Torrent (17 page)

Dora and Renau, in contrast to Miranda and Tum, seemed to have little interest in nature except when it impacted the Lacandon tribe. Although they studied ancient Mayan hieroglyphics, they didn't seem all that interested in the Classic Maya civilization.

"I've hunted animals across the globe," Graham interjected. "And I've never seen a single animal try to take revenge."

"That's not the only issue," Tum said. "We're standing in a unique, well-balanced ecosystem. If we don't respect it, we could cause a catastrophe."

Graham snorted.

"He's got a point," Miranda said. "Look at what happened to the Mayas when they started tearing down trees. If we begin murdering animals, we could unleash hell upon this canyon in ways we don't even realize."

"In case you haven't noticed, we're already in hell," Graham said.

"Think about it from the perspective of the cougar," Tum urged. "It was just protecting its land, its family. We're the invaders here, not it."

"Are you really siding with animals over people?"

"When people act stupidly, yes." Tum waved at Crowley. "He didn't just hurt a predator tonight. The prey will suffer too. The relationship between predator and prey is self-regulating and as ancient as life itself."

"You're talking about the Balance of Nature theory." Graham arched an eyebrow. "Too bad it was disproven decades ago."

"Nonsense."

"Predators aren't just eating machines. They show mobbing behavior. They participate in surplus killing. In fact, they've been known to eat themselves right out of existence. And prey—"

I held up my hands. "Stop it, all of you."

They turned to face me.

"We're not going to kill random animals. But we have to be able to protect ourselves. Agreed?"

Every head—except Tum's—bobbed.

"We need to increase our defenses. Let's set traps around the southern edge of the jungle. That should help." My face turned grim. "Like it or not, the cat is still out there. And we need to get it before it gets us."

Chapter 53

"Hold on a second," I called out.

Our group came to a halt. Heads swiveled toward me.

I perked my ears. In the distance, I heard a soft rushing noise. It sounded a little like wind. "Does anyone hear that?"

Crowley listened for a second. "It's just a breeze."

"I don't think so."

I turned around. Before anyone could stop me, I was marching southeast, away from the camp. I heard a few sighs. Then the others started to follow me.

I stepped hard as I walked, making as much noise as possible. I kept my flashlight beam constantly moving. I hoped my actions would convince predators to keep their distance. But just in case, I kept a firm grip on my machete.

A thought occurred to me as I continued my climb up the slope. The canyon, to the best of my knowledge, had been sealed off for thousands of years. Species that had resided within it would've faced unique challenges and experiences. That might've caused them to undergo divergent evolutionary paths. So, maybe the animal that had killed Yohl Ik’nal wasn't a cougar or a jaguar.

Maybe it was something else.

Memories of the stone mosaic above the summit shrine flooded my brain. Maybe the strange jaguar-like nagual was more real than I'd imagined.

We reached the canyon wall. It was gigantic and nearly sheer. I couldn't even see the top through the thick mist. From experience, I knew it would've been nearly impossible to climb down it. Either the Mayas had scaled an easier section of wall or they'd found another way to enter the canyon.

I veered east and hiked alongside the wall. After a few minutes, it began to curve. Turning north, I continued to follow it.

The rushing noise grew louder. I still couldn't identify it. But a theory was starting to form in my head.

"I see something." Beverly pointed. "Over there."

I followed her finger to a large niche. It was twenty feet tall and extended roughly fifty feet along the eastern canyon wall. Boulders of all shapes and sizes were piled inside it.

We drew closer. The rushing noise grew louder.

Miranda swept past me. She went straight to the rock pile and aimed her beam at the cracks. "I see hydraulic cement," she announced. "This is manmade."

I stared at the massive wall, at its many boulders. I realized caves and tunnels lay just beyond it. Most likely, that was how the Mayas had found their way inside the canyon.

The wall reminded me of all the other gigantic barriers mankind had built over the centuries. The Great Wall of China. Hadrian's Wall. The Berlin Wall.

