Deity

by Theresa Danley

  Sonjay was the most loyal of them all.

  “How do we know which spoke is the thirteenth Baktun?” Sonjay asked as he and Rafi fell in line along the edge of the wheel.

  “We won’t know until we get a good look at one,” Abe barked as he found his handhold in a Kin notch. “Now push!”

  Together, the men lunged into the wheel. Abe threw himself against his notch. His legs strained until his feet slipped out from under him. He quickly got up and lunged again.

  The wheel didn’t budge.

  Tarah’s laughter echoed behind him. “Abe, you silly man. You have to unlock the wheel first.”

  Abe spun around. “What?” he snapped.

  Apparently Tarah found his tone comical for she laughed again. He found it maddening when she knew something he didn’t.

  Tarah pointed out to the middle of the wheel, where the thirteen spokes came together around a stubby, vertical hub - a stone pillar—protruding from the edge of the water pool.

  “If I’m not mistaken,” Tarah continued. “You have the key.”

  Chamber

  As Tarah turned everyone’s attention to the pillar at the center of the calendar wheel, movement there caught Peet’s eye. The dim light made it difficult to see at first, but the movement was unmistakable. A woman was tied to the pillar.

  A blonde woman—like Lori.

  Could it really be her?

  Before the thought had a chance to fully realize itself into Peet’s mind, Abe retrieved the Talking Cross and started around the edge of the cavern toward the nearest spoke that tied back to the pillar.

  Peet stepped forward. “Don’t you think I should go along?” he called. “In case this is another puzzle.”

  Abe hesitated, and then as if having decided there’d be no danger in it, he ordered Tarah to release him. The woman did exactly as she was told with an icy glare that pulled Peet’s attention away from the relieved muscles in his arms. The woman didn’t trust him; that much he could tell.

  “Go,” she ordered. “Just know our rifles are watching you.”

  Peet needed no reminder. He was well aware of the firepower behind him as he hurried to catch up to Abe. But escape wasn’t what Peet had in mind. The girl at the center of the massive wheel was.

  “Remember what I told you,” Abe warned, as they turned for the wheel arm together. “You’re as good as dead if you don’t unlock that pillar.”

  “You need to be more patient,” Peet growled back. “Science doesn’t always produce immediate returns.”

  “With the right motivation it will,” Abe assured him.

  They’d not gone far when they came upon a bright, life-sized fresco of the Calendar Deity painted on the chamber wall. The colors were more brilliant than anything he’d ever seen—as though they’d been painted on yesterday. That surprised him considering the shaft of light pouring in from the vent above. It landed on the wall directly above the Calendar Deity, and was creeping ever down.

  Abe seemed not to notice the Calendar Deity or the light as they marched right by. He simply continued around the chamber until the sweeping arc of the wheel intercepted them, cutting off their path with a mere six inches between the wood and the chamber wall.

  “After you,” Abe said.

  Peet stepped onto the thick rim of the wooden wheel hovering barely a foot off the ground. Abe was right behind him, the monstrous contraption slightly shuddering beneath their weight.

  As thick as it was, the rim was barely two feet wide but sturdy enough to walk comfortably on. Not that there was any fear of falling off with the chamber wall at his shoulder and the ground not far underfoot. It was the man marching behind him that made for the element of caution. If Abe said he would leave him for dead, then Peet was going to take him at his word. Somehow, Peet was going to have to get the giant wheel moving in the right direction.

  Within a few yards along shallow arc of the rim they finally came to the wheel’s massive arm and Peet detoured onto it. He followed its long span out toward the water’s edge where the stone pillar kept everything grounded.

  And Lori was there watching them approach!

  She was bound with her back against the pillar. Her face was swollen and her lip cracked and bleeding from whatever Abe’s men had done to her, but there was no mistaking the fact.

  Lori was alive!

