Charles Brokaw - The Lucifer Code

That was fine by Eckart. He felt the United States had worked way too long trying to keep those people from killing each other. It would be better, just as Webster said, to let them go at each other hammer and tongs, wait till the fires died down, then go in and take over the whole area. No more being under OPEC’s thumb. America could go back to being great.

He could hardly wait.

He found the stairwell and started up to the second floor.

Lourds’ thoughts spun as he took in what Olympia had just told him. John of Patmos, also known as John the Divine and John the Theologian, was the man believed to have authored the Book of Revelation in the New Testament.

‘You’re saying you believe John of Patmos wrote the book I’m translating?’ he asked.

Olympia shook her head. ‘No. But it is about John of Patmos. He’s the one who wrote the Joy Scroll, which the translation talks about.’

‘Then why haven’t I ever heard of it? You’d think the whole world would know about something like that.’

‘Because the scroll was hidden and kept secret.’

‘Why?’

‘The Joy Scroll is dangerous, Thomas,’ Olympia said. ‘Possibly the most dangerous document in the world.’

‘Why?’

‘It talks about the end of the world.’

‘So does the Book of Revelation. John of Patmos is believed – by some scholars and theologians – to have written the Revelation while in exile in Greece. And there are some who believe he was also John the Apostle and wrote the Gospel of John.’

‘They are the same man,’ Olympia said. ‘One individual. And he did have those visions and write about them while on the island of Patmos.’

‘Scholars and church leaders disagree with the possibility of those men being the same. In fact, some of them believe there were three separate Johns. The Apostle, the author of the Gospel and the author of the Book of Revelation. Historicists and critical readers of the Bible have strong arguments for that.’

‘How many times have you seen people, non-believers and doubters, prove some aspect of the Bible false? How long did scientists and historians doubt the veracity of the Flood, only finally to prove – scientifically – that the Mediterranean world was once flooded.’

‘They also make the case that the flood was from geological events, not divine intervention. And that, not one but several floods took place round the world at different times.’

‘They believe it was a geological event, but they can’t agree on what that event was.’

Lourds didn’t argue because he knew she wasn’t listening. She was tied into her own beliefs and wasn’t about to be swayed.

‘Don’t look at me like that,’ she said.

‘I’m not looking at you any way.’

‘Yes, you are.’ Olympia turned to her computer and began opening files.

Increasingly amazed, Lourds watched digitized images of scrolls fill the monitor. Most of them were written in Ancient Greek, but a few appeared to be more modern in origin.

‘What are these?’ Lourds leaned closer.

‘All three Johns were one, Thomas. I have proof. These are documents – letters and journal entries – from the men who worked with him.’

‘Who?’

‘The acolytes provided by Peter and Paul. This first one details John’s passing. The others all talk about his final days and how he dictated the book of Revelation to them as well as the Joy Scroll.’

‘I can see these are journal entries.’ Lourds translated the script easily. Whoever had done the digitization of the original source material had reproduced them meticulously.

‘You see this and you still doubt what I’m saying?’ Frustration edged Olympia’s words.

‘I would prefer to see the original documents before I passed judgment on the authenticity of this replication.’ Lourds was diplomatic.

Olympia’s cheeks turned red and her eyes narrowed. ‘Thomas Lourds, if you think I would bring you all this way for a wild goose chase, you don’t know me as well as you should.’

‘If you think I’m going to simply accept this without questioning it, you’re mistaken. And you don’t know me as well as you should. Maybe you want to believe in this so much that you’ve lost perspective.’

Taking a deep breath, Olympia leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. ‘This is ridiculous.’

‘All right, for the sake of argument, let’s say those documents are legitimate.’ Lourds ignored her glare. Unable to sit calmly, he stood up. ‘If you’ve had this kind of information, why haven’t you come forward with it before? Or why hasn’t anyone who’s had it before you?’

Olympia paused a moment before answering. ‘It’s complicated. You need to know more of the story. You’re making a judgment without all the facts.’

‘These documents have been around for nearly two thousand years and scholars haven’t been allowed access to them?’ He shook his head. ‘Nothing’s that complicated.’

‘Really? Not even the end of the world?’

‘John of Patmos wrote about the end of the world as he saw it. His words are in the Bible. This isn’t news.’

‘He wrote about the end of the world as it would be when God comes back for those who survive the Tribulation,’ Olympia said. ‘This is another end.’

‘According to what I’ve studied, while he was living on Patmos, John had two visions of how the world would end. He wrote a long letter, which became the Book of Revelation, to the seven Christian churches in Asia, all of which were here in Turkey. In one of the visions, John saw seven candlesticks which represented the seven churches: Ephesus, Laodicea, Pergamum, Philadelphia, Sardis, Smyrna and Thyatira. None of those communities exist now. They were ousted under the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. That document also recognized the country as the Republic of Turkey and it succeeded the Ottoman Empire.

‘The churches weren’t actual physical buildings. I mean, there were structures there, but the reference was inclusive of the Christian communities that lived in those cities. After the treaty, the Christians were ousted and forced to live elsewhere.’ Lourds paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. ‘In the middle of the candlesticks was the Son of Man. He held seven stars supposed to signify the seven angels protecting each of those communities. At the command of Jesus Christ, John wrote to each of those angels, citing what was wrong with them and what they needed to do. And what would happen to them if they didn’t do those things.’

‘Exactly.’ Olympia seemed mollified.

‘In the second vision John saw a door opening up in the sky, which he interpreted to mean the end of the world and the final destruction of Satan here on earth.’

‘That’s all here.’ Olympia tapped the keyboard and an image of a snarling dragon filled the screen. ‘This is how John saw Satan, not as the horned and tailed visage made popular later.’

‘You have the original journals the acolytes wrote?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you know they’re authentic?’

‘There’s not a doubt.’ Olympia pointed at the computer. ‘Everything I’m showing you today exists. It’s all real. We have them.’

Lourds stared at her. ‘I guess my next question is, who’s “we”?’

Cleena stared at the scar-faced man as he started up the stairwell to the second floor. His dead gaze had raked her with brutal intensity then moved on as if she were nothing.

Now there goes a nasty guy who’s looking for someone. She thought she knew who that someone was.

She turned and rushed for the other stairwell leading up to the second floor. Lourds and his lady friend were at this end of the building on the third floor. Evidently the dead-eyed man didn’t know that.