The Alien Element

by M. G. Herron

Citlali wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled Rakulo close. Rakulo froze with surprise, but after a moment wrapped his own arms around her as well.

  “One more thing,” Rakulo whispered. “I need you to keep an eye on Eliana. She wants to go to Uchben Na. Knowing her, she will try to sneak out when we’re not looking. It might endanger us all. I need you to keep her from going, if she tries.”

  Citlali pulled away and gave Rakulo a withering look. “You want me to babysit her? There are only seventeen of us left. Do we not have enough to think about?”

  “If you keep her from danger, you will keep her from bringing danger back to us.”

  Citlali regarded him for a long moment before nodding. “Fine, I will do it. But only because you asked.”

  “Thank you.”

  “For now, I am going back to sleep. I barely slept at all while Thevanah and I were hiding in the trees. Wake me when you get back.”

  Rakulo returned to the back of the cave, where he found Quen, Eliana, and Reuben. He made Reuben and Eliana strip off their heavy clothing. Then he and Quen guided them underneath the stalactites, and helped them both into the canoe. Eliana went up lightly. Reuben was heavier, and it took both warriors to hoist him up.

  Rakulo hoped Eliana was right about Reuben. He was not fat, but close, and he was already breathing heavily after such a slight exertion. Quen had the same thought, and discreetly raised an eyebrow at Rakulo.

  Quen and Rakulo finally climbed into the canoe as well. It was tight with all of them, but they made it work.

  The canoe was heavier, too, but that just helped slow them down. This time, the journey was less surprising, and while it was harder to turn the canoe with a heavier load, working together with Quen and a better knowledge of the river’s turns and rapids, they managed to avoid the bigger rocks and float smoothly down to the placid, shallow stream that led to the Well of Sacrifices.

  This time, they paddled through the curtain of hanging vines. No drumbeats echoed, nor did any bodies fall. The morning sunlight angled into the airy cenote, illuminating dust-motes and insects and diving birds with a golden aura.

  It was stunning. Absolutely beautiful. They stared for a long minute.

  Quen finally broke the silence, turning back to Eliana. “Can you see it?”

  “Oh!” Eliana said. She pointed and Reuben followed her gaze to the green iridescence under the surface of the water near the fork of the river to their left. His eyes widened. He gestured and spoke rapidly to Eliana in their language.

  “Can we get closer?” Eliana asked.

  “Yes. Keep your hands in the canoe. Do not touch the water under any circumstances.”

  “Okay,” Eliana said. She told Reuben, who folded his hands in his lap and watched attentively. The wild look had vanished. His intelligent eyes were clear and focused.

  Their boat drifted closer. The green glow coloring the water was faint but present. The light purple water was still except for the ripples caused by their boat’s passage. As they got closer, they had no trouble seeing the root system of the bulbous plant branching out into the tranquil water. Rakulo tensed, waiting for a tentacle to lash out like that sea monster had done. He called a halt, and Quen back paddled to stop the boat.

  Reuben said something. “He says we need to get closer,” Eliana translated.

  Rakulo pressed his lips together and nodded. Carefully, they pulled the canoe close to the wall and inched toward the nearest visible piece of the bulbous plant.

  “What happens if we touch the water?” Eliana asked.

  Rakulo looked up into the air. A large beetle was buzzing around their head, one of hundreds of tiny insects. Rakulo snatched one. He crushed its tiny body in his fist then tossed it into the water.

  A small, green surge of light emanated from the bulbous underwater plant system. A tentacle reached out and snatched away the beetle, tearing it to pieces in the space of a breath. The green glow receded a moment later.

  “Wow,” Reuben breathed.

  The old man’s eyes were darting along the plant, following the green glow that moved down the root system and away into the river, hugging close to the wall.

  He mumbled something else that Rakulo didn’t follow. But he did understand the finger the old man pointed at the earthen wall of the cenote.

  Reuben reached out a hand.

  “Careful!” Rakulo whispered.