  In a flood of incredulous relief, Peet felt compelled to race up to her, to hug her. Thank God, thank God! Lori was alive! His throat tightened at the sight of her. Oh, how he wanted to hug her, but strangely Lori didn’t appear to share any mutual emotion. In fact, she merely laid her head back against the pillar and closed her eyes against his approach and she didn’t budge from that position even as they stepped onto the narrow central platform and carefully slipped around her.

  She didn’t even look at him. Peet knew, because he watched to see if she would.

  Was she okay? Was she suffering from injuries he couldn’t see? Was she expecting more of the same?

  Peet suddenly wondered if she had even recognized him and the very idea that she might mistake him for a threat tugged at his heart. Brushing against her as he stepped around to the back of the pillar left an unbearable temptation to speak, to tell her that everything was going to be okay, but he restrained himself. Although his senses were suddenly tuned into Lori and her condition, he was still consciously aware of Abe who pushed around her like she wasn’t even there.

  “So this is where men speak to God,” Abe said in reverent awe. His fingers began working anxiously around the shaft of the Talking Cross. He stepped up to the pillar directly behind Lori, his eyes wide in anticipation.

  Peet waited, not really sure what to expect. For a moment he felt dizzy standing on the narrow platform. On one side of him, beneath the great wooden beams of the wheel’s spokes, was the ground. On the other side, beneath the other half of the giant beams, was the murky water. If he fell either way he might fit between the arms where they connected with the platform, but it would be a tight fit.

  Abe couldn’t contain his excitement. His chest heaved with unrelenting joy. If Peet didn’t know better, he’d thought Abe had found a pillar of solid gold. However, the pillar was anything but treasure. It was short, but just like the others it appeared to be nothing more than a cylinder of dead stone crowned with a round ball that nearly matched Lori’s height. The immediate difference that Peet saw was the tight, gear-shaped hole at the very top of the pillar ball.

  Abe saw it too and with measured movements, he lifted the Talking Cross above the pillar and then eased the long shaft into the hole. It fit perfectly. Peet held his breath as the cross slipped further and further into the hole. Lori had yet to move, her eyes still trained shut. But in that moment of nervous silence her face no longer held the strain of dreadful expectation. Instead, she looked rather relaxed. Even peaceful.

  She looked like she was praying.

  The Talking Cross slipped into the top of the pillarball until it finally stopped with its crossarms just centimeters above the stone. Abe’s fingers released the crucifix and slowly lifted away from the prize he’d expended so much effort obtaining.

  And then it happened.

  Without warning, the massive wheel shuddered beneath their feet. Peet and Abe braced themselves. Lori’s hands merely balled into fists along the sides of the pillar. And then suddenly, a tremendous moan reverberated out of the pillar. It expanded in waves until the noise completely filled the chamber.

  Peet’s heart stopped.

  Beneath his feet he could feel the wheel shaking—trembling beneath the groan of God.

  The Center

  Lori’s eyes popped open when the first vibration tiptoed along her back long before the Talking Cross had been fully seated into the pillar ball. It was as though the pillar had awakened at the mere touch of the cross and Lori was the only one to notice as the stone quivered along her spine.

  Something wasn’t right.

  Then came that dreadful moan. Sh
e felt it rise out of the pillar, giving a new intensity to the vibration. The sound grew louder and louder until it seemed to explode right out of her ears. There was no escaping it. No relief. There was only that consuming groan that pulsated off the chamber’s volcanic walls.

  Behind her, Abe’s voice cried out against the assault, calling out to Allah.

  That was when the deafening sound leveled off and began to weaken. It slowly faded to a steady hum, a low drone that minimized the trembling within the pillar.

  “What just happened?” Abe asked.

  There was a long pause. Lori waited as he paced around the pillar behind her. She pictured his puzzled face as he listened to the low hum penetrating the chamber.

  “What the hell is going on?” Abe demanded. His voice sounded so near, so close behind her. She could almost feel his frustration. His anger mounted with each word. “What is that noise?”

