My spiritual exercises
ponedjeljak, 03.10.2016.
U MARSOVOJ PIRAMIDI
Napisati nešto u stilu takvog genijalca poput Dana Browna nije nimalo lagan zadatak. Koliko sam u tome uspio, prosudite sami. Napomena: radi se o crossoveru trilera i SF-a.
PROLOG
Ed Tudor, profesor religijske simbologije na univerzitetu Kent, nije bio od onih profesora koje bismo nazvali uglednim. Nije imao značajnih objavljenih radova, nije držao spektakularno posjećena javna predavanja, nekako je bio, riječju, na margini. Bilo mu je već 47 godina, i to je vrijeme kada se već moraju vidjeti neki „opipljivi“ rezultati u karijeri naučnika. Njegovi su stavovi pomalo išli na živce ne samo njegovim šefovima na studiju, već i njegovim kolegama, ali on nije mario, već je uporno tjerao svoje, alternativne poglede na život i svijet. Na univerzitetu su jedva dočekali da krene na jednogodišnji odmor od profesure, tj. da uživa u svojem pravu na 'Sabatsku godinu'.
Izabrao je Rim kao mjesto gdje će provesti tu godinu. No, ni tu nije baš bio omiljen, kao ni na svojem matičnom univerzitetu, kao 'maverick' u konstantnom sukobu sa okolinom. („Ljude sa Aspergerom ionako nitko ne voli.“, rezignirano je razmišljao.) Dane je uglavnom provodio sam, u šetnji Rimom i proučavanju simbola, kojih, jasno, u 'vječnom gradu' ima napretek. Pošto mu je već isticala godina dana, razmišljao je gdje bi još mogao otići. Dok je tako, pomalo već besciljno šetao nakon ručka i prolazio pored Palazzo Farnese, idući prema trgu Campo de' fiori, sjetio se da još nije bio u mjestu Caprarola, nekih 50ak kilometara od Rima. Zaputio se prema glavnoj autobusnoj stanici, kupio kartu, i relativno brzo stigao u pitoreskno mjestašce, sjeverno od Rima.
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Caprarola je gradić smješten na lancu vulkanskih brežuljaka poznatih pod imenom Cimini. Tu je dom velike renesansne vile, koja na svojem visokom položaju dominira okolicom. Moglo bi se reći štoviše, da poput kakvog Olimpa dominira okolicom. Villu Farnese počeo je graditi Alessandro Farnese, odnosno papa Pavle III, početkom XVI stoljeća. Farnese - iz čuvene porodice, koja je poznata u teorijama zavjere kao jedna od glavnih 'Papal Bloodline' familija. Unuk rodonačelnika dinastije, također Alessandro, postao je kardinalom, i smatrao je Caprarolu finim mjestom, gdje može sebi sagraditi rezidenciju, te u njoj sačekati smrt pape Pavla IV, odnosno Gian Pietra Carafa-e, kojem 'Alessandro iuniore' nije bio po volji.
Profesor Tudor žurio se pješačeći uzbrdo srednjevjekovnom, prilično strmom ulicom, prema Villi Farnese; vili - izvorno zamišljenoj kao tvrđavi, neobičnog, pentagonalnog oblika, po uzoru na tvrđavu u španjolskom gradu Pamplona, gdje se, također u to renesansno vrijeme, protiv Francuza borio Ignacije od Loyole. Tudor je razmišljao o ovoj koincidenciji, grabeći krupnim koracima, da kupi kartu za razgledavanje, prije no što se vila zatvori za posjetioce.
- Morali ste doći ranije, više nema organiziranih obilazaka sa vodičem, za danas, - objašnjavala mu je prodavačica karata u ulaznim holu.
- Nije važno, mogu razgledati i sam, - reče profesor Tudor. I inače nije volio da ga vodaju unaokolo u bilo kakvoj grupi, a još manje da mu simbole slika objašnjava netko tko je manje stručan od njega.
