Doctor Who_ Byzantium! - Keith Topping [87]
He began to read the words aloud, haltingly at first, but with increased confidence as he, understood the context and form of the language. As he did so, Reuben dipped his stylus nib into the thick black ink and wrote in a beautiful copperplate script the translated words into a bound codex that he had reserved for definitive versions of the text.
It's not Aramaic. Or Hebrew,' the Doctor noted. 'I think it is a form of early Greek. How very unusual. It says... "APXH TOY
EYAΓΓEAIOY IHΣOY XPIΣTOY [YIOΨ ΘE0Y.] KAΘΩΦ
ΓEΓPAΠTAI EN Tς HΣAIA TΩΠPOϑHTH, I∆OY AΠOΣTEAAΩ
TON AΓΓEAON MPN Oς KATAOΣKEY AΣEI THN O∆ON
ΣOΨ",' he continued.
‘”This being the good word and sacred of the sun prophet, sending out a preference message to his face for them all"?' asked Rayhab, scratching his beard.
`No, no, no. "This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophets, behold, I send forth my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare the way for thee"; the Doctor replied, without looking up from the text.
For a moment there was silence within the cave. And then Reuben began to laugh hysterically. `My God,' he said.
In praise, as opposed to blasphemy. 'It is the missing piece.
The opening verses. This is what we have been searching for.'
'And now you've found it,' asked the Doctor, still with little apparent interest in his momentous discovery, 'what, exactly, are you going to do with it, hmm?'
In the Spartan surroundings of general Gaius Calaphilus's quarters, a meeting took place that mere hours earlier would have been unthinkable.
The summit reminded Ian of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin sitting side by side at Yalta, smiling falsely for the official photographs before getting out the maps to partition up Europe.
Ian rose to his feet as Gemellus entered with Thalius Maximus behind him, casting furtive glances all around, still wary of plots and treachery.
It was noticeable that Calaphilus did not stand in the presence of his praefectus, but rather remained seated, fanning himself against the dry and oppressive heat of midday.
‘Praefectus,' he said in a flat monotone. ‘Welcome to my humble abode. May the gods look kindly upon those who enter this house with liberty in their hearts.’
Òh, for God's sake, knock it off you two,' Ian said, which cut through the rhetoric. 'You both know full well why Gemellus and I have arranged this meeting. It's in both of your interests that you find some common ground, so get on with it and stop procrastinating or I'll give the pair of you a ruddy good biff on the conk.’
Neither man looked entirely sure of the exact nature of Ian's threats, but the outburst itself was seemingly enough for them both to sit opposite each other at a table in the centre of the room. Ian and Gemellus joined then, Ian beside the general, Gemellus at the elbow of the praefectus.
Gaius and Thalius eyed each other suspiciously, neither wishing to be the man who spoke first. So Ian did it for them.
`You know,' he began, 'where I come from, men of honour, of real integrity, are astonishingly rare. Oh, you meet the odd one every now and then, but you remember such occasions because they don't happen very often. Counting Gemellus, I'm sitting in a room with three of them. That should be the kind of memory I carry to my grave. But, you see, the thing is, if you two don't realise that you're on the same side then it's likely that my grave is a damn-sight closer to me than I, nor either of you two, I suspect, would like.'
Still neither the general nor the politician spoke. 'Our young Briton's sentiments are words of wisdom that belie his tender years,' continued Gemellus. `But words of wisdom can also be lies. His words are the truth. You owe it to him to make his vision occur.'
Thalius Maximus began to say something. Stopped.
Started again, then ground to a halt for a second time, shaking his