James Acton 04 - The Templar's Relic by J Robert Kennedy Read Free Book Online Page A

sarcophagus.
    “Look, James. It’s incredible.”
    Acton shone his flashlight inside, revealing the skeleton of Sir John, encased in his nearly perfectly preserved armor and dress of the day, his heraldic and Templar symbols proudly displayed, his sword, pointing downward to his feet, held tight against his chest by gloved hands. It was like countless other finds, however this was Acton’s first Templar, and definitely first knight discovered on Vatican soil.
    No valuables, no treasures, were evident, Templar Knights taking a vow of poverty upon joining the order. This disappointed Acton only slightly. Treasures were common, especially of that era. What interested him more as an archaeologist and anthropologist was how this man lived, and how he died. What secrets would be revealed by the x-rays that would be taken of his body, what small trinkets might he have on his person to remind him of loved ones back home, of his comrades in arms.
    Acton froze, shifting his light back to where it had just been. “What’s this?”
    He leaned forward, as did Laura, both shining their lights down the left side of the body. A tube, not two feet long, made of some sort of hardened animal hide, lay on the bottom of the sarcophagus, almost out of sight. Acton reached in and carefully removed the item as Laura provided extra light.
    “What do you think it is?”
    Acton examined it closely, careful not to rotate it, aware that whatever was inside hadn’t been disturbed in almost eight hundred years, and was likely very fragile. He looked at the seal at the top. Wax.
    He looked at Laura. “This needs to be opened under the right conditions.”
    She pointed at the wax. “If that seal didn’t fail, whatever is inside might actually still be intact.”
    Acton nodded, his heart hammering in his chest.
    What secrets could this tube hold, important enough for a Templar, sworn to poverty, to have buried with him?
     
     
     

 
     
     
    Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
    Two weeks later
     
    Acton felt Laura’s hand grip his, as they both waited on the other side of the glass. The scroll had been transported to the Sapienza University’s state of the art restoration lab, x-rayed and sampled in a vacuum, and it was quickly determined that there was a single rolled piece of parchment of some type inside, and there was some type of writing on it. The seal was broken in a vacuum chamber, and the parchment sampled. It was vellum made from cow hide, very durable, yet from the scans, appeared to only be a scrap, perhaps a left over piece from some previous written work.
    And it was old.
    Far older than the knight, whose bones were carbon dated to within twenty five years of his death as inscribed on the sarcophagus. The scroll had been dated much older, to around 600 AD, plus or minus 65 years. What could be written on it, Acton didn’t dare imagine. The parchment had been created around 600 AD. The writing could be from any time after that, and was impossible to date. But even so, regardless of what was written on it, or when it was written, it was a piece of history about to be revealed.
    The sample taken had first been used to determine the condition of the parchment, then was destroyed to carbon date it. And the condition was good. Rehydration techniques had been applied, and the scroll was ready to be revealed for the first time. On the monitors close-up images of the cutting were displayed, Acton alternating between the video, and the real thing.
    He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so excited.
    “This better not be Al Capone’s safe.”
    Laura chuckled, looking around. “Nope, Geraldo isn’t here, I think we’re good.”
    Acton gave her hand a squeeze. “Look!”
    The technician had the tube in his left hand, and a pair of tweezers in the right, his hands and arms covered inside the sealed, climate controlled chamber to prevent contamination.
    He reached in with the tweezers and Acton held his breath.
    A gentle tug, with