CHAPTER 20
AFTER THE ATTACK, SENATOR James Hofma had adopted a more reserved attitude, moving little. This made things easier for the head of security. The senator looked closely at the woman's companion in the wheelchair: a dark, tall, strong man in his forties. He had keen eyes and an aquiline nose. He also had a reinforced jaw, which gave him the image of a boxer...
A cross between a nurse and a bodyguard... — he thought.
His secretary for international affairs had informed him of this visit, according to him, a very important lady.
— Victoria Hulmann, I presume? — said the security guard as he discreetly examined the metal detector in the passageway of the nurse pushing the wheelchair.
— Good, no weapons!
Then he looked at his watch: she was fifteen minutes early. At that moment the Senator was alone after having dispatched the three to Rome. In the words of Hofma himself, it was a kind of consultation with the rank and file, as a way of knowing what their opinions indicated what their most refined electorate thought.
— Yes, I have a meeting with the Senator, I apologize for arriving a little early, but I have a restless spirit and a very serious problem with arriving on time, or earlier.
James Hofma took an immediate liking to her:
— Senator Hofma will receive you, please follow me!
The room was finely decorated, although in Victoria's eyes, it left something to be desired, compared to that of her magnificent mansion, built by her haughty ancestors. The woman, however, did not care, she concentrated all her mental reserves on her important mission:
Convince that important member of the US Senate of the dangerous facts she was about to expose.
Hofma was on her feet when Victoria entered.
Her startled eyes fixed on him.
Hofma understood and, advancing towards her, held out his hand:
— Victoria, it is an honor to receive you in my office.
— Senator Hofma — Victoria said — I am grateful for your hospitality, and as a woman who is fully involved in the commitments undertaken by the Hulmann Foundation, created by my grandfather and made famous by my father's hard work, for the promotion of archaeological research, I will straight to the point.
Smiling, the Senator gave proof that he agreed, she was like him:
Quick and objective..... — he thought.
Victoria then continued:
— I have always kept my distance from political and economic issues. However, recent events, including the attack suffered by you and my father, came to fit in with others that happened to my family. Thus, the first images of a terrible and gigantic puzzle are clearly shown, whose mystery, with your help, I intend to unravel.
Their eyes clashed and Victoria continued:
— You must be asking yourself: what is so important to tell us about a woman who has never been involved in political issues and who lets her daughter leave her country to make mysterious revelations? Well, to answer that question, I ask you to listen patiently:
— That would never have crossed my mind.
Victoria pretended to believe it and continued.
— It all started with my grandfather, Andrius Hulmann, the man who discovered Pharaoh Akhenaten's tomb. According to reports from my father, who was his assistant, my grandfather was a relaxed man and even somewhat naive in dealing with people. This, however, before the discovery of the tomb, which took place a few months before my birth. However, the images I have of him from my childhood are of a man deeply concerned about his safety and that of his family.
— I imagine so, Mrs Hulmann.
She nodded and continued:
— So much so that we weren't allowed to leave without having a team of security guards constantly watching over us. The impression we had was that my grandfather was the guardian of some very precious treasure, and that thieves were always on the prowl to steal it. He, however, never told us anything, never revealed the reasons for so much care. After his death, my father made a terrible mistake: thinking it was the eccentricities of an old millionaire, he dismissed all the security measures implemented by my grandfather. One night when he arrived home, he was kidnapped by some hooded men who left a note in his car, saying that if in three days they did not find such a Golden Book of Atlantis next to the Church of Saint Germain, my father would be killed. Desperate, we then turned over all the nearly thirty thousand volumes in my grandfather's library in the hope of finding a golden book. Then all the dependencies of the mansion were searched, and for our anguish the Golden Book of Atlantis was not there. Three days later, my father's body was found by the gardener at the back of the mansion, miraculously without a single scratch.
— After that — Victoria continued — we reactivated all the security procedures put in place by my grandfather. I myself was only accompanied by Antoine, who has been my security guard for over twenty years. But after all that, we were never molested; whoever killed my father last week came to believe that my grandfather had destroyed or hidden the book. And this is what we had thought, until...
— Until what? — asked the Senator.
Anguish was stamped on his face, in anticipation of the revelations that would follow.
— A week ago — Victoria continued — I was sought out by members of the Vatican library, interested in acquiring one of the rare works that were in my father's library.
