Universe. At the moment, sitting there, Jack felt the opposite; his universe had just lost its center, and everything seemed untethered, buffeted by a maddening wind.
“No,” Andy said. “I mean this is incredibly fucking awesome. If this is true—but it can’t be true, can it?”
Jack could see the screen’s reflection flashing across Andy’s high cheekbones. The glowing double helix that represented the two sets of six of the Seven Wonders of the World. If it hadn’t been Jeremy—and if Jeremy wasn’t lying open on an autopsy table at that very moment—he wouldn’t have believed it. A link between the Ancient Wonders and the Modern Wonders? The Ancient Wonders of the World had been chosen by ancient Greek historians, but the Modern Wonders were the result of a worldwide vote. And besides, they spanned centuries—millennia, even. How could they possible be linked?
Jack exhaled, then looked past Andy, across the long glade of grass. Other than a lone figure, probably a student, sitting on a bench maybe fiftyyards away in the shade of one of the many pin oaks that straddled the open courtyard, the place was deserted.
“I guess it’s possible that the vote was manipulated,” he finally said. “The contest was run by a Swiss corporation; the results were announced on July 7, 2007, in Lisbon. Over one hundred million people supposedly voted—but it wasn’t like people were signing their names to a list.”
“That’s something we could look into,” Andy said. “If someone manipulated the voting, there might be some way to hack into the data and find evidence.”
Jack nodded. But that was only a small part of the bizarre mystery that Jeremy had uncovered. The rigged vote, though possible, didn’t answer the much, much bigger question.
For what possible reason could six of the Seven Wonders of the World be linked? Built hundreds to thousands of years apart, by cultures vastly different, all over the world? And somehow, if Jeremy’s numbers were correct—and Jeremy’s numbers had always been correct—built in a pattern that mirrored six of the Ancient Wonders of the World?
“Why only six of them?” Andy asked. “Why not Christ the Redeemer?”
Jack pointed to a notation at the top corner of the computer screen, directly above the brilliant double helix.
“There’s a second file. I think it might be some sort of answer.”
In the ten minutes he’d had with Jeremy’s thumb drive before Andy had taken the laptop from him, he’d gone from simply staring in awe at the glowing double helix, to reading the few notations that had gone along with it—basically, latitudes and longitudes of each of the Seven Wonders, and the basic methodology his brother had used to match up the enantiomers. That’s when he had stumbled on the second file.
Andy clicked on the link, and the double helix disappeared, replaced by an instantly recognizable image: Christ the Redeemer, the enormous statue of Jesus Christ on the peak of a mountain overlooking Rio, Brazil, armsspread wide as if to embrace the entire skyline. Then beneath the image, something quite incredible.
“Am I looking at what I think I’m looking at?”
Jack nodded again. It was mostly a set of numerical notations, but also just enough information to tell the story behind the numbers. His brother had found something odd about Christ the Redeemer; something about the topography of the Wonder that Jack was certain he’d never heard about before.
“What does this mean?” Andy asked.
Jack reached past him and hit the computer’s keyboard, shifting the screen back to the double helix. He wanted that image to sear itself into his brain; because if his growing suspicions were correct, that image was the reason his brother was lying on an autopsy table.
“It means we pack our bags,” Jack said.
Until Jack understood how such an image could exist—and who had been willing to kill Jeremy because of it—he was going to do everything in his
“No,” Andy said. “I mean this is incredibly fucking awesome. If this is true—but it can’t be true, can it?”
Jack could see the screen’s reflection flashing across Andy’s high cheekbones. The glowing double helix that represented the two sets of six of the Seven Wonders of the World. If it hadn’t been Jeremy—and if Jeremy wasn’t lying open on an autopsy table at that very moment—he wouldn’t have believed it. A link between the Ancient Wonders and the Modern Wonders? The Ancient Wonders of the World had been chosen by ancient Greek historians, but the Modern Wonders were the result of a worldwide vote. And besides, they spanned centuries—millennia, even. How could they possible be linked?
Jack exhaled, then looked past Andy, across the long glade of grass. Other than a lone figure, probably a student, sitting on a bench maybe fiftyyards away in the shade of one of the many pin oaks that straddled the open courtyard, the place was deserted.
“I guess it’s possible that the vote was manipulated,” he finally said. “The contest was run by a Swiss corporation; the results were announced on July 7, 2007, in Lisbon. Over one hundred million people supposedly voted—but it wasn’t like people were signing their names to a list.”
“That’s something we could look into,” Andy said. “If someone manipulated the voting, there might be some way to hack into the data and find evidence.”
Jack nodded. But that was only a small part of the bizarre mystery that Jeremy had uncovered. The rigged vote, though possible, didn’t answer the much, much bigger question.
For what possible reason could six of the Seven Wonders of the World be linked? Built hundreds to thousands of years apart, by cultures vastly different, all over the world? And somehow, if Jeremy’s numbers were correct—and Jeremy’s numbers had always been correct—built in a pattern that mirrored six of the Ancient Wonders of the World?
“Why only six of them?” Andy asked. “Why not Christ the Redeemer?”
Jack pointed to a notation at the top corner of the computer screen, directly above the brilliant double helix.
“There’s a second file. I think it might be some sort of answer.”
In the ten minutes he’d had with Jeremy’s thumb drive before Andy had taken the laptop from him, he’d gone from simply staring in awe at the glowing double helix, to reading the few notations that had gone along with it—basically, latitudes and longitudes of each of the Seven Wonders, and the basic methodology his brother had used to match up the enantiomers. That’s when he had stumbled on the second file.
Andy clicked on the link, and the double helix disappeared, replaced by an instantly recognizable image: Christ the Redeemer, the enormous statue of Jesus Christ on the peak of a mountain overlooking Rio, Brazil, armsspread wide as if to embrace the entire skyline. Then beneath the image, something quite incredible.
“Am I looking at what I think I’m looking at?”
Jack nodded again. It was mostly a set of numerical notations, but also just enough information to tell the story behind the numbers. His brother had found something odd about Christ the Redeemer; something about the topography of the Wonder that Jack was certain he’d never heard about before.
“What does this mean?” Andy asked.
Jack reached past him and hit the computer’s keyboard, shifting the screen back to the double helix. He wanted that image to sear itself into his brain; because if his growing suspicions were correct, that image was the reason his brother was lying on an autopsy table.
“It means we pack our bags,” Jack said.
Until Jack understood how such an image could exist—and who had been willing to kill Jeremy because of it—he was going to do everything in his
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