  Abe’s desperations worsened when nobody offered an explanation. Lori couldn’t begin to make sense of it herself. All she knew was that the pillar, or something beneath it, seemed to be the source of the noise. Abe took a frantic breath, and then, to her surprise, he marched around the pillar and snapped his pistol to her temple. Lori flinched, suddenly wracking her brain for a solution but it wasn’t she who was expected to respond. Abe wasn’t even looking at her. Keeping his pistol trained to her head, Abe held his focus beyond the pillar, on Dr. Peet.

  “Tell me what’s going on!” he demanded.

  Dr. Peet quickly found a response, a different kind of desperation filling his own voice. “The cross!” he blurted. “It must have triggered some sort of power source to the wheel.”

  “What power source?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The cold muzzle of the gun pressed into Lori’s head. She closed her eyes, wishing there was a Mayan expert among them to provide the answers. Where was Dr. Friedman when she needed him?

  Minutes ago Lori didn’t know who to expect Tarah to lure into the chamber with her shameless wailing. She had hoped for Dr. Friedman, even Dr. Webb. She certainly didn’t expect Dr. Peet and yet, it didn’t surprise her to see him. All this time he had been on the trail of the Talking Cross, just as she’d begun to suspect. He had indeed left her for dead in the cenote. If Abe and Tarah had not come along, she would be.

  Now, in a cruel twist of fate, she needed to be rescued from her rescuers and Dr. Peet presented her only hope. Unfortunately, she held little confidence in him. The Southwestern anthropologist was in way over his head trying to decipher a Mayan pillar, and the last time they’d been in a cave together hadn’t turned out well for her.

  She laid her head back against the pillar and closed her eyes again.

  Why couldn’t it have been Dr. Friedman?

  * * * *

  Peet’s mind was drawing a blank, that part was obvious. The scientist moved slowly around the backside of the pillar, scratching at the stubble on his chin, studying. But studying what? Abe saw nothing of interest, let alone anything that might explain the irritating drone that pulsated within his ears. The ancient Maya had discovered a way to talk to God. They had left their instruments for them to utilize and yet, this Peet son-of-a-bitch was merely observing them like one would admire a piece of art.

  He hadn’t even touched it, and Abe was getting impatient.

  “I’m giving you to the count of three to find the answer,” Abe pressed, his finger slipping inside the Sig Sauer’s trigger guard.

  That seemed to have no effect on the man. Abe needed to light a fire under him.

  “One…”

  The scientist appeared unfazed. In fact, he even dared to look away from the pillar to glance around the dim chamber. Abe wondered if his pistol was aimed at the wrong head.

  “Two…”

  Peet’s eyes stopped roaming and held to the chamber’s tunnel entrance where Tarah, Sonjay and Rafi waited. Abe tightened his grip on the pistol, preparing to fire.

  “Three!”

  “Wait!” As if suddenly snapping out of his distracted thoughts, Peet lifted his arms in a don’t shoot gesture. “I know what the sound is,” he said.

  Abe was unconvinced but his finger quit the trigger nonetheless. Even Lori lifted her head off the pillar in surprise.

  “You were right,” Peet explained. “The calendar wheel needs to be set on the correct date.”

  “So how do you propose we set it there?” Abe asked.

  “The pillar controls the wheel. Once I re-align the pillar, the wheel should return to its proper date.”

  “So get on with it then.”

  Peet hesitated. Was that nervous sweat dampening his brow? “There’s just one problem.”

  Abe waited.

  “I don’t know how fast this thing will spin. It might throw us all off.”

  Abe considered a moment. The scientist had a point. The wheel might spring into action and with little room between the spokes there at the center hub, getting thrown off meant certain death. The only safe bet would be to brace himself against the pillar.

  Abe wrapped an arm around the pillar—effectively gripping Lori in a choke hold. “Proceed,” he said.

  Peet didn’t appear satisfied with the plan. “That may not be enough,” he rallied nervously.

  Abe frowned. He had no intentions of getting thrown from the wheel and if he could remain with the pillar long enough for the giant calendar to realign itself, he’d be in perfect position to intercept God. Or so he thought until Peet pointed to a life-sized fresco on the far chamber wall.

