Tom Swift and His Electronic Retroscope (17 page)

"I know nothing of this," murmured the
ahau
. "But you say these were other tribes, before the Maya."

"Many centuries before," confirmed Liu. Bud asked the purpose of the structure, and Liu continued: "We can not be sure. Only a very few ruins have been discovered; Tulo Y’quenque, in Guatemala, is the only one substantially well-preserved. For you see, the structure had no roof. It was open to the sky and the stars."

Chow snorted. "Wa-aal, that’d be mighty nice, but this here one’s sure covered up."

Dr. Liu nodded and Mrs. Liu said slowly, "When the Toltecs came, they lay trunks of trees across the open top, and filled in the cracks with mud and small rocks. They thought the restless dead of the ancients were buried inside, and—how shall I say?—the eyes of the dead must not see the sun, or they will awaken."

Chow gulped at the eerie thought, and Tom said, "If the inner walls were exposed to the weathering process for centuries before they were buried, the retroscope should have a lot to tell us. Let’s get to it!"

"We’ve got to dig all this up with hand trowels?" Bud asked, gazing in discouragement at the mound.

"Yup, flyboy, until we find what lies below," confirmed Tom with a sympathetic grin. "Then, perhaps, it’ll be safe to use shovels in exploring further, if Professor Castillez gives the okay."

Chief Quetzal set off for the village, Dr. and Mrs. Liu accompanying him. A small, promising area was marked out for test-digging near the flattened top of the mound, and Tom and Bud set to work. Soon their safari shirts were dark with perspiration and their faces were beet-red.

Meanwhile, Chow had become restless as he watched over the equipment. "Shucks, they’ll never get nowhere with them teeny li’l garden trowels," he muttered as he watched Tom and Bud laboring on top of the mound. "I reckon an ole range hand like me kin show ’em how to swing a pick!"

At that moment Tom gave a shout. "I think I’ve found something!"

Bud and Chow rushed up to see. Tom had uncovered some small, flat stone slabs, badly broken and lying at various angles, as if the earth had shifted beneath them. "What do you suppose they are?" Bud asked.

"Might be what’s left of a stone platform for religious ceremonies," replied the scientist-inventor as he wiped his forehead. "It may be that after the Toltecs were overthrown, the Mayas set down some sacred stones here, along the lines of that stone-for-standing with the space symbols on it. You know, guys, the old Mayan architects never learned to construct an arch with a keystone but used a flat capstone. That’s why most of their stone buildings were flat-roofed. That must have been true of their predecessors as well."

"I’ll help you set up the camera," Bud offered. "Maybe these slabs have space carvings like the other one."

"If the underlying structure has crumbled, the whole thing may be somewhat shaky," Tom cautioned. "We’ll have to proceed carefully."

The retroscope equipment was set up on top of the mound, its scanner-detector tube aimed downward at an angle into the shallow excavation Tom had made. The machine was activated, and in moments the three were crowded together gazing at the tiny reproducer screen. "Not all that much to see," Bud murmured in disappointment.

"Not so far," agreed Tom. "But look at that rounded cut at the bottom of the slab on the left. It might be the top of a symbol. Let’s scoop out some more dirt."

Ambling back to the edge of the mound to watch, Chow was frustrated at the snail’s pace of the digging.
Now this right here looks like a corner o’ one o’ them slabs pokin’ up,
he thought.
Brand my tombstones, bet I kin pry somethin’ up outa the ground afore th’ boys do!

The youths were so intent on their delicate digging that they didn’t notice the Texan retrieve a large pick from the tool-pile. With a grin of anticipation on his broad face, Chow positioned himself and gathered his strength. Suddenly he gave a mighty heave with his pick. It struck deep, so deep that the cook almost lost his balance. Bewildered, Chow watched as the bit of stone he had been aiming at seemed to fall right through the ground!

There was a strange rumbling noise underground, followed by yells of alarm from Tom and Bud. With a shattering clatter of stone and debris, the center of the mound caved in!

"Great snakes!" Chow gulped, aghast at the havoc he had caused.

Both boys had disappeared from view!

The whitefaced cook scrambled up to the edge of the cave-in and peered down into the gaping hole, only a few feet broad but without a bottom. But it was too deeply shadowed to make out what had happened to the boys.

"Hey, fellers!" Chow called down in a quavering voice. "Y-You okay?"

