«Okay.»
«We finished questioning him, and he’s clean. But here’s the weird thing — the same file he was targeting had been flagged earlier tonight by an internal search engine. It looks like someone piggybacked into our system, ran a specific keyword search, and generated a redaction. The thing is, the keywords they used are really strange. And there’s one in particular that the CI flagged as a high-priority match — one that’s unique to both of our data sets.» He paused. «Do you know the word. . symbolon?»
Nola jolted upright, spilling coffee on her desk.
«The other keywords are just as unusual,» Parrish continued. «Pyramid, portal — «
«Get down here,» Nola commanded, mopping up her desk. «And bring everything you’ve got!»
«These words actually mean something to you?»
«NOW!»
CHAPTER 89
Cathedral College is an elegant, castlelike edifice located adjacent to the national cathedral. the college of preachers, as it was originally envisioned by the first episcopal bishop of washington, was founded to provide ongoing education for clergy after their ordination. today, the college offers a wide variety of programs on theology, global justice, healing, and spirituality.
Langdon and Katherine had made the dash across the lawn and used Galloway’s key to slip inside just as the helicopter rose back over the cathedral, its floodlights turning night back into day. Now, standing breathless inside the foyer, they surveyed their surroundings. The windows provided sufficient illumination, and Langdon saw no reason to turn the lights on and take a chance of broadcasting their whereabouts to the helicopter overhead. As they moved down the central hallway, they passed a series of conference halls, classrooms, and sitting areas. The interior reminded Langdon of the neo-Gothic buildings of Yale University — breathtaking on the outside, and yet surprisingly utilitarian on the inside, their period elegance having been retrofitted to endure heavy foot traffic.
«Down here,» Katherine said, motioning toward the far end of the hall.
Katherine had yet to share with Langdon her new revelation regarding the pyramid, but apparently the reference to Isaacus Neutonuus had sparked it. All she had said as they crossed the lawn was that the pyramid could be transformed using simple science. Everything she needed, she believed, could probably be found in this building. Langdon had no idea what she needed or how Katherine intended to transform a solid piece of granite or gold, but considering he had just witnessed a cube metamorphose into a Rosicrucian cross, he was willing to have faith.
They reached the end of the hall and Katherine frowned, apparently not seeing what she wanted. «You said this building has dormitory facilities?»
«Yes, for residential conferences.»
«So they must have a kitchen in here somewhere, right?»
«you’re hungry?»
She frowned back at him. «No, I need a lab.»
Of course you do. Langdon spotted a descending staircase that bore a promising symbol. America’s favorite pictogram.
The basement kitchen was industrial looking — lots of stainless steel and big bowls — clearly designed to cook for large groups. The kitchen had no windows. Katherine closed the door and flipped on the lights. The exhaust fans came on automatically.
She began rooting around in the cupboards for whatever it was she needed. «Robert,» she directed, «put the pyramid out on the island, if you would.»
Feeling like the novice sous chef taking orders from Daniel Boulud, Langdon did as he was told, removing the pyramid from his bag and placing the gold capstone on top of it. When he finished, Katherine was busy filling an enormous pot with hot tap water.
«Would you please lift this to the stove for me?»
Langdon heaved the sloshing pot onto the stove as Katherine turned on the gas burner and cranked up the flame.
«Are we doing lobsters?» he asked hopefully.
«Very funny. No, we’re doing alchemy. And for the record, this is a pasta pot, not a lobster pot.» She pointed to the perforated strainer insert that she had removed from the pot and placed on the island beside the pyramid.
Silly me. «And boiling pasta is going to help us decipher the pyramid?»
Katherine ignored the comment, her tone turning serious. «As I’m sure you know, there is a historical and symbolic reason the Masons chose thirty-three as their highest degree.»
«Of course,» Langdon said. In the days of Pythagoras, six centuries before Christ, the tradition of numerology hailed the number 33 as the highest of all the Master Numbers. It was the most sacred figure, symbolizing Divine Truth. The tradition lived on within the Masons. . and elsewhere. It was no coincidence that Christians were taught that Jesus was crucified at age thirty-three, despite no real historical evidence to that effect. Nor was it coincidence that Joseph was said to have been thirty-three when he married the virgin mary, or that jesus accomplished thirty-three miracles, or that god’s name was mentioned thirty-three times in genesis, or that, in islam, all the dwellers of heaven were permanently thirty-three years old.
«Thirty-three,» Katherine said, «is a sacred number in many mystical traditions.»
«Correct.» Langdon still had no idea what this had to do with a pasta pot.
«So it should come as no surprise to you that an early alchemist, Rosicrucian, and mystic like Isaac Newton also considered the number thirty-three special.»
«I’m sure he did,» Langdon replied. «Newton was deep into numerology, prophecy, and astrology, but what does — »
«All is revealed at the thirty-third degree.»
Langdon pulled Peter’s ring from his pocket and read the inscription. Then he glanced back at the pot of water. «Sorry, you lost me.»
«Robert, earlier tonight, we all assumed ‘thirty-third degree’ referred to the Masonic degree, and yet when we rotated that ring thirty-three degrees, the cube transformed and revealed a cross. At that moment, we realized the word degree was being used in another sense.»
«Yes. Degrees of arc.»
«Exactly. But degree has a third meaning as well.»
Langdon eyed the pot of water on the stove. «Temperature.»
«Exactly!» she said. «It was right in front of us all night. ‘All is revealed at the thirty-third degree.’ If we bring this pyramid’s temperature to thirty-three degrees. . it may just reveal something.»
Langdon knew Katherine Solomon was exceptionally bright, and yet she seemed to be missing a rather obvious point. «If I’m not mistaken, thirty-three degrees is almost freezing. Shouldn’t we be putting the pyramid in the freezer?»
Katherine smiled. «Not if we want to follow the recipe written by the great alchemist and Rosicrucian mystic who signed his papers Jeova Sanctus Unus. »
Isaacus Neutonuus wrote recipes?
«Robert, temperature is the fundamental alchemical catalyst, and it was not always measured in Fahrenheit and Celsius. There are far older temperature scales, one of them invented by Isaac — »
«The Newton Scale!» Langdon said, realizing she was right.
«Yes! Isaac Newton invented an entire system of quantifying temperature based entirely on natural phenomena. The temperature of melting ice was newton’s base point, and he called it ‘the zeroth degree.’ » she paused. «i suppose you can guess what degree he assigned the temperature of boiling water — the king of all alchemical processes?»
«Thirty-three.»
«Yes, thirty-three! The thirty-third degree. On the Newton Scale, the temperature of boiling water is thirty-three degrees. I remember asking my brother once why Newton chose that number. I mean, it seemed so random. Boiling water is the most fundamental alchemical process, and he chose thirty-three? Why not a hundred? Why not something more elegant? Peter explained that, to a mystic like Isaac Newton, there was no number more elegant than thirty-three.»