Disclaimer: not mine.
Angels and Demons
Chapter One
Langdon swam from one side of the pool to the other repetitively. Laps.
As he turned his head to come up for air, he saw a man in a black suit walking along the side of the pool.
He ducked down under the water, flipped around, and pushed off the wall with his feet.
Langdon went up for air again. He looked. Black shoes and black suit pants walked alongside him. The rest of the body was too high for him to see. He put his head back down to finish the lap.
When he came up at the end of the lap, he paused, placing his arms on the edge to stay in place. He let himself catch his breath for a few seconds before he looked up at the man and said, "A swim might help your jetlag."
"I beg your pardon," the man answered. His accent was distinctly Italian.
"The bags under your eyes, it's five in the morning, and you're from the Vatican...Crossed keys under the triregnum, it's a papal symbol," Langdon said before plugging his nose and dipping his head back to get his hair wet.
"Claudio Vincenzi, Corpo Della GendarmeriaVaticano," the man said, showing his badge for Langdon to see.
"Vatican police? I was expecting another letter," Langdon said, surprised. At Vincenzi's look of confusion, he continued, "My request for access to your archives. Shouldn't you be in Rome? Kinda a busy time for you guys."
"In fact, I was in New York," Vincenzi corrected, "Detail to the UN. I received a phone call in the middle of the night: 'Find Professor Robert Langdon. A matter of great urgency.' They said to show you this," Vincenzi said, holding up a paper. On the paper was an ambigram of the word Illuminati.
Langdon stared at it, examining it for several long seconds. Finally, he looked up at the Italian man and said, "We need to see someone, first."
"Who?" Vincenzi asked.
"Professor Illyria Di Angeli. She works here. She specializes in Italian Renaissance History. She knows just about everything I know about Illuminati, but she knows Rome, and she knows Italian Renaissance like the back of her hand," Langdon explained.
"Why do we need her?" Vincenzi asked.
"Because she co-authored my book," Langdon said simply.
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"The Illuminati? They disappeared hundreds of years ago," Vincenzi said confidently as they walked toward Illyria's house. It was just off campus. They were extremely close to it right now, but Vincenzi had so many questions that he would not be done asking them all when they arrived.
"Did they? Look at that again. It's an ambigram. It's the same image forward and backward. Now that's common for a symbol like the yin and yang, or a swastika, but that's a word. That Illuminati ambigramatic symbol has been considered a myth for 400 years. Supposedly in the 16th century some artist created it as a tribute to Galileo's love of symmetry. It was only going to be revealed when the Illuminati had amassed enough power to resurface and carry out their final goal. I wrote a book on it, with the help of my cousin, who we're going to see. Which is why you're here," Langdon said, suddenly recognizing that way in which they had found him.
"The Art of the Illuminati by Robert Langdon," Vincenzi quoted.
"Part one. I haven't been able to finish part two because I'm not allowed access to your archives. Plus, you can't have actually read my book, or you would have seen the multi-page note about my sources. She's at the top of the list," Langdon said, glaring at the Vatican policeman.
Langdon turned a corner with Vincenzi following closely. "Here it is," the Professor said as a small house came into view.
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Illyria put her black trench coat on and tied the belt around her waist, covering her black pencil skirt and white collar shirt. All of the black stood out against her nearly white skin, but it was professional. She finished off the look by pulling her white hair up into a neat bun. She truly did not enjoy having to wear this type of thing for work every day, but she wished to look professional without having to wear suits, so here she was.
As she turned to find her purse, she heard her doorbell ring. Sighing, she grabbed her phone and answered the door.
In front of the door, her cousin Robert was standing, waiting for her. An Italian-looking man with brown hair and tan skin stood next to her cousin. "Illyria, look at this," Robert said eagerly, showing her a piece of paper. On that piece of paper, there was that same ambigram that they had been looking for.
"Robert, how-?" she began.
"I'll explain on the way. Come with me," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of her house. She managed to stop long enough to shut and lock her door before moving on.
By the time they arrived at Langdon's office, he had finished explaining what little he knew despite the interruptions from Vincenzi. Illyria perched on the desk whilst Robert went straight or his bookshelf. He pulled his book from the shelf and flipped through it to both of their attempts to recreate the Illuminati ambigram. He set the book open on the other side of the desk. He then held up the paper to it and said, "It's remarkable. Someone is trying to make you believe that the Illuminati have returned to Rome."
"Right after the death of a Pope, I might add. Perhaps whoever did this wants to claim that they murdered the Pope," Illyria speculated with a shrug.
"Actually, four Cardinals were kidnapped from their quarters inside the Vatican sometime between three and five a.m. this morning. Shortly afterward, that document was sent to the Office of the Swiss Guard along with the threat: the Cardinals will be publicly executed one per hour beginning at eight p.m. tonight in Rome," Vincenzi said grimly. As he spoke, his neck muscles flexed. This act must have affected him deeply.
A second later, Illyria understood the gravity of the events that were about to unfold. If this was allowed to happen, who knows what would happen concerning the world's Roman Catholic community.
"Conclave," Langdon said, remembering what happened after the death of a Pope.
"Was to begin today. We've postponed its start for a few hours, a story of illness. There are no suspicions," Vincenzi said informatively.
"There wouldn't be. Most people aren't that suspicious," Illyria said from across the room.
"Yet," Vincenzi added.
"Or maybe they are, when you put it like that," Illyria said, looking down and tapping her foot to think. "But who would you be concerned about? The Cardinals? The people? Or perhaps the media?"
"What do you want from me?" Langdon asked, cutting into his cousin's speculations.
"These criminals who sent this ambigram meant it as a taunt, a provocation, but Captain Olivetti think if you can use it to learn their identity, perhaps we can stop this abomination," Vincenzi said, erring in grammar for the first time either Langdon or Illyria had heard.
"Why me?" Langdon asked, backing up to sit down. Illyria winced at that. Don't you start that again, Robert!
"Your expertise, both of yours," he said, looking between them both. "Your erudition...Your recent involvement with certain Church, shall we say...mysteries," he finished.
"Robert, is he talking about time when the French thought you were a murderer?" Illyria asked, looking up at him.
He nodded reluctantly at her before saying to Vincenzi, "I wasn't under the impression that episode had endeared me to the Vatican."
"Oh, it didn't," Vincenzi assured him.
"But it did make you- What's the word? – formidabile," Vincenzi said, struggling with English for a little bit.
Illyria snorted and asked, "How is Robert formidable?"
Vincenzi turned to look at her and said bluntly, "His knowledge, and apparently yours, too."
Illyria smiled at the Italian for a second and said, "Thank you for that."
"Anyway, a Vatican jet is standing by twenty minutes from here. Will you come with me? Both of you," he said.
Illyria visibly winced at the invitation's extension to herself. Langdon noticed. He walked over to her and laid a hand gently on her shoulder. "Would you be okay with so many priests around?" he whispered to her.
Illyria closed her eyes for a second. Then, she looked straight at him and nodded resolutely.
Langdon stood and walked over to his desk where the book and document still sat. "Robert, you and I both know we're going. Cut the act," Illyria said, standing to walk over to him.
Langdon looked up at her and smiled for a brief second.