Sophie's SmartCar tore through the diplomatic quarter, weaving past embassies and consulates,finally racing1 out a side street and taking a right turn back onto the massive thoroughfare ofChamps-Elysées.
Langdon sat white-knuckled in the passenger seat, twisted backward, scanning behind them for anysigns of the police. He suddenly wished he had not decided2 to run. You didn't, he reminded himself.
Sophie had made the decision for him when she threw the GPS dot out the bathroom window.
Now, as they sped away from the embassy, serpentining3 through sparse4 traffic on Champs-Elysées,Langdon felt his options deteriorating5. Although Sophie seemed to have lost the police, at least forthe moment, Langdon doubted their luck would hold for long.
Behind the wheel Sophie was fishing in her sweater pocket. She removed a small metal object andheld it out for him. "Robert, you'd better have a look at this. This is what my grandfather left mebehind Madonna of the Rocks."Feeling a shiver of anticipation6, Langdon took the object and examined it. It was heavy and shapedlike a cruciform. His first instinct was that he was holding a funeral pieu—a miniature version of amemorial spike7 designed to be stuck into the ground at a gravesite. But then he noted8 the shaftprotruding from the cruciform was prismatic and triangular10. The shaft9 was also pockmarked withhundreds of tiny hexagons that appeared to be finely tooled and scattered11 at random12.
"It's a laser-cut key," Sophie told him. "Those hexagons are read by an electric eye."A key? Langdon had never seen anything like it.
"Look at the other side," she said, changing lanes and sailing through an intersection13.
When Langdon turned the key, he felt his jaw14 drop. There, intricately embossed on the center ofthe cross, was a stylized fleur-de-lis with the initials P.S.! "Sophie," he said, "this is the seal I toldyou about! The official device of the Priory of Sion."She nodded. "As I told you, I saw the key a long time ago. He told me never to speak of it again."Langdon's eyes were still riveted15 on the embossed key. Its high-tech16 tooling and age-oldsymbolism exuded17 an eerie18 fusion19 of ancient and modern worlds.
"He told me the key opened a box where he kept many secrets."Langdon felt a chill to imagine what kind of secrets a man like Jacques Saunière might keep. Whatan ancient brotherhood20 was doing with a futuristic key, Langdon had no idea. The Priory existedfor the sole purpose of protecting a secret. A secret of incredible power. Could this key havesomething to do with it? The thought was overwhelming. "Do you know what it opens?"Sophie looked disappointed. "I was hoping you knew."Langdon remained silent as he turned the cruciform in his hand, examining it.
"It looks Christian21," Sophie pressed.
Langdon was not so sure about that. The head of this key was not the traditional long-stemmedChristian cross but rather was a square cross—with four arms of equal length—which predatedChristianity by fifteen hundred years. This kind of cross carried none of the Christian connotationsof crucifixion associated with the longer-stemmed Latin Cross, originated by Romans as a torturedevice. Langdon was always surprised how few Christians22 who gazed upon "the crucifix" realizedtheir symbol's violent history was reflected in its very name: "cross" and "crucifix" came from theLatin verb cruciare—to torture.
"Sophie," he said, "all I can tell you is that equal-armed crosses like this one are consideredpeaceful crosses. Their square configurations23 make them impractical24 for use in crucifixion, andtheir balanced vertical25 and horizontal elements convey a natural union of male and female, makingthem symbolically26 consistent with Priory philosophy."She gave him a weary look. "You have no idea, do you?"Langdon frowned. "Not a clue.""Okay, we have to get off the road." Sophie checked her rearview mirror. "We need a safe place tofigure out what that key opens."Langdon thought longingly27 of his comfortable room at the Ritz. Obviously, that was not an option.
