Trifariam, The Lost Codex (2012) (11 page)

“No…They tried to kill you?”

“Yes, more or less. When I got up this morning, the cleaning staff was very worked up. When they got round to Room 501, they found that the bed was riddled with bullet holes. Guess whose room it was?”

“Shit, Richard! I’m sorry I got you involved in all this.”

Instead of blaming him for what happened, Richard didn’t seem to mind. “Don’t worry, the book is worth it. Before I went to bed, I booked another room in a different name and luckily they didn’t find me. But anyway, tell me where we’re meeting! I’m dying to see it in person!”

James gestured with his arm to his friend and pointed out the exit. “The Trevi Fountain is fine by us. We’ll be there at 12:30.” Just at that moment they were cut off; his money had run out.

The weather in Rome was very similar to Florence, a dark blue sky with some very small clouds coming into view in the distance. There was scarcely any wind, which was unusual for that time of year and reflected in the people’s summer clothes, mostly T-shirts and shorts.

“Where are we going?” asked Mary, turning round to make sure that James was walking alongside her. She had been very quiet for a few minutes now, and her silence worried him.

“My friend is staying in a hotel near the Trevi Fountain,” he smiled. “Good thing for us, because it’s right here.”

He avoided telling her about the attempted murder. Telling her would just make things worse and she would definitely become more nervous. Anyway, there were so many questions going round his head right now and he didn’t have any answers, no matter how hard he tried. It was only logical that if they had found the hotel Richard was staying at, it was only because they had listened in on their phone call, but in that case… why didn’t the killers know they were going to Rome? Something didn’t add up, that much was obvious.

After walking for twenty minutes, they found themselves outside the Quirinal Palace, one of the symbols of the Italian state and the official residence of the President of the Republic. It was one of the few places Mary had yet to visit in her beloved country. She had been told about its wonderful gardens that occupied a privileged spot, practically making it a raised
island
overlooking Rome atop of the Quirinal Hill, one of the Seven Hills of Rome.

They crossed the square and made their way to Via della Dataria, turning right onto Via dei Lucchesi. At the end of that road stood the famous Trevi Fountain.

The place was full of tourists, some taking photographs in front of the fountain or tossing in coins.

It was beautiful and huge, some eighty feet high and sixty feet across, making it the most ambitious baroque fountain in Rome.

At first it was impossible to find his friend. The large number of people milling around the fountain and the many groups of tourists who were taking one photo after another made it extremely difficult. He had decided to take out his phone to call him when someone put a hand on his shoulder.

“How are you?”

James jumped. He was on the verge of having a heart attack. “Shit, you gave me a fright! I thought they’d found us.” James tightly hugged his friend. “This is Mary. She got caught up in this adventure after saving my life. I couldn’t leave her by herself in Florence.”

Richard got nearer to the young woman. Although she was covered in bruises, he could see very well that she was a beautiful girl. He gently took her hand and kissed it as if in worship.

Mary blushed and giggled.

“Oh, don’t you dare! You’re making me embarrassed. You’ve already started with your garbage! Believe me, your chivalry doesn’t work when it comes to ensnaring modern women.”

“If only you knew…” he replied, turning back to look at Mary. “And what does your boyfriend think about you embarking on an adventure with two ruthless yet handsome men who are desperately seeking treasure?”

James nearly threw up when he heard such nonsense and he told him two home truths; he was neither handsome nor ruthless, because he’d be the first to jump off a sinking ship. He didn’t want to come over as jealous, but he wanted this toe-curling spectacle to be over as soon as possible. “How do you feel about us sitting down in a cafe while you tell us about your discoveries?”

Richard had forgotten about the book for a moment, but his eyes shone with impatience after what his friend had just said, betraying a burning desire to tell them what he had found. And there was only thing which was able to distract this famed paleographer: women.

“Wait a second, please!” Mary walked over to the fountain and took her purse out of her bag. “Since we’re here, let’s keep to tradition.”

The two men laughed, dug out the loose change they had in their pockets and stood either side of the girl.

