A NUMBERS GAME
Chapter 1
Elsie leaned back and let her weight close the door behind her.
It had been a singularly long day; eight hours rarely seemed to crawl by so slowly.
She'd spent the walk home having to remind herself that she truly loved her work - surrounded as she was by so many rare and precious tomes, how could she not? She still buzzed with excitement when handling documents that once had passed through historic hands before hers - there were people who would give their eye teeth to trade places with her.
But sometimes…
There were days when she could just walk away from it all. The daily grind, the cataloging, the seemingly endless training of new staff, the necessity of generating revenue through the buying and selling of the collection. In fairness, Elsie was not at all adverse to the buying aspect - scouting potential additions to the Gallery was one of her passions - but the selling of same always pushed the blonde well out of her comfort zone.
Why do I always feel like a con artist...fuck, these things should sell themselves...
She dropped her satchel to the floor and pushed off from the door. She'd almost passed by her living room without noticing the figure stretched out on her futon.
Elsie ogled the redhead.
"Doppie? What are you doing here?"
The doppelgänger glanced up from her book.
"I live here," said Doppie serenely. "I thought you knew."
"Smartass," shot back the blonde. "I meant, why are...oh, no...please don't tell me you've been fired again?!"
The doppelgänger arched a critical eyebrow. "You make it sound like a daily occurrence."
Elsie stomped her foot. "Doppieee!"
"I haven't been sacked," assured the redhead as she turned back to the book. "It's my day off."
Elsie let out a sigh of relief and ran her hand back through her hair.
"Oh, good...but I thought Monday was your day off?"
"I was asked to trade shifts," clarified the doppelgänger, flipping a page. "Alissa is working in my stead today."
Elsie huffed. "Well you could've mentioned that this morning!"
A faint smile. "And spare you the aggravation?"
"Oh, why you - just for that I'll cross pancakes off the grocery list."
"You do, and I'll wash your iPad."
Elsie drew in a sharp breath.
"You wouldn't dare."
Doppie pulled her gaze from the book and looked up at the blonde, her mouth slowly curving into an unsettling smile.
Elsie had a sudden vision of her tablet lying at the bottom of a stack of dishes, bubbles streaming from the speaker grilles.
"Argghhh, you harpy! Okay, pancakes are back on the list. Happy now?"
Doppie returned to her book. "I am."
The blonde quietly kicked herself; one day, she'd call the doppelgänger's bluffs.
When there was something altogether less expensive at play.
Elsie slowly sauntered to the end of the futon. She leaned over, crossing her arms over the doppelgänger's shoulders.
"I'm just glad you're here," breathed the blonde, caressing the redhead's cheek with her own. "It's been a long day…"
She could feel Doppie's cheekbone swell slightly in response.
"Would you like me to shorten it for you?"
"Nah…"
The blonde's gaze drifted to the pages splayed open on the doppelgänger's lap.
"So, watcha reading?"
"Greek Mythology. Rather banal, really...there's little here I wasn't already familiar with."
"So pick something else, no?"
"I'm almost done with your collection," returned the redhead. "It's decidedly biased towards Celtic cultures, I've noticed."
Elsie pressed the tip of her nose into the doppelgänger's cheek and smiled.
"Well…looks like someone's going to have to get a new hobby."
A muted grumble.
"I like reading."
"No shit."
The redhead set the book down across her abdomen.
"Could you not give me access to your workplace?"
Elsie pulled back slightly and blinked. "The Gallery? Doppie, we've talked about this, if Nathan were to see you -"
"He'd simply think I was Lara Croft," interjected the doppelgänger. "I fooled you, did I not?"
"Yes, and therein lies the problem," nodded the blonde. "Gellis knows you're living with me. If they were to compare notes..."
Doppie sighed. "Oh, very well, then."
Elsie gently brushed back the redhead's fringe. "Tell you what...this weekend, why don't we go out and get you your own tablet?"
An amused huff. "I've no need for such trinkets."
"You'd have the world's biggest library in the palm of your hand."
