The Apocalypse Calendar (6 page)

The sun rose with the sound
of howler monkeys and squawking parrots. At least there were no loud trucks spewing clouds of black, oily smoke. The geologists had no trouble waking up.

Miller and Gary cooked some bacon and eggs and later made some toast in a frying plan. There was more than enough food to feed both the geologists and the animal handlers.

Miller said, “I would like to get our fieldwork done before it gets too hot. It might speed things up if we used one of the burros to carry the rock samples that we collect. We can drape two burlap bags over the burro and put the rocks in them. I want to head back out of the canyon to Huayacocotla by three o'clock. Hopefully this is not too ambitious. Arturo and I will measure the section, and Gary, you and Felipe can collect the samples. You know what to look for in the rocks. We need to mark where each sample was collected in our measured section. Gary, I suggest that you mix up some Gatorade with the water that we carried along with us. We all need to drink about a pint before we get started.”

The work went smoothly. By noon, the four geologists had finished their work on the Taman Formation and most of the overlying Pimienta Formation.

Miller said, “The contact between the Pimienta and the overlying Chapulhuacan Limestone is at the waterfall. The thick bedded white limestone of the Chapulhuacan Limestone forms the rim of the waterfall. You can see the contact between the two formations just below the rim. We will need to measure the lower sixty feet of the Chapulhuacan Limestone.”

After about an hour, the geologists completed their work on the Chapulhuacan Limestone. Gary said, “I found a cave in a tributary canyon. Its entrance is barricaded with boulders of white limestone. Let’s take a look inside. Does anyone have a flashlight?”

Arturo said, “I believe I have one. It is always fun to go in a cave. Who knows—maybe we’ll find some Indian relicts.”

Gary said, “It would be a good idea to move some of the boulders blocking the cave entrance. There is barely enough room to crawl through.”

Miller said, “Okay, go ahead. Once you make a better passageway, crawl inside and I’ll hand you the flashlight. I’ll follow you.”

When Miller entered the cave, the first thing he saw was a throne made out of Chapulhuacan Limestone. He said, “There seems to be some sort of inscription on the limestone wall behind the throne. I’d better take a picture of all of this.”

Beyond the throne, the cave passageway made a right-angle turn and widened into a larger chamber. Miller observed, “Look, someone has left a pile of torches over there. Does anyone have some matches or a lighter? We’ll need all the light we can get in there. The torches should really do the job.”

As the geologists approached the far side of the large chamber and shone their torches on the walls, they noticed that a green glow was being emitted from a triangular area on the wall. They finally observed that the triangular area was actually the same pyramid drawing they had seen at Taman and at the shrine of the Virgen de Montserrat in the Sierra Cruillas to the north. Small, green, translucent crystals embedded in the rock emitted the green glow. There was a picture of a disk or flying saucer–like object within the pyramid. However, instead of an arrow that pointed south, there was a series of concentric rings surrounding the disk. Beneath the drawing there was writing similar to that at the other localities.

Miller said, “We’d better take some pictures to e-mail to Dolores Clark. Maybe she can make something of all of this.”

Gary said, “Look over there. There is a human skeleton draped over some sort of small stone box. There seems to be a headdress of an Indian chieftain on the skull. We’d also better take some pictures of this guy. Maybe we can get him to smile.”

Miller said, “I think he is already smiling. At least, he’s showing a good set of teeth.”

The geologists photographed the Indian warrior and moved enough of his remains to get to the stone box. The box was about the size of two shoeboxes and was made of pieces of the white limestone that were carefully fitted together. The lid of the box bore inscriptions, which were in some sort of Indian writing that was different from that on the wall.

Arturo said, “Let’s take several good pictures of the box and then carefully try and pry it open.” The lid of the box slid open very easily. It was obviously designed by some master craftsman in the distant past.

Miller said, “What in the hell is that? It certainly doesn’t look like Moctezuma’s Treasure! It’s some sort of gold-colored metal disk with a large light green crystal in the center that’s emitting a greenish glow. This looks like the same sort of substance that’s embedded in the cave wall. There seems to be two types of writing on the disk. One looks like Indian writing of some sort, and the other is totally unlike any writing that I have ever seen on the face of the earth. Let’s close the box and take it back to Dallas with us. It’s time to break camp and get the hell out of this creepy canyon.”

Miller and Arturo mounted their mules. The two burros carried the rock collections, food, water, camping equipment, and the newfound treasure from the cave. Gary and Felipe walked with the animal handlers.

The trail to the canyon rim was steep. Every so often, one of the animals would stop and refuse to go forward in spite of the screams of their handlers. All in all, it took about three hours to arrive at Dr. Toa Vaca’s front door.

