by M. G. Herron
“The rest of you follow us down the beach until we reach the Wall. And then keep an eye out until we return. This first trip, our only goal is to reach the shore on the other side of the Wall and then come right back, just to prove that it can be done. Simple enough. Got it?”
They nodded their agreement.
Rakulo climbed into the first canoe, with Yeli in front of him, and pushed out into the water. In the next canoe came Citlali paired with Tolen. Quen and Hopolix occupied the third canoe, and finally, Thevanah pushed the fourth canoe into the water, jumping in behind Pojuti.
Rakulo used his paddle to turn the canoe so it was parallel to the shore, and he and Yeli began to paddle in sync like they had practiced, toward the far end of the beach.
The other warriors jogged along the beach as the canoes picked up speed. There was a tailwind today, so they moved along at a good pace, and Rakulo was grateful not to have to paddle into the wind.
As they approached the end of the beach, the sun glinted off the shining sheer face of the massive Wall. It was as high as the cliff face at the other end of the beach, except smooth as polished flint, bronze-silver in color depending on the light, and completely seamless. It was also pretty thin, Rakulo realized as they approached. The Wall cut like a knife through the sand and jutted out into the water, where it tapered down slowly until it sank into the sea.
“Take a break,” he told Yeli in front of him. She pulled her paddle into the boat, breathing hard. Rakulo realized his breath was coming quick, too. He reached out his paddle and turned the canoe so it was facing out toward the sea. “And forward again.”
The other canoes followed in Rakulo’s wake. They approached the edge of the Wall. When they reached it, Rakulo and Yeli both stopped paddling. They rounded the knife’s edge of the Wall, and it became thin in their perspective, thinner than a man.
And then they were around it.
Yeli glanced back at Rakulo, her eyes sparkling. He nodded at her, his expression controlled and neutral despite his excitement. “Keep paddling.”
Glancing back, he saw the others close behind. Tolen dug his paddle deep into the water, pulling he and Citlali ahead of the others. Quen and Hopolix stared at the Wall where it dipped into the sea. Through the clear lavender water, Rakulo could see how it sliced down to the ocean floor in a smooth line. A school of fish swam beneath his canoe, shadows flitting through the translucent depths.
“Goodbye, Kakul!” cried Pojuti as she and Thevanah crossed the threshold of the Wall. “Hello, new world!”
Rakulo held his breath as they advanced. Tolen pulled ahead of him slightly. Rakulo and Yeli, despite his order, had stopped paddling. They were both bracing for an impact of some kind. The other men had never returned. Why? What happened to them? Rakulo felt his whole body tense.
Glancing at the distant shore on the other side of the Wall, where it was just a tiny sliver of white sand at the edge of his vision, he saw that there was no forest beyond the Wall. It was sparse grass and shrub, and dry red earth with deep cracks—just like he had seen through the Wall when he had watched Xucha come through to retrieve his demon.
Glancing behind him, Rakulo saw only the back of the smooth Wall. It looked just the same as it did on the other side, only it was dull and tarnished, and the sun did not shine on this side so there was no glint. He was cut off from the sight of the rest of his warriors.
“We made it!” Tolen cried as he continued to paddle hard, pulling ahead by several yards and steering their canoe toward the shore. Rakulo did the same, angling to follow them to the beach. Citlali’s smile filled her whole face as she looked back, catching Rakulo’s eyes. He grinned back at her, feeling less like a leader and more like the child of the forest, son of the open sky, as which he had been raised. She cried out, a long exultant yell inspired by their sudden freedom.
Something drew Rakulo’s eyes down—the flitting shadows of the fish underwater all darted away at once, vanishing into the depths.
Ahead of him, near the base and slightly to the left of Tolen and Citlali’s canoe, ripples disturbed the surface of the water. Ripples that couldn’t have come from Tolen’s paddle or the wake of the boat.
More fish? No…Rakulo’s whole body broke out in a cold sweat as he realized that something was deeply, terribly wrong.
