CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
December 19, 2012 – 4:35 PM,
Mayan Archeological Dig, Yucatan
22:35 GMT
• • • • •
“Uhhh… Boss?”
Jacinto still couldn’t look her in the eyes. He was standing outside her tent shifting from foot to foot and staring at the ground. He was excited about going home. But he regained consciousness from his little heat spell earlier with Marissé pouring water over his face. Since then, he’d been too embarrassed to look at her. Marissé leaned back into view from inside her tent.
“Oh look, it’s a Peeping Tom,” she said feigning a distressed damsel.
Jacinto turned a darker shade of reddish brown, but kept looking down. Then he heard her laughing.
“Come in. Bring me the sat-phone.”
Jacinto slowly walked in, but the earlier incident had clearly left him speechless. He handed her the sat-phone and turned to walk out without looking up from the ground.
“Wait a minute… Did you get in touch with him?”
Now Jacinto had to turn around. “Which him are we talking about?”
When he looked back, he saw Marissé bending over the foot of her cot packing the last of her clothes. Her butt was pointing right at him. He blushed even more and nervously tried to turn away. But the tent was too small. He couldn’t help but see her butt, no matter where he turned his head. He frantically looked around while Marissé stayed bent over right in front of him. Finally, he looked up at the ceiling and tried to be nonchalant.
“Did you get in touch with both hims,” Marissé said as she finished packing her bag and zipped it shut. She shoved the sat-phone into a side pocket then she grabbed the small backpack and stood up. When she turned around, she saw Jacinto looking up at the ceiling. She rolled her eyes and walked past him into the courtyard. When she got outside the tent, she stopped and looked back at him.
“Come on, let’s go. The helicopter will be here any minute.”
Jacinto snapped out of it and followed her outside. As Marissé walked past his bag on the ground, she stopped next to the black pelican case sitting beside it. The case contained the intricate wooden box and the crystal tablet they found in the basement of the pyramid. Marissé had her bag over one shoulder, and as she stooped over to get the pelican case, her field vest slipped over her waist. This time, it wasn’t her butt that got Jacinto’s attention. He noticed she had her nine-millimeter pistol attached to her rear belt. As Marissé headed for the plaza, Jacinto grabbed his bag and jogged to catch up to her before he answered.
“Yeah, I reached the foreman. Told him about being paid for today and tomorrow. He sounded really happy. I think they may have a party tonight. He said he’ll make sure everyone will be back here the day after, bright and early.”
The Sun was dropping on the horizon, and the plaza was covered with an orange glow. It gave the place a serene feel that was timeless. Marissé got to the work tent on the side of the plaza and dropped her bag on the ground next to a long table. She placed the black plastic pelican case on top of the table much more gently, as she quickly assessed her blatant disregard of the proper protection protocols for archeological finds. She didn’t catalog the find correctly. She didn’t handle the artifact correctly. Hell, she didn’t do anything right. The only thing she cared about was getting it outside and finding out what the writing on it said; to hell with the rules. And these were her own rules that she had broken. And she started breaking them almost from the moment she opened the case and shone her light on the impossible crystal-like object on the inside of the intricate mahogany box.
Marissé would never know, but that was exactly the moment the God in the Clear Rock started to awaken.
• • •
After she finished the call with Jay-L earlier, Marissé got redressed on top of the pyramid. Then she started down the side and found Jacinto unconscious, next to the blanket-wrapped mahogany box. She poured water over her dehydrated, overheated, and possibly over-stimulated, assistant until he regained consciousness and could walk down on his own. But she carried the box down to the campsite herself. Their base camp was inside the jungle overgrowth in a clearing made under the canopy. This was where the sleeping tents for her and Jacinto were located as well as several storage and work tents. The jungle canopy provided both shade and protection from the rains. It was also where she kept all of the equipment when it wasn’t being used on the plaza or inside the pyramid.
After he had quickly cooled off at the campsite, Jacinto went to the main storage tent and retrieved the black pelican case used for transporting one of their computers. Marissé had gone straight to the large work tent with the artifact. Jacinto arrived a moment later and put the case on the table next to the blanket covered box. Most archeological finds could never be transported in this manner, but the regular rectangular shape of the artifact would allow it to be protected completely in the case. Marissé had suddenly become so concerned about the total lack of proper protocol regarding this find, she wanted to get it inside the airtight case immediately. As soon as Jacinto snapped the latches and lifted up the top of the case, Marissé opened the blankets and placed the beautifully carved box inside, then slammed the lid. Afterward, she and Jacinto had gone to their tents to pack for a trip to Miami, which was scheduled to start about forty-five minutes later when Jay-L’s helicopter was to arrive.
That was forty-four minutes ago.
• • •
Now, as she looked at the pelican case while they waited for the helicopter to arrive, she realized that she hadn’t actually seen at the artifact since they both found it underground a couple of hours ago. Suddenly, Marissé felt a compulsion to open the box. Almost unconsciously, she reached out and snapped the latches around the case. The interior of the case was lined with corrugated foam that held the dark mahogany box in place when closed. Two cotton gloves were in a crumpled bunch next to the carved mystery. While she was looking at the box, her hands reached out and slipped on the cotton gloves. Only after the gloves were on both her hands did she actually see them. Then, as if she couldn’t help herself, she reached in and lifted the lid off the box.
