by Kurt Winans
He called upon Gabriela Ignacio. A woman in her mid-fifties of Hispanic heritage, she was tall and slender with thick black hair cut just above the shoulder. Her formal education had been focused mainly on the ancient civilizations of Earth, and she spoke several languages fluently. Ross had met her for the first time after they had all been deposited on this moon, as Gabriela was one of many that answered the call for needed translators. Through several discussions, Ross learned that she had spent many years working in the field on expeditions to explore the historical ruins of those civilizations. She had also given lectures on the subject at many universities throughout the world. Her combination of mental skills, and the ability to handle an advanced level of physical challenges, made Gabriela a perfect choice as a member of a scout team. Ross was glad to have her along, and Colt had taught her some of the basics in how to handle a blade or spear in the event of animal attacks.
Ross said, “Gabriela, be cautious during the process, but would you please advance to my side. You might be able to translate what the sentry and I are trying to say to each other.”
He couldn’t be sure, but he thought the language of this newly discovered civilization was something close to Spanish. She was most definitely the best suited among the scouting party to determine if Ross was correct in that assessment.
After a respectful bow of the head toward the sentry, Gabriela began a dialogue that seemed to establish a delicate peace. Looking at Ross she said, “I believe that everything will be alright now sir, but it is proper that you bow slightly to him before he can escort you deeper into the city.”
Ross was happy to comply, and thanked her for the help. He then asked the entire scouting party to join him in a respectful bow until Gabriela gave the word to discontinue.
Much of their walk over the next several minutes was spent looking at all the huts, rows upon rows of irrigated crops, and the people hard at work with their respective tasks. Ross and the others marveled at the infrastructure that had been developed by these people, and he asked Gabriela, “Do you have any idea who these people might be?”
She responded immediately by stating, “Without a doubt sir, but I would like to see if you and the rest of the group come to the same conclusion on your own.”
Ross was then so busy looking around for verification of his suspicion, that he didn’t notice the escorting sentry come to a halt. He literally almost walked right into him, before Colt arrested his advance. The scouting party was then handed over to a man wearing much more formal attire. Gabriela bowed her head, and Ross motioned for the rest of the group to join him in a similar show of respect. Their new escort then led them to the awaiting King. After watching the escort bow deeply at the feet of his King, Ross flashed back to his days as President of the United States. Some things were apparently universal. It didn’t matter where in the cosmos a civilization resided, there would always be a measure of pomp associated with addressing the leader.
It made no difference where such a meeting took place; initial contact was always of tremendous significance. Ross thought this other civilization was probably just as surprised as his own to learn of the existence of other people on this moon. With that in mind, he offered a bow to the King as he rose from his chair. What Ross didn’t expect was a return bow from the King. He quickly learned that Gabriela had informed the escort that Ross was the leader of the group of strangers to visit the city, and that many others resided back at their own village. She moved forward to Ross’ side, and offered a deep bow to the King until she felt it was appropriate to rise. As with the sentry, Gabriela began a dialogue so that the leaders of two different civilizations could effectively communicate with each other.
A moment later she turned to Ross and said, “Sir. How would you like me to respond to the Kings belief that I am just one of your many wives, and that I am only here to speak on your behalf?”
Ross was puzzled by her question, but said, “That it’s not true of course. You know you have just as much value in our society as I do.”
Although pleased to hear how the ever humble Ross felt about gender equality, Gabriela cautioned him as she said, “Ancient civilizations of Earth, and frankly some of the modern ones, are not known for such enlightenment sir!”
Ross nodded while asking, “What do you suggest?”
“It might be best to let him believe I am one of your wives. Otherwise he might interpret it as a sign of weakness in your leadership. Worse than that, he could demand that you turn me over to him as a gesture of good will.”
Ross looked surprised to hear that, but was aware that Gabriela was the expert in the customs of ancient civilizations. He said, “If you believe that it will help smooth the current situation, and are comfortable with playing that particular role while we are in their city, then go ahead and inform the King that you are my wife.”
She nodded, and gave the message to the King.
What Ross and the scouting party didn’t know, was that the King had been aware of their presence on the moon since shortly after their arrival. A hunting party had reported the actions of a large group of people moving through the valley that lay beyond three mountain ranges. Since that report, the King had sent out additional scouts to keep an eye on the new arrivals progress and intentions. He had been informed of how the strangers had chosen a site for a permanent settlement, and had completely destroyed a forested section of land. The King was also aware of the scouting party’s approach to his city. He informed Gabriela that they had been tracked since not long after leaving the shoreline along the path to the city.
After roughly twenty minutes of questions and answers between the two leaders, the King offered to show Ross and his scouting party more of the city. Many citizens were busy with different tasks, but upon seeing their King among them, they gave a polite gentle bow. At that moment Ross realized that the second of their two escorts was nothing more than a “brown nose” toward the King. The overdone bow at his feet had been the proof. Another example of a universal constant, as Ross once again flashed back to the memory of a few people who had fawned over him during his presidential years.
