The Six Messiahs

merchants. Medieval. Formed for protection of their cities and trade rights in the absence of a central government.'

'Their influence eventually spread to every court in Europe. They raised a mercenary army, fought wars to assert their authority. The city of Lubeck, now in Germany, was the seat of their power, which reached its peak in the fourteenth century when they were as strong a force as any sovereignty.'

'But they were finally defeated.'

'By 1700 the League had all but disappeared, although Lubeck, Hamburg, and Bremen even today are still referred to as Hanseatic cities.'

'Why would their seal turn up in the middle of this business?'

'There have for the last two hundred years been persistent rumors that the League did not die out with the consolidation of Germany as originally believed. That a form of the League survived as a secret society, with its resources and objectives intact.'

'Who would have been responsible for that?'

'The merchants themselves initially. After the League dissolved, they still needed to protect their ships and caravans so they formed a militia, a private police force. And lacking the skilled men required for that work, they began to recruit criminals and thieves from port cities around the world, training those members rigorously, making them expert in arms, munitions, killing techniques.

'Through the years, this rogue branch began to prey on its employers and finally seized outright control of the organization. This renegade form of the League has survived to this day, headquartered in Eastern Europe.'

'An international guild of thieves,' said Doyle.

'Smuggling. Pirating. Trafficking in contraband. Stealing for themselves or as commissioned.'

'And you suspected them in the theft of the Vulgate from Oxford prior to our sailing.'

'Yes.'

'And you think the same men, or elements of that organization, are after the Book of Zohar as well.'

'Yes.'

'But as to the question of who they might be working for or why ...'

Jack shook his head.

'Someone in America,' said Doyle.

'Yes.'

'The Vulgate Bible would have been transported here as well. On an earlier ship.'

'Correct.'

'But we don't know where.'

Jack shook his head.

Doyle felt a satisfying and familiar meshing of the gears of their thought. This felt more like the old Sparks, the two of them alternatively sprinting ahead of each other on a chase for buried truth.

'Then we must trace these thieves back to whoever commissioned the crime,' said Doyle.

Sparks raised an eyebrow. 'How would you do it?'

'Let them steal the Book of Zohar—or think they have— and follow them.'

The slightest smile appeared at the edge of Sparks's mouth. 'Yes.'

'You'll need the full cooperation of Lionel Stern—'

'I have it.'

'You'll have mine as well.'

'No. You're here on business. Couldn't expect you to—'

'Jack. You know me better than that.'

They looked at each other:

And I know you better than you think I do, my friend, thought Doyle. I'll go along with this if only to get to the bottom of what's happened to you.

'We'll start tonight, then,' said Sparks, moving toward the door.

'I have an obligation.'

'Afterward...'

'Where shall we meet?'

'I'll come for you.'

Sparks left the room, silent as a cat.

BETWEEN DENVER AND PHOENIX

'In Hebrew Kabbalah means 'to receive,' as in the receiving of wisdom.... I don't wish to burden you, are you sure you want me to explain all this?'' asked Jacob Stern.

'Absolutely,' said Eileen. 'I'm fascinated.'

'Well, it's a long train ride. In Kabbalah it is written that God created the world along thirty-two paths of secret knowledge; these are represented by the numbers one through ten and the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each number has a secret spiritual meaning that corresponds to one of the ten power centers in the physical body. Each one of the twenty-two letters has a numerical value and a visual significance in the way it is drawn, in addition to its sound that forms language. Each of these different paths to knowledge is of equal importance in deciphering the mystery that lies behind creation. Do you follow?'

'I think so,' said Eileen without much assurance but encouraged to try by the man's soft, infectious happiness.

'The student of Kabbalah uses the sound of certain powerful words in meditation to create a higher consciousness in himself; the numerical significance of its letters is analyzed according to numerological values which reveal hidden meanings; the shape of the letters provides a basis for studying visually coded information, like the mandalas of the Hindu. Each discipline exercises a different area of the mind but all are equally valid ways for the aspiring student to move closer to enlightenment.'

Night was falling rapidly outside the windows of their moving train; the lights of Denver fading behind them as they snaked through the sparsely settled foothills to the south. Even in the dwindling twilight, one could sense the ponderous weight of the Rockies lying to the west; Eileen wasn't sure which seemed more dense and impenetrable, those mountains or the response she'd gotten from Jacob Stern to her simple query: What is it you do, exactly?

'There are only two qualities of reality that we as human beings can experience: One is physical matter, the other is information.' Stern held up a bright green apple. 'There are the atoms or particles that make up the form of an object: matter. There is the idea of the object that exists only in our minds: information. One has no meaning without the other but the combination of these two qualities is life. An apple, for instance.' He took a big bite and chewed vigorously, smiling. 'Would you care for one?'

'Thank you,' said Eileen, taking the apple he offered from his bag.

'They are called Granny Smiths; isn't that fantastic? What an image; this wiry old grandmother running around the orchard.'

Eileen laughed; he could go on talking about anything he liked as long as he made her laugh.

'It is the same with these old books I study,' he said, pulling a leatherbound volume out of his valise. 'To a person who has no experience of them they are nothing but funny symbols printed on pages bound together and wrapped in a cover. A primitive could make no sense of this object!'

'Neatly summing up how I felt about schoolbook Latin,' said Eileen.

'Of course; because they couldn't convince you of its relevance to your fifteen-year-old existence. But to a scholar whose whole life has been spent preparing, or even better to a prophet whose mind is not clouded by the influence of the physical or animal soul...'

At which point Bendigo Rymer, who had been straining to eavesdrop from the seat in front of them—outraged that Eileen had abandoned him for this interloper—fell into a heavy, untroubled sleep.

'.. .a great holy book is not just a document for the study of God or even an instrument for the communication of the will of God. It is in itself the divine body of God, embodied in a form