The redhead's eyebrows raised ever so slightly - but Elsie could detect the sudden spike in the doppelgänger's interest.
She grinned and pushed off from the futon.
"Just think about it, okay?" said the blonde as she made for the kitchen. "You've saved up more than enough..."
She was pouring herself a glass of milk when Doppie's voice drifted in from the living room.
"You received a package, by the way. I left it in the study."
Elsie leaned back against the counter and took a sip. I haven't ordered anything...?
"What is it?"
"I didn't deem to open it," returned the doppelgänger. "But it's from Surrey."
Elsie almost choked; she slammed the glass on the counter and bolted down the hall, not caring that she'd spilled most of the milk in her haste.
"Why didn't you say so?"
"I thought I had."
She scampered into her study, her eyes scanning the small room excitedly.
Nothing.
Okay, is she pulling my leg...?
She was about to call out to the doppelgänger when her eyes finally fell on a small padded manila envelope propped up against the base of her monitor.
Grasping the tiny package, she smiled at the Royal Mail stamp affixed to the upper corner.
Yes!
The contents didn't really matter; just being in the brunette's thoughts made her day. But she was more than a little curious.
She pulled the small tab, tearing the package open along its side. Squeezing the padded envelope along both spines she proceeded to tap it gently against the desk.
Out tumbled a small USB key, shortly followed by a small piece of folded paper.
Curiouser and curiouser...
She grasped the note:
[Elsie,
Call me at the number below when you get this. DO NOT plug the key into your computer.
And don't use your own phone.
- Lara]
"Don't use my own phone...are you serious?"
"What?" asked Doppie from down the hall.
"Um..."
Why do I suddenly feel like I'm in a Bourne film...?
She scurried back to the living room.
"Can I borrow your cell?"
The doppelgänger did not look up. "Of course."
Elsie waited expectantly.
Doppie flipped a page.
The blonde fidgeted.
"So...yeah...phone..."
"I don't have it with me," returned the redhead. "It's in your nightstand, bottom drawer."
"In the nightstand? What's it doing in there?"
Doppie glanced at her over the top of the book. "I told you it was a frivolous purchase -"
"We'll talk about this another time," interjected the blonde as she shot down the hall.
"What was in your package?"
"Dunno yet!"
Elsie rummaged through the bottom of her nightstand and clamped her fingers around the near-pristine device. She thumbed the display.
The battery indicator was flashing red.
For fuck's sake, Doppie...
She ran back to the living room. "Can you unlock this, please? And before it goes completely dead?"
The redhead slowly reached over and duly pressed her thumb to the screen, never pulling her gaze from the book.
Elsie ran back to her study and quickly plugged the phone into her charging cable, relieved it hadn't died en route.
Okay...now to see what this is all about...
Propping the note against the monitor, she called the number Lara had scribbled.
Five rings. Six.
Followed by a muted click.
And then...nothing.
Had she lost the signal?
No...she could hear faint sounds in the background. Rapid, faint clicking.
Keyboarding...?
But no voice in greeting. Yet there was definitely someone on the other end – apparently a mute.
And listening.
Okay, this is bizarre...
She spoke tentatively. "Um...hello..?"
A familiar voice. "Elsie?"
"What the hell?!" exclaimed the blonde. "Way to answer your phone, you psycho! What gives?"
Someone laughed in the background - she was evidently on speakerphone.
She could hear the smile in Lara's voice: "Sorry...I wanted to be certain it was you before answering."
"What's with all the cloak and dagger? Is this your new phone number?"
"No, I'm borrowing Kaz's phone," replied the brunette. "Be sure to destroy that piece of paper, by the way."
"Kaz, is that the hacker girl you have working for you?"
"She doesn't work for me -"
A faint voice: "Oh yes I do!"
A sigh from the brunette. "Well...maybe pro bono..."
Elsie leaned close to the phone. "How is she as a boss, Kaz?"
The woman in the background answered in an exaggerated cockney accent that would've done Dick Van Dyke proud: "A bloody slave driver, she is!"
