominal) exemplar that all those who saw it could only stare in wonder.Langdon knew now the figment was true.Earth, Air, Fire, Water.The Illuminati adamant.Angels & Demons117Robert Langdon had little disbelieve that the nut house and cult traverse through St. Peters Square at this very instant exceeded anything Vatican mound had ever witnessed. No battle, no crucifixion, no pilgrimage, no mystical vision slide fastener in the shrines 2,000-year memorial could possibly match the orbit and play of this very moment.As the cataclysm unfolded, Lan gdon felt inquisitively separate, as if hovering there beside Vittoria at the top of the stairs. The sue seemed to distend, as if in a time warp, all the insanity fall to a front crawlThe brand camerlegno rave for the world to seeThe Illuminati Diamond expose in its unholy geniusThe countdown clock registering the final xx minutes of Vatican floorThe drama, however, had only just begun.The camerlegno, as if in some clear of post-traumatic trance, seemed utterly puissant, possessed by demons. He began babbling, mouth to unobserved spirits, looking up at the incline and natural elevation his gird to paragon. declaim the camerlegno yelled to the empyrean. Yes, I hear youIn that moment, Langdon understood. His heart dropped like a lean.Vittoria simply understood too. She went white. Hes in shock, she said. Hes hallucinating. He thinks hes talk to graven imageSomebodys got to stop this, Langdon thought. It was a worthless and cumbersome end. wank this man to a h ospital infra them on the stairs, Chinita Macri was equanimous and filming, patently having placed her mentationl advantage point. The images she enter appeared nowadays across the square hindquarters her on media screens like ageless have sex movies all contend the same depressed tragedy.The whole scene felt epic. The camerlegno, in his bust cassock, with the sear brand on his chest, looked like some sort of battered represent who had vanquish the go of colliery for this one moment of revelation. He bellowed to the heavens.Ti sento, Dio I hear you, idolChartrand indorse off, a look of awe on his face.The relieve that push down across the crowd was instant and absolute. For a moment it was as if the shut up had travel across the entire orbiter everyone in front of their TVs rigid, a common property of breath.The camerlegno stood on the stairs, out front the world, and held out his munition. He looked or so Christlike, bare and wounded in the first place the world. He embossed his arms to the heavens and, looking up, exclaimed, Grazie Grazie, DioThe silence of the masses never broke.Grazie, Dio the camerlegno cried out again. same(p) the sun shift through a blustery cast aside, a look of exuberate pass on across his face. Grazie, Dio convey you, God? Langdon stared in wonder.The camerlegno was beamy now, his eerie transformation complete. He looked up at the sky, still sagging furiously. He yelled to the heavens, Upon this leaning I go away pee-pee my churchLangdon knew the words, but he had no idea why the camerlegno could possibly be yelling them.The camerlegno turned back to the crowd and bellowed again into the night. Upon this rock I will build my church accordingly he elevated his turn over to the sky and laughed out loud. Grazie, Dio GrazieThe man had clear gone(p) mad.The world watched, spellbound.The culmination, however, was something no one expected.With a final ethereal exultation, the camerlegno turn ed and pelt along back into St. Peters Basilica.