Sign of the Cross

any similarities to the face of the laughing man.

After Augustus was Tiberius, a man who ruled the Empire from 14 to 37 ad, a period that covered the adult life of Jesus Christ. In her mind she felt that Rome’s second emperor could be the man she was looking for. Since the laughing man was prominently displayed on the crucifixion archway and Tiberius was the leader of Rome at that time, she thought they might be one in the same. That made sense, didn’t it? But as soon as she saw Tiberius’s face in a series of statues, she knew it wasn’t him. The two men looked nothing alike.

‘Damn!’ she cursed. ‘Who the hell are you?’

Maria searched for the laughing man for two more hours before she finally took a break. Her lack of sleep coupled with her lack of success proved to be a powerful narcotic. So she stumbled down two flights of stairs to the basement lounge and bought the largest espresso they sold. While waiting for her order, she collapsed into a nearby booth and rested her head on the table. Unfortunately, the sound of footsteps cut her nap short.

‘La Repubblica?’ offered the server who brought Maria’s order.

She didn’t have the energy to read the local paper but accepted it with a nod. The instant he walked away, she brought the steaming cup to her mouth, savoring the rich aroma with several deep breaths before finally taking a sip. ‘Aaaaah,’ she moaned. ‘Much better than sex.’

Within seconds Maria felt rejuvenated, so much so that she started to skim the headlines. She had no intention of reading any articles — she wasn’t that refreshed — but hoped to catch up on the major news: An Earthquake in India… A Murder in Denmark… Violence near Orvieto -

‘What?’ she gasped.

She skipped back to the story and forced her eyes to read the headline, hoping it was a hallucination. Shockingly, the paper claimed that there’d been a terrorist attack near Orvieto.

Maria put her espresso aside and started to read, devouring the words of the article. The paper claimed that Dr Charles Boyd blew up a bus, killing nearly forty people in the process. It stated his whereabouts were unknown but warned he should be considered armed and dangerous.

With a mixture of emotions, she gathered her things and rushed upstairs to tell Boyd the news. She burst into the conference room, expecting to find him working, his slight frame hovering over the outstretched scroll. But he wasn’t there. The ancient document sat in the middle of the table next to a translation of the text, yet his chair sat vacant. It was a sight that made no sense to her. Why did he leave the document unguarded? No way he’d abandon it for a bathroom break or a trip to the card catalog. It was far too important to leave unprotected.

God, she thought, I hope nothing happened to him.

She walked forward, desperate for a sign that he was OK, a scrap of paper that said I’ll be back soon or an envelope with her name on it. Instead, she saw something she wasn’t expecting, a scene that confused her even more. Dr Boyd was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room. His knees were pulled to his chest and his eyes were glazed, fixated on the far wall.

‘Dr Boyd? Are you all right?’

A blink. A wince. Then a shudder. His entire body trembled as he tried to answer, as if the words he was searching for required every ounce of strength that he could produce. Finally, he managed to whisper three words, ‘Christ is dead.’

‘What do you mean?’ she asked, confused.

‘Our discovery will kill Christ. It will murder the Church.’

‘What are you talking about? How does one murder the Church? The Church can’t be murdered. It’s an institution, not a person. Tell me what’s wrong. What’s going on?’

‘Trust me, you don’t want to know what I’ve learned.’

‘Of course I do. I risked my life for that scroll. In fact I’m still risking my life for that scroll.’ She held up the local newspaper and showed it to him. ‘We’re wanted for murder. You and me. The authorities are blaming us for the deaths of three dozen people.’ Actually, Maria’s name wasn’t mentioned, but she figured a little white lie might work to her advantage. ‘Now, unless I’m mistaken, an accusation like that means I’m entitled to full disclosure.’

With trembling hands, Boyd grabbed the paper and read the headline. ‘Oh my God. This can’t be! They control the police. They control the media. They’re not going to stop!’

‘What are you talking about? Who isn’t going to stop?’

‘Them! They must’ve known about the scroll! That’s the only thing that makes sense! They knew it was in there! They knew it all along.’

‘Who knew? What are you talking about?’

‘Don’t you see? They weren’t trying to take the scroll. They were trying to protect it. That’s the only thing that makes sense. They must’ve known it was in there!’

‘Professore, you aren’t making any sense. We found the Catacombs. If someone had known about it, they would’ve taken credit for it long ago.’

‘That’s where you’re wrong! This isn’t the type of discovery that anyone wants to make.’

‘What are you talking about? The discovery of the Catacombs is a major find!’

‘You’re not listening to me. I’m not talking about the Catacombs. I’m talking about the scroll. The scroll is what’s important now. The scroll is the key to everything.’

‘It’s more important than the Catacombs? How is that possible?’

Boyd blinked a few times, trying to come up with an analogy that she would understand. ‘The Catacombs were but a chest. The scroll was the treasure within.’

‘The scroll is the treasure?’

‘Yes. It was the key to the entire site.’

‘The frescoes, the graves, the stone chests? They aren’t important?’

Boyd shook his head. ‘Not compared to the scroll.’

Confused, Maria tried to absorb what she’d been told. Unfortunately, her lack of sleep made the information impossible to comprehend.

We killed Christ. We killed the Church. The Catacombs aren’t important. The scroll is the real treasure. What did any of that mean?

When she’d left Boyd a few hours before, he claimed he’d be able to translate the document without any difficulty. Now he was like this. What could’ve turned him from a cocky professional to a whimpering zombie in such a short amount of time? Oh dear, she worried, maybe Boyd was having a mental breakdown. Maybe the helicopter, the avalanche, and the bus had finally gotten to him. Maybe he finally realized that their lives were in danger, unless…

It dawned on her that she didn’t know what the scroll said. She’d left Boyd with the scroll, and when she returned he was wailing about its importance, claiming it was the key to everything. Everything. Could it be the key to his outburst as well? Was that possible?

‘What did it say?’ she demanded. ‘If it’s that important, I have to know what it says.’

Boyd lowered his eyes. ‘I can’t tell you, my dear. I just can’t. It wouldn’t be right.’

‘What? After all we’ve been through, you owe me that and more.’

‘Don’t put me in this position,’ he pleaded. ‘I’m not trying to be the bad guy. I’m trying to save you. I really am. I’m trying to distance you from further danger — ’

‘Something more dangerous than snipers and exploding buses? If you haven’t noticed, people are trying to kill us, and I have a strange feeling that they’re not going to stop until we do something about it. So stop stalling and let me know what we’re up against.’

Boyd paused, unsure of what to do. He’d spent his entire career trying to establish historical truths, yet he’d never had the chance to prove anything important until now. But this would be different. This discovery had the potential to shatter an entire belief system, to change the world. It was the type of artifact that archaeologists dream of. One that had modern significance.

‘Maria, I know this will sound melodramatic, but what I’m about to tell you is so shocking, so cancerous, it has the potential to destroy Christianity.’

‘You’re right,’ she scoffed. ‘That sounds ridiculous. How in the world is that possible?’

Boyd breathed deeply, trying to think of appropriate words of warning. ‘If knowledge is the enemy of faith, then the Orvieto scroll is poison.’