"Kaz!"
"Just kidding," amended the hacker. "She's actually a sweetheart. Just hard to please, sometimes."
"Well, that's royalty for you."
"You got it, sister!"
"Bloody hell! I'm not - oh, bollocks to you both!"
Elsie laughed at the shock in Lara's voice.
"I'm just razzing ya, girl!"
"Can we get down to business, please?" pleaded the brunette. "This is important!"
Elsie pulled up her desk chair and flopped down. "Fine, so tell me why you sent me a USB key that you don't want me to look at..."
"I do want you to look at it -"
"That's not what you said in your note!"
"Let me finish!"
"Okay!"
From Kaz: "God, you two..."
"I want you to disconnect your computer from your router," continued the archaeologist. "Then you can plug the key in."
Elsie hesitated, half disbelieving. "Are you serious?"
"I am," said Lara. "Kaz said it's unlikely they're monitoring your connection, but it's best to be safe -"
"Who's monitoring my connection? Those Trinity dudes?"
"They're not," emphasized Lara. "Or at least, they shouldn't be. As far as they know you're just a casual acquaintance of mine, and I want them to keep thinking that...the only ones who knew different are long since dead."
"So then, why so many precautions?"
"I don't want to take chances, Elsie, especially if you're involved. That's why I didn't e-mail you the contents of that key. I don't want it traced to you."
"Uh-huh..."
"Please go with me on this," pleaded the brunette. "I don't want you on their radar. Period. You've seen what they're capable of."
The blonde sighed. "Fine."
Elsie duly pinched the network cable from its socket and proceeded to plug the tiny device into a USB slot.
"Okay...let's see what you've got..."
"And when you're done," said Kaz from the background, "Go into your browser and delete your cache."
"What she said," echoed the archaeologist.
"Geez, you guys aren't kidding, are you?"
"No," said Lara seriously. "We're not."
Elsie selected the USB drive and double clicked the single file within.
"Whoa..."
Her monitor was instantly filled a texture that her trained eye recognized as aged parchment - vellum, from the look of it. She couldn't help but note that half the screen was taken up by what looked to be a tiny corner of a handwritten character.
"Um...was this photographed through an electron microscope?"
"Sorry," returned the brunette. "I wanted to make sure to capture all the details."
"Yeah, I think you got that..."
Fingers dancing over her mouse, Elsie zoomed out repeatedly until the full body of document's contents began to take shape - the oddly-shaped characters of an unknown language were splattered throughout the page.
It was definitely medieval parchment, lightly browned with age and perforated in places by bookworms. The blonde leaned closer, mesmerized by the strangely looping text; the characters were arranged in several groups of columns and seemed to imply some sort of mathematical formula.
The text was utterly undecipherable - but she'd seen such writing before. It was one of the Holy Grails for bibliophiles.
"Okay, I think I know what this is...Voynich Manuscript, right?"
"Good girl, Elsie," said Lara. "But you're not quite on it. Rather...it was part of the Manuscript.
The words hit Elsie like a thunderbolt. The Voynich Manuscript had long been known to be missing several pages from early on in its history - could she be looking at one of them?
The mysterious writing, the texture and obvious age of the vellum - everything matched.
"Lara...are you telling me this photograph wasn't taken from the existing book?"
"That's right."
"Holy shit...do you, um...do you have it with you?"
"I do."
Elsie slouched back in her chair and let out an astonished breath.
"Geezus, Lara...there are people who would -"
The blonde cut herself off and scowled.
- kill for that thing. Crap.
"What?" asked the brunette.
"Nothing...just...be careful who you tell, okay? I don't even want to guess what it might be worth..."
"More than you know, Elsie."
Something in the brunette's tone intrigued the blonde. She pressed her toes against the feet of her chair and leaned closer.
"Tell me."
There was a pause.
"Lara?"
"You're aware of the Manuscript's history, yes?"
"You mean how no one's ever been able to crack the text? Of course."
