danbrown.thedavincicode-第76节

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　have　earned　my　payday。
　〃Listen　carefully；〃　the　Teacher　said。　〃Take　Silas　to　the　Opus　Dei　residence　hall　and　drop　him　off　a　few　streets　away。　Then　drive　to　St。　James's　Park。　It　is　adjacent　to　Parliament　and　Big　Ben。　You　can　park　the　limousine　on　Horse　Guards　Parade。　We'll　talk　there。〃
　With　that；　the　connection　went　dead。
　　
　CHAPTER　92
　
　King's　College；　established　by　King　George　IV　in　1829；　houses　its　Department　of　Theology　and　Religious　Studies　adjacent　to　Parliament　on　property　granted　by　the　Crown。　King's　College　Religion　Department　boasts　not　only　150　years'　experience　in　teaching　and　research；　but　the　1982　establishment　of　the　Research　Institute　in　Systematic　Theology；　which　possesses　one　of　the　most　plete　and　electronically　advanced　religious　research　libraries　in　the　world。
　Langdon　still　felt　shaky　as　he　and　Sophie　came　in　from　the　rain　and　entered　the　library。　The　primary　research　room　was　as　Teabing　had　described　it…a　dramatic　octagonal　chamber　dominated　by　an　enormous　round　table　around　which　King　Arthur　and　his　knights　might　have　been　fortable　were　it　not　for　the　presence　of　twelve　flat…screen　puter　workstations。　On　the　far　side　of　the　room；　a　reference　librarian　was　just　pouring　a　pot　of　tea　and　settling　in　for　her　day　of　work。
　〃Lovely　morning；〃　she　said　in　a　cheerful　British　accent；　leaving　the　tea　and　walking　over。　〃May　I　help　you？〃
　〃Thank　you；　yes；〃　Langdon　replied。　〃My　name　is…〃
　〃Robert　Langdon。〃　She　gave　a　pleasant　smile。　〃I　know　who　you　are。〃
　For　an　instant；　he　feared　Fache　had　put　him　on　English　television　as　well；　but　the　librarian's　smile　suggested　otherwise。　Langdon　still　had　not　gotten　used　to　these　moments　of　unexpected　celebrity。　Then　again；　if　anyone　on　earth　were　going　to　recognize　his　face；　it　would　be　a　librarian　in　a　Religious　Studies　reference　facility。
　〃Pamela　Gettum；〃　the　librarian　said；　offering　her　hand。　She　had　a　genial；　erudite　face　and　a　pleasingly　fluid　voice。　The　horn…rimmed　glasses　hanging　around　her　neck　were　thick。
　〃A　pleasure；〃　Langdon　said。　〃This　is　my　friend　Sophie　Neveu。〃
　The　two　women　greeted　one　another；　and　Gettum　turned　immediately　back　to　Langdon。　〃I　didn't　know　you　were　ing。〃
　〃Neither　did　we。　If　it's　not　too　much　trouble；　we　could　really　use　your　help　finding　some　information。〃
　Gettum　shifted；　looking　uncertain。　〃Normally　our　services　are　by　petition　and　appointment　only；　unless　of　course　you're　the　guest　of　someone　at　the　college？〃
　Langdon　shook　his　head。　〃I'm　afraid　we've　e　unannounced。　A　friend　of　mine　speaks　very　highly　of　you。　Sir　Leigh　Teabing？〃　Langdon　felt　a　pang　of　gloom　as　he　said　the　name。　〃The　British　Royal　Historian。〃
　Gettum　brightened　now；　laughing。　〃Heavens；　yes。　What　a　character。　Fanatical！　Every　time　he　es　in；　it's　always　the　same　search　strings。　Grail。　Grail。　Grail。　I　swear　that　man　will　die　before　he　gives　up　on　that　quest。〃　She　winked。　〃Time　and　money　afford　one　such　lovely　luxuries；　wouldn't　you　say？　A　regular　Don　Quixote；　that　one。〃