Señora Toa Vaca and her daughter, Rosita, prepared the geologists a wonderful dinner. Rosita was more than pleased to help her mother. She had taken quite a liking to Gary and made sure that she sat beside him at the dinner table. Rosita was nineteen years old. She was a beautiful young lady who shared her parents’ Spanish pedigree. Her dark hair embraced her shoulders and complimented the porcelain doll–like features of her face and her green eyes. Gary had become quite attracted to her and was more than pleased to sit next to her at dinner.

The conversation at dinner, of course, quickly turned to what the geologists had found in the Canyon of the Río Vinasco. Dr. Toa Vaca was amazed at the strange contents of the stone box. No one could figure out what kind of metal the disk was made out of.

Miller said, “We tried to scratch the disk with quartz. This didn’t work. Whatever the metal is, it’s harder than quartz. Quartz is, of course, hard enough to scratch steel. Quartz itself has a hardness of seven on the mineral hardness scale. What we need to do is to try scratching the disk with a diamond. As I am sure you know, Dr. Toa Vaca, diamonds are not only a girl’s best friend, but they are also the hardest substance on earth. I wish I had brought my diamond scribe along.”

Toa Vaca said, “I have one that we can use. I occasionally use it to mark glass slides and sample bottles. I’ll round it up.”

Miller attempted to scratch the disk as well as the green crystal with the diamond scribe. Neither object could be scratched. He said, “Obviously, we are dealing with substances here that are harder than any on earth. I am also still puzzled by the writing on the disk. One inscription is definitely some sort of Indian writing that we can probably get translated. The other inscription is something totally different from any sort of writing I have ever seen before.”

Dr. Toa Vaca had a small laboratory equipped with acids and a few other chemicals. He applied drops of hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid, and nitric acid to the disk and green crystal, but to no avail; there was virtually no reaction.

Miller said, “Do you have any hydrofluoric acid in your laboratory? Perhaps the crystal will at least react to HF.”

Toa Vaca responded, “I usually keep a little bit on hand. Let me see if I can find it.”

The HF was applied to both the disk and the crystal. There was again no reaction.

Arturo said, “Well, I guess we’ll have to get this mystical disk analyzed with the electron microprobe when we get back to the Institute. If we could scrape some material off the disk or the crystal, we could use the mass spectrograph. However, this obviously isn’t going to work. These substances are both too hard. Some of the newer electron microprobes have specimen chambers that are large enough to accommodate the analysis of the disk. This is probably our best bet.”

Toa Vaca said, “Well, if this is Moctezuma’s Treasure, he got gypped. My Spanish ancestors would have been very disappointed. They believed that Moctezuma’s Treasure consisted of great piles of gold trinkets.”

Miller said, “We were expecting gold as well. Yet to have the remains of an Indian chieftain draped over the box containing the disk makes me think that this disk was of some importance to the Indians.”

Gary and Rosita excused themselves from the dinner table and went outside to sit on the front porch of the Toa Vaca home. Dr. Toa Vaca said, “I think my daughter has fallen for Gary. You can be sure that they’ll manage to stay in contact after you guys leave tomorrow. By the way, when do you plan to leave? Is your fieldwork in Mexico just about completed?”

Miller replied, “We’re headed for San Pedro del Gallo in the state of Durango to the northwest. I suspect we’ll spend several days there and then head back to the States. It’s going to be a long drive. We are going to have to leave by eight o'clock tomorrow morning.”

The day dawned with the crowing
of the Toa Vacas’ fighting cocks. As usual, the temperature was 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Dense fog infiltrated the pine forest at the canyon rim.

The Toa Vacas sent the geologists off with a tremendous breakfast. Farewells were given, and the geologists repacked the old Dodge van. A tearful Rosita gave Gary a last embrace. They promised each other that they would try to stay in contact, but they knew this would be difficult given the Mexican phone system and poor accessibility to the Internet. Dr. Toa Vaca said, “Let me know what you find out about the disk. By the way, I just heard on the news that a Mexican presidential candidate was assassinated in Juárez. You guys better watch your step. There are going to be a lot of security checks on your way to San Pedro del Gallo. It would probably be best not to camp out until you reach your destination. By the way, how do you plan to get there?”

Arturo said, “I think we are going to head for San Luis Potosí and then take the road to Torréon. From there it’s about a two-and-a-half-hour drive to San Pedro del Gallo. Since it is a long drive, we may have to stay in Torréon at a motel tonight. I hope we get at least as far as Torréon.”

Toa Vaca said, “
Vaya con Dios
,
mi amigos
. I hope that we meet again someday.”

