“Thanks!” Emma gets near and kisses Mike on the cheek.
“That’s not the kiss I had in mind,” Mike winks, a smile escaping the corners of his mouth.
“Come on, cut it out!” Emma pushes him away and sits down, trying to catch her breath.
We’re only steps away from what may be the biggest discovery of my career. I stand up and look around me. All the ruins of the ancient city look amazing from up here. My pulse quickens at the thought of entering the secret passage. I take off my backpack and reach for my flashlight and camera. I want to be sure I won’t miss anything important.
“Let’s go guys.” I head towards the entrance. Emma is behind me, a few steps away. Mike is still there, gathering his rope and putting his backpack on.
“Where is everyone else?” Emma asks me, as we enter the great pyramid.
“They’re in the big room,” Mike says from behind us. “I told them not to enter the passage until we’re there.”
We enter this narrow corridor. I can see traces of ancient paintings on the walls. I stop for a moment to observe these drawings. They look strange and the colors are faded out. I can almost make out the shape of a spaceship, and the people in these drawings seem to fly in some kind of aircraft. This is strange, considering that they drew these thousands of years ago. I brush my hand against the walls, touching the stone, which feels moist and cold.
“Where did your men find this passage?” I ask as I turn my head to face Mike.
“Well, I equipped my team with scanners and sonars and they could see there’s this giant open space within the walls of the pyramid. They searched over the entire length of the walls and came to an enormous block of stone. It took five people to move it a bit to the side. This gliding movement made an opening emerge within the wall. It must be some kind of mechanism. There's got to be something big. Nobody else has set foot in there for thousands of years.“
I walk along the corridor and almost trip on a small block of stone. The space is so small and I almost feel unable to breathe. Maybe it’s just my anxiety tripping in, maybe I’m just claustrophobic. We finally reach the end of the corridor and enter a rectangular-shaped chamber. The space is lit from above by an opening on top of the pyramid. There are people running around, a man is scanning the east wall with a device, another is measuring the length of the floor. On the right side of the enclosure, I see an opening in the wall, dust and debris all around it. It must be the entrance to the secret passage. My heart races like crazy, blood pumping rapidly through my veins.
“Hello, Dr. Brown. You’re here. We could find the secret passage which leads to the hollow space within the pyramid. It’s a space unseen for thousands of years,” John, the team sound engineer informs me. He comes near me and hands me a screen. The ultrasound scanner showed a huge open space within the heart of the pyramid. It seems to lead below us by a few meters.
“Thank you so much, John!” I take the device and inspect the images. I can clearly see a vast hollow deep under our present location.
“Well, this is it. I need to see what’s in there. Emma, I need you there.” I turn my head to face Emma. I see her face quite pale. She seems absent, scared.
“Jess, do I have to?” she asks. I can barely hear her. I approach Emma and lay my hand on her shoulder. “I need you, Emma!”
“Fine, but if there’s anything weird in there, I’m going out,” she says, her voice trembling as she utters those words.
“Fair enough,” I say and pat her on the shoulder. I know Emma is scared, but she’s the only one I can really trust. Deep down, under this fragile surface hides a powerful woman who would move mountains for me. She’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember and we’ve always been there for each other for better or for worse.
“OK, guys. I want to go down the passage. Emma will join me.” I get my backpack, my camera, and flashlight and wait for Emma to come along.
“If you need any help, just let us know,“ Mike says and hands me a walkie-talkie. “Good luck!”
“Don't worry, we're big girls.” I can't deny the anxiety is getting to me. My hands are sweating like crazy and there's a weird sensation throughout my body.
I go through the small opening in the wall and turn on my flashlight. Emma is right behind, only a few steps away. The corridor is narrow and seems like it’s carved in the stone. My breath quickens, my face dripping with perspiration. The heat is almost unbearable. After a few moments, we reach the top of some twirling stairs which seem to go down in a spiral.
“Damn it, Jess! Why the fuck did you want us to go here alone? I’m terrified of this place. It scares the shit out of me,“ Emma mumbles from behind in a low voice.
“You are the only one I trust. We might be onto something big here. It's my research, my work, my fucking wasted social life.” I raise my voice and face her. I want to be the one to document the discovery of the truth about the Maya civilization. It is like an obsession, something that has occupied my entire existence for so long.
“You’re delusional! You're so obsessed with this stupid Maya crap. They're dead, gone, ashes. Who gives a fuck about that? For what I care, aliens may well have abducted,” Emma continues to argue.
“Funny you should say that. It's one theory. All their drawings, statues, art reflect spaceships and humanoid creatures. So, Emma darling, you might be on to something.” We go down the stairs, one step of a time.
“You’re crazy! “Emma shows high levels of anxiety and fear. Her hands are shaking, her voice trembles as she speaks. I’m not that far off either. I am scared to death, but I will not let that stop me. Not now. Not when I am so darn close.
We reach the end of the twirling stairs and continue our way through the passage. We take a few more steps and suddenly there’s a loud noise behind us. My ears hurt from intensity of the sound and I’m unable to breathe from the splattered dust and particles.
I fall to the ground, hitting my knees against the hard stone floor. The whole structure shatters from the collapse.
“Oh, my God! We’re gonna die in here,” Emma shouts in horror. She falls to the ground too, unable to keep her balance. The place moves like there’s an earthquake or an explosion. I reach for my walkie-talkie but drop the damn thing and it breaks to small pieces.
“Oh great, just great! Now we’re trapped in here.” Emma cries at me and punches my arm, tears running down her cheeks.
