The Eye of Heaven

31

The roads to López Mateos were clogged with late-morning traffic as the big SUV rolled past the deteriorating buildings into the center of the district, now largely recovered from the earthquake. The little street with the tomb entrance was still closed to traffic, and a contingent of soldiers was standing guard. Antonio displayed his credentials and they were allowed on foot down the well-trodden path into the dig site.

The leader in charge of the project approached Antonio and shook hands, and, after a short discussion in Spanish, moved past the group into the sunlight. Antonio squinted as his eyes adjusted to the gloom in the crypt, and he turned to Lazlo and the Fargos.

“Sam, Remi, you’ve been here before, so you know the precautions to take. Lazlo, most of the areas have been cordoned off so as not to cause any damage as we excavate and document the findings. I’ll ask you to respect that and to avoid touching anything. I’ve instructed the crew to take lunch early so the site will be all yours for the next two hours.”

“Of course. You’ll never know I was here,” Lazlo assured him.

“And thank you again for doing this,” Remi said.

“Hopefully, it’ll yield positive results.” Antonio motioned with an outstretched hand. “This way. We’ll start with what we’re calling the main burial vault.”

They moved slowly down the passageway to the junction, and Antonio led them into the largest of the rooms. He switched on several more lamps, so they could better study the pictographs, and stood back.

“Again, be careful of the areas on the ground with the stakes and chalk around them. Those are artifacts that remain to be unearthed,” he reminded the group, and they nodded as he neared the first of the elaborate carvings that spanned the wall.

Remi joined him and pointed at the pictograph. “Here’s the procession, you see? Exactly as in the photos.”

“Really remarkable in person, isn’t it?” Lazlo murmured, taking in the entirety of the image before moving closer to study the detail. “Must have taken them ages. Incredible handiwork …”

“And there are more on the burial platform, as well as on the other walls. But this one is repeated in all the chambers, so it no doubt had significance to the Toltec,” Antonio said.

“See? There it is. Obviously, the Temple of the Feathered Serpent,” Sam said, pointing to the ornately carved depiction of the six-level step pyramid.

“Yes, I’d wager so …” Lazlo agreed, eyes narrowing as he inched nearer.

Remi began photographing the pictographs again in case she’d missed something on her earlier pass, and Sam edged to the far wall to study the carvings there. Lazlo spent several minutes poring over the depiction of the procession, muttering softly to himself, before joining Sam.

“That’s the one repeated in all the rooms?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“I’ll just have a look, then. Might as well since we’re here.”

“You should go with Antonio. He’ll show you the way.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t want to get lost or wander into a local watering hole.”

Lazlo and Antonio moved down the stone corridor to the next vault as Remi stared at the images of pyramids with furious concentration, as though through sheer force of will she might have a breakthrough that would shed light on the true location of Quetzalcoatl’s tomb.

“It’s pretty obvious that it’s Teotihuacan now that we’ve been there, isn’t it?” Sam said.

“Yes, so we’re in the ballpark. That’s something.”

“And that’s got to be the Pyramid of the Sun.”

“I’d think so, based on its size.”

Sam shook his head. “Then the Temple of the Feathered Serpent can’t be the correct spot. Look at the orientation.”

“I agree. But again, Antonio and Maribela are the experts and they thought—”

Sam was interrupted by Lazlo, hurrying back into the vault. Remi turned to look at him, taking in the excitement on his normally placid face.

“I think I’ve got it, dear boy. Took me a while. And fiendishly clever, whoever carved these. Frankly, if you didn’t know what to look for, you’d never figure it out. Certainly not from the photographs — no offense.”

“What are you talking about?” Remi asked.

“The pictographs are slightly different in each of the tombs. It’s subtle, but they are.”

“Are you sure?” Sam asked.

“Absolutely. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Lazlo led them into the chamber next to the one they’d been in and pointed to the pictograph. “See? The dignitaries are positioned differently, and so are the landmarks. That pyramid is more to the right.”

Sam frowned. “That could be natural variation. Just a result of the materials available or the artist. Meaningless.”

“True. But now let’s go into the next room. You’ll see yet another slight difference.”

“If the artists were carving from an illustration, as they most likely were, there’s probably no significance to any of it,” Antonio said from the threshold.

“Normally, I’d agree with you. But humor me. Let’s go to the next one.”

Everyone filed into the third vault, where two lamps bathed the carvings in light.

“Yet more variation, do you see?”

Remi nodded slowly and took several photos. “I do. But what does it mean?”

Lazlo’s face cracked into a wry grin. “That’s really the question, isn’t it? To know the answer, you have to get a little lost.”

Sam and Remi exchanged a puzzled glance.

“Sorry. I’m not following you,” Sam said.

“I wanted to confirm my suspicion, so I went to look at the fourth tomb. There, in the dark antechamber, I could make out carvings on the wall at nearly ceiling height — above eye level. There was no lamp, which made it hard to see, so I borrowed Antonio’s penlight. And what do you think it was?”

Sam shook his head. “GPS coordinates?”

“Ha. Close. Come. Have a look.”

He led them into the narrow stone corridor to the far tomb and stopped before entering. Remi directed her penlight beam at the carving Lazlo was pointing at. “Look familiar?” he asked.

“It’s the procession again.”

“Indeed it is. Except look closer. Do you see something that isn’t in any of the larger carvings?”

Sam stepped nearer to Remi, nodding.

“We’ll I’ll be …”

Remi looked up at Sam’s profile, realization written across her face.

“Those are planets and stars.”

Lazlo nodded like a proud father. “Yes, they are. And with the celestial waypoints, we should be able to decipher where the true location of the tomb lies.”