The Revelation Code

12

‘Nice day for it,’ Eddie sighed, watching the rain-drenched outskirts of the German capital crawl past beyond the clogged autobahn. He and Rothschild had unluckily landed at Tegel airport just in time to catch the evening rush hour. ‘Everyone’s drowning in Berlin.’

His companion didn’t get the reference to the old pop song; either that, or she was simply ignoring him. ‘Why are we going this way?’ she complained instead. ‘The Saatwinkler Damm would be much more direct.’

‘Calm down, the IHA’s paid for the ride.’ The Mercedes had picked them up at the terminal. ‘It’s not like the driver’s trying to rip you off by taking us via Poland.’

Rothschild’s pinched little mouth shrank further, but rather than make a sarcastic rejoinder, she instead spoke in German to the driver. ‘There’s been a car crash,’ she told Eddie. ‘So we’re having to go a longer way around. But at least this way we’ll see more of the city.’

Eddie peered at the heavy slate-grey sky and the wet tower blocks silhouetted against it. ‘Terrific, I’ll get my camera ready. So you know Berlin pretty well?’

‘It’s been a while since I was last here, but yes. I even lived here for several months after I got my masters in archaeology.’

‘Yeah? Did you meet the Kaiser?’

‘No, of course not, that was a long time before—’ She finally got the joke and treated him to a withering glare. ‘I’m no fan of Nina’s, but I always thought she was at least intelligent. Her seeing anything in you makes me question that, though.’

Eddie shrugged, grinning. After putting up with the elderly woman’s barbs on the long journey across the Atlantic, he’d been unable to resist getting in one of his own. ‘Is that how you know the bloke at this museum?’ he asked, changing the subject.

‘Markus? Yes. We’ve been friends for a long time. And by that, I mean since the 1970s, not the 1910s,’ she added peevishly.

The Englishman smiled again, then turned his attention back to the city. His only prior visits to Germany had been brief, and he had never been to Berlin itself. What he’d seen of it so far was what he had expected, however: lots of post-war tower blocks, though with more green space around them than similar developments in London or Paris. The car crossed over a river — or given its straightness, a canal — and continued towards the capital’s heart, more unappealing concrete buildings rolling by before the visitors passed over another bridge and before long entered a large swathe of parkland.

‘That’s the Siegessäule,’ said Rothschild, pointing ahead.

‘The what?’

‘The Victory Column. There.’ Eddie looked past the driver and saw a tall pillar at the end of the road, a winged golden figure at its top. ‘It used to be in front of the Reichstag, but Hitler and Albert Speer had it moved. A good thing, otherwise it would have been flattened by Allied bombers. This park leads all the way to the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate, actually.’

‘Uh-huh,’ said Eddie, not particularly interested. Monuments to the common soldiers who had fallen in wars meant more to him than extravagant celebrations of the politicians who claimed to have won them. But as the Mercedes negotiated the large roundabout circling the edifice, he had to admit that it was quite impressive, floodlights making the statue at its summit gleam even in the rain. ‘The Brandenburg Gate’s where the Berlin Wall was, right?’

‘Yes, and it was the site of the signing of German reunification. So you know some history, then.’

‘Military history I’m pretty good on. I even surprise Nina sometimes.’ He looked ahead as the car turned on to a long, broad tree-lined avenue, but saw nothing through the traffic and the dull haze of rain. ‘How far is it?’ he asked, peering at the driver’s satnav to get an idea of the city’s layout. A winding river bisected the capital, its wide, snaking curves running north of their current position.

‘Over a mile,’ Rothschild told him.

‘Glad we’re driving, then. Don’t fancy getting wet — I had way too much of that recently.’ His expression darkened as he briefly thought back to his waterboarding ordeal. Rothschild gave him a curious look, but decided not to voice any questions.

The Mercedes continued down the long avenue. Eventually the towering triumphal arch of the Brandenburg Gate came into sight, though to Eddie’s slight disappointment the road didn’t go through it, traffic instead diverting around a broad pedestrianised area. Even in the bad weather, there were still plenty of tourists at the monument. ‘Not far now,’ said Rothschild as the gate passed out of sight behind a building.