　〃Is　there　any　chance　you　can　help　us？〃　Sophie　asked。　〃It's　quite　important。〃
　Gettum　glanced　around　the　deserted　library　and　then　winked　at　them　both。　〃Well；　I　can't　very　well　claim　I'm　too　busy；　now　can　I？　As　long　as　you　sign　in；　I　can't　imagine　anyone　being　too　upset。　What　did　you　have　in　mind？〃
　〃We're　trying　to　find　a　tomb　in　London。〃
　Gettum　looked　dubious。　〃We've　got　about　twenty　thousand　of　them。　Can　you　be　a　little　more　specific？〃
　〃It's　the　tomb　of　a　knight。　We　don't　have　a　name。〃
　〃A　knight。　That　tightens　the　net　substantially。　Much　less　mon。〃
　〃We　don't　have　much　information　about　the　knight　we're　looking　for；〃　Sophie　said；　〃but　this　is　what　we　know。〃　She　produced　a　slip　of　paper　on　which　she　had　written　only　the　first　two　lines　of　the　poem。
　Hesitant　to　show　the　entire　poem　to　an　outsider；　Langdon　and　Sophie　had　decided　to　share　just　the　first　two　lines；　those　that　identified　the　knight。　partmentalized　cryptography；　Sophie　had　called　it。　When　an　intelligence　agency　intercepted　a　code　containing　sensitive　data；　cryptographers　each　worked　on　a　discrete　section　of　the　code。　This　way；　when　they　broke　it；　no　single　cryptographer　possessed　the　entire　deciphered　message。
　In　this　case；　the　precaution　was　probably　excessive；　even　if　this　librarian　saw　the　entire　poem；　identified　the　knight's　tomb；　and　knew　what　orb　was　missing；　the　information　was　useless　without　the　cryptex。
　　
　Gettum　sensed　an　urgency　in　the　eyes　of　this　famed　American　scholar；　almost　as　if　his　finding　this　tomb　quickly　were　a　matter　of　critical　importance。　The　green…eyed　woman　acpanying　him　also　seemed　anxious。
　Puzzled；　Gettum　put　on　her　glasses　and　examined　the　paper　they　had　just　handed　her。
　In　London　lies　a　knight　a　Pope　interred。
　His　labor's　fruit　a　Holy　wrath　incurred。
　　
　She　glanced　at　her　guests。　〃What　is　this？　Some　kind　of　Harvard　scavenger　hunt？〃
　Langdon's　laugh　sounded　forced。　〃Yeah；　something　like　that。〃
　Gettum　paused；　feeling　she　was　not　getting　the　whole　story。　Nonetheless；　she　felt　intrigued　and　found　herself　pondering　the　verse　carefully。　〃According　to　this　rhyme；　a　knight　did　something　that　incurred　displeasure　with　God；　and　yet　a　Pope　was　kind　enough　to　bury　him　in　London。〃
　Langdon　nodded。　〃Does　it　ring　any　bells？〃
　Gettum　moved　toward　one　of　the　workstations。　〃Not　offhand；　but　let's　see　what　we　can　pull　up　in　the　database。〃
　Over　the　past　two　decades；　King's　College　Research　Institute　in　Systematic　Theology　had　used　optical　character　recognition　software　in　unison　with　linguistic　translation　devices　to　digitize　and　catalog　an　enormous　collection　of　texts…encyclopedias　of　religion；　religious　biographies；　sacred　scriptures　in　dozens　of　languages；　histories；　Vatican　letters；　diaries　of　clerics；　anything　at　all　that　qualified　as　writings　on　human　spirituality。　Because　the　massive　collection　was　now　in　the　form　of　bits　and　bytes　rather　than　physical　pages；　the　data　was　infinitely　more　accessible。
　Settling　into　one　of　the　workstations；　Gettum　eyed　the　slip　of　paper　and　began　typing。　〃To　begin；　we'll　run　a　straight　Boolean　with　a　few　obvious　keywords　and　see　what　happens。〃
