Chapter Fourteen
Tuesday
Twelve days after the disappearance
In Palenque preparations were underway to bring the ancient artifact to the surface. With nothing to report about the missing leader for almost two weeks, the world had begun to lose interest. As dramatic as his disappearance had been, in an era of instant news people had started to move on to other things. If he were found then interest would revive. For now the subject had become yesterday’s news.
Now there was something interesting going on. Permission to televise the artifact’s removal had been granted to only two sources: Aguascalientes TV, the Mexican government’s network, and the US-based Fox News. Both had set up satellite trucks in the parking lot several hundred yards away. Commentators stood in the plaza between the Palace and the Temple of the Inscriptions.
This was a very exciting day for the world. Up to this point the government had allowed a drawing of the artifact to be released to the news agencies but no one had seen a real picture of it. Speculation abounded as to what it was. Everyone seemed to have a different opinion and a lot of people were anxious to see what it really looked like.
Thomas Newton Torrance had arrived in Palenque yesterday afternoon. He arranged for a driver to take him to the hotel his travel agent had recommended. Although he preferred the amenities of a luxury hotel chain, this place had pleasantly surprised him. The tiny boutique property was a refreshing change. It was situated in the jungle on the road to the ruins, had a decent wine list and tolerable food. He was satisfied with La Casa Hermosa.
Torrance had unsuccessfully tried to get in touch with Cory Spencer. The archaeologist didn’t answer his cellphone and wasn’t at the crew barracks, a structure that the government maintained not far from the archaeological grounds for the use of visiting dig teams. Angry at Spencer’s obvious avoidance, TNT decided to bide his time. Cory would turn up eventually.
And he did. In the room at the summit of the Temple of the Inscriptions three men stood while the news team waited for permission to scale the temple steps and join them. Dr. Ortiz, director of the National Institute of Archaeology and History, talked quietly with Cory. Standing next to them reading a message on his cell phone was Thomas Newton Torrance. Despite the jungle heat and humidity, Torrance was dressed in a tan three-piece linen suit and Hermes tie.
Torrance had first seen Cory when the entrepreneur arrived at the temple that morning. He pulled Spencer aside, roughly taking his arm. Cory jerked away.
“Where have you been?” TNT whispered angrily.
“Mr. Torrance, I didn’t know exactly when you were coming. I’ve been attending to several things. I hope you don’t think I was purposely avoiding you. Why would I do that? After all, if I hadn’t called, you wouldn’t be here right now.”
The archaeologist’s blasé attitude made Torrance furious. “Listen to me, you little…” His voice rose slightly and Dr. Ortiz glanced over.
“Is everything all right, senores?”
“Of course,” Torrance replied. “We were just discussing the exciting things happening this morning.” He looked at Cory and whispered through clenched teeth, “I’ll deal with you later.”
Ortiz said, “All right, then. I think it’s time to start the program.”
The plan was for the Aguascalientes newscaster to go down the stone staircase to Pakal’s cramped tomb and shoot camera footage into the chamber below. Viewers everywhere would watch as two archaeologists wrapped the artifact and lifted it up to be carried to the top of the stairway. Fox would simultaneously pick up that camera footage from its vantage point outside the temple.
Everything began just fine. At exactly ten a.m. the team descended the stairway and the broadcast began. People around the world tuned in to the show. They followed the camera down the stone stairs until the sarcophagus of King Pakal came into view. All the protective covering had been removed so the viewers could see the remarkable coffin lid in its splendor. The strange drawing of the king lying on his back, hands on what some people thought looked like aircraft controls, added to the mystery of what lay below.
The newscasters spoke in Spanish and English as the camera recorded the archaeologists descending the ladder into the newly discovered chamber below Pakal’s tomb. They focused on the object itself. Its dented, mangled surface shone with a dull gleam as millions of people saw the eight-foot-long artifact for the first time. The reporters explained that although it had been underground for at least hundreds of years, the object appeared to be something modern. It was crumpled and damaged but looked like it could be a part from some current machine.
The two archaeologists stood on either side of the artifact and prepared to lift it for the first time. Cameras rolling, they put their gloved hands beneath the object and attempted to raise it up. Nothing happened. The object didn’t budge. It was as though it was bolted to the rock slab on which it lay. After ten minutes of trying they gave up.
With no story to report, the news networks quickly shifted back to their studios and to plan B. Archaeologists showed a detailed cross-section of the Temple of the Inscriptions. The structure was nearly eighty feet high – from a room at the top the stone staircase descended all the way to ground level, where Pakal’s tomb was. They explained that the room containing the sarcophagus had been built first and the massive temple had been constructed afterwards. There was no debate about that.
What was subject to debate was the next thing the archaeologists revealed. From the cross-section they showed, they peeled away a paper that covered the area below Pakal’s tomb. This revealed the new chamber that had been found underneath the room where King Pakal’s body lay. This was the place where the artifact lay on its stone altar.
A diverse panel had been put together. It ran the gamut from scientists to ancient astronaut theorists and there was heated debate on the object and its purpose. They speculated whether it was ancient or modern – the scientists lost that discussion because there was no reasonable explanation how the artifact could have been placed where it was in recent times. Nobody won the discussions on what it was, where it came from or how long it had been there. Nobody had any idea.
