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

the open end of the tube tipped slightly.
    The technician was rewarded with a tiny scrap of the paper.
    He held it up to the camera.
    Acton let his breath out.
    Not promising.
    The technician’s voice could be heard.
    “Should I continue?”
    Acton gave him a thumbs up and activated the intercom panel next to the window.
    “Once more.”
    The man nodded, and again, a small scrap.
    Acton pressed the intercom button. “Try gently rolling the tube, squeezing slightly. It may just be stuck in one spot.”
    The tech nodded and set aside the tweezers, laying the tube flat. Placing both hands on top, he gently rolled the tube, it warping slightly as he applied pressure. Repeating this several times, he retrieved the tweezers and again pulled.
    And the scroll slid out smoothly.
    Laura jumped, giving Acton a hug.
    He pressed the button on the intercom. “Get every camera you’ve got on that now. I don’t want the scroll held open any longer than we need.
    Monitors flickered as cameras were redirected, everything now focused directly on the scroll, including some that would record beyond what the human eye could see.
    The technician spread out his fingers, and gently unrolled the parchment. Acton wasn’t focusing on what might be written, but was instead watching one monitor with an extreme close-up, making certain that the ancient parchment didn’t begin to break apart.
    It didn’t.
    Laura gasped.
    “It’s Arabic!”
    “We’re clear!” called another tech, who was controlling the cameras. The tech with his hands in the chamber gently let the scroll slowly roll itself up, then removed his hands.
    The text appeared on all the monitors, very clear, the contrast still good after all these years. Acton saw several copies roll off a printer, and one of the techs brought them each out a copy.
    “What do you make of it, Professors?”
    Acton looked to Laura. “Arabic is your thing. What does it say?”
    She quickly scanned it, and gulped. “If this is what I think it is, this is an incredible find.” She looked at Acton with fear in her eyes. “And an incredibly dangerous find.”
    “How so?”
    “It’s from the Koran, but it’s different.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “It’s one of the more famous lines from the ninth Surah. It’s been used to justify killing non-Muslims for a millennia, but this is different.”
    Acton’s chest tightened. “How,” he said, his voice low as several of the technicians gathered around to see what had been found.
    “It says, ‘And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists, but only the polytheists, wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them go on their way. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.’” She paused. “Then it says, at the bottom, ‘As recited to me by the Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him’.”
    Acton whistled. “So this is an original verse, before the Koran was formally compiled.”
    Laura nodded. “It would appear so. I don’t think anyone would dare make the claim in those days.”
    “Agreed.”
    “You said it’s different. How?” asked the tech who had worked on the scroll.
    “The original doesn’t have the words, ‘but only the polytheists’.”
    “What’s a ‘polytheist’?” asked a young undergrad that Acton had been introduced to earlier.
    “Antonio, was it?”
    The young man nodded. “Antonio Esposito.”
    “Well, Antonio, it’s someone who believes in more than one god, like the ancient Greeks or Romans. Essentially what we commonly call a pagan,” replied Acton.
    “Ah, pagan, I see.”
    Laura pointed at the printout. “This verse over time has been reinterpreted to essentially lump all non-Islamic people in with the polytheists, because of a verse later in the same surah, that states, ‘The Jews say, “Ezra is the son of Allah”; and the Christians say, “The Messiah is