— Did you find the book, then? — the senator asked.
— No — said Victoria — they were interested in acquiring the library's greatest relic: the eighth Gutenberg printed Bible.
— The Gutenberg Bible! — exclaimed the senator — I didn't know that the German had printed more than one, in addition to the one we have kept in Fort Knox.
— Yes, two hundred units were printed, and one of them belonged to my father. Well, examining it, one of the experts found a letter from my ancestor.
Victoria glanced at Antoine, who took a letter from his inside coat pocket and handed it to the Senator. Then Victoria continued:
— This is the letter my father addressed to me without my knowing it.
James Hofma opened the envelope and read aloud:
My dear daughter,
I have purposely placed this letter in the rarest book in my library because it is the most valuable work. You, when selling it, will consult an expert, in such a way that this letter will be found, unlike the other volumes that will, as I believe, be sold in lots.
I know, my daughter, that I made you very sad, restricting your freedom, as well as that of our entire family; I found my father's behavior very strange after the discovery of Akhenaten's tomb. I steadfastly endured your revolt and hid my secret from you, because that seemed to me the best way to protect our family, as well as the secret I now reveal to you.
I will no longer be with you when you read this letter, so meditate patiently on what I will reveal to you. Do not act solely with human wisdom, but with the wisdom of a true Christian spirit. If you do this, your spirit will be enlightened and you will become the guardian of one of the greatest mysteries of humanity: The Golden Book of Atlantis; if, however, you do not do so, and proceed with lust, you will not find it, and the book, as well as its terrible and wonderful secrets, will be lost forever.
My daughter, it all started when your grandfather discovered, in the reserved collection of the library of the Museum of London, an ancient parchment that had escaped from the fire of the famous Library of Alexandria. With the clues provided by the parchment, we discovered the lost tomb of Pharaoh Akhenaten, and what was even more astonishing, the real existence of the Golden Book of Atlantis, which according to that same parchment, was a gift given by Mephistophilis, general of the armies from Lucifer, to his son Alkazan, the result of the relationship between this fallen angel and a beautiful woman. It was this Alkazan, one of the famous giants mentioned in the Bible who dominated the Earth, forcing God to destroy it with the flood.
Well, later on, Nimrod, grandson of Ham, son of Noah, when laying the foundations of a new city, discovered this buried book. His spirit was then initiated into the mysteries of the same magic that caused the destruction of the ancient antediluvian peoples. By causing evil to resurface on Earth, Nimrod was expelled from his own city and took refuge in Egypt. There, his offspring became powerful by dethroning the pharaoh himself, establishing a new dynasty. Akhenaten himself was one of his descendants.
Having the privilege of examining the book, I could see a tangle of unknown inscriptions, whose meaning I could never understand, but which, according to the parchment, would represent fabulous mysteries of magic originating from the beginnings of the very existence of all things. Another thing that caught my attention with reference to this book was what I found in it: a totally unknown map.
According to the parchment, this map would reveal the existence of a sublime treasure, something that would be the most terrible and desired treasure ever dreamed of by the human mind. Unfortunately, the parchment was incomplete, not revealing the nature of this treasure, it is very likely that it was continued in another scroll, or other scrolls. That, however, we will never know. If another scroll existed, it must have been lost over the darkest centuries of history. Because, unfortunately, we have no reference to its whereabouts, it is even possible that it remained hidden in the Vatican's secret collection, or, what is worse, it did not escape the fire of the famous Library of Alexandria. In the roll I had access to, it is stated that this unknown treasure was tirelessly sought by the greatest magicians of antiquity, although, according to this parchment, the mystery should remain hidden until the end of time!
Victoria interrupted the Senator's reading:
— This golden book contained a map of a treasure that would be the most fabulous ever dreamed of by the human mind.
— But what treasure would that be?
— To find out, we'd have to find the book — Victoria argued.
— The most fabulous treasure ever dreamed of by the human mind?
— Is it Solomon's treasure? — Risked the senator — According to an article I read, Solomon's wealth was greater than the GDP of the United States.
— I don't think this treasure was of that nature. To attract the greed of the greatest magicians of antiquity, as Victoria's grandfather tells us, the treasure should be some mystery with the power to cause great repercussions for the very existence of human civilization. As impressive as Solomon's wealth was, I can't imagine how a fortune in gold and jewels could reach that scale.
