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CHAPTER 132
Katherine Solomon's heart felt light as she hurried up the hill toward the base of the Washington Monument. She had endured great shock and tragedy tonight, and yet her thoughts were refocused now, if only temporarily, on the wonderful news Peter had shared with her earlier . . . news she had just confirmed with her very own eyes.
My research is safe. All of it.
Her lab's holographic data drives had been destroyed tonight, but earlier, at the House of the Temple, Peter had informed her that he had been secretly keeping backups of all her Noetic research in the SMSC executive offices. You know I'm utterly fascinated with your work, he had explained, and I wanted to follow your progress without disturbing you.
"Katherine?" a deep voice called out.
She looked up.
A lone figure stood in silhouette at the base of the illuminated monument.
"Robert!" She hurried over and hugged him.
"I heard the good news," Langdon whispered. "You must be relieved."
Her voice cracked with emotion. "Incredibly." The research Peter had saved was a scientific tour de force--a massive collection of experiments that proved human thought was a real and measurable force in the world. Katherine's experiments demonstrated the effect of human thought on everything from ice crystals to random-event generators to the movement of subatomic particles. The results were conclusive and irrefutable, with the potential to transform skeptics into believers and affect global consciousness on a massive scale. "Everything is going to change, Robert. Everything."
"Peter certainly thinks so."
Katherine glanced around for her brother.
"Hospital," Langdon said. "I insisted he go as a favor to me."
Katherine exhaled, relieved. "Thank you."
"He told me to wait for you here."
Katherine nodded, her gaze climbing the glowing white obelisk. "He said he was bringing you here. Something about `Laus Deo'? He didn't elaborate." Langdon gave a tired chuckle. "I'm not sure I entirely understand it myself." He glanced up at the top of the monument. "Your brother said quite a few things tonight that I couldn't get my mind around."
"Let me guess," Katherine said. "Ancient Mysteries, science, and the Holy Scriptures?"
"Bingo."
"Welcome to my world." She winked. "Peter initiated me into this long ago. It fueled a lot of my research."
"Intuitively, some of what he said made sense." Langdon shook his head. "But intellectually . . ."
Katherine smiled and put her arm around him. "You know, Robert, I may be able to help you with that."
Deep inside the Capitol Building, Architect Warren Bellamy was walking down a deserted hallway.
Only one thing left to do tonight, he thought.
When he arrived at his office, he retrieved a very old key from his desk drawer. The key was black iron, long and slender, with faded markings. He slid it into his pocket and then prepared himself to welcome his guests.
Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon were on their way to the Capitol. At Peter's request, Bellamy was to provide them with a very rare opportunity--the chance to lay eyes upon this building's most magnificent secret . . . something that could be revealed only by the Architect.
CHAPTER 133
High above the floor of the Capitol Rotunda, Robert Langdon inched nervously around the circular catwalk that extended just beneath the ceiling of the dome. He peered tentatively over the railing, dizzied by the height, still unable to believe it had been less than ten hours since Peter's hand had appeared in the middle of the floor below.
On that same floor, the Architect of the Capitol was now a tiny speck some hundred and eighty feet below, moving steadily across the Rotunda and then disappearing. Bellamy had escorted Langdon and Katherine up to this balcony, leaving them here with very specific instructions. Peter's instructions.
Langdon eyed the old iron key that Bellamy had handed to him. Then he glanced over at a cramped stairwell that ascended from this level . . . climbing higher still. God help me. These narrow stairs, according to the Architect, led up to a small metal door that could be unlocked with the iron key in Langdon's hand.
Beyond the door lay something that Peter insisted Langdon and Katherine see. Peter had not elaborated, but rather had left strict instructions regarding the precise hour at which the door was to be opened. We have to wait to open the door? Why?
Langdon checked his watch again and groaned.
Slipping the key into his pocket, he gazed across the gaping void before him at the far side of the balcony. Katherine had walked fearlessly ahead, apparently unfazed by the height. She was now halfway around the circumference, admiring every inch of Brumidi's The Apotheosis of Washington, which loomed directly over their heads. From this rare vantage point, the fifteen- foot-tall figures that adorned the nearly five thousand square feet of the Capitol Dome were visible in astonishing detail.
Langdon turned his back to Katherine, faced the outer wall, and whispered very quietly, "Katherine, this is your conscience speaking. Why did you abandon Robert?"
Katherine was apparently familiar with the dome's startling acoustical properties . . . because the wall whispered back. "Because Robert is being a chicken. He should come over here with me. We have plenty of time before we're allowed to open that door."
Langdon knew she was right and reluctantly made his way around the balcony, hugging the wall as he went.
"This ceiling is absolutely amazing," Katherine marveled, her neck craned to take in the enormous splendor of the Apotheosis overhead. "Mythical gods all mixed in with scientific inventors and their creations? And to think this is the image at the center of our Capitol."