  Reuben showed him his palms in a placating gesture. Rakulo remained tense as Reuben felt along the wall, and ripped out a couple small root systems from other plants, vines growing up out of the water into the wall. Clod of dirt fell of, stirring up more of the glowing root system as Reuben continued to dig. He finally stuck a hand in all the way up to his forearm, and came out with a root the thickness of a finger clutched in his hand.

  Rakulo held the root in the middle, so no end was visible. On one side, the root plunged into the earthen wall, headed parallel to the river. The other end climbed down, into the water, and seemed to lead to the bulbous plant itself.

  Rakulo grabbed around in the air until he managed to snatch another beetle. This time, when the plant sucked in the beetle’s body, A faint green pulse flashed along the length of the root Rakulo held in his hand.

  Reuben spoke again, and Eliana translated. “Are you sure you want to destroy it, Rakulo?”

  “With every fiber of my being.”

  “Hold out your knife,” she said.

  Rakulo took the obsidian knife from his tunic and held the blade out in the golden sunlight. Reuben held out the root between both fingers, and brought it down fast.

  The knife sliced into the root, and severed it.

  A greenish ichor leaked through the split root into the placid water below. The root system of the bulbous plant beneath the water twitched—and Rakulo was nearly certain it was not a trick of the light.

  Reuben found another vein lower in the wall, which he pulled out. Rakulo cut that one as well. More of the green ichor dripped into the water.

  Was it blood? More like sap.

  Rakulo and Quen paddled their canoe around to the other side of the bulbous plant, careful to give the dangerous root system a wide berth. Rakulo sliced three more veins on this side. He felt them buck and harden in his hand, but Rakulo cut without mercy.

  He reached into the dirt and found yet another vein. How many of these things were there?

  The severed lengths shrank and pulled back into the wall, as if they were protecting themselves.

  Rakulo reached out and snatched a third beetle from the air. He crushed it, and let its body drift to the water.

  The root system reached out and greedily took its life. But it lasted longer, and the glow was undeniably softer.

  They found and severed a dozen veins in all, running through either side of the earthen wall just over this fork of the underground stream.

  They paddled back to observe their work. Green ichor dripped thickly down both walls on either side of the plant.

  “Is that all of them?” Eliana asked.

  Rakulo shook his head. “I don’t think so. They have to lead somewhere. But it’s a start. Let’s go, before Xucha realizes what we’ve done and comes looking for someone to punish.”

  29

  Gehro’s Wild Mushrooms

  They worked their way slowly back up river—it took a couple of hours and wore Eliana’s stamina down. She was more tired now than she had been when she woke up, and she had not even made it back to Uchben Na to search those ancient stones for the carving she needed yet.

  “I’ve never seen anything like that,” Reuben was saying as they waded through the water, still babbling and excited despite the exertion. “Living technology. We’ve never even come close to something like that. Those veins reminded me of power cables. They ran through the wall back to somewhere, like Rakulo said. But why? And what was powering them? That green pus leaking out of the veins, I wonder if that’s what powered them. No metal or plastic in them at all. Incredible. Do you th
ink they were built like that, or did they grow over time? How long would it take to grow a plant like that? I should have taken a sample to take back with us to show Amon. Oh!”

  He checked the bracelet at his wrist. The light went from blinking green to solid red again, and his face fell. “Nothing. Maybe it’s because we’re still underground,” he said. It didn’t sound like he was convinced that being underground was the real source of the problem.

  “Don’t worry,” Eliana said. “Amon will fix it.”

  But Eliana would not be going back through the transponder before she had a chance to explore. If those carvings existed in Uchben Na, she would track them down first. She had to. Her career and her reputation depended upon it.

  They finally reached the stalactites again. Rakulo and Quen motioned for her to go through first. Eliana swam ahead, and lifted herself out of the river and onto the cold stone floor at the back of the cave.

