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«Map of Bones», James Rollins

 

 

JAMES ROLLINS

MAP of BONES

 

 

A SIGMA FORCE NOVEL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALEXANDRA AND ALEXANDER

MAY BOTH YOUR LIVES SHINE AS

BRIGHTLY AS ALL THE STARS

 

 

 

The precision of any fiction is a reflection of the facts presented. As such, while truth may sometimes be stranger than fiction, fiction must always have a foundation of truth. To that end, all the artwork, relics, catacombs, and treasures described in this story are real. The historical trail revealed within these pages is accurate. The science at the heart of the novel is based on current research and discoveries.

CONTENTS

 

EPIGRAPH

 

 

PROLOGUE

 

 

DAY ONE

 

 

BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL

 

 

THE ETERNAL CITY

 

 

SECRETS

 

 

DUST TO DUST

 

 

DAY TWO

 

 

FRANTIC

 

 

DOUBTING THOMAS

 

 

ROLLING THE BONES

 

 

CRYPTOGRAPHY

 

 

THE SCAVI

 

 

TOMB RAIDER

 

 

DAY THREE

 

 

ALEXANDRIA

 

 

RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX

 

 

BLOOD IN THE WATER

 

 

DAY FOUR

 

 

GOTHIC

 

 

HUNTING

 

 

THE DAEDALUS MAZE

 

 

THE GOLD KEY

 

 

EPILOGUE

 

 

AUTHOR’S NOTE

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

 

OTHER BOOKS BY JAMES ROLLINS

 

 

CREDITS

 

 

COPYRIGHT

 

 

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

 

 

 

The holy relics were granted to Rainald von Dassel, Archbishop of Cologne (1159–67), following Emperor Barbarossa’s sacking of the city of Milan. Such a treasure was granted to the German Archbishop for his aid and chancellorship in service to the current Emperor. Not all were content to see such a treasure leave Italy…not without a struggle.

—FromL’histoire de la Sainte Empire Romaine

(The History of the Holy Roman Empire), 1845,

HISTOIRES LITTÉRAIRES

 

 

PROLOGUE

MARCH 1162

THE ARCHBISHOP’Smen fled into the shadows of the lower valley. Behind them, atop the winter pass, horses screamed, arrow-bit and cleaved. Men shouted, cried, and roared. The clash of steel rang as silvery as a chapel’s bells.

But it was not God’s work being done here.

The rear guard must hold.

Friar Joachim clutched the reins of his horse as his mount slid on its haunches down the steep slope. The loaded wagon had reached the bottom of the valley safely. But true escape still lay another league away.

If only they could reach it…

With his hands clenched on the reins, Joachim urged his stumbling mare down to the valley’s bottom. He splashed across an icy brook and risked a glance behind him.