begin with, the Chollokwan are an extremely violent tribe. When I was here ten years ago they’d just been involved in an attack on a BrazCo mining party. Five team members were killed, a lot of others badly wounded. It wasn’t the first time either.”
McCarter nodded. “Makes it doubtful that things went as Martin suggests. More than likely the negotiations were conducted at gunpoint.”
Danielle took the conversation back. “I would tend to agree. One assumes he didn’t get the name Blackjack for nothing. But we’re not here to pass judgment on the man, just to try and determine what he found out there. And it’s our belief that the cradle and the crystals came from a Mayan ruin that the Chollokwan ransacked in their wanderings. Perhaps even this Wall of Skulls itself, which certainly sounds like a place the Xibalbans might make their presence known.”
McCarter turned back to Danielle with excitement in his voice. “Where’s the cradle now? Can we see it?”
“Unfortunately, no,” Danielle said. “The Martin’s crystals and the golden cradle were housed until recently at the Museum of Natural History, back in your home port of New York.”
“Until recently,” McCarter repeated. That didn’t sound promising.
“They were stolen over a year ago,” Danielle explained, “along with five additional crates of Central and South American antiquities. In a theft that made the headlines.”
McCarter recalled seeing a news clipping, but he did not recall any headlines. “It was a backroom theft,” he said, cautiously. “Wasn’t it?”
Danielle nodded. “None of the items had been on display for quite some time. In Martin’s case, never. The prevailing theory was an inside job from someone who picked and grabbed from an unmonitored area. Security was so lax that the authorities couldn’t even determine when it happened. The items may have been missing for several months before the theft was even discovered.”
“Did they catch anyone?” McCarter asked.
Danielle shook her head. “No one was ever charged. Two boxes of items were recovered at Miami International just prior to being shipped out of the country, but neither the cradle nor the crystals were among them. It’s feared that the cradle may have been melted down for its rather marginal value as a precious metal and the crystals were probably sold for pennies or simply thrown away.”
McCarter sighed. Strangely enough he’d seen it before. Discoveries made and then lost, artifacts recovered after a thousand years only to be misplaced or destroyed by accidents. “At times, some hidden things seem to posses an almost sentient desire to remain that way,” he said.
Danielle smiled at him and put down the remote. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Susan closed her notebook. “I can’t believe no one saw this before. It’s so obvious, it’s crazy.”
McCarter stroked his chin, wondering if she meant
crazy good
or
crazy bad
. The only thing he knew forsure was that it no longer seemed
crazy foolish
. In fact, as he thought about it, he found himself genuinely excited, almost giddy at the possibility that they might be right. Stones with the names of the first humans in Mayan mythology, others with Tulan Zuyua’s descriptive name: Seven Caves. It certainly pointed toward something early in the Mayan culture. And even if the stones had been inaccurately morphed by the NRI’s computer program, the untouched golden cradle proved that Mayan writing was being performed in the Amazon. As Danielle had told him the night before, something was out there.
He allowed his gaze to return to the screen. The symbols carved in gold stared back at him and he thought of the contrast: Tulan Zuyua and Xibalba, a form of paradise and the very gates of hell. He couldn’t help but wonder which one they would find.
CHAPTER 10
P ale light from the risen moon filtered through gaps in the trees, illuminating the uneven ground. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to
McCarter nodded. “Makes it doubtful that things went as Martin suggests. More than likely the negotiations were conducted at gunpoint.”
Danielle took the conversation back. “I would tend to agree. One assumes he didn’t get the name Blackjack for nothing. But we’re not here to pass judgment on the man, just to try and determine what he found out there. And it’s our belief that the cradle and the crystals came from a Mayan ruin that the Chollokwan ransacked in their wanderings. Perhaps even this Wall of Skulls itself, which certainly sounds like a place the Xibalbans might make their presence known.”
McCarter turned back to Danielle with excitement in his voice. “Where’s the cradle now? Can we see it?”
“Unfortunately, no,” Danielle said. “The Martin’s crystals and the golden cradle were housed until recently at the Museum of Natural History, back in your home port of New York.”
“Until recently,” McCarter repeated. That didn’t sound promising.
“They were stolen over a year ago,” Danielle explained, “along with five additional crates of Central and South American antiquities. In a theft that made the headlines.”
McCarter recalled seeing a news clipping, but he did not recall any headlines. “It was a backroom theft,” he said, cautiously. “Wasn’t it?”
Danielle nodded. “None of the items had been on display for quite some time. In Martin’s case, never. The prevailing theory was an inside job from someone who picked and grabbed from an unmonitored area. Security was so lax that the authorities couldn’t even determine when it happened. The items may have been missing for several months before the theft was even discovered.”
“Did they catch anyone?” McCarter asked.
Danielle shook her head. “No one was ever charged. Two boxes of items were recovered at Miami International just prior to being shipped out of the country, but neither the cradle nor the crystals were among them. It’s feared that the cradle may have been melted down for its rather marginal value as a precious metal and the crystals were probably sold for pennies or simply thrown away.”
McCarter sighed. Strangely enough he’d seen it before. Discoveries made and then lost, artifacts recovered after a thousand years only to be misplaced or destroyed by accidents. “At times, some hidden things seem to posses an almost sentient desire to remain that way,” he said.
Danielle smiled at him and put down the remote. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Susan closed her notebook. “I can’t believe no one saw this before. It’s so obvious, it’s crazy.”
McCarter stroked his chin, wondering if she meant
crazy good
or
crazy bad
. The only thing he knew forsure was that it no longer seemed
crazy foolish
. In fact, as he thought about it, he found himself genuinely excited, almost giddy at the possibility that they might be right. Stones with the names of the first humans in Mayan mythology, others with Tulan Zuyua’s descriptive name: Seven Caves. It certainly pointed toward something early in the Mayan culture. And even if the stones had been inaccurately morphed by the NRI’s computer program, the untouched golden cradle proved that Mayan writing was being performed in the Amazon. As Danielle had told him the night before, something was out there.
He allowed his gaze to return to the screen. The symbols carved in gold stared back at him and he thought of the contrast: Tulan Zuyua and Xibalba, a form of paradise and the very gates of hell. He couldn’t help but wonder which one they would find.
CHAPTER 10
P ale light from the risen moon filtered through gaps in the trees, illuminating the uneven ground. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to
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