A brown thing about the width of a thick branch, with a row of small circles extending along its mottled length, rose out of the water. It whipped forward.
“Look out!” Rakulo cried.
11
Turtletown
When they crawled out of their tents in the morning, her team was disconcerted to discover that Eliana had once again packed to leave. She was cooking breakfast, however, so they were careful not to complain—at least until she had dished out the bacon and eggs. Lakshmi was the first one to inquire why Eliana’s suitcase was standing outside her tent.
“We haven’t even finished exploring the area around the monolith,” Lakshmi said, her mouth half-full of bacon, “and you just got here.”
“I know,” Eliana said, “and I’m really sorry, but it can’t be helped. I have to go home to attend a funeral.”
Eliana decided she wouldn’t blame them if they were a little upset about it. If her team leader kept running off when there was work to be done, she would be irritated, too. But this was out of her control, so she stayed cool and composed through the disappointing discussion.
When she told them about Reuben, her explorers began to show a little more sympathy. It wasn’t until Eliana explained what she planned to do with the samples they had collected yesterday that they started to be genuinely supportive.
“I’ll find someone we can trust to start the radiocarbon dating process,” she told them. “Your job while I’m gone is to keep looking for carvings and any other stone structures hidden in that part of the jungle.”
“You got it, boss,” Tanner said.
Talia bobbed her head enthusiastically.
“Anything you need,” Ross chimed in.
Lakshmi finally nodded, too.
Lakshmi drove Eliana back to her rental car and they said goodbye. Half a day later, Eliana walked through the Austin airport and located her own car in the airport parking lot.
It was late afternoon. She was anxious to see Amon. Yet she knew that if she went straight to Fisk Industries it would be days before she could get back out to the university campus to apologize to Renee for bailing on her. She also wanted to pick Renee’s brain about what they had found, and would rather not wait.
As she merged onto the highway that curved back into the city, Eliana dialed Fisk Industries’ front desk on her cell phone and put the sound through the car speakers. They told her that Audrey wasn’t there, but agreed to transfer her through to Audrey’s cell phone. A few rings later, Audrey came on the line.
“Mrs. Fisk,” Audrey said. “What a pleasant surprise.”
“Audrey, how many times do I have to ask you to please call me Eliana? Mrs. Fisk is Amon’s mother.”
She laughed. Audrey’s laugh was a pleasant sound, but it came out a little frantic and forced. “Sorry. I know I keep forgetting. To be honest, I’m still a little shaken up right now.”
“Amon told me about what happened. I am so relieved to hear you’re okay.”
“Being a scientist was never supposed to be this exciting. I just want to be left alone with my meteorites and microscopes. Is that so much to ask?”
“I know the feeling, believe me.”
Audrey took a breath, chuckled nervously. “How did you handle it, after you went through the Translocator? You seemed so normal when you came back. And you went back to work almost immediately! I’m terrified of going back to my lab now. That guy just materialized next to me and pulled me to the ground. I thought he was going to kill me. I didn’t know what to do.”
“You’re a damn sight braver than most,” Eliana said, even though she could tell by the way Audrey’s words tripped over each other on the way
off her tongue that she had still not fully come down from the adrenaline-fueled experience yet. “And I don’t think I was normal, really. I’m still terrified of that machine. Not that Amon wants me anywhere near the Translocator, but I’ve made a point of steering clear since I came back. Being so involved in my work, and the guest lecture position I took, that all helps a lot. It makes me feel normal to be busy, you know what I mean?”
Audrey sighed. “I think I do. Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Well,” Eliana said, “if you feel that way—and I’ll understand if you’re not up to it right now—but here’s a proposition that might help cheer you. Do you know how to radiocarbon date organic samples?”
“Of course,” Audrey said. “It’s pretty straightforward, really, just a process of measuring the amount of carbon-14 in a given sample, and then doing some basic math with the half-life of carbon as a benchmark to extrapolate the age of the thing.”