Na najnižem katu bio je nekada apartman za prelate, u početku ga je koristio i sam kardinal. Na prvi kat moglo se doći iz dvorišta, izravno na konju, pošto je to omogućavalo arhitektonsko rješenje spiralnih stepenica. I ulazni hol i stepenište bili su bogato urešeni slikama renesansnih majstora. Putnik-namjernik mogao bi se začuditi kako to da među raskošno oslikanim zidovima nema fresaka sa religioznom tematikom.
Tudor se uspe spiralnim stepenicama na prvi kat, 'il piano nobile', na kojem su se nalazile freske sa prizorima iz života članova familije Farnese, u reprezentativnoj Sala dei fasti farnesiani i u Herkulovoj Sali, gdje su moćna djela članova familije bila predstavljena pomoću mitskog heroja. Na tom je katu imao svoj kako ljetni, tako i zimski apartman kardinal Alessandro Farnese. Ono što je privlačilo pažnju profesora Tudora, uostalom kao i većine posjetilaca, bila je tzv. Sala della mappe Geografiche ili također poznata kao Mappamondo.
Profesor je zadivljeno promatrao fresku sa velikom kartom svijeta, ožbukanom preko cijelog zida. Pitao se, kako li tako vjerno prikazuje kontinente, kao da je Zemlja bila snimljena iz zraka. „Kako to da prikazuje Antarktik? Nije li on bio otkriven tek u XIX vijeku?“ razmišljao je profesor. Kao vrsnom simbologu, jasno, nisu mu mogle promaknuti figure 4 tetramorfa, u uglovima. Kako veli drevna mitologija, od početka kreacije, monstrumi žele da proždru Sunce. Bogovi, nakon što su napravili red u kozmosu, žele očuvati svoje djelo, i u tu svrhu su postavili 4 čuvara, na 4 kardinalne tačke svijeta. U kršćanskom simbolizmu, jasno, oni predstavljaju četiri evanđelista.
Ulazeći u salu sa freskama koje su prikazivale mape svijeta XVI st. profesor Tudor nije isprva primijetio starijeg posjetioca, koji očigledno nije mogao pratiti tempo obilaska prethodne turističke grupe, te je sjeo za stol. Tek kada je začuo neko nerazumljivo mumlanje, profesor se okrenuo u smjeru stola.
- Jeste li dobro? - upitao je starca, koji je na papirić ispred sebe, čini se, zadnjim naporom nešto nažvrljao.
Tudor se užurbano kretao k stolu. Ispred starog čovjeka, pored papirića istrgnutog iz bloka, bila je i fotokopija mape svijeta, identična onoj na zidu, koju bijaše oslikao Giovanni Antonio da Varese u XVI vijeku. Starcu je izgleda preostalo tek toliko snage, da prstom upre u Atlantski ocean, na mapi ispred sebe. Potom se njegova glava sruči sa treskom na stol. Tudor je mahinalno posegao za papirićem, samo letimično pogledavši što je na njemu napisano, te ga spremio u džep. Vjerovatno mu je kroz podsvijest protutnjalo, da, ma šta da je taj stari čovjek napisao, da je ta poruka bila namijenjena baš njemu.
Ispuni ga nelagoda, i za moment, nije znao što bi. Neka intuicija mu je govorila da tom čovjeku više nema pomoći. Dok je tako razmišljao, pomalo zbunjen, pa i prestrašen iznenadnim događajem, još ga ga je više smela jedna prilika u crnom, što se takorekuć niotkuda stvorila tu, baš kraj njega i tog stola, na kojem je čovjek izgledao, kao da spava.
- Brzo, profesore Tudor, moramo što prije otići odavde. Ja sam iz NSA, to je sve što treba da znate. Molim vas, ne postavljajte pitanja. Vaš život je također u opasnosti. - Ovo mu je, sve u jednom dahu, šaptom saopćila misteriozna dama u crnom, i, kako mu se činilo, nije se šalila.