“One, two… three!” Without a second thought, they threw the coins with their right hand over their left shoulder, standing with their backs to the fountain just as tradition dictates.

According to believers, this old custom ensures that whoever throws a coin will return to Rome someday, a wish that they all wanted to come true because it would mean that the three would survive their harrowing adventures. Throwing two coins meant that they would fall in love with a good-looking Roman, and three meant that they would marry them in Rome.

Eventually they went into a cafe near the fountain, and sat at one of the furthest tables, hidden from view so as to avoid any interruptions. All three ordered coffee.

After checking that nobody was watching them, James removed the book from the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to his friend. “So, what have you found?”

Richard swiftly grabbed it. He had got up before dawn to try and decode its content, because the copy was extremely unclear, much to his dismay. The author had gone to a lot of trouble to hide the message, so it must contain something extraordinary. He had succeeded in understanding virtually all the first chapter, except for a few words which were way beyond his knowledge. His pride prevented him from accepting it and so he blamed the writing, convincing himself it was illegible.

“You didn’t make it easy for me. Your clue was very vague but I managed to crack it in the end. I used a computer program which is specially designed for cryptography and allowed me to substitute letters quickly and easily. Finally, after a lot of work, I managed to translate the first chapter of the book.”

Mary started to get impatient. “So… tell us what it’s about already!”

From the way he was looking at the book which he had in his hands, he seemed not to have heard her. He slowly ran his fingers over the symbol on the cover until anxiety overcame him and he couldn’t help but open it. He saw that it was divided into chapters as his friend had already told him, as well as something which left him completely flummoxed; the object which James had kept inside a random page, and which was identical to that on the cover of the book.

“We don’t know what it is,” said James, trying to bring him back down to earth. “Yesterday we found out that there was an object at the end of the first two chapters. It might mean that there are clues lying around to help us find out what it hides.”

Richard slammed the book shut and took out the photocopies from one of the pockets in his jeans. “James, you’re not going to believe what is written in the first chapter.” His two friends’ hopes had been significantly raised and they both listened to him wide-eyed. “It refers to an ancient civilization whose existence has gone unrecorded, except for being mentioned by Plato in an old book. Guess which civilization we’re talking about.”

D
isappointment planted itself in James’ head and for a few moments he was reminded of a seminar he had attended a while back. The topic of the day was the legacy left to us by lost civilizations and, as expected, the matter of Atlantis came up again.

“Atlantis is a bedtime story for kids!” exclaimed one of the many attendees as he stood up. “Many have tried to find it without any success whatsoever.” His voice rose until he began to sound authoritative. “The only ancient texts that refer to this lost civilization are Plato’s dialogues; the other books written about Atlantis are merely speculation and commentary on the philosopher’s work.”

James knew the content of those two dialogues perfectly, because he had had the opportunity to read them personally: Timaeus and Critias.

Timaeus summarizes part of a conversation between Socrates and three of his followers in the year 360 BC in Athens. Over the course of the conversation, Critias, one of Socrates’ followers, tells his companions something that the famous Athenian politician Solon had related to his grandfather:

The story tells of how on one of his journeys to Egypt, Solon had a conversation with a priest. He told him how the Egyptian chronicles feature tales of a war waged in ancient times, around 9600 BC, between Athens and a powerful civilization that came from the Atlantic and which intended to invade Europe and Asia. The priest was sure that the invaders came from a large island called Atlantis, situated beyond the Pillars of Hercules, which we now know as the Strait of Gibraltar. That great island, considered almost a continent, comprised numerous neighboring islands. Greece resisted the Atlantean invasion, and it even succeeded in liberating several towns which had been captured. However, all of a sudden there were violent earthquakes and tidal waves and, after one day and one night, the great island of Atlantis sank to the bottom of the sea. Some say that is why navigating vessels in those parts of the sea is impossible because there is a mud bank in the center caused by the island’s sinking.

Critias describes the island through its flora and fauna, mentioning the existence of horses and elephants. He also speaks of its administrative organization, its fleet, ceremonies and magnificent architecture. He talks about how it was destroyed, attributing it to a divine punishment for its citizens’ poor behavior.