“I brought several samples back with me from Mexico. Are you interested in carbon dating them for me? If my suspicions are correct…actually, I don’t want to bias you before you check them out. I’ll reserve my theories for an objective, data-driven conclusion.”
“Oh, how intriguing. But…wouldn’t you rather send them to a professional lab? Many reputable companies offer carbon dating as a service, and their rates are really affordable. The boyfriend of my old college roommate, Kate, works at a good place in Dallas, actually—”
Eliana cut her off. “I’m sure your friend’s boyfriend is great, but the samples are of a somewhat…sensitive nature. I don’t feel comfortable giving them to a stranger.”
She thought about Reagan Gruber, the radio talkshow host who seemed to have some kind of grudge against Amon. Whenever she had listened to him on the radio—which was not often, thank God—he sounded like he was scolding a disobedient child he hated.
“With how much Amon and I have been in the news lately,” Eliana said, “it’s too much of a risk that some curious lab tech might be tempted to sell the information to an enterprising journalist.”
“Oh,” Audrey said. “I see.”
“You know what, forget I asked,” Eliana said. “I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on you right now.”
“I’ll do it.”
Eliana blinked. “Really?”
“No problem. Can you bring the samples to my lab this afternoon? It should be clean by now, and I want to go check on things for myself anyhow. That will give me a good reason to get back there today.”
“That would be amazing, Audrey. I’d be happy to pay you for your time, of course.”
“Oh no, absolutely not. I am quite well compensated, I assure you.”
Eliana smiled, bemused at Audrey’s brisk and sudden change of heart.
Meeting Audrey at the lab also gave Eliana a reason to go to Fisk Industries, which meant she could stop by and see Amon—he would be working late, of course. She knew without having to ask him that he would be there.
“Thank you, Audrey. I owe you big time. It’s three o’clock now, can we meet at six?”
The usual amount of traffic slowed her slightly as she merged onto I-35 and cruised north toward the University of Texas. This gave her an opportunity to safely dial Renee’s cell phone and put the call through the car speakers.
“You’re back already?” Renee said when Eliana greeted her.
“It’s a long story, but yes. Do you have time to catch up?”
They agreed to meet at Turtletown, so they could walk and talk outside. Eliana found Renee squatting on the crushed sandstone path at the edge of the pond, watching three intrepid green turtles clamber over each other to reach the best sunning spot at the end of a log that jutted out of the turtle pond.
“I’m really sorry for ditching you the other day,” Eliana said.
“No apologies necessary.” Renee stood, brushed her hands off, and shrugged. “The students who attend your lectures really admire you. I ended up having a good conversation with your student, Margaret. She’s an incredibly hard worker, and mature for her age. Reminds me of you, actually. I think she’s dating an older guy from the engineering program, too.” A smirk touched the corner of Renee’s mouth.
Eliana cleared her throat and looked away. She and Amon had started dating while she was in college. He started his solar energy company out of a tiny rented warehouse space at the edge of town that year, and had met Eliana at a dinner party with mutual friends. She remembered how anxious she was to leave him in Austin after only dating a few months. She had to go out to Utah to finish her field work, but she couldn’t afford a plane ticket then, so Amon lent her his car even though he had meetings all over town that week. He took her unreliable, beat down, turd-colored old Mazda to meet millionaire investors all month without a single complaint. And driving his Jeep Grand Cherokee out to Utah was nice. It didn’t smell like him after a week in the desert, but having the jeep was like having a little piece of him with her at all times.
“That was a long time ago,” Eliana said.
“Margaret seems like a bright girl, and is very interested in doing fieldwork of her own as her capstone project.”
Even if she is a bit nosy, Eliana thought, remembering the question that had caught her off guard during the last lecture.
Renee turned and they began to walk slowly around the edge of the pond. Ahead of them, blue wildflowers grew out of gardens that lined the foundation of nearby greenhouses.