- Ali, što, ja... – profesor je ženi pokušao objasniti kako nema veze s ovime što se dogodilo, i samo je htio pomoći starcu, jer mu je izgledalo, da je starcu iznenada bilo pozlilo.
- Idemo, profesore, i to brzo! – reče mu žena, (kako se činilo u svojim kasnim tridesetima), vrlo vitka i energična, glasom koji nije trpio prigovora, te ga snažno uhvati za nadlakticu, i povuče prema izlazu iz prostorije.
Čudno, nekako ga je asocirala na Angelinu Jolie, i mislio je da takva vrsta žena postoji samo na filmu. Žena je očigledno dobro poznavala plan zgrade, jer je vješto klizila hodnicima, kako se činilo, prema nekom sporednom (možda i tajnom) izlazu iz zgrade, u stražnjem djelu. Profesor ju je jedva sustizao. Dok su užurbanim koracima napuštali vilu, Tudor je razmišljao kako je stari gospodin morao zacijelo umrijeti neprirodnom smrću.
[NASTAVIT ĆE SE...]
IN A PYRAMID ON MARS
PROLOGUE
Ed Tudor, professor in religious symbology at Kent University, wasn't one of the kind we could normally call 'eminent'. He hadn't any published works worth mentioning, he didn't hold any spectacularly attended public lectures – somehow, he was one of the losers, at life's margin. He was 47 years old already; it's the time when some tangible results must be seen in a career of a scientist. His attitude went slightly on everybody's nerves - not only his principals', but coleagues' as well, but he simply didn't care; instead, he was stubbornly pursuing his way, that is, - his alternative views on life, and world as well. At university, they barely couldn't see the minute that he's gone, even only for a while, on his one-year rest from the professorship, i.e. to enjoy his right to the Sabbatical year.
He chosen Rome, as a place, to spent that one year. But, he wasn't popular here neither, as he was not at his own university, as a maverick in constant conflict with his surrounding. („Men with Asperger are not liked by anybody, anyway.“, he thought resignedly.) He spent his days mostly on his own, walking around Rome and studying symbols, with which the 'Eternal City' (of course) abounds. As his Sabbatical year slowly expired, he has been thinking, to which place he may go. As he walked bit by bit, aimlessly, after the lunch, and passed by Palazzo Farnese on his way toward Campo de' Fiori Square, he recollected, that he hasn't been yet to small town Caprarola, some 30 miles from Rome. He started off to the main bus station, bought the ticket and relatively quickly arrived to picturesque place, north of Rome.
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Caprarola is small town placed on a range of volcano mounds, known under name Cimini. Here is home of the Renaissance villa, which on her high position dominate the surroundings. It could be said, moreover, that it dominates as some kind of Olympus, over the surroundings. It was Alessandro Farnese, the future Pope Paul III, who started to build the villa, by the beginning of 16th century. Farnese – from the famous family, known in conspiracy theories as one of the main 'Papal Bloodline' families. Grandson of the patriarch of the dynasty, also named Alessandro ('iuniore'), became a cardinal, and he deemed Caprarola as a fine place, where to build a residence, where he can wait until Pope Paul IV, that is Gian Pietro Carafa, pass away; it was the pope who hasn't any sympathy for 'Alessandro iuniore'.
Professor Tudor hurried, walking uphill by the medieval, fairly steep street, toward Villa Farnese; villa, that was originally designed as a fortress, villa of unusual pentagonal shape, in imitation of the fortress at Spanish town Pamplona, where at those Renaissance times fought Ignatius of Loyola, against the Frenchmen. Tudor was musing about this coincidence, stepping lively, to buy a ticket for sightseeing, before they close the villa for visitors.
- You had to arrive earliar, there are no more organized sightseeings with a guide, for today, - explained the woman who sold the tickets at the entrance hall.
- It doesn't matter, I can go for sightseeing by myself, - said professor Tudor. He didn't like being pulled about, anyway – in no group whatsoever, and still less, that someone less expert than him explains to him the paintings, and their symbols.