Another of the men who was clearly in favor of the existence of Atlantis quickly stood up and asked the other a question: “So, would you care to give me your thoughts on Diffusionist Theory?”

The man hit back, even more annoyed. “It’s ridiculous to apply that school of thought here. Diffusionist theory states that if similar cultures arise in places that are far apart, this cannot be mere coincidence, but instead is the result of direct or indirect contact. This hypothesis is the only one that Atlantis supporters use to argue its existence, even when tectonic plates leave no room for doubt. One of those could only be destroyed due to some exceptional phenomenon.”

A din filled the room after those last three words. The president had to remind the audience of the real reason they were gathered there, which wasn’t to debate whether Atlantis existed or not.

“James,” said Richard, bringing him back to the present moment. “Ever since you sent me the fax, I’ve been trying to decode it. It has taken me a lot of time and there are even certain parts that I still don’t understand. What I can tell you, at the moment, is that the author of this book was the abbot of an Italian monastery and Grand Master of a secret order that dates back a thousand years. His name was Simone Di Benedetto. In the first chapter, he mentions the existence of a large island located in the Atlantic Ocean, which in ancient times was destroyed and flooded with water. What island could this be, other than Atlantis?”

The future university president looked at him sadly. “I’m sorry to break it to you, but the subject of Atlantis is the one that has most fascinated me throughout my life. I’ve read all kinds of speculation regarding its possible location in the Atlantic and I’ve even believed some of them, but after the amount of research into tectonic plates which has been carried out, the results leave no room for fantasy; Atlantis couldn’t have existed. No continent of the dimensions described could vanish into thin air so easily.”

Richard didn’t want to buy into his friend’s skepticism and tried to convince him. “But James, the first chapter talks about the flora and fauna of a lost civilization and it corresponds quite well with Plato’s description of Atlantis. According to the book, it had many forests that provided an unlimited supply of wood, an endless array of animals, both tame and wild, as well as a number of foods which came from the land.”

“The vast majority of Mesoamerican civilizations were great harvesters,” said Mary, who until that moment had been paying attention to the conversation. “That’s nothing new.”

From the beginning, Richard had been aware of his friend’s skepticism, but not that of the woman. It was disheartening, because now he would have to convince both of them. “According to the documents you gave me, we’re talking about a civilization capable of creating superb buildings, from houses to temples for their gods. Of course,” he stressed, looking at them both. “They adored Poseidon, just like the inhabitants of Atlantis did. Their architects were capable of creating a city surrounded by water through which boats were navigated. In fact, they could be used to reach almost any part of the island.”

“Plato describes a grandiose city formed by several concentric circles, each of them surrounded by water. It bears a striking similarity to the description given to us in the book.”

Richard smiled, the woman was beginning to give in. In a final attempt, he tried to make James see another similarity. “It also states that the city sunk to the bottom of the ocean over twelve thousand years ago, the same as Atlantis. Come on James! You can’t deny that the author of the book is referring to the lost continent! It’s obvious!”

“I’m not disputing that. Clearly they are talking about the same city, but perhaps it’s because the abbot of that monastery had previously read Plato’s writing.”

Richard’s face showed desperation. He knew his friend inside out and he had always wanted to have an opportunity like this to leave his mark on history, to be remembered as the discoverer of something magnificent, something that would cause his name to span the boundaries of time, as so many before him had managed to do. And now that it lay before him, it was slipping through his fingers!

“Richard, I consider myself to be one of the most ardent admirers of Atlantis. I’ve attended numerous congresses and meetings where this subject has been discussed to death.” His friend nodded his head, he knew this perfectly well. “Plato didn’t agree with contemporary Athenian society at all, including its economic and social aspects. Many of the hypotheses indicate that this may have inspired him to create his dialogues, detailing what happened on some nearby islands which he would certainly have been familiar with. He was looking to change the behavior of his fellow citizens and increase their conscience. He thought this was a good idea.”