Inferno: (Robert Langdon Book 4)

jumped to his death several days ago in Florence, but the Consortium still had numerous outstanding services on his docket—specific tasks the man had entrusted to this organization regardless of the circumstances—and the Consortium, as always, intended to follow through without question.
    I have my orders , Knowlton thought, fully intending to comply. He exited his soundproofed glass cubicle, walking past a half-dozen other chambers—some transparent, some opaque—in which duty officers were handling other aspects of this same mission.
    Knowlton crossed through the thin, processed air of the main control room, nodding to the tech crew, and entered a small walk-in vault containing a dozen strongboxes. He opened one of the boxes and retrieved its contents—in this case, a bright red memory stick. According to the task card attached, the memory stick contained a large video file, which the client had directed them to upload to key media outlets at a specific time tomorrow morning.
    Tomorrow’s anonymous upload would be simple enough, but in keeping protocol for all digital files, the flowchart had flagged this file for review today —twenty-four hours prior to delivery—to ensure the Consortium had adequate time to perform any necessary decryption, compiling, or other preparation that might be required before uploading it at the precise hour.
    Nothing left to chance.
    Knowlton returned to his transparent cubicle and closed the heavy glass door, blocking out the outside world.
    He flipped a switch on the wall, and his cubicle instantly turned opaque. For privacy, all of the glass-walled offices aboard The Mendacium were built with “suspended particle device” glass. The transparency of SPD glass was easily controlled by the application or removal ofan electric current, which either aligned or randomized millions of tiny rodlike particles suspended within the panel.
    Compartmentalization was a cornerstone of the Consortium’s success.
    Know only your own mission. Share nothing.
    Now, ensconced in his private space, Knowlton inserted the memory stick into his computer and clicked the file to begin his assessment.
    Immediately his screen faded to black … and his speakers began playing the soft sound of lapping water. An image slowly appeared onscreen … amorphous and shadowy. Emerging from the darkness, a scene began to take shape … the interior of a cave … or a giant chamber of some sort. The floor of the cavern was water, like an underground lake. Strangely, the water appeared to be illuminated … as if from within.
    Knowlton had never seen anything like it. The entire cavern shone with an eerie reddish hue, its pale walls awash with tendril-like reflections of rippling water. What … is this place?
    As the lapping continued, the camera began to tilt downward and descend vertically, directly toward the water until the camera pierced the illuminated surface. The sounds of rippling disappeared, replaced by an eerie hush beneath the water. Submerged now, the camera kept descending, moving down through several feet of water until it stopped, focusing on the cavern’s silt-covered floor.
    Bolted to the floor was a rectangular plaque of shimmering titanium.
    The plaque bore an inscription.
    IN THIS PLACE, ON THIS DATE,
THE WORLD WAS CHANGED FOREVER.
    Engraved at the bottom of the plaque was a name and a date.
    The name was that of their client.
    The date … tomorrow.

CHAPTER 6
    LANGDON FELT FIRM hands lifting him now … urging him from his delirium, helping him out of the taxi. The pavement felt cold beneath his bare feet.
    Half supported by the slender frame of Dr. Brooks, Langdon staggered down a deserted walkway between two apartment buildings. The dawn air rustled, billowing his hospital gown, and Langdon felt cold air in places he knew he shouldn’t.
    The sedative he’d been given in the hospital had left his mind as blurred as his vision. Langdon felt like he was underwater, attempting to claw his way through a viscous, dimly lit world. Sienna Brooks dragged him onward, supporting him with surprising strength.
    “Stairs,” she said, and Langdon realized they had reached a side entrance of the building.
    Langdon gripped the railing and trudged dizzily upward, one step at a time. His body felt ponderous. Dr. Brooks physically pushed him now. When they reached the landing, she typed some numbers into a rusted old keypad and the door buzzed open.
    The air inside was not much warmer, but the tile