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In St. Peter’s Square, the Swiss Guard pilot waits in the parked Vatican helicopter with the rotors idling as the evacuation crisis worsens. The crowd has turned volatile: some people pray and weep, while others shout abuse at the Church or hold signs condemning antimatter and science. With less than twenty-five minutes until midnight, the pilot fears the scene could erupt into a riot.

The pilot reflects on Lieutenant Chartrand’s radio message that Maximilian Kohler attacked and gravely injured the camerlegno. He blames himself for not trusting his unease when he first transported Kohler from the airport, remembering the scientist’s unsettling expression. The pilot also thinks Rocher misjudged Kohler by allowing him inside.

A procession of cardinals emerges from the Vatican into the square, relieved to be leaving the danger zone but visibly bewildered by the chaos outside. The pilot’s headache worsens under the noise and media lights, and he searches for aspirin in the helicopter’s first-aid kit, only to find the storage box locked and give up.

Inside the dark basilica, Robert Langdon, Vittoria Vetra, and two guards carry the wounded camerlegno toward the main exit on a narrow table used as a makeshift stretcher. The camerlegno is nearly unconscious, the roar of the crowd grows louder beyond the doors, and the chapter ends with the pressure of the approaching midnight deadline intensifying.