Even as he spoke he saw movement deep within the opening and leaned over further. Some ten feet down a sharp-slanted, rough embankment, the separated units of the retroscope—the computer-brain and the helium compressor—were wedged tightly together like a cork in a bottle. Chow jolted back in alarm as they suddenly slipped further down the sinkhole.

"Chow!"
came a muffled voice from below.
"Can you hear me?"

The westerner heaved a gusty sigh of relief at the sound of Tom’s voice. "Sure can, boss, but what—"

"Listen, pard, we’re both hanging on to the camera cables—we don’t know what’s underneath us—our feet aren’t touching anything—and the stuff above feels like it’s going to come loose! Go get h—"

The two consoles slipped again, and the young inventor’s words ended in a shout of alarm!

"I’m goin’, I’m goin’!" yelped Chow. "You boys jest hang on! Don’t go away!"

But in the darkness below,
hanging on
threatened to become useless. Tom and Bud each held on to one of the taut cables extending upward from the retroscope chassis, which was dangling somewhere below them out of sight.

"Tom," Bud gasped, "all that heavy stuff above is gonna give way and fall on our heads!"

"All we can do is let go—you first, flyboy. And when your feet touch the ground, jump aside as far as you can—try to protect your head!"

"Roger!" Bud counted down from three. Then Tom felt the shift of equilibrium as Bud released his grip. A moment later came a clattering thud and a grunt from the hollow blackness. "Come on!" Bud called.

Tom’s fall was longer than he had expected, and he let his body go limp. The shock of landing was jolting, but he managed to roll sideways and struggle away a few steps. Nothing blocked his path. He seemed to be standing on a flat, solid surface.

Pebbles and dirt rained down as the units shifted again with a harsh scraping sound. "Where are you, pal?" Tom called out.

"Now how’m I supposed to know
that,
genius boy?" came back a characteristic gibe that made Tom grin. "How’re you doing?"

"I’m okay—just shaken up. But I don’t have my flashlight; it’s up topside with my pack. I think we’re in some kind of a room— maybe a temple."

"Uh-huh," replied Bud. "Or a tomb! But let’s get out of the way of the—
mnph!"

"What is it?"

"Stumbled into something. Feels like it’s made of rock. Move carefully."

Tom cautiously made his way through the pitch darkness for a few yards. Then came a crashing sound from high above, and a dim shaft of light slanted down. Two bulky boxlike objects were silhouetted against it, casting moving shadows.

"Here they come!" Tom warned.

With a clatter of rocks and debris, the two consoles crashed down only a few feet from Tom and Bud, who could now make out one another in the faint sunlight, hazy with floating dust.

"Aw man!" moaned Tom’s pal. "That’s the end of the retroscope!"

Tom approached the tangled heap and examined it. "Bud, it’s not so bad after all. The consoles landed on top of the coiled-up cables and the helium feed-tube, which cushioned them a little. And the camera itself must’ve come down slowly as the cables payed out. The console units came out of the hole at an angle, luckily, and didn’t land on the retroscope."

"Hunh! Doesn’t even look like the dome is cracked," Bud remarked.

Tom chuckled. "Thank goodness for Tomasite!"

"Right. But… what
is
this place?"

They both turned themselves around slowly, trying to penetrate the surrounding gloom. The shaft of light made a dim circle around the retroscope, but beyond that only a few vague shapes were visible.

"The floor’s pretty level," commented Tom. "Bet it was paved at one time. But look—old dried mud and rotted wood. Dr. Liu must be right; this must be one of those ceremonial structures that the Toltecs finally covered up."

Bud nodded. "Must be. And it’s deep, too. If I hadn’t known how to take a hard landing, I’d have broken a few bones." Bud took a few wary steps into the darkness, then suddenly snapped his fingers. "Hey, I know how we can shed a little light on the situation!" He reached deep into a zippered pocket and brought out a flat wallet-sized toiletries kit. Popping it open, he proudly held it up for his chum to see. The inside of the hinged cover was a high-polished metal mirror!

Standing within the circle of light, the young pilot used the mirror to reflect a beam into the darkness. He began to pan it sideways—and both youths yelped in startled fright!

The nearby wall was lined with human skeletons!

"It’s a tomb!" Bud exclaimed.

