Sandy surprised him with a long hug and deep kiss to send him off.
“You be careful, Archer boy. I have a lot to show you yet.”
“That sounds promising,” he responded, looking her over.
“A lot to show you in England and Scotland, silly lad.”
-----
Duncan answered the phone in Scotland and took the message from his watcher about Archer’s trip to Mexico and his visit to Professor Radcliff Feigel. He gave instructions. He set people in motion.
Chapter 71
The heat slammed into Archer as he walked off the plane in Villahermosa International Airport. It was a long journey, over fourteen hours. The Gulfstream jet stopped twice for fuel.
Archer saw Ramirez waving outside of customs. A short trim, graying, bespectacled man with a large smile.
“Senor Chad,” Juan Ramirez said warmly shaking Chad’s hand.
“Juan. Thank you so much for coming on such short notice. It was a long drive from Mexico City?”
“It would have been six hours, but I was near Palenque. It was only two hours. You must be tired.”
“I slept much of the way. Ready to go,” he smiled weakly.
“Chad, I am sorry about Doc. We will miss him.”
“Thanks, Juan. We all do. When did you last see him?”
“A few months ago. He stopped in Mexico City. We talked. He was visiting some sites for research. Palenque. Chichen Itza, and La Venta.”
“Did you go with him?”
“No. I had other commitments. C’mon. We have an hour and a half drive. We can talk while we ride.”
Once they were on the road, Chad told the Mexican archeologist of his intentions. “Juan, I’m writing a biography about Doc. While I am here, I’d love to hear any of your stories and what digs you did with Doc.”
“That is a great idea, Chad. I’d be happy to help. Which sites have you worked in Mexico?”
“Palenque, Chichen Itza, a few lesser settlements from those periods. I was with you on one of those - in Guatemala. I’ve never been to La Venta.”
“That is a shame. Shame on me. I should have educated you better.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Juan. I was young and impetuous.”
“Meaning I am old and dawdling?”
Chad laughed. “That will be the day. Twenty years from now, you’ll still work rings around me.”
“Twenty years from now, I will be happy to wake up each morning.”
Chad looked sideways at his companion. He was probably older than he looked. As always, Juan Ramirez exuded an infectious enthusiasm. Chad looked out the window at the tropical swampy landscape of the Gulf state of Tabasco.
“Give me your lecture on La Venta?” Chad asked.
“My lecture? I lecture?”
“Oh, you know that you do, Juan. You may not have spent the time in classrooms, but your students around the world number in the hundreds. Thousands even.” Chad wondered if Juan didn’t realize that he was held in such regard by the younger generation of archeologists.
“Flattery gets you everywhere,” Juan responded. “Okay then, La Venta. It is probably the crowning achievement of the Olmec culture. It is not as popular for tourists as the high-rise stone pyramids of Palenque or Chichen Itza. Many of La Venta’s pyramids are mounds now, grass covered. The structures were built of earth and clay. There was very little stone around the area. Its secrets only imparted to the most zealous diggers.”
“Like you?”
“Yes. I have had many days, many months, at La Venta. Did you know it’s actually an island? The waterways around it lead inland and to the gulf. La Venta means ‘the sale.’ It was a center of trading and commerce.”
“Where does La Venta fit in the Olmec history?”
“The Olmec was one of the earliest civilizations in America. It began in 1800 BCE and lasted into the first century CE, though it was not much of a power after 400 BCE. Do the math. For fourteen hundred years it was a power in the area. It is known as the ‘mother culture’ of Mesoamerica. It was the first. The Maya culture was only beginning to be developed during this time. Most people know of the Maya calendar and its pyramids. Most of that came after the decline of the Olmec culture.”
Chad wanted to know what the situation was at the time of the tablet relocation. “What was happening in those civilizations in 600 BCE, Juan?”
“The Olmec civilization in 600 BCE was centered at La Venta, though it extended farther along the gulf and also inland. They had yet not yet started to decline. Not for almost another three hundred years. There were perhaps as many as twenty thousand people living there. At that time, the Maya were forming cities from their small villages. They didn’t start their pyramids and stone-building for another two hundred years. Until around 400 BCE, actually closer to 300 BCE. It was around then they also started developing script.”
Chad was thoughtful.
Juan observed, “I notice that you are assimilating information. Doc told me you turned the art of fact finding and alignment into a science. Literally. Forensic history.”
Archer laughed. “I don’t think I invented that.”
“He said you were the best at it.”
“He was being kind. Sorry. I interrupted your lecture. Please continue.”
“Feels more like an interrogation than a lecture. What are you looking for?”
“Perhaps a tabernacle or some place to keep precious religious symbols.”
“H-m-m. I don’t know of such a place. However so much of the site has not been excavated. The mounds could hold something like that. The most fascinating things in La Venta are the stone heads and stone altars. I mentioned stone was not common, so they brought these from some distance. We can look at them tomorrow - the ones that are here. Some have been taken to a museum.”
Chad was certain La Venta was the place to protect the tablets, but within a few hundred years they were most likely moved to a Maya city. Which one? There were several. Chad needed La Venta to give up a clue tomorrow.
