Blood Moon, page 3
part #1 of The Wizard's Journal Series
“There is the Gate of the gods,” Manco said, pointing toward the Gate’s arch a few hundred feet away.
Until now, I had only seen the Gate of the gods in pictures presented in National Geographic magazines. It was less impressive and seemed smaller than what I expected. A few moment later, Manco started driving again and stopped about 20 feet in front of the arch.
Juan stayed in the Jeep while Manco and I started walking to the gate, but Manco stopped after a taking a few steps. I guess he was a little spooked about the artifact and what might happen when it came into contact with the gate. Me on the other hand, I couldn’t wait to see what happened.
“What now?” Manco asked.
“Now we see if the artifact is a key or a hole filler.”
“We?” asked Manco.
“Wait here. I’ll check it out.”
“Well, if you insist. I’ll wait here as you say,” he said, then took several steps back towards the Jeep.
I took the artifact out of my backpack and moved it near the outside edge of the hole – it looked like a perfect fit. After brushing away some loose dirt, I moved the artifact closer and felt an electrical field, like the one at the dig site in Egypt. Before I could react, the artifact jumped out of my hand into the hole. A moment later I felt a vibration and the static field intensified. I stepped back a few feet and kept my eyes fixed on the artifact, fascinated by what I just saw.
“Okay, it’s not a hole filler,” I muttered.
“Willington, perhaps you should not stand so close,” Manco said. “Something is not right here and we should leave this place.”
My wrist watch then flew off my hand and stuck to the stone gate. A moment later, the Jeep began moving slowly toward the gate, its wheels locked and digging into the dirt. Manco’s mouth dropped open and he quickly stepped out of the Jeeps way. Juan jumped out of the Jeep and fell to the ground.
“What sorcery is this?” Manco asked, then his metal medallion rose from under his shirt and pointed horizontally to the gate. He pulled the medallion down, but when he let go, it snapped back toward the gate and pulled the chain around his neck, enough so that Manco put his foot forward to keep from falling.
As quickly as everything began, it was over. My watch fell to the ground, Manco’s medallion fell to his chest, and the Jeep stopped moving. The three of us stared at the gate dumfounded by the experience, which was not yet over. The artifact began to turn clockwise for a few turns and then counterclockwise. The back and forth movement continued, increasing in speed, while a blue-white light on the tip of the artifact glowed brighter with each rotation.
“Willington … we should go now,” Manco said as he and Juan got back into the Jeep.
The ground around us began to shake causing me to sway. I extended my arms to balance myself and Manco held both of his hand tight on the Jeep’s wheel.
“What the heck.” I said and a second later the artifact stopped turning, but the light emitting from the gate intensified so brightly I had to cover my eyes. I took a few more steps backwards and a bolt of light shot out from the gate hitting me square center on my chest. There was no sound and I felt no pain. I brushed my hand against my chest thinking I might be on fire, but there was nothing. No marks, burns, not so much as a wrinkle. The artifact then fell to the ground and Manco ran to me thinking I was injured.
“Willington, are you alright?”
“I’m okay Manco,” I answered and started walking to where the artifact fell.
As I got closer, I could see it was no longer a stone, but had turned translucent like glass. The gate looked as it did before, except a larger opening appeared and revealed something inside.
“What just happened?” Manco asked while staring at the new opening, noticing something was inside it. “Willington, what in the world are those things?”
Three metal tubes with elaborate etchings and artwork were resting inside the gates opening. I removed the tubes and found three ancient scrolls inside each that measured eight inches square. I put the scrolls back inside the tubes and handed them to Manco.
“First things first Manco,” I said and turned my attention back to the artifact, which was not only translucent, but also had many more etched symbols than before.
I rotated the artifact and saw that the etchings covered its surface in a spiral pattern. There was no visible beginning or end to the pattern and it had multiple layers on the inside that were too small to distinguish. As strange as it might sound, the artifact felt familiar in someway, like when almost remembering a dream just before it vanishes from memory.
“Manco, those tubes you’re holding were designed to preserve the scrolls inside the gate and this artifact is obviously a key. I’ve never seen anything like it and doubt anyone on this planet besides us has either.”
“Nothing that has happened here today is natural Willington. Many believe these mountains are cursed, and after all this, I am inclined to agree.”
I smiled. “Many people also believe it is blessed. This all means something Manco. It’s as if the artifact and scrolls were waiting for us to find them after being hidden for thousands of years. Whatever they are, there might very well be a connection to King Solomon’s Key.”
Manco’s eyes widened as he began to understand the possible significance of what we found.
“Let’s get back to Puno,” I said excitedly. ”We have much work to do Manco.”
Chapter 3
When we arrived back at Manco’s house, Manco swept his hands across the dinning table sending napkins and flowers to the floor. He then spread all nine scrolls on the table for us to study, not noticing that Wanita was looking at him as if he was crazy.
“Manco, what are you doing? Please stop, don’t wreak our home,” she pleaded.
Manco grabbed Wanita’s arms and began singing and dancing in circles with her. She was shocked by her husband’s behavior and clearly frightened.
