Chapter 35

Sam glowed with anticipation as the bus slowed to a stop outside the hotel. She couldn’t wait to tell Daniel about the artifact that she’d stumbled upon in the small village shop. Even though the shopkeeper seemed certain that it was only a reproduction, something about its intricately done pictographs bore a striking resemblance to something she’d seen beforehand. Overall, Sam didn’t have much of an idea of what they represented but she didn’t doubt that Daniel might know. Even if he didn’t, he would definitely be intrigued – or so she thought.

She practically launched herself out of her seat and flew off of the bus, not caring to notice the curious expressions of the other passengers. She raced up the steps and into the hotel, slowing to a stop in front of the elevators. She pushed the “up” button and waited for all of ten seconds before deciding that she’d waited long enough and opting to take the stairs up the four floors instead.

On the way up to the top floor, she began thinking about how she would tell Daniel about it and what his reaction might be. She formulated possible scenarios and then dashed them away in frustration, assuming that he was probably still downstairs in the library and would get back some time after her. She grinned inwardly and hoped that she wouldn’t have to go back downstairs and drag him out of there. As she reached the honeymoon suite, she quickly glanced at her watch. It was five o’clock on the dot.

She dug her room key out of her purse and was about to insert it when she realized that the door was open. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she grabbed the door handle and began wondering if she’d failed to lock it before they parted ways. She certainly hoped not.

She pushed the door open and, just after she’d set one foot inside the room, she halted in her tracks. Her eyes widened and she drew in a quick breath upon finding Daniel already back, sitting at the small round table and reviewing some handwritten notes.

Before she could react, he turned and regarded her with slight surprise, his eyebrows raised. “Sam,” he started. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”

Sam stared at him for a moment and then affected a sheepish smile. “I … uh, it’s okay. To be honest, I didn’t expect to find you back already,” she said, recovering.

Daniel gave her a slightly teasing grin. “You thought you’d have to drag me out of there, didn’t you?”

“Pretty much,” Sam replied, grinning back.

Daniel ducked his head briefly, then looked back up at her and nodded with a dry smile on his face.

Sam finally closed the door behind her and looked at him earnestly. “Daniel, I have something to show you,” she blurted out.

Daniel’s smile faded. His eyes darted quickly down to his notes and then back in Sam’s direction as his smile returned. “I have something to show you, too,” he said vaguely, motioning her over to him.

Sam tried to put the excitement of her find temporarily on hold and made her way up to him. She looked curiously down at the notebook he was leafing through. “Find something interesting?”

His gaze met hers and an extremely pleased grin lit up his face. “I sure did,” he began, excitement flooding into his voice. “I found some books on archaeology and Mayan culture detailing most of the ruins not just in this area, but in the entire country. Most of these I had already visited at some point, but there was one temple that seemed unfamiliar somehow.”

Sam briefly raised her eyebrows and then grinned at him. “That sounds like a first,” she teased.

Daniel ignored her as he began flipping the pages of the notebook and continued, “I read some more about it and something about it came back to me. I realized why it was so unfamiliar: I’d never gotten the chance to visit it.”

Sam looked at him curiously.

“Ah, the last time I visited the area back in graduate school, we didn’t have time to cover every single ruin. It was in a very remote location and we were already behind schedule in our excavations. At that time, it hadn’t been studied a whole lot and I was just itching to get in there and find out what mysteries lurked inside its worn outer shell.” He finished his colorful description with an awkward little chuckle, earning an affectionate smile from Sam. His face then became serious. “I was really disappointed. I tried more than once to get the professors to change their minds, but they were adamant that we had to stick to our schedule.”

Sam nodded slightly, noticing the melancholy tinge to his eyes. “So, what did you learn about this temple?” she asked, moving on.

Daniel shook himself out of his reflective state and focused his eyes back on the notebook. “Well, it still hasn’t been studied very extensively, but from what little is documented, it appeared to have been built in reverence to one of the gods.”

Sam looked at him expectantly. “Which one?”

