James Rollins - Blood Infernal

Staring up, she suspected this was done purposefully, to make the viewer miss the forest for the trees. It would indeed require awareness to ignore the chaos and see through to the inner truth.

She stared up and slowly stripped each culture’s iconography from that vast fresco, turning it in her mind’s eye, judging it on its own. Unfortunately, she found nothing significant in this exercise. She wondered if these were examples of the cultures that Hugh had visited after leaving the Church. Cardinal Bernard said Hugh had traveled much of the globe before settling in France.

But how does that help me? She closed her eyes. What am I not seeing?

Then she knew.

She opened her eyes, clearing those symbols off the roof, looking for the truth hidden behind the noise, behind the cacophony of mankind.

The forest behind the trees.

Once the fanciful decorations were stripped away in her mind’s eye, only one display was still left painted up there, in the background of the clutter.

The stars .

They were eternal.

“Paper,” she said, holding out an arm. “And a pen.”

Rhun rummaged through her pack and passed her a notebook and a ballpoint. She set about mapping those stars, noting the constellations. Several were larger, more prominently displayed. The stars painted in those constellations were six-pointed, not five like the others.

As she worked, she heard Jordan confront Hugh. “Why can’t you just tell us?”

“It is a test,” Hugh repeated adamantly. “The trio must show themselves to be worthy.”

“Then what’s my test?” Jordan pressed.

“You already passed it. In the forest, you sacrificed yourself without a fight, proving you were a Warrior who could achieve his goals through peace and nonviolence.”

“Then what about my test?” Rhun asked.

“It came with you.” Hugh bowed his head toward the cub. “You, a Knight of Christ, took pity and mercy on a creature you believed to be born of darkness, defying the edicts of your order to kill it on sight. For such mercy, you came away with a miracle of light and grace.”

And now it’s my turn .

Erin suddenly wished she had gotten a simpler test. But she was the Woman of Learning. She must figure this out on her own.

She did a final comparison between the star map painted on the ceiling and what she had copied down. Satisfied, she headed back to Hugh with notebook in hand. She felt like a student coming to the front of the class to solve a problem on the blackboard.

“It’s the stars,” she said. “That’s what you wanted me to be aware of through all that noise above.”

Hugh smiled, but remained silent.

I’m on the right track .

She remembered a Hermetic principle often associated with the Knights Templar: As above, so below. Stars had been a tool for navigation since the beginning of civilization, to use the positions of the stars above, to find meaning down here on earth.

She worked it out aloud, pacing. “I’m supposed to figure out where on earth this sky would be visible, but to do that I would need to know which date this particular sky would appear.”

She studied her page in the notebook. The more prominent constellations depicted above were those associated with spring: Cancer, Leo, Virgo …

So this must be a spring sky.

Then she remembered what had been painted beneath the mural at Edward Kelly’s house, the one showing a mountain lake and all hell breaking loose. Elizabeth had translated the Czech writing below: vernal equinox .

Perhaps that was the answer, but she wanted confirmation. She frowned, remembering seeing Latin words painted on the ceiling. She half-ran, searching anew, stirring up the straw on the floor. She felt eyes on her, both from her party and those that glowed a deep crimson. Finally, she found the inscription, one painted in red on the eastern side of the church, the other in blue on the western side.

Two words.

Aequus and Nox .

She closed her eyes with relief.

Equinox .

She joined the others, her legs shaking. “It’s the spring equinox. That’s the date.” She waved her notebook to encompass the star map. “So I have to figure out where in the world this particular night sky is visible during tomorrow’s equinox.”

From his back pocket, Jordan pulled out his cell phone, slipping it from a waterproof plastic bag. “I’ve got an app for that. Any good soldier keeps a means of navigation handy.”

Erin glanced to Hugh to make sure it was kosher to use this technology.

He shrugged.

She held her page open for Jordan. “Can you map this?”

“I’ll try.” He took a snapshot with his phone, then spent some time fiddling with the application program, apparently trying to find a match. “Already I can tell that the constellation of Leo is in the wrong place up there. At least for the skies over France.”

“Then find out where it’s right ,” she urged.

She noted Hugh looking quizzically at her, as if she were missing something.

So the teacher wants me to earn extra points .

She pursed her lips and returned her attention to the ceiling, picking through the constellations, especially focusing on the spring ones. Three of the lesser spring constellations were connected together, woven by flowing lines.

Hydra, Crater, and Noctua .

“The snake, the cup, and the owl,” she mumbled, naming the shapes they represented. She had no trouble understanding the significance. The snake likely represents Lucifer, the cup could easily be the Chalice mentioned in the prophecy, and the owl had been the symbol of knowledge across many cultures, going back eons .

She glanced to her pack. The Blood Gospel was prophesied to have all the knowledge of the universe locked between its covers. She returned her attention above, noting the smaller lines that formed fanciful curlicues and whorls around the three constellations, weaving them together.

“They’re connected together into one whole,” Erin said.

A glance revealed a broad, congratulatory smile on Hugh’s face. She wanted to smack that smug look off him and get some real answers.

Luckily Jordan interrupted, holding up his phone. “Got it!”

She moved closer.

“Here’s the night sky over France.”

She looked at the screen, seeing that he had labeled the constellation Leo.

“We’re at about latitude forty-three,” he explained. “This time of year, Leo should be at the westernmost edge of the sky, but clearly it’s not in the star map on the ceiling.”

She looked to the roof, recognizing how different that star map was up there. “Then where on the planet does it match this sky?”

“Far to the east, about twenty-eight degrees north latitude.”

“Could it be Tibet?” Erin asked. “Or maybe Nepal?”

Jordan whistled his appreciation and held up his phone for her to see, revealing the name that his phone app had pulled up.

KATMANDU, NEPAL

27°30′N 85°30′E

“Keep in mind,” Jordan cautioned, “this is a rough approximation. But that’s the region of the world referenced above. Basically it could be anywhere in the Himalayas.”

Erin pictured the mural painted on Kelly’s wall, showing a trio of mountains surrounding a dark lake. It must be somewhere in the Himalayan range of Nepal.

But where?

“How did you already guess Nepal?” Rhun asked her.