“We are going to be rich and famous dear wife. Isn’t that so Willington?”
Wanita pushed Manco aside and took their children outside. She said something in Spanish, and by the tone, I was pretty sure it wasn’t polite.
Manco stopped laughing. “Huh … I guess she thinks I lost my mind.”
“You think?” I asked and began organizing the scrolls in various patterns, moving them back and forth as three rows of three so all nine scrolls were placed into one large square.
“What are you doing?” Manco asked.
“I’m not sure yet. It looks like these scroll are a piece of a large single scroll. Look here, see how all the outside edges of each scroll have the same Mayan symbols. Each symbol represents a classical element: this is water, this is fire, this swirling one is wind, and this one here is Earth.”
“Yes, I see what you mean,” Manco said, then pointed to the middle page. “What does this one mean?”
“It looks like some sort of astrological pattern connected to our solar system. Most interesting is that the outer pages are written in Mayan and some other language I’ve never seen. The center page is mostly in Hebrew along with what looks like our sun and planets in alignment. I’m far from being sure, but I think these might be the missing pages from King Solomon’s Key.”
“What connection could there possibly be between the Hebrews and Mayans and these ancient scrolls?” Manco asked.
“There shouldn’t be any connection. It makes no sense. Each civilization was separated by thousands of years and great geographical distances. Whatever this is, it appears to have somehow crossed over in historical record keeping. Manco, someone hid these scrolls at the Gate of the gods to protect them, but for what purpose?”
“Someone you say … who?
“I don’t know, but whoever it was, they didn’t want just anyone to find them.”
I began translating the writing and symbols on the eight outer scrolls. They which described an ancient race of visitors who came to Earth at the last Galactic Alignment 25,000 years ago.
“The scrolls say these visitors traveled in great fire spitting birds as bright as our sun. Giants come forth from the birds possessing godlike powers. The Mayans called one of them Itzam-Yeh, meaning the Celestial Bird, and they made him their god. Itzam-Yeh in return made the Mayans his slaves to gather sacred elements from the Earth. Strange beasts were set upon the Mayans to make them work day and night mining precious elements. Some of the visitors also took Mayan women as mates and produced offspring.”
“Go on Willington, what else do the scrolls say?”
“Evidently there was a big battle when benevolent beings came to Earth and fought the visitors. Many Mayans died and their cities were destroyed during the battle. Eventually, the visitors were driven from Earth by the benevolent beings that became friends and protectors of the Mayans, and lived with them in peace for many years.”
“Folklore,” Manco said. “There is no historical records or evidence that the Mayans were visited by aliens, at least nothing credible. What am I saying? There is no evidence of aliens.”
“Perhaps, but look here Manco. The inside edges on the eight outer scrolls tells a different story. It says Itzam-Yeh would leave and return according to the position of a large and small sun. The large sun indicates when he would return and the small sun when he went away. And look here … do you see the planets in this first circle with a sun in the center?”
“I see eight and this little dot at the outer edge,” Manco replied.
“Just like our solar system, right? Now look at this second ring. It’s elliptical, like an egg, with a sun on the narrow tip of the elliptical ring. There is a group of objects like planets clustered together on the far side of the ring.”
Manco scratched his head. “This makes no sense Willington. Every school child knows there are only eight planets in our solar system, excluding Pluto”
“Yes, but this cluster of planets is not in the same rotation pattern as our planets. Look at the scale of the rings. Our system is separated from the rotation of the outer ring for most of the time. The outer and inner rings intersect here for what appears to be a shorter period of time.”
“What does it mean?
“I believe it means our sun appears small when the objects are outside our solar system rotation, and looks bigger when inside our rotation. If my translation is accurate, and the scrolls are not folklore as you believe, it would suggest that we have neighbors.”
“Neighbors? What kind of neighbors?”
“According to what is written on these scrolls, the kind of neighbors nobody wants. Look here … this word Tanniyn means dragon or monster in Hebrew and is repeated on the scroll here and also here.”
Manco pointed to other symbols. “I believe these represent time,” he said. “If so, the first symbol here at the far edge of our solar system means one. The marking at the top means thousand, which would suggest the first ring represents 1,000 years and increments by a factor of five. This means the second ring is 5,000 and the third is 25,000. According to this map, the outer and inner rings intersect every 25,000 years.”
Manco eyes widened. “Willington, this timeframe of solar rotations corresponds to the Mayan calendar and their prophecy.”
“I think you’re right. The Mayans may be telling us that this other group of planets intersects our solar system every 25,000 years. The Mayan calendar completed its last cycle on December 21, 2012. Finding the scrolls now can’t be a coincidence.”
“But Willington, that date has come and gone and nothing happened. I remember all the crazies hiding in the mountains thinking the world was coming to an end. When they returned to their villages, thieves had stolen their possessions. I kept my shotgun loaded the entire week and barricaded my house.”
“The Mayan calendar represents a beginning and end, not necessarily Armageddon,” I said. “It is like an hour glass filled with sand. When one side of the glass is empty, you turn it over and begin again. The Mayans thought of each cycle as a new beginning.”
“A beginning to what?”
