CHAPTER 69
But so had Aleks.
The wiry Russian stood in the entrance hall.
He and Monica approached.
“So you would not feel threatened,” Aleks said. “I came alone.”
John shrugged. “How thoughtful.”
“I assume since we are meeting something went wrong?” Monica asked.
Aleks motioned to a set of glass doors to their left. “Shall we.”
Obviously he wanted them to go inside. John glanced at Monica who nodded, so he pushed through the doors into a small exhibition hall.
A placard told visitors that the most important objects in the library were displayed here for public viewing.
He knew about this place. It held precious maps and manuscripts, including illuminated Ethiopian texts and the first book ever printed in Sweden.
But the star of the show was the Codex Argentus, the Silver Bible, written in gold and silver ink atop purple vellum.
Aleks paid the admission fee for all three of them, and they walked into the dimly lit gallery. Temperature- and humidity-controlled glass cases lined the walls displaying treasures, and in the center a larger one held the codex. Ambient light cast a soft glow on the fragile pages.
“This book was created in the sixth century for the Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great,” Aleks said. “Eventually, Rudolf the Second acquired it and the Swedes, during the Thirty Years’ War, pillaged it at the same time they stole the Devil’s Bible. It has been here, in Uppsala, since 1649.”
John took a moment and admired the codex through the crystal-clear glass.
“They often open it to a particularly splendid page,” Aleks said, “allowing viewers to marvel at the intricate Gothic script and the shimmering silver inks that have, amazingly, withstood the test of time.”
“You seem to know a lot about this book,” Monica said.
“I like to think of myself as a student of history. But this book is most interesting. Aside from being beautiful, it is linguistically the most complete existing document written in the Gothic language. That is somewhat amazing.”
“What happened today?” Monica asked, changing the subject.
“Your information was correct, but we failed.”
“How does that concern me?”
Aleks shrugged. “Did you know that this library contains books stolen from Poland in the seventeenth century by the Swedish Army? According to the Treaty of Oliwa all those books should have been returned in 1660. Yet Sweden has given back only one-tenth of one percent. In the same vein, they have not returned this treasure here to the Czechs.”
“What do you want?” Monica asked.
“I want you to arrange a meet with your source.” Aleks’ voice had lowered. “Immediately.”
“You want to know if that source has been compromised.”
“I want the source gone.”
John heard the finality in the voice.
Monica said, “I can provide you the name, and you can do it yourself.”
“I know the name.”
“All the more reason you do not need me.”
“We need to end our association with your source. This entire endeavor, like the return of all these treasures, has been fraught with failure. I need you to arrange the meet.”
“And once this meet is set?”
“Be there. Then get out of the way. I will take it from there. And please tell the source I will be present. Stress that I want to speak to them personally and offer my sincere thanks.”
John stayed out of the conversation. It really did not concern him.
But Aleks had deliberately included him.
Why? He decided to do a little fishing himself.
“Why do you think the Czechs did not want this Silver Bible back? They had the leverage to get whatever they wanted. So why not ask for this too?”
“Why would you ask me that?”
“You seem to know a lot about something that is not all that relevant to our current situation.”
Aleks pointed a finger. “Details are always important. Many times they supply the answers we seek. This book? It was stolen by Queen Christina at the same time as the Devil’s Bible and has been held here for nearly four centuries.
A precious artifact. One of a kind. But it is flawed.
Only 187 of the original 336 folios survived.
So perhaps the Czechs considered it incomplete. No longer belonging to them.”
He caught the message. The same could be said for both him and Monica.
“The Americans may know they have a leak?” Monica said.
“I considered that possibility, but doubt that to be the case. They sent the plane up with the defector and the codex inside. If they knew we knew, why would they have done that and risked losing both? Your source confirmed that Ivan and the codex were on the plane?”
She nodded. “Personally witnessed.”
“So they have no idea of your source. Please arrange the meet before they do discover that fact. We cannot afford any more defectors to go free.”
“Can’t the SVR handle this?” John asked. “You know the source’s identity.”
“Believe me, you do not want me to involve them any further. Nobody in Moscow is pleased with anything that has happened here. There will be ramifications from all of this. Unpleasant ones. I am simply trying to minimize those.”
“He is right,” Monica said to John. “I have to do this.”
“And what of my reemergence?” he asked.
“That can occur after we get this done,” she said. “The source needs to be eliminated before anyone realizes it exists. I can get her there.”
He could see her mind was set.
So he simply nodded.
In agreement.