Читаем Angels & Demons полностью

The camerlegno was silent. He bent down and stoked the coals.

"After Leonardo Vetra came here," Kohler said, "you came to CERN to see his work. Leonardo’s diaries said you made a personal trip to his lab."

The camerlegno looked up.

Kohler went on. "The Pope could not travel without attracting media attention, so he sent you. Leonardo gave you a secret tour of his lab. He showed you an antimatter annihilation—the Big Bang—the power of Creation. He also showed you a large specimen he kept locked away as proof that his new process could produce antimatter on a large scale. You were in awe. You returned to Vatican City to report to the Pope what you had witnessed."

The camerlegno sighed. "And what is it that troubles you? That I would respect Leonardo’s confidentiality by pretending before the world tonight that I knew nothing of antimatter?"

"No! It troubles me that Leonardo Vetra practically proved the existence of your God, and you had him murdered!"

The camerlegno turned now, his face revealing nothing.

The only sound was the crackle of the fire.

Suddenly, the camera jiggled, and Kohler’s arm appeared in the frame. He leaned forward, seeming to struggle with something affixed beneath his wheelchair. When he sat back down, he held a pistol out before him. The camera angle was a chilling one… looking from behind… down the length of the outstretched gun… directly at the camerlegno.

Kohler said, "Confess your sins, Father. Now."

The camerlegno looked startled. "You will never get out of here alive."

"Death would be a welcome relief from the misery your faith has put me through since I was a boy." Kohler held the gun with both hands now. "I am giving you a choice. Confess your sins… or die right now."

The camerlegno glanced toward the door.

"Rocher is outside," Kohler challenged. "He too is prepared to kill you."

"Rocher is a sworn protector of th—"

"Rocher let me in here. Armed. He is sickened by your lies. You have a single option. Confess to me. I have to hear it from your very lips."

The camerlegno hesitated.

Kohler cocked his gun. "Do you really doubt I will kill you?"

"No matter what I tell you," the camerlegno said, "a man like you will never understand."

"Try me."

The camerlegno stood still for a moment, a dominant silhouette in the dim light of the fire. When he spoke, his words echoed with a dignity more suited to the glorious recounting of altruism than that of a confession.

"Since the beginning of time," the camerlegno said, "this church has fought the enemies of God. Sometimes with words. Sometimes with swords. And we have always survived."

The camerlegno radiated conviction.

"But the demons of the past," he continued, "were demons of fire and abomination… they were enemies we could fight—enemies who inspired fear. Yet Satan is shrewd. As time passed, he cast off his diabolical countenance for a new face… the face of pure reason. Transparent and insidious, but soulless all the same." The camerlegno’s voice flashed sudden anger—an almost maniacal transition. "Tell me, Mr. Kohler! How can the church condemn that which makes logical sense to our minds! How can we decry that which is now the very foundation of our society! Each time the church raises its voice in warning, you shout back, calling us ignorant. Paranoid. Controlling! And so your evil grows. Shrouded in a veil of self-righteous intellectualism. It spreads like a cancer. Sanctified by the miracles of its own technology. Deifying itself! Until we no longer suspect you are anything but pure goodness. Science has come to save us from our sickness, hunger, and pain! Behold science—the new God of endless miracles, omnipotent and benevolent! Ignore the weapons and the chaos. Forget the fractured loneliness and endless peril. Science is here!" The camerlegno stepped toward the gun. "But I have seen Satan’s face lurking… I have seen the peril…"

"What are you talking about! Vetra’s science practically proved the existence of your God! He was your ally!"

"Ally? Science and religion are not in this together! We do not seek the same God, you and I! Who is your God? One of protons, masses, and particle charges? How does your God inspire? How does your God reach into the hearts of man and remind him he is accountable to a greater power! Remind him that he is accountable to his fellow man! Vetra was misguided. His work was not religious, it was sacrilegious! Man cannot put God’s Creation in a test tube and wave it around for the world to see! This does not glorify God, it demeans God!" The camerlegno was clawing at his body now, his voice manic.

"And so you had Leonardo Vetra killed!"

"For the church! For all mankind! The madness of it! Man is not ready to hold the power of Creation in his hands. God in a test tube? A droplet of liquid that can vaporize an entire city? He had to be stopped!" The camerlegno fell abruptly silent. He looked away, back toward the fire. He seemed to be contemplating his options.