"Good. This sheet...it's the key, Elsie.
"The key..."
It suddenly dawned on her.
"Holy shit...are you kidding me?"
"I'm not."
"Is this...that's the cipher!" exclaimed the blonde. "It is, isn't it? You can read it!"
A hesitation. "Well...not quite..."
"What do you mean?"
"I need to see that book."
"That's easy," said the blonde. "Yale has a digital copy of it on their site. Not in this kind of resolution, mind you, but plenty good enough for -"
"They don't."
Elsie blinked. "Sure they do. I've seen it."
"Not anymore," said Kaz from the background. "The links are down...have been for several days now. I've hacked into their database, whatever backups they might've had are also gone."
"Oh...well, I'm sure there will be pages on other sites."
"A few," conceded the brunette. "But mostly duplicates of the same few sheets, over and over. Elsie, there are over two hundred pages I can't see...I need the actual book."
Elsie felt a wave of moist coolness envelop her brow.
"So...I guess that's where I come in."
"I need your help," confirmed the archaeologist.
Shit...she has no idea what she's asking...
"Um...have you thought about presenting that sheet to the University? They could translate the Manuscript for you -"
"I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"It's not that simple -"
Kaz: "Careful, Lara...need to know, remember?"
The brunette shot back almost snappishly: "I trust her with my life…bloody Hell, I'd trust her with Sam's life."
"Oooo-kay...sorry..."
Elsie's breathing stilled.
"What's going on?"
The archaeologist took a deep breath and continued: "The subject matter of that book...it's not what it appears to be."
"You mean botany?"
"Exactly. It was meant to seem that way to the casual observer, for...reasons. But it contains something altogether more, well...explosive."
"Like what?"
"I...I'd feel much better telling you this in person..."
"I won't say no to that!" replied the blonde enthusiastically. "When would you like to come over?"
"Tomorrow, if you can manage it," replied the brunette instantly.
"Tomorrow..."
"Sorry for the short notice..."
Something caught in Elsie's throat. She hadn't expected this.
Holy crap...
Gellis would not be happy; she'd be saddled with supervising the new interns...
But this is Lara, for fuck's sake...
It was an easy decision.
"No problem," returned the blonde. "Just let me know when your flight gets here and I'll pick you up at the airport, 'kay?"
"Elsie...I hope you know this won't be a social call...I need to see that book."
"What...you mean tomorrow?"
"I know I'm asking a lot -"
"Lara, you have no idea!" exclaimed the blonde. "We can't just waltz in there! We won't be tourists dropping by for a casual look at the thing behind its glass case, you want full-blown access to it! That requires making a business case to the curator just to start the process, it can take weeks or months before we even get a response - "
"I don't have that luxury," interjected the Englishwoman. "There are...people out there..."
"Don't mince words. Trinity, right?"
"...yes...they may already suspect what I'm trying to do. I need to move quickly."
The American's shoulders sagged. Shit...
The brunette continued: "I thought...perhaps with your connections at the Gallery..."
Elsie swallowed at the enormity of the task she was undertaking. "We, uh...we don't have much of a business relationship with Yale. They tend to hang onto their stuff."
Lara's voice was tinged with emotion.
"I really hate asking this of you..."
Dammit...
Whatever was going on, it was clearly of monumental importance to the brunette.
Elsie blew out her cheeks; she would not let her friend down.
"I'll figure something out," said the blonde finally. "I'll get you in there, someway, somehow...just get that perfect arse of yours over here, 'kay?"
"It really is gorgeous, isn't it?" remarked the hacker in the background.
"Kaz!"
"What? Hey, can't blame a girl for looking..."
Lara sighed.
"Elsie...I'm sorry, but...I need to ask another favour..."
The blonde's forehead hit the desktop with an audible thunk.
She began to giggle.
"Would you like fries with that?"
"I'm serious!" returned the archaeologist.
"Well, spit it out, then...want me to knock the Moon out of its orbit or something a little more challenging?"
"It...involves Doppie..."