Yuri took out a map of the Earth upon which he had transcribed two lines intersecting from Japan and Cambodia, matching the relevant lines from the engravings at the relevant sites. The lines met on the coast of South America, deep in Peru.
‘When the images on the icons at these two monuments are aligned with each other according to their orientation upon the monuments themselves, the longest of each of the sun beams points directly to this location in Peru. While I’m sure that this is significant, I am not sure that it’s the entire story.’
Vladimir leaned forward on the table and peered at the two lines. ‘If the lines point to Peru, than what is Morgan doing in Cairo?’
‘Precisely my question,’ Yuri agreed, for once delighted that his son was following the same train of thought. ‘If the lines themselves were the only story then they would have proceeded directly to Peru. It would seem certain that the Catalina transported them out of Cambodia and brought them to Egypt. But I notice on the flight plan that the only occupants of the aircraft recorded on the plan were the pilot and co-pilot, and that the customs report shows them as indeed being the only occupants aboard the aircraft when it landed and was inspected by officials in Cairo.’
Vladimir looked down at the flight plan, attached to which was a photograph of the Catalina.
‘It’s a seaplane,’ he noted. ‘It’s possible they may have been able to get out of the aircraft prior to it landing in Cairo.’
‘Yes,’ Yuri agreed. ‘But why? Why would they get out in Cairo? What could possibly be here that could connect everything that has happened so far?’
‘Do you think there’s another icon in Egypt that might be of use to them?’
‘Possibly,’ Yuri agreed, ‘and I don’t doubt that we would find one if we looked hard enough. I also don’t doubt that it would simply point in the same direction as the previous two, further confirming the importance of Peru to the search but adding nothing to our knowledge base. Lucy Morgan is smart enough to know where to go next, and she must have had some kind of breakthrough in order to be in Cairo at all.’
‘I can send people in,’ Vladimir said. ‘We could have them within hours.’
‘We don’t need to have them,’ Yuri assured him. ‘What we need to do is ensure that Lucy Morgan finds what she is looking for.’
‘You want to help her?’ Vladimir asked, aghast.
‘We need to follow them,’ Yuri assured his son. ‘Let them do the work for us.’
‘That’s not enough,’ Vladimir replied. ‘You know what happened to them in Cambodia. We found bullet marks all around that temple, fresh bullet marks. They were under fire, and further down the mountain side there were reports of gunfire and the crashing of a helicopter. We went down there and all we found was mangled metal. Every single body had been recovered from the site, and the helicopter itself had no registration or flight plan.’
Yuri nodded slowly. ‘We knew we would not be alone in the search, and we knew that our rivals would be willing to use any means possible to obtain what Lucy Morgan possesses.’
‘And that means they will clearly kill,’ Vladimir insisted, his dark eyes burning into his father’s. ‘This is one crusade too far, father.’
‘This is the most important crusade of all,’ Yuri retaliated, and then he gestured out of the window of the Learjet that the brilliant sunrise blazing across the horizon. ‘Did you know that the original crusades, led by the Catholic Church, were not about regaining the Holy Lands for god at all? Their purpose was from where we get the expression “the riches of the East”. Under religious rule, learning was forbidden and so Europe collapsed into a remedial state of understanding, exactly what the churches wanted: a populace too stupid to understand the world around them. That’s why we call it now the Dark Ages. But in the Middle East, Islam allowed and even encouraged learning. They had astronomers and scientists that made fools of the people of Europe and their bigoted faith leaders, and so did the Vatican become jealous of their success. They instigated the Crusades and let millions of peasants spill their blood to swell the coffers of the Catholic Church.’
‘I don’t imagine the Pope will elaborate on that,’ Vladimir pointed out.
‘Much as they don’t reveal why they enforce celibacy on their priests and Cardinals,’ Yuri said. ‘It’s not about emulating Jesus. It was brought into force long before Rome fell, so that members of the church did not pass their wealth onto families but instead onto the church. That greed too swelled the wealth of the Vatican over many centuries, until it has become the bloated monster that it is today, having gorged for so long on the wealth of others.’
‘I’m not arguing with you papa,’ Vladimir said, ‘but none of this will ever reach the ears of the people. Nobody will stand up and say such things, no matter how true they might be.’
‘Which is why it is so important that we press on with this,’ Yuri urged. ‘We are the light, my son, and it is against the forces of darkness that we rally, the evil and the cruelty of religion. I would travel to the ends of the earth and wilfully surrender every last rouble that I possess and have possessed in my entire life for the chance to hold this discovery in my hands and say that I did the right thing, the right thing.’ Yuri looked his son in the eye. ‘This discovery, Lucy’s discovery, our discovery will bring an end to religious myth and conflict for all time, and bring us a fortune beyond avarice. It will be ours to bring unto the world, not Lucy Morgan’s. America’s enforced respect for religions that deserve nothing but contempt will pressure them to maintain a veil of secrecy over everything that Lucy does. We cannot allow that to happen, to deny mankind his second enlightenment.’ Yuri sighed, and a cold grin curled from his lips. ‘Nor should we deny ourselves the right to earn a handsome fee for displaying such wondrous remains and sharing their contents with the world.’
Vladimir stared into his father’s eyes for a long moment and then he nodded slowly.
‘I understand,’ he said softly. ‘What would you have me do?’
‘Place your men at Cairo airport and have them maintain a permanent watch on the Catalina. I want to be absolutely sure that if Lucy Morgan and Ethan Warner attempt to escape Cairo, they do not do so aboard that aircraft. Start searching for them, but if you make contact do not approach or attempt to apprehend them. We will be far better served by following them to their destination and allowing Lucy Morgan to complete her work on our behalf. As soon as you locate them, find out where they’re going and this time we’ll make sure we’re ahead of them.’
The Learjet banked over and the seatbelt lights illuminated above their heads as the aircraft prepared to land. As the Learjet’s graceful wing blocked the sunlight, Yuri saw his son’s face consumed once more by deep shadows.
XXV
‘This is it.’
The museum was a blocky, modern construction that loomed out of the darkness as Ethan, Lucy and Lopez strolled along the damp pavement towards it. The road beside them was filled with commuter traffic, rivers of headlights illuminating the drizzle falling from the dark and sullen sky above. The warm glow of the museum’s interior ahead seemed unusually inviting as they hurried toward it.
‘It’s one of several of Berlin’s national museums, and reputed to hold the largest collection of quipu anywhere on earth,’ Lucy said as they began climbing the steps towards the entrance.
The museum was located in the Dahlem neighbourhood of the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, and shared a building with the Museum fur Asiatiche Kunst and the Museum Europaischer Kulturen. Ethan had never visited Berlin before, and was feeling somewhat disorientated by their rapid transit from country to country.