The Source - Michael Cordy [103]
For a moment Torino said nothing. He had only contempt for the nun. She spoke of vows, but she had broken hers to the Church. 'You're right,' he said eventually. 'The Church does need to treat a discovery like this carefully. There are those who could misinterpret the garden and its creatures.' He gestured to the nymphs in the shadows. 'They might see them as contradicting the scriptures and the pope's recent decrees denying evolution. And, yes, I can't allow anything here to play into the hands of those who would destroy the Holy Mother Church, which embodies the hopes and dreams of millions of believers worldwide. I make no apologies for protecting their faith. But the truth is, I don't care about this miraculous so-called Garden of God or its exotic creatures.' He pointed up the tunnel. 'Not nearly as much as what's up there.'
He turned to Kelly and smiled at his surprise. 'And I suspect you don't either, Dr Kelly. As an atheist and a scientist, how do you explain this miraculous garden? Is it the cradle of evolution, the origin of life on Earth, a scientific Eden? Or are the garden and its creatures merely a sideshow to the main attraction?'
Kelly said nothing.
'Come on, Dr Kelly. We both know that the garden and its creatures are an irrelevant aberration, a distraction.' He raised the shard of crystal. 'Even this is a peripheral by-product of the real power behind this place.' He gestured to the glowing tunnel and tapped the notebook. 'Father Orlando wrote about it in the section of the Voynich your wife couldn't translate. He called it el origen.' He opened his manila folder and showed Kelly the relevant passage. 'His testimony in the Inquisition Archives records it by its Latin name: radix. Both mean "the source". Neither document explains what it is, instead describing it in philosophical and spiritual terms. In his notebook he mentions El Árbol de la Vida y de la Muerte, the Tree of Life and Death, which in the Inquisition testimony the Latin scribes record as vita quod mors arbor. Was this a reference to the Tree of Knowledge in Genesis? Was it meant to be taken literally or figuratively? What do you think the source is, Dr Kelly? What do you think we'll find up that tunnel? The source of all miracles?'
'Just one,' said Kelly. 'The planet's greatest miracle: life. And it's got nothing to do with God or religion.'
Torino smiled. 'We'll have to agree to disagree on who or what's behind it. The point is, we both want to discover what it is.' He turned to Sister Chantal. 'Sister, is whatever butchered the conquistadors in the Voynich still in the tunnel?'
'I've never been up there. No one has and lived. Except Father Orlando.'
'That's not strictly true. Is it, Dr Kelly? Marco saw you coming out of the tunnel when I arrived with the soldiers.'
Sister Chantal glared at Kelly. 'You went up it?'
Torino smiled. 'Dr Kelly told Marco he wouldn't believe what he'd seen up there. What did you see, Dr Kelly? Tell me, and after you sign a confidentiality agreement, I'll let you all leave here with the blessing of the Church.' He held out the crystal. 'I'll even let you take this with you. You can save your family, Dr Kelly. Isn't that what you came here for?'
'Whatever you saw, tell him nothing,' said Sister Chantal. 'He won't let you go, whatever legal forms he makes you sign. He can't risk anyone else knowing about this place. It raises too many questions.'
'Ignore her, Dr Kelly. I've already told you I don't care about the garden or its creatures. Just radix, the source. We both want to uncover this mystery. Tell me what you know and save your family.'
Kelly sighed. 'I turned back when I heard your soldiers shooting so I didn't reach the end. I got close, though, and there's definitely something of great power up there.' To Torino's surprise, he suddenly dropped to his knees,