Lev slipped on his glasses and took the printout from Daniel.
“When were you able to reveal this part of the code?”
“About half an hour ago. I looked around to tell you, but everyone had left.”
As one of the world’s premier code breakers, Daniel was the typical scholar who tended to get so focused on his work that he was oblivious to all outside distractions.
Lev raised the glasses up on top of his head after reading the first page of the printout. “I think we all need to go back downstairs to the command center and have a little meeting.”
Everyone crowded down the narrow stairway into the command center and watched as Lev scrolled through several encoded pages of the Bible at his computer station. He paused to read before looking up at the large screen in the front of the room. “Daniel, can you bring up a map of the area around the Dead Sea on that screen?”
“Sure, Professor.” Daniel punched in coordinates on the keyboard, and the large center screen lit up with a multicolored interactive map of the area.
“Zero in south of the Dead Sea. I want to enlarge that area of the desert.”
Daniel continued to type, causing the display to zoom in on a sun-baked wilderness known as the Negev Desert.
“There,” Lev said, “that’s the area Daniel just pinpointed using the code in the Bible.”
Leo stared at the screen. “What are we looking at, Lev?”
“Since last summer, we’ve been trying to pinpoint the location of something we discovered in the code-a physical place that harbors an evolving disturbance in relation to the balance between good and evil in the world. We also found an encoded reference to an object connected to this disturbance. There’s something out there. It’s probably been there for thousands of years, and we believe it’s very important to none other than Satan himself.”
“Did I hear you correctly, Professor?” John asked. “Did you say something important to Satan?”
“Yes, very important. Daniel just found the exact latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates of this area, along with several combinations of words spelled out in close proximity to each other embedded in the Bible. According to the code, these coordinates point directly to an area here on earth reserved for Satan. It also states that this area is ferociously guarded by him. There is something of great value to Satan at that location, and that is where we must go.”
The rest of the team stood in stunned silence. They knew the Bible code was leading them somewhere, but they had not prepared themselves for anything like this. They were being led into the heart of the barren Negev Desert, to a place spelled out as Satan’s domain here on earth.
Father Leo took a few steps toward the screen. “Father Morelli indicated to me in a letter that what we are looking for is very old, dating to the time when Lucifer was cast from heaven by God. That much we know. What we don’t know is what ‘it’ is. Morelli also warned that this may have some connection with the end of days for humanity. As you might guess, this undertaking could be extremely dangerous, both physically and spiritually. The fact that we must travel to an area said to be reserved for Satan here on earth is especially disturbing to me. I’ve never read anything in biblical literature that mentions anything about a specific place on earth set aside for Satan.”
“How can a place here on earth be held in reserve for Satan?” John asked, incredulous at the thought. “I mean, really, was that an allegorical reference, or do you seriously believe that we’ll be entering Satan’s actual domain?”
“Let me answer that question,” Daniel said. He entered some commands on the keyboard, and a page from the Bible written in Hebrew appeared. Circled in red were the translated words Negev Desert crossed by the words Satan’s domain. Next to these words was the phrase, the five chosen must enter.
Daniel looked up from his computer. “As you can see for yourself, this phrase appears to mean a physical spot here on earth. It also gives the exact number of those who will enter this area. The code is usually pretty specific in its wording.”
Those who were seeing this for the first time found themselves staring slack-jawed at the screen. But there was more to come.
“Daniel, bring up the next page,” Lev said.
Another page of the Torah appeared on the screen. The phrase that which belongs to Satan, was spelled out vertically. On top of that, they saw the words they will give it to God displayed across the top of the page. To the right was the name Leo. To the left of Leo’s name were the names John, Alon, Ariella, and Lev. Crossing both Leo’s and Lev’s names horizontally was the word leaders. Crossing the other names was one word: chosen.
Leo had to physically steady himself. Morelli had specifically told Leo that he had been named in the Bible code as a leader, but here for the first time, he saw his name actually encoded in God’s book. Lev turned to him and clasped the priest on the shoulder.
“You can’t get much more specific than that, Father.”
“What does the phrase ‘they will give it to God’ mean?” Ariella asked.
“I believe it means that five who will enter Satan’s domain will be tasked by God to actually take something that belongs to the Devil and give it to God,” Lev said.
“How do you go about giving something to God?” Moshe asked. The others nodded in his direction, everyone thinking the same thing.
John felt a chill run up his spine. “And how do you take something from Satan? It seems like every time we find an answer, another question pops up.”
Like the humidity from the sea air that flowed through the windows upstairs and crept down the stairway to mix with the cool, air-conditioned environment of the command center, an uneasy silence descended on the group.
Lev put his hand on John’s shoulder. “We still have a lot of sorting out to do. I think this would be a good time to settle down and try to find some more answers. One thing I know for sure; soon we will be heading out into the wilderness of the Negev Desert.”
Chapter 16
Leo awoke with a start. He had been dreaming. In the dream, he had seen a dark storm coming over the desert, and the word chosen echoed through his mind. He looked around at the stark white walls of the room in an effort to get his bearings before lifting himself up to see the ocean through the open shutters of the bedroom window. He was on the coast of Israel. He was in Lev’s villa. Memories of the events of the past few days were coming back to him as the fog of a long sleep began to clear. What would today bring?
Moving slowly, Leo headed straight for the shower and adjusted the water as hot as he could stand it. He placed himself directly under the spray while the green-tinted glass doors fogged up around him. His taut muscles relaxed, and he could feel the pores in his skin begin to pop open.
A knock at the door interrupted the state of pure bliss he was feeling under the pounding stream.
“I’m in the shower.”
The door opened. “I know,” John said. “I could hear it outside. It’s really steamy in here.”
“You’re starting to test my patience. I take back everything nice I said about you.”
“You’ve been saying nice things about me?”
“Not anymore.”
“Everyone’s at breakfast, and Lev wants to speak with you. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Leo finished lathering up and let the steaming water rinse the soap from his body. When he finally felt half way alive, he stepped out onto the moist tiles of the bathroom floor and grabbed a towel.
Another knock at the door. This is ridiculous. “What?”
Lev’s voice echoed from the other side of the door. “Just throw your swimming trunks on, Father. We can swim a few laps together before breakfast. We’ll eat outside by the pool.”