A great eastern city of the ancient Mayans, Copan was now nothing more than a tiny village of less than five thousand residents forty miles outside of the much larger Departmental Capital, Santa Rosa de Copan. It was in the smaller village that Mr. Markowitz first donned his Virtual Tourist and turned it on.

A map of the area appeared superimposed for half a minute over the picture.

"We are here in the mountainous region of Honduras, near the site of the ancient Mayan City of Copan. It is the home of the Mayan Indian who originally translated the hieroglyphs we found on the artifact, Dis Pater Dis Pater.

"The man, Yaxche, named after the tree of heaven, is said by the locals to be the only one in Copan Departmental who can still accurately translate the earliest forms of pictograms from the ruins of ancient Copan city."

The image on the DMR, taken from the perspective of George Markowitz, showed a dirt road defined by a number of ramshackle houses running down its length, the houses themselves on the verge of ruins.

Sitting on a handcrafted rocking chair at the nearest house was an old man, short, stocky, deeply tanned with black hair and a remarkably round head. He grinned as George approached. Not all of his teeth had survived the many decades of the old Indian's life.

"This is Yaxche," George said.

Yaxche rocked once, twice, and grinned deeper as George arrived at the front of the house. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, and said, "Ahyah. Heloo."

"Good day, sir. I'm George Markowitz from NASA in the United States. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions."

Still grinning like a fool, the old man blinked and replied, "Ahyah."

"You are the man who translated some hieroglyphs for us last summer?"

"Ahyah." He clicked his tongue. "I read some of the old writing. Goozal Kinich Ahua; Inti ba Rahn; Goozal Kukulcan." Goozal Kinich Ahua; Inti ba Rahn; Goozal Kukulcan."

George translated from memory. "Beware the Mighty Door of Kinich Ahua; Eternity is now Before You; Beware the Power of Kukulcan."

"Ahyah. You remember. Very good."

"Thanks. Now, we have heard from some of the scholars in Santa Rosa de Copan that you have in your possession a doc.u.ment that dates back over a thousand years old, but they have not been able to appropriate it from you or this village."

"It is legacy," Yaxche said, still grinning. "Belong to Copan. One day I will pa.s.s on to Mitnal, maybe go with Hunab Ku-I don't know where I will go, who will take me. That day, when I pa.s.s, it will go to my grandson."

Michael wondered why Yaxche grinned so, and then he realized that, to this villager, George must look like some kind of idiot with the Virtual Tourist helmet recorder on his head.

George asked, "Could I see the doc.u.ment, Sir?"

"Ahyah." He turned to face someone off-image, said something in his language, and a boy ran off toward a building down the street.

George turned back to the Indian. "How did this doc.u.ment come into your possession? If you don't mind my asking."

"Ahyah. I was given this gift of legacy by my grandfather, Chictzi, who was given it by his grandfather, Colop, who was-"

"I see."

"Ahyah. Maybe you do."

Waiting for the young boy to return, George asked, "And how old are you now, Yaxche, if you don't mind my asking."

"Ohya. Don't know. Many seasons. Too many for this old man to count. Not to worry. Not many more to count. No. Not many more."

Presently, the boy returned with a polished wood box, handed it reverently to Yaxche, and disappeared with the alacrity of any pre-teen, no matter their culture.

George paid him little attention, and focused on the parchment scroll the Indian began to unravel.

"Amazing!" was all George could comment.

Then: "It's made from what looks like a kind of bark-cloth. Whatever its source, it has lasted for over ten centuries!"

Yaxche regarded George as a teacher to a pupil. "Ahyah. Made from bark of pine tree; chew until soft and thin, then dry under sun."

"Wonderful. What does it say?"

For a long while, the old man did not reply, turning his gaze to the scroll. It was as if he were lost in the past. Finally, he began his tale.

"It is a story of the downfall of the Mayan Peoples. Ahyah. For hundreds of seasons, the People were wealthy and prosperous. But we grew complacent. Hunhua, ruler of Mitnal, the realm of the dead, became angry with the People because of their arrogance, and made a plan to gather them to his realm.

"Hunhua whispered in the ear of Ah Hulneb, G.o.d of war, and suggested it was time for the People of the South to go to war with the People to the North, the ones you call Aztec.

"So the People gathered their women and children, and put them on an island to keep them safe; then they went to war.

"Hanub Ku was creator of the Maya; he had rebuilt the world three times after the three deluges which poured from the mouth of a sky serpent. The first world was for dwarves, who built the cities; the second world was for the Dzolob, the offenders, and the third world was for the Maya. But Hanub Ku was displeased with this war of the Maya and the Aztecs, and decreed the world would be rebuilt again a fourth time for the white man.

"He sent Kinich Ahua, the firebird G.o.d of the sun to come down and burn the Mayan cities while the People were off to war. He sent Kukulcan, the feathered serpent G.o.d of all elements, to rise from the oceans and swallow up the island on which all the Mayan women and children were hiding, and take them back into the deep of the sea with him so that the Maya could not breed any more disobeying children.

"When the People came back from their war with the Aztecs, they saw their cities destroyed, and their families disappeared, and they hung their heads in shame and allowed the Aztec warriors to come and defeat them, to use them as sacrifices to the Aztec G.o.ds, and slaves to their kings.

"Kukulcan was so disappointed in the People's behavior, that he became Quetzalcoatl and ruled the Aztecs.

