Matt swallowed hard. “What’s that?” He tried to keep his tone casual.
“Can’t say, exactly. I’m not even supposed to know about it, but I heard talk. When we get ahold of it, we’ll make sure the world is a whole lot better than it is today.”
Matt forced a smile. Whatever this Revelation Machine was, it didn’t sound like something the Dominion ought to get his hands on. Somehow, he had to get word to Tam.
Chapter 30
“The Great Library of Alexandria was like nothing in the world at its time. It held the world’s largest collection of books — legend places the catalog at well over half a million scrolls.” Krueger handed Avery a coffee table book with a painting of the fabled library on the cover.
He’d taken up residence in Rachel’s only apartment complex. From the looks of it, he’d quickly made himself right at home. He’d set up a computer station along with four cheap shelf units stuffed with books and papers.
“How did they get all the books?” Avery thumbed through the pages as she spoke. Unlike Sofia, her own knowledge of the library was limited.
“Any way they could. They borrowed and copied manuscripts or traded them. When a ship came into port, any books on board had to be lent to the library for copying. Sometimes they were even returned. Travelers passing through had their books confiscated, though they were reimbursed for them. Basically, anything in the world that was written down, the library tried to make copies.”
Krueger filled four cups of coffee and set them on the battered coffee table along with milk and sugar. Avery and Sofia had taken the only chairs, so he and Willis sat on the floor.
“It was burned down, right?” Avery asked.
“It’s not that simple. The library gradually declined over several centuries. Fires played a part, but so did war, politics, and religion. There are legends of Christian and Muslim leaders, at different times, ordering documents burned that did not agree with their respective holy books. There’s no firm evidence that the more sensational stories are true, but there’s no doubt that some of that occurred.”
“What about war and politics?” Willis asked.
“If you know the history of Alexandria, it was a Greek city founded in Egypt, eventually taken over by Rome, and torn apart by Roman civil war. We don’t know exactly how much of the library was destroyed, but we do know that much of the contents of the library was taken back to Rome.”
“I understand that you’ve managed to trace much of the lost contents,” Sofia said. Can you tell us how?”
Krueger took a drink of coffee and sat in silence for a few seconds, as if weighing his answer.
“First of all, we need to remember that most of the books in the Great Library were copies of books that came from somewhere else. It’s not like many of the books were actually written in Alexandria. Virtually all of them existed in other parts of the known world. Also, part of the library’s mission was to disseminate information. Sharing knowledge through copying and distributing books was a major part of the daily work. So, it’s not completely accurate to call the library “lost.” The building was lost — we don’t even know where it stood, but the knowledge is still out there.”
“All of it?” Avery asked.
Krueger smiled. “Good question. Let me show you my work.”
He moved to the computer desk, turned on his laptop, and called up a map of the world. Circles in varying sizes and colors were dotted all across it.
“I’ll give you the short version of what I do. I created a master list of all the “hot” topics, if you will, of the first few centuries of the library’s existence: science, philosophy, you name it. To that, I added the names of the great thinkers and teachers of the day, and any scholars who were known to have been associated with the library.
“Next, I searched out the places where knowledge from this period seems to have been preserved.”
“You mean, like, in museum collections?” Willis asked.
“Sometimes,” Krueger said. “But it goes deeper than that. I looked for cultures or regions where the ancient wisdom appeared to have the greatest impact. I looked for literature that referenced the great teachers and contained unique insights. As you can see, there’s plenty.” He tapped the touch pad, and only the smallest dots, all pale green, appeared.
“The greatest concentrations are in expected places, like Rome, but there are others.” He tapped the pad again, and larger circles, all blue, appeared. “I also considered the historical events, like the Roman civil war, that could affect the dispersal of knowledge.”
He fell silent for no apparent reason.
“Are you all right?” Avery asked.
“Sorry. I have a flair for the dramatic.” Krueger winked at her. “Finally, I assessed all the legends and theories — even the wacky ones. I evaluated them for frequency, consistency, and whether or not they made sense. Adding them in, you see the end result here.”
A final tap and now only a few circles appeared on the map.
“The bright green circles are your repositories of basic knowledge: science, philosophy, and history.”
“Cairo, Rome, Paris, London, Washington, no surprises there.” Sofia sounded disappointed.
“What about the blue circles?” Avery tapped a fingernail on a blue dot in Washington D.C.
“Those represent arcane knowledge. The special documents that would have been hidden away, either from religious leaders, or by them. Or hidden by governments.”
“You think our government is hiding secrets from the ancient world?” Avery asked.
“Come on,” Willis chided. “Do you really think there’s anything our government won’t hide from us?”
“I’m not saying the knowledge is definitely there,” Krueger explained. “I’m saying all the signs point to these places. If such knowledge exists, that’s likely where it will be found.”
“Do you know where, exactly, in Washington?” Sofia rested her hands on Krueger’s chair and leaned forward eagerly.
“I have a theory, but that’s all that it is.”
“What about the other places?” Willis asked.
“Jerusalem. Possibly beneath the Temple Mount, though I suspect whatever was hidden there is long gone. Wewelsburg Castle in Germany — a Nazi stronghold.”
“And the other?” Avery asked.
“The Vatican’s secret archives.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.” Sofia stood and pressed her hands to her temples. “I’ve tried so many times to get in there. There’s no way.”
“Well, I do have some good news.” Krueger spun about in his chair. “Based on what you’ve shown me, there’s little doubt that Atlantis, or a society that inspired the legend, existed, which means there almost definitely would have been a record in the library. Our best bet, though, is not the library.”
Avery wondered if the expression on her face was as dumbstruck as those of Sofia and Willis.
“What is it then?” Sofia asked.
“We want the Egyptian Hall of Records.”
“The what?” Avery and Sofia said in unison.
“It’s a mythical library supposedly buried under the Great Sphinx of Giza. It’s said to have housed the history of the lost continent of Atlantis, plus ancient Egyptian history. Sort of an Egyptian counterpart to the Great Library.”
“That don’t make sense,” Willis argued. “Why wouldn’t that knowledge be part of the library at Alexandria?”
“Because Alexandria was, essentially, a Greek city that just happened to be located in Egypt. Alexander the Great founded it. Ptolemy ruled after his death, and was responsible for founding the library. The Egyptians wouldn’t have handed their knowledge over to foreigners.”
Avery didn’t know what to make of this new information. She turned to Sofia, who frowned at Krueger.