Temple of the Gods

A discoloured sheet of parchment was pressed between the glass plates, the bottom part raggedly torn away and the remainder showing clear signs of damage from water and time. Tightly packed Greek text was written in faded brown ink. ‘What happened to the rest of it?’ Nina asked.

‘Nobody knows,’ the old man replied. ‘When Kallikrates died, there was a dispute over his possessions. The Brotherhood took these texts from one of his brothers, but the rest were lost.’

She imagined that the taking had been by force, but was more eager to read the ancient document than criticise. Her parents had taught her Greek as a child, so the only problems were the occasionally poor legibility of the text and the low light. From what she could tell, the previous part of Kallikrates’ writings concerned the Atlantean royal court, before discussing the high priestess’s part in its affairs. ‘Seems she was quite the warmonger,’ she said. Most of her supposed prophecies were more like thinly veiled entreaties to lead Atlantis into yet another battle against its many enemies.

‘All Atlanteans are warmongers,’ said Belardinelli accusingly. ‘Violence is in their blood.’

‘And in the blood of their enemies too, apparently,’ she shot back. ‘Where’s the part about the statues?’

Belardinelli indicated a section lower down the page. Nina read it out loud. ‘“When Nantalas held the statues, a great light would fill the Temple of the Gods, giving the high priestess visions as the stone called out to her. She said that such visions let her see through the eyes of all the watching gods, and that she could feel all life in this world.” That’s what I…’

She tailed off, not wanting to let the members of the Brotherhood in on her secrets. ‘What I expected based on our new excavations,’ she continued, before quickly reading on until she found another relevant piece of text. ‘“The high priestess requested the presence of the king at the Temple of the Gods. She told him again that the power of the sky stone would make the empire invincible. When he demanded proof, she brought the statues together and touched them to the stone. The king was astounded when it…”’

That was the end of the text, nothing more than the occasional letter discernible at the torn bottom of the parchment. ‘That’s all there is?’ she asked Belardinelli.

‘Nantalas appears in a few other texts,’ he replied, ‘but only as a name — nothing more is said about her.’

She turned to Popadopoulos. ‘The Brotherhood is the only organisation that has this information, yes? There’s nobody else who might have copies of it, or another source?’

‘Not that I am aware of,’ he said.

‘And you haven’t shared anything from the archives with anybody but the IHA?’

‘We would not even have done that if we had not been forced,’ said Belardinelli, affronted.

‘Why are you asking?’ said the Greek.

‘Because,’ she said, ‘I think somebody has information about Atlantis that not even the Brotherhood of Selasphoros possesses.’

Belardinelli shook his head. ‘Impossible! The Brotherhood has been dedicated to its task for hundreds of generations. We have found everything there is to find about Atlantis.’

‘Except Atlantis itself,’ Nina reminded him. ‘You needed me to do that.’

The Italian seemed about to explode with anger, but Popadopoulos waved him down. ‘What are you suggesting, Dr Wilde?’

‘When I put the three statues together in Tokyo,’ she said, ‘I had… an experience.’

‘What kind of experience?’

‘Let’s just say that Nantalas might not have been a fraud. But the thing is, Takashi — the guy who had the statues — knew what to expect, as if he’d read this text.’ She indicated the parchment.

‘Impossible,’ Belardinelli said again.

‘I dunno — this could very easily be interpreted as what I experienced, certainly from the point of view of someone living eleven thousand years ago. But the thing is, that wasn’t the only thing he was expecting. There were… other effects, is all I can say right now, when the statues were put together. Physical effects, that… well, the only way I can describe them is extraordinary,’ she said, with a helpless shrug. ‘But Takashi wasn’t at all surprised — by any of it. Not only did he know about what’s written here, but he also knew something you don’t.’

Popadopoulos was stunned. ‘You think this man Takashi had read the missing parts of Kallikrates’ texts?’

‘Maybe. Maybe more than that. Is there anyone else who might have information about Atlantis that the Brotherhood doesn’t? Governments, other secret societies?’ She glanced up at the ceiling. ‘Religions?’

‘There is nothing in the Archivum Secretum about Atlantis,’ said Belardinelli firmly.

Popadopoulos was more doubtful. ‘Several governments have vast secret archives of their own,’ he admitted. ‘But we have never shared our knowledge with anyone, except the IHA.’

‘So, if you’re so sure that this parchment is the only copy of Kallikrates’ work, how could Takashi know what it describes?’ Nina asked.

Belardinelli took off his glasses and paced across the narrow tunnel before whirling on his heel to face Nina. ‘The other part of the page repeats the same information, obviously,’ he said, punctuating his words with more jabs from his finger. ‘Someone else possesses it — and that is where Takashi read it.’

‘Parchment could be expensive,’ Nina countered. ‘I mean, look how many words Kallikrates crammed on to this. You don’t waste it by repeating yourself.’

‘But that — that is the only possible explanation,’ said Agnelli. Nina had almost forgotten he was there.

‘No, there’s another one. You won’t like it, though,’ she told the two older men. ‘Someone inside the Brotherhood passed on the information to Takashi’s organisation.’

The silence told her that her theory had not been well received. ‘No!’ barked Belardinelli at last. ‘It is not possible. Every single member of the Brotherhood is completely loyal to the cause!’

‘You don’t have a cause any more! Atlantis has been discovered, the Frosts and their followers are dead, the Brotherhood’s been exposed — and it’s now got the UN and several governments watching over it. Maybe someone decided it was time to get out, and thought that selling secrets would be the best way to set up a retirement fund.’

‘It is… hard to believe,’ said Popadopoulos slowly. ‘Agostino is right — loyalty to the Brotherhood is very important.’

‘And besides,’ said Belardinelli, ‘there are only three people who know the full contents of the archives: myself, Nicholas and Paolo.’ He crossed his arms as if that settled the argument.

‘Well, that narrows the list of suspects, doesn’t it?’ Nina said. As the three men exchanged glances, she looked up at the shelf from which the preserved parchment had been taken. ‘Huh.’

‘What is it?’ asked Popadopoulos.

She pointed to the left of the empty spot. ‘That’s Mr Belardinelli’s handprint there in the dust.’

‘Yes? So?’ Belardinelli snapped. ‘I made it when I took down the book. You saw me do it.’

‘So whose is that on the other side?’ She indicated another mark in the grey layer.

‘You never touched that part of the shelf, Agostino,’ said Popadopoulos, moving for a better look. ‘But someone has — and recently. There is hardly any new dust.’

Nina turned to Belardinelli. ‘Are you right-handed?’

‘Yes,’ he said, puzzled and angry. ‘What has that to do with anything?’

‘When you climbed up, you used your left hand for support while you pulled the book out with your right hand — your stronger hand. But that mark was made by someone’s right hand… meaning they moved the book with their left.’

‘I am right-handed,’ Popadopoulos told her.

‘Yeah, I thought you would be.’ Now she faced Agnelli. ‘The computer was set up for someone left-handed. And Mr Belardinelli here said he never uses it, so that only leaves you.’ Prickles of sweat blossomed across his broad face even in the climate-controlled cool of the catacomb. ‘You’re left-handed, Mr Agnelli. And you knew where the parchment was without having to check — and the ladder was even right here.’ She looked back at the other men. ‘How does that sound?’

Their faces betrayed shock — which, she quickly realised, was far greater than her deduction deserved. She