Robert langdon 06 the.., p.62
Robert Langdon 06 - The Secret of Secrets,
p.62
EPILOGUE
Robert Langdon awoke to the sound of military drumming—a lone rhythmic snare, playing a battle cadence as if leading a small army. When he opened his eyes, he was looking out over the wintry expanse of a wooded park. In the distance, dawn’s first light was breaking, filtering through a maze of skyscrapers.
Manhattan, he remembered as his mind slowly sharpened. Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Fifty-second floor.
The drumming continued. It seemed close.
Langdon sat up in bed, now seeing that Katherine was awake beside him, propped up on her elbow, smiling playfully, her hair tousled and loose. She was tinkering with her new phone, which Langdon now realized was the source of the drumming.
“I got tired of Grieg’s ‘Morning Mood,’ ” she said. “I changed our wakeup call.”
To a military march? Langdon now heard a single flute join the drum, playing a familiar melody. “Wait…is that Boléro?”
She gave an innocent shrug. “Maybe.”
Ravel’s orchestral masterpiece was widely considered the most erotic piece of classical music ever written. Often called “the perfect soundtrack for lovemaking,” Boléro was fifteen minutes of insistent, pulsing rhythm that crescendoed into a full orchestra fortissimo climax that reviewers had referred to as a C-major orgasm.
“Subtle, you are not,” Langdon said, grabbing Katherine’s phone, turning up the volume, and playfully pinning her to the bed. For the next ten seconds, he gazed into her eyes and did absolutely nothing but listen to the snare and flute duet.
“Um, Robert?” Katherine finally said. “What are you doing?”
“Waiting for the clarinet entrance in measure eighteen,” he replied. “I’m not a savage.”
An hour later, Langdon and Katherine were lounging in plush terry cloth robes, enjoying a room service breakfast in the sunlight that streamed in over Central Park.
Langdon’s body was sublimely content, and yet his mind was restless, eager for their afternoon meeting with Jonas Faukman at Random House Tower.
He still has no idea we have the manuscript.
Katherine’s book was safely stowed in their room’s safe, bound by two large rubber bands. Before leaving Prague, they had made three photocopies and securely sent one to Katherine, one to Langdon, and one to Jonas. With luck, they would not need any of them; Penguin Random House was only a few blocks away.
“Do you have a title yet?” Langdon asked. “Jonas will want to know.”
Katherine glanced up. “For my book? Nothing yet…”
“I ask only because you said something in Prague that’s been bouncing around in my mind. I think you might have landed on the perfect title.”
“Oh?”
“You told me that if science can prove there is indeed something beyond death, then we should be shouting that message from the mountaintops. You called it the secret of all secrets…and you claimed it would have enormous impact on the future of humanity.”
“I remember.”
Langdon waited. Katherine seemed to be waiting too. “Don’t you hear it?” he asked. “The Secret of Secrets. If you think about it, the question at the core of the book—what happens when we die?—is the mystery that all human minds have pondered. It is truly the secret of secrets.”
“As a book title?” Katherine looked skeptical. “I don’t know, it sounds…”
“Like a bestseller?” Langdon prompted.
“I was going to say ‘over-the-top.’ ”
He laughed. “Well, my precognitive instinct is that the Penguin Random House lobby will soon be making space on its shelves for one more classic.”
Katherine’s eyes welled with emotion. She leaned forward, gently kissing him. “Thank you, Robert…for so many things.”
They sat in silence a long time, watching the bustling world beneath their window. Finally, Katherine stood and checked her watch. “We’ve got five hours to explore the city,” she said. “I’ll take a shower, and then you can play tour guide.”
“Sounds perfect,” Langdon said as she headed for the bathroom. “We’ll start at Trinity Church. Then Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, Saint Patrick’s, Grace Church, the Cloist—”
“Robert!” Katherine spun around. “No!”
“Kidding, my dear,” he said with a smile. “Leave it to me. I know exactly where to take you.”
The Circle Line sightseeing boat plowed through the choppy waters of New York Harbor. In the morning breeze, a lone osprey coasted effortlessly off the port side, scanning the water for its breakfast. On the bow, Katherine Solomon tucked herself under Langdon’s arm, enjoying the warmth of his body and the briny scent of fresh ocean air.
“Incredible, isn’t she?” Langdon whispered as they neared their destination.
She is, Katherine thought. I had no idea…
In front of them, rising more than three hundred feet above the water, a colossal figure stood proudly on her own private island, emanating a solemn grace that seemed almost divinely infused. With her right arm raised, she held out a gleaming torch whose twenty-four-karat flame glinted in the morning sun.
As the ferry churned closer, Katherine began to see details in the statue’s verdigris copper—the broken chains of bondage around her sandaled feet, the delicate folds in her robes of justice, the tablet in her left hand bearing the nation’s birth date, the steadfast gaze and reassuring countenance…and there, atop her head, the ancient symbol that Langdon had brought Katherine here to see.
The radiant crown.
The spiked halo adorning America’s Statue of Liberty was the same ornament that had crowned enlightened minds for millennia. The seven spikes, each over nine feet long, were said to symbolize the rays of enlightenment that would radiate outward from this young country and illuminate all seven continents.
It’s the precise opposite, Katherine believed, seeing them as rays of enlightenment that flowed inward…representing the stream of cultures, languages, and ideas from the seven continents, all coursing into the melting pot that was the mind of America. This nation, after all, had been created as a kind of receiver, pulling in disparate souls from around the world, all of them flowing inward toward a shared experience.
Gazing out at Lady Liberty, Katherine could hear the faint echoes of the millions who had come to these shores to pursue their dreams. As my own family did…generations ago. Her immigrant ancestors were gone now, of course, and yet to where, Katherine remained uncertain. What she had come to accept was that human consciousness was not as we believed it to be. Something real and profound lay beyond our physical experience…beyond our physical end.