As she pulled the lid out of the pelican case and set it to the side on the table, the ambient light of day filtered through the sheer cover cloth onto the gleaming surface of the clear tablet for the first time in over four centuries.
The work table was under the small tent on the east side of the plaza which allowed the setting sun to shine under the tent and illuminate the work area with the same golden amber glow that was covering the jungle and her pyramids. This was the main reason she put this work tent here. The light was not only perfect for working in the late afternoon, but it was beautiful, too. Marissé pulled back the thin material covering the tablet with her gloves. She started to lean in and look, but another compulsion made her move to the side. When she did, the rays of the setting sun shone down and directly hit the surface of the clear stone. The intricate carvings exploded with rainbows of prismatic light that seemed to move as she stared almost mesmerized. Jacinto broke her spell when he walked up and blocked the sunshine with his body.
“Wow… Look at that thing sparkle in the light.” Jacinto seemed oblivious to his position in front of the Sun.
Marissé didn’t move, but she had this strange vision in her mind of shoving Jacinto out of the way of the sunshine so she could look at the beautiful lights again. But before she could follow that impulse and push him out of the way, the sound of a helicopter popped out from behind the pyramid on the far end of the plaza. Both of them snapped their heads around to see. When they did, the sunshine temporarily blinded them. Suddenly, Marissé snapped out of the daze she was in. She grabbed the wooden top and gently placed it back over the artifact then threw in the gloves and closed the pelican case. Then she looked down at her watch; ninety minutes. Exactly when Jay-L said the helicopter would arrive. This new Jay-L was not at all like the Jay-L she remembered from college.
This one was on time. Well, at least the people who work for him were on time. Jacinto interrupted her thoughts.
“Man, I didn’t even hear it coming.”
Marissé grabbed the case, and they both stepped outside the tent.
“It’s the canopy. The sound is absorbed very effectively if the helicopter flies low and fast…” As she said this, a bright blue helicopter swung out from the other side of the enormous pyramid and banked nearly on its side, as it screamed around in a tight circle and headed straight for the tent with Marissé and Jacinto.
Unbelievably quick, the helicopter flared up its front end and slid to an airborne stop over the exact middle of the plaza. The tail rotor of the helicopter stayed about five feet off the flat rock surface, as the body of the helicopter slowly swung down and settled into a level hover. Then as softly as a feather, the helicopter pilot set the twenty million dollar luxury aircraft down.
Jacinto looked at the helicopter. Then he looked at his boss.
“Whose helicopter is this, again?”
Jacinto had never seen a helicopter like this one before. He was expecting some typical military surplus chopper left over from some Russian or U.S. conflict somewhere. That was the only type of helicopter he had ever seen in this country. But this one was different. It was brand new for starters. Or at least, it looked that way. While he stared at the helicopter, he saw the door open, and the pilot motioned for them. Marissé walked past him with the pelican case as Jacinto grabbed both bags and jogged up to her. Minutes later, they were strapping themselves into their seats inside the luxury chopper.
• • •
As Jacinto looked around, he realized how big it was. The interior of the helicopter was like a custom jet. Four oversized chairs on the rear bulkhead faced the front of the cabin. Two more overstuffed captain’s chairs sat on each side of the small passage to the cockpit with two jump seats next to each door. After Marissé strapped in, she put on the headset and motioned for Jacinto to do the same. Just then, the pilot came on the audio.
“Everyone buckled in?” He leaned over and looked back. His passengers both gave him a thumbs up. Settling back into his seat, he began takeoff. “Roger that. Hold on to your hat.”
As the helicopter shot up into the air, Marissé looked out of the large viewing window. Below her in the falling light of the sun, she saw her pyramid and the plaza from a perspective that the original inhabitants never had. Unlike on his arrival, this time the pilot rose straight up until they were about one thousand feet over the center of the compound and then slowly rotated around.
“Is this what you wanted, Dr. Sanchez?” The pilot’s voice crackled over the headset.
“Yes, this is perfect. Can we stay here for a moment more? I’ve never actually seen my site from the air.”
“Yes ma'am. I’ll have to leave in a few minutes to get you to the airport on time.”
“That’s fine, thank you.” Marissé was mesmerized looking out the large window.
Jacinto, on the other hand, had his eyes closed. He was afraid of heights, and this slow rotation was making his head spin and his stomach churn. It felt like an elevator ride from hell. He was okay with airplanes, but he’d never actually been in a helicopter. Now he was regretting ever agreeing to this trip. He gripped the armrests so hard his knuckles were turning white.
From this height, Marissé could clearly see the white gravel roads that were barely visible from the top of the pyramid. They were covered with a light colored rock that contrasted against the green canopy surrounding them, and from this height, the four roads pointed into the pyramid complex like a crosshair on a target. As the helicopter stopped spinning and started for the airport and Chichen Itza, she couldn’t help wonder what they could have been used for. She sat back into her chair for just a moment while she daydreamed on the question. Then she looked over to Jacinto. His eyes were still closed, and he still had the armrests in a death grip. She smiled as she realized he must not like flying or heights.