Large empires had built those structures, supposedly to protect civilization from outside threats. Of course, those walls also had an unstated second purpose. Not only did they keep invaders, barbarians, and western influences out, but they also kept citizens in.

But the wall in front of me had no second purpose. Its sole reason for existence was to keep outsiders from entering the canyon.

Beverly produced a small hammer and chisel set. Kneeling down, she began to harvest samples from the wall as well as from the surrounding boulders, taking great care to seal each one in a marked bag.

I placed my hand on the wall. It was wet, thanks to the blowing rain. Carefully, I leaned my ear against it. The rushing noise increased in volume.

Emily put her ear next to mine. "It sounds like water."

"It's a river," I replied. "A pretty big one too."

Renau gazed at the wall. "Hunahpu sure went to a lot of trouble to hide this place."

"Yes," I replied. "Yes, he did."

Chapter 54

"Cy," Beverly's whisper filled my ear. "Wake up."

I sat up. My heart raced as I remembered the events from just a few hours earlier. "What is it?"

"Shh." She gave me a stern look. "It's still early. At least, I think it is."

With a loud yawn, I crumpled back into my sleeping bag. I was utterly exhausted. Prior to takeoff, Emily had confiscated my satphone and I hadn't thought to bring a watch. Even worse, the annoying clouds refused to let in much outside light. Thus, with every passing hour, I felt increasingly unmoored from time. "Why'd you wake me then?"

"I want to talk."

I rubbed my eyes. "About what?"

"I've been thinking about what you said earlier. And it's selfish."

I blinked. "How so?"

"For the last four months, you've put your fears above everything else, including my desires."

"I was trying to protect you."

"You don't have to protect me. The same goes for Dutch. We can think for ourselves."

"I didn't quit just for you guys. I did it for me too." I exhaled. "Like I said, treasure hunters die."

"Then why'd you come here?"

"I guess a small part of me hasn't been able to let go yet. I'm hoping that when I see the library, it won't matter to me. Then I'll know I'm ready to give up treasure hunting for good."

"But what if that's not the case?"

I didn't reply.

"If you don't care about treasure hunting, then quit. I'll even quit with you. But don't you dare stop doing it because of me."

A few seconds passed. Then I nodded.

"Okay." She brightened up. "Now, onto the second topic."

I groaned. "There's a second topic?"

"I finished analyzing the samples. The pyramid, the red rain, and that manmade wall are very similar in composition. My working theory is that the strong winds and our crash sent a bunch of rock dust into the air. It mixed with the rain and fell back on us."

"That makes sense. So, what'd you find in the samples?"

"Gold, for one thing."

That was mildly interesting. It explained the source for the gold plate from the sarcophagus. It also added further evidence that the Library of the Mayas had been etched in gold.

"They also contain an abundance of other metals," she continued. "I was able to identify several radioisotopes—iron-60, lead-205, samarium-146, and quite a bit of curium-247—in each sample."

"So what?"

"So, they shouldn't exist. They're extinct radioisotopes."

A jolt of electricity ran through me.

"Let me explain. Radioisotopes started to form prior to the emergence of our solar system. They immediately started to decay. We measure the rate of decay by using half-lives, which is the amount of time it takes for half of a radioactive sample's unstable atoms to lose energy."

"I know how half-lives work."

"Some radioisotopes have enormous half-lives. Tellurium-128, for example, has a half-life of over two septillion years. Others last less than a second. Something like iron-60 is in the middle. It has a half-life of nearly three million years and eventually decays to cobalt-60."

"So, naturally-occurring iron-60 should've decayed out of existence a long time ago." I shrugged. "Your equipment must be faulty."

"It's never failed me before. Plus, it produced similar results for all three sets of samples."

"Maybe they were created after our solar system was formed."

"Ordinarily, I'd agree with you. For instance, cosmic rays can create radioisotopes through a recurring process. But such processes don't exist for iron-60. And it's not a decay product of a longer-lasting isotope. The fact is iron-60, lead-205, samarium-146, and curium-247 don't exist anywhere in nature." She gave me a knowing look. "Except here."

