The Maya Codex (13 page)

Pacelli made a mental note to speak with the archbishop in the Vatican’s foreign ministry. ‘Did Professor Weizman give you any idea of what might be in this codex?’

‘He thinks the Maya have encoded a warning of a coming annihilation; but he also thinks there could be a connection between the Mayan warning and the warnings of the Virgin at Fátima.’

Pacelli went pale. His own connection to Our Lady was strong. Pope Benedict XV had elevated him to archbishop on 13 May 1917, the very day the blessed Virgin Mary had first appeared to the three peasant children at Fátima in Portugal. The connection had never been lost on Pacelli, nor had the blessed Virgin’s three warnings.

‘Is the Vatican going to make these warnings public, Eminence?’

Pacelli didn’t answer. A heavy silence descended on the Secretary of State’s apartment. ‘It’s possible,’ Pacelli said finally, ‘that we may release the first two warnings. At present, all three are in the hands of the Bishop of Leiria in Portugal. The third – and this must remain strictly between you and me – the third contains a threat to the Holy Church itself, and it must remain hidden.’

‘Perhaps all three should be moved to the secret archives, Eminence, where they will be better protected? The existence of the documents and the miracle of the sun are quite widely known.’

Pacelli’s thoughts went back to the last apparition, on 13 October 1917, when on a wet and windy morning 70 000 people had gathered in the fields at Cova da Iria to witness the miracle the blessed Virgin had promised the three children at Fátima. As the clouds cleared, little Lúcia had called to the crowds and pointed towards the sun. Suddenly, the sun began to rotate like a catherine-wheel, shooting light in different colours, as the great crowds would attest. Several journalists from Portugal’s most influential newspapers, including
O Século
, a pro-government and anti-religious paper, reported the sun ‘zigzagging’ and reversing direction across the sky. The Lisbon daily,
O Dia
, recorded the sun as having a deep-blue light emanating from its centre, illuminating thousands of people prostrate and weeping on the ground.

‘The warnings are secure for now, Alberto,’ Pacelli said, ‘but, as you say, they should be moved to the secret archives. In the meantime I want you to keep a close eye on developments in Tikal. If the Maya Codex
is
linked to the warnings of the blessed Virgin, then it too must be secured in the secret archives.’

‘I agree, Eminence. We will need to watch Weizman very carefully.’

Felici acknowledged the salute of the Swiss Guard as he left the Vatican through huge bronze doors. He descended the marble steps and headed into the night across the cobblestones of a deserted
Piazza San Pietro
. His conversation with Pacelli had been illuminating. A seat on the board of the Vatican Bank would give him power. But as he walked towards the Tiber, he reflected on the meeting he’d held with von Heißen before he’d left Tikal. Von Heißen’s links to Himmler might put him in an even more powerful position. Felici was a master at the arcane art of the double agent.

12

VIENNA, 1938

T
he train slowed as it approached the Brenner Pass checkpoint on the Italian–Austrian border. The snow-capped granite of the Zillertal and Stubai Alps towered over the pass. When the train hissed to a stop, Levi watched in trepidation as the Nazi guards boarded. The closer Levi got to Vienna, the more insecure he felt.

‘Papieren!’

Levi handed over his Austrian passport to the officious young border guards.

‘Zweck der Ihr Besuch?
Purpose of your visit?’

‘I’m returning to Vienna,’ Levi replied, as calmly as he could, feeling like a stranger in his own country.

‘
Beruf?
Occupation?’

‘Professor at Universität Wien.’

One of the border guards looked at the photograph in Levi’s passport, scrutinised Levi’s face, looked back at the photograph and handed it back without a word.

Levi heaved an inward sigh of relief. Roberto had been right. Neither the Italians nor the Germans were yet completely organised. Benito Mussolini was busy supporting his ally, General Franco, in the Spanish Civil War, and the bustling port of Naples had been relatively free of scrutiny. Here, on the border, the arrogant but inexperienced young guard had asked his questions by rote. Four rows behind, and unseen by Levi, a large man in a grey trench coat flashed his SS identification to the border guards and they quickly moved on. The SS agent went back to his copy of
Corriere della Sera.

Levi pulled his fedora down over his forehead as he alighted from the old tram on
Franz-Josefs-Kai
near the
Donaukanal
, not far from the steps that led up to
Judengasse
. Vienna was crowded with Nazi soldiers and Brownshirts: on the trains, the trams, the buses, the street corners and in the bars and cafés. He scanned the steps, instinctively clutching at the satchel hidden beneath the overcoat he’d purchased in Naples. He reached the top of the stairs and crossed into the shadows of the Saint Ruprecht steeple. At the far end of
Judengasse
, a group of Nazi soldiers were leaving a bar and their drunken singing echoed down the cobbled streets. The light was on in his apartment. Levi’s heartbeat raced at the prospect of seeing Ramona and the children again. The Nazis disappeared towards the Hofburg Quarter, and Levi walked quietly to the back stairs which led up to his apartment.

‘
Wer ist es
?’ Ramona called from the other side when Levi knocked. Her voice was strong, but Levi sensed her fear.

‘
Levi, meine Liebling
… I’m back.’

Ramona wrenched open the door but it banged against the security chain. ‘Levi! Levi! How … ?’ Ramona tore at the security chain, opened the door and threw her arms around Levi’s neck. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home? I’ve been so frightened, Levi!’ Tears of relief flowed down Ramona’s cheeks as she clung to her husband.

‘Papa! Papa!’ Rebekkah and Ariel came running down the hall. Rebekkah launched herself at Levi and fastened her little arms around his neck in a vice-like grip. Levi kissed his daughter and put his free arm around Ariel. ‘We’ve missed you, Papa!’ Rebekkah said, hanging on to her father for dear life.

