The Crypts of Eden

CHAPTER SIX

The Vatican’s Intelligence Service, the Servizio Informazione del Vaticano, or the SIV, was created to counter early 19th century efforts to subvert the secular power of the Vatican. So as a necessity, the Church saw the need in creating an unofficial security agency to solve problems by developing a system of confidential communication and information gathering. In 1870, when the Papacy was forced to give up some of its territories and cutbacks were ordered, the diplomatic service remained but its intelligence and security functions were truncated. As the Vatican adapted to periodic threats over time, they saw an immediate need to develop the SIV into a service that rivaled most intelligence agencies, including Mossad and the CIA.

With diplomatic ties with more than ninety percent of the world’s countries, the SIV was now a staple of Vatican life that protected the sovereignty of the Church, its interests, and the welfare of its citizenry.

Today, however, provided them with a critical challenge.

Inside the Papal Chamber, Pope Leo XIV sat behind his desk, an ornate piece made of mahogany with raised carvings of cherubs playing harpsichords as its corner pieces. From the open doors that led to the balcony, a mild wind blew in from the east, causing the drapes with scalloped hemming to billow softly. But it brought little comfort to the room as Leo sat across from John Savage, the top administrator and team leader of the SIV, who carried the look of a solemn man who had been weighed down by atrocities.

In Savage’s possession was a leather portfolio. Inside the folder were several sheets of intercepted data taken from agencies on both sides of the pond regarding the alleged discovery of Eden.

“Do you believe it to be true?” asked the pope.

Savage placed a single sheet on top of the pontiff’s desk. “This was taken from the AIAA’s data base.”

“The AIAA?”

“The Archaeological Institute of Ancient Antiquities,” he answered. “It was Professor Moore’s venue. Their transmissions confirm that the professor and his team have disappeared. And according to the sole survivor, Mr. Montario, the site was discovered.”

“And Mr. Montario’s take on the matter is what?”

“He claims that Eden is not what religious texts make it out to be.”

“And what does he make it out to be?”

“He said it was a cold, dark place. At least that’s what he told the Turkish authorities.”

The pontiff lifted the sheet of paper from his desktop. It was a short dossier on Montario, a quick summary of the man’s life. There was nothing special about him, only that he was a student of archeological studies at NYU and little else. He placed the paper back down. “And the expedition team?”

“According to him, they’re dead. He claims there was something in the darkness that took them, including Professor Moore.”

“And what do the Turkish authorities believe?”

“They believe Mr. Montario to be a confused individual, since he was showing signs of dehydration after being in the desert for two days before a shepherd boy found him.”

“You think—” He looked down at the sheet, at the name. “You think Mr. Montario knows the whereabouts of Eden?”

“I do. But I’m afraid that Mr. Montario met with a fatal accident upon his arrival in New York.”

“So there is no one left of the expedition?”

“No, Your Holiness. No one. But it appears that the Professor’s daughter, Alyssa Moore, visited him at the hospital. It’s possible that the transfer of information may have taken place then.”

The pontiff closed eyes that were iron gray, thinking. A slight breeze blew in from the balcony, alighting on their skin, a sweet caress.

Pope Leo opened his eyes. “The secret of Eden’s location must be maintained at all costs,” he said evenly. “I need you to find the girl, find the truth, and deal with it accordingly. If she knows the whereabouts of Eden, then I’m afraid the Church has no other recourse. We have to preserve its interests.”

Savage cocked his head questioningly. Was the pontiff telling him to commit murder?

“Your Holiness, how exactly am I to deal with this ‘accordingly’?”

“If she has those coordinates, John, then you have to make sure that she no longer has the capability to forward them to anyone else.”

“Do you know what you’re asking me to do?”

“I’m asking you to preserve the interests of the Church.”

Savage continued with his puzzled look.

“Do you know where the girl is?”

He nodded. “She’s at the Göbekli Tepe site in Turkey.”

“Then gather your team,” he said. “And find the girl quickly before she follows in her father’s footsteps.”

“Why?” asked Savage. “Why cover this up? Eden is a wonderful opportunity to share with the world.”

“In my eyes, finding Eden would be a blessing if it truly exists. But in the eyes of the Church it may be an abomination. So find the girl, John. Find the girl and keep the truth — right, wrong or indifferent — from getting out. And ask me no more questions.”

John Savage continued to look puzzled. Why would the Church look upon Eden as an abomination? And then: “Yes, Your Holiness.”

Pope Leo held out his hand for Savage to take, which he did, and kissed the Fisherman’s ring.

“God be with you,” said Pope Leo.

Having more questions than answers, John Savage left the Papal Chamber to gather a team to head for Turkey.

Beneath the Basilica is the Vatican Vault, where the treasures of Christendom lie. In one chamber sits the alleged cradle of Christ. In another the reputed heart of Joan of Arc, the only part of her that did not burn in the fire. And yet in another is the Ark of the Covenant. But in the final compartment, the L’Archivio Segreto Vaticano, whose vault contains a vast collection of historical texts and countless secrets of the Catholic Church, sat an aged scroll considered to be the earliest written account of humanity.

Beneath the spotlight glow of a single bulb, a gold cylinder that encased an ancient scroll of treated goatskin cast its bullion-like shine across the old man’s face. It had been years since he’d returned to the vault to regard its antiquities. But ever since he had authorized Alyssa Moore’s death to preserve the interests of the Church, he agonized over his decision. What was inside the cylinder, however, would help serve to justify his choice.

For a long moment he stood within its aura, taking into consideration the scholarly regard that “magic” was science not yet understood. That Eden was simply a metaphorical reference of man’s fall from grace for contesting the wishes of God, or by the interpretations of some, against the values of the Church.

But Leo knew that within that cylinder lay the truth of Edin, a metaphorical tale that was all too real. With hands that looked as thin and fragile as a sparrow’s wings, he picked up the cylinder and carefully unfurled the scroll from the tube.

It was a crudely drawn map written in a blend of fading inks indicating that Eden was situated at the junction of the Four Rivers, the Pishon and Gihon, now gone, in what was a passable interpretation of what is now Turkey.

Rolling the scroll further, he unveiled a diagram of a massive Mayan-like temple, not the biblical Garden of Genesis. Inside the temple were crypts extolling markings which appeared more scientific than ancient, with ships and chariots taking the dead to an afterlife without cherubs and angels, but to a place of multiple gods in chariots, a place of polytheism. This imagery alone was not catastrophic to the Church — that the people of Eden may have worshiped multiple gods rather than exercising monotheism.

The truth was far worse.

He studied the crypts, and at the crude designs of those who lie within them. And because of that he could not accept the weight of the truth.

He rolled the scroll back into its cylinder and carefully placed it on its mount. Where the gold tube came from or its history, he didn’t know. He only knew that its message was entrusted into his knowledge upon taking the papalship, and that its secret was to be maintained.

The old man closed his eyes, thinking the cost was too great. By condemning an innocent woman to death to keep the truth hidden from the masses, then he may have condemned himself to the pits as well.

His heart was truly heavy. And he prayed well into the night, hoping that God would see the value of his decision. That it was for the greater good.

But he was afraid that He said ‘No.’