"How about my hosts at the American University of Paris?""Too obvious. Fache will check with them.""You must know people. You live here.""Fache will run my phone and e-mail records, talk to my coworkers. My contacts arecompromised, and finding a hotel is no good because they all require identification."Langdon wondered again if he might have been better off taking his chances letting Fache arresthim at the Louvre. "Let's call the embassy. I can explain the situation and have the embassy sendsomeone to meet us somewhere.""Meet us?" Sophie turned and stared at him as if he were crazy. "Robert, you're dreaming. Yourembassy has no jurisdiction28 except on their own property. Sending someone to retrieve29 us would beconsidered aiding a fugitive30 of the French government. It won't happen. If you walk into yourembassy and request temporary asylum31, that's one thing, but asking them to take action againstFrench law enforcement in the field?" She shook her head. "Call your embassy right now, and theyare going to tell you to avoid further damage and turn yourself over to Fache. Then they'll promiseto pursue diplomatic channels to get you a fair trial." She gazed up the line of elegant storefronts onChamps-Elysées. "How much cash do you have?"Langdon checked his wallet. "A hundred dollars. A few euro. Why?""Credit cards?""Of course."As Sophie accelerated, Langdon sensed she was formulating32 a plan. Dead ahead, at the end ofChamps-Elysées, stood the Arc de Triomphe—Napoleon's 164-foot-tall tribute to his own militarypotency—encircled by France's largest rotary33, a nine-lane behemoth.
Sophie's eyes were on the rearview mirror again as they approached the rotary. "We lost them forthe time being," she said, "but we won't last another five minutes if we stay in this car."So steal a different one, Langdon mused34, now that we're criminals. "What are you going to do?"Sophie gunned the SmartCar into the rotary. "Trust me."Langdon made no response. Trust had not gotten him very far this evening. Pulling back the sleeveof his jacket, he checked his watch—a vintage, collector's-edition Mickey Mouse wristwatch thathad been a gift from his parents on his tenth birthday. Although its juvenile35 dial often drew oddlooks, Langdon had never owned any other watch; Disney animations36 had been his firstintroduction to the magic of form and color, and Mickey now served as Langdon's daily reminderto stay young at heart. At the moment, however, Mickey's arms were skewed at an awkward angle,indicating an equally awkward hour.
2:51 A.M.
"Interesting watch," Sophie said, glancing at his wrist and maneuvering37 the SmartCar around thewide, counterclockwise rotary.
"Long story," he said, pulling his sleeve back down.
"I imagine it would have to be." She gave him a quick smile and exited the rotary, heading duenorth, away from the city center. Barely making two green lights, she reached the third intersectionand took a hard right onto Boulevard Malesherbes. They'd left the rich, tree-lined streets of thediplomatic neighborhood and plunged38 into a darker industrial neighborhood. Sophie took a quickleft, and a moment later, Langdon realized where they were.
Gare Saint-Lazare.
Ahead of them, the glass-roofed train terminal resembled the awkward offspring of an airplanehangar and a greenhouse. European train stations never slept. Even at this hour, a half-dozen taxisidled near the main entrance. Vendors39 manned carts of sandwiches and mineral water while grungykids in backpacks emerged from the station rubbing their eyes, looking around as if trying toremember what city they were in now. Up ahead on the street, a couple of city policemen stood onthe curb40 giving directions to some confused tourists.
Sophie pulled her SmartCar in behind the line of taxis and parked in a red zone despite plenty oflegal parking across the street. Before Langdon could ask what was going on, she was out of thecar. She hurried to the window of the taxi in front of them and began speaking to the driver.
As Langdon got out of the SmartCar, he saw Sophie hand the taxi driver a big wad of cash. Thetaxi driver nodded and then, to Langdon's bewilderment, sped off without them.
"What happened?" Langdon demanded, joining Sophie on the curb as the taxi disappeared.
Sophie was already heading for the train station entrance. "Come on. We're buying two tickets onthe next train out of Paris."Langdon hurried along beside her. What had begun as a one-mile dash to the U.S. Embassy hadnow become a full-fledged evacuation from Paris. Langdon was liking41 this idea less and less.
