The Sacred Bones (26 page)

His best intelligence people kept insisting that only an insider could've been capable of such an elaborate heist. Teleksen knew what they meant. To secrete weapons into Jerusalem was like walking on water. One would need to be able to circumvent checkpoints, metal detectors, and myriad other logistical hurdles. Few could accomplish that.

Of course, the helicopter had proven to be a tremendous tactical weapon. Was its theft intended to mock Israel's security system? Luckily, his agents had managed to prevent the Palestinians and the media from discovering the true fate of the Black Hawk. But knowing that beyond these borders many were unwilling to cooperate with Israeli intelligence, Teleksen was deeply troubled by the fact that the thieves had so quickly reached international waters. Because if the relic had been taken out to sea...

Something rubbery beneath his left foot interrupted his thoughts and he looked down. Lifting his shoe, he realized he had been standing on a human ear. Scowling, he stepped sideways.

Was there any way out of this? Barton was supposed to be coming up with answers, but only seemed interested in peddling wacky theories about ancient history. The archaeologist was proving to be a real problem.

Then an idea suddenly came to Teleksen, and he was sure Topol would approve of it. Far from being a liability, Barton might actually be the solution.

V
ATICAN
C
ITY

Both scientists stared in amazement at the screen.

The scanned skeletal frame had been calibrated to reconstruct muscle mass with a layer of colorless skin applied. Now this new data had transformed the statue-like image into a complete 3-D human apparition.

Astonished at the final result, Bersei's hand was covering his mouth. "What would you say is his ethnic origin?"

Charlotte shrugged. It looked like maybe Aldrich had been correct after all. "I'm not sure he has one." Her words sounded totally implausible.

Blending dark and light, the assigned skin pigmentation added an eerily lifelike quality, defining muscles and highlighting features.

Giovanni zoomed in on the face.

Though unmistakably masculine, the image exuded a subtle androgyny. With their hypnotic aquamarine irises, the eyes were wide, tapering slightly upwards in the corners beneath slender eyebrows. The long nose broadened slightly above full, mocha-colored lips. Blackish-brown wisps formed a thick hairline that pinched in hard corners at the temples. The facial hair was similarly colored and thick, mostly evident along the angular jaw line.

"Quite a handsome specimen," Bersei said in a very clinical tone.

"I'd say he's perfect," Charlotte replied. "I don't mean in a male model or movie star sort of way...but he's unlike anyone I've ever seen." Looking for anything anomalous, nothing about the image suggested a genetic defect, unless perfection was considered a flaw. Now she wondered what Aldrich's analysis had actually detected. Could the prototype scanner have malfunctioned? Had the imaging software misinterpreted the data?

Tilting his head sideways, Bersei said, "If you took all the typical ethnic characteristics of humanity and put them in a blender, this would probably be the end result." Face tight, he held his hand out at the computer, still overwhelmed by what he was seeing. "It's absolutely fascinating that any one human being could display such complexity."

"Now what?"

Bersei looked haunted, as if the image was almost torturing him. "I'm really not sure." Tearing his eyes from the monitor, he glanced up at her with tired eyes. "We've performed a full forensic examination"-- he began counting off with his fingers-- "carbon dating, a complete genetic profile. The only major item left is the symbol on the ossuary."

"Well, if you want to look into that," Charlotte suggested, "I can begin preparing our preliminary presentation for Father Donovan. I'll compile all the data, the photos, and start writing a report. Then maybe tomorrow we can tell him what we've found so far. See what he recommends."

"That sounds like a plan. Who knows, maybe that symbol has something to tell us about this guy."

Bersei returned to his workstation and turned on the digital camera. Humming softly to himself, he proceeded to snap several close-ups of the ossuary's single relief, uploading the images onto the computer terminal.

Marveling at the quality of the engraver's work, he ran his finger over the raised symbol carved onto the ossuary's side:

From the onset, this image had perplexed him. The ossuary was clearly used almost exclusively by Jews in ancient Judea. Yet he remembered both the dolphin and the trident as being primarily pagan symbols, adopted by many early Roman cults. It was clearly in contradiction to the relic's supposed origin.

Back at the computer, he brought up the web browser. He began with simple search criteria:
trident
. Almost instantly, a flood of hits came back at him. He began clicking through the most relevant ones.

The trident itself had many meanings. Hindus called it the
trishul
, or "the sacred three," symbolizing creation, preservation, and destruction. In the Middle East, it was associated with lightning. Its alter ego, the pitchfork, later found its way into Christian art to symbolize the devil-- an early attempt at discrediting pagan imagery.

Singularly, the dolphin was equally mysterious. In ancient times, the intelligent mammals were revered for their devotion to saving the lives of shipwrecked sailors. Romans also used dolphins to signify the journey souls would take far to the ends of the sea to their final resting place on the Blessed Isles. The dolphin was also strongly associated with the gods Eros, Aphrodite, and Apollo.

But certainly, the symbol engraved into the ossuary fused the two for a more purposeful meaning. But what could it be?

Bersei tried to find more references that could explain the dolphin twined around the trident.

The dolphin and trident seemed to first appear together in Greek mythology, both symbolizing the power of Neptune, the sea god. His trident was a gift from the one-eyed titans, the Cyclops. When the god was angered, he'd pound the ocean floor with it to stir the oceans, causing storms. Able to morph into other creatures, Neptune frequently chose to appear to humans in the form of a dolphin. The Romans later renamed the Greek sea god Poseidon.

Bersei was certain there had to be more that he was missing.

