Im taking over. Anderson stiffened. This is not exactly OS domain, i canada goose victoria s it? Absolutely. This is an issue of national security. Peters hand? Langdon wondered, watching their exchange in a daze. National security? Langdon was sensing that his own urgent goal of finding Peter was not Satos. The OS director seemed to be on another page entirely. Anderson looked puzzled as well. National security? With all due respect, maam The last I checked, she interrupted, I outrank you. I suggest you do exactly as I say, and that you do it without question. Anderson nodded and swallowed hard. But shouldnt we at least print the fingers to confirm the hand belongs to Pete canada goose victoria r Solomon? Ill confirm it, Langdon said, feeling a sickening certainty. I recognize his ring . . . and his hand. He paused. The tattoos are
hacker. Of course he can be discreet. Thats what he does. But Im sure hed want at least a thousand bucks to even look Call him. Offer him double for fast results. Trish was not sure what made her more uncomfortablehelping Katherine Solomon hire a hacker . . . or calling a guy who probably still found it impossible to believe a pudgy, redheaded metasystems analyst would rebuff his romantic a canada goose victoria dvances. Youre sure about this? Use the phone in the library, Katherine said. Its got a blocked number. And obviously dont use my name. Right. Trish headed for the door but paused when she heard Katherin canada goose victoria es iPhone chirp. With luck, the incoming text message might be information that would grant Trish a reprieve from this distasteful task. She waited as Katherine fished the iPhone from her lab coats pocket
a pain like nothing she had ever imagined poss canada goose victoria ible. Mercifully, it lasted only a few seconds before her world went black. Malakh stood beside the tank, canada goose victoria catching his breath and surveying the damage. The lifeless woman lay slumped over the rim of the tank, her face still submerged in ethanol. Seeing her there, Malakh flashed on the only other woman he had ever killed. Isabel Solomon. Long ago. Another life. Malakh gazed down now at the womans flaccid corpse. He grabbed her ample hips and lifted with his legs, hoisting her up, pushing forward, until she began to slide over the rim of the squid tank. Trish Dunne slithered headfirst down into the ethanol. The rest of her body followed, sloshing down. Gradually, the ripples subsided, leaving the woman hovering limp over the huge sea creature. As
sigh. Hardly what Id call a eureka moment. Bellam canada goose victoria ys face showed the hint of a smile. As you know, Professor, the Ancient Mysteries are reserved only for the truly enlightened. Righ canada goose victoria t, Langdon said, frowning. Apparently, I dont qualify. CHAPTER 50 In a basement office deep inside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the same sixteen-character Masonic cipher glowed brightly on a high-definition computer monitor. Senior OS analyst Nola Kaye sat alone and studied the image that had been e-mailed to her ten minutes ago by her boss, Director Inoue Sato. Is this some kind of joke? Nola knew it was not, of course; Director Sato had no sense of humor, and the events of tonight were anything but a joking matter. Nolas high-level clearance within the CIAs all-seeing Office of Security had opened her
in the symbolic heart of our nation. Typical Solomon, Bellamy had thought. The idealist even in a crisis. Now, ten years later, as Bellamy was being shoved blindly through the Library of Congress, he knew the crisis tonight was far from over. He also now knew whom Solomon had chosen to guard the capstone . . . and he prayed to God that Robert Langdon was up to the job. CHAPTER 62 Im under Second Street. Langdons eyes remained tightly shut as the conveyor rumbled through the darkness toward the Adams Building. He did his best not to picture the tons of earth overhead and the narrow tube thr canada goose victoria ough which he was now traveling. He could hear Katherine breathing several yards ahead of him, but so canada goose victoria far, she had not uttered a word. Shes in shock. Langdon was not looking forward to telling her about
Building. Above the foyer, nine different levels bear names like the Grotto, the Crypt Room, and the Knights Templar Chapel. Among the treasures house canada goose victoria d within these spaces are over twenty thousand volumes of Masonic writings, a dazzling replica of the Ark of the Covenant, and even a scale model of the throne room in King Solomons Temple. CIA agent Simkins checked his watch as the modified U canada goose victoria H-60 chopper skimmed in low over the Potomac. Six minutes until their train arrives. He exhaled and gazed out the window at the shining Masonic Memorial on the horizon. He had to admit, the brilliantly shining tower was as impressive as any building on the National Mall. Simkins had never been inside the memorial, and tonight would be no different. If all went according to plan, Robert Langdon and
it? The smile on her face told Langdon that Katherine knew something he did not know. Confidently, she walked over to the island, lifted the gold-capped, granite pyramid, and set it in the strainer. Then she carefully lowered it into the bubbling water. Lets find out, shall we? High above the National Cathedral, the CIA pilot locked the helicopter in auto-hover mode and surveyed the perimeter of the buil canada goose victoria ding and the grounds. No movement. His thermal imaging couldnt penetrate the cathedral stone, and so he couldnt tell what the team was doing inside, but if anyone tried to slip out, the thermal would pick it up. It was sixty seconds later that a thermal sensor pinged. Working on the same principle as home canada goose victoria -security systems, the detector had identified a strong temperature differential.
he was saved. Katherine! Then he heard her muted cries of horror and realized she was being held there by their captor. The tattooed monster was forcing her to bear witness to what was about to happen. Katherine, Im sorry . . . In this strange, dark place, trapped underwater, Langdon strained to comprehend that these would be his final moments of life. Soon he would cease to exist . . . everything he was . . . or had canada goose victoria ever been . . . or would ever be . . . was ending. When his brain died, all of the memories held in his gray matter, along with all of the knowledge he had acquired, would simply evaporate in a flood of chemical reactions. In this moment, Robert Langdon realized his true insignificance in the un canada goose victoria iverse. It was as lonely and humbling a feeling as he had ever experienced. Almost