The Covenant of Genesis (47 page)

‘So what’s the secret?’ He said nothing. ‘Okay then, it’s something you think is such a threat to the Abrahamic religions that all knowledge of it has to be suppressed and all evidence destroyed. Am I right?’

He nodded. ‘Go on.’

It struck Nina that if she did deduce the truth, she could be signing her own death warrant. But something drove her on: she
had
to know. ‘But it’s not just that this civilisation existed long before Abraham. There’s something about it that contradicts Genesis - that can be
proved
to contradict Genesis,’ she realised. ‘That’s the threat, isn’t it? And you know what it is.’

‘But do you, Dr Wilde? Do you have that knowledge?’

‘Why?’ She glanced at Vogler. ‘Are you going to have him shoot me if I do?’

Di Bonaventura chuckled. ‘Certainly not in here - the carpet would have to be cleaned.’ He regarded her with another intense look. ‘And perhaps not at all. But that depends on you.’

‘So if I give you the right answer, you might not kill me?’

‘It is not the answer that matters, but the beliefs that lead to it.’

‘Thanks for that, Yoda,’ she scoffed, before frowning in thought. ‘So what could contradict Genesis so much that the Covenant would kill to stop it becoming known? Genesis has been contradicted by science often enough in the past, in everything from geology to zoology to astrophysics, but you didn’t send out commandos to assassinate Stephen Hawking. So it must be something huge . . .’ She tailed off. ‘It’s . . . it’s not
aliens
, is it?’

A long silence, only broken by the snapping of the fire. Then: ‘Of course it’s not aliens!’ said di Bonaventura, somewhere between mirth and disbelief that she could entertain such a ridiculous suggestion. ‘And I thought you were a serious scientist. Aliens!’

‘Hey!’ Nina protested. ‘I
am
a serious scientist! I found out more about the Veteres in two weeks than that jerk Ribbsley did in fifteen years, or however long he’s been working for you. How long
has
the Covenant been around, anyway?’

Di Bonaventura was still amused. ‘Subtlety is not one of your investigative tools, is it, Dr Wilde?’

‘And it’s not one of the Covenant’s methods, either. So how long? If you’re going to kill me anyway, there’s no harm in telling me.’

‘And if I decide to let you live?’

‘Then you need me for something, and I might be more inclined to co-operate if you give me something in return.’

‘So you’re saying you are willing to co-operate with the Covenant?’

‘I said
might
. But that’s a pretty small might. Tiny.’

‘You may surprise yourself, Dr Wilde. But to answer your question, the Covenant, in its current form, has existed since the 1950s. But a similar secret organisation has existed within the Church for over a hundred years, since the first discovery of the Veteres.’

‘So Judaism and Islam weren’t always part of it?’

‘No, though they had their own equivalents.’

‘It must have been something big to unite them. I mean, Christianity, Judaism and Islam aren’t exactly noted for their mutual co-operation.’

‘There have been examples,’ said di Bonaventura. ‘Have you heard of the Declaration of Alexandria?’ Nina shook her head. ‘It was an agreement between the faiths signed in 2002, to end their mutual hostilities in an attempt to bring peace to the Holy Land.’

‘Wow, it’s been a roaring success so far, huh?’

For the first time, di Bonaventura betrayed a hint of defensiveness. ‘You may mock, Dr Wilde, but the intentions of its signatories were sincere. They were all men of God, working for a common goal. Just like the Covenant.’

‘The Covenant - men of God?’ Nina cried. ‘After all the people you’ve killed, you’ve got the nerve to say you’re doing it in God’s name? Yet you daren’t even tell your own leader that the Covenant exists? That certainly makes
you
a hypocrite.’

‘It does,’ he admitted, his face revealing a long-held shame. ‘And when the time comes, we will all be judged. Perhaps we will even be damned. But for now, protecting the faith seems the right path to follow.’

