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“Nobody moves,” said Kip. He pulled his Snakeskin helmet onto his head.
Spider and Danielle heard the hiss as the helmet sealed into the neck of the suit.
“I’m going to check out the generator,” Kip said, through the helmet speaker. The amplified voice echoed eerily in the cavern.
Kip tugged on the cord a few times and then unscrewed the gas cap. He shook the generator, listening for the liquid sound of gas in the tank. Nothing, it was empty. He kicked the generator in frustration.
“Out of gas,” he said, moving back to his two friends, scaring them in the dark.
“Christ, make some noise when you creep up on somebody!” yelled Danielle.
“Sorry. I’m going to search for another way out,” said Kip. “How is the flashlight, Spider?”
Spider flicked it on. The light was dim but steady. “Looks good for now.”
“Save it, we might need the light later. Just move back to the altar while I recon this place. I can see in the dark with my Snakeskin wireframe.”
“Let’s go,” said Danielle, grabbing Spider’s arm in hers. “Let Kip do his thing. You can tell me how much you missed me after all these years.”
“Don’t screw around, Dani. We’re going to die in this place,” said Spider.
“Don’t even go there, Spider. We’re getting out of this. Believe it,” she said, firmly.
Spider flashed his light forward, and they walked towards the altar like a bride and groom. Spider reached the altar first. He leaned on the side of the great stone slab, facing away from the dead body of Fleming. Danielle slipped in beside him, still holding his arm.
“I’m going to turn the light off now,” said Spider.
“Good. I love the dark,” said Danielle.
Spider snapped off his light. “Maybe we can see some light somewhere, when our eyes adjust to the dark.”
“You were always the optimist, Spider.”
“Hoping you’d come back into my life.” said Spider, running his hand along Danielle’s forearm.
“Jesus, you’re not making a move on me, are you?” said Danielle, teasing.
“No, of course not. Not really.”
Danielle pulled her arm away from Spider. “Just keep it that way. We’re not dead yet.”
Kip took his time exploring every inch of the grand cavern, searching for a way out. The resolution of his wire frame was enough to highlight all the cracks and fissures in the walls. He had to climb up to each one and probe them with his hands. Several smaller caves branched out from the main cavern, all ending in dead ends. He took his time, patient in his search to make sure he didn’t miss any opportunity for escape. The effort was for naught. He confirmed the worst; there was no way out.
Kip returned to the altar to find his two friends slumped against the side.
“No luck,” he said, unsealing his helmet. “I searched every crack in this place and found nothing. We must find another way out.”
“We’ve been letting our eyes get used to the dark and they are totally adjusted now,” said Spider. “There isn’t a scrap of light in here. I can’t even see my hand.”
“We could wait another thousand years for someone else to discover this temple,” said Kip, with a laugh.
“That’s it!” yelled Danielle. “Spider, give me your flashlight!”
“Sure, here it is. Just don’t drop it.”
Danielle turned on the light and crouched down beside the altar. “Come on and help me scrape the glyphs clean. These pictures show the interior of the cave a thousand years ago. Maybe they show another way out!”
“Damn, you’re right!” said Kip, scrambling down beside her. They rubbed their hands over the carvings, searching for a clue from the distant past.
“This was where the Mayan high priest performed his ritual sacrifices,” he said, pointing at the bas-reliefs that ran along the sides.
They crowded around the altar as Kip brushed away the mushrooms. Gruesome carvings ringed the altar telling a gruesome but vivid story of death, blood and rebirth.
“You’re the intelligence expert, Danielle. Interpret these for us,” said Kip.
Danielle ran her fingers along the moist stone, stained red. “Look here, this is a parade of victims being lead into the cavern. See the stalagmites pointing down here, and here. This is the cave we are in.”
She edged along the altar, her excitement rising as she followed the story before her, “and here is the altar, with the High Priest. Look how big his knife is. Very phallic, boys. Some things don’t change over the centuries.”
“Just get on with it and leave the social commentary for later,” said Kip, nudging her with his knee.
“Sure,” she agreed, moving on to the next glyph. “Here’s the knife taking out the heart. The blood drops turning into mushrooms, like outside. Hey, this is different. Look at this!”
They huddled around the last few carvings as Danielle lightly traced the outline of the figures.
“It’s incredible! The victim is rising from the altar! Look, the guy is standing up, even with the hole in his chest.”
“What does that mean?” asked Spider. “The spirit lives on after death? Traveling to the next world, something like that?”
“Maybe, but the passing to another world of spirits is usually shown with the presence of a death deity, some ruler of the underworld greeting the dead spirits into their domain. There is nothing like that here. No dream world, but the literal presentation of the victim rising up in a triumphant pose here.”
“Look at this picture, just before the victim rises,” said Spider, peering close at the altar. “See the drops of blood, turning into mushrooms and filling the victim’s chest. See that?”
Danielle and Kip leaned closer. They all strained to interpret the ancient meaning before them.
“I see the mushrooms. So you’re saying the mushrooms cured the guy from the loss of his heart?” asked Kip, with a laugh.