  Dripping wet and feeling exposed in her underwear, she retrieved her jeans and shirt where she had folded them next to the wall. She dried herself off with her jacket, and put the jeans and shirt back on. It was way too hot for the light black jacket anyway. She wrung it out, then folded it beneath her and used it as a thin pillow. Reuben flopped out of the water a moment later. She rested against the wall, and eventually Reuben’s babbling about the plant tapered off. She smiled when she turned toward him and saw that he was sleeping with his head leaning back against the wall of the cave. Faint snores emanated from his nose.

  Quen and Rakulo went out of the cave without an explanation. Eliana was tired, but not tired enough to sleep. Thoughts of the carvings kept her alert. After a while, she stood and paced around the cave. How would she ever get out of here? The opening was blocked by brush and stones, and guarded by at least two of the warriors at all times. She couldn’t leave without several people noticing, if Rakulo would let her go out at all.

  The whistling signal that Rakulo had given the night before sounded outside. She thought it would be Rakulo and Quen returning. Instead, an old man with a long grey beard and a wrinkled face came into the cave and emptied a bag full of big mushrooms into a woven basket half full of the things. He noticed her watching him.

  “You must be Eliana.”

  “Hello,” she said. “That’s right. What’s your name?”

  “I’m Gehro. Welcome to my house.”

  “Your…house? You live here?”

  “It had been my home for many years now.”

  “Ah,” she said.

  Eliana had no idea that anyone lived in Kakul outside of the villages. This revelation put her back on her heels. How did he relate to the rest of their society? “Interesting. You don’t live in the village?”

  “Indeed, no.”

  The old man turned to the mushrooms and began sorting through them. He rubbed off the excess dirt, picked out leaves, and threw them into the fire.

  Curiosity overcame her reticence. “Can I help?” Eliana asked.

  Gehro smiled broadly at her. “Why, yes. I’d appreciate that.”

  She reached into the basket and picked a clod of dirt off a large cap. They worked in silence for a while, until a thought occurred to Eliana. She paused, twisting a leaf in her fingers.

  “Gehro, you know the forests well, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “How familiar are you with the carvings on the buildings in Uchben Na?”

  “Is that why you came here? To look at carvings?”

  Eliana lifted her chin, determined not to let some old hermit talk down to her. “Is that a problem?”

  Gehro shrugged. “It is no business of mine—just curiosity. What are you hoping to find?”

  “Back on my world, I found some carvings that no one has seen in over a thousand years. It showed two moons—your moons—and a pyramid that I think was meant to depict the pyramid in Uchben Na. We have pyramids on my world, too, but not there. I need to know if the carvings I found are the same or different than the ones in Uchben Na, and if the carving I found actually shows your moons…or something else entirely.”

  “And you think finding these carvings will give you the answers you seek?”

  “I think it’s a step in the right direction. The only way I can be sure is to see for myself.”

  He shrugged. “So go.”

  “I would if I could,” Eliana said, dropping the leaf she had been tearing into tiny pieces into the fire. “Rakulo said he would take me there when it was safe. But he doesn’t think it’s safe yet. It seems like everyone I know is trying to keep me away from that place.”

  A smirk spread on the old man’s face. “Is the jungle ever really safe? Gods hide in the trees. They always have.”

  Eliana cocked her head at the wild-eyed old man as he stood, lifting the mushroom basket. As he twirled around, she noticed the others all eyeballing the basket. Had they been watching them clean mushrooms the whole time? Had she spoken loudly enough for them to overhear her?

  She really needed to pay better attention to what was going on around her.

  “The food is ready!” Gehro said, swinging the basket around and drawing the attention of all of the warriors. Even Reuben stirred. “Who is hungry? Eat your fill now, and I will roast what is left.”

  The warriors all came away from the entrance to the cave immediately, crowding around Gehro and his basket of mushrooms.

  The realization hit her: he was distracting them so that she could get away. She didn’t dare waste the opportunity. Her phone was in the pocket of her jeans. She stepped back toward the opening and casually slipped outside while the others stuffed their faces with Gehro’s wild mushrooms.

