the opening and thrust the flashlight forward; then, bumping her head as she strained forward to see, she crawled partway into a new corridor that sloped steeply down.
Ahead, the echoing chamber seemed much larger than the numerous other alcoves she had found in the pyramid, large enough to hold dozens of people. A curved shaft led away from it, a spiral ramp that went even deeper. She played her beam around the new room and nearly dropped the flashlight in her surprise.
She had never seen anything like this.
Cassandra's white light reflected off walls made of peeling metallic plates, bent girders, crystalline panels. When she moved the flashlight beam away, portions of the newly exposed interior continued to glow with an eerie, pale afterlight.
From her knowledge of ancient history and culture, these bizarre fixtures seemed impossible to her. The Maya had never been known to use any kind of metal extensively, mainly satisfied with obsidian and flint for their needs.
But here, unmistakably, she saw smooth, untarnished metal as if it had been made in modern smelters. It was an unusual alloy—certainly not the crude gold and bronze the ancient Maya had used.
Astonished, she stared for a while, still practically facedown in an opening barely large enough for a bad-ger. She drew out her tape recorder, squirming and wedging herself deeper into the opening so she could hold the flashlight in one hand and the tape recorder near her mouth with the other. She pressed the record button.
"This is amazing," she said, then paused for a long, silent moment as she searched for words. "I'm seeing metal with a silvery consistency, but not dark like tar-nished silver. It gleams white—aluminum or platinum? But that can't be, since the ancient Maya culture had no access to those metals."
Cassandra recalled reading how some artifacts recovered from Egyptian tombs had gleamed shiny and new despite being locked away for millennia; yet, once exposed to post-Industrial Age air clogged with sulfur-bearing pollutants, the artifacts had tarnished and deteriorated within weeks. "Note—we must explore this chamber with extreme caution," she said. "It seems to be quite an exceptional find."
She desperately wanted to climb all the way inside, to explore to her heart's content. But common sense warned her not to.
"I have decided not to proceed into the chamber yet," she dictated, struggling to keep the dejection out of her voice. "Nothing must be disturbed until the entire team is here to assist me and provide second opinions on ques-tionable items. I'm going back for Kelly and John. They can help me clear the rubble from this opening and sup-port it with overhead beams. We'll need Cait to photo-graph the objects in state before anyone else goes inside."
After a long pause, she spoke again. "For the record, let me say that I think this is it... the Big One."
Cassandra switched off the microrecorder, then swal-lowed hard. After crawling back out, she unenthusiasti-cally brushed herself off, then gave up, leaving the grit and dust. She began to retrace her steps, winding through the labyrinth to reach the exit, forcing herself to be calm. She thought of her wiry old father and imagined how proud he would be to see his daughter making dis-coveries that rivaled—even overshadowed!—those at the high point of his own career.
She quickened her pace. Her footsteps whispered and echoed through the stone passageways. As she approached the low exit to the pyramid, bright rays from the setting sun shone in her eyes like the light of an oncoming train. She rushed forward and stumbled out of the pyramid into the open air. "Hey, Kelly!" she shouted, "I've found something! You have to get the team, quick.
Wait'll you see this!"
No one answered her. She stopped, blinking, and stood outside for a moment in the silence. She held on to the edge of the pyramid doorway for support.
The ruins seemed abandoned again. She heard only the murmur of jungle sounds,
Ahead, the echoing chamber seemed much larger than the numerous other alcoves she had found in the pyramid, large enough to hold dozens of people. A curved shaft led away from it, a spiral ramp that went even deeper. She played her beam around the new room and nearly dropped the flashlight in her surprise.
She had never seen anything like this.
Cassandra's white light reflected off walls made of peeling metallic plates, bent girders, crystalline panels. When she moved the flashlight beam away, portions of the newly exposed interior continued to glow with an eerie, pale afterlight.
From her knowledge of ancient history and culture, these bizarre fixtures seemed impossible to her. The Maya had never been known to use any kind of metal extensively, mainly satisfied with obsidian and flint for their needs.
But here, unmistakably, she saw smooth, untarnished metal as if it had been made in modern smelters. It was an unusual alloy—certainly not the crude gold and bronze the ancient Maya had used.
Astonished, she stared for a while, still practically facedown in an opening barely large enough for a bad-ger. She drew out her tape recorder, squirming and wedging herself deeper into the opening so she could hold the flashlight in one hand and the tape recorder near her mouth with the other. She pressed the record button.
"This is amazing," she said, then paused for a long, silent moment as she searched for words. "I'm seeing metal with a silvery consistency, but not dark like tar-nished silver. It gleams white—aluminum or platinum? But that can't be, since the ancient Maya culture had no access to those metals."
Cassandra recalled reading how some artifacts recovered from Egyptian tombs had gleamed shiny and new despite being locked away for millennia; yet, once exposed to post-Industrial Age air clogged with sulfur-bearing pollutants, the artifacts had tarnished and deteriorated within weeks. "Note—we must explore this chamber with extreme caution," she said. "It seems to be quite an exceptional find."
She desperately wanted to climb all the way inside, to explore to her heart's content. But common sense warned her not to.
"I have decided not to proceed into the chamber yet," she dictated, struggling to keep the dejection out of her voice. "Nothing must be disturbed until the entire team is here to assist me and provide second opinions on ques-tionable items. I'm going back for Kelly and John. They can help me clear the rubble from this opening and sup-port it with overhead beams. We'll need Cait to photo-graph the objects in state before anyone else goes inside."
After a long pause, she spoke again. "For the record, let me say that I think this is it... the Big One."
Cassandra switched off the microrecorder, then swal-lowed hard. After crawling back out, she unenthusiasti-cally brushed herself off, then gave up, leaving the grit and dust. She began to retrace her steps, winding through the labyrinth to reach the exit, forcing herself to be calm. She thought of her wiry old father and imagined how proud he would be to see his daughter making dis-coveries that rivaled—even overshadowed!—those at the high point of his own career.
She quickened her pace. Her footsteps whispered and echoed through the stone passageways. As she approached the low exit to the pyramid, bright rays from the setting sun shone in her eyes like the light of an oncoming train. She rushed forward and stumbled out of the pyramid into the open air. "Hey, Kelly!" she shouted, "I've found something! You have to get the team, quick.
Wait'll you see this!"
No one answered her. She stopped, blinking, and stood outside for a moment in the silence. She held on to the edge of the pyramid doorway for support.
The ruins seemed abandoned again. She heard only the murmur of jungle sounds,
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