As the wind blew harder, Katherine gently laid her head on Langdon’s shoulder, her mind as clear as it had ever been. She looked up at him. “I wish we could stand here forever.”
“Me too,” he said with a smile. “But you’ve got a book to deliver.”
- THE END -
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, to Jason Kaufman—the finest editor a writer could ever have—for his narrative instincts, sense of humor, and tireless hours in the trenches with me.
To my incomparable agent, Heide Lange, for her decades of dedication and friendship, and for so expertly guiding all aspects of my career with unparalleled enthusiasm.
A very special thanks to my stalwart publishers Maya Mavjee and Bill Thomas for their unwavering support and patience while I wrote this book…and, above all, for their commitment, creativity, and excitement during its publication.
To the world-class team at Doubleday and Penguin Random House, with special notes of thanks to publicity guru Todd Doughty; the innovative marketing crew of Heather Fain, Judy Jacoby, Erinn McGrath, and Abby Endler; wonderful assistant editor Lily Dondoshansky for her careful work and good cheer; the meticulous Nora Reichard in production editorial, along with Vimi Santokhi, Barbara Richard, Kirsten Eggart, and Casey Hampton; the creative art directors and jacket designers, Oliver Munday and Will Staehle; the world’s finest sales team, with extra thanks to Beth Meister, Chris Dufault, David Weller, and Lynn Kovach; legal expert Claire Leonard; the IT and security team of Chris Hart, Tom Saal, Mike DeMasi, and Zafar Nasir; Amanda D’Acierno in audiobooks; Beth Lamb in paperbacks; my dear friend Suzanne Herz; and, of course, in the corporate offices, the steady hands of Nihar Malaviya, Jaci Updike, and Jeff Weber. Thank you all.
A debt of gratitude to my fifty-seven international publishers, who have moved mountains to make these books a global success and who have become my extended family away from home. A big thank-you as well to the talented team of translators who bring these books to life around the world.
A very special thanks to my Czech editor and friend, Petr Onufer, for his invaluable research and guidance on all aspects of Prague, Czech culture, and Czech language…and also for helping me see the spectacular city of Prague in a truly mystical light. My thanks also to the directors of Argo Publishing in Prague, Milan Gelnar and Hana Gelnarova.
To my brilliant UK publisher Bill Scott-Kerr for being such a great friend since day one with my very first novel.
My sincere admiration and gratitude to the remarkable minds who make up the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Thank you for the important and illuminating work you do.
A very special thanks to Norm Eisen, former ambassador to the Czech Republic, for his generous hospitality while I was in Prague, and for his fascinating stories over dinner in the spectacular Petschek Villa.
Over the past six years, a wide array of scientists, historians, curators, religious scholars, government officials, and private organizations have generously offered assistance in the research of this novel. Words cannot begin to express my appreciation to all of them for their generosity and openness in sharing their expertise and insight.
To my trusted personal assistant Susan Morehouse for her steadfast friendship and dedication through the years and for all she does behind the scenes to keep this train on the rails.
To my tech-savvy digital guru Alex Canon for handling all aspects of my online world (and also for tracking down manuscript hackers).
To the dream team at William Morris Endeavor—with special thanks to Ari, Sylvie, Conor, Ryan, Michael, and CJ—for forging such exciting synergies.
To the distinguished legal mind of Karl Austen for his expertise and also for being an NSA cryptologist in my first novel.
To everyone at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, with heartfelt gratitude to Iwalani Kim and Madeline Wallace for handling endless details with elegance and precision, and also to the skills of Charles Loffredo for handling all things numerical.
To Peter Fahey, Philip McCaull, Jennifer Rouleau, Ginny McGrody, Glenn Greenfader, and associates for deftly managing the Fructus laborum.
Thank you as well to Dr. Mona Laifi, Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, Dr. Bob Helm, Dr. Chad Prusmack, Dennis G. Whyte at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Georgie Venci and Charlie Venci for their aquatic acumen, Carl Schwartz for his culinary skills, my trainer Evan Schaller for pulling me away from my desk and keeping me mobile, the Four Seasons Hotel Prague for their hospitality, the Prague Tourism Bureau, Charles University, the Klementinum, U.S. Ambassador’s security detail Carlton Cuse, the indomitable Emanuel Swedenborg, the Global Consciousness Project, the Center for Consciousness Science, to Rose Schwartz, Eric Brown, Neil Rosini, and the memory of my dear friend Michael Rudell for being such a role model of grace and kindness.
To the late great literary agent George Wieser for taking me to lunch in 1994 and strongly suggesting I take a sabbatical from music…and write a novel.
Mi agradecimiento al distinguido caballero Roberto Batalla por haberme servido de guía en el paisaje costarricense.
To my first-draft readers—Gregory Brown, Heide Lange, John Chaffee, Iwalani Kim, Madeline Wallace, Lily Dondoshansky, and others. Thank you for your early input on a very long manuscript. And continued appreciation to Rebecca, Caleb, Hannah, and Sophie Kaufman, plus Olivia and Jerry Kaufman, for years of support…and for kindly sharing my editor.
A lifetime of gratitude to my parents—Connie and Dick Brown—for teaching me to be eternally curious and to embrace the difficult questions.
And finally, to my fiancée, Judith Pietersen, for her patience, love, and astonishing good humor while I was buried in this book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAN BROWN is the author of numerous #1 international bestsellers, including The Da Vinci Code, Inferno, The Lost Symbol, Origin, Angels & Demons, Deception Point, and Digital Fortress.
Dan Brown, Robert Langdon 06 - The Secret of Secrets