Daniel looked at her uncertainly at first and then turned back to the notebook. His brow creased in frustration as he scanned his notes. “Ah … actually, it wasn’t mentioned anywhere.”

Sam’s expression matched his perfectly. “And, based on that, you think there could be something there that might correlate with your theory?”

“I’m hoping so,” he said, trying to sound upbeat. “It’s been excavated so little, who knows what might be there? I think there’s at least a fifty-fifty chance and that we really need to check it out.”

Sam looked at him, still not quite convinced.

“Sam, this theory is very important to me,” he continued soberly. “If we don’t have enough evidence, no one is going to take us seriously. Yes, we did find a lot of intriguing things in Egypt, but it’s not enough. We need evidence on a broad scale for people to even consider that we might be on to something. Trust me, I know.”

Sam studied his face and realized there was much more hidden behind the meaningful expression, as well as the serious tone with the hint of sadness in it. Her eyes became tinged with concern. “Daniel?” she asked softly.

Daniel drew in a deep breath and quietly let it out. “I’d first posed this theory not long after I earned my doctorate in Anthropology. My advisor thought it was a bit ‘out there’ but nevertheless, he encouraged me to go on, even if it was half-hearted encouragement. Despite the fact that similar theories had been floated around for almost ten years before, the scientific community didn’t seem all that impressed. Sure, I’d published my paper, but much of the criticism I received was pretty harsh. I suspected I didn’t have quite enough evidence to back up my claims and wasn’t really taken very seriously as a result. I wanted to perform some excavations, dig a little deeper in hopes that I’d find more evidence, but the loss of my grants and support were a huge blow and I just didn’t push it anymore.” He sighed as if a huge weight had been removed from his chest.

Sam gazed at him sympathetically, a bit unsure of what to say.

“That’s why this is so important to me,” he continued quietly. “We shouldn’t leave any stone unturned.”

Sam nodded slightly and then leaned down and put her arms around him. She planted a kiss on top of his head and smiled inwardly as she witnessed the appreciative look in his eyes. “I know, Daniel,” she said. She gazed at him for a moment longer, then remembered her earlier impatience and suddenly felt as if she was going to burst if she didn’t tell Daniel about the jar.

Daniel noticed her expression and a small smile graced his lips. “Now what do you have to show me?” he asked.

“I was in a shop in the village center, just looking for souvenirs for Dad and Sara when I spotted something towards the back. It was a piece of pottery … a jar.”

Daniel’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “A jar?”

Sam nodded. “Uh-huh. I didn’t know what it was at first, but it looked like one of those artifacts in the pictures of the books we were looking at, especially with the pictures – pictographs,” she corrected herself.

Daniel eyed her seriously. “You think it could be Mayan?” he asked quietly.

“Yes! Actually, I’m pretty certain that it is. I showed it to the shopkeeper and he told me it looked Mayan. He insisted that it was a reproduction, though.”

“Did he have any idea of what the drawings depicted?” Daniel continued.

Sam shook her head. “No. He said he didn’t have an archaeological background. Whatever they were, they looked interesting and I asked him to hold it for me.”

“Can we see it? I mean, today?” Daniel asked earnestly.

An affectionate little smile worked its way onto Sam’s face. “I thought you would ask that,” she winked before giving a nod. “The shop is open until eight, so I told him we would come for it either this evening or early tomorrow.”

“Great,” Daniel said. “I’m starting to get hungry. Why don’t we have an early dinner, and then we can take the bus into the village?”

“Sounds good,” she smiled.

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After dinner, Sam and Daniel were on the bus heading for the village center, back to the shop where Sam had been earlier. Daniel seemed quite anxious about her potential find and it made her laugh affectionately to herself.

Daniel caught her quiet snickering and lifted a curious eyebrow. “What?” he asked suspiciously.

Sam blushed faintly and coughed, but she was unable to rid herself of the huge grin on her face. “Sorry, Daniel. I just … I love seeing you so excited.”