Another hit came back, linking to ancient coins minted by Pompey, a Roman general in the mid-first century BC. On the front of the silver coin was an effigy of the general's laurelled head flanked on both sides by a dolphin and a trident-- not blended together, but certainly depicted side by side. And Bersei recalled that early in Pompey's career, he had invaded Jerusalem.

He leaned forward.

Following his siege of Jerusalem in 64 BC, he had ordered the crucifixion of thousands of Jewish zealots-- all in a single day. It was said that so many crucifixes were needed, that the general had stripped away every tree from the city's surrounding mountains.

Crucifixion. Jerusalem.

Could this be the connection? Could the ossuary be linked to the notorious Roman general?

Considering this for a long moment, Bersei still wasn't satisfied. He still vaguely recalled seeing this exact depiction somewhere else. And somehow, he strongly believed it was linked to Rome.

The hunt continued.

Using various search phrases, like "dolphin around trident," he finally found a clear hit. Clicking the link, he was astounded when the exact image on the ossuary filled the screen.

A smile broke across the anthropologist's face. "Now we're getting somewhere," he muttered.

Scrolling down, he read the text that accompanied the image.

The words hit him like a stone. He read it again, dumbfounded, his entire world caught in the screen's contours. "Charlotte," he called out. "You have to see this." He slumped back into his chair, covering his mouth with his hand in disbelief.

Two seconds later, she was at his side. His face drained, the Italian pointed at the computer screen.

"What is it?"

"The meaning behind the relief on the ossuary." Bersei's voice was quiet as he pointed again to the monitor.

Seeing his bewildered expression, she scrunched her face and said, "Looks like it did have something to say after all."

"I'd say so," he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

Leaning closer, Charlotte read the text aloud: "Adopted by early Christians, the dolphin intertwined around the trident is a portrayal of..." she paused.

The low drone of the ventilation system became suddenly pronounced.

"...Christ's crucifixion." Her voice trembled as she uttered the words, which seemed to hang in the air like vapor.

It took Charlotte a moment until the full impact hit her. "Oh my God." A vice tightened in her stomach and she had to look away.

"I should have known." Bersei's strained voice sounded tormented, weak. "The dolphin shuttles spirits to the afterlife. The trident, the sacred three, representing the Trinity."

"No way. This isn't right." She looked down at him.

"I
know
the ossuary's patina is genuine," Bersei protested. "Every single part. Consistent throughout, including the residue covering this relief. Plus I've established that the mineral content could only have come from one place-- Israel. And the evidence we saw on the bones reinforces that message. Scourging. Crucifixion. We even have the nails and bits of wood," he emphasized, throwing his hands up in surrender. "Just how much more obvious could all this be?"

Her mind went momentarily blank, as if a cord powering her rational thought had been unplugged. "If this is really the body of...Jesus Christ"-- it almost hurt for her to say it-- "think about it-- how profound this is." Charlotte saw the crucifix hanging over her bed. "But it
can't
be. Everyone knows the crucifixion story. The Bible describes it in minute detail and it doesn't agree with this. There are too many inconsistencies." She strode briskly to the workstation.

"What are you doing?" Bersei was out of his chair.

"Here. See for yourself." She jabbed a shaking finger at the brow of the skeleton's skull. "Do you see any evidence of thorns?"

He looked up at her then straight back at the skull. Giovanni knew what she was implying. Scrutinizing it intently, he failed to detect even minute scratches. "But surely it's hardly likely that thorns would inflict damage on the bone itself?"

Moving around the side of the workstation, Charlotte was now down by the legs. "What about this? Broken knees?" She pointed at them. "I don't remember these being mentioned in the Bible. Wasn't it a spear in Jesus's side that finished him off?" Here she was trying to renew her lost faith at a time when she most needed to believe in something bigger than herself, and Bersei-- of all people-- was tearing it down again. Worst of all, he was using science to do it.

The anthropologist spread his hands. "Look, I understand where you're going with this. I'm just as confused as you are."

She studied him intently. "Giovanni, you don't
really
think these are the remains of Jesus Christ,
do you
?"

He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "There's always the possibility that this symbol was only meant to honor Christ," he offered. "This man," he pointed to the skeleton, "could merely have been some early Christian, a martyr perhaps. This could all be a tribute to Christ." He shrugged. "It's not exactly a name on that box. But you saw the genetic profile. It's not like any man we've ever seen. I'd have to say that I'm pretty certain about this one."

"But it's only a symbol," she protested. "How can you be sure?"

Bersei was taken aback by the American's passionate denial. He wished he could feel as strongly. "Come with we." He motioned for her to follow.

"Where are we going?" she called after him, pacing behind him into the corridor.

Without stopping, he turned back to her. "I'll explain in a minute. You'll see."

P
HOENIX

Evan Aldrich threaded his way past the workstations heaped with scientific gadgetry, making for the glass-paneled enclosure to the rear of BMS's main laboratory.

Once inside, he closed the door, reached into his lab coat and removed a sealed glass vial, which he set down next to a high-powered microscope. The prototype scanner sat on an adjacent desk, looking like a streamlined photocopier. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves.

There was a brief knock and the door opened.

"Morning, Evan. What's happening?"

Glancing over, he found Lydia Campbell, his managing technician for genetic research, poking her head around the door frame. Aldrich's hand reflexively moved to cover the vial. "Got some samples I need to look at."

"The ones you were working on yesterday?" She looked down at the vial beneath his hand. "Thought you'd finished with them."

"Yeah, I'm just having another look at something."

"Well, you know where I am if you need anything. Coffee?"