James Rollins - Map of Bones

“And the tomb is telling us what to pay attention to,” Rachel said.

“Then I must be deaf,” Gray said.

Her uncle had figured it out by now, too. “The bronze finger of the Colossus,” he said, staring out at the tomb. “The giant pyramid, perhaps representative of the one at Giza. The remnants of the Pharos Lighthouse above us. Even the drum-shaped tomb might hearken back to the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.”

“I’m sorry,” Gray said with a frown. “The mausoleum of what?”

“It was one of the Seven Wonders,” Rachel said. “Remember how closely Alexander was tied to them all.”

“Right,” Gray said. “Something about his birth coinciding with one and his death another.”

“The Temple of Artemis,” Vigor said with a nod. “And the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. They’re all connected to Alexander…to here.”

Rachel pointed to the map she was working on. “I’ve marked all their locations. They are spread throughout the eastern Mediterranean. They are all localized in the same region mapped out on the hematite slab.”

Gray studied the map. “Are you saying we’re supposed to be looking for a pattern among the seven of them?”

“‘As it is above, so it is below,’” Vigor quoted.

“Where do we even begin?” Gray asked.

“Time,” Rachel said. “Or rather the progression of time, as hinted at by the Sphinx’s riddle. Moving from birth to death.”

Gray’s eyes narrowed, then widened with understanding. “Chronological order. When the Wonders were built.”

Rachel nodded. “But I don’t know the order.”

“I do,” Vigor said. “What archaeologist in the region wouldn’t?”

He knelt down and took the felt marker. “I think Rachel is right. The first clue that started this all was hidden in a book in Cairo, near Giza. The pyramids are also the oldest of the Seven Wonders.” He placed the tip of the marker on Giza. “I find it interesting that this tomb lies under the Pharos Lighthouse.”

“Why’s that?” Gray asked.

“Because the lighthouse was the last of the Wonders to be built. From first to last. This might also indicate that wherever we go next might be the end of the road. The last stop.”

Uncle Vigor leaned down and carefully drew lines, connecting the Seven Wonders in order of their construction. “From Giza to Babylon, then on to Olympia, where the statue of Zeus towered.”

“Alexander’s supposed real father,” Rachel reminded.

“From there, we go to Artemis’s Temple at Ephesus, then Halicarnassus, then the island of Rhodes…until at last we reach our own spot on the map. Alexandria and its famous lighthouse.”

Her uncle leaned back. “Is anyone still wondering if we’re not on the right track?”

Rachel and Gray stared at his handiwork.

“Christ…” Gray swore.

“It forms a perfect hourglass,” Rachel said.

Vigor nodded. “The symbol for the passage of time itself. Formed by two triangles. Remember that the Egyptian symbol for the white powder fed to the pharaohs was a triangle. As a matter of fact, triangles were also symbolic for the benben stone of the Egyptians, a symbol of sacred knowledge.”

“What’s a benben stone?” Gray asked.

Rachel answered. “They’re the caps placed over the tips of Egyptian obelisks and pyramids.”

“But they’re mostly represented by triangles in art,” her uncle added. “In fact, you can see one on the back of your own dollar bill. American currency shows a pyramid with a triangle hovering over it.”

“The one with the eye inside it,” Gray said.

“An all-seeing eye,” Vigor corrected. “Symbolic of that sacred knowledge I was talking about. It makes one wonder if this society of ancient mages didn’t have some influence on the early fraternities of your forefathers.” This last was said with a smile. “But certainly for the Egyptians, there seems to be an underlying theme of triangles, sacred knowledge, all tying back to the mysterious white powder. Even the name benben makes this connection.”

“What do you mean?” Rachel said, intrigued.

“The Egyptians implied significance to the spelling of their words. For instance, a-i-s in ancient Egyptian translates to ‘brain,’ but if you reversed the spelling to s-i-a , that word means ‘consciousness.’ They used the very spelling of the words to connect the two: consciousness to the brain. Now back to benben . The letters b-e-n translate to ‘sacred stone,’ as I mentioned, but do you know what you get if you spell it backward?”

Rachel and Gray shrugged at the same time.

“ N-e-b translates to ‘gold.’”

Gray let out a breath of surprise. “So gold is connected to sacred stone and sacred knowledge.”

Vigor nodded. “Egypt is where it all began.”

“But where does it end?” Rachel asked, staring down at her map. “What is the significance of the hourglass? How does it point to the next location?”

They all stared out at the pyramidal tomb.

Vigor shook his head.

Gray knelt down. “It’s my turn at the map.”

“You have an idea?” Vigor said.

“You don’t have to sound so shocked.”

GRAY SET to work, using the back of his knife as a straight edge. He had to get this right. With the felt marker in hand, he spoke as he worked, not looking up.

“That big bronze finger,” he said. “See how it’s in the exact center of the room, positioned under the dome?”

The others glanced out to the tomb. The water had settled to a flat sheen again. The arched starscape on the ceiling was again reflected perfectly in the water, creating an illusion of a starry sphere.

“The finger is positioned like the north-south pole of that spherical mirage. The axis around which the world spins. And now look at the map. What spot marks the center of the hourglass?”

Rachel leaned closer and read the name there. “The island of Rhodes,” she said. “Where the finger came from.”

Gray smiled at the wonder in her voice. Was it from the revelation or the fact that he had discovered it?

“I think we’re supposed to find the axis through the hourglass,” he said. He took the felt marker and drew a line bisecting the hourglass vertically. “And that bronze finger points toward the north pole.” He continued, using his knife blade as a guide, and extended the line north.

His marker stopped at a well-known and significant city.

“Rome,” Rachel read off the map.

Gray sat back. “The fact that all this geometry points right back to Rome must be significant. It must be where we have to go next. But where in Rome? The Vatican again?”

He stared around at the others.

Rachel’s brow had bunched up.

Vigor slowly knelt down. “I think, Commander, that you’re both right and wrong. Can I see your knife?”

Gray handed it over, glad to let the monsignor usurp his position.

He played with the knife’s edge on the map. “Hmm…two triangles.” He tapped the hourglass pattern.

“What about it?”

Vigor shook his head, eyes focused. “You were right about the fact that this line hits Rome. But it’s not where we’re supposed to go.”