The Last Election (13 page)

 
Bonsam hung up before Delgado had a chance to reply, but he continued speaking. “Perhaps she can provide the answers to the questions that plague my soul.”

Chapter 29

Professor Sean Jameson was busily supervising the archaeological studies students under his tutelage at the excavation site near the Chacchoben ruins. Since the recent discovery of the ancient Maya artifact, his students were filled with excitement and working harder than they had ever worked before. Jameson didn’t want anyone passing out under the hot Mexican sun. “Slow down, drink some water,” he called out as he walked toward the students. “These ruins have been here thousands of years, no need to be in such a big hurry.”

The students laughed out loud. They loved working for Professor Jameson. He was an expert in the Maya prophecies and serious about his studies, but he was also a kind, grandfatherly figure and a pleasure to work with. He was a portly man who had a snow-white beard that he kept neatly trimmed. His hair was silky white as well but there was very little on top, so most of the time while he was at the excavation site he wore his trusty pith helmet, which made him look like he was on an African safari preparing to go big-game hunting. He wore a bandana around his neck that gave him a rugged look, but he also wore round wire rimmed glasses that gave him a scholarly look.

“There’s nothing to see here, please keep moving,” said one of the students as he imitated a police officer at a crime scene. “Keep moving,” he said again, waving a small shovel at Professor Jameson like he was managing crowd control.

“Very funny, Jesse,” laughed Jameson. “Don’t forget who has the ticket for your return flight. Keep that up and you’ll find yourself with a long walk home.” Jesse Wilson was the unofficial student leader of the dig. He was Jameson’s prized student, a young man filled with intellectual curiosity and a born leader. His classmates all looked up to him, even if he was the class clown.

“Hey Professor, looks like we got some company,” Jesse said as he pointed his spade toward their main camp.

Jameson turned around and saw a dusty truck bouncing down the rough dirt road that led to their camp. He smiled and said, “Excellent!”

Moments later Jameson was standing next to the truck with his two visitors. “Daniel, it is great to see you again, my friend!” he said as he vigorously shook Daniel’s hand. He turned to Ixchel and said, “And Ms.
Cobán, what a pleasure it is to finally meet you. Come in, come in,” he said as he motioned toward the door of the dig-site cabin where the artifact was being stored.

Once they were inside Jameson said, “Make yourselves comfortable, as comfortable as you can in these conditions,” he chuckled. “There is bottled water in that cooler, help yourselves.”

Jameson spun the dial on his safe as Daniel and Ixchel retrieved some water. Once Jameson had the artifact and Daniel and Ixchel had their water, the three met at the table in the center of the room. The relic that Jameson brought to the table was wrapped in cloth. As he removed the cloth, he revealed a stone tablet covered with ancient Maya symbols carved into the surface.
Daniel and Ixchel were amazed by what they saw.
 

“I studied the typology of this tablet and have reason to believe that it is over 5,000 years old,” said Jameson. “That’s as old as the Maya Calendar, maybe even older. I wanted your team to look at it because it is well known that the lovely Ms.
Cobán
here is the best when it comes to deciphering the symbols on Maya relics.” Jameson gave Ixchel a wink, which caused her to blush. His tone became more serious as he looked at Daniel and said, “And I have never seen symbols such as these.”

Jameson slowly removed the cloth that was wrapped around the tablet. The instant Ixchel saw the tablet in its entirety there was a burst of white light before her eyes. She became lightheaded as the world around her seemed to go into a spin. She gasped as she reached for the table to steady herself.

Daniel quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and held her up. “Ixchel, are you all right?” He looked her in the eyes, but it was as if they had rolled back into her head. “Ixchel!” Daniel gently shook her shoulders.

Ixchel could barely see Daniel through her blurred vision and the sound of his voice was muffled and distant. In her mind she again heard a soft voice call out, “I am here.” She looked down at the tablet again and suddenly felt as though a blast of wind blew right through her. She was shaking as her world returned to normal, and she found herself breathing heavily as she looked into Daniel’s eyes.

Professor Jameson looked on in surprise. Daniel once again asked, “Are you all right?”

Ixchel was still shaken, but she tried to laugh it off. “Whoa, I’m sorry about that. I think this heat is getting to me,” she said as she fanned her face with her hand.

Jameson was shocked by what he had just witnessed, but he also tried to laugh it off. “Yes and I’m sure the jet lag is catching up to you, too. It happened to all of us when we first arrived,” he said. He had been feeling strange ever since the discovery of the tablet and now Ixchel had experienced an obvious reaction to it as well. He started to feel uneasy again.

Daniel had been shocked as well and still looked at Ixchel with concern. Ixchel could tell he was worried about her. “I’m fine, really, I’m fine now,” she said. “Let’s take a look at that tablet, that’s what we’re here for, right?”

The tablet was indeed worth the trip. Neither Ixchel nor Daniel had ever seen anything like it. Jameson gave a full account of its discovery, and concluded by saying, “Unfortunately, it looks as though a piece of the tablet has been broken off at the bottom. Or maybe this edge is the top. I’m not sure.” He pointed to the jagged edge of the relic. “But my team is continuing the dig and we hope to find the missing piece soon.”

Ixchel studied the tablet closely with a magnifying glass. “The markings along the left and right sides are minor symbols found on the Maya calendar, indicating that the two may somehow be related,” she said.