No one on the panel could dispute that the room was at least the same age as King Pakal’s tomb, over fifteen hundred years old. Most assumed that it had to be much older. Perhaps the inhabitants of Palenque had found it and Pakal had decided to build his own tomb on top as a symbol of reverence to the unknown gods who may have put the artifact there.
The rest of the broadcast offered background into the Mayan civilization and the settlement at Palenque. It’s a good thing the people at least got to see the artifact, Dr. Ortiz thought to himself as the camera crews on site at the temple dismantled their equipment. The National Institute director had been as disappointed as the rest to learn that the two men couldn’t move the object. Turned out it wasn’t affixed to the stone slab at all – it was just incredibly heavy. For the time being the artifact would remain in place. Examining it in situ was going to be a challenge because of the limited space in the chamber. Ortiz figured that no more than three people could easily work in the room at a time due both to space constraints and because fresh air had to be pumped into the chamber continually. He would have to develop a plan about what to do next.
Once the news people had left Thomas Newton Torrance pulled Dr. Ortiz aside and said he wanted to see the artifact. He looked at Cory Spencer and said, “Come with me.”
Ortiz prepared to join them but Torrance said, “Doctor, we all know I’m a layman. I know nothing about archaeology and you’re the expert, but if you’ll indulge me I’d like to see the artifact quietly. I’ll take Cory because I know you archaeologists don’t trust me down there alone with it. He can make sure I don’t touch anything I shouldn’t!”
Torrance laughed and Ortiz gave a nervous chuckle. He felt he should go with TNT but had been caught off guard, unable to assert himself. It was a function of Torrance’s vast wealth – he fe
lt subservient to the British millionaire even though Ortiz had final say over the entire operation at Palenque. Then there was the personal aspect – Ortiz had seen for himself how TNT rewarded those who were on his side. The director’s salary was not large. Torrance had already made sure the archaeological director had some extra American dollars – quite a few, truth be told. So Dr. Ortiz let them go alone. He nervously paced the room atop the temple as he awaited their return.
This actually was the second time TNT had gone inside the newly discovered chamber – but only he and Cory Spencer knew that.
As they descended the staircase Cory appeared nervous. He said, “Mr. Torrance, do you want to see the secret passage now…”
“Shut up!” TNT whispered. “Voices carry very well up and down this stairway. We’ll talk in the chamber.” They skirted Pakal’s sarcophagus and crawled down the ladder into the newly discovered room where the artifact lay.
By now Cory was visibly shaking. “Mr. Torrance, we need to talk about the passage I found. You told me not to talk about it but I need some help here. I told you about this because I’m going to be famous – my career will skyrocket. We have to plan how to disclose the discovery. This could be the most important thing ever found, maybe. And I’ll be famous…you too, of course,” he added almost as an afterthought. “But we have to figure out what to do about…you know. The other thing.”
Torrance abruptly changed the subject. “Where were you on the day the President disappeared? I called and texted you a dozen times. No response. What were you doing that afternoon?”
“I had some thinking to do.”
“Really? What thinking did you have to do, Cory, right here in Palenque on the very afternoon the world went crazy trying to figure out where the President was? That just doesn’t make sense. Unless you were involved. Were you involved, Cory?”
“Involved with what? With what happened to the President? No way. It was an…I mean, there was nothing I could have done…” His eyes darted around the room as he responded.
Torrance’s voice was hard. “Cory, you owe me some explanations. I know plenty about you and you will do what I say. Now’s not the time but I want an answer about where you were that afternoon. As far as the passage you found, and the President, that has to wait for now. Until I say it’s time. Understand? I’m going to ask you this one more time. Who else knows about this? Only the two of us?” He looked Cory Spencer in the eyes. “Or have you told someone else? Now’s the time to tell the truth, Cory. If I find out you lied your life will be…Well,” the entrepreneur smiled cruelly. “Let’s just say your life won’t be worth much if you haven’t told me everything.”
“No, sir. I promise. I swear to you I told no one else but you. But I could…uh, I could lose my job over this. And a lot more, if we don’t plan this right.” He averted his eyes as his body gave an involuntary shudder.
“Lose your job? Yes, Cory, you could lose your job and a great deal more. How about your freedom? Or your life? You need me, Cory. Far more than I need you. Keep that in mind.”
Torrance noticed the change in the man’s demeanor. Spencer was scared. He had to handle the archaeologist carefully. Cory knew a lot – until Torrance became privy to it he couldn’t alienate him. He decided to move to another subject. They had very little time to talk and he needed answers to several things.
“How long have you known about the passage and the President?”
“Uh, well only a couple of days, Mr. Torrance. I discovered it right before I called you…”
TNT figured Cory was lying about the timing. But he had to be careful.
“I want to see the passageway when the time is right, not when people are all around us. No one can know about it until I see where it leads and what else is there. I can afford to wait, Cory. This could be the most important thing ever discovered. You will wait until we have a safe time to open the passage. We’ll see it together. We’ll be the first to learn what secrets this place holds. Until then you will not go back into the passageway yourself and you will not discuss it. I will not tell you this again – do you understand?”