"It is said that Hunab Ku went back to his home in the stars to make plans for the fifth world, after the deluge that would destroy the white man."

His tale finished, Yaxche looked up at George expectantly.

"Incredible," the NASA researcher said, the DMR image shaking with his head. "If this is to be believed, then the Mayan G.o.ds predicted the coming of the white man some five centuries before it happened!"

"Ayah. It is said to be. And the fifth world is soon to come. But what do I know? I'm just an old man."

"The fifth world..."

George spoke in an aside to the VR. "Could this be a prediction of the discovery of the FTL element on Macklin's Rock? Could it be that this 'Fifth World' is what lies beyond our solar system? Is it possible, as so many theologians and philosophers have toyed with, that the ancient G.o.ds were s.p.a.ce travelers who visited Earth and bestowed great gifts upon our ancestors? How else do we explain the hieroglyphs found on Dis Pater Dis Pater if they were not put there by travelers from the stars a thousand years ago who visited the Mayan people?" if they were not put there by travelers from the stars a thousand years ago who visited the Mayan people?"

The interview went on for a few more minutes, but Michael cut the sound, and did not watch the DMR anymore. True, George's speculations were wild...but no more ludicrous than other explanations than the so-called respected scientific community had brought forward.

Could it be...?

Luna Station : Luna :

"Luna port control, this is Orcus 1 Orcus 1, NASA BJN-1145 requesting final approach clearance to Luna Station, over."

: Orcus 1 Orcus 1, this is Luna port control. Please confirm approach vector trajectories, velocity and current payload, over. : *

"Luna port control, approach vector at 92 degrees, 14 minutes, 42 point 556 seconds at separation of 92 point 348 thousand kilometers, mark. Payload at 14 thousand kilograms, over."

: Orcus 1 Orcus 1, vector confirmed. Your position is marked on approach radar, submitted to docking governor for calculation. Hold for calculations, over. : *

"Luna port control, waiting, over."

: Orcus 1 Orcus 1, authorization granted, logged. Please turn over navcom control to docking governor computer on mark, three, two, one, now, over. : *

"Luna port control, navcom control slaved to docking governor, check, over."

: Orcus 1 Orcus 1, slave confirmed. You will be docking at nub 43, station 12, one hour, twelve minutes, fourteen seconds, mark. Authorization number for refit and restock requested, over. : *

"Luna port control, authorization number is as follows: NASA BJN-1145 AD-324-19-44-4, please confirm, over."

: Orcus 1 Orcus 1, authorization confirmed. Stopover of 15 days authorized. Departure time scheduled for 01-30-92 at 0923 hours, over. : *

"Luna port control, departure time confirmed, over."

: Orcus 1 Orcus 1, please transmit manifest of any goods to be transferred from Orcus 1 Orcus 1 through Luna port, over. : through Luna port, over. : *

"Luna port control, manifest is being transmitted. Also note an exchange of crew member Sakami Chin, PRC, for Soon Tek, PRC, over."

: Orcus 1 Orcus 1, crew roster change noted, over. Soon Tek confirmed presence on Luna Station, check. -Protocol completed, over. : *

"Luna port control...Thank you, Luna port control, over."

: Orcus 1 Orcus 1, enjoy your stay, over. :

Quantum Resources, Inc. : Toronto : Canada Corp.:

The memo on his computer concerning the confirmation of the on his computer concerning the confirmation of the Orcus 2 Orcus 2 mission was of cursory importance to the Director of Quantum Resources, Inc. mission was of cursory importance to the Director of Quantum Resources, Inc.

Privately, he was glad Captain Turner was commissioned to lead the next mission to Pluto; she had been there before, and was more than competent enough to handle an extended duty in s.p.a.ce. It would be good for her career, and after she had stuck her neck out to give him the information on Alex before it was completely safe for her to do so had put her in Michael's good books.

He had EPSed a message to her through her office at the Lowell Observatory thanking her for her effort, and offering his future help whenever she felt the need to call on him.

He was far more occupied, however, with the news Calbert Loche had brought to him a few minutes after he stepped into his office that morning. Although Michael had ordered the bulk of his staff to look into the Alex Manez kidnapping, the small detail that had remained on the search for Element X had worked steadily towards a resolution of the problem. Calbert divided his time between the two teams.

"Michael, I think we're on to something," Calbert had said to him.

"What?" he asked, standing. "Alex?"

"No. Element X. There is an anomaly in the preliminary survey report. Our new man, George Markowitz, thinks he can extrapolate something that might give us a clue how to find Element X."

"George! He just started a couple days ago!"

"Yeah!"

Michael was pleased that his recommendation to Calbert had led to the hiring of George. He had hoped he would not be sorry hiring the man. Retaining the master researcher might have just paid off.

"Let's hear it."

Calbert Loche held up a forestalling hand. "His presentation isn't completely finished yet. He has some back-reports coming in from NASA that he has to verify and compare, and he's also set out feelers to the Europeans, and is hoping for a few replies this morning. I just wanted to know if you could set aside an hour this afternoon to hear the team out."

"Absolutely!"

"Great, say, about 1:30."

"Perfect."

In the conference room, Michael sat at the head of the table facing a large DMR screen set into the back wall. On the left, Calbert Loche leaned back into his chair with a confidence that served to increase Michael's antic.i.p.ation.