The Lost Symbol

My research is safe. All of it.

Her lab’s holographic data drives had been destroyed tonight, but earlier, at the House of the Temple, Peter had informed her that he had been secretly keeping backups of all her Noetic research in the SMSC executive offices. You know I’m utterly fascinated with your work, he had explained, and I wanted to follow your progress without disturbing you.

«Katherine?» a deep voice called out.

She looked up.

A lone figure stood in silhouette at the base of the illuminated monument.

«Robert!» She hurried over and hugged him.

«I heard the good news,» Langdon whispered. «You must be relieved.»

Her voice cracked with emotion. «Incredibly.» The research Peter had saved was a scientific tour de force — a massive collection of experiments that proved human thought was a real and measurable force in the world. Katherine’s experiments demonstrated the effect of human thought on everything from ice crystals to random-event generators to the movement of subatomic particles. The results were conclusive and irrefutable, with the potential to transform skeptics into believers and affect global consciousness on a massive scale. «Everything is going to change, Robert. Everything.»

«Peter certainly thinks so.»

Katherine glanced around for her brother.

«Hospital,» Langdon said. «I insisted he go as a favor to me.»

Katherine exhaled, relieved. «Thank you.»

«He told me to wait for you here.» katherine nodded, her gaze climbing the glowing white obelisk. «he said he was bringing you here. something about ‘Laus Deo’? He didn’t elaborate.»

Langdon gave a tired chuckle. «I’m not sure I entirely understand it myself.» He glanced up at the top of the monument. «Your brother said quite a few things tonight that I couldn’t get my mind around.»

«Let me guess,» Katherine said. «Ancient Mysteries, science, and the Holy Scriptures?»

«Bingo.»

«Welcome to my world.» She winked. «Peter initiated me into this long ago. It fueled a lot of my research.»

«Intuitively, some of what he said made sense.» Langdon shook his head. «But intellectually. .»

Katherine smiled and put her arm around him. «You know, Robert, I may be able to help you with that.»

Deep inside the Capitol Building, Architect Warren Bellamy was walking down a deserted hallway.

Only one thing left to do tonight, he thought.

When he arrived at his office, he retrieved a very old key from his desk drawer. The key was black iron, long and slender, with faded markings. He slid it into his pocket and then prepared himself to welcome his guests.

Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon were on their way to the Capitol. At Peter’s request, Bellamy was to provide them with a very rare opportunity — the chance to lay eyes upon this building’s most magnificent secret. . something that could be revealed only by the Architect.

CHAPTER 133

High above the floor of the capitol rotunda, robert langdon inched nervously around the circular catwalk that extended just beneath the ceiling of the dome. he peered tentatively over the railing, dizzied by the height, still unable to believe it had been less than ten hours since peter’s hand had appeared in the middle of the floor below.

On that same floor, the Architect of the Capitol was now a tiny speck some hundred and eighty feet below, moving steadily across the Rotunda and then disappearing. Bellamy had escorted Langdon and Katherine up to this balcony, leaving them here with very specific instructions.

Peter’s instructions.

Langdon eyed the old iron key that Bellamy had handed to him. Then he glanced over at a cramped stairwell that ascended from this level. . climbing higher still. God help me. These narrow stairs, according to the Architect, led up to a small metal door that could be unlocked with the iron key in Langdon’s hand.

Beyond the door lay something that Peter insisted Langdon and Katherine see. Peter had not elaborated, but rather had left strict instructions regarding the precise hour at which the door was to be opened. We have to wait to open the door? Why?

Langdon checked his watch again and groaned.

Slipping the key into his pocket, he gazed across the gaping void before him at the far side of the balcony. Katherine had walked fearlessly ahead, apparently unfazed by the height. She was now halfway around the circumference, admiring every inch of Brumidi’s The Apotheosis of Washington, which loomed directly over their heads. From this rare vantage point, the fifteen-foot-tall figures that adorned the nearly five thousand square feet of the Capitol Dome were visible in astonishing detail.