Charles Brokaw - The Lucifer Code

‘What did you say?’ Lourds asked in that same language.

‘My friends and I are here to help you,’ the man said. ‘We have been looking for you since you disappeared this morning. I apologize that it has taken so long to locate you.’

‘Who are you?’

‘For now all that I can tell you is that we’re friends. We’re here to get you out of this place. Please instruct the woman to stop fighting.’

Lourds was suddenly aware that Cleena was still battling against at least one and possibly two men. He turned to her but could not see her in the darkness.

‘Stop shooting,’ he said. ‘These are friends.’

She stopped fighting and leaned into him. Tension tightened her body like a bow string.

‘How do you know they’re friends?’ she demanded.

‘One of them just told me so.’

Derision dripped from her. ‘How have you managed to stay alive for so long?’

‘I happen to believe him,’ Lourds said defensively. ‘He spoke to me in Ancient Greek.’

‘Now there’s a reason to trust someone.’

‘He says he and his friends can get us out of here. Interested now?’

‘We’re doing fine on our own.’

‘Qayin has reinforcements coming,’ the man beside Lourds said.

‘You’re just saying that.’

‘Actually, we followed them in here.’

‘Then where are they? You could be making that up.’

Lourds wasn’t inclined to be so sceptical, but before he could say anything to that effect, the noise of people trying to move quietly at the other end of the catacombs reached them. As he was about to ask if anyone else had heard the noise, someone from that end of the catacombs opened fire.

Acting quickly, Lourds dropped to the ground. Cleena did the same. They were face to face in the darkness, their features intermittently lit by muzzle flashes as bullets crunched against the pillar overhead.

‘Convinced?’ Lourds asked dryly.

She made no reply.

‘Professor Lourds?’ the robed man asked Lourds.

‘We’re coming, but they have us boxed at both ends.’

‘There is another way out. Follow me.’

Running footsteps echoed through the catacombs. Cleena rose briefly to her knees, held her pistol, and fired. Lourds didn’t wait to see the results of her handiwork. He had seen how devastating she could be with her weapon. The mortal screams behind him let him know she had been just as accurate again.

Rising to his feet, Lourds remained crouched as he followed the robed man through the darkness. Several of their opponents turned their lanterns in their direction. The bright lights spilled across Lourds just as he saw a narrow opening in the wall ahead of him.

He followed the man through the opening and into a tunnel. Cleena was on their heels, closely trailed by two more men in robes. Once they were inside, one of the men shoved a recessed section of the wall into place and sealed the opening. One of the men took out a flashlight and switched it on. The bright light hurt Lourds’ eyes and filled the narrow tunnel with illumination. He studied the faces of the five men in the tunnel but recognized none of them.

‘It’s safe in here, Professor Lourds,’ one of them said. He was young, no older than his late twenties surely. A carefully trimmed goatee framed his chin. His eyes were lost in the shadows of his cowl.

Cleena reloaded her pistol. ‘Can they get through that door?’

The man shook his head. ‘Not now. We’ve locked them out.’

Satisfied with her weapon’s readiness, she studied them. ‘Who are you?’

‘As I have stated, we are friends.’ The young man spoke patiently.

Lourds noticed that she had turned so her pistol hand was kept clear of the five men. She could quickly bring it into play. It seemed a habit as ingrained as breathing.

‘I know all my friends,’ she insisted.

‘Perhaps I should have said we are friends of the professor,’ the young man amended.

‘That true, Professor?’ she asked without taking her eyes off the strangers. ‘Do you know them?’

‘Not yet,’ Lourds said. ‘But I’m always open to meeting new friends.’ He looked at her. ‘Especially ones that don’t kidnap me when they first see me. That’s a first impression that’s hard to recover from.’

She shot him a hard glance. ‘We can save the meet and greet for later. This tunnel has to go somewhere. Maybe Qayin and his little friends might not be able to get through this door, but they can come at us from the other end of this passageway.’

‘Actually, they don’t know all the secrets of these catacombs. We know more about them than they do,’ the young man assured her.

‘That’s terrific,’ she said sarcastically. ‘You win. But I’d still prefer to be elsewhere.’

‘Of course.’ The young man nodded to his companion with the flashlight who immediately headed down the dark throat of the tunnel. Lourds followed the light.

Lourds guessed that several minutes passed as they made their way along the passage. He thought he detected an upward grade, but wasn’t sure. It was too dark to tell and he was more interested in listening for sounds of pursuit.

‘I see you’re carrying Qayin’s book,’ the young man said.

‘I had the impression that this book didn’t actually belong to Qayin,’ Lourds replied. ‘He couldn’t read it anyway.’

‘My bad,’ the man said, sounding for a moment like one of Lourds’ Harvard students. ‘I didn’t mean to infer that the book belonged to Qayin. It doesn’t.’

Unable to control his curiosity, Lourds asked, ‘Whose book is it?’

‘I’m not at liberty to say at this moment.’

‘Well, isn’t that delightfully mysterious,’ Cleena said.

‘Were you so curious about the people who hired you to kidnap Professor Lourds?’ the man countered.

She didn’t say anything, though Lourds couldn’t tell whether that was because of shame or anger.

‘What makes this book so special?’ Lourds asked.

‘Were you able to read it?’ the man asked.

‘I had barely started, but, yes, I believe I can read it. Given time.’

Behind him, Cleena cursed softly. Lourds suddenly realized that the admission might endanger him with their newfound friends.

‘Watch your head here.’ The young man reached up to touch a low-hanging section of the passageway ceiling.

Lourds ducked and followed the man through it. The passageway came to a T only a short distance farther on. They bore to the left.

‘What did you find out from reading the book?’ the young man asked.

‘Not enough,’ Lourds responded.

‘But you think you can decipher it?’

Lourds hesitated only a moment. If I say I can, are you going to take me captive? Or if I say I can’t, are you going to kill me? Neither of those options appealed to him. He had a mystery on his hands, a true enigma of the sort that he loved to unravel. He wasn’t prepared to let this go without a fight.

‘Yes,’ he answered.

‘That’s good.’ The young man halted behind the man with a flashlight. He held the flashlight while the leader did something to the wall ahead of them.

‘Do you know what the book is about?’ Lourds asked.

The young man looked at Lourds with deep sincerity. ‘Something has been lost, Professor Lourds. Something very valuable and very important. This thing must be found. Much depends on that.’

‘What has been lost?’

Sadly, the young man shook his head. ‘That isn’t for me to say. I apologize. I know you’ve had a difficult day. But anything I may tell you could interfere with your translation. The impressions you form regarding the material you’ll find there must be your own. Many people over the years have tried to decipher the book. If you fail, it must be your own unique failure.’