“No, of course not. I don’t think so, anyway,” said Spider.
“Mushrooms have hallucinogenic properties,” said Danielle. “Maybe this represents a mass illusion. Maybe the spectators were high on mushrooms and this is what they imagined they saw.”
“It could be the body spasm in that moment of violence as it reacted to the knife. Possible, I guess, if everyone is high. They would see what they wanted to see,” said Spider.
“The obvious interpretation is that these mushrooms are something special. Let’s not forget my father’s claims about the toxin he found,” said Kip, standing up. “These mushrooms have something special in them. That’s why we’re here.”
“Nothing will overcome the loss of your heart, Kip,” said Spider.
“We’re seeing something real and something symbolic here, boys,” added Danielle. “You can’t take this literally. There is a truth here, behind all the propaganda the High Priest wanted to tell his flock of believers. This is as much about controlling his people as telling a true story.”
“Well, all I know is that this poor guy on the altar has mushrooms growing in his chest and he’s not rising from the dead,” said Spider.
“Let’s go back and trace the whole story again. See, here is the entrance to the temple where the slaves were brought forward, down the corridor and under the doorway here,” said Danielle, tracing the path of the chain of humans roped together, paraded all the way from the Mayan city in the distance to the great cavern and the altar.
“They held flaming torches inside here, as they lead the slaves towards the sacrificial altar.”
“And they slaughtered them here, cutting out their hearts and tossing them into the red pool of water.”
“The bodies walk away, still alive,” said Kip, excited.
The exposed end of the altar showed the great pool of water.
“What is this?” asked Spider, looking over Danielle’s shoulder. “See these things, floating on the surface of the water!”
“What could they be?” asked Kip. “Or are they the hearts tossed into the water and jumping around?”
“No. Look, the slaves walk into the water. They’re not being thrown in like the hearts; they are walking into the water.”
The flashlight dimmed and went out.
“Shit, I don’t believe it,” cursed Danielle.
“Give me the light,” said Kip. “He shook it, twisted the top and the light came on, dim but steady.
“We’ve got a few more minutes. Come on, scrape it all off before we lose our light.”
The three of them flailed at the side of the altar, clearing away the mushrooms and debris underneath until the entire end of the altar was exposed. They huddled close, as Kip moved the light across every inch of the intricate carving. Their eyes searched for clues, desperate knowing they had only moments before their light died.
“The pool is the key to the whole ceremony. Look, the hearts go in first, then the slaves march into it, as if they are chasing their hearts, using the death angels to cheat death somehow. If they are shown here as walking into the water, it must go somewhere, don’t you think?” asked Spider.
“The Maya used wells and pits to dump bodies. This could just be a pool to dispose of the dead.”
“But what if these are eyes, waiting for the bodies? I mean, they look like crocodile eyes, don’t you think. They’re waiting for the bodies. Wouldn’t that make you think this pool is fed from a river?”
“Are you sure they are crocodile eyes?” asked Danielle.
“They look like fish to me. Piranha?” said Kip. “Looking for a meal?”
The flashlight flickered and went out.
“Fuck!” yelled Kip. He pounded the light, twisting and banging it, willing it to power the light for just a little more. Nothing. The light was dead.
The three friends sagged to the floor of the cavern in the pitch dark.
“We need to figure out a way out of here,” said Spider.
“There’s nothing to figure out, Spider. We have to decide when we die, that’s all,” said Kip. “The door is jammed shut, this cavern is a dead end, and the pool is poison. Maybe it leads somewhere, maybe not. There is no way to know.”
“It’s not that bleak. We have to think this through,” insisted Danielle.
“Tell you what. You take your time to think, maybe nibble a few mushrooms to clear your mind. I’m going for a swim.” Kip stood up. “And if I’m not back in an hour, you go to the next option on your list.”
“You do not know what’s in that pool, Kip,” said Spider. “How far can you swim in that poison?”
“You should have paid attention when I told you what my Snakeskin armor can do. It gives me a perfect seal. I also have fifteen minutes of air. I can swim a long way in fifteen minutes.”
“It’s suicide, Kip.”
“Like I said, all we’re talking about is the details of our deaths. Once you accept that, you act or accept your fate. If there is a way out, I’ll find it.”
“Go for eight minutes and come back, if you can’t find a way,” said Danielle.
“And what if the river feeding this pool is ten minutes away? Or twelve? No, this is a one way trip. I’ll either find a way out or die.”
“You’re a piece of work, Kip,” said Danielle. “You come back to us, you hear me?”
“Don’t you two go anywhere until I get back, okay?” said Kip.
“If I could see you, I’d kiss you,” laughed Danielle.
“Thank god for darkness,” said Kip.
“Just come back, buddy,” said Spider.
They heard the click and hiss as the Snakeskin helmet sealed to the suit. Kip was on the radio speaker now.
“I’ll knock three times on the door so you know it’s me,” he said, in an electronic dismembered voice. Then they heard a splash, and he was gone.
“Spider, hold my hand,” said Danielle.