Daniel’s raised eyebrow lifted even higher.

“I mean, I’m excited about it, too. I’m obviously no archaeologist, but the jar looked intriguing and, if it might actually help us, it’ll be even more exciting. After what you told me about the fate of your theory, seeing you so anxious and excited about this makes me happy,” she clarified, ending on a somewhat awkward note.

Daniel rewarded her with a somewhat shy smile and he slipped an arm around her. “Well, if it does help us, I just might make you an honorary archaeologist, Dr. Sam,” he said playfully.

“Can you do that?” Sam asked, grinning.

“Oh, I think I could find a way – might have to pull a few strings here and there, but I don’t see any problem with that,” he continued teasing before he pulled her closer to him.

Sam managed to let a few soft giggles escape before Daniel kissed her softly on the lips. She was about to pull him in for another kiss when the bus driver announced that they had reached the village center.

The newlyweds blushed faintly and pulled apart, Daniel clearing his throat awkwardly before they vacated their seats and headed for the front of the bus.

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“What did you say the name of the shop was again?” Daniel asked Sam for perhaps the fifteenth time.

Sam grinned and shook her head. “Fine Crafts and Gifts.”

“’Fine Crafts and Gifts’? I-I mean, are you sure about that?”

“Yes! Daniel, this has to be the fifteenth time you’ve asked me that question in the last twenty minutes!” she exclaimed.

“No need for hyperbole, Sam,” Daniel muttered, sounding effectively castigated. “I just want to make sure we know where we’re going.”

Sam briefly rolled her eyes and snorted, amused.

Daniel ignored her and rambled on, “I think we’ve seen a handful of shops with that name already, or at least a slight variation on the name. No offense to the owner, but couldn’t he have come up with a more unique name? I mean, it’s almost six-thirty, and –“

Sam sighed. “Daniel,” she said sharply. His rambling ended abruptly and he looked at her curiously. Sam continued, “Calm down. We’ll find it, okay? I was there just two hours ago. I remember exactly where it is. It’s just on the edge of the center.” Her stern tone became gentle. “We will find it,” she repeated.

Daniel looked at her for a moment and then blushed, ducking his head. “I’m sorry, Sam,” he said sheepishly. “I guess I’ve turned into a real pest, haven’t I?”

Sam smiled sympathetically. “No, it’s okay. I understand how excited you are to see this. I just want you to trust me when I say I know where it is and we’ll find it before it closes.”

Daniel looked back up at her and gave her a faint smile. “Okay.”

Sam squeezed his arm before they began walking again. Familiarity suddenly colored her eyes and she picked up her pace a bit. “There it is,” she exclaimed, pointing to a small, whitewashed structure with a bright, pastel-colored awning and unmistakable sign that read “Fine Crafts and Gifts.”

Two minutes later, they were inside the shop and Sam was looking for the man who’d helped her earlier on. She smiled as she spotted him at the far end of the counter, not far from where she’d seen the pottery. Daniel was studying a small, handcrafted trinket box when he felt Sam tap him on the shoulder. He obediently put it back down and followed her to the counter.

Sam’s smile became somewhat shy when she drew closer to the owner, who was smiling warmly once he recognized her. “Hi,” she began. “I was here earlier this afternoon … Samantha Jackson?”

Daniel’s eyebrows did a quick little leap off of his forehead when he picked up on Sam’s new moniker. He decided he liked it very much, just as she had.

“This is my husband, Dr. Daniel Jackson,” Sam continued to the shopkeeper. “We’re interested in that jar with the Mayan drawings.”

“Ah, yes, the Mayan replica,” the man replied. “I keep it for you over here, Señora.” He turned around, bent down, and carefully removed the jar from a bottom shelf behind the counter. He handed it to Sam, who in turn held it out for Daniel.

Daniel took hold of the jar and gazed at it intently, studying the pictographs on all sides of the object as he rotated it around in his hands. For some reason, it didn’t seem like a reproduction to him. His brow furrowed in thought as he scrutinized them and at last his eyes widened almost in awe.

