“An alien?” Katiya asked as she turned it back and forth in the light. “Certainly looks like the Hollywood version, doesn’t it?”
Max shook his head. “As exciting as that would be, I’m afraid that’s a simple case of cradle boarding.”
“Cradle boarding?” Rebecca asked.
“Many of the ancient tribes of Central and South America practiced cranial deformation with the use of boards,” he explained.
“He’s right, it was a common practice,” Katiya said, “but I’m not so sure that’s what this is.”
Max gave her a scowl. “What do you mean? Of course it is.”
“To me, it just seems too large. Cradle boarding flattens the skull, but it doesn’t increase the surface area.” She tapped the top with a finger. “Take a look at this.”
Max stepped closer. After examining it, he shrugged. “What?”
“It has only one parietal bone. Usually there are two, divided by a suture.”
“Probably just an anomaly,” Max said.
As the linguist walked away to look at another bone, Amanda turned to Katiya and whispered, “What do you think it is?”
“Obviously I can’t be dogmatic about this,” Katiya admitted, “but I can’t help but think about what happened to Rebecca not far from here.”
Amanda’s brow furrowed immediately. “I’m not sure I follow.”
Katiya glanced around to make sure no one was close by. “Based on my experience, these abductions usually relate to reproductive experimentation.” She held up the skull again. “I think we could be looking at genetic manipulation.”
Amanda’s eyes widened. “That would certainly explain the odd shape.”
“I think it’s possible. But I also think something else is going on.” Katiya squatted and panned her beam around. “I saw something just a moment ago. Ah, there it is.” She grasped another skull and stood up. “Now look at this one.”
Amanda frowned. “What on earth is that?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s a goat.”
“And what does that have to do with anything?
“Did you see the altar upstairs?”
Amanda nodded.
“One of the floor stones in front of it caught my eye. It was square, and a gap ran around all four sides. I’d be willing to bet that if you pried it up, you’d find a chute that connects to this chamber. This could very well be—”
Suddenly she was cut off by the sound of static.
“Your radio,” Amanda said.
Katiya reached into her pocket and pulled it out. A scratchy voice was already speaking. “Tocchet, do you read? Over.”
“Zane,” Amanda said.
Katiya held the radio up to her mouth. “Zane? Zane, can you hear me?”
The operative’s voice came through in broken pieces. “Katiya, this is Zane… hear you… come… understand?”
“Zane?”
There was another burst of loud static, then the radio went silent.
Max walked over. “Sergeant Tocchet has a radio. Maybe he was able to hear what he said.”
“Wait a minute.” Katiya frowned as she directed her flashlight around the room. “Where is he?”
“Where is who?” Amanda asked.
“Sergeant Tocchet. He’s not here.”
“Isn’t he still upstairs?” Artur asked.
Amanda frowned. “I thought I saw him entering the stairwell with you and Rebecca.”
“Not that I remember,” Artur said.
“Strange,” Katiya whispered. “Maybe he is still upstairs.”
“Zane seemed to be telling us something was wrong,” Amanda said. “We need to find a way to get in touch with them.”
“I didn’t hear him say anything was wrong,” Max said. “What makes you think that?”
“It wasn’t what he said, it was how he said it. There was urgency in his voice. Something is definitely wrong.”
“I think she’s right,” Katiya said. “And now we don’t know where Sergeant Tocchet is either. As much as I’d like to stay and sort through some of these bones, we need to get out of here and figure out what’s going on.”
“Let’s go,” Artur said. “If we make contact and find out everything is okay, then we’ll come back.”
As the group moved toward the stairs, Katiya hesitated. Something bothered her. She was forgetting something.
The skull.
She had wanted to take the skull with her. At some point, they could perform DNA analysis and determine what it was. It might hold the key to whatever was going on in this place.
Panning her light around, she finally spotted it near her feet, leaning against a rib cage. Squatting, she set down her radio and her light. Then she rearranged a few items in her pack and stuffed the skull inside.
“Katiya, let’s go!” Amanda said from the steps.
“Coming.”
She wasn’t able to zip the pack completely shut, but it would have to do. After slinging it over her shoulder, she grabbed the light and ran over to the stairs. Amanda was waiting for her, and the two went up together.
The others were already looking for Tocchet when they reached the top. Artur shouted his name several times, but there was no response. Katiya sensed something was wrong. Why would a trained Green Beret just disappear? Maybe he was investigating something on his own.
She turned to the others. “Let’s check outside.”
Amanda looked at her. “Shouldn’t we keep looking up here first?”
“He’s not here,” Katiya said firmly. “He must have gotten the message to go back.”
“So he just left us?” Amanda asked.
“I don’t think he knew we were downstairs. He probably thinks we’re already on our way.”
“She’s right,” Max said. “If he were here, he would’ve heard us shouting.”
“I’m certain he’s out on the trail waiting for us,” Katiya said.
Amanda nodded reluctantly as Katiya led them outside. As they took the stairs down, Katiya noticed that the fog was even thicker now. She frowned. Would they even be able to find the trail?
After reaching the bottom, Max looked at her. “Why don’t you try him on the radio? The signal may have been blocked in the basement.”
Katiya reached into her pocket, then a frown spread across her face. She shook her head and placed a palm on her forehead.
“What?” Max asked.
“I set my radio down when I picked up the skull. It’s still inside.” She looked back toward the temple, frustration written on her face. “I’ll go back in and get it. The rest of you find the trail and get going.”
Max shook his head. “You can’t just go back in there by yourself.”
“I can, and I am,” Katiya said. “Look, we have to have a way to communicate with them once we get back to the clearing. Besides, you’re probably going to find Landon waiting on the trail.”
“I’ll go with you,” he said.
Katiya shook her head. “This is going to take five minutes, tops. I need you to find the trail.”
Max glared at her but said nothing.
“I’ll catch up with you at the airstrip,” she said, turning back toward the temple. “Promise.”
Without waiting for an answer, she sprinted up the steps. After arriving at the top, she took a quick glance behind her. All she could see now was fog.
Good.
As she walked toward the entrance, Katiya’s thoughts turned to Tocchet. Where had he gone? She’d expected him to be outside, within earshot. Despite what she’d told the others, it didn’t make sense that he’d just leave after getting a message from Zane to come back, assuming that’s even what Zane said. A Green Beret would never abandon his team.
Katiya slowed her pace as she entered the room of statues. It seemed darker, more foreboding than before. It was one thing to be in such a creepy place with other people all around you. It was another thing altogether to come by yourself. Maybe she should have taken Max up on his offer. Artur and Amanda could have found the trail just fine without him. But it was too late now.