She was intrigued by what she saw. “Look at these four symbols running down the center. Most Maya symbols were carved to keep a historical record of people and events.” She pointed at the symbols on the tablet, starting from the top and moving her hand downward. “But this layout suggests that together they form an announcement of some kind.”

“What do you mean?” asked Daniel.

“The Maya were strong believers in omens, and there have been several findings of artifacts whose symbols were prognostic in nature.”

Jameson shook his head as he listened to Ixchel.
 
“What do you make of these symbols?”

“The first two symbols contain markings that seem to indicate some kind of fire.”

“Fire,” said Jameson. He was staring at the tablet intently. Daniel looked up at him and noticed his brow was furrowed.

“I can’t be certain without further research, but the first symbol appears to represent sky-fire. I know there are similar Maya symbols used in ancient carvings to illustrate comets and meteor showers.” As she said this, Jameson moved his face closer to the tablet. “I think I have some of those in my database,” Ixchel said as she pointed to her flash drive sitting on the table, “I’ll look for them tonight.”

“Yes, please do,” replied Jameson, never taking his eyes off the tablet.

“The second symbol is definitely the symbol for a temple. This symbol appears in carvings within many of the ancient Maya temples themselves,” Ixchel said. She paused for a moment and added, “But I don’t get the connection between temple and fire.”

Jameson’s eyes were fixed on the tablet. “Please continue, Ms.
Cobán
,” he said quietly. Ixchel and Daniel exchanged glances. Daniel had never seen Professor Jameson this serious before.

“I have no idea what the third symbol represents,” she said as she held the magnifying glass over the symbol. It was basically just a circle. “But by its nature it appears to suggest something large, extremely large. I know of several other Maya symbols that were used to indicate size. I’m pretty sure I don’t have any images of those on my flash drive, but when I get back to UVA I’ll go through our main database and examine the images closely to see if I can determine any similarities with this symbol.”

She then took a long close look at the fourth symbol. Something about it was eerie to Ixchel. “I have never seen anything in Maya carvings that remotely resembles the fourth figure,” she said hesitantly. The symbol was indeed unusual. It was a wide, flat oval shape, with two arched lines protruding from the top of the oval. The lines were mirror images of each other.

Ixchel and Daniel stood up straight, but Jameson continued to lean over the tablet, his eyes running up and down the symbols. Finally Daniel asked, “What do you think, Professor?”

Jameson slowly stood up straight. “I have spent my entire life studying the ancient Maya civilization,” he said, “and I am convinced that Ms.
Cobán has done a superb job of deciphering the symbols thus far. However, she did make one mistake.”

“What was that?” asked Daniel.

Jameson looked directly into Ixchel’s eyes and said, “The tablet does not contain an announcement. It contains a warning.”

Chapter 30

Jameson removed his glasses and wiped his eyes. “I think I’ll get some fresh air,” he said as he slowly made his way toward the cabin door.

“I’m going with him,” Daniel whispered to Ixchel.

Once Jameson and Daniel had left, Ixchel picked up the magnifying glass and reexamined the fourth symbol. The longer she looked at it, the more confused she felt. She was certain that she had never seen the symbol before in any Maya carvings, but somehow it was familiar to her nonetheless. Somewhere deep in her mind she knew she had seen it before. She ran her fingertips lightly over the symbol, and a rush of wind once again shook her entire body. She quickly removed her fingertips from the tablet and headed toward the door.

Just then Daniel opened the door and reentered the cabin. Ixchel stopped in her tracks. “Is everything okay with the professor?” she asked.

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen him act like this before,” Daniel replied. “Anyway, he said he was going back to his tent to get some rest. He told me to put the tablet back in the safe and spin the dial. How are you doing?”

Ixchel lowered her eyes and said, “I’m okay, it’s just been a long day.”

“Speaking of long days, I totally forgot to touch base with the lab. I told Thomas yesterday that we would report back via webcam once we made contact with Professor Jameson.”

Daniel sat down at Jameson’s computer and logged into UVA’s network. As he waited for the network to connect, Ixchel came and sat beside him. She smiled as he reached over and playfully patted her on the shoulder.

When the connection went through, Daniel saw that Thomas was still online. He sent Thomas an invitation to join him on the webcam, and Thomas immediately accepted. When his image came up, Daniel quickly saw that something was wrong. Thomas was one of those guys who are always smiling, however now it was obvious that he was quite upset. Before Daniel could even say hello, Thomas cut him off. “Dan, you’re not going to believe this. The police just found Patrick.” Thomas paused then said, “Face down in the
Rivanna
River. He’s been murdered.”

Chapter 31

Clay lay in bed and went through the next phase of the plan over and over in his mind. Soon he would get his vengeance on the band of degenerate swine who shared his father’s hostile prejudices, prejudices that caused his mother’s suffering and ultimately her death. Clay hated those militia jerk-offs, and he was sickened knowing that his own father had been one of them. As he stared toward the ceiling in the darkness of his bedroom, his memories slowly wandered back to the day when he learned of his father’s involvement in the KKK.

Clay went through the school of hard knocks while growing up in Jackson. He was clever and cunning, and he quickly learned how to protect himself in a hostile urban community. He always carried a knife and he knew how to use it. Another skill he acquired along the way was the ability to pick locks. There were very few he could not pick. He loved to pop locks of every type, just to see if he could do it.