Cory stammered an affirmation. “But what about the President…”
“Cory, you’ve created a world of problems for yourself. All this on top of the other problem you already had. The one you’ve always had. I’m the only person on earth who can keep you out of trouble. My resources are limitless. I can make virtually anything happen. Good or bad. You and I are going to work together. As a team. The matter of the President is mine to handle. And for now we’re going to leave it alone.”
Torrance was good with words. Even if they meant nothing, as was the case now. He would use Cory Spencer as long as he needed him. Then the archaeologist would meet with an unfortunate accident and be out of Torrance’s life.
Once he knew they weren’t going into the hidden hallway Cory’s countenance changed and he seemed to relax. Torrance noticed relief on the archaeologist’s face. Cory’s bought himself some time, Torrance thought to himself. Not much, but I’ll give him a little time.
The archaeologist had taken a calculated risk revealing what he had discovered. Once he knew the artifact was going to be brought to the surface he figured it was only a matter of time until someone else found the hidden passageway. The method to open the corridor was so obscure, so challenging that it was unlikely someone would stumble upon it. But I did, Cory thought. And I want the glory for this one. I wanted it from the very second I saw what’s in there. Thomas Newton Torrance isn’t taking this away from me. I can deal with him if I have to. I fixed things once before in my life and I can do it again.
He shuddered at that last statement. He wasn’t like that and he had spent a lifetime running away from his past. But he knew it was still in there somewhere. So TNT had better watch his step with me.
“Finished daydreaming?” Torrance looked him in the eyes. “You told me the truth about the hidden passage, right? You didn’t go all the way to the other end yourself, did you? What are you not telling me?”
“No, sir. I told you the truth. I found out how to open it then…then, well, you know…the thing with the President, so I closed it and told you about it. I haven’t done another thing. I swear, Mr. Torrance. I’ve told you everything.”
Sweat poured off Cory’s brow as he attempted to keep his body from shaking. Lying didn’t come easily but now he had a problem. He had to find a way out of this. He’d figure out something, with or without this pompous asshole Englishman’s help.
“Cory, for your sake I had better never find out you lied to me. I’ll protect you as long as I trust you. But if you lied…”
Spencer struggled to show a calm, confident face. “I’m telling the truth, Mr. Torrance. I saw there was a room at the end of the passageway but I swear I didn’t go there.”
“I trust you, Cory.” Torrance had to keep him dangling at the moment. It was too dangerous to open the passageway now while Dr. Ortiz was only seventy feet above. At any time he could descend the stone steps and find them. He and Cory would have to come back when they could be alone. That would be hard to arrange but TNT would figure it out.
“I hope you feel I’ve compensated you well for all you’ve done so far. Finding the secret passage was good work and look at the bonus you got just for that one thing. A year ago you didn’t even know numbered bank accounts existed. Now as of yesterday you have one. There’s much more to be learned here. Concentrate on your job. You’re my man on the scene. You need to keep passing information to me and me only – no one else. This will all work out. I’ll deal with everything when the time is right. You just think about this – you’re going to be very wealthy, Cory, if this artifact in front of us is what I believe it is.”
Cory agreed with Torrance on this one. He knew what the artifact was, and it was in fact going to make him very wealthy. And famous.
TNT touched the mangled, dirty metallic object. It was ice cold even though the humid room was a stuffy eighty
degrees Fahrenheit.
“So what do you think it is?” Cory changed the subject.
Torrance glared at him. “I’m not one to engage in idle speculation about what this is. You shouldn’t either. Mind your own business, Cory. You’re your own worst enemy. If you do something to screw this up things will go bad in a hurry for you. Worse in fact than you can possibly imagine.”
A flash of anger crossed Cory Spencer’s face then quickly vanished. Deferentially he said, “Yes sir, you’ve already told me that. I know how important this is. You can count on me. And I won’t breathe a word about anything.” Trying again to change the subject he said, “Have your people figured out what it’s made of?”
Torrance sighed. He didn’t want to deal with this idiot but he had to have the archaeologist in order to accomplish his own goals. “You know how hard this metal was when we tried to flake off a sample the last time we were here. All I had to work with was the pictures I took with my phone. The chemist I consulted is convinced it’s iridium but it’ll take a sample to be certain.”
“Iridium? I’ve never heard of it.”
“I hadn’t either,” TNT replied, leaving it at that. He had no intention of telling Cory Spencer what he knew.
Torrance’s scientific team in England had told him a lot about iridium. It is the densest element on earth and one of the rarest. It occurs in very small quantities on our planet but much, much higher in meteors and asteroids. Many in the scientific community therefore believe iridium is not natural to earth. The scientists had told TNT that very high levels of iridium were found in one particular layer below the surface in eastern Mexico. Many believed the element was deposited there when an asteroid hit the Yucatan peninsula 65 million years ago, a catastrophic event which likely caused the sudden extermination of the dinosaurs from the earth.
Brian Sadler Archaeology 03 - The Strangest Thing Page 8