“What about the other call? Did you get through?” She figured talking might help him.
Jacinto didn’t answer immediately.
“Hassi… did you reach your father?” Marissé reached out and gently placed her hand on his arm. The flight had settled down from the initial hovering, and the helicopter was now traveling at a couple of hundred knots and a few thousand feet up. From here, it felt more like a small plane. Jacinto opened his eyes and looked at Marissé. He visibly calmed when he looked past her and saw they were flying, not spinning.
“Sorry boss… Yeah, I reached him.” He tried to smile, but it looked broken. Marissé couldn’t help it, and broke out laughing. Slowly, Jacinto started to laugh, too. After a few minutes of laughing, they were both relaxed. Jacinto smiled genuinely and looked at Marissé.
“Thanks for giving me this opportunity. I didn’t think I’d get to see my family until spring.”
Marissé smiled at him. “Don’t thank me. Jay-L specifically told me to bring you. He remembered you had family back in Miami.”
Before she could continue, the pilot came over the headset.
“I’m sorry, Doctor Sanchez. I’m not used to carrying passengers that aren’t familiar with the amenities. There’s a full bar in front of the cabin. Jay-L told me to give you the complete package. I should have offered you a drink before I took off. But feel free to get up and fix yourself anything you want. I believe you’ll find it’s stocked quite sufficiently, even if you just want water. We have about half an hour until we’re on the ground at the airport.”
As Marissé was thanking the pilot, Jacinto jumped out of his seat and leapt to the front of the cabin where the custom bar was mounted on the bulkhead. When he opened the cabinet, he found himself staring into a bottle of Patron Gran Burdeos Tequila. Jacinto had seen a bottle once before and knew that it sold for about $500 per bottle. Then his jaw fell open as he looked at the other bottles of expensive alcohol. He quickly gained his composure and grabbed the Patron along with two shot glasses and a lime from the small bin. Then he shut the cabinet and went back to his seat. He handed Marissé the bottle of tequila and pulled up the seat tray from the arm of his captain’s chair. After he retrieved his pocket knife from his shorts, he sat down and sliced the lime into thick wedges, like he was carving an apple in his hand. Marissé took the top off the Patron and was about to fill the two shot glasses, when Jacinto stopped her.
“Let me… Your Highness.” Jacinto didn’t want Marissé to look too closely at the bottle. If she knew how much it cost, she might not let them drink it.
But Marissé didn’t really look at it and handed over the bottle. Jacinto poured two shot glasses and stowed the bottle on the seat next to him. Then they both grabbed a shot glass and a wedge of lime. They clinked the glasses together and shot the dark tequila in one big gulp. Like they were synchronized, both of them put the lime in the shot glass and set it on his tray at the same time.
“Limes are for pussies,” they both said together, then broke out laughing.
The pilot looked back from the cockpit when he heard this. He smiled when he saw the bottle of Patron. Then he went back to flying. But moments later, the sound of electric guitar started playing softly in the background of everyone’s headsets. The pilot’s voice came over the audio, and he sounded like an old FM disk-jockey.
“And now for your listening pleasure… a little Frank Zappa… called, Shut up and play yer guitar… Now I’m gonna shut up and fly this bird.”
The amazing riffs played in the background of their headphones as Jacinto poured another round of the smooth agave liquor that cost more than either of them could afford on their salaries.
“Okay boss, ‘fess up. What’s going on between you and Farnsworth? I know you went to college with him. But this guy is really rich. Why would he do all this just to help you out?”
Marissé shot the tequila before answering. She realized she hadn’t eaten anything since this morning, and she could feel the
warmth in her belly while the ghost of Zappa played on the headphones. Then she smiled a devilish grin sideways at Jacinto.
“What? You see me naked, and you think I’m just gonna spill my guts?” Then she grabbed a lime wedge and squeezed it into her mouth.
Jacinto was feeling the tequila, too. Because suddenly, he was not embarrassed any more. He poured another round as an answer to her playful jab and handed her the shot glass.
“Here’s to, no secrets.” Then he shot his down. ‘No secrets except the price of this tequila,’ he guiltily thought to himself. But he quickly got over it. “So… what’s the deal?”
“That’s a long story,” she said and then tossed back another ounce of tequila that cost $100 per shot at a bar. “Maybe I’ll get drunk and tell you on the plane.”
In front of the helicopter, the pilot silently cursed to himself. The naked comment by Marissé got his attention. Suddenly, he wanted to know what the deal with Jay-L and this beautiful Doctor Sanchez was, too. He was hoping his two passengers would continue with that conversation. But now they were talking about some archeology mumbo jumbo.
The pilot decided he would speak to her before the plane landed at the airport.
Then he turned the sound up on his headset and silently jammed to Zappa.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
March 12, 2008 AD – 9:24 AM,
NSA Quantum Command Center