‘Great,’ Eddie replied. ‘This friend of yours, Dr Derrick — he’s an expert on this altar, right?’

‘It’s been his life’s work, and he’s in charge of overseeing its restoration, so you could say that, yes.’

‘Good. ’Cause I’ve been thinking—’

Flat sarcasm. ‘Really.’

‘A hardy har. I’ve been wondering how this angel could be hidden in it without anyone having found it already, even if it’s behind a secret panel or something.’

Rothschild smiled patronisingly. ‘Do you know how big the Altar of Zeus is, Mr Chase?’

‘I dunno. But an altar’s basically a fancy table, so… ten feet long and six wide?’ he guessed. ‘Twelve feet?’

She could barely hide her amusement. ‘A little bigger.’

The Brandenburg Gate reappeared behind them as the car turned on to a wide boulevard and headed east for roughly half a mile, then picked its way north through smaller streets before finally stopping. ‘This is it?’ Eddie asked. Another glance at the satnav told him that their destination was actually on an island.

‘That’s it,’ Rothschild replied. ‘The Pergamon Museum.’

A footbridge spanned a waterway in front of the imposing classical building, steps leading up to a plaza between the two long wings of the museum. A far more modern structure, a cylindrical tower, occupied most of the space. ‘Big place just for an altar.’

‘The Altar of Zeus isn’t the only exhibit; there’s also the Museum of Islamic Art, the Middle East museum and the antiquity collection. But Markus can show you… Ah, here he comes.’ A tall figure beneath a large black umbrella scuttled down the steps and crossed the bridge to meet them.

The driver opened the door for Rothschild, Eddie following her out. ‘Markus, hello!’ she trilled, embracing then kissing the new arrival. ‘It’s so good to see you again!’

‘You too, after all these years,’ said the square-jawed German. Eddie guessed him to be in his sixties, although his hair was a chestnut brown suspiciously rich for someone of that age. ‘Ah, Maureen. Willkommen zurück, welcome back. Come, come inside, out of this rain.’

Rothschild took shelter under his umbrella and was about to go with him when Eddie cleared his throat. ‘Oh. Yes,’ she said, with faint irritation. ‘Markus, this is Eddie Chase. Mr Chase, Dr Markus Derrick.’

‘Nice to meet you,’ said Eddie, offering his hand.

Derrick shook it with enthusiasm. ‘Mr Chase.’ He gave Rothschild an expectant look, awaiting a more detailed introduction, but none came. ‘Okay! Please, come with me.’ The group headed across the bridge, Eddie getting wet as his travelling companion stayed beneath the umbrella. ‘So, you have come all this way to see the Pergamon altar, yes? It is a good thing Maureen is my friend; that wing of the museum will be closed to the public for some years as we build a new roof. But I can get you in. As the director of the altar’s restoration, it is a perk of the job!’ He chuckled.

They reached the glass doors leading into the cylindrical structure, which housed a lobby and visitor centre. The museum was still open, though the tourists were now mostly leaving. Derrick nodded in greeting to a security guard, who let the group through a side gate, and they headed into the building proper.

‘Now, what is this about?’ he asked. ‘Your phone call was very mysterious, Maureen. You want to examine the altar for… angels? Christian symbols? You can be sure there are none. I have looked very carefully at it for over twenty years!’

‘It might not be on it,’ said Eddie. ‘It might be hidden inside it, we don’t know. All we do know is that these angels are something to do with the Book of Revelation — and somebody’s kidnapped my wife to try to get hold of them.’

Derrick stopped in surprise. ‘Kidnapped your wife?’

Rothschild anticipated his next question. ‘He’s married to Nina Wilde.’

‘Nina Wilde? The Nina Wilde?’

‘You know her?’ Eddie asked.

‘Of course I do! We have never met, but I know of her, naturally. Menschenskind! Married to Nina Wilde. A remarkable career she has had, yes.’

