Steve Alten - The Mayan Resurrection

And there was war in heaven:

Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world:

He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

– REVELATION 12:7

Excerpt taken from video recording at Harvard symposium*

‘The End of Humanity. Who has time to contemplate such folly? Job security, the falling Dow, overdue bills, our diminishing retirement funds-these are the daily burdens that occupy our minds, not humanity’s extinction.

‘My name is Julius Gabriel. I am an archaeologist, a scientist who hunts humanity’s past in search of the truth. For the last 32 years, my family and I have been searching for the truth behind the Mayan calendar, a 2000-year-old instrument of time and space more accurate than its latter-day European counterpart. Believed to have been created by the mysterious Mayan wise man, Kukulcan, the calendar abruptly ends with humanity’s demise on a date equating to December 21 in the year 2012. As if to remind us of the event, the shadow of a giant serpent will again appear on Kukulcan’s pyramid in Chichen Itza in 29 days, just as it has each autumn and spring equinox for over 1,000 years. Let me assure you, this baffling special effect was not intended as a tourist attraction.

‘Who was the great Kukulcan? The Mayans describe him as a tall, Caucasian man with long, flowing white hair and beard and blazing aqua-blue eyes. Quite the mystery, considering the first white men didn’t arrive in Mesoamerica until the early 1500s… 500 years after Kukulcan’s passing! Adding to this mystery is the fact that, in every successful ancient culture, there has been a great teacher whose description is almost identical to Kukulcan’s. In Giza, Egyptians worshiped this wise man as Osiris, at Stonehenge he was Merlin. In Nazca and Sacsayahuman, the Incas revered him as Virococha, and among the Aztecs he was Quetzalcoatl.

‘Mysterious wise men… each introducing science and civilization to their assigned peoples. The Bible describes them as giants, men of reknown. I’ve identified them as extraterrestrials, humans from another time, another place. And they came here to save us from the cataclysm that will arrive on the winter solstice of 2012.

‘I am not here to debate the existence of ETs and UFOs with Mr. Borgia. As archaeologists, we know real doomsday events have overwhelmed our planet’s inhabitants throughout its history. As scientists, we know our Earth lies within a cosmic shooting gallery of asteroids and comets. We know that 65 million years ago, an asteroid, seven miles in diameter, struck our world at the same ground zero that would eventually become the Mayan homeland, ending the dinosaurs’ 200million-year reign. Was it predestined or an accident? Could such an event happen again? It’s been estimated that 2,000 such civilization killers continue to cross Earth’s orbit, though to date, we’ve only accounted for one in ten.

‘The Mayan calendar was left to us 2,000 years ago as a warning. Should we heed it, then perhaps we can save ourselves from whatever cataclysm lies ahead.

‘Or, as is the nature of our species, we could simply ignore the warning signs until something terrible happens…’

The Dojo is sixty feet long and thirty feet wide, its walls covered in mirrors, its floor made of polished wood. Master Gustafu Pope, fifth-degree black belt and former karate champion of Argentina, turns to his ‘Bushi’ warriors, all seated along one wall in a lotus position. ‘Richard Rappaport. Andrea Smith.’

Hearing her alias, thirty-one-year-old Dominique Vazquez jumps to her feet. Like the rest of Master Pope’s students, the ebony-haired, Hispanic beauty is dressed in full Bogu -protective armor. Her chest and stomach is covered by the Do, her waist in the Tare, her hands and wrists by the Kote gloves. She slips the headpiece known as the Men over her long ponytail, the heavily padded base protecting her face, throat, and the sides of her skull.

In her hand is the Shinai, a sword consisting of four staves of bamboo, joined together at the handle and tip by leather straps. Designed to flex as it strikes an object, the Shinai, though infinitely safer than its predecessors, the Fukurojinai and Bokuto, is still a weapon that can kill.

She takes her place across from her opponent. Rich Rappaport is bigger, stronger, and more experienced than Dominique, but lacks her tenacity.

Master Pope calls out, ‘ Rei.’

The two student combatants face each other and bow.

‘On your marks.’

Bracing their bamboo swords, each moves into a crouching posture.

‘Begin!’

Dominique attacks, shouting out, ‘ Men!’ as she launches an overhead blow to her opponent’s head. Rappaport blocks the strike, but the woman’s furious barrage continues, her Shinai a blur as it lashes out at the man’s forearms and chest. Dominique calls out body-part names before each strike, her brown eyes focused intently on her fellow Kendo student through the bars of her headpiece.

‘Oosh!’ Master Pope awards Dominique a point for a strike to the top of the head.

The two students return to their spots.

‘One to zero. On your marks… begin!’

‘ Kote! ’ Dominique prances ahead, her Shinai raised to strike Rappaport’s forearms ‘ Men! ’ as the tip of her opponent’s sword strikes her in the throat.

‘Oosh!’

Dominique drops to one knee, swallowing hard against the throbbing pain.

Master Pope bends to her. ‘Can you continue, Ms. Smith?’

She nods.

‘One to one. Back to your marks.’

She hustles back to her place, her blood pressure seething.

‘And… begin!’

Dominique is an erupting volcano, her anger raging, her arm and shoulder muscles bulging beneath her armor as she whirls the Shinai at the retreating Rappaport – who deftly blocks each of her strikes, then slices her across the midsection.

‘Oosh!’ Master Pope signals to Rappaport. ‘Two to one, point and match. Rei to me, to each other… and shake hands.’

Rappaport offers his hand, his face expressionless in victory.

Dominique shakes his hand, avoiding the eyes of the senior student.

‘Ms. Smith, may I see you?’

Dominique tucks her headpiece into her gym bag and joins Master Pope in his office. ‘Yes, sir?’