Javier cleared his throat. “Our research here isn’t complete. We know very little.”
“Now, why don’t I believe you?” Oz asked, his eyes narrowing. He turned back to the wall of gold. He scanned the myriad of enigmatic symbols and felt the warm energy radiating out from them.
He turned back around to face Javier. “Tell me what you do you know.”
Javier pursed his lips. “The symbols tell a story. It’s a partial history of our ancestors.”
Oz snapped at him, “Historical records don’t act like strange energy sources in hidden caverns. You’re leaving an awful lot out, I’d wager.” He aimed his gun at Javier’s chest.
Javier looked at Rick.
Rick nodded for him to say something, anything.
Juan, Carlos and Mari waited silently as Javier tried to handle the situation.
“What I told you is true, but...”
“Go on.”
“But they are also...” he sighed heavily, “a way to commune with our ancestral spirits.”
Oz was intrigued. “Interesting theory. Tell me more.”
Javier knew he was digging himself into a hole, but he didn’t know what else to do.
“With the help of that compass, they give off a kind of energy that allows us to reach a transcendental state.”
Juan, Carlos and Mari listened intently.
“And?” Oz pressed him.
Javier let out a frustrated sigh. “This isn’t easy to talk about. It’s a very private and... sensitive matter. This is a sacred place of worship and enlightenment for us. We participate in spiritual ceremonies here. Our people, we believe we stay connected to our loved ones after death. That we can still speak to them. That they are a real part of our lives, even though they’re beyond this mortal life.”
Rick listened intently. He suspected Javier would likely be making things up in the hopes of protecting his people’s secrets, but he wondered if there was any truth to what he was saying. The explorer in him longed to know what the reality of this place was. But at this point, he didn’t know if any of them were going to survive this ordeal.
Javier looked at Oz, who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow.
“I know,” Javier said, “continue.”
Oz nodded, keeping the gun aimed at him.
Javier took a deep breath. “I’m not lying when I say that we really don’t know everything these tablets do.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t take your word for it,” Oz said, gazing at the wall of tablets. His mind was racing with possibilities over what this discovery could provide him. But he wasn’t going to rush this. One step at a time.
“Let’s test this theory out, shall we?” Oz said.
CHAPTER 17
Oz motioned to Luis. “I want you to go stand next to the tablets,” he ordered.
Luis looked taken aback. “Me? ¿Por qué?”
“Because I told you to.”
“Leave him alone,” Rick said.
Luis stood frozen in place; his eyes wide as saucers. He was terrified.
“Well, aren’t you the big protector?” Oz said, smirking. “Fine. Two guinea pigs are better than one.”
Rick glared at him. He didn’t budge.
Oz pointed to one of his men who had been guarding the cave entrance. “Alpha-4, help these two along, will you.”
The man nodded and quickly strode towards them.
He gave Rick a hard shove in the back. “Move, asshole.”
“Back off, dirtbag,” Rick said. “Alphagetti, is it?”
The man snarled at him. He gave him another hard shove. “I said move.” He pushed Luis ahead as well.
Rick put a protective arm around Luis. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size, coward.”
“Fine,” he said and then gave Rick another hard shove in the back.
Rick grimaced. Well, I did ask for that, he thought. He wasn’t going to give the man the satisfaction of a response.
At the one end of the wall of tablets, Alpha-2 was no longer listening to what was happening in the center of the room. The tablet he stood closest to had drawn his attention. It seemed to glow brighter as he gazed at it. He could feel its energy buzzing in the air. He cocked his head and frowned. He could hear something under the ambient hum. Like a faint whisper. He tried to listen, to understand what he was hearing. He felt something beckoning to him. The pull was magnetic. Irresistible. It was as though this place was trying to tell him something. An important, vital secret. He strained to understand. He needed to know.
He inched closer. He slipped his glove off. He felt the heat coming off of the wall of tablets. He touched the edge of the nearest tablet that had drawn his attention. His fingertips tingled with a weird energy. He held his hand there for a moment longer. It started to burn.
“Are you listening to me?” Oz demanded, suddenly noticing one of his men acting strangely. He was alarmed to see the man had lowered his weapon and was distracted by the tablet. It was not like his men to lose their focus this way.
“Hey! Alpha-2, what are you doing?” Oz shouted.
The man heard him this time and suddenly pulled his hand away. He looked at his fingertips—they were reddened, slightly burned. He looked at Oz, feeling irritated at having his attention pulled away.
“I asked you a question!”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he inched along the wall of tablets, trying to ascertain the source of the whispering. He strained his ears. It was maddening not to be able to understand what it was trying to tell him. The room grew hotter. Sweat dripped down his face, stinging his eyes.
He could get no answer. His temper was getting the best of him. The heat from being in proximity to the tablets was growing hotter, and hotter, and hotter; becoming unbearable, as was the hum and the incessant whispering. He still couldn’t make out what it was saying.
“Don’t you hear that?” he asked no one in particular. “I can’t tell what it’s saying.”
Oz was furious. He couldn’t believe how this man was disobeying his orders all of a sudden.