Eddie took a moment of pleasure from Rothschild’s visible jealousy — whatever her issues with Nina, Derrick didn’t share them — but had more important concerns. ‘They’re forcing her to look for these angels. And we think they’ve already found one.’

‘In Rome,’ added Rothschild. Seretse had given them the news during the flight. ‘Someone broke into the Jewish catacombs in the Villa Torlonia last night. Nobody knows what they took, but they smashed a hole in a wall to get it. And murdered two security guards as they escaped.’

Derrick was shocked. ‘Murdered! Who are these people?’

‘Some sort of religious cult,’ said Eddie. ‘Their leader reckons he’s a prophet.’

‘Since they seem obsessed by the Book of Revelation, it’s reasonable to assume that the prophecies they’re interested in are of the doomsday kind,’ Rothschild said.

‘Okay,’ said Derrick, perturbed. They set off again. ‘Then you are here because the altar — or the Throne of Satan — is mentioned in Revelation?’

‘That’s right,’ Eddie replied. ‘Soon as I told the Prof about it, she knew what it meant.’

‘Mr Chase thinks Dr Wilde had already made the connection but was deliberately holding it back to buy time,’ said Rothschild. ‘Whether she did or not, she still apparently identified another site, possibly the Synagogue of Satan from Revelation — and because of that, two innocent people were killed.’

‘Don’t you bloody dare,’ Eddie warned her. ‘She’d have done everything she could to slow them down. If she hadn’t, they might already be here.’ He glanced at the museum’s visitors. ‘And even more people could get hurt.’

Derrick was becoming more alarmed by the moment. ‘There could be a danger to the public? I shall arrange more security.’

‘If we find this angel, you might not need to,’ the Englishman told him. ‘Once I’ve got it, I’m going to use it to make them let Nina go.’

‘Two points,’ said Rothschild. ‘First: even if we do find it, it’s not yours to take — it’s the property of the German government, and I doubt they’ll let you simply hand it over to some murderous cult. Second: how will you let these people know you have it? You don’t have any way to contact them.’

‘I’ll find ’em. Or they’ll find me. Either way, they’ll know I’ve got the thing. Once we figure out where it is.’

Derrick led them to a set of glass double doors with a barrier in front. He moved the obstacle aside. ‘I do not know if there really is an angel hidden inside the altar, but’ — he opened the doors wide — ‘you are welcome to look.’

Eddie followed the avuncular German through — and stopped in astonishment.

The room was a cavernous space in its own right, but its contents were what had impressed him. The far side was occupied by what he assumed was a Greek temple, wide stairs leading up between the two arms of the inspiration for the museum’s exterior. Elegant columns supported a roof bearing several statues, an opening beyond the top of the steps leading to a display room.

There was more to the temple than sheer size, though. Around its base was an elaborate frieze, larger-than-life carved figures of gods and heroes locked in combat with monstrous creatures. Sections were missing, however, pale blank stone filling the gaps.

‘Okay, wasn’t expecting this,’ Eddie said. ‘It’s pretty good.’ Rothschild made a faintly exasperated sound.

Derrick was apparently more used to British understatement. ‘It is, yes?’ He swept an arm from one side of the frieze to the other as they approached. ‘That is the Gigantomachy, the battle of the gods of Olympus — Apollo, Athena, Hecate and others — against the giants. There are more panels along both the sides.’

‘Lot of gaps in ’em,’ Eddie observed.

‘Yes, unfortunately. But there are many more pieces that we are reassembling. Some day we hope to finish the whole display.’

‘So where’s this altar, then?’ Eddie looked up the steps, assuming it would be at the top, but saw nothing.

Derrick gave him a confused look before laughing, while Rothschild struggled to contain a mocking snigger.

‘All right, what’s the joke?’ Eddie demanded.

‘This is the altar,’ said the German. He waved his hand again to encompass the whole of the massive structure. ‘All of it! The Altar of Zeus, moved brick by brick from Turkey.’

Eddie stared up at the building in dismay. ‘Buggeration. This might take longer than I thought…’