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TWENTY-ONE

VIENNA, AUSTRIA

2:45 PM

ALFRED HERMANN’S CHaTEAU OFFERED HIM AN ATMOSPHERE reminiscent of a tomb Only when the Order’s Asseathered, was his solitude interrupted

Neither was the case today

And he was pleased

He was ensconced in his private apartment, a series of spacious roo naturally through the other in the French style of no corridors The winter session of the 49th Assembly would open in less than two days’ time, and he was pleased that all seventy-oneEven Henrik Thorvaldsen, who at first had said he would not be co, had now confirmed The , so he knew the discussions over the co days would be arduous As Blue Chair, his task was to ensure that the proceedings were productive The Order’s staff was already at work preparing the chateau’shall-and all would be ready by the time the members arrived for the weekend-but he wasn’t worried about the Asse the Library of Alexandria So for decades

He stepped across the room

The o, consumed the chamber’s north corner, a spectacular miniature of what the Library of Alexandria may have looked like at the time of Caesar He slid a chair close and sat, his eyes absorbing the details, his

Two pillared colonnades dominated Both, he kneould have been filled with statues, the floors sheathed in rugs, the walls draped in tapestries In thethe corridors,of a word or the cadence of a verse, or engaged in some caustic controversy about a new discovery Both roofed chambers opened into side rooms where papyri, scrolls, and later codices lay stored in bins, loosely stacked, tagged for indexing, or on shelves In other rooms copyists labored to produce replicas, which were sold for revenue Meh salary and exe There were lecture halls, laboratories, observatories-even a zoo Graious posts-physicians, mathematicians, and astronomers the best equip reseht

What a time

At only two points in hulobal scale Once during the Renaissance, which continued to the present, and the other during the fourth century BCE, when Greece ruled the world

He thought about the time three hundred years before Christ and the sudden death of Alexander the Great His generals fought over his grand empire, and eventually the reale, a period of ide Greek doan One of those thirds was clai Macedonian, Ptole the Ptolemaic dynasty, capitaled in Alexandria

The Ptolemies were intellectuals Ptoleist Ptoleht Each chose leading scholars and scientists as tutors for his children and encouraged great minds to live in Alexandria

Ptoleregate and share their knowledge To aid their endeavors, he also established the library By the time of Ptolemy III, in 246 BCE, there were two locations-the main library near the royal palace and another, sod Serapis, known as the Serapeum

The Ptoleents throughout the knoorld Ptoleht Aristotle’s entire library Ptolemy III ordered that all ships in the Alexandria harbor be searched If books were found, they were copied, the copies returned to the owners, the originals stored in the library Genres varied froion, medicine, science, and law Some 43,000 scrolls were eventually housed in the Serapeueneral public, and another 500,000 at the museum, restricted to scholars

What happened to it all?

One version held that it burned when Julius Caesar fought Ptole of the royal fleet, but the fire spread throughout the city and may have consumed the library Another version blamed Christians, who supposedly destroyed the main library in 272 CE and the Serapeuan influences A final account credited Arabs with the library’s destruction after they conquered Alexandria in 642 The caliph Omar, when asked about books in the irees with the Book of God, they are not required If it disagrees, they are not desired Destroy them So for six months scrolls supposedly fueled the baths of Alexandria

Herreatest atteht simply have burned

But what really happened?

Certainly, as Egypt was confronted with growing unrest and foreign aggression, the library became victim to persecution,special privileges

When had it finally disappeared?

No one knew

And was the legend true? A group of enthusiasts, it was said, hadothers, e Chroniclers had hinted at their existence for centuries

The Guardians

He liked to iine what those dedicated enthusiasts may have preserved Unknoorks fro with countless other arded as fathers of their respective fields

No telling

And that’s what e Haddad’s theories, which offered Hermann a way to further the Order’s purposes The Political Committee had already determined how the destabilization of Israel could be manipulated for profit The business plan was both ambitious and feasible Provided Haddad’s research could be proven

Five years ago Haddad had reported a visit from someone known as a Guardian Israel’s spies had conveyed that information to Tel Aviv The Jews had overreacted, as always, and immediately tried to kill Haddad Thankfully the A Hermann was equally thankful that his Aotiable, recently confir more, which hy Sabre had ? Perhaps Sabre would learnin Gere Haddad

