A pinging sound could be heard coming from her computer.
That was quick.
Billie sat down and looked at her computer screen. Its advanced program, designed specifically to develop answers about the theoretical race known as the Master Builders, had discovered something about the room, but what, she had no idea.
Do you wish to read the report now? Y/N?
She clicked yes, and instantly several pictures of the roof of the chamber began filling the screen. The emphasis of each image appeared to be the blue glowing light at the center. It resonated from a ball, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but capable of resonating enough light to allow them to see throughout the entire pyramid. The same unexplained light source radiated down from the inside of what must have been the pyramid’s capstone, and then passed the missing scepter on the king’s sarcophagus, and then through the narrow shaft that extended eight levels below, to the bottom of the pyramid.
Yes, I already know there’s no logical explanation for the light.
Billie flicked through the slideshow. Slowly at first, and then faster, before she spotted it. Something was changing in each slide, but it wasn’t until she had clicked through more than a dozen that she realized what it was.
Holy fuck — somebody’s been watching us.
At the center was the source of the blue light, and where the perfectly round, blue crystal sparkled like a diamond, stood a shadow. The shadow formed and then moved throughout a number of slides, as though someone — or something — had been watching them.
“Tom, we’ve got trouble.” She shouted the words without thinking about who was listening.
Tom walked across the room, his camera still in his hand, and replied, “What have you found?”
“Just look at these pictures.”
She watched him flick through four or five images, and then stop. Pointing at one of the little shadows over the stone of light, he asked, “Does that look like something inside keeps moving?”
“Yes. Someone’s been watching us while we work!”
Opening the black bag strewn on the floor next to the laptop, Tom withdrew a chisel and hammer. Climbing on top of the enormous sarcophagus, he said, “Whoever they are, their camera’s going to be destroyed in a second.”
“Wait!” Billie said.
“What?”
“Is that wise? I mean, won’t they know that we know they’ve been watching us?”
“Maybe. Or maybe they’ll just see that the lens has been destroyed. Either way, I’d rather them not follow what we’re doing here.”
“What if they come for us?” she asked in no more than a whisper.
“Come for us? We’re nearly 300 feet deep. We have our own dive team manning the diving pod at the entrance of the pyramid. They’re going to notice if someone comes down here.”
“Sure, but what if they’re already here?”
“No way. Did you see any secret hiding places? I mean, we’ve just spent the last two weeks studying this place. It’s all granite. The only way in here is from below the pyramid, the way we came. If someone comes, we’re going to have the upper hand.”
She nodded her head and then said, “You’re right — get rid of it.”
Tom examined the round blue ball, which, now that he really looked at it, appeared similar to the lens of a camera. Without studying it further, he took the hammer and chisel, and struck the corner hard.
Nothing happened.
Tom studied the object again, before striking it with the hammer alone. Nothing, not even a crack. “I’ve got no idea what they made this thing out of, but it’s strong as a rock.”
“Try the masonry behind it. Whoever put it there, probably used a protective cover,” Billie suggested.
He struck it again, but even the masonry seemed firm.
By the fifth attempt, Tom stepped down.
“Here, try this. It’s a diamond tipped chisel. Should slice straight through whatever that is.”
“Thanks,” Tom said, as he picked it up, angled it right at the crystal ball, and struck it with the hammer.
Again, nothing happened.
Tom placed his eye right up to the lens of the crystal. Not even a scratch could be found. Staring at it, despite the light that the ball was emitting, he noticed that it appeared dark inside, giving him the slightest doubt that it even was a camera lens.
“Come on up here. See if you can get a better look at this thing, will you?”
Billie laughed. “Sure. You want me to show you how to break it?”
“I’m not sure you’re going to want to, once you’ve examined it. I mean, the thing looks pretty old. I don’t see it being a camera so much as a looking glass.”
Below him, Billie, started to climb up the sarcophagus. “Whatever it is, there are few materials in existence that can withstand the tip of that chisel.”
Tom stared at the glass again, and then said, “Whoa!” nearly falling backwards off the sarcophagus. “What did you just touch?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“It wasn’t nothing. And it just changed the view inside the ball!”
“What the fuck do you mean, changed the view inside the ball?” Billie said, her nostrils flaring as she tried and failed to climb up to see it.
“I mean, someone’s been watching this place, all right — and for a very long time!”
Chapter Twelve
Billie’s fingers, unable to reach the top of the enormous sarcophagus, slipped as she tried to climb up its sharp walls.
Tom shuffled down, and asked, “Want a lift?”
“Yeah,” she replied, wishing she didn’t need his help.
“Not a problem,” Tom said, lifting her onto his shoulders.
His hand, she noticed, slipped, catching her butt for support — remaining there a moment longer than it should have. And then he quickly removed it before she said anything. Billie reached further, and caught the top of the stone block, allowing her to climb up.
For a second, she wondered if Tom had meant to place his hand there. The minor indiscretion was soon lost in her desire to see the looking glass.
She stepped up onto her tippy toes, so that she could place her eye right up to the optical lens. On the other side, Billie could see a room. It was similar to the one that she was already in, and at its center, another sarcophagus — only this one didn’t appear Mayan at all.
Forgetting about Tom’s actions, she said, “Do you think that whoever’s been watching us is in the room directly above us?”
“No, I think they’re farther away than that,” Tom replied.
“Farther away? What are you talking about? Now that I’m up here, I can see that this thing is only a few inches long, and clearly shows the room above.”
“That’s not possible. I’ve already done the basic arithmetic, and a few feet above us is the entrance to the pyramid. There’s no way there’s another room. Besides, didn’t you notice that wherever that looking glass seems to end up, it too, looks down upon a room, not up?”
“You’re right,” she said, chiding herself for letting her nerves affect her usual circumspection. “Before, when I was climbing, you said that I did something to change the image here, is that right?”
“Yes, I don’t know what you did, but whatever it was, the ball went from a dark, impenetrable blue, to this clear, window into what appears to me to be another tomb.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Okay, help me down, I’m going to retrace my steps and see if I can change it again.”
“You’re the boss,” he said, without wiping the grin off his face.
Ordinarily, she would have sworn at him for his behavior, but she was too enamored with their discovery to even think about him. He had an attractive face, and was mostly harmless.