Angels Demons Page 0,66

with 602?"

"602?"

Langdon pointed to the barge. "DCII is the Roman numeral for 602."

The man laughed. "That's not a Roman numeral. That's the name of the barge."

"The DCII?"

The man nodded. "The Dick and Connie II."

Langdon felt sheepish. Dick and Connie were the wedding couple. The barge obviously had been named in their honor. "What happened to the DCI?"

The man groaned. "It sank yesterday during the rehearsal luncheon."

Langdon laughed. "Sorry to hear that." He looked back out at the barge. The DCII, he thought. Like a miniature QEII. A second later, it had hit him.

Now Langdon turned to Vittoria. "503," he said, "as I mentioned, is a code. It's an Illuminati trick for concealing what was actually intended as a Roman numeral. The number 503 in Roman numerals is - "

"DIII."

Langdon glanced up. "That was fast. Please don't tell me you're an Illuminata."

She laughed. "I use Roman numerals to codify pelagic strata."

Of course, Langdon thought. Don't we all.

Vittoria looked over. "So what is the meaning of DIII?"

"DI and DII and DIII are very old abbreviations. They were used by ancient scientists to distinguish between the three Galilean documents most commonly confused.

Vittoria drew a quick breath. "Dialogo... Discorsi... Diagramma."

"D-one. D-two. D-three. All scientific. All controversial. 503 is DIII. Diagramma. The third of his books."

Vittoria looked troubled. "But one thing still doesn't make sense. If this segno, this clue, this advertisement about the Path of Illumination was really in Galileo's Diagramma, why didn't the Vatican see it when they repossessed all the copies?"

"They may have seen it and not noticed. Remember the Illuminati markers? Hiding things in plain view? Dissimulation? The segno apparently was hidden the same way - in plain view. Invisible to those who were not looking for it. And also invisible to those who didn't understand it."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning Galileo hid it well. According to historic record, the segno was revealed in a mode the Illuminati called lingua pura."

"The pure language?"

"Yes."

"Mathematics?"

"That's my guess. Seems pretty obvious. Galileo was a scientist after all, and he was writing for scientists. Math would be a logical language in which to lay out the clue. The booklet is called Diagramma, so mathematical diagrams may also be part of the code."

Vittoria sounded only slightly more hopeful. "I suppose Galileo could have created some sort of mathematical code that went unnoticed by the clergy."

"You don't sound sold," Langdon said, moving down the row.

"I'm not. Mainly because you aren't. If you were so sure about DIII, why didn't you publish? Then someone who did have access to the Vatican Archives could have come in here and checked out Diagramma a long time ago."

"I didn't want to publish," Langdon said. "I had worked hard to find the information and - " He stopped himself, embarrassed.

"You wanted the glory."

Langdon felt himself flush. "In a manner of speaking. It's just that - "

"Don't look so embarrassed. You're talking to a scientist. Publish or perish. At CERN we call it 'Substantiate or suffocate.' "

"It wasn't only wanting to be the first. I was also concerned that if the wrong people found out about the information in Diagramma, it might disappear."

"The wrong people being the Vatican?"

"Not that they are wrong, per se, but the church has always downplayed the Illuminati threat. In the early 1900s the Vatican went so far as to say the Illuminati were a figment of overactive imaginations. The clergy felt, and perhaps rightly so, that the last thing Christians needed to know was that there was a very powerful anti-Christian movement infiltrating their banks, politics, and universities." Present tense, Robert, he reminded himself. There IS a powerful anti-Christian force infiltrating their banks, politics, and universities.

"So you think the Vatican would have buried any evidence corroborating the Illuminati threat?"

"Quite possibly. Any threat, real or imagined, weakens faith in the church's power."

"One more question." Vittoria stopped short and looked at him like he was an alien. "Are you serious?"

Langdon stopped. "What do you mean?"

"I mean is this really your plan to save the day?"

Langdon wasn't sure whether he saw amused pity or sheer terror in her eyes. "You mean finding Diagramma?"

"No, I mean finding Diagramma, locating a four-hundred-year-old segno, deciphering some mathematical code, and following an ancient trail of art that only the most brilliant scientists in history have ever been able to follow... all in the next four hours."

Langdon shrugged. "I'm open to other suggestions."

50

Robert Langdon stood outside Archive Vault 9 and read the labels on the stacks.

Brahe... Clavius... Copernicus... Kepler... Newton...

As he read the names again, he felt a sudden uneasiness.