The trip to Torréon was uneventful until the field party reached the town of General Zepeda just west of Saltillo. When the van passed the police station, Miller noticed about twenty men standing outside of it. Shortly thereafter, two pickup trucks full of men, each carrying some sort of weapon, stopped the van and insisted on searching it for weapons. Arturo told them that there were no weapons in the van and that all of the passengers were geologists on their way to San Pedro del Gallo in Durango. The armed vigilantes were given soft drinks and beer to keep them happy. At this point, one of them said that there were remains of a dinosaur in the Sierra de Parras north of General Zepeda and offered to lead the geologists to the site. Arturo told the vigilantes that the dinosaur was probably similar to those found in Big Bend National Park in Texas. He politely declined the vigilante’s offer and said that they were on a tight schedule and needed to move on towards Torréon.

By the time the geologists reached Torréon, it was already seven o'clock. Miller said, “I guess we had better spend the night at a motel here. I don’t want to arrive at San Pedro del Gallo after it gets dark. It will be too difficult to find a place to camp.”

It took about an hour to
go through Torréon. Unfortunately, it was rush hour. The going was slow and the traffic was horrendous. About twenty minutes after the van left Torréon, the air conditioner died, and the coolant transformed into gas and started to pour out of the vents inside the van. Miller said, “I guess we are going to have to live without an air conditioner for awhile. We’d better take a look under the hood.”

Miller raised the hood. Gary said, “My God, look at that! There is some sort of pulley embedded in the rubber insulation around the hood. Well, I guess the poor old air conditioner done committed suicide.”

Arturo said, “Let’s move on. We need to get to San Pedro del Gallo and start doing some fieldwork. I’ll drive.”

The van had just passed through the town of Mapimí when it just plain stopped for no apparent reason. Miller said with a look of measured disgust, “What in the hell is wrong now? Let’s take another look under the hood.”

At first, no one could see anything wrong with the engine. Then Felipe observed, “One of the belts is off its pulley. This old van doesn’t have a S-belt like the newer trucks and vans. It has several belts. It looks like the air conditioner part that got embedded in the rubber around the hood was part of the pulley that drives the air conditioner and the engine. The belt that drives the engine has slipped off what is left of the pulley. I believe the part that broke away housed the part of the pulley where the AC belt was attached. The AC belt must have totally disintegrated when the part flew off. Let’s see if we can put the engine belt back on what is left of its pulley and head back to Mapimí. Maybe we can find a mechanic that can fix this thing. The problem is that we’ll probably need a new part. It’s not likely that anyone is going to have a part for a van this old in Mapimí. We’ll probably have to go back to Torréon to get the vehicle fixed properly.”

Miller said, “Let’s see if we can get a temporary fix for the pulley in Mapimí. I still would like to get to San Pedro del Gallo today. It’s not very far off now. It’s probably an hour drive from Mapimí.”

The van made it back into town, and they found a mechanic who was willing to take a look at it. It seemed that everyone from blocks around the mechanic’s shop soon found out that the four gringos were geologists. It turned out that Mapimí was near several gold mines. Many Mexicans worked in the mines and, over the years, managed to collect a variety of minerals that were often hard to come by elsewhere in North America. In addition, the mine dumps were treasure troves for mineral collecting; even school kids sold minerals beside the road.

While the van was being repaired, a mineral vendor dragged Miller, Gary, and Arturo off to his house to view his mineral collection. Felipe stayed with the mechanic. The mineral vendor’s collection was spread out on numerous tables in a large interior open-air patio. All sorts of ore minerals were on display. His collection included such copper ore minerals as bright green malachite and blue azurite, as well as silver and gold ore. Many of the man’s specimens were of museum quality. Miller bought a beautiful specimen of twinned selenite crystals about eight inches in length and crossed in the form of an X.

Arturo said, “We’d better get back to the mechanic. I hope he fixed our belt problem. We need to take off for San Pedro.”

When they returned to the van again, they found that it was ready to go. The mechanic indicated that he could make no guarantees. He told the geologists that they would need to go to an AC repair shop in Torréon to get the job done properly. They would have the proper parts.

With the van repaired, the four geologists finally arrived at San Pedro del Gallo. Fortunately, the old dirt road, which was full of huge potholes and covered with coarse river gravel for long stretches at a time, had been covered with smooth black asphalt. In the old days, the trip south to San Pedro from the main road took over an hour. Now it only took a half an hour.

San Pedro del Gallo is the kind of town that Hollywood would love to photograph for a Mexican Western. As you approach the town from the north, the first thing you see is a picturesque white stucco Catholic church and a graveyard with a prominent mausoleum known as Puerto del Cielo to the west. The town is situated at the south end of a valley and flanked by a mountain called Cerro Volcan to the west and rolling hills to the east. A rich aquifer not far below the surface supplies the town with abundant water. Miller wondered why the aquifer wasn’t utilized more for agriculture. With the hot days and cool nights, this would seem to be an ideal area to grow grapes.