“Daniel? What is it?” Sam asked.

His blue eyes were bright in excitement. “I think this might help us,” he said very quietly, almost as if he didn’t want the shopkeeper to hear.

“Señor?” Speaking of which, the tanned, older man had noticed Daniel examining the jar as well as his subsequent enthusiasm. “She told me you are an archaeologist. You know what these mean?” he asked, gesturing to the drawings.

Daniel glanced tentatively at the man before speaking. Finally he said, “Well, I don’t have a complete grasp on it, but the Mayan god depicted here is Zipacna.” He glanced back at the shopkeeper and, upon noticing his expectant expression, continued, “Ah, he was known as the ‘Evil Mountain God’ and was the son of Vucub-Caquix, the ‘Underworld God.’ He was … ah … quite a baddie, too, as far as gods go.”

“With a name like ‘Evil Mountain God,’ I guess I’m not surprised,” Sam remarked.

Daniel nodded quickly. “Yes, he was extremely arrogant and nasty. Four hundred brave, young warriors were sent by the gods to kill him. He ended up killing them by sitting on them and didn’t think anything of it.”

Sam winced. “Ouch. What a way to go.”

“Ay caramba,” the shopkeeper muttered.

“As the story goes, he came to a rather nasty end. The ‘Hero Twins,’ Xbalanque and Hunahpu, made him a big, delicious crab for dinner. They told him it was ready and while he was salivating over it, they chopped down a nearby mountain just as we might chop down a tree. The mountain toppled over and crushed him.”

“Wow,” Sam said thoughtfully.

The shopkeeper nodded. “And is this story depicted on here?” he asked, gesturing once more to the jar.

“Ah, no … not exactly,” Daniel replied. “From what I can tell, it shows people making sacrifices to Zipacna, bowing down before him in an almost servile manner. I could probably learn more after studying it further,” he said, making his answer vague almost deliberately.

The other man nodded. “I see.”

“Anyway, it’s a great piece,” Daniel continued, giving the owner a slight smile. “We have a nice little collection of artifacts back home and I’m sure this will make a nice addition. How much do you want for this?”

“Oh … uh … fifty dollar,” he shrugged.

Daniel’s brow furrowed and he exchanged a perplexed glance with Sam. “Are you sure? I mean, this is a great piece,” he repeated. “If it turns out that …”

“Daniel, let’s not haggle,” Sam interrupted, afraid that he’d let something more about the inscriptions slip. She reached into her purse and counted out fifty Belizean dollars. Daniel’s mouth was slightly open in protest, but she promptly handed the money over to the kind storeowner. “Thanks so much for holding this for us,” she added, giving him a grateful smile.

The man smiled back and took the jar from her, wrapping it in paper so it would survive their ultimate journey home. “No problem. There you are, Señora,” he said kindly, handing it back to her. He then turned to Daniel. “So, you are an archaeologist, yes? Where are you from?”

“Oh, ah, we’re from the United States … Colorado,” Daniel replied. “I teach archaeology and anthropology at a university there.”

The shopkeeper nodded thoughtfully. “Very interesting,” he mused before turning to Sam. “And you are not an archaeologist?”

Sam chuckled awkwardly. “Oh, no. I’m an astrophysicist.”

The man grinned at her. “You are both scientists!” he exclaimed, amused. “You are perfect for one another!”

Sam and Daniel exchanged smiles and then looked back at him. Daniel chuckled awkwardly as a faint blush stained his cheeks. “Thank you.”

The man nodded and smiled as he returned the wrapped jar to them. “If that will be all, I wish you good night,” he said genially.

Daniel accepted the jar and smiled. “Thank you again … oh, actually there is something else I was interested in.” He handed the jar to Sam and headed back to a small display, picking up the small trinket box he’d been interested in earlier. She watched him curiously as he made his way back to her, gave the box to the man, and paid for it.

“Daniel?” she asked him, handing the jar back to him once they were outside the shop.