The Senator, when he saw that the two had calmed down, continued:
¨... My assistant, a young man named Jeremy Niles, will be able to provide you with all the data you will need, he has been with me since the beginning of the investigations...
My daughter, when you have read this letter, I will no longer be with you, so meditate patiently on these revelations and walk wisely.
Next to this letter is an enigma. Deciphering it, you will find the book, but I repeat: to decipher it it is not enough that you use your intellect, you will have to add your heart to your intelligence; this was the way I found to hide the book from evil men who want to take it over for the disgrace of the world.
Senator Hofma, curious, then looked at the riddle, it was an attached sheet with a phrase in the form of a riddle and two symbols: a star and a half moon:
He who prepared to heal was healed, he is the third of four out of twelve, he walked with the word, and his eyes saw the light, their number is one thousand and thirty and four. He who looks into the past will find.
THE SENATOR WAS ASTONISHED, repeating the riddle:
— The one who set out to heal... a sick doctor? — he said with a shrug.
Victoria acted as if she hadn't understood the riddle either.
— Victoria — asked the Senator — have you managed to unravel any part of this riddle yet?
She denied with her head.
— Does anyone else know about this letter?
— My daughter who is going to Rome at your request.
He nodded and then took out his cell phone and called them. Greg answered:
— Greg, are you okay? — I believe I have good news for you.
— Good news is always welcome, James.
The senator took a photo of the letter and sent it by message.
FATHER ROMAN LOOKED at the enigma and shook his head, showing that he did not understand anything that was written there.
Nicole took the floor.
— He walked with the word And his eyes saw the light... Word... noun... verb, verb... that's it!
His face lit up:
— Senator Hofma! Get a Bible quickly, please.
Everyone's attention had turned to her.
JamesHofma leapt onto the shelf, then returned with a thick volume:
— It's here — he said hopefully.
—Turn to John chapter 1 at verse 4.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men…"
— My God! — Exclaimed the priest — how did I not think of that before?
— It's Jesus.
— Jesus?… what do you mean? asked the Senator. I don't understand!
Nicole, whose eyes sparkled more than ever, replied:
"Jesus said, I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will not walk in darkness."
Then he continued:
— Who, with his own eyes, saw the light? — In this case, Jesus, and who according to the Gospel of John is also the verb of God, in this case, the word. And what is the third of four, of twelve?
— Lucas! — replied the priest exuberantly — Luke is the third book of the four gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke... The twelve are the twelve apostles of Christ!
— Lucas prepared to heal! The sacred scriptures tell us that Lucas was a doctor, observed Nicole.
— Your number is one thousand and thirty-four, what is that? asked Gregory Evans.
— Not! — Nicole replied — actually it is, ten, thirty-four, that is — he said exuberantly — the riddle is Luke, chapter ten, verse thirty-four. This one:
"And approaching, he bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and putting him on his own horse, he took him to an inn and took care of him."
— That was brilliant, daughter — Victoria said.
— But what about the star, the crescent moon and the phrase: "he who looks into the past will find?" — asked the priest.
— The six-pointed star is a Jewish symbol, it represents the people of Israel; the half moon, as we have already seen in many films, represents the Arab peoples. What if, instead of people, these symbols here represented people? One, Arabic; other, Jew?
— My father was a Jew! — Victoria replied.
— Perfect! If Professor Hulmann was a Jew, he probably saved some Arab, to regard him as the good Samaritan of Luke 10:34.
— Or else, it could be the other way around!
— Yes, but how to identify this Arab? asked Gregory Evans.
— He who looks into the past will find — interjected ]victoria — that's what the riddle says!
— It is possible that my father's diary contains the answer; we need to go home, Antoine.
— Perhaps the riddle is not solved just by finding out who helped Richard Hulmann and there are other steps.
Father Green was apprehensive, he did not like to expose himself to danger.
— Father Roman — the Senator interjected — Greg is right. It is possible that the enigma proposed by Nicole's grandfather develops in other stages so that we can begin to unravel it. So that your safety was guaranteed, I requested in advance the presence of Gregory Evans, who has shown himself to be extremely valuable so far, going with you and protecting you.
Apprehensive, the priest looked at Gregory Evans who, firmly, held his gaze, however, it was only at that moment that he was aware of that information.
— Father — said the detective — I promise you that I will protect you with my life if necessary.