“Interesting,” I said, “and how does a librarian come by this knowledge, and why do you bring it to me?” Thinking is this guy playing me…?
“I suppose one could refer to me as a librarian of sorts, but please, Signore, I apologize; let me start again.” He looked around the park like a scared rabbit looking for the fox and then went on. “I am a researcher and archivist at the Vatican Apostolic Archive.”
Chapter Seven
I sat with furrowed brow, not understanding, and turned to Doc to see him sitting there, eyes wide and mouth agape.
What the hell? “Doc,” I said in a low voice, “what’s going on?”
In an almost reverent whisper, he said to me, “Don’t you know? That’s the Vatican’s secret library.”
That surprised me, but I regained my composure as I turned back to our visitor. “All right, you have my attention; go on.”
“I have worked at the archive for 40 years researching, reviewing, and organizing books and documents. A year ago, I had a visit from a Cardinal bishop with a strange request. He wanted me to search for anything pertaining to our Jesuit priests coming to Ecuador and mentions of a lost library from the 1600s to 1700s. I assured him I would, and he told me to report any findings to him and no one else. Now, this is not as unusual as it might sound. There is always secret research going on in our section of the archive.”
“Your section of the archive?” I asked.
“Yes, the archive has many sections, some more sensitive than others. I happen to work in its most secret section. My section covers the more, shall we say, unusual topics and events. Very few have access to its information.”
So, a secret library within a library with secret sections within the secret library. No, I get it, not confusing at all. Just like one of those Russian nesting dolls, sort of… I guess. I was trying hard not to see the confounding humor in his statement and react. Then I started thinking about the CIA and other intelligence agencies with compartmentalized operational groups within the broader organization. Okay, so not as humorous as I first thought.
Getting my train of thought back on the rails, I said, “Okay, go on.”
“I began finding references to sending Jesuit priests into the mountains of Ecuador as early as 1603, with very few communications from them. Not until 1609 did I find anything interesting. A priest by the name of Marconi sent a communication back to the pope that said he might have found what ‘they’ had been looking for.”
“And what was that?” I asked.
“He did not say, but I contacted the Cardinal bishop to inform him of what I had discovered. He seemed very excited and told me he needed more information and to continue looking. It was a month later when I found the second communication from Father Marconi, and then I knew why the Cardinal bishop was so excited.”
“And why was that?” I asked.
“The priest said he had been taken to a city in the mountains by local natives where the buildings put Rome’s to shame. The fair-skinned people that lived there had marvelous things, magical things that allowed them to appear and disappear at will, to float through the sky riding on clouds, and move huge carved stones as if they were feathers, and… they lived forever. He said they talked covertly of a vast library nearby, containing many wondrous things, including the secrets to their magic.”
Knowing these things to be true, I looked at the priest who had been speaking as a matter of fact and said, “You don’t sound surprised at these revelations.”
He chuckled and said, “Dr. Burnett, in my section, I have seen and read of things that would be impossible for you to believe. Drawings, photographs, and documents confirming that what man has deemed myth and legend have been, or are, in fact, very real.”
“Hmm,” I said, “too bad the library at Alexandria was lost. Between the two of you, that would be an amazing storehouse of information.”
The Prefect looked at me with just the hint of a smile and said, “Who said it was lost…?”
That revelation took me by surprise, and I looked at Doc, who was sitting there wide-eyed. What…? Is this guy kidding? Everything in history says it was destroyed. Looking back at him, I could see he was dead serious.
“Well,” I said, “I have access to information that confirms an advanced civilization from another world was inhabiting Earth, pre-dating man by tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years. They shaped Civilization as we know it and left a library of advanced knowledge hidden somewhere here in the Andes… You mean that kind of stuff?”
He looked at me, eyes wide. “How do you know…” he started, “How could you possibly know?”
“Father, let’s cut to the chase. I know the library is real, I know about the advanced technology, and I know about the Vatican’s interest. I just need to understand why the sudden involvement and what are the Vatican’s men’s intentions?
He seemed to look at me with newfound respect, “Dr. Burnett, you are more resourceful than they give you credit for; that may prove beneficial. But if the library does exist, then what Marconi wrote about may be true, and their horrible plans could become a reality.” He paused, took a couple of deep breaths, and continued. “Ruthless men have been hired to find out what you know, determine if you know the location of the library, and then eliminate you and your friends. I know that for a fact.” There was a pause, “I overheard the Cardinal bishop talking on the phone to someone he called Marco, and then I heard your name mentioned. I was curious, so I investigated your background and found that you were an American treasure hunter who has been looking for the library here in Ecuador. I realized then my discoveries of the Marconi letters were
