“We’ll be okay provided we don’t stay here too long.”
They moved to the opposite side.
“All right,” Jess said, “I think we deserve to know what’s going on.”
Tyler paused for a moment, then sighed. “Fay, can you turn off your video camera, please?”
Fay looked puzzled, but complied.
“I’m not supposed to tell you because it’s classified,” Tyler said, “but you’re right. You need to know the risks. What I’m about to say could send me to prison. You cannot under any circumstances talk about this with anyone else. Do you understand?”
She and Fay both nodded in bewilderment.
“The material embedded in the wall is called xenobium, a form of the element hafnium. We think the Nazca people found it after an explosion in their region. One of its properties is that it emits gamma radiation. I was hoping we wouldn’t find any, which was why I didn’t say anything until now.”
“That’s the reason Morgan Bell sent the Air Force jet to bring us here?” Jess asked. “This is related to the truck bomb in Australia, isn’t it?”
“In a way. They stole a weapon called the Killswitch. This material is the trigger that powers it. If the people who have the Killswitch got their hands on this, it could result in a devastating terrorist attack.”
They stayed to one side of the chamber until Polk called from the entrance that he had the case. Tyler ran out and came back carrying what looked like an aluminum suitcase, but by the way he was holding it, it seemed to be much heavier than Jess would have thought.
“Lead-lined case. Agent Bell gave it to us in the event that we found any xenobium.”
Tyler pried at the hole until the xenobium popped out and rolled across the floor.
“Put a light on it, but don’t touch it.”
Tyler used the pliers on his Leatherman to pluck the xenobium off the floor. Jess had a hard time believing that something the size of a pea could be lethal.
He put it inside the foam interior of the case and closed the lid. After another wave of the radiation meter, he declared that the gamma emissions were back down to a normal level.
Jess returned to look at the story on the wall and saw that it made perfect sense now.
“So the Nazca people found the xenobium,” she said, “but they didn’t realize it was deadly until those with extended exposure started to get sick and die. Why bring it here?”
“We may never know,” Fay said. “Perhaps they brought a small piece with them as an offering of thanks to the gods wherever they landed.”
Tyler pointed to the astronaut figure. “Look at his hands. This bit of xenobium was in his left hand. The right hand is raised holding with an object that is much bigger.”
“The drawing would imply that they left a larger piece behind somewhere in Nazca,” Jess said.
“Then we need to find it before anyone else does,” Tyler said, aiming his flashlight at the ceiling. “But where is it?”
Fay pointed at the Mandala geometric figure on the ceiling. “See the starburst in the center? It looks like the explosion is taking place there. It could be that the Nazca people saw the fireball come down from space, and when they went to investigate, they found the xenobium.”
Tyler walked over to the pyramid in the pictogram story. “Notice how the Mandala looks like the overhead view of a pyramid. Now look at the lines in the overhead chart. If you follow them, they go from the Mandala, through every one of the animals, and then straight to the Cahuachi pyramid.”
“Of course!” Fay shouted in triumph. “The Nazca would have wanted to protect their find from thieves and separate it from the main population so that the people wouldn’t get sick. The priests would have been the only ones allowed to have access to it. Not only would they hide how to get inside the pyramid, they would have constructed booby traps to keep invaders from taking the treasure. But they didn’t want to hide it so well that the gods wouldn’t find it.”
“The gods weren’t very powerful if they needed instructions,” Tyler said.
“They weren’t considered infallible like the God of Abraham.”
“The pyramid would have been pretty noticeable at the time. Why not just put a big drawing on top of it to draw the gods there?”
“The Nazca might have thought the gods would return to the Mandala to retrieve their treasure. So they created the lines as a pathway to lead the gods from there to Cahuachi. It’s only ten miles away from the Mandala.”
“But the Tunguska blast was huge,” Jess said. “Wouldn’t a similar explosion have destroyed Cahuachi?”
“We don’t know if Cahuachi was built before or after the explosion,” Tyler said. “Maybe it was destroyed and then rebuilt. Fay said the city was only uncovered fifty years ago, and it’s still being excavated.”
“On the other hand, we could be wrong,” Fay said. “The xenobium could be buried at the Mandala and the pyramid has nothing to do with it. But won’t it be fun to find out?”
Fay’s giddy excitement was contagious, and Jess couldn’t help getting caught up in it.
“Have the archaeologists discovered any way inside the pyramid?”
“A few chambers, but to my knowledge they’ve never found anything like that metal.”
“If the Nazca line drawings form a code,” Tyler said, “how does it tell the gods where to find it?
“I’ve been thinking about this,” Jess said. “If these are astrological symbols representing constellations, then they must go in order from the beginning to the end of the year. The straight lines connecting them could be the pathway that Nana mentioned.”
“We can figure out the astrological link by matching the dots in the symbols to star charts. The question is, how does that tell us where to go in the pyramid?”
“Maybe the symbols have something to do with that as well.”
“We’ll try to figure that out on our way there,” Fay said. Then her voice took on an awed tone. “This could be the single greatest discovery of pre-Columbian archaeology, even though it’s found on Easter Island. Not only does it prove that the descendants of Nazca people came here, but it also provides an answer for the mystery of the Nazca lines.”
“Are you sure you’re up for more travel?” Jess said.
“If you ask me that one more time, I’m going to put you over my knee.”
Tyler laughed. “I’d like to see that. All right, you two. We’re all going.”
When they exited the cave, Tyler handed the case to Polk. “Take this to the car and bring Harris back with you to help us reset the boulder.”
“I’ll go with him,” Fay said. “I want to load this video onto my laptop.”
Jess smiled. Most of her friend’s grandmothers were afraid to even touch a computer, let alone download video. Polk led Fay back up the trail.
“Why put the stone back in place?” Jess said. “Colchev doesn’t have the map.”
“We don’t want anyone else to retrace our steps and find the cave until we’re ready to reveal it to the world. Once the stone is covering the opening, I’ll add some marks on the ground to disguise the ones we made.”
Jess gave Tyler a quick hug. “Thanks for being honest with us.”
“It’s only fair. You’re both sticking your necks out to help.”
“Yes, but we dragged you into this. You could have blown us off in New Zealand.”
Tyler leaned against the cliff face. “Remember in college when you asked me why I was in ROTC?”
“Something about your dad saying you shouldn’t do it.”
“Well, there was that. But it was really
“Then why did you leave the Army?”
“The prospect of getting blown up all the time was one big reason.”
“Did Karen have anything to do with your decision?”
Tyler nodded. “Not because she forced me to, but because being with her was being part of something greater than myself. She was good for my soul. Boy, that sounds like a sentiment on a greeting card.”
Jess stroked his arm in a comforting gesture. “I think it’s sweet. I’d kill to get a greeting card like that. But what does it have to do with this trip to Easter Island?”