索菲的"都市精灵"与大使馆和领事馆飞速地擦肩而过，穿越了使馆区，最后冲上一条人行道，右转返回到宽阔的香榭丽舍大街。
兰登攥着拳头坐在乘客席上，扭身向后张望，看看是否有警察的踪迹。忽然，他希望自己没有做出逃跑的决定。实际上，你也没做过这样的决定，他提醒自己。当索菲将全球定位系统跟踪器扔出厕所时，她已经替兰登做出了决定。现在，他们正加速离开大使馆，穿行在车辆行人稀少的香榭丽舍大街上。兰登觉得他刚才选择返回国家展厅的决定，使事情变得更糟了。虽然眼下索菲甩掉了警察，但谁知道这好运能停留多久呢。
索菲一手操纵着方向盘，一手在毛衣口袋中摸索。她拿出了一个金属小玩意儿，递给兰登。"罗伯特，你最好看看这个。这是祖父留在《岩间圣母》后面的。"
兰登急切地接过那个东西，仔细端详起来。它是十字形的，沉甸甸的。兰登感觉自己仿佛拿着一个微型的坟前十字架--那种插在墓前，用来纪念死者的十字桩。但他又注意到，十字形钥匙柄下的钥匙身是三棱柱形的，上面随机排列着上百个精致的小洞。
"这是一把激光塑模的钥匙。"索菲告诉他。"锁上的电子孔会读取钥匙身上小洞的排列信息。"一把钥匙？兰登从来没有见过这样的钥匙。
"看看另一面。"索菲将车开过一个十字路口，驶入另一条街道。
兰登将钥匙翻转过来，变得目瞪口呆，只见那十字形钥匙柄的中心刻着法国百合的花样和首字母缩写P.S.！"索菲。"他说。"这就是我说过的那个图案，这是郇山隐修会的标志。"索菲点了点头："我说过，我很久以前就见过这把钥匙。祖父让我不要再提起它。"
兰登仍死死地盯着那把刻着图案的钥匙。它运用高科技制造而成，却刻着古老的象征符号，反映了古今世界的奇妙融合。
"他告诉我这把钥匙可以打开一个盒子，盒子里藏着他的许多秘密。"
雅克。索尼埃这样的人会保守什么样的秘密呢？兰登想到这个问题，不禁打了个冷战。
他无法理解为什么一个古老教会要使用如此现代化的钥匙。隐修会的存在只为了一个目的，那就是保守一个秘密--一个有巨大威力的秘密。这把钥匙会不会与此有关呢？兰登不禁要这样揣测。"你知道它是用来开什么的吗？"
索菲看上去很失望："我希望你会知道。"
兰登不说话了，只是翻动、打量着手中的十字形钥匙。
"它看上去与基督教有关。"索菲接着说。
兰登无法确认这说法是否属实。钥匙柄并不是传统的基督教十字形，而是一个正方十字形--像交叉的两条线段那样长。这种符号的诞生比基督教的成立早了一千五百年。传统的基督教十字形源于罗马的一种刑具，但正方十字形则完全与此无关。兰登总是惊奇地发现，很少会有基督教徒知道他们的象征符号的名称反映了一段暴力的历史：英文单词十字架‘cross’、‘十字形crucifix’源于拉丁文"cruciare"，而这个单词就表示"酷刑"、"折磨"。
"索菲。"兰登说道。"据我所知，这种正方十字形被视为‘和平’的十字。它的外形使得它不可能被用做刑具，交叉的两条线段一样长，暗含着男女自然融合的寓意。它的象征意义与隐修会的思想是一致的。"索菲不耐烦地看了他一眼。"你不知道它是用来开什么的吗？"
兰登皱了皱眉头。"一点儿也看不出来。"
"好吧，我们必须把车停了。"索菲对车后镜看了看。"我们必须找个地方来想想这钥匙到底是用来开什么的。"兰登非常渴望回到丽兹酒店的舒适客房中去，但很显然那是不可能的。
"去找驻巴黎的美国大学接待人怎么样？"
"太容易暴露目标了。法希会去检查他们的。"
"你一定认识人的。你住在这里呀。"
"法希会根据我的电话和电子邮件记录与我的同事取得联系，他们都会听法希的。找饭店也不行，那得要身份证。"兰登再次觉得被法希在卢浮宫逮捕会比现在更好些。"那我们打电话给大使馆。我可以向他们解释情况，让大使馆派人到什么地方接应我们。""接应我们？"索菲扭头看着兰登，那眼神仿佛在问兰登是否在说疯话。
"罗伯特，别做梦了。你们的大使馆在领地之外没有司法权。派人来接应我们就等于援助法国政府的逃犯。那是不可能的。如果你走进大使馆请求临时避难，那另当别论，但要让他们在这方面采取行动对抗法国的法律？"索菲摇了摇头。"如果你现在打电话给大使馆，他们只会让你避免更大的损失，向法希自首。然后，他们会保证将通过外交途径让你受到公正的审判。"她看了看香榭丽舍大街上那排优雅的时尚店。"你带了多少现金？"
兰登看了看钱包。"一百美元。还有一点儿欧元。怎么了？"
"带信用卡了吗？"
"当然。"
索菲加快了车速。兰登凭直觉知道她又在构想一个计划。前面是死路了，香榭丽舍大街的尽头矗立着凯旋门--那是拿破仑为炫耀其战果而建的高达164 英尺的拱门。它被法国最大的环行公路围绕着，那是拥有九车道的庞然大物。
当行驶到环行公路时，索菲又看了看车后镜。"我们暂时甩掉了他们。"索菲说。"但如果我们不下车的话，不出五分钟他们又会发现我们了。"那就偷一辆车，兰登暗自思忖，反正我们是罪犯。
索菲踩下油门，将车开上环行公路。"相信我。"
兰登没有回答。"相信"让他今晚遇到了太多的麻烦。他拉起夹克衫的袖子，看了看表，那是一块珍藏版的米奇老鼠手表，是兰登十岁生日时父母送给他的生日礼物。虽然那孩子气的表盘经常引来怪异的目光，但这是兰登所拥有的唯一的一块手表。是迪斯尼的动画把他引入了形象和颜色的神奇世界，现在米奇老鼠还每天提醒兰登永葆一颗童心。此刻，米奇的两个手臂形成了一个不自然的夹角，表明的时间：2：51 A.M.