  She hurried away, watching her footing on the uneven limestone and slick leaf-cover. She was a half mile closer to her destination when a fit, dark-haired girl stepped out from behind a tree in front of her.

  Eliana let out a little shriek, and her hand flew to her mouth. “Citlali! You scared me.”

  “You shouldn’t have left the cave,” Citlali said. “It’s not safe.”

  Eliana heaved a sigh, and walked onward, stepping around the fierce young woman. Citlali followed.

  “This is important,” Eliana said. “It won’t take me long, and I promise I’ll be careful.”

  “Careful? You crash through the forest like a drunk child who has never been taught the meaning of silence.”

  “Ah, silence, yes. I forgot how much your people treasure that quality in a person.”

  “In a warrior.”

  “Well, I am no warrior. I am an archaeologist.” She used the English word for her job, there being no equivalent that she knew of in their language.

  “The stones have always been there. They are not going anywhere. What’s the rush?”

  Citlali didn’t inquire further. Neither did she seem intent on stopping Eliana. Perhaps she sensed Eliana’s determination and figured it would be better to let her have her way. They walked together for a time in silence until, ahead, the stepped slope of the pyramid and the lichen-covered curved walls of an arch loomed up between the trees.

  Citlali clamped her hand around Eliana’s mouth, and yanked her down behind a thick clump of bushes. She tried to yell, she kicked, and she squirmed. But the young woman held her tight.

  Citlali whispered softly in her ear. “Ssssshhhhhh.”

  A minute later, Eliana heard footsteps crunching leaves. Then two pairs of feet passed by, very quietly, not three feet from where they crouched. When the footsteps had faded, Citlali released her hold on Eliana’s mouth.

  “See? You should have listened to Rakulo. The jungle is not safe.”

  “The jungle is never safe,” Eliana replied, throwing Gehro’s words at Citlali. “Gods hide in the trees. They always have.”

  Citlali said nothing, but looked worried.

  That’s when it hit Eliana. “Rakulo told you to follow me.”

  “He did. Though I would have done so on my own. I know you, remember? I know how stubborn you ar
e. And you don’t know who we are fighting. You could have put all of us in danger with your carelessness.”

  Eliana was embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”

  Citlali regarded her for a long moment. “I forgive you. Fortunately, I was prepared for it. I spent much time in the treetops last week, where Thevanah and I observed the patrol patterns of Maatiaak and his men. Now that I know how they move, the paths they take are very predictable.”

  “Are you saying that those men who just passed us, you knew they were coming?”

  She nodded.

  “Huh.”

  “We should keep moving,” Citlali said. “We must be back before dark.”

  Eliana nodded and stepped into the shadow of the arched gate into the city. She didn’t know if this was the same arch she had met Chief Dambu under a year ago, but it could have been. The entire thing was covered over with carved reliefs, their edges softened by time and grown over with moss and vines.

  She pulled back some vines, and there it was, just as she remembered—the man-like figure she had seen once before. Two hands, a set of legs, a sandaled pair of feet. Instead of a face, the figure’s head was covered in a circular mask…or maybe a helmet. A moon hovered just over his shoulder.

  Eliana’s eyes widened. That wasn’t a moon—that was one of those orb-like machines.

  She knew what she was looking at now. It was a depiction of Xucha, their dark god, immortalized in stone. He was wearing robes like a priest, rather than his black armor, but his face was still covered.

  Eliana immediately began tearing down the vines.

  “What are you doing?” Citlali asked.

  “I need to see the rest of it.”

  Citlali glanced around, then shrugged and began to help Eliana rip out the vegetation. They made a pile of leaves and vines at their feet.

  On the side opposite the wall, Eliana finally found what she had been looking for—the two moons, Ky and Kal, just like the carvings she had seen on Earth. They were larger, and carved with more detail here, down to the dark craters in the surface. Below the moons was the pyramid, and below that the head of Kukulkan—which looked eerily similar to the face drawn on the figure of Xucha. Finally, below the head of the feathered serpent was a skull.