‘Protecting the faith? Or protecting the Church?’ Nina fixed him with her green eyes, a look as intense as the one he had earlier given her. ‘Is that what this is about? You’re afraid that what I’ve discovered will destroy the Church? And not just yours, but the Jewish and Islamic ones too?’

‘You over-estimate yourself,’ he replied. ‘The Church has survived Copernicus, Galileo and Darwin. It will survive Nina Wilde as well. As will the other faiths. If anything, your discovery of Eden will strengthen them, by turning the story of Genesis from an allegory to historical fact.’

‘
My
discovery?’ said Nina, feeling an odd spark of triumph. ‘So the Covenant didn’t actually know for sure?’

‘We . . . suspected,’ said Vogler. ‘Finds at other sites, Ribbsley’s translations, they were leading in that direction. But it wasn’t until you found the audio recording in Antarctica that we had proof of its existence.’

‘But you don’t know where it is,’ she said. ‘And Eddie and Sophia do. And they’re probably already on their way there - I mean, I haven’t heard anyone saying they’re dead.’ A glance at Vogler. ‘Gonna set me straight?’

He shook his head. ‘They seem to have escaped Antarctica.’

‘Good for them. Well, good for Eddie. I don’t really care what happens to Sophia.’

‘Perhaps you should,’ said di Bonaventura. ‘Do you really want
her
to find the Garden of Eden? A murderer, a terrorist, a blackmailer . . . yes, I know why your president is so afraid of her,’ he went on, seeing Nina’s surprised look. ‘It is my job to know such things.’

‘To protect the Church, I guess.’

‘Yes. We rarely use such influence directly, but because of Gabriel Ribbsley’s lust we were forced to make a . . .
request
to President Dalton, to give him what he wanted in return for helping us.’

‘Release Sophia or we end your presidency with the scandal of the decade?’

‘Something like that. But Gabriel was already greedy, and this has proved he can no longer be relied upon. So we need someone else to uncover the secrets of the Veteres.’ His intense gaze returned. ‘Perhaps you.’

‘Me?’ Nina gasped. ‘What, are you nuts? First you try to kill me, and now you’re offering me a
job
?’

‘Not a job, exactly. An arrangement.’

‘Find Eden for you and not get killed, right?’ He nodded. ‘And if I turn down your generous offer?’

Di Bonaventura gazed into the fire. ‘Now that we know it exists, we must find Eden. One way or another, we will know what you know. You can tell us willingly . . . or we can give you to Mr Callum.’ He turned back to Nina, eyes hard. ‘There is an empty cell at Guantánamo Bay, formerly occupied by Sophia Blackwood. He could see that it becomes occupied again.’

Nina’s mouth went dry at the threat, but she tried not to let her apprehension show. ‘But by the time I talked, Eddie might already have found Eden.’

‘Which is why I would prefer your co-operation. Dr Wilde, I have made my decision, which both the surviving members of the Triumvirate have agreed to accept. I believe it is in the current interests of the Covenant for you to . . .’ He paused. ‘Live.’

‘Great,’ said Nina, understandably relieved. ‘Pity Zamal wasn’t here to hear that. I’d have loved to have seen his face.’

‘I would not be so smug,’ said Vogler. ‘Zamal may find some other reason to end your life. And perhaps next time, I will agree with him.’

Di Bonaventura waved him down. ‘I think she understands the threat. I hope she also understands the opportunity she is being given.’ He stood to address Nina. ‘Agree to help us find Eden, and you will go too. You will be the one to
discover
Eden. Imagine it, Dr Wilde - it would be the single greatest archaeological discovery in history. Not even Atlantis compares.’

‘You might be right,’ she replied. ‘But discovering Eden isn’t much use to me if I’m dead five minutes later.’

‘There may be no need to kill you. If you find Eden, and if it contains what we suspect, then you may understand why the Covenant was created. You may even agree with its purpose.’

‘Somehow I doubt that. But why don’t you just tell me what the big secret is, right now?’