According to some of the locals, the town had been held hostage by a bunch of extortionists for a number of years, who made each citizen pay them a ransom. Finally, one of the more influential citizens, who had made good money working in the United States, reported the extortionists to President Salinas. Mexican Army Special Forces came in and cleaned up the town. The extortionists were packed off to a federal prison.

The last time Miller visited San Pedro del Gallo with several students, there was no airport. Now an airport had been carved out of the low hills to the northeast of town. Although the locals claimed this airport was built to allow Mexican dignitaries to visit the town, Miller suspected it was now being utilized by the drug lords.

By now it was about two in the afternoon, and Miller said with a worried look, “We’d better pick ourselves out a place to camp—one that’s well away from town. The fewer prying eyes around our campsite, the better.”

Felipe said, “Professor Miller, I’ve looked at the topographic map. There seems to be a pretty good place north of town next to a creek. You have to cross the creek to get there. However, most of the creeks are dry around here at this time of year. I would estimate that this place is about seven miles from San Pedro. There seem to be pretty good roads and jeep trails going in.”

“That sounds good. Let’s get after it. It will take at least a half an hour to set up camp. I would like to get a little fieldwork done before it turns dark. I’ll drive and you navigate. Hopefully we won’t get stuck in the sand somewhere.”

As they drove to the campsite, the geologists could see that Cerro Volcan formed an imposing ridge to the west. The campsite was just to the east of the northern end of Cerro Volcan.

Miller said, “After we set up camp, I suggest that we sample the north end of Cerro Volcan, where Burckhardt made his traverse in 1910. We ought to be able to sample the Zuloaga Limestone, the Santa Rosa Formation, and the base of the La Caja Formation. The La Caja Formation is closely related to the Taman and Pimienta Formations at Tamazunchale, but unlike these two formations, it contains abundant ammonites. So when we examine the La Caja—and, for that matter, the other formations—Garry, you and Felipe need to keep your eyes open for ammonites. These are absolutely critical in determining the age of the rocks. If you find one, put a sample bag under it exactly where you found it. We’ll then note the position of the ammonite specimens in our measured section. Arturo and I will collect samples for microfossils as we go along.” He looked around at the group. “Okay, let’s get started. It’s about 115 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. I suggest that all of you tank up with Gatorade before we get started.”

The work proceeded efficiently. The geologists met their goal by about seven o'clock and returned to the campsite. They drank more Gatorade and had a few beers before they started preparing dinner with some kielbasa that was still frozen in the ice chest. The dry ice was now about gone, but still a few things remained frozen. Felipe and Gary dug a fire pit, filled it with charcoal saturated with lighter fluid, and plopped a grill over it. It took about twenty minutes for the charcoal to be reduced to the familiar orange glow that promised the fire was ready. Miller wrapped the kielbasa with some heavy-duty foil and placed it on the grill. Since it was still frozen, Miller figured it would take it about twenty minutes to cook. In the meantime, he opened cans of sauerkraut and German potatoes and heated their contents on the stove. While Miller tinkered with the sauerkraut and potatoes, Arturo unwrapped the sausage from the foil and placed it directly on the grill to brown. They didn’t have any salad makings, but some avocados doused with lime juice filled the void. A watermelon served for dessert.

After dinner, they tossed some dry firewood in the fire pit and made a dandy campfire. By now, the sun was setting behind Cerro Volcan and presented itself as a large orange ball. Parallel lines of clouds in the foreground alternated between stripes of white, pale orange, and deep orange. As the sun set, a mother coyote with some yapping pups lurked on the periphery of the campsite just beyond the surrounding ring of light. Gary tossed their visitors some leftovers from dinner and the yapping turned into growling as the pups fought for a bite of the goodies.

“It’s about time to turn in. Tomorrow is going to be a rough day. We need to finish up here and head on home.”

Gary asked, “Professor Miller, where are we going to start sampling tomorrow?”

“I plan to start work at an arroyo that runs from the south end of Cerro de La Cruz, or ‘Hill of the Cross.’ If you look at the topographic map, you’ll see that Cerro de La Cruz links up with the Cerro Volcan northwest of town. We ought to be able to sample all but the uppermost part of the La Caja Formation in the arroyo. The upper part of the La Caja is exposed on a hill at the cemetery west of town. You’ll see a place called Puerto del Cielo immediately to the east of the cemetery. This must be some sort of chapel or mausoleum. The contact between the La Caja and the overlying Chapulhuacan Limestone occurs here. There are also good exposures of the contact on another hill immediately north of the cemetery.”

Arturo said, “Before we start sampling the area near the cemetery, I think we need to tell the priest or someone else at the church what we are up to; otherwise, we may get some complaints from the locals. We don’t want to get arrested again.”