“For you,” he said simply, a tender smile on his face. He removed the box from its bag and handed it to her. “These are Mayan symbols of love and devotion,” he said, gesturing to the glyphs inscribed on the top of the box. “I thought it would be perfect for you.”

Sam’s mouth slightly dropped open, just a bit surprised in reaction to the gift.

“You are amazing, Sam. You have been so supportive to me in doing this research, even as it intrudes in on our honeymoon.”

Sam felt a pang of guilt inside her. “Oh, no, Daniel, don’t say that …” she began.

“Okay,” he relented. “But the point is you’ve been so supportive of me ever since I presented this theory to you. You’ve taken a real interest in my work, which is a lot more than I can say for many of the people that I’ve known. You were at my side, helping me unearth and study evidence in Egypt before we were married. And finally, you brought this artifact to my attention. You want to help me uncover and provide knowledge of something that could conceivably challenge not only what we’ve known about our history here on Earth for hundreds, even thousands of years, but about our status in the universe; maybe even what the future holds for us. I have no doubt that we are about to become involved in something great and I’m glad that you’re with me one-hundred-percent.” He finished his enthusiastic speech and gave Sam a slow, tender kiss.

“Oh … my,” Sam started, not expecting the kiss. A huge grin lit up her face. “You know I’m happy to be a part of this, Daniel. I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity than to study something of this magnitude.”

“Then it’s okay if we check out that temple tomorrow?” he asked with a hopeful smile.

“Yes,” she nodded before giving him a small kiss on the cheek. “You have it planned?”

Daniel nodded. “One of the tour guides who works for the hotel is familiar with the area. He will take us out there tomorrow morning. The temple is located in an inland area about sixty miles northwest of here, so it will take close to an hour for us to get there. I think that if we leave by about eight o’clock we’ll have plenty of time out there. Does that sound okay?”

Sam looked at him for a moment and then nodded. “I think so,” she smiled.

Daniel thought he picked up on a slight trace of disappointment in her voice. “Don’t worry; we’ll spend the rest of the honeymoon relaxing. I promise.”

Sam’s smile broadened and she gave him another kiss before they started making their way back to the center of the village to get the bus back to the hotel.

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Sam sat at the table in their room with her arms folded on top and her head resting down on them. She drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out as she watched Daniel write in his notebook as he’d been doing almost nonstop for what seemed like an hour. Ever since they’d returned to the hotel, he’d been absolutely poring over it. He explained exactly what the pictographs represented to her, which was undeniably fascinating, but the rest of the time was spent with Daniel muttering to himself as he went back over them and took notes. It was now after 8 PM. Sam was beginning to grow restless and she wanted to go out and stretch her legs. She also thought he could use a little break.

“Daniel,” she muttered wearily.

Daniel finally looked up from his notes and raised his eyebrows, regarding her curiously. “Sam?”

“Do you think you can put that down for a minute?” she asked. “I’d like to take a little walk around the grounds, maybe the nature trails.” His unchanged expression prompted her to continue, “There’s a gorgeous sunset out there. Come on, we both need a little break.”

Daniel met her gaze and his lips edged upward into a faint smile. “Okay,” he said softly. He was given a grateful smile in return as he wrapped the jar back up in its paper, set it aside, and put his notebook down.

Ten minutes later, they were strolling down the nature trails, taking in the soft, beautiful glow of the sunset and ensuing twilight. The breezes were warm and light, the air was heavy with the perfume of orchids and other native flora, and the only sounds were that of the water gently lapping at the shore, the unmistakable calls of the katydid, and the voices of occasional passers-by.

Sam smiled as she admired the beautiful flowers and scenery. She felt Daniel put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him as their gait slowed somewhat. “So, you think we might be on to something here?” she asked quietly, referring to the pictographs on the jar.

