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The Lost Symbol~
"Inside the National Cathedral, Dean Galloway sensed a strange change in the air...
as if a ghostly shadow had evaporated...a weight had been lifted...
Alone at his desk...deep in thought...his phone rang.
It was Warren Bellamy.
"Peter's alive," his Masonic brother said...
He's going to be okay."
"Thank God." Galloway exhaled.
Galloway listened as Bellamy recounted the extraordinary tale of what had transpired after they had left Cathedral College.
"But all of you okay?"
"Recuperating, yes" Bellamy said.
"There is one thing, though...
The Masonic Pyramid... I think Langdon may have solved it."
Galloway had to smile.
Somehow he was not surprised.
"And tell me, did Langdon discover whether or not the pyramid kept its promise?
Whether or not it revealed what legend always claimed it would reveal?"
"I don't know yet."
It will, Galloway thought.
"You need to rest."
"as do you."
"No, I need to pray"
(TLS 461).
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"When the elevator door opened, the lights in the Temple Room were all ablaze.
Katherine Solomon's legs still felt like rubber as she hurried in to find her brother...
The scene that greeted her stopped her in her tracks.
In the center of this magnificent room,
on a low stone alter,
lay a bloody, tattooed corpse...
perforated by spears of broken glass.
High above, a gap hole in the ceiling opened to the heavens.
My God.
She found her brother sitting on the other side of the room tented to by a medic while
talking with Langdon and Director Sato.
"Peter!"
Katherine called...
Her brother glanced up,
his expression filling with relief...
on his feet at once,
moving towards her...
His right arm was in a sling...
their embrace was awkward...
A familiar comfort surrounded her...
when her protective older brother embraced her.
They held each other in silence.
Are you okay?
I mean...really?"
Tears welled... in her eyes
"I'm so...so sorry."
Peter shurugged ...
"Mortal flesh.
Bodies don't last forever.
The important thing is that your okay."
Peter'slighthearted response...
reminding her of all the reasons she lovrd him.
Tragically, she knew there was a third Solomon in the room tonight.
The corpse on the alter drew her gaze...
Katherine shuddered...
She looked away,
her eyes now finding Robert Langdon's.
There was compassion there,
deep and perceptive...
Langdon somehow knew exactly what she was thinking.
She felt her brother's body begin trembling...
"Just let go,"
she whispered...
you've always been there for me...
Katherine eased his head gently onto her shoulder...
and the great Peter Solomon collapsed sobbing in her arms"
(TLS 462-3).
************************************************** ***********************************
"Director Sato stepped away to take an incoming call.
It was Nola Kaye...
"Still no signs of distribution, ma'am."
I'm confident we would have seen something...
It looks you contained it."
Thanks to you, Nola,
Sato thought,
glancing down at the laptop...
A very close call.
At Nola's suggestion,
the agent searching the mansion had checked the garbage cans,
discovering packaging for a newly purchased cellular modem.
With the exact model number,
Nola had been able to cross reference compatible carriers,
bandwidths,
and service grids,
isolating the laptops most likely access node~
a small transmitter on the corner of Sixteenth and Corcoran~
three blocks from the temple."
"Nola quickly relayed the information to sato in the helicopter.
On approach toward the house of the Temple,
the pilot had performed a low-altitude flyover and plused the relay node with a blast of electromagnetic radiation,
knocking it off-line only seconds before the laptop completed transfer."
"Great work tonight."
Sato said.
Thank you, ma'am."
Nola hesitated.
"Was there something else?"
Nola was silent a long moment,
apparently considering whether or not to speak.
"Nothing that can't wait till morning ma'am.
Have a good night"
(TLS 463).
************************************************** **********************************
"In the silence of an elegant bathroom on the ground floor of the House of Temple,
Robert Langdon ran warm water into a sink and eyed himself in the mirror.
Fven in the muted light,
he looked like he felt...
utterly spent.
He had to chuckle.
His visit to D. C. tonight to give a lecture had turned out a bit more grueling than he'd had anticipated.
Even so, Langdon had a lot to be grateful for.
Peter is alive.
And the video was contained.
As Langdon scooped handfuls of warm water onto his face,
he gradually felt himself coming back to life.
My God its late.
Langdon exited the bathroom and wound his way along the curved wall of the Hall of Honor~ a gracefully arched passageway, lined with portraits of accomplished Masons...
U.S. presidents, philanthropists, luminaries,
and other influential Americans."
"He paused at an oil painting of Harry S. Truman,
and tried to imagine the man undergoing the rites, rituals,
and studies required to become a Mason.
There is a hidden world behind the one we all see.
For all of us.
"You slipped away,"
a voice said down the hall.
Langdon turned.
It was Katherine.
Langdon gave her a smile...
"Peter wants to speak with you...alone.
He's waiting in the library."
Katherine chuckled and shook her head.
"You know Peter and his secrets."
Langdon sighed heavily.
He felt like he'd had enough secrets for one night.
There were unanswered questions...
the Masonic Pyramid and the Lost Word among them...
Mustering the last of his energy,
Langdon made his way to the Masonic library.
When he arrived,
Peter was was sitting alone at a table with the stone pyramid...
"Robert?"
Peter smiled and waved him in.
"I'd like a word."
Langdon managed a grin.
"Yes I hear you lost one"
(TLS 464-5).