“How’s the family, Juan?”
For the rest of the trip the men talked about people they knew and the world of archeology.
Chapter 72
“It’s still hot this morning, Juan,” Chad greeted his host.
“You have grown soft in Boston, my young professor. You need to come spend another summer with me.”
“I wouldn’t last,” Chad said.
“You are a bad liar. I saw you jogging this morning. How far did you run?”
“Ten miles. It’s my usual. Clears my head.”
“Have you eaten?” Ramirez asked.
“Yes, ready to go.”
“Vamos, we go.”
Thirty minutes later Juan was showing Chad the map of the La Venta site.
“I’d like to see it all, Juan. Particularly this area - the furthest northern point. I’d think there is some significance with its location.”
“You are right. It’s a restricted area. A sacred area. We’ll see. Anything else?”
“Have you seen any symbolism of a man and three suns? Suns like the star?”
Ramirez considered it. “I don’t recall anything like that. Do you know what it would look like?”
Chad sketched it out.
“Does not ring any bells, amigo. I will do some research. Just here at La Venta or at other sites?”
Chad was not ready to share more, more that might put Juan in danger.
The older archeologist was perceptive.
“You have always been open, Chad. Doc had been as well. However, when he last visited, there was some secret. Something he held back when he asked questions. He finally stopped asking questions and went his own way. I can respect that. I am also willing to help, if I can.”
“Thanks, Juan. I appreciate that. Let me think about it before I ask or share anything more that could create problems for you.”
They came to the first of the four stone heads. The heads were solid rock, almost ten f
eet high, and about five feet wide. It was just the head from chin to crown.
“What is that on his head?” Chad asked. “It looks like a football helmet. One of the old leather types.”
“There is much speculation on that. A crown perhaps. Some think it could be a space helmet. Ancient astronaut theories abound in the Mexican ruins.”
Chad found this theory intriguing after his discussion with Radcliff in Lyon.
He asked Juan, “How did they get here? The stones. Not the aliens.” They laughed.
“There is even more speculation on that. The quarries are eighty kilometers away.”
The two men took two hours to view and examine the various stone heads and the altars. Chad looked hard for any symbolism in the figurines around the altars. He found no clue and nothing resembling the man and three suns.
Juan detailed the archeological finds at the ‘A’ pyramid, the sacred site. It was mostly a burial site.
“No doubt some ceremonies were performed here in addition to burial. Perhaps weddings, blessings and such,” Juan explained.
Chad asked the question before he could stop himself. “Has anyone found a series of numbers or symbols that represent numbers?”
Ramirez ignored Chad’s slip. “They had a numbering system. They even founded the concept of zero. So there are numbers in their etchings.”
They continued to talk oblivious to the pair of binoculars trained on them from a behind a wall next to the site’s museum.
Chapter 73
Wolves are cunning trackers. They stalk their prey. They observe their victims before they attack. They evaluate the surroundings. Sometimes they watch the target of their prey, using their prey’s target as bait.
Lupa was definitely part wolf. The tracker stood in the stairwell one flight above Radcliff Feigel’s floor. The assassin knew the method chosen for Feigel’s death would work perfectly. The elevator was disabled. A sign was posted with a notice of repair the next day.
Feigel would return home from work that day and have to climb three flights of stairs. He would be out of breath. His heart rate would be very high. He would turn right at the top of the steps and take the three steps to his door. Inserting his key, he would stumble into his apartment. Before the door closed an assassin could plunge a syringe with potassium chloride into Feigel’s arm or neck.
Feigel’s brain would receive messages and send out instructions. The outbound instruction would first put Feigel to sleep. A protective measure. The injection would metabolize into potassium and chloride, already naturally present in the blood. Next the breathing would stop. Muscles that control breathing and the heart muscle itself would release large amounts of more potassium into the blood. Finally the heart would stop. Cardiac arrest would be the cause of death confirmed by the very high levels of potassium. If the point of injection was undetectable or not even sought – natural causes. Done.
Feigel performed his role as the victim very well. As he fumbled with the key and lock, Lupa softly came down the stairs. The door opened. Lupa moved fast. There was a flurry of pushing, shouting, grunts, surprise, and eventually a needle was plunged into the target. Done.
The next day a coroner concluded that the corpse on his table died of natural causes. A blood sample taken from the victim would come back three days later with slightly elevated levels of certain chemicals, particularly potassium. It was not enough to change his decision.
Chapter 74
Archer decided to share more with Juan. They were at a small restaurant in La Venta. He chose to sit at one of the three outside tables. There was no one else around. His phone had been cleaned of bugs by Boyer’s technician. He felt safe.
“Juan, I will tell you what I think I can without violating the research contract. But, at anytime you don’t want to hear more, stop me. Okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I want to hear it?” the archeologist said sipping his cold beer.
“I think three men have died because of what they knew.”
“Whoa. Was Doc one of the three?”
