Dan Brown - The Da Vinci Code

Countless orbs.

The Teacher had been convinced that once he found the tomb, discerning the missing orb would be easy. Now he was not so sure. He was gazing at a complicated map of the heavens. Was there a missing planet? Had some astronomical orb been omitted from a constellation? He had no idea. Even so, the Teacher could not help but suspect that the solution would be ingeniously clean and simple – «a knight a pope interred.» What orb am I looking for? Certainly, an advanced knowledge of astrophysics was not a prerequisite for finding the Holy Grail, was it?

It speaks of Rosy flesh and seeded womb.

The Teacher’s concentration was broken by several approaching tourists. He slipped the cryptex back in his pocket and watched warily as the visitors went to a nearby table, left a donation in the cup, and restocked on the complimentary grave-rubbing supplies set out by the abbey. Armed with fresh charcoal pencils and large sheets of heavy paper, they headed off toward the front of the abbey, probably to the popular Poets’ Corner to pay their respects to Chaucer, Tennyson, and Dickens by rubbing furiously on their graves.

Alone again, he stepped closer to the tomb, scanning it from bottom to top. He began with the clawed feet beneath the sarcophagus, moved upward past Newton, past his books on science, past the two boys with their mathematical scroll, up the face of the pyramid to the giant orb with its constellations, and finally up to the niche’s star-filled canopy.

What orb ought to be here … and yet is missing? He touched the cryptex in his pocket as if he could somehow divine the answer from Saunière’s crafted marble. Only five letters separate me from the Grail.

Pacing now near the corner of the choir screen, he took a deep breath and glanced up the long nave toward the main altar in the distance. His gaze dropped from the gilded altar down to the bright crimson robe of an abbey docent who was being waved over by two very familiar individuals.

Langdon and Neveu.

Calmly, the Teacher moved two steps back behind the choir screen. That was fast. He had anticipated Langdon and Sophie would eventually decipher the poem’s meaning and come to Newton’s tomb, but this was sooner than he had imagined. Taking a deep breath, the Teacher considered his options. He had grown accustomed to dealing with surprises.

I am holding the cryptex.

Reaching down to his pocket, he touched the second object that gave him his confidence: the Medusa revolver. As expected, the abbey’s metal detectors had blared as the Teacher passed through with the concealed gun. Also as expected, the guards had backed off at once when the Teacher glared indignantly and flashed his identification card. Official rank always commanded the proper respect.

Although initially the Teacher had hoped to solve the cryptex alone and avoid any further complications, he now sensed that the arrival of Langdon and Neveu was actually a welcome development. Considering the lack of success he was having with the ‘orb’ reference, he might be able to use their expertise. After all, if Langdon had deciphered the poem to find the tomb, there was a reasonable chance he also knew something about the orb. And if Langdon knew the password, then it was just a matter of applying the right pressure.

Not here , of course. Somewhere private. The Teacher recalled a small announcement sign he had seen on his way into the abbey. Immediately he knew the perfect place to lure them.

The only question now… what to use as bait.

Langdon and Sophie moved slowly down the north aisle, keeping to the shadows behind the ample pillars that separated it from the open nave. Despite having traveled more than halfway down the nave, they still had no clear view of Newton’s tomb. The sarcophagus was recessed in a niche, obscured from this oblique angle.

«At least there’s nobody over there,» Sophie whispered.

Langdon nodded, relieved. The entire section of the nave near Newton’s tomb was deserted. «I’ll go over,» he whispered. «You should stay hidden just in case someone –»

Sophie had already stepped from the shadows and was headed across the open floor. « – is watching,» Langdon sighed, hurrying to join her. Crossing the massive nave on a diagonal, Langdon and Sophie remained silent as the elaborate sepulchre revealed itself in tantalizing increments… a black-marble sarcophagus… a reclining statue of Newton… two winged boys… a huge pyramid… and… an enormous orb.

«Did you know about that?» Sophie said, sounding startled. Langdon shook his head, also surprised.» Those look like constellations carved on it,» Sophie said.

As they approached the niche, Langdon felt a slow sinking sensation. Newton’s tomb was covered with orbs – stars, comets, planets. You seek the orb that ought be on his tomb? It could turn out to be like trying to find a missing blade of grass on a golf course.

«Astronomical bodies,» Sophie said, looking concerned. «And a lot of them.»

Langdon frowned. The only link between the planets and the Grail that Langdon could imagine was the pentacle of Venus, and he had already tried the password» Venus» en route to the Temple Church.

Sophie moved directly to the sarcophagus, but Langdon hung back a few feet, keeping an eye on the abbey around them.

« Divinity , » Sophie said, tilting her head and reading the titles of the books on which Newton was leaning. « Chronology. Opticks. Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica? » She turned tohim. «Ring any bells?»

Langdon stepped closer, considering it. « Principia Mathematica , as I remember, has something to do with the gravitation pull of planets… which admittedly are orbs, but it seems a little far-fetched.»

«How about the signs of the zodiac?» Sophie asked, pointing to the constellations on the orb. «You were talking about Pisces and Aquarius earlier, weren’t you?»

The End of Days , Langdon thought. «The end of Pisces and the beginning of Aquarius was allegedly the historical marker at which the Priory planned to release the Sangreal documents to the world.» But the millennium came and went without incident , leaving historians uncertain when the truth was coming.

«It seems possible,» Sophie said,» that the Priory’s plans to reveal the truth might be related to the last line of the poem.»

It speaks of Rosy flesh and seeded womb. Langdon felt a shiver of potential. He had not considered the line that way before.

«You told me earlier,» she said,» that the timing of the Priory’s plans to unveil the truth about ‘the Rose’ and her fertile womb was linked directly to the position of planets – orbs.»

Langdon nodded, feeling the first faint wisps of possibility materializing. Even so, his intuition told him astronomy was not the key. The Grand Master’s previous solutions had all possessed an eloquent, symbolic significance – the Mona Lisa , Madonna of the Rocks , SOFIA. This eloquence was definitely lacking in the concept of planetary orbs and the zodiac. Thus far, Jacques Saunière had proven himself a meticulous code writer, and Langdon had to believe that his final password – those five letters that unlocked the Priory’s ultimate secret – would prove to be not only symbolically fitting but also crystal clear. If this solution were anything like the others, it would be painfully obvious once it dawned.

«Look!» Sophie gasped, jarring his thoughts as she grabbed his arm. From the fear in her touch Langdon sensed someone must be approaching, but when he turned to her, she was staring aghast at the top of the black marble sarcophagus. «Someone was here,» she whispered, pointing to a spot on the sarcophagus near Newton’s outstretched right foot.