While on the walking tour, they came upon a large open area. Located in what Ross assumed to be the center of the city, there were no buildings of any kind in close proximity. Within that vacant space, there was a large circular area that was defined by a series of markers. In spite of heavy foot traffic in the area, Ross never witnessed a citizen entering the circle. At first he thought the markers might be headstones, and the people didn’t want to disrespect the dead by walking over their graves. It was a logical assumption, as each of the stones stood straight up about two feet in height. That thought was quickly proven to be incorrect, as the King strode directly toward the circular area. The entry point was between two large statue looking figures that faced toward the center, and the King motioned for Ross and his supposed wife Gabriela to follow. The remainder of the scouting party was halted by sentries, so they would have to wait outside the circle. Each statue stood almost equal to Ross’ height of six foot-two. Magnificently detailed carvings of stone, they were apparently designed to resemble someone of significance to this civilization. They were identical in size and position, with their facial expressions being the only discernible difference between the two. One smiled broadly while the opposite statue frowned. At the foot of each statue there was a large flat stone imbedded into the ground, and Ross initially thought they resembled home plate on a baseball diamond. Further inspection revealed that the size of each was roughly the same as home plate, but their shape was closer to that of a pyramid with the top cropped off. In the center of each pyramid shaped rock, a carved etching of a much smaller pyramid was also visible.
While following the King to the obelisk in the center of the open area, Ross noticed that the flat stones formed a complete circle around them, and they seemed to be aligned inside the outer circle of the two foot high stones. The stone obelisk stood roughly twenty feet in height. It narrowed slightly throughout th
e upper reaches, but formed an arrowhead as opposed to the more familiar pyramid at the top. A mid-length shadow was currently being produced, and Ross suddenly realized that he was standing in the middle of a very large sundial. The dimensions were bigger than anything he had ever seen back on earth, as the diameter of this circular formation must have been at least fifty yards.
Through the translation process of Gabriela, Ross asked the King “Is there any location where they could all view the structure from above?”
The King nodded positively, and motioned for Ross and Gabriela to follow him back out between the statues. The remainder of the scouting party was allowed to re-join the group once the King had exited the sacred circle, and a moment later they had ascended a small bluff to a public viewing area.
From the low angle vantage point, the entire sundial could be easily viewed. That particular location placed the two statues directly behind the obelisk, which produced the illusion of them standing on either side of it. Ross and the remainder of the scouting party listened intently as Gabriela translated for the King. He began to tell the story of how the sundial came to be built and its overall function, and then pointed out the flat stones forming the inner circle. They were vital in that they each represented one day in the cycle. Each day, just moments before sunset, the shadow cast by the obelisk would attain its maximum length. The tip of that shadow would reach the center of the appropriate flat stone for a brief time, and then disappear when the sun faded from view.
Ross was already aware that the length of both daylight and darkness on this moon were equal. The timing experiment performed by the group of astronomers to prove that fact had been brought to his attention. That explained a lack of seasonal change that could alter the length of the shadow, but a quick look around raised another question.
Ross turned to Gabriela, and said, “Please ask the King how this magnificent sundial accounts for the differing height of the surrounding terrain just before sunset.”
It seemed obvious to Ross, and now the others, that the sun would set earlier over the mountains, as opposed to the time during the cycle when it set over the open end of the valley. The King listened to Gabriela as she translated Ross’ question, and pointed in various directions as he responded. The scouting party was then shocked to learn that various nearby buildings had been constructed in their locations with exacting height to create several false sunsets. That was done so that the time of sunset upon the obelisk became uniform throughout the cycle. As Ross scanned the surrounding area, it became obvious that many of the taller structures were located toward the low lying open end of the valley. It was engineering genius at its best, and he was immediately impressed.
As their education about the sundial continued, Ross noticed that the shadow from the obelisk was moving closer to one of the flat stones. He took that opportunity to finally count them all, as that would provide the information of how many days were in a complete cycle of this moon around the host planet. The easiest place for Ross to start was at the foot of one of the statues, and that’s when he noticed some of them were a different color. The count was forty stones from the foot of one statue all the way around to the foot of the other, with four more stones placed between the two statues.
Another member of the scouting party leaned into Ross and whispered, “I counted it as a total of forty-four stones a little while ago, what was your count?”
“The same as you, forty-four.”
Within the nearly complete circle of forty white stones, they had each noticed that two of them where a color more typical of a brick.
Ross once again asked Gabriela to translate his question of, “Is there a reason that those two stones within the circle are a different color than the rest?”
He soon learned that the first, located just one stone into the cycle from the foot of the first statue represented a day of planting certain crops. The second, two stones short of the other statue, signified a day of harvesting.