The skeletons, perhaps a dozen of them, were propped side-by-side in a sitting position on a long ledge of carved stone. None seemed over four feet tall. Necklaces of jade beads hung around their necks.

Tom took a few steps closer. "Look at these metal bands—manacles! Bud, these guys were probably captured enemies who were chained down here by the Toltecs as a sacrifice to the gods when the structure was covered over."

Even in the dim light, Tom could tell that his friend had gone pale. "B-Better them than us, genius boy! I’ve never cared a lot for skeletons."

Impulsively Bud edged away from the ghoulish occupants of the tomb, leaving his kit propped on the floor in the light to maintain its reflection. Tom continued to speak in fascinated tones as he examined the wall closely. "Just think," Tom said. "These poor captives have been waiting down here century after century for the sight of a little daylight."

"I could use a little more of it myself," Bud muttered as he groped through the darkness on the opposite side of the floor. Hands extended, he hoped to find some indication of a route of escape from the tomb. But to find it, he knew he would first have to make contact with the other wall. What if more of the ancient remains were hidden in the darkness?

Suddenly the buried chamber resounded with a startled cry of fear!

TOM was too stunned to call out. There was a crash, as of bones clattering to the floor.

"Good grief—I’ve done it!" Bud piped from the darkness. "Ran right into a skeleton!"

"Does it seem to be seated on a ledge, like the ones over here?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess so, skipper. But I’m afraid I didn’t do old Mr. Bones any good," quavered Bud. "In fact, it feels like I’ve got my foot stuck in his—"

"Hello down there!"
interrupted a familiar voice from above. "Having a problem?"

"Hutchcraft!" Bud hissed. Then he yelled, "What’s next on the program, Hutch? Gonna lob a grenade at us?"

"No, Barclay, not at the moment. I’m fresh out, actually." Tom and Bud could practically feel the man’s smirk. "Ran into your
g
-dropping friend as he was flailing about in the jungle. He said something about your falling into a hole, so I thought I’d drop by for a look. How
are
you, anyway?"

"Do you have any kind of rope with you?" called Tom.

"Oh, I
suppose
you could call it a sort of rope." There was a long pause. Then the two made out a narrow, sinuous shape easing its way down from the opening high above. "Go ahead. I’ve anchored it to a tree trunk," Hutchcraft yelled.

Approaching, Tom and Bud found that the archaeologist had lowered an ingenious sort of rope ladder, a long chain of interlaced fabric rings, each just wide enough for a single shoe to fit in. Using the ladder for handholds as well as footholds, the boys struggled up to the top, one foot above the other.

As they emerged into the midday sunlight, Hutchcraft said, "Aha, casting shadows! If this were Groundhog Day, I’d predict a delayed spring."

"Very funny," grumbled Bud. "But thanks for the rescue."

Tom added his thanks. Hutchcraft asked if the young inventor planned to raise the camera equipment out of the pit right away. "I don’t think so," he replied. "We’d just have to lower it again, and I think the chamber is pretty inaccessible. Maybe Hu-Quetzal won’t mind lending us one of his men to keep watch overnight."

After pulling up the rope ladder, the three headed back toward Huratlcuyon, Wilson Hutchcraft taking the lead. As the archaeologist-philologist pulled further ahead of them, Bud turned to Tom. "What do you make of that guy?" he whispered. "Why do you suppose he helped us?"

Tom murmured, "Beats me. But remember, flyboy, the collapse of that mound wasn’t his doing. If he’s plotting against us, it may not be the right moment for him to make his final move."

As they neared the village, they encountered an excited band of rope-bearing rescuers led by Chow and Professor Castillez. The westerner verbally branded a few things in relief and gave his young friends a warm bearhug, both at once. "Boys, I shor am sorry fer bein’ so plumb careless!" he apologized.

"Don’t be too sorry, cowpoke!" Bud laughed. "We can call it a scientific breakthrough!"

Tom narrated the story of their unexpected plunge and amazing discovery. "Tomorrow I’ll set up a worklight and get the camera repaired. I’m betting we’ll find some carvings in that tomb that will answer a lot of our questions." He proceed to ask Chief Quetzal if he would be willing to assign a couple trusted village men to keep watch on the area for the rest of the day and throughout the night.

The
ahau
surprised Tom by declaring that he himself would be one of the guards. "For the good of my people and the honor of the firstfathers, I will guard this tomb with my life!"