Daniel briefly looked around to make sure no one was following them. “Yes, I do. The symbols located near the representation of Zipacna are very faint, so I’m not absolutely sure, but they do seem to resemble the ones we found in the burial chamber in Egypt. And …” He came to a halt as a younger couple walked briskly past them. He waited until they were practically gone from sight before continuing, “… I think there’s a decent chance that, if this temple ends up being associated with Zipacna, we might be able to find more concrete evidence in there. Actually, it doesn’t even have to be associated with him. He might still be depicted in the drawings. This isn’t a ‘eureka!’ type of find, no, but it does add one tiny piece to the puzzle. At least we know that there is a sign of some correlation with what we found in Egypt.”

Sam nodded thoughtfully as they came to a stop in front of a beautiful flowering hedge. Daniel suddenly brought himself very close to her. “I think that jar might not be a reproduction, Sam,” he said in a tone barely above a whisper.

Sam’s eyes grew wide. “What?” she asked.

“I don’t know what it is, but when I first touched it, it seemed old – the look and even the ‘feel’ of it seemed too old to simply be a reproduction. I think it could actually be a Mayan artifact.”

“Oh, my God,” Sam breathed. “The shopkeeper kept insisting to me that it was a reproduction. I wouldn’t have been very interested in it, if not for the fact that the drawings reminded me of what we found in Egypt. But, you think it could be real?”

“I’m leaning in that direction,” Daniel said, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. “Right now, I can at least tell that it’s old. If that is the case, it would be unlikely that whoever made this would have seen the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Cross-pollination of ancient cultures could be a factor here, but the fact that it’s old means that it is most likely Mayan.”

Sam smiled and nodded; glad to see that Daniel was being so optimistic. Not that she wasn’t optimistic herself, but it was good to see Daniel happy nonetheless. They continued strolling the grounds, arm in arm, taking in the lush tableau around them and the almost complete stillness.

They retired to their room about forty minutes later, deciding that they should get a good night’s sleep after their long day and in anticipation of their potentially longer day to follow. As they eased into bed, Daniel confirmed their plans to Sam once again, reiterating that he was certain that they would find something very interesting in the temple. Sam agreed and told him that she couldn’t wait to start exploring. They snuggled together and, after an almost unending goodnight kiss, were both out like a light.

That night, Sam had an interesting dream. She and Daniel were clawing their way through dense thickets, getting stuck by thorns and eaten alive by mosquitoes. Finally, they reached a clearing and found an old, imposing Mayan temple stretched out before them. It was so large that she couldn’t see the top of it. It was as if it went straight through the clouds. There was a man standing next to a ski lift that they had to take in order to get to the top. They paid him for the ride and Sam realized he was the shopkeeper who sold them the jar.

After the lift deposited them at the top, they entered the temple and began a trek through a series of twisted labyrinths. Their journey was very long and frustrating, but they finally seemed to reach an end, only to have their path blocked off by a giant wearing the costume of a Mayan god, such as those she’d seen depicted in the books. There seemed to be pure hatred in his eyes and he regarded them with an air of smugness.

“You cannot pass,” he boomed haughtily, his arms folded across his chest.

“Ah … w-why not?” the ever inquisitive Daniel asked. Sam shut her eyes as a sense of dread welled up within her. He was sure to get them killed now.

“Because,” the as-of-yet-unknown god exclaimed, “all I need is thirty minutes of your time!” He was now smiling and his tone became exceedingly friendly.

Sam and Daniel exchanged curious looks.

“Have you ever been introduced to the wonderful, exciting world of timeshare??” he continued in a car salesman voice as he shoved an oversized brochure in their faces.

“Ah, look, we really need to be going,” Daniel said awkwardly.

“What the …?” Sam breathed as she bolted straight up in bed. She looked down and to her left, noticing Daniel sound asleep and snoring softly. “Okay, that was weird,” she said, recalling the dream she’d just had. She wondered what it meant, if it meant anything at all. She shook her head and decided that she was just excited about exploring the temple with Daniel. Her last thought before she drifted back to sleep was that she hoped it would be worth it.


To Chapter 36

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