Brian Sadler Archaeology 03 - The Strangest Thing

by Bill Thompson

  “This discovery is so important, so crucial that it will literally change everything and you have such a miniscule part in the entire thing that it’s almost laughable. You have the delusion that finding an alien spacecraft in a Mayan tomb is going to advance your career. But it won’t. Even if these things are what you think they are. If the announcement of this discovery refers to these things as extraterrestrials you’ll be ridiculed, laughed off the stage at scientific meetings, the butt of every joke at every university in the world. From now on. For the rest of your life. Because you have no way to prove that these things are alien.

  “Academics don’t take lightly to having their worlds turned upside-down, Cory. Far from being an instant success, you’re going to be an instant buffoon. I promise you that.

  “But none of that matters. This is the single most important discovery in the history of our planet. Disclosed to the world properly, this is proof of the thing so many people have believed – that others came before us – that the Mayans, the Egyptians, people in far-flung regions of the remote corners of our world had guidance in building their cities and advancing their civilizations. I can make this happen, Cory, because I have power, influence, money. I have everything you don’t have – you’re a graduate student in archaeology. I, on the other hand, can ensure this discovery is given the attention it needs. I can get credible people in the scientific community to agree with me. I can make this happen for both of us, whereas you can’t make it happen even just for yourself.”

  Cory hated Thomas Newton Torrance. He hated the condescending attitude Torrance always took with him, and he hated that even now, when Cory was holding a gun, the man still was belittling him. The worst part was Cory knew TNT was right.

  The entrepreneur continued. “Any intelligent person can only conclude that primitive Indian tribes who lived in the jungle didn’t put a two hundred thousand pound rock sixty feet in the air on top of a building using nothing but stone hand tools. It’s ludicrous to think they could. But these things here in this pod – these things knew how to do it. And for whatever reason, they taught these primitive civilizations all these marvelous things we can only wonder about today. I think they taught them architecture, mathematics, science. This discovery can explain some of the most puzzling enigmas of our lives.

  “Think of what we can learn from this thing. These people came from another solar system. That’s undoubtedly what the second glyph shows. Fifteen planets around two suns. They drew that to let others know where they came from. What knowledge lies inside this egg? This craft flew through space. What advancements in technology can we make by studying it?

  “You wonder why I want this. Because I want it all, Cory. I have the ability to buy anyone and anything I want. But this is a challenge – the biggest one in the world. The challenge here is to control something absolutely unique. And I’m going to come out the winner in this challenge. I’m going to own the most incredible thing ever found on Earth. You have the gun, Cory. Sadly, that’s all you have. You need me. You can’t do this without me. So give me the gun and let’s figure out how we’re going to make this work.”

  Thomas Newton Torrance stood next to the egg-shaped metal craft and spoke passionately. Cory couldn’t help but be caught up in what he was saying. It made sense. Dammit, it made sense. Hanging his head, he handed over the pistol. Torrance took it but instead of putting it in his pocket, he aimed it at the archaeologist.

  “Cory, your involvement here is over. You don’t have a future with this discovery. Only I do. I don’t need you any more and frankly I’m not putting up with you any more. You can show me how to open the stone door and you can walk out of here alive, or I promise you I’ll kill you right now and figure it out myself. You can walk away, leave this site tonight and start a new life as a different person, just like Paul Emerson did a long time ago. But this time you’ll have enough money to do it right. Ten million dollars. Wired to your account tomorrow morning. I don’t want to have to kill you but I want you out of my life forever. You’ve given me what I want. You’ve shown me what you found and now it’s mine. Not ours, Cory. Mine. What’ll it be?”

  Cory’s response took Torrance completely by surprise. Instead of retreating he took three steps forward, now standing close enough to touch the entrepreneur. TNT stepped back but could go nowhere – he was up against the side of the egg-shaped pod, his back against it. He involuntary raised his free hand to steady himself, the other still aiming the pistol at Cory.