The cardinal smiled. ‘Because then you would have no incentive to find out for yourself. I know what kind of person you are, Dr Wilde. I understand you. You are driven by the need to
know
, to discover that which is hidden. You have an urge to expand the boundaries of your knowledge - of all knowledge. I understand you, because I am the same.’

‘We are
not
the same,’ Nina insisted vehemently. ‘I’m a scientist, I deal in fact - the tangible, the provable, things I can hold in my hand and show to the world. You’re doing the opposite, you’re trying to
suppress
knowledge. To protect your faith.’

‘My faith is strong enough not to need protection.’

‘Then why are you trying to destroy all trace of the Veteres?’

‘Because not everyone’s faith is as strong as mine.’ As Nina took in the implications of that, he continued, ‘Dr Wilde, science and faith are not mutually exclusive. The Church is not opposed to science, far from it. Astronomy, cosmology, genetics, evolutionary biology . . . the Church has embraced them all.’

‘After long battles,’ Nina pointed out.

‘Sometimes, yes. Controversial theories cannot become accepted overnight. But in the end, only a fool denies the undeniable. And that is when science and faith come together. They are two sides of the same coin - the search for
truth
. Through science, you can answer the question: what is this? And then through faith, you can answer the other: what does this
mean
? Only when you know both answers can you find the ultimate truth.’

‘The ultimate truth being . . .’

‘The purpose of the Covenant. The secret of the Veteres. And the hope . . .’ he looked away, at the ceiling - or something beyond it, ‘the hope that one day, we will understand how it fits into God’s plan.’

‘
Cardinale
,’ said Vogler - and this time there was a warning tone to his voice. The balance of power in the room had subtly shifted from the Covenant’s former leader to his protégé. Had di Bonaventura said too much - or was he expressing another long-withheld regret over his actions?

His words at least confirmed to Nina that whatever the secret of the long-dead civilisation might be, it did indeed conflict strongly with the words of Genesis - so much so that the Covenant was afraid of the damage it could cause to all three Abrahamic religions. But what could that secret be?

One thing was clear. For now, her only chance of survival was to accept di Bonaventura’s offer - and hope she could string out the meagre amount of information she could remember from the destroyed map long enough to escape.

And there was something else. What if . . . what if she actually
did
discover the Garden of Eden? The cardinal was right - it
would
be the greatest discovery of all time. And if she were the one to make it . . .

‘All right,’ she said, standing. ‘Cardinal? I accept your offer.’ She held out her right hand.

For a moment he seemed almost surprised. But then he took her hand, shaking it. ‘Very well. Killian,’ he said, turning to Vogler, ‘it was good to see you again, and I hope I was of one last service to the Covenant.’

Vogler bowed his head. ‘You were,
cardinale
. Thank you. Though I suspect Zamal will not be pleased with your decision.’

‘Zamal will see the wisdom of it. In time. He always does.’

‘Yes, he does. In time.’ The two men shared the smile of a private joke, then shook hands. ‘
Cardinale
,’ Vogler said again; then he led Nina to the door.

‘Dr Wilde?’ di Bonaventura said as they reached it.

‘Yes?’

‘Good luck.’

Her surprise at his apparent sincerity was such that all she could think to say was, ‘Thank you.’

As Vogler had predicted, Zamal was less than pleased about the cardinal’s decision.

‘He is
wrong
!’ he bellowed, slamming a fist down on the table. The group had left the Vatican and gone to a large house in Rome, the dome of St Peter’s still visible in the distance through its windows. ‘I knew he would side with you!’

‘You agreed to abide by his decision,’ said Vogler. ‘And now the deadlock has been broken, we have a new objective. Dr Wilde will guide us to Eden.’

Ribbsley snorted. ‘I doubt that very much. Even if she knows its location, which is unlikely, she’ll just try to delay us to give Chase a chance to get there first.’

‘She knows the risks of wasting our time,’ said Vogler, looking to where Nina was sitting apart from the others, her face stony. ‘And surely,’ he continued, turning to Callum, ‘the intelligence resources of the United States have been able to track down Chase and Blackwood by now?’