Lemuria by Burt Clinchandhill (most popular novels of all time .txt) 📗

back to the two pyramids, and onto the mud track again. Bishop stopped, looked back at the Arca Domas, and took a few pictures.

“I suggest we don’t wait here, but get down back to the bikes.” Ignatowski pointed downhill.

“Normally, I would have suggested to wait and have a look,” Lindsey told them, “but now, I’m not so sure.”

Bishop bit his lower lip, looked downhill and up again. “Damn, you’re probably right. Let’s be soft and quick,” he suggested. As he took the first steps down, the chanting behind them quickly faded. “I hope we did the right thing.”

“You got what you came for, didn’t you?” Ignatowski replied.

“So, what about that waving sea monster?” Lindsey asked.

“The sea monster.” Bishop took out his phone and scrolled through the pictures. “That’s the logo of the FSM, the Flying Spaghetti Monster.”

“The what?” Lindsey replied.

Bishop smiled brightly. “Jennifer introduced me to it. The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the deity of the church of the... um... Flying Spaghetti Monster.”

“What the frack is a Flying Spaghetti Monster?” Ignatowski bellowed as he stopped.

“Let’s keep walking, and I explain,” Bishop suggested without stopping. “In 2005, Bobby Henderson, an American physics graduate student from Oregon State University, opposed the Kansas State Board of Education’s decision to teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in schools. He did so by introducing a new religion, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and requested that ‘Pastafarianism,’ as he called it, also be taught at schools. Of course, he was ignored, and he posted the letter online. The letter quickly went viral. A year later, he wrote the satirical Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a book describing the core beliefs of the religion.”

Ignatowski shook his head. “Crazy. And people went for that?”

“Well, after the church became an Internet phenomenon, thousands of people all over the world began practicing its beliefs, and in many countries, it’s an official religion now, allowing them to have churches and even marry people. Their official headgear is a colander.”

“You’re making it up,” Lindsey said.

“I swear it’s true.” Bishop raised two fingers in the air. “There are lots of countries where the colander is considered official religious headgear, so people have pictures wearing one on their driver’s licenses and passports. It’s even on the U.S. army dog tags as a religion.”

“Nuts,” Lindsey said, shaking her head.

“Personally, I see it as a modern version of Russell’s teapot. An argument that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon those who make unfalsifiable claims, not on those who reject them.”

“That I understand and can agree with,” Lindsey concluded.

“Anyway, Jennifer and I discussed the subject extensively, related to her and my work on evolution. We had a lot of laughs about how such a thing can spiral all over the world. So you see, I don’t believe it’s a coincidence to find it here on a sacred stone.”

“I have one more question, though,” Ignatowski said. “Why wouldn’t she just write it down instead of pictures? Why the secrecy?”

Bishop tilted his head. “I guess she was afraid that she would get caught or that someone would find it. This way, if they found it, they wouldn’t think anything of it.”

“Maybe,” Ignatowski reluctantly replied.

Where the jungle transformed back into a muddy road, Kadek was waiting with the bikes. “My friends, it’s so good to see you back.” He enthusiastically waved his arms in the air. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“I think we did,” Bishop answered. “Thank you again for getting us here.”

“We go back now?” Kadek asked.

Bishop nodded as he got up onto his bike again. “Are you coming?” he asked Lindsey, slapping the saddle behind him.

“So, any thoughts on the second image?” Lindsey asked as she got on the bike behind Bishop.

“Not a clue,” Bishop said. “But I do have an idea on how to find out. We’re going back to the U.S.”

“Ready?” Kadek asked as he set his bike in motion.

Chapter 23 – Stars

New Haven, CT, The Present

Over twenty-four hours had passed since the three had left Indonesia for New York. Like on the flight, Bishop slept most of the way in the car from New York to New Haven, where the party had split up, each finding their own replenishment after the trip.

“This is okay,” Bishop told the driver at the corner of Wall and High Streets. The driver stopped in front of Beinecke Plaza, where the largest building dedicated to rare ancient manuscripts was built as part of Yale University: The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. The windowless building sifted the sunlight through its thin marble panels, protecting the documents from the otherwise dangerous rays of sunshine. In the dimmed light on the mezzanine, Walker Monroe, curator of the library cleaned one of the finest copies of the remaining forty-eight Guttenberg Bibles through the open glass showcase door with a feather duster. His ‘prized possession,’ he liked to call it.

“Still dusting that old thing?” Monroe heard a voice call from downstairs. Looking down, he saw Bishop, suitcase in one hand and waving with the other.

“You’re back,” Monroe called out, closing the showcase. “I’ll be down in a second.” As Monroe disappeared into the spiraling metal staircase, the sound of his footsteps on the wrought-iron stairs echoed through the room. Once down, he passed the six-story glass-enclosed tower in the center of the room, which held one hundred thousand pieces of Yale’s prized possessions: rare books.

“Matthew, how are you, my friend?” Monroe’s British accent resonated as he stretched out his arm.

“Quite well, I can say. It’s good to see you, Walker.” Bishop shook his hand.

“Here, sit next to me.” Monroe pointed to two chairs behind a nineteenth-century Victorian mahogany partners desk with golden handles. “So, what happened? Tell me everything. No, wait, let me guess. You got yourself in trouble again and need me to bail you out.” Monroe smiled. The two of them had known each other for a long time, and it wasn’t the first time that Bishop had walked in with a suitcase.