He had to be found

TWENTY-TWO

ROTHENBURG, GERMANY

3:30 PM

SABRE STROLLED DOWN THE COBBLESTONED LANE ROTHENBURG lay a hundred kilo, a walled city encircled by stone raes Inside, narrow streets wound tight paths between half-tis Sabre searched for one in particular

The Bau distance of the ancient clock tower An iron placard announced that the building had been erected in 1596, but for the past century the three-story structure had hosted an inn and restaurant

He pushed through the front door and was greeted by the sweet sround-floor dining hall emptied into a two-story inner courtyard, the ashed walls dotted with antlers

One of the Order’s contacts waited in an oak booth, a thin puny figure known only as Jonah Sabre walked over and slid into the booth The table was draped in a dainty pink cloth A china cup filled with black coffee rested in front of Jonah, a half-eaten Danish on a nearby plate

"Strange things are happening," Jonah said in English

"That’s the way of the Middle East"

"Stranger than normal"

This man was attached to the Israeli Home Office, part of the Ger on George Haddad Seems he’s risen froned ignorance "What’s the source of that revelation?"

"He actually called Palestine in the last few days He wants to tell the"

Sabre had met with Jonah three times before Men like him, who placed euros ahead of loyalty, were useful, but at the same time they demanded caution Cheaters always cheated "How about we stop hedging and you tell me what it is you want me to know"

The man savored a sip of his coffee "Before he disappeared five years ago, Haddad received a visit from someone called the Guardian"

Sabre already knew that, but said nothing

"He was given soets even stranger"

He’d never appreciated the sense of drama Jonah liked to invoke

"Haddad’s not the first to have had that experience I saw a file There have been three others since 1948 who received similar visits from someone called the Guardian Israel knew about each, but all those men died within days or weeks of the visit" Jonah paused "If you recall, Haddad alan to understand "Your people are keeping so to themselves?"

"Apparently so"

"Over what period of time have these visits occurred?"

"About every twenty years for the past sixty or so All were acade Haddad The murders were all conducted by the Mossad"

He needed to know, "And how did you e to learn that?"

"As I said, the files" Jonah went silent "A co in London"

"I need an address"

Jonah provided it, then said, "Men have been sent From the assassination squad"

"Why kill Haddad?"

"I asked the ambassador the same question He’s for tale"

"I assume that’s why I’m here?"

Jonah tossed him a smile "I knew you were a smart man"

David Ben-Gurion realized that his political career was over Ever since his days as a frail child in Poland he’d dreamed about the deliverance of the Jews to their biblical homeland So he’d fathered the nation of Israel and led it through the tu its wars and delivering statesh duty for a man who’d actually wanted to be an intellectual

He’d devoured philosophy books, studied the Bible, flirted with Buddhisht hiinal He possessed a relentless curiosity about the natural sciences and detested fiction Verbal battle, not crafted dialogue, was his preferred mode of communication

Yet he was no abstract thinker

Instead he was a tight, craggy man with a halo of silvery hair, a jawbone that projected willpower, and a volcanic temper

He’d proclai last- doomsday predictions by his closest associates He recalled hoithin hours of his declaration, thePalestinian militias in an open attempt to destroy the Jews He’d personally led the army and 1 percent of the Jewish population had ultimately died, as well as thousands of Arabs More than half a million Palestinians lost their homes In the end the Jews prevailed, andDavid, Garibaldi, and God Alhty

For fifteen more years he led his nation But noas 1965, and he was nearly eighty and tired

Even worse, he’d been wrong

He stared at the ie The man who’d called hie, but if he ed to succeed, the rewards would be incalculable

And the envoy had been right

He’d read once that the measure of an idea was how relative it was not only to its time, but beyond

His time had produced the modern nation of Israel, but in the process thousands had died-and he feared that many more would perish in the decades ahead Jews and Arabs seehteous, his cause just, but no longer

He’d been wrong

About everything

Carefully he again paged through the weighty volu when he’d arrived The Guardian who’d visited hirin on his chapped face

Never had Ben-Gurion drearateful that his curiosity had allowed hie for the quest

"Where did all this co

"The hearts and minds of men and women"