  “You’re wrong, Mr. Torrance. I do have a future with this discovery. I’ve lived under your thumb ever since we started this dig. I’ve been afraid to do anything to cross you for fear you’ll tell about my past. But you know what? I’m done with all this. I’ll tell you how to open the door and we can share the glory. You’ve got all the money and all the power. God knows you’ve told me that enough times. You can figure out how to explain about the President and I guess we’ll both get what we want. I want recognition – a career built on discovery – and if this all turns out to be what you think it is, that’s exactly what I’ll get. You can own whatever this is. If that floats your boat, go for it. I just want credit for finding it.

  “You can kill me, Mr. Torrance, but you’ll have a much bigger problem than you have now. Brian Sadler will figure out how to open the door. I told him enough that he’d eventually find the way. And you’ll be sitting right here with both the President of the United States and me dead on the floor. Like I said, I don’t care. Do you want to share the glory or not?”

  Torrance raised the gun to chest level and smiled. “I never was that good at sharing.”

  Cory reached out and grabbed TNT’s gun hand, attempting to wrench it sideways. Torrance was stronger than Cory had thought; he maintained the gun roughly aimed at the archaeologist. As they struggled Cory pushed Torrance back. The entrepreneur leaned backwards over the metal half-egg and used his free hand to steady himself. His fingers grazed the tops of several of the small capsules lying inside the oval craft. Cory saw something out of the corner of his eye. He opened his mouth to warn Torrance as a shot rang out.

  Cory Spencer sprawled on the sand floor of the cavern, a few feet from the body of President John Chapman.

  Thomas Newton Torrance fell backwards into the egg-shaped object. He lay immobile on top of the fifteen small capsule-like objects. As soon as his hand had come into contact with them, each began to emit a tiny spark. Now they were glowing brightly all around his body.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  At 5:30 a.m. Brian got out of bed. He had tossed and turned all night, thinking about the implications of what Cory Spencer had disclosed. He had made a promise to a man who believed his life was in imminent danger. Should he honor that commitment or tell the President what he had learned?

  Where should my loyalty lie? Brian thought. Brian considered himself an honorable man, one who could be trusted. And he wanted to uphold the promise he made to a desperate Cory Spencer. He also had to find the secret to opening the passageway. For both reasons, Brian decided to hold off. If the President were dead anyway another few hours wouldn’t matter. I meet Cory at eight. Once I see what’s in the cavern I’ll decide when to call Harry.

  He texted Dr. Ortiz. Meet me at the temple at 8 a.m.

  As he lay in bed he called Nicole’s cellphone. After three rings he was thinking up a clever voicemail when she answered.

  “Good morning, sweetie. How’d your secret conversation with the archaeologist go? Or was it really some sultry jungle girl instead?”

  “I could only wish,” he laughed. “There are some major developments here as a result of what I learned from him, Nicole. Really big. Enormous. I can’t discuss anything now – I hope you understand – but I promise once I talk to Harry and the story breaks you’ll see it on the news.”

  “Wow. Good stuff, I hope.”

  “I have to confirm this for myself but it appears there’s something incredible and a closure we all need. That’s really
all I can say.”

  “OK. Well, can I plan our trip to Cancun in three days? I’ll pack light…since I won’t need any clothes. Maybe just a gallon of suntan lotion!”

  “I’d say book it. Three days should be enough to finish my part of what’s going on here.”

  “See you soon. One hundred percent of you!” She hung up as he smiled.

  -----

  When Brian went through the packet of information the U.S. Embassy had earlier provided he found ten copies of a letter styled To Whom it May Concern. Written on the Ambassador’s letterhead, it was a request for cooperation from anyone to whom Brian presented the missive. It stated that Brian had the full backing and support of the President of the United States in any assistance he required.

  He pulled one copy of the letter from the envelope, folded it and stuck it in his pocket. He figured he’d have to pull rank on Dr. Ortiz to get into the temple without him. He texted his “keeper,” the FBI agent, to advise he wanted to go to the ruins at Palenque at 7:45.

  At seven Brian walked over to the dining area. Thomas Newton Torrance wasn’t at breakfast but Dr. Ortiz sat on the patio smoking a cigarette and drinking a latte. Brian hadn’t expected to see him this early.

