A SHORT TIME LATER, A DISSOLVE,and the line is gone. Mortati holds the chalice with all the
votes. He shakes it, chooses one---
MORTATI
Eligo in summum pontificem --
-- and reads an unfamiliar name.
He makes a note in a ledger, then raises a threaded needle and
pierces the ballot through the word "Eligo," sliding the ballot on
the thread.
A SHORT TIME LATER, ANOTHER DISSOLVE,
and there are a hundred and sixty-one ballots on the thread,
Mortati looks up from his ledger and speaks to the room.
MORTATI
The first ballot has failed.
He takes He thread carrying all the ballots and ties the ends
together to create a ring.
He lays the ring of ballots on a silver tray. Dusts the tray
heavily with a yellowish powder.
A DOOR OPENS
on a small incinerator. The ring of ballots is hurled inside and
bursts immediately into flame.
50.
A dark, brackish smoke billows up from the burning ballots, and we
follow the smoke up, up, into the chimney --
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE DUSK
--- and to the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where the black iUPke
puffs out into the early evening sky.
Below, a CROWD OF THOUSANDS GROANS in disappointment as the
message is sent --- no new pope yet.
But while they are all watching the smoke, we turn our attention?
to the opposite direction, to the east, across Rome, to where ---
CUT TO:
EXT PIAZZA DEL POPOLO DUSK
--- those black Alfa Romeos, four this time, glide silently to a
halt outside the church where Langdon just found the corpse. Swiss
Guard in black suits pour out of the vehicles and hurry into the
church, trying to attract as little attention as possible.
INT SANTA MARIA DEL POPOLO DUSK
The inside of the church is being sealed off as a crime scene.
Rocher, just arriving, takes charge as the plastic is RIPPED off
the Chigi Chapel.
ROCHER
Get that body out of there and search
the rest of the building.
Swiss Guardsmen drop into the demon's hole to remove the body.
ROCHER (cont'd)
(to another Guardsman)
Outside -- a perimeter. Secure but
invisible. No lights, no guns, no
one knows. Understood?
Langdon, lost in thought, drifts through the small chapel, studying
the intricate carvings and other artwork.
LANGDON
Earthly symbology... everywhere...
Rocher passes through his field of vision, livid:
ROCHER
Why the hell didn't you figure this
out in the first place?
51.
It was more a rhetorical question, but Langdon answers honestly,
still lost in thought, his voice soft.
LANGDON
I made a mistake.
He drifts toward a statue, of the highest quality white marble,
resting in a niche on the far side, out of the way of the mayhem.
Vittoria joins him.
VITTORIA
Is it Raphael?
LANGDON
The chapel is. But the sculptures
are Bernini.
(STUNNED)
The unknown Illuminati master was
Bernini.
VITTORIA
Didn't he work for the Church?
LANGDON
Almost exclusively. It means the
Illuminati even infiltrated the
Vatican. They hid in plain sight.
He steps closer to the statue. It's of two life-size human
figures, intertwined, one a regal, bearded man, the other a
cherub, floating overhead.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Habakkuk and the Angel.
VITTORIA
Habakkuk?
LANGDON
The prophet who predicted the
annihilation of the earth. This is
the first marker.
He steps closer, studying it carefully.
LANGDON (cont'd)
"Let angels guide you on your lofty
quest..."
His eyes move slowly over the statue, and ours do too, from the
angel's innocent face, down his arm, and to his right hand, which
is outstretched, one finger extended --
52.
-- pointing the way.
LANGDON (cont'd)
The Path is alive.
CUT TO:
Date: 2015-12-18; view: 575
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