"有趣的手表。"索菲边说，边让车顺着环行公路拐了一个逆时针的大弯。
"说来话长。"兰登把袖口拉了下来。
"我想也是。"她冲兰登一笑，把车开下了环行公路，又继续向北开去，离开了市中心。
他们穿过两个亮着绿灯的十字路口，来到第三个十字路口时，他们向右急转弯，驶上了梅尔歇布大道。他们已经离开了豪华的三车道使馆区，驶入了稍稍有点儿昏暗的工业区。索菲向左来了个急转弯，几分钟后，兰登方才辨认出他们的方位。
圣拉查尔火车站。
在他们前方，那玻璃屋顶的火车终点站聚集着刚下火车的人群。欧洲的火车站是通宵开放的。即使是在此时，还有很多出租车在出口处接客。小贩们推着小车叫卖三明治和矿泉水，刚从车站里出来的被大人背着的小家伙眨巴着眼睛，似乎要努力地记住眼前的这个城市。在路口，有几个警察站在路沿上，为找不着北的旅游者们指路。
虽然街对面有足够的停车空间，索菲还是将"都市精灵"停在于那排出租车的后面。还没等兰登问这是怎么回事，索菲已经跳下了车。她急匆匆地跑到一辆出租车的窗前，和司机交谈起来。
当兰登跳下车时，看见索菲正将一大叠现金交给出租车司机。司机点了点头。令兰登大惑不解的是，司机并没有带上他们，而是自个儿把车开走了。
"怎么了？"兰登跨上路沿，站到索菲跟前。这时那辆车已经从他们的视线中消失了。
索菲又向火车站人口走去。"来，我们买两张票，搭下一班车离开巴黎。"
兰登急匆匆地跟在她身旁。现在，到美国使馆的一英里冲刺已经彻头彻尾地变成了从巴黎向外潜逃。兰登越来越不喜欢这个主意了。
收听单词发音 |
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racing
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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serpentining
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| v.像蛇般蜷曲的，蜿蜒的( serpentine的现在分词 ) | |
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sparse
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| adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的 | |
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deteriorating
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| 恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 ) | |
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anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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spike
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| n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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intersection
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| n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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high-tech
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| adj.高科技的 | |
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exuded
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| v.缓慢流出，渗出，分泌出( exude的过去式和过去分词 )；流露出对（某物）的神态或感情 | |
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eerie
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| adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的 | |
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fusion
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| n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接 | |
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brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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configurations
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| n.[化学]结构( configuration的名词复数 )；构造；（计算机的）配置；构形（原子在分子中的相对空间位置） | |
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impractical
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| adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的 | |
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vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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symbolically
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| ad.象征地，象征性地 | |
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longingly
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| adv. 渴望地 热望地 | |
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jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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retrieve
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| vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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formulating
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| v.构想出( formulate的现在分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
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rotary
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| adj.(运动等)旋转的；轮转的；转动的 | |
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34
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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35
juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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36
animations
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| n.生气( animation的名词复数 )；兴奋；动画片；（指电影、录像、电脑游戏的）动画制作 | |
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37
maneuvering
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| v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵 | |
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38
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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39
vendors
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| n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方 | |
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40
curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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41
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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