  “Senor Sadler, come join me.” He patted the armchair next to him. “I saw your text a few minutes ago. What news do you have that prompted the eight a.m. invitation to join you at the temple?”

  Brian wasn’t prepared for a discussion with Ortiz. He’d hoped to have breakfast and coffee, plan his strategy then meet with the archaeologist at the temple. Seeing no easy way to decline the invitation, Brian sat down. The waiter came and took Brian’s order.

  “Nothing new, really, except that I want to go with Cory Spencer down into the artifact chamber this morning.”

  “Certainly. It was my understanding that was what we planned to do today.”

  “Alone, Dr. Ortiz. Just Cory and me.”

  Ortiz waved his hand dismissively. “Certainly, senor. No hay probleme.” He sipped his coffee.

  That was easier than I expected. Too easy, really.

  “Dr. Ortiz, what brings you to the hotel so early? Are you meeting Thomas?”

  “As a matter of fact I am. He wanted to go over some ideas with me regarding the tests we hope to perform on the metal artifact.” Ortiz glanced at his watch. “In fact, he’s a little late. That’s not like him. He’s a very punctual man! I think I’ll knock at his door to be sure he’s awake.”

  Dr. Ortiz left the table and walked down the path toward the cabanas. He didn’t care if Brian Sadler wanted to go alone into the chamber. At this point Torrance was in charge of decisions and Torrance had instructed the archaeologist to give Brian whatever he wanted. There was no use challenging him – it would only create suspicion.

  In a few minutes Ortiz walked back through the dining area. Brian glanced at him and Ortiz held up a finger – back in a minute – as he strode to the reception lobby.

  Ortiz returned to the table and took a seat. “It’s puzzling but Mr. Torrance doesn’t answer his door. I’ve asked the clerk to send someone over to check on him. I want to make certain everything is all right.”

  In less than five minutes the desk clerk walked across the dining patio and told Ortiz that Mr. Torrance’s room was empty. Ortiz looked concerned but said nothing.

  Something’s going on, Brian thought. He attempted to finish his breakfast as nonchalantly as possible. Both men made small talk, each unwilling to discuss the issue that was foremost in his mind.

  At 7:45 the FBI agent approached Brian’s table. Brian excused himself and left Ortiz finishing coffee. The agent drove directly to the ruins and they walked to the temple. Cory was not in the plaza at the base of the edifice. The men climbed to the rooms at the top. He wasn’t there either.

  At 8:15 Brian called Dr. Ortiz.

  “When do you plan to be at the temple?”

  “Do you need me there? I can come now if you wish.”

  “I need you to unlock the gate to the stairway leading to Pakal’s tomb.”

  “Isn’t Cory Spencer there? He usually unlocks it in the morning.”

  “I don’t know where he is. He isn’t here.”

  Ortiz paused. “How strange. I wonder if he and Senor Torrance could be somewhere together. I’ll be right over, Senor Sadler.”

  Chapter Thirty

  While Brian Sadler was atop the temple at Palenque, President William Henry Harrison IV signed routine correspondence at his desk in the Oval Office. Around nine a.m. a light on his desk blinked red and Harrison picked up the phone next to it.

  “Mr. Sadler’s on the line, sir,” his personal secretary said. “May I put him through?”

  Harry smiled. “Hi, Brian. I hope you have good news for me.”

  As soon as he heard Brian’s voice the President knew something was seriously wrong.

  “Harry, something’s happened. Thomas Newton Torrance and Cory Spencer are both unaccounted for at the moment. And…”

  The President interrupted. “Unaccounted for? They’re missing?”

  “I didn’t want to use that word. So far both of them have missed appointments and neither usually does that. But I have something else to tell you too, Harry. About a discovery Cory made here. This is going to blow your mind – it’s huge – amazing, Harry. Don’t think I’ve been off smoking the peyote. Everything I’m going to tell you is exactly as I heard it from Cory Spencer last night. And he was scared, Harry. He was terrified of what Torrance might do to take over the discovery that Cory made. He thinks TNT is going to kill him.”