Langdon turned his eyes upward to the sprawling forms of Franklin, Fulton, and Morse with their technological inventions. A shining rainbow arched away from these figures, guiding his eye to George Washington ascending to heaven on a cloud. The great promise of man becoming God.
Katherine said, "It's as if the entire essence of the Ancient Mysteries is hovering over the Rotunda."
Langdon had to admit, not many frescoes in the world fused scientific inventions with mythical gods and human apotheosis. This ceiling's spectacular collection of images was indeed a message of the Ancient Mysteries, and it was here for a reason. The founding fathers had envisioned America as a blank canvas, a fertile field on which the seeds of the mysteries could be sown. Today, this soaring icon--the father of our country ascending to heaven--hung silently above our lawmakers, leaders, and presidents . . . a bold reminder, a map to the future, a promise of a time when man would evolve to complete spiritual maturity.
"Robert," Katherine whispered, her gaze still fixated on the massive figures of America's great inventors accompanied by Minerva. "It's prophetic, really. Today, man's most advanced inventions are being used to study man's most ancient ideas. The science of Noetics may be new, but it's actually the oldest science on earth--the study of human thought." She turned to him now, her eyes filled with wonder. "And we're learning that the ancients actually understood thought more profoundly than we do today."
"Makes sense," Langdon replied. "The human mind was the only technology the ancients had at their disposal. The early philosophers studied it relentlessly."
"Yes! The ancient texts are obsessed with the power of the human mind. The Vedas describe the flow of mind energy. The Pistis Sophia describes universal consciousness. The Zohar explores the nature of mind spirit. The Shamanic texts predict Einstein's `remote influence' in terms of healing at a distance. It's all there! And don't even get me started about the Bible."
"You, too?" Langdon said, chuckling. "Your brother tried to convince me that the Bible is encoded with scientific information."
"It certainly is," she said. "And if you don't believe Peter, read some of Newton's esoteric texts on the Bible. When you start to understand the cryptic parables in the Bible, Robert, you realize it's a study of the human mind."
Langdon shrugged. "I guess I'd better go back and read it again."
"Let me ask you something," she said, clearly not appreciating his skepticism. "When the Bible tells us to `go build our temple' . . . a temple that we must `build with no tools and making no noise,' what temple do you think it's talking about?"
"Well, the text does say your body is a temple."
"Yes, Corinthians 3:16. You are the temple of God." She smiled at him. "And the Gospel of John says the exact same thing. Robert, the Scriptures are well aware of the power latent within us, and they are urging us to harness that power . . . urging us to build the temples of our minds."
"Unfortunately, I think much of the religious world is waiting for a real temple to be rebuilt. It's part of the Messianic Prophecy."
"Yes, but that overlooks an important point. The Second Coming is the coming of man--the moment when mankind finally builds the temple of his mind."
"I don't know," Langdon said, rubbing his chin. "I'm no Bible scholar, but I'm pretty sure the Scriptures describe in detail a physical temple that needs to be built. The structure is described as being in two parts--an outer temple called the Holy Place and an inner sanctuary called the Holy of Holies. The two parts are separated from each other by a thin veil."
Katherine grinned. "Pretty good recall for a Bible skeptic. By the way, have you ever seen an actual human brain? It's built in two parts--an outer part called the dura mater and an inner part called the pia mater. These two parts are separated by the arachnoid--a veil of weblike tissue."
Langdon cocked his head in surprise.
Gently, she reached up and touched Langdon's temple. "There's a reason they call this your temple, Robert."
As Langdon tried to process what Katherine had said, he flashed unexpectedly on the gnostic Gospel of Mary: Where the mind is, there is the treasure.
"Perhaps you've heard," Katherine said, softly now, "about the brain scans taken of yogis while they meditate? The human brain, in advanced states of focus, will physically create a waxlike substance from the pineal gland. This brain secretion is unlike anything else in the body. It has an incredible healing effect, can literally regenerate cells, and may be one of the reasons yogis live so long. This is real science, Robert. This substance has inconceivable properties and can be created only by a mind that is highly tuned to a deeply focused state."
"I remember reading about that a few years back."
"Yes, and on that topic, you're familiar with the Bible's account of `manna from heaven'?"
Langdon saw no connection. "You mean the magical substance that fell from heaven to nourish the hungry?"
"Exactly. The substance was said to heal the sick, provide everlasting life, and, strangely, cause no waste in those who consumed it." Katherine paused, as if waiting for him to understand. "Robert?" she prodded. "A kind of nourishment that fell from heaven?" She tapped her temple. "Magically heals the body? Creates no waste? Don't you see? These are code words, Robert! Temple is code for `body.' Heaven is code for `mind.' Jacob's ladder is your spine. And manna is this rare brain secretion. When you see these code words in Scripture, pay attention. They are often markers for a more profound meaning concealed beneath the surface."
