"Brown, Dan - Angels and Demons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brown Dan)

engraved granite slab in front of the building bore the answer:

(CERN)
Conseil Europйen pour la
Recherche Nuclйaire

"Nuclear Research?" Langdon asked, fairly certain his translation was correct.
The driver did not answer. He was leaning forward, busily adjusting the car's cassette player. "This is your
stop. The director will meet you at this entrance."
Langdon noted a man in a wheelchair exiting the building. He looked to be in his early sixties. Gaunt and
totally bald with a sternly set jaw, he wore a white lab coat and dress shoes propped firmly on the
wheelchair's footrest. Even at a distance his eyes looked lifeless-like two gray stones.
"Is that him?" Langdon asked.
The driver looked up. "Well, I'll be." He turned and gave Langdon an ominous smile. "Speak of the devil."
Uncertain what to expect, Langdon stepped from the vehicle.
The man in the wheelchair accelerated toward Langdon and offered a clammy hand. "Mr. Langdon? We
spoke on the phone. My name is Maximilian Kohler."
7
Maximilian Kohler, director general of CERN, was known behind his back as Kцnig-King. It was a
title more of fear than reverence for the figure who ruled over his dominion from a wheelchair throne.
Although few knew him personally, the horrific story of how he had been crippled was lore at CERN, and
there were few there who blamed him for his bitterness . . . nor for his sworn dedication to pure science.
Langdon had only been in Kohler's presence a few moments and already sensed the director was a man
who kept his distance. Langdon found himself practically jogging to keep up with Kohler's electric
wheelchair as it sped silently toward the main entrance. The wheelchair was like none Langdon had ever
seen-equipped with a bank of electronics including a multiline phone, a paging system, computer screen,
even a small, detachable video camera. King Kohler's mobile command center.
Langdon followed through a mechanical door into CERN's voluminous main lobby.
The Glass Cathedral, Langdon mused, gazing upward toward heaven.
Overhead, the bluish glass roof shimmered in the afternoon sun, casting rays of geometric patterns in the air
and giving the room a sense of grandeur. Angular shadows fell like veins across the white tiled walls and
down to the marble floors. The air smelled clean, sterile. A handful of scientists moved briskly about, their
footsteps echoing in the resonant space.
"This way, please, Mr. Langdon." His voice sounded almost computerized. His accent was rigid and
precise, like his stern features. Kohler coughed and wiped his mouth on a white handkerchief as he fixed
his dead gray eyes on Langdon. "Please hurry." His wheelchair seemed to leap across the tiled floor.
Langdon followed past what seemed to be countless hallways branching off the main atrium. Every
hallway was alive with activity. The scientists who saw Kohler seemed to stare in surprise, eyeing Langdon
as if wondering who he must be to command such company.
"I'm embarrassed to admit," Langdon ventured, trying to make conversation, "that I've never heard of
CERN."
"Not surprising," Kohler replied, his clipped response sounding harshly efficient. "Most Americans do not
see Europe as the world leader in scientific research. They see us as nothing but a quaint shopping district-
an odd perception if you consider the nationalities of men like Einstein, Galileo, and Newton."
Langdon was unsure how to respond. He pulled the fax from his pocket. "This man in the photograph, can
you-"
Kohler cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Please. Not here. I am taking you to him now." He held out
his hand. "Perhaps I should take that."
Langdon handed over the fax and fell silently into step.
Kohler took a sharp left and entered a wide hallway adorned with awards and commendations. A