“That’s what we need to find out,” I said while putting the scrolls back into the metal tubes. “I need to return to Harvard and review everything with Professor Benjamin Clarke. He’s an astrophysicist and can verify our calculations and theory.”
“Why wait Willington? You can use my computer now to contact Professor Clarke.”
I hesitated. “No, we can’t use computers or cell phones, not here. This is too important to risk using unsecure lines, and we don’t want to start rumors or a panic.”
“Yes, of course. I also don’t want to load my shotgun again worrying about more crazies.”
It was a long day and the adrenalin from all the excitement had worn off making us tired, so I decided to wait until morning to schedule a flight back to the States. Meanwhile, Manco went outside to comfort Wanita and urge her to come back inside. She was still upset and he needed to convince her that his sanity has not escaped him. Juan was not very concerned and peeked through the window to observe his parents.
Manco and Wanita needed time alone, so I decided to go to bed now and get a good night sleep. It seemed like only a few minutes passed when Manco woke me up to travel to the airport.
“Do you always get up so early?”
“Yes, of course … don’t you? One should not waste the day Willington.”
“The sun is not even up Manco. How can anyone waste the day before it begins?”
“Nonsense,” he said, then looked over his shoulder to see if anyone else was up. “I think we shall skip breakfast this morning Willington. Better not to wake Wanita and the children.”
That’s guy talk for Manco being in big trouble with his wife.
I got dressed as quickly as possibly, trying not to wake anyone, then jumped into the Jeep. Manco wasn’t the only one who wanted to avoid another family episode.
The ride to Rodríguez Ballón International Airport in Arequipa was an annoying and typical, bumpy ride. The scenery, however, was spectacular making the 172 kilometer trip somewhat bearable. Manco figured since he was going to be in Arequipa, he might as well visit his brother and sister-in-law in the city, so he was in a very good mood.
Along the way, I purchased a one-way air fare using my cell phone because my current return ticket had a later departure date and couldn’t be used. The airline was kind enough to issue me a full credit toward the new ticket because it wasn’t a direct flight. There was, however, an overnight layover in Las Vegas, so I also booked a hotel on the strip. I’ve never been in Las Vegas and thought this was a good opportunity to check the city out and relax before restarting my busy life in Boston.
“Willington, you will keep me well informed of what you learn back in the States, won’t you? If something is going to happen, I would like to know about it.”
“You’re a dear friend and colleague Manco, and you were with me at the Gates of the gods. Not only will I keep you informed, but your name will appear on any publication should any of this ever make press.”
Manco made a big smile and began singing loudly in his deep voice. He sung in Spanish and every few minutes broke into English. I tried to join in on the English verses the best I could, but my timing was off and the sounds I made could hardly be called singing.
We arrived at the airport and Manco walked with me into the building near the security gate. He grabbed both of my shoulders, squeezed them so tight I thought they would dislocate, and then embraced me.
“Stay safe old friend,” he said.
When Manco stepped back, I saw tears building up in his eyes. This was a man I could always count on no matter what. He was more than a friend. He was a brother to me.
I smiled. “You stay safe too Manco. Take care of your beautiful family.”
“Yes, of course I will Willington.”
Manco turned and began singing another local song again as he walked away. He sang loud enough to cause people to turn, and a few tried to join in on a few notes as he passed by. I was already beginning to miss him.
After getting my ticket at the airport KIOSK machine, I stood in the security line and waited my turn to be scanned. I understood the artifact in my backpack might cause concern, so I prepared myself to explain what it was. Sure enough, when my bag went through the scanner, a red light lit up and a buzzer sounded. Two security guards asked me to step aside while they looked inside my backpack. I did as they instructed, smiling of course to not increase their concern, and watched a guard take the artifact out. This will be interesting. The guard examined the artifact with a confused expression.
“What is this Señor?” the guard asked.
“Oh, that … it’s a souvenir I purchased from an artist friend of mine in Puno.”
The security guard called a couple of his buddies over to take a look and they all began conversing among themselves in Spanish. Even though I don’t speak Spanish well, I could tell by their body language that they were not only confused, but also didn’t know what to do with a 12 inch transparent rod being brought aboard an airplane.
One of the guards ran a metal detector wand over it a couple of times. After a few minutes, and more discussion in Spanish, the guard returned the artifact to my bag. He thanked me for visiting his country, apologized for the delay, and waved me through the gate to board my flight.
It wasn’t long before the plane was airborne. I decided to take a long nap, hopefully all the way to Las Vegas. I must have been really tired, because when I opened my eyes, I was looking at the Vegas tarmac – that was a very long nap.
My legs felt like rubber from sitting so long. I wasn’t sure if I could stand without falling into another passenger, but did okay, thus managing to keep my dignity. The stewards said their typical, “Bye bye, enjoy your stay,” and I was off to catch a cab.
When I stepped outside of the airport, there were five cabs lined up waiting for business. Unfortunately for me, I happened to get a cab with its air-conditioning not working – not a lucky sign for being in Vegas. It was a hot night with enough humidity to soak an Olympic sized pool. All I could think of was air conditioning and an ice cold beer.