‘I wasn’t sure if the Nazis were tapping our phone line, so I couldn’t ring,’ Levi said, after kissing the children goodnight. He took a seat at their kitchen table. ‘I hardly recognised Vienna for the soldiers,’ Levi added, after he’d explained his escape from Tikal.

‘It’s been terrible, Levi.’ Ramona sipped her tea. ‘Rebekkah and Ariel are too afraid to go out, and so am I. We can’t even walk in the park. There are signs everywhere:
Juden Verboten.
’ The Brownshirts have been here twice already this week, demanding that I close my boutique. Not that I have any customers any more,’ she said, wiping a tear from her cheek.

Levi reached across the kitchen table and held Ramona’s hand. ‘We still have each other and the children,
Liebling,
and that’s all that matters.’

‘I’m frightened, Levi. Won’t Himmler and this von Heißen be looking for you?’

Levi cursed himself for leaving his family unprotected. ‘I should never have gone; not that I had much choice,’ he added ruefully. ‘Although I don’t think von Heißen will have admitted to Himmler that he had the figurine in his possession, much less the reason it disappeared. But you’re right, we’ll have to leave, and quickly. I’ve made contact with Ze’ev Jabotinsky down at the Jewish Agency. They’re setting up escape routes through Istanbul. If we can get to the United States or England, Albert Einstein or Erwin Schrödinger might be able to put in a good word for me at Princeton or Oxford. I can carry on my Mayan research,’ he said, ‘and you can start another boutique.’

‘And what about the apartment? Even if we could sell, in this market we won’t get anything.’

‘My brother has German citizenship. He can look after it until things improve.’

‘He’s a Nazi sympathiser, Levi!’

‘Yes, but that can work to our advantage. At least the apartment will stay in the family until all this is over.’

Ramona’s sobs diminished, calmed by her own inner strength and conviction, which was in turn underpinned by an unshakeable faith. Suddenly shouting and the sounds of shattering glass carried through the cold night air. Levi got up and went to the front window. Further down
Judengasse
he could see torches.

‘Turn off all the lights, quickly!’

The sounds of shouting and the smashing of glass intensified. A menacing group of young thugs – members of the Austrian Hitler Youth and Brownshirts – had entered
Judengasse
.

‘
Judenfrei! Judenfrei!
’ The yelling echoed off
Judengasse
’s buildings. ‘Jew-free! Jew-free!’ Just as Nebuchadnezzar and Titus had destroyed the First and Second temples in Jerusalem, Hitler and Himmler were determined to destroy the Jews of Vienna. Bricks were being hurled through the plate-glass windows of every shop daubed with the Star of David.

‘Get the children and lock them in the bathroom,’ Levi whispered. In the shadows, he could feel Ramona’s fear. Levi quickly picked up the precious Mayan figurine that had remained in Vienna, wrapped it in red velvet, lifted the carpet in front of the fireplace and hid the figurine alongside the other one in the long tin trunk he’d placed under the floorboard. He’d thought about putting them in the big safe in his study, but he knew that would be the first place the Nazis would look. Satisfied the figurines were as secure as he could make them at short notice, Levi hid his notes on the Fibonacci sequence and the pyramids in Tikal inside one of his friend Erwin Schrödinger’s books,
Science and the Human Temperament
. He slid the book back on the shelf and turned to secure the apartment. He and Ramona moved a heavy dresser over the big trapdoor that concealed the stairs leading to Ramona’s boutique below.

‘Go and join the children now,’ Levi said, and he moved towards the front window. The mob was getting closer; the sound of glass smashing was sickening. Levi drew back as a group of about twenty young thugs stopped outside Ramona’s boutique.

‘
Juden verrecke
! Death to the Jews!’ one of them yelled, hurling brick after brick through the window. The mob, armed with iron bars, stormed in and began systematically smashing glass shelving, counters, cases, anything that would break. They splashed yellow paint over the designer dresses and hats. One thug climbed the stairs and began to batter the door with the butt of his rifle, but the rest of the mob was moving on, and he gave up. ‘We’ll be back, Jew bastards!’ he yelled as he ran down the stairs to catch up.

‘How long do you think we’ve got?’ Ramona asked, her arms around Rebekkah and Ariel. Rebekkah sobbed and Ariel fought back the tears, both of them terrified. The sounds of smashing glass receded, replaced by sirens as flames began to pour from the Synagogue, just a block away from
Judengasse.

‘We’ll have to pack tonight,’ Levi replied, his eyes moist.

13

ISTANBUL

T
he sun bade farewell in a fiery salute, streaking the sky to the west of Istanbul with fierce red and orange. In stark contrast to Cardinal Pacelli, who when papal nuncio in Munich had travelled in a black limousine adorned with the Vatican coat of arms, the papal delegate to Turkey and Greece and future Pope John XXIII, Archbishop Angelo Roncalli, elected to leave his old battered Fiat in the garage. Dressed in comfortable civilian attire, Roncalli hailed a ramshackle taxi in the narrow road outside the Papal Embassy in
Ölçek Sokak
. In years to come, long after he had died, a grateful Turkish people would rename
Ölçek Sokak
‘Pope Roncalli Street’.

‘Hotel Pera Palas, please.’

‘
Evet
, Pera Palas!’ The old driver engaged the gears with a frightening crunch and pulled out into the chaos that was Istanbul’s traffic, waving his hand placatingly at those yelling abuse that was nothing more than ritual amidst the cacophony of screeching brakes and blaring horns.