Skepticism was an invaluable tool. Many true believers and pseudoarchaeologists found it frustrating. However, skepticism wasn't about rejecting other people's claims. It was about suspending judgment until those claims could be properly tested and verified.

But just because I believed in skepticism didn't mean I rejected incredible claims out of hand. Indeed, an open mind was just as important as a skeptical one.

"I believe you." I frowned. "So, how did they get here?"

"I don't know," she replied. "And that scares the hell out of me."

Chapter 55

I sat up with a start. It took me a few seconds to get my bearings. It took me a few more to remember the trapped passage, the strange cat, the dead cougar, the ancient wall, and the extinct radioisotopes.

More memories came to me. My heart skipped a beat as I recalled Graham's thermographic cameras. Their images would be ready soon.

I glanced at Beverly. She was still asleep. So, I quietly grabbed my gear, unzipped the flap, and stepped outside. Warm rain struck my skin. I held out my hand and gathered some drops. They were clear.

I secured my sheath to my belt and looked to the sky. A few rays of sunshine managed to pierce the thick clouds. But for the most part, the clearing remained dark.

I strode to the dome tent. I saw Graham and Tum. They stood close to each other and appeared to be arguing.

"—is an untouched paradise," Tum said. "What if we ruin it?"

"What if it ruins us first?" Graham retorted. "You might love nature. But trust me. It doesn't love you back."

I cleared my throat.

Graham glanced at me. "You look like hell."

"I feel like it too." I stretched my aching muscles. "Did you set the traps?"

"Yeah. Crowley and I placed about thirty snares just inside the jungle, near where we found the tracks. The snares are made from braided metal cables so if something steps into one of them, it's not getting away."

"Good job."

"I thought so." Graham jabbed a thumb at Tum. "But he disagrees."

Tum exhaled.

I didn't feel like getting involved so I nodded toward the marsh. "Let's go check the cameras."

"Sounds good. Let me get my tools."

"I'm sorry," Tum said softly as Graham hurried out into the rain.

"For what?" I asked.

"All the arguing. I like Dutch. But he sees nature in purely scientific terms. He doesn't recognize its magic, its balance."

"Balance?"

"The amazing thing about nature is how it self-regulates. If it gets out of whack, forces take over to bring it back into equilibrium."

"What do you mean?"

"Nature is filled with self-regulating mechanisms called feedback loops. When something disturbs the natural order, the change is detected. This information then feeds back to the source of the disturbance, allowing nature to adjust itself in order to eliminate it."

The explanation seemed awfully simple but I nodded anyway. "Then why do you care what happens here? Shouldn't these feedback loops of yours fix everything?"

"Yes, but only on a small scale. Take the Mayas for instance. If they'd only chopped down a few trees, the Classic Maya Collapse would've never happened. Nature would've just swallowed up the trunks and regurgitated more trees." He brushed away a swarm of flies. "It was a whole other story when thousands of trees were destroyed. The feedback loops couldn't work fast enough to correct the problem."

"That won't happen here."

"Maybe not. But this place is fragile."

"Oh?"

"Invasive species are common elsewhere. But I imagine they're exceedingly rare here. This canyon is practically a closed ecological system." His brow furrowed. "Only now, that's changed."

"How so?"

"An invasive species has arrived," Tum said sadly. "Us."

Chapter 56

"Damn it." I glared at the camera. "It's broken just like the others."

"It must've been the storm," Graham replied.

"Aren't these things waterproof?"

"Let me see her." He took the camera from me. Using a pocketknife, he twisted off some screws. "Well, that explains it."

"What?"

"She's fried."

"Fried?"

"These parts have melted a bit."

"How'd that happen?"

"Probably lightning."

"No way." I pointed at the camera's exterior. "If lightning had struck it, the casing would've burnt to a crisp."

"Actually, I think it happened on the plane."

"You mean the ball lightning?"

He nodded. "It probably caused a localized EMP, or electromagnetic pulse. That led to a tremendous surge in voltage."

"But the cameras were off," I said.