“Speaking of research,” Renee prodded gently, “you received some good news? Does that mean you’re getting closer to publishing what you’ve been working on for the past year?”
For some reason, Eliana hesitated. “I’m not sure yet. It’s definitely a good start. I’d like to wait until I have something more concrete.”
What could be more concrete than a carving of two moons that look like the satellites orbiting the planet where she found Kakul? It seemed so clear to Eliana. But would others see it that way? It would be easier if they found more carvings.
“You can always publish another piece, you know. You have the resources of the university at your disposal. Whatever you need, just ask.”
You mean you’re happy to have the university’s name on the news every time they mention me or Amon. Renee might have been Eliana’s professor in college—her mentor, once—but she was an administrator now, which came with a different view of things. Still, Eliana couldn’t argue that it had been to her benefit, at least so far.
“I don’t want to rush you,” Renee said, mistaking the expression of distaste on Eliana’s face for nervousness about her research, “but the archaeology department is holding me accountable. The kind of part-time position we offered you is unique, and part of the arrangement was that you’d publish something with us in return.”
“I don’t remember being tied to a specific timeframe,” Eliana said with more bitterness than she had intended.
Renee smiled. It was the same smile she used to use on students who tested her patience in the Culture and Communication 307 class that Eliana took as an anthropology student the year she met Amon.
“It’s not that,” Renee said. “I understand wanting to be sure. Maybe, if not a full academic paper, I could appease the board if you did a guest column at Nature or National Geographic? I know the editors there, and—”
A colleague of Renee’s hurried past them in the opposite direction, a briefcase in his hand. “Lovely day for a stroll,” he said. Renee exchanged greetings and smiles with him.
After he had passed, Eliana said, “I just need a bit more time. I need to confirm the facts. We’re still gathering evidence.”
“Have you considered going back?” Renee asked abruptly. “To that other place?”
“I already told you, I can’t,” Eliana said.
“Can’t, or won’t?”
“I’d need a security clearance, first of all. No one is allowed near the Translocator anymore without one. Especially not me.” She laughed, and her
own voice sounded like Audrey’s had over the phone less than an hour ago—forced, and a little shrill. She closed her lips, worked her dry mouth, swallowed.
“We’ll support you if you want to pursue it,” Renee said. “Whatever you need. I only know what you told me, but my interest is piqued, Eliana. What would people with an uncanny similarity to the Preclassic Maya—if I guess right based on what you’ve told me, and I don’t think you’ve told me the whole story—what would they be doing on that other planet? How did they get there? Where did they come from? Or were they there first?”
Eliana had no words. Her mentor had plucked these questions right out of her brain. “I don’t know.”
“You have to publish something, Eliana. The anthropology community deserves to know what you’ve found. At least the beginning of it. You can publish theories without drawing any specific conclusions—just pose the question. Normally, without more evidence, I’d say wait. But you’re in an extremely unique situation.”
“I know, I know.”
“Do you?”
Eliana stuffed her hands in the shallow pockets of her jeans and opened her mouth to speak, but cleared her throat against the rapid thud of her heart against her chest. A trickle of sweat chilled the back of her neck despite the heat of the late-spring sun overhead. In her mind, she heard the horrible cracking sound of the Translocator powering up, remembered the feeling like knives lacerating her skin as she had been pulled through, the terrible power of the machine latched onto the black diamond in her ring like a vice grip.
They had walked a full lap around the pond by now. Eliana looked over at the log, now crowded with turtles. They jostled each other until the small green one at the end fell off and plopped into the water.
Renee smiled, but Eliana’s expression remained grim.
12
A Powerful Motivator
Amon rubbed his heavy eyelids as he trailed behind Wes McManis and Dr. Enzo Badeux. They were currently on the moon base, walking through a long, upward-sloping zigzag tunnel that connected Dome 2 to the SOLARPulse-1 detection array at the upper lip of the Tycho crater.