“I don’t think so. From what I learned, it was a theft scheme that went wrong. However, I think I was a target in London and a policeman dressed in my clothes was killed instead.”
Ramirez thought about it. He thought about his family, his three children and his eight grandchildren.
“Will my family be in danger?”
“I don’t see why. The people that died knew secrets.”
“Can you ask me questions without revealing secrets?”
“I can try.”
“Good, go ahead.”
“Doc was looking for something. Something we shall say has some significance to a people in Europe. We have solid reasons to believe ‘the something’ was sent to La Venta around 600 BCE.”
“There was not much ocean traffic back then, amigo,” Juan replied, his face showing his amusement.
“I know. However, remember how we recently learned of the earlier Viking excursions to North America.”
Juan replied, “Okay. I accept that. Why La Venta?”
“I think because it was at peace, and, it was an advanced culture at that time. The item would be safe in La Venta.”
“Not for long though, eh?” Juan asked.
“Not based on what you told me. La Venta was declining in 400 BCE, so the item may have had a home with them for two hundred years, maybe three. I don’t think the item was shipped back across the ocean, so I conclude either it is both long buried and long gone at La Venta, or it was moved to a new location. Can you give me a timeline of what happened in Mexico after the Olmec decline? Where would a sacred or valuable item be moved to?”
Juan talked Chad through the evolution, the rise, and the fall of cultures from 600 BCE to 800 CE. At the end of their conversation, Chad had learned more than he knew before.
“Juan, I’ll try to summarize what you told me. La Venta was a power until about 400 BCE, maybe even 300 BCE. By then the Maya culture and cities had developed with El Mirador in Guatemala emerging as a large location with as many as 250,000 people. As it was declining five hundred years later, two cities within fifty miles arose in power – Calakmul and Tikal.
“Calakmul and Tikal competed and fought each other for another six to seven hundred years, from 200 CE to 900 CE. Historians point to Calakmul as the logical successor to El Mirador, but Tikal became twice as large as Calakmul. If there was a sacred object that moved from La Venta to El Mirador, both Calakmul and Tikal could be its next home.”
Juan interrupted, “Possibly. But, don’t forget Palenque and Teotihuacan.”
“Right. Both of those cities also emerged in the first couple centuries of CE. An object could have been moved directly to one of them and not pass through Calakmul and Tikal. And, they both were farther to the west from EL Mirador. Palenque is a hundred fifty miles and Teotihuacan an additional five hundred miles. Calakmul fought with Palenque and defeated it in 450 CE. I think I need to see El Mirador, Calakmul, Tikal, and Palenque.”
“What about Chichen Itza?” Juan asked. “Besides being the most popular tourist stop, it was the major power from 600 to 900 CE.”
“Granted. But, I’m beginning to see a path that leads steadily to the west farther from the conflict. Teotihuacan, you said, grew to a large population of 150,000 to 250,000. I think that would become a final destination.”
“Maybe not,” Juan interjected. “Calakmul fought with them, as well. In fact, Calakmul defeated them in 550 CE, sacked and burned the city. Could the object have been shipped back to Europe since this area had become unstable?”
“No. Europe was a mess in the fifth and sixth centuries. City-States were forming countries, religious wars, and empires like the Holy Roman, the Byzantine, the Ottoman, and so on. I think the path is across Mexico.”
Chad wondered if the locator stone he didn’t find in the City of David had been kept up-to-date with each location change. It must have been. Otherwise what good was it except for one time at the first m
ove? If it was updated it would have required some divine or extraterrestrial intervention. Depending, he thought, whether you followed Avi Feigel and the angels, or Rad Feigel and the aliens.
Ramirez interrupted Chad’s thoughts. “I know people at all those sites. People that can get you into restricted areas. However, two sites are in Guatemala. Do you have anyone that can help you cut through red tape to get you into the country on short notice? And, can you get a helicopter? If not, you’ll be putting a lot of windshield time on some rough roads.”
Chad thought of Boyer and Haskin’s resources. “I might.”
Juan repeated the list of sites as he wrote them down, making a few comments as he did so.
Across the street at another outside table, the man who had watched them with binoculars was reading Ramirez’s lips and making the same list.
Ten minutes later he placed a call to Duncan. Duncan placed a call to Lupa, who just landed in Mexico City.
Chapter 75
Archer flagged a cab and gave the name of his hotel in Santa Elena, Guatemala, the nearest city to Tikal. He had flown through Guatemala City to the Mundo Maya airport. It was a long layover in Guatemala City airport but it was better than an eight-hour drive to Tikal.
He could blame the extensive travel, the many time zones, and layovers. He could, but he didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t notice a man at the baggage carousel mistakenly grabbing a piece of Chad’s luggage, and then returning it to the revolving belt. Chad didn’t see what the man attached inside a zippered pocket.
Boyer arranged a helicopter to get to the remote jungle locations of El Mirador and Calakmul, just over the border into Mexico. Boyer also secured the approval to cross borders from Guatemala to Mexico and then back. A functionary from both Mexico and Guatemala would be on the trip, covering the permissions back and forth between the two countries.
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