On the lowest storey sometime there was an apartment for prelates – in the beginning it was used by cardinal himself. The second storey could be reached from the courtyard, outright on horse, as it was made possible by the architectonic solution of the spiral staircase. Both entrance hall and the staircase were richly decorated by the paintings of medieval masters. Visitors could be surprised for the fact, that among the luxuriously decorated walls, there are virtually no frescoes with religious themes.
Tudor climbed up by those spiral steps onto the second storey, 'il piano nobile', at which there were frescoes with sights from lives of the members of the family Farnese, in the representative Sala dei festi fanesiani and Hercules Hall, where the mighty deeds of the members of the family were represnted by the mythical hero. On that storey had his summer, and as well winter apartment the cardinal Alessandro Farnese. What grabbed the attention of professor Tudor, as by the way, most of the visitors', was so called Sala delle mappe geografiche, or known also as Mappamondo.
Professor observed the fresco with a big map of the world, plastered all over the wall. He asked himself, howcome it represents so faithfully the continents, as if the Earth was surveyed, and snapshot being taken then, from the space. „Howcome the Antarctica is represented? Wasn't she dicovered only in 19th century?“ professor mused. As being a competent symbologist, he could not fail to notice, of course, the four tetramorphs, in four corner of the map. As the ancient mythology says, from the beginning of the creation, monsters wanted to devour the Sun. And gods, after they created the order in the cosmos, they want to preserve their deed; therefore they put four guards at four carinal points of the world. In Christian symbolism, obviously, they are represented by four Evangelists.
When he entered the hall with frescoes, with maps of the world of the 16th century, professor Tudor didn't notice at first the elderly visitor, who evidently couldn't follow the pace of the former tourist group, so he sit at the table. Just when he heard some unintelligible mumble, professor turned himself in the direction of the table.
- Are you okay? – he asked the old man, who scribbled on the scrap of paper before him something, as it seemed, with the last atoms of his strength.
Tudor rushed to the table. In front of that old man, near the scrap from the note-pad, there was a photo-copy of the map of the world, identical to that on the wall, which was painted by Giovanni Antonio da Varese in 16th century. The old man has had only that little bit of strength, to point with his index finger to the Atlantic Ocean, on the map before him. His head then fell down and slammed against the table. Tudor automatically grabbed the scrap of paper, just hastily looked at what was weitten on it, then he put it in his pocket. Most probably a thought flashed through his subconscious mind, that whatever the elderly man wrote, that that message was assigned just for him.
Professor was fulfilled with discomfort, and for a moment, he didn't know what to do. Some intuition told him, that there's no help for the old man. As he pondered, bit confused, but also scared by the sudden occurance, he was perplexed even more when a figure in black popped up, as if from the thin air, just there near him and that table, at which the man seemed to sleep.
- Quickly, professor Tudor, we have to move from here, the sooner, the better. I'm from NSA, that's all you need to know. Please, don't ask any questions. Your life is also in danger. – This, all in one breath, whispred to him mysterious lady in black, and as it seemed, she did not joked.
- But what, I... – professor tryed to explained to the woman that he has nothing to do with what happened here, he only tried to help the man, because it seemed to him, that all at sudden, he fell sick.
- Let's go professor. Hurry! – woman (as it seemed in her late thirties), very slim and energetic told him, with voice that didn't indulge objections; then she vigorously took him by his upper arm, and pulled him toward the exit door.
Strangely, the lady somehow reminded him of Angelina Jolie – he thought that such kind of woman did exist only in movies. The woman evidently knew the building plan well, because she slid skilfully through the hallways, as it seemed, toward some subsidiary (maybe even secret) exit of the building, in the back part. Professor could barely keep pace. As they were hastilly abandoning the villa, Tudor mused, that elderly gentleman must have died from unnatural causes.
[TO BE CONTINUED...]
