“Actually, I was talking about the John Dee manuscript. Perez used Dee’s crystal ball…what did you call it Prof? The Shew Stone? He was able to use it to read Dee’s manuscript. The Shew Stone might lead us to the Moon stone.”
Professor offered a dubious frown. “That sounded more like an optical effect to me.”
“Maybe, but how did Dee know about the orbs under the Pyramid? We need to get a look at that crystal ball. You said it’s in the British Museum, right?”
“And if that doesn’t work?” Professor looked at Dorion again. “When you visited Delphi, you didn’t really know what to look for. Maybe that’s why you didn’t find anything. I think it might be worth a second look. There may be something there that supports the hypothesis that the original Omphalos was a sphere, taken by the Phoenicians.”
Ophelia leaned forward. “If I may make a suggestion, why don’t we do both? Paul and Jade…”
She reached across the table and laid a hand on Jade’s forearm in what seemed like a calculated move. “May I call you Jade?” She pressed on without waiting for an answer. “Paul and Jade, who have both experienced the space-time effect, can go to London an investigate Dee’s crystal ball. Dr. Chapman and I can go to Delphi and look at it from a fresh perspective.”
Oh, he’s Dr. Chapman, but we’re BFFs? Jade bit her lip to keep from saying it aloud. She looked to see what Professor’s reaction would be.
“I’m not sure splitting up is such a good idea,” he said, though Jade thought he sounded reluctant to disagree with Ophelia. “There are people trying to kill us, after all.”
“I don’t think we need to be too concerned about that,” Ophelia said. “As you may have noticed, my security team is up for any challenge.”
Professor turned to Jade. “It’s your call.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Jade replied quickly. “I can take of myself.” Why did I just say that?
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
No, she wanted the scream. What I want is for you to take charge, to tell me that you don’t want to let me go off on my own. But I’m too proud to admit it.
Instead, she just shrugged.
“Then it’s settled,” Ophelia announced, rising from the table. “I’ll call ahead to my pilot and tell him to get the jet ready.”
PART TWO: WINDOWS
FOURTEEN
Jade stared up at the decorative pediment above the entrance to the British Museum, and for the first time since arriving in London, felt her mood start to lighten. The triangular relief, which featured sculpted figures and sat atop a row of Ionic columns, looked as it might once have decorated a Greek temple. What Jade found most interesting about the piece was the central figure, which stood tallest of all; a woman who Jade thought might be the goddess Athena. In her outstretched left hand, she held a golden orb.
She pointed it out to Dorion. “I think we’re on the right track.”
The physicist gazed up at the sculpted figure. “She is the embodiment of science. The sculptures tell the story of the progress of civilization. You see primitive man hiding behind a rock there on the left. He receives enlightenment from the angel and then learns art, poetry, drama and music, until he becomes educated man, the master of his world.”
“I was talking about the sphere in her hand. It seems like a good omen.”
Dorion gave a pragmatic shrug.
His ambivalence did not dampen her rising spirits.
Ophelia’s private jet — a Gulfstream V — was in most respects more luxurious than the hotel room Jade had been forced to abandon in San Jose — the only thing missing was a hot bath — but no matter how it was dressed up, Jade always found air travel to be an exhausting experience. Her funk had only increased when they had arrived at Biggin Hill field, a small airport on the southeastern edge of the Greater London area. Just as she and Dorion were about to depart, Professor had asked, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
She felt like screaming. Instead, she had managed a confident smile. “I’ll be fine. You and Ophelia enjoy your Greek holiday.”
He frowned. It was a reaction, but not the one she’d been hoping for. “It’s only going to take a couple hours to check out the museum. Maybe we should just wait for you.”
For such a smart guy, he can really be clueless sometimes. “It might take longer. You guys stick to the plan. Paul and I will catch up as soon as we’re done here.”
And that had been the end of that. Jade and Dorion, accompanied by a four-man security detail, climbed into a big gas-guzzling — and probably armor-plated — SUV and headed north toward London proper. She wasn’t even sure why the thought of Professor running off to Greece with Ophelia, who was about as real as a vintage Barbie doll, bothered her; it wasn’t like she and Prof were an item. She had contemplated telling their driver to skip the museum and take her to a hotel; maybe that long awaited soak and some room service would lift the dark cloud. Now, she was glad she had kept the idea to herself.
The museum was spectacular.
After passing under the auspicious personification of Science, with her golden orb, Jade found herself in what looked at first glance like an open plaza, surrounded by elegant Old World buildings. In fact, the entire space was indoors, enclosed by a glass roof, which spread out like an umbrella from a circular structure in the center. The round building was the Reading Room, all that remained of the old British Library, which had been badly damaged by bomb attacks during World War II. The other “buildings” were in fact just facades, and each one led into a different wing of the museum. The British Museum was the first ever public museum, and boasted what was arguably the finest collection of art and history in the world. With more than eight million pieces in all, Jade almost felt guilty for being so interested in just one.
Almost.
They made their way into the Enlightenment Gallery, a long room on the eastern side of the Great Court. The Enlightenment Gallery was in the original 18th century museum building, and was a tribute to spirit, which had led to the creation of the museum. Its shelves and display cases contained a large and diverse assemblage of items gathered from around the world by famous British explorers and champions of enlightenment like James Cook, Charles Darwin, and Howard Carter. The collection even included a clockwork brass orrery from the 1750s.
Another good omen.
The Shew Stone and other relics once used by Dr. Dee, were located in the Religion and Ritual section of the room. The red painted display case featured a large mirror of polished obsidian, a seal stamped on a sheet of what looked like gold, and three wax tablets, engraved with pentacles, seven-pointed stars and other occult symbols. The small globe of smoky quartz sitting on a plain black tripod, looked disappointingly ordinary by comparison.
Jade placed a palm against the glass cover and closed her eyes. Nothing. She turned to Dorion. “Let’s find a curator and see if they’ll be willing to extend us a little professional courtesy.”
It took an hour for them to finally meet the principal curator of the Enlightenment Gallery, a woman who introduced herself as Dr. Allenby.
Jade extended a hand. “I’m Dr. Ihara,” she said, resisting the impulse to adopt a friendlier, less formal posture. “I’m currently working with the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico at Teotihuacan.”
It wasn’t technically a lie; she had not resigned her position, nor to the best of her knowledge, had she been fired. Presumed dead is not the same as terminated, she told herself.