This civilization had a system of rotating their crops in the field. Every month they would plant a section, and thirty-six days later they would harvest a different section. Each crop that was harvested had been growing for nine stones, or days, less than three complete cycles of the sundial. Ross quickly did the math and realized that came to one hundred and twenty-three days from planting to harvest. Although there may not have been any cosmic significance to the ascending order of numbers associated with the count, he felt the information could be useful to Megan Crenshaw.
The final aspect of the sundial that caught Ross’ attention were the four black stones placed between the two statues. He remembered seeing the different facial expressions of the two statues as he walked past them and it suddenly became very clear as to why. Gabriela had a concerned look when Ross asked her to present his next question to the King, but she translated anyway. The King confirmed Ross’ suspicion that the four black stones between the statues represented the time of total darkness. It was the time of the eclipse caused by the very large host planet that the astronomers had warned Ross about. He now had an answer to their unsolved question. Complete darkness would last a total of four days. The shadow cast on the current day had not yet reached its maximum length, but it was closing in on the stone marker very quickly. Soon the scouting party would know exactly how many days remained until their first eclipse cycle on this moon, and the shadow already suggested it wouldn’t be many. The frown on the face of one statue now made perfect sense to Ross, as it represented the end of sunny days. In contrast, the smiling one represented the triumphant return of the sun, and that planting day would be the following day.
Understanding that the scouting party should not begin their return journey at this late hour, Ross asked Gabriela to translate one final question to the King.
She complied as the King heard the request of, “Can we watch the shadow until it points to a specific stone and then sleep here for one night before returning to our own village?”
The King nodded in agreement once again, and sent a worker to prepare guest accommodations. Soon the arrowhead of the shadow revealed that only four more days of sunlight would occur before the eclipse. This civilization had one more day of regular activity before a harvest day, but the group of humans who had recently arrived on this moon had much more to prepare for.
In keeping up with appearances as husband and wife, Ross and Gabriela shared a bed of straw that night in a private room. It was the first bed that he had ever shared with anyone other than Patty, but that would be as far as it went. It wasn’t that Gabriela was unattractive, and her intelligence made her even more appealing to Ross. He just didn’t feel comfortable taking advantage of the situation. After all, their arrangement was just a ruse to help insure positive relations with the King. What Ross didn’t realize, was that Gabriela was more than willing to fulfill whatever measures were necessary in order to maintain the facade of marriage. If he had advanced upon her, she would not have resisted.
Before falling asleep, Ross whispered, “These people are the descendants of the lost Mayan civilization aren’t they?”
“They are indeed sir, and that certainly helps to answer the question of why their civilization on Earth had seemed to literally disappear overnight!”
Ross moved stealthily toward the door, and looked outside to see the beauty of another sunrise. As difficult and challenging as the conditions of this moon could be, he still had to give credit where it was due. Every day seemed to bring amazing, yet brief, sunrises and sunsets.
Glancing over toward Gabriela, Ross noticed that she was still sleeping soundly. He couldn’t blame her, as it was probably the most comfortable place she had slept since leaving Earth. It certainly had been for him, and he hoped that she hadn’t been offended by his lack of sexual advancement. She had given some subtle signals, and the opportunity was obvious, but such action may not have been prudent in the long term.
Moving outside, he could see several of the Mayan citizens beginning another b
usy day. They all seemed quite content with their lives, and Ross hoped better days were ahead for the pilgrims that had come with him from Earth. There were many things to accomplish in order to achieve the same level of tranquility that the Mayans enjoyed, and the next eight days would be tremendously important as a first step toward that goal. That meant that a quick return to the colony in order to begin preparations for the coming eclipse was vital.
A moment later, Ross’ thoughts were interrupted by a worker who had brought the scouting party a large plate of food. The young man gave a gentle bow to Ross as he set the plate down on the nearby table, and Ross smiled at him while returning the gesture. If further contact beyond this visit was going to take place, Ross knew that he would need to learn at least part of the Mayan language from Gabriela. Colt, and a few of the others, had apparently heard the young man moving about, and were beginning to rise from their restful slumber.
Pointing toward the plate of food, Ross said, “Courtesy of our host. Help yourself.”
Returning with two slices of something that resembled bread, Colt said, “Good morning sir, do you want me to wake the rest of our people up?”
Ross shook his head as he accepted a slice, then replied, “Thanks, but let them sleep a few more minutes.”
As quietly as possible Ross and Colt then began to discuss their groups next course of action. An early start was in order so that they could cover as much of the distance back to the colony as possible, but they didn’t want to insult the Kings hospitality. The scouting party had discovered the path to the Mayan city on the morning of their third day of exploration. Much of the previous two days had been spent searching for food and usable natural resources, so the return would not take as long. Luckily the twelve of them could cover lots of ground fairly quickly, but it would still be more than a full day’s walk back to the colony even if they left immediately.
Ross looked at Colt and stated, “We should not, and will not, leave without first thanking the King for his hospitality. Our departure time will therefore be solely dependent on when he is ready to meet with us again.”