  “That’s Kukulkan,” Peet explained.

  “So?”

  “Jesus is said to be the light of the whole world, not just the old world. Therefore Jesus must have visited the New World at some point, right?”

  “Sounds like you’ve been talking to Matt,” Abe growled impatiently. “Get to the point.”

  “Jesus did in fact visit the New World, but the natives only knew him as Kukulkan.” Peet pointed to the fresco again. “If you want to speak with God, you have to meet him in the light.”

  Abe studied the fresco and noted for the first time the beam of light that had slipped down the wall to illuminate the Mayan god. He recalled Matt Webb’s work. What if the parallels Matt made between Kukulkan and Jesus were true? Could the fabled return of Quetzalcoatl actually be the second coming of Christ? The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. If the Long Count Calendar marked the time of Christ’s return, the fresco must also mark the location.

  “All right,” Abe said, releasing his hold from Lori and the pillar. “You better pray that you’re right.”

  He reached back and grabbed the scientist by the shirt and pulled him to the front of the pillar. With a shove he pinned him against Lori’s shoulder, all the while calling for Tarah over his radio. She immediately returned.

  “Keep your rifles fixed on these two,” Abe instructed. “If either of them move while I get off this thing, shoot them dead.” He put his radio away and smiled at Peet. “I wouldn’t want you starting that wheel prematurely,” he said.

  Pieces

  Lori couldn’t move. She could hardly breathe and Dr. Peet stood at her shoulder like a frozen statue. He’d be touching her if he leaned back just a fraction, but he didn’t, and that was just fine by her. In fact, it made her skin crawl to have him so near, his gaze holding fast to Abe’s back as their captor negotiated the wooden beam back to the outer rim of the wheel.

  “You don’t honestly believe that line of bull you just gave him, do you?” Lori nearly whispered.

  Dr. Peet didn’t budge. She was sure his mind was miles away, which was fitting. He’d disregarded her for so long, why should he stop now? But truth be known, Lori hoped he was merely conjuring up a plan. After all, even she realized they were going to need a solution the moment Abe discovered that the Calendar Deity wasn’t Quetzalcoatl; that this wasn’t the place to witness the second coming of Christ.

  “Maybe that theory is supported somewher
e in the Book of Mormon,” Dr. Peet finally jested, half-heartedly.

  “Cute,” Lori said and groaned. This was no time for games. With their only route of escape guarded by Tarah and her ruffians, their only chance of survival was to appease Abe. Thus far, Dr. Peet managed to only deepen their graves by promising him the impossible.

  Abe stepped off the rim of the wheel and when he reached the Calendar Deity he turned around to call back to them. “All right,” he hollered above the low drone still idling throughout the chamber. “Do what you need to do.”

  Dr. Peet immediately stepped around to the back of the pillar, leaving Lori exposed to the lineup of weapons alone. Coward! Not only was her former professor gambling with her life, Dr. Peet was now safely hidden behind the pillar.

  Lori had gotten a good look at the pillar before Tarah’s men tied her to it. It looked strikingly similar to the pillar in Izapa. The only difference lay with the pillar ball. In Izapa, the pillar ball had been carved with two hands wrapped around either side, the fingers meeting at the lone Tun symbol. There were no hands on this pillar ball. Instead, the ball was ringed with all five symbols from the Long Count Calendar—Kin, Uinal, Tun, Katun and Baktun.

  She’d since had time to consider the symbols, but their position on the pillar ball offered no clues to their purpose. Perhaps they had no purpose. Could they be mere decoration on the lock to the calendar wheel?

  She heard Peet place his hands on the ball and then there was a grinding of stone as he turned the ball atop the pillar. To her surprise, the ball spun with little resistance behind her head. She noticed the dim shadow of the Talking Cross twirling above her head, but other than that, the ball was having no effect on the wheel, much less killing the constant hum that vibrated the pillar.

  “I wish you’d hurry,” she said. “I don’t care for all these guns pointing at me.”