Mateos pointed to one of the smaller structures. “That is the Chapel of the Tablets, where the Ark is kept. When I was a young man, the Ark was kept in the sanctuary of the church, concealed behind a curtain, just as in the Tabernacle that Moses built, but after many years, the heat—” He squeezed his fist, “—of the Glory of God kept cracking the stones of the floor. So, this chapel was built, according to the same specifications that Moses used. The floor stones, they never cracked again.
“The Glory of God,” he repeated. “It is not for men to see. Only one man, the guardian, a brother of the holy order, who never leaves the chapel, may go before the Ark to offer incense, just as in the days of Moses. I have not seen the Ark. No one but the guardian may see the Ark. Anyone else…” He made a lateral slicing gesture. “Dead. So you see, I cannot help you. The Ark must remain in the Chapel.”
“What good is having it, if you can’t use it when you need it?” Lazarus said. Carter could tell from his tone that he was holding back his frustration.
“It is a symbol of God’s presence,” Mateo said, his tone still patient, but with a slight edge. “Not something that we are meant to use.”
Carter spoke up. “Abuna, has it occurred to you that perhaps this is the reason the Ark was given to your Church? So that it would be available when this time of need arose?”
Mateo gave her a patronizing smile. “My child, has it occurred to you that God sends these signs, these earthquakes, so that we may demonstrate our faith in Him?” He pressed his hands together as if genuflecting. “I am sorry that you have come all this way, but it is not for nothing. Go, and may God’s peace be upon you.” He bowed his head and then turned away without another word.
When he was gone, Lazarus sighed. “That went well.”
“About as well as expected.”
“Convenient how nobody ever gets to see it. They never have to prove it’s in there.”
“Still, if it was a fake, you’d think someone would have exposed it by now.”
Lazarus nodded, staring at the chapel, but he said nothing. She watched him for a few seconds. “What are you thinking?”
“George sent us here to check it out. Rule it out. That’s what we have to do.”
“We can’t just force our way in there and take it.” When he didn’t respond, she repeated the statement. “We can’t do that, Erik.”
“If it’s a fake, we won’t need to take it. I just need a few seconds with it.”
“How are you going to tell the difference in a few seconds?”
“Like you said, it’s covered in gold. It will be heavy.”
“And if it’s real, just touching it might…” She trailed off. “Erik, you’re not… No. You can’t do that.”
He reached out and pulled her into an embrace that felt almost as indulgent as Mateo’s smile. “Pretty sure I’m the only one who can.”
FORTY
Fiona stared down at the cross carved into the cavern floor. It was symmetrical, all four arms the same length, like a Swiss cross or a plus-sign, with flaring serifs at each end. “Knights Templar,” she echoed. “Crusaders?”
She knew a little about the Templar Knights, but she also recognized that a lot of her knowledge was suspect. The Templars showed up in a lot places — video games, adventure novels, conspiracy theories — and most of what was said about them was exaggerated, sensationalized, or outright fiction.
Gallo answered first. “A Christian military order, founded in the twelfth century. They called themselves the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon. Poor, because they took a monastic vow of poverty, but that didn’t last long. They were founded to provide protection for Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land after the First Crusade, but they became very wealthy and influential in the Church. Some scholars have called them the world’s first multinational corporation. Of course, they were also fierce and ruthless fighters.”
“There have always been rumors that the Templars found the Ark,” Pierce said with a scowl. “Along with the Holy Grail, the True Cross, the bones of Mary Magdalene…you name it, the Templars found it. I guess this is one time that the rumors were right.”
“Found it how?” Fiona asked. “They didn’t come in the same way we did.” She paused a beat, then added. “Did they?”
“It’s possible,” Pierce admitted. “Maybe one of them spoke the Mother Tongue as well. Or…” He looked up, shining his light into the opening overhead. “They might have dug straight down.”
“But how would they have even known where to look? Did they work it out, like we did?”
Pierce gave a snort of disgust. “Not likely. Not unless someone told them the length of a Sacred cubit.” He stopped, as if the words had triggered a thought cascade. He looked away, as if searching for the answer in the dimensions of the chamber.
“The Templars were headquartered on the Temple Mount,” Gallo said. “Perhaps they found some ancient scroll — the Copper Scroll, maybe — describing the hiding place of the Ark.”
Pierce continued to stare at the wall, lost in whatever musings had distracted him. Gallo went on. “When they got here, there were probably all kinds of scrolls and maps that don’t exist today. They must have found something that led them here.”
“So if they took the Ark, what did they do with it?”
“By the thirteenth century,” Gallo said, still in history professor mode, “the tide had turned against the Christian crusaders in the Holy Lands. The Templars relocated their headquarters, and the bulk of their treasure, to Cyprus.
“Like any successful business, they had enemies. King Philip of France owed the Templars a lot of money and resented their influence, which went beyond national boundaries. So in 1307, he conspired with the Church to have the order disbanded and their leadership arrested and charged with crimes against God.
“Their assets were seized and turned over to a rival order, the Hospitallers of Malta.” Gallo paused and raised a thoughtful eyebrow. “I doubt very much that they, or the Templars for that matter, would have kept the discovery of something as important as the Ark of the Covenant a secret.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Pierce said, returning his attention to them. “The Ark wasn’t just a treasure or a holy relic. It was a weapon, and if word got out that the Templars had it, it would have been the start of an arms race. Everyone in Christendom would have gone to war to possess it. In fact, that may have been part of King Philip’s motive for trying to overthrow the Templars.
“There’s another rumor that the Templars were warned of the plot, and that, before their arrest, they spirited their greatest treasures away in a hay wagon. After that…” He shrugged. “It depends on which wild theory you believe. A lot of people believe that the Templars went underground, guarding the treasure, and eventually reformed as the Freemasons. There’s a lot of Templar symbolism in Masonic rites, so maybe there’s some truth to it. And if you follow that thread a little further, it might have been brought to America. Several of the Founding Fathers were Freemasons.”
“Where do you think it is?”
“An excellent question.”
Fiona let out a yelp and whirled in the direction of the new voice, her heart already racing out of control. Pierce and Gallo reacted about the same way, illuminating the face of the newcomer. A young-looking, red-haired Caucasian man stood at the mouth of the tunnel leading back the way they had come. He took a step forward, revealing that he wasn’t alone. Two more men followed him out of the passage. Both wore military-style fatigues and carried compact Uzi machine pistols. They held the weapons casually, pointed at the floor, but the very fact of their presence was a tacit threat.