of philosophy and theorising about the world. Faith provides succour and comfort and it has its uses. However, it is not enough. It’s there to justify where something cannot be explained with logic and scientific means. They call them the mysteries because they cannot explain them and expect people to believe them. But enlightened people seek more, seek knowledge and seek reasoning and explanation an trustification, which is what leads to understanding and comprehension of all that is happening around us. Religion is what we cannot explain, is a means to brainwashing the meek, but it can also be a force for good where it encourages and teaches people to be generous and good and respectful to their fellow human beings, to their neighbours.’
‘But what Plato, Aristotle and Euclid and Descartes all teach us is to question, always to question and seek higher knowledge and that is what serves humanity better and leads to the greater achievement, exploration, experimentation and then invention and creativity. Because art is also part of this circle of curiosity and the succour of the soul and the mind.’
‘And yet what we have found so far in respect of the last Emperor is next to a church or a mosque, both religious establishments. So science and religion do go hand in hand as a force for good, a force for bringing people together, even if it, sometimes, draws them apart.’
Ptolemy raised his arms to silence them.
‘Well done. You have found the bridge and you are now ready to cross it. Farewell.’
Based on his earlier offer extended to them, Aristo really expected he would try to detain them, but apparently he misjudged him. Nevertheless, they should be cautious.
‘Giorgos, don’t drop your guard. We are not out of the woods yet. Let’s get that manuscript and get out of here.’
King Ptolemy I Soter, Pharaoh of Egypt, or rather his ghost, was gone, but only next door to his palace to join his physical self, who, during this episode, had continued to converse with Hieronymus and a new guest, Eliagos, from a place called Smyrna, fresh from a meeting with Stephanos, a dangerous deployment of time-hopping.
‘Eliagos, I have a gift for you. Our conniving friends next door are smarter than I expected. But right now they are vulnerable, because by solving my riddle, they believe that they are out of danger. They are simply too precious to let them get away, don’t you think?’
Ptolemy’s face turned into a mask of mirth and sardonic pleasure.
The air went cold and foul, and Giorgos and Aristo started to find it hard to breathe. There were sounds of running feet coming from the other end of the hall and approaching quickly. Aristo looked at Giorgos.
‘I think we have overstayed our welcome.’
Aristo didn’t know how he knew, but something directed his hand to touch the bust with the likeness of the Emperor.
They found themselves underwater surrounded by ruins, columns, statues, huge blocks of marble, a forgotten underwater ghost city. Aristo indicated upwards. They both desperately needed air. They broke through the surface of the Alexandrian bay blue sea.
They emerged on a beach, near the port and the old quarter of Alexandria of the present day.
‘Aristo, judging from the location, I think those ruins underwater must be what’s left of the Royal Quarter of the Ptolemies. Looking at the city, we are clearly in modern times, but I can’t tell whether it’s the same time and year we left.’
‘Let’s find out before we do anything else. At least it’s good to see we are back into our normal clothes.’
And then they saw it in front of them. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
‘At least now we know it’s sometime after 2003 when the Library opened its doors.’
They saw lots of places with the current date. They breathed a sigh of relief. They seemed to be back in their own time and probably at the time they were about to enter the Library before forcibly evicted to another era. They again went through the front entrance, silently hoping for the real thing this time.
Yet, with only the slightest hint of hesitation, they entered, once more, the venerated space. A space suffering with split personality disorder, a space that played on two time dimensions; conventional library by day that doubled as a portal to other days and lives of others by night.
CHAPTER 28
Alexandria, Egypt
Present day
Once through the door, a huge space that resembled a cavern opened up in front of them. In contrast to the bombardment by noise running rampant outside, the library was a different solar system, with the merest of hushed sounds, not near enough to register on the Alexandrian decibel scale.
Giorgos and Aristo hadn’t even spent two minutes in silent awe of the hungry-to-share-knowledge beast that sucked them in, when Aristo’s mother, Elli, materialised in front of them.
‘Mother. How did you…?’
‘I wanted to be the first to hear what you’ve seen. And I see a familiar bulge in your side pocket. Is that a gift for me?’
Aristo had totally forgotten about the manuscript he obtained in an Alexandria of another age. Well, it was an eventful trip after all, to say the least. He patted the outside of the pocket she indicated and then put his hand inside and brought it out. He handed it to her with a flourish. ‘A gift from Ptolemy with his respects to the queen of his heart.’
Elli took the manuscript and smiled at her son’s joke. ‘Have you studied this?’
‘We’ve had no time. We had to get out of there in a hurry. I think Ptolemy had decided to keep us. He had praised our intelligence earlier and wished we could have stayed there in his service. I initially thought he was joking, but then I sensed his cold intent. That’s why I could not be more surprised when he left without even a backward glance. Nevertheless, I remained uneasy. I was alerted to the first sign of danger when we heard what sounded like lots of feet on a purposeful and synchronised walkabout. That was not the sound of relaxed visitors. The sound of those feet declared its intent and left no doubt of its deadly precision and efficiency in dealing with tiresome intruders.
‘It was not an empty threat, an attempt to frighten us. The danger was not the figment of a hyperactive imagination. What was facing us was a real danger, a declaration of war. I knew what was coming was an effective sentence as slaves of the exalted almighty Ptolemy, unquestionable and unchallenged ruler of all Egypt and its dominions. My suspicions were confirmed when we saw at the far end of the cavernous main hall of the library a bunch of Ptolemy’s men approaching. We knew they were coming for us.’ Giorgos and Aristo then proceeded to tell her about their adventure.
‘I’m glad you are safe.’ Elli pointed at the manuscript with her forefinger. ‘Do you know what this is?’ Giorgos and Aristo both shook their heads. She continued without waiting for a response. ‘I wonder why Ptolemy let this slip through his fingers. Maybe he didn’t know its significance. Then again maybe he did and it was a rouse to lull us all into a false sense of arrogance, of complacency that comes with easy success, hoping that we would become careless and expose a weakness he could exploit.
‘Or, perhaps, he wanted us not to believe that he would let such a precious object go unless it was a fake and pay it no notice. Another possibility is simply that if he let it go then it is indeed a fake.’ Elli realised she was thinking aloud. She paused and shook off the speculation. ‘Anyway, these, I believe, may be the missing seven pages of the Book of the Pallanians.’ Both Giorgos and Aristo went to stand next to her to have a look. ‘Of course, to confirm my suspicion, I will need to take it to someone who would know.’
‘Where will you find such a person? Aren’t practically all Pallanians or anyone who would know dead?’
‘We will need to go and see Aggelos.’ Elli said with a sense of urgency.
‘Who is Aggelos?’
‘He’s a monk. More specifically the curator and keeper of the library and treasures of the Monastery of Pantokrator.’
‘On Mount Athos.’
‘Yes.’