  “Stop, Brian. Where are you? Are you on a secure line?”

  “I’m away from the others, at the temple on my cellphone.”

  “OK, listen. Tell your FBI agent to take you to a secure place and then use the agent’s phone to call me back. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”

  In ten minutes the men were speaking again. In the Palenque ruins parking lot Brian sat in the embassy’s SUV while the agent stood guard outside the vehicle. Brian told President Harrison the entire story he had heard from Cory Spencer.

  For the nearly twenty minutes that Brian talked, Harry Harrison said nothing. When the story was finished, the President responded, “So Cory found this hidden passageway around the same time they found the artifact chamber? Is that right? And he kept it secret until he decided to show it to President Chapman?”

  “Apparently so. I don’t think anybody else knows about it except Torrance. I’m wondering now if he and Torrance went down into the chamber, opened the passage and got trapped inside somehow. If they did, Cory had to have taken Torrance there after he and I talked last night. As scared as he was, I don’t believe he would voluntarily take TNT to see the cavern. I wonder if Torrance forced him to go there.”

  “Have you tried figure out how to open the door to the passageway?”

  “Yes. This morning when Cory didn’t show up I called Dr. Ortiz, the government archaeologist who’s running this project, and got him to open the temple stairway. We went down and looked around the artifact chamber but didn’t see anything. I tried for a few minutes to figure out where Cory’s two “buttons” were that he pressed to open the door. But Harry, if they’re there – if Cory’s story is real – they really are just about impossible to find. So far I’m striking out.”

  “Where was Ortiz while you were trying to find the buttons?”

  “He was there with me. The FBI agent won’t let me go into the temple alone, and we couldn’t force Ortiz to stay at the top, so we all three went down. He asked me why I was pushing around all over the stones at the end of the chamber and I told him I was trying to find something. At that point he let it go but I figure he’ll be demanding answers before long.”

  “Brian, give me an hour or so and I’ll call you back on this same phone. I need to get my team together so I can give you direction. Meanwhile, you and the agent go back to the temple. I know you can’t keep Dr. Ortiz out of there. But
don’t let anyone, Ortiz included, go down into that artifact chamber unless you or the FBI agent is with him. If President Chapman’s body’s there, this is a national security matter, beginning this very minute.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  A million thoughts ran through President Harrison’s head. He asked his personal assistant to assemble the national security team in the conference room next door. Then he asked her to get Marianne Chapman on the phone. Nothing was final but he thought as a courtesy he should talk with her himself as soon as possible. This news would travel fast once others found out about it. Leaks were inevitable – it would be bad if the former First Lady heard about this from someone else. When his secretary advised that John Chapman’s wife was on the line Harry picked up his phone.

  “Marianne, I just wanted to call and give you some information. I don’t know yet if this is real or not but we’re handling it as though it is.”

  She interrupted him. “Well hello, Mister President,” she said, her voice bitter with sarcasm. “I hope you’re having a good time sitting in the chair behind the desk where my husband should be.” She stifled a sob.

  “Marianne, I know this is hard but I need to tell you something…”

  Her words were slurred. “Oh you know it’s hard? How exactly do you know that, Harry? It’s not too hard for you, is it? You run the show now. Your wife is the First Lady now. You people should never have rushed to remove John from office. But you were in such a hurry to take the reins yourself.” She started crying uncontrollably.

  She’s drunk, Harry Harrison thought to himself. He glanced at his watch – 10:30 a.m. Well, she has every right to be with what she’s going through.

  She stopped talking as Harry told her only a small part of what he had heard from Brian Sadler. He prefaced his remarks with caution – none of this was confirmed yet. Harry Harrison said that he had been told Chapman’s body was in a hidden cavern deep inside the temple he went to Mexico to see. The bite of a poisonous snake was reputed be the cause of death, presuming her husband was in fact deceased. Harrison said nothing about the ancient things that Cory Spencer had allegedly found in the same room.