　〃Thank　you。〃
　Gettum　typed　in　a　few　words：
　LONDON；　KNIGHT；　POPE
　　
　As　she　clicked　the　SEARCH　button；　she　could　feel　the　hum　of　the　massive　mainframe　downstairs　scanning　data　at　a　rate　of　500　MB/sec。　〃I'm　asking　the　system　to　show　us　any　documents　whose　plete　text　contains　all　three　of　these　keywords。　We'll　get　more　hits　than　we　want；　but　it's　a　good　place　to　start。〃
　The　screen　was　already　showing　the　first　of　the　hits　now。
　Painting　the　Pope。　The　Collected　Portraits　of　Sir　Joshua　Reynolds。　London　University　Press。
　　
　Gettum　shook　her　head。　〃Obviously　not　what　you're　looking　for。〃　She　scrolled　to　the　next　hit。
　The　London　Writings　of　Alexander　Pope　by　G。　Wilson　Knight。
　　
　Again　she　shook　her　head。
　As　the　system　churned　on；　the　hits　came　up　more　quickly　than　usual。　Dozens　of　texts　appeared；　many　of　them　referencing　the　eighteenth…century　British　writer　Alexander　Pope；　whose　counterreligious；　mock…epic　poetry　apparently　contained　plenty　of　references　to　knights　and　London。
　Gettum　shot　a　quick　glance　to　the　numeric　field　at　the　bottom　of　the　screen。　This　puter；　by　calculating　the　current　number　of　hits　and　multiplying　by　the　percentage　of　the　database　left　to　search；　provided　a　rough　guess　of　how　much　information　would　be　found。　This　particular　search　looked　like　it　was　going　to　return　an　obscenely　large　amount　of　data。
　Estimated　number　of　total　hits：　2；692
　　
　〃We　need　to　refine　the　parameters　further；〃　Gettum　said；　stopping　the　search。　〃Is　this　all　the　information　you　have　regarding　the　tomb？　There's　nothing　else　to　go　on？〃
　Langdon　glanced　at　Sophie　Neveu；　looking　uncertain。
　This　is　no　scavenger　hunt；　Gettum　sensed。　She　had　heard　the　whisperings　of　Robert　Langdon's　experience　in　Rome　last　year。　This　American　had　been　granted　access　to　the　most　secure　library　on　earth…the　Vatican　Secret　Archives。　She　wondered　what　kinds　of　secrets　Langdon　might　have　learned　inside　and　if　his　current　desperate　hunt　for　a　mysterious　London　tomb　might　relate　to　information　he　had　gained　within　the　Vatican。　Gettum　had　been　a　librarian　long　enough　to　know　the　most　mon　reason　people　came　to　London　to　look　for　knights。　The　Grail。
　Gettum　smiled　and　adjusted　her　glasses。　〃You　are　friends　with　Leigh　Teabing；　you　are　in　England；　and　you　are　looking　for　a　knight。〃　She　folded　her　hands。　〃I　can　only　assume　you　are　on　a　Grail　quest。〃
　Langdon　and　Sophie　exchanged　startled　looks。
　Gettum　laughed。　〃My　friends；　this　library　is　a　base　camp　for　Grail　seekers。　Leigh　Teabing　among　them。　I　wish　I　had　a　shilling　for　every　time　I'd　run　searches　for　the　Rose；　Mary　Magdalene；　Sangreal；　Merovingian；　Priory　of　Sion；　et　cetera；　et　cetera。　Everyone　loves　a　conspiracy。〃　She　took　off　her　glasses　and　eyed　them。　〃I　need　more　information。〃
　In　the　silence；　Gettum　sensed　her　guests'　desire　for　discretion　was　quickly　being　outweighed　by　their　eagerness　for　a　fast　result。
　〃Here；〃　Sophie　Neveu　blurted。　〃This　is　everything　we　know。〃　Borrowing　a　pen　from　Langdon；　she　wrote　two　more　lines　on　the　slip　of　paper　and　handed　it　to　Gettum。
　You　seek　the　orb　that　ought　be　on　his　tomb。