Steve Alten - The Mayan Resurrection

‘Yeah. Kirk, I need a favor. I need to get away for a few days. I’ll trade you my car for your Amphibian.’

‘Your ’Vette? You on meds?’

‘It’s just for a few days. I promise I’ll take good care of it.’

‘Sink it for all I care. Belongs to my old man. Fubitchshittingasswipe.’

‘What’s your access code?’

‘Access code… damn… oh yeah.’ He holds up his bare foot. Tattooed to his heel is KP-3757-D.

Lauren memorizes the code. ‘Thanks, Kirk, I owe you. When do they let you out?’

‘ Shifubitchin’ know-it-all tin can mechanical doctor ordered another blood scrub. I told that trash can she can suck my plasma only if she replaces it with BLISS. Ha-ha… hey, ’renman, where you going?’

Hangar 13, Kennedy Space Center,

Cape Canaveral, Florida

Thursday Afternoon

Immanuel Gabriel loses his thoughts in the psychiatrist’s eyes, watching them shift from hazel to green in the overhead lights. The man’s hair is brown and spiked, the cleft lip and telltale scars along the jaw line revealing recent reconstructive surgery.

‘You sure don’t look like a psychiatrist.’

Mike Snyder smiles. ‘And what should a psychiatrist look like?’

‘I don’t know… more scholarly, I suppose. What happened to your face?’

‘Battle scars. I double as one of your brother’s sparring partners. At least I used to. He’s way beyond us mere mortal foes these days.’

Immanuel sits up in the lounge chair, his head still woozy from the sedative. ‘So you’re Jake’s psychiatrist? Bet he plays head games with you.’

‘Only all the time. On occasion he might let something slip, but usually he only confides in Dr. Mohr or Grand Master Xiong. Jacob’s very sure of himself. Even as a fourteen-year-old, he always came across as if he knew exactly who he was and what he needed out of life. And he’s not one to lose his cool.’

‘Unlike me.’

Dr. Snyder grins. ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself. If someone told me I was getting on that spaceship bound for God-knows-where, I’d have popped a few too many meds, too. What you can’t do is allow yourself to be drawn into your brother’s psychosis.’

‘Psychosis?’ Immanuel perks up. ‘Then you don’t believe this whole Mayan Hero thing?’

‘Do I believe you and Jake are unique individuals-absolutely. Do I believe the two of you were somehow the subject of a Mesoamerican tale written five hundred years ago? No.’

‘But Jake believes it.’

‘Jake’s mind absorbs everything like a sponge. Unfortunately, this Mayan mythology thing has been ingrained into his psyche since birth. It’s become part of his dementia and his persona, and it’s now impossible to separate the two.’

‘But… I heard my father’s voice.’

‘Think about it, Manny. Where were you at the time?’

‘In a holograph suite… programmed by my brother, that cocksucker! But wait, the Guardian’s starship-how can you deny that?’

‘Who’s denying it? An ancient alien spaceship was excavated from Mexico. From what I’m told, it’s been buried for at least ten thousand years. Is it one of the greatest, if not the greatest discovery in man’s brief history? Absolutely. Does its existence have anything to do with your late father? Probably, since he was the one who discovered it.’

‘Then you don’t believe Jake and I are destined to board that ship and leave orbit in four days?’

‘In that ship?’ Dr. Snyder snorts a half laugh. ‘Listen, Dr. Mohr believes in this Mayan nonsense as much as Jacob, but even he’ll tell you those engines haven’t been fired in thousands of years, and trust me, it’s not like NASA hasn’t been trying. The only way that old clunker’s leaving orbit is if we strap it to one of our new Mars transports and tow her into space.’

A huge smile breaks across Immanuel’s face, tears of relief flooding his eyes. ‘Doc, I could kiss you.’

‘Save it for your mother. She’s the one who needs it.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Jake may be a cold fish when it comes to his feelings, but your mother’s torn up inside. Imagine spending twenty years of your life, holding on to the slimmest of hopes that the only person you’ve ever loved, a man who disappeared before your very eyes, might still be alive. It’s like telling the wife of a POW not to move on with her life because her missing husband might return. Look at the life your mother’s led. Isolated from the public, unable to see one son, the other in a world all his own, with no social life of her own to speak of. Not knowing what to think about Mick’s death, your mother’s refused to allow herself to get involved in another relationship, to say nothing about how she’s made herself available to Jacob’s every whim.’

‘It’s always been like that. I’m guessing Jake has her convinced we’re flying off to Xibalba in four days.’

‘Which means in four days he’ll suddenly be confronted by the reality of his own psychosis, and it’s going to tear him apart. Your mother knows what’s coming, and it scares her to death.’

Manny pinches away tears. ‘Where is she? I want to see her.’

Soft pink sand.

A tranquil lagoon, its small, soothing waves lapping at their ankles.

Dominique is holding Mick’s hand. She stares lovingly at his tan face, the golden rays of the setting sun dancing in his ebony eyes.

‘Mother?’

Mick looks at her with a sad smile. ‘You have to go.’

‘Mother, can we talk?’

Dominique removes the virtual-reality headgear, squinting into the hallway light.

‘I’m sorry,’ Manny says. ‘Am I disturbing you?’

‘Computer, lights.’ The overhead lights come up gradually. She sits up from the couch, then ejects the VR program. ‘How’re you feeling? We were all worried about you.’

‘I’m okay.’

‘I’m sorry Jake’s driving you crazy. I should have never let him talk me into bringing you here. All I ever wanted for you was to live a normal life.’

‘Ma, it’s okay.’ He sits next to her. ‘It’s you I’m worried about.’

She flashes a false smile. ‘Since when?’

He swallows the lump in his throat. ‘I realize now how hard it’s been for you… you know, being without Mick, seeing your family separated. Pushing you to let me go only made things worse.’

‘Your instincts were right. What I did… what I allowed Jacob to do was wrong.’

‘Jake manipulated you, just like he’s always manipulated me.’

‘It wasn’t just Jake, I believed it, too. I mean, how could I not, with everything that had happened. When your father first left me, I honestly believed he was still alive. I can’t describe the feeling, but somehow I just knew he was around, I could feel this terrible tugging in my heart. But as the years passed the feeling subsided. Your father’s dead, Manny. I’ve come to accept that now.’

‘And all Jake’s training, all this nonsense about taking a journey?’

‘All my fault. I was confused… I should have never allowed him to read your grandfather Julius’s journal. It’s become the basis of his psychosis. By the time I realized what I’d done, it was too late.’

‘I’m sure GOLDEN FLEECE made things worse. These scientists are using Jake’s delusions to get what they want. Why did you go along with it?’

‘Why? Because I had no choice. The two of you have always had enemies. Weeks before we set up your phony deaths, the FBI caught a terrorist cell that was planning to launch a crude biological weapon at our home. Living in the compound-we were sitting ducks. Dr. Mohr supported Jacob’s training in exchange for your brother’s cooperation, allowing them access to the starship. Jacob feels safe here. He said he never felt safe on Longboat Key. How could I deny him that?’