Shrouded In Silence

12





The afternoon had nearly faded when Jack and Michelle Townsend gathered around the conference table in the side room in their offices. The door had been left open to hear anyone coming through the front door entry. Papers and manila folders lay strewn across the old table as well as a few books.

"Let's begin by bringing each of us up-to-date on what we've discovered so far," Jack said. "Michelle, what's coming up as you sit in there hour after hour and pound on that computer?"

"I'm not having much luck," she said. "I've been trying to access The Royal or Ancient Library of Alexandria via the Internet to find some ancient documents, but I don't get much beyond mention of its existence. I've tried a number of angles but the doors just aren't opening for me."

"Hmm," Jack mused. "Not surprised. What we're looking for is simply going to be much more secluded. Dov, what'd you come up with?"

The young man shrugged. "Most of what I've turned up is rather pedestrian. My guess is that while a street was being repaired, the workmen broke through the top of an ancient storage room where documents had been stored by the Roman government centuries ago. I'm not sure it's worth much more rummaging, but that's not the big news."

"Don't sit there grinning," Jack said. "Lay the heavy stuff on us."

"You were right to tell me to keep probing. I found the basement under the basement," Dov said. "When I started looking into this material, I realized it was far too dusty and dirty to be sitting around in those gorgeous Secret Archives rooms. Poking around in the storage area led to the discovery of secluded stairs that wound down to an entirely different level underneath. I found the area where the Vatican stores the ancient material that has never been cataloged. There's also a large space in the back where they are doing archaeological digging in a first-century landscape. Far out or what?

"You've found the goldmine!" Michelle exclaimed.

"Dov, you've made a breakthrough," Jack said. "Yes, this is highly important. I didn't even know that a hidden area existed below the library. You're discovery is significant. Earlier, I didn't find anything that offered a significant lead on where to look for the first-century clues, but finding the hidden basement means we're certainly searching in the right area."



Albert Stein twisted the dials for a moment, cursed, and slammed his fist against the inside wall of the large van parked only two blocks from the Santa Maria Church. "I can't pick up enough volume," he screamed at Klaus Bruchel. "I'm missing important parts of what they are saying." He glanced around at the reception devices and batteries that filled the back portion of the van, giving it the look of a make-shift electronics laboratory. "Where did you hook up that MicroPower transmitter?"

Burchel shrugged. "It's on the underside of one of the desks," the young man said. "I think they must be sitting in another room. Probably the conference room. That's the best that I can tell you."

Stein cursed again. "You should have thought of that possibility, you fool." He turned up the volume again and put the earphone back over his head. A low hum made the sound somewhat distorted. He listened more intently.

A few words filtered in. "And Dov continues to work on the Sarajevo Haggadah," Jack Townsend said. "Finding any —— there, Dov?"

The microphone popped and Stein missed half of the sentence."—— comparing the Hebrew forms," Dov Sharon answered. "—— not getting much, but I find it more than interesting. Because Bosnia was under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire when the book surfaced in 1894, it was natural that it be sent to Vienna because the city was the hub of critical scholarship in those days. Unfortunately —— mishandled the rebinding of the Haggadah."

Stein jerked off the earphones. "It's makes no sense that they are fooling around with that ridiculous Jewish Passover book." The man muttered under his breath. "Their interest has to be elsewhere. Makes Townsend sound like he's lost his mind. Good God! They're not a bunch of idiots! Stein put the earphones back on his head.

"I'd suggest we stay on our original track," Jack Townsend said. "Dov, —— stay with your research and we'll look —— of the library. Michelle, I want you to concentrate on Irenaeus. Since he was a disciple of Polycarp, that Church Father —— in touch with. —— Maybe, you can come up with a lead —— in the past."

"OK," Michelle said. A sudden burst of static knocked out much of what she said. "—— shift to a new area easily I will ——" The static knocked out her response. "—— later —— return to —— was."

"Good," Townsend said. "We'll start tomorrow."

Stein cursed. "Sounds like they are sitting around a table. I can only pick up enough to make matters worse." He pointed his finger at Burchel. "You've got to get back in that house and wire up that additional space. You must do this work tonight. They are obviously pursuing some venue of importance. Get back in there and wire up that space."

Klaus Burchel nodded. "Do you see any dangers in returning so soon?"

"Of course! That's why you'd better do it right this time."