Absolute Proof by Peter James

Author:Peter James
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2018-10-03T16:00:00+00:00

70

Tuesday, 14 March

Two hours later Ross pulled into a motorway service station to refuel. The satnav told him he had a further one hour and twenty minutes to his destination. The effect of the small glass of red wine had worn off a long while ago and he was badly in need of a pee, a caffeine hit and something to eat. He drove from the pumps into a parking bay and entered the garish, rammed interior of the service station.

Since leaving the monastery he had been feeling a strange mix of emotions about his uncle. It had been hard to reconcile the frail, lonely man in his stark, surprisingly spacious, accommodation with the former wild rocker. Yet his uncle’s clear faith touched him deeply. As had the sheer glee on the old man’s face at seeing the bottles of wine.

How could a hedonist like Uncle Angus closet himself away from the world and live a solitary life of constant prayer, with rejection and denial of all pleasures? Could anyone, if they were buoyed up by their faith? If it was strong enough?

His uncle was no fool. He was like countless intelligent people around the world who had faith – a belief that remained intact no matter what happened to them. In some ways, they were lucky.

He thought back to Harry Cook. Two sets of compass coordinates. Taking him to a cup in a well in Glastonbury and a tooth in a cave in Egypt. An attempt on his life. His wife threatened.

The warnings of Benedict Carmichael.

The message from his dead brother.

This planet that he was stuck to like glue, by gravity. One of a hundred billion trillion perhaps – and counting – in the universe. This beautiful planet. This dog-eat-dog, polluted, miraculous place, torn apart daily by hatred born so often from different religious beliefs. Different factions of the same belief.

Such minuscule differences between so many of the religions; semantics between some others. All of them ultimately believing in a supreme God.

Sunni. Shi’ite. Roman Catholics. Anglo-Catholics. Free churches. Charismatic and conservative Evangelicals. Salvation Army. Exclusive Brethren. Quakers. Jews. Hindus. Sikhs. The list was endless. Would they be divided until the end of time? Until every different faith on this amazing planet was consumed by nuclear dust?

Or did Harry F. Cook truly have something that could change our world, as he had suggested?

He thought of the words of the astronaut, Frank Borman, on Apollo 8: ‘When you’re finally up at the moon looking back on earth, all those differences and nationalistic traits are pretty well going to blend, and you’re going to get a concept that maybe this really is one world, and why the hell can’t we learn to live together like decent people?’

That was how Ross felt, looking around at the signs inside the service station. Burger King. WHSmith. Costa. And at all the other travellers coming in and walking out, many of them looking fatigued by whatever journey they were on. Someone bumped into him, hurrying on without apologizing.

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