Excavation by James Rollins Read Free Book Online Page B

square marked the entrance tunnel to the ruins below.
    â€œHere is our site. The tunnel into the underground structure.”
    â€œI know,” Sam said, “but what does this have to do with—?”
    â€œPatience, my boy.” Henry cracked a wry smile from the corner of the screen. “Last month, a bit of luck occurred—I received a CD-ROM from a fellow researcher from Washington University in St. Louis. It contained computer-generated maps of several Moche pyramids currently under excavation at Pampa Grande along the coast. Six hundred miles away.”
    â€œMoche sites?” Sam remembered his lessons on this region. Many centuries before the Incan civilization arose, the Moche were a tribe that lived along a two-hundred-mile stretch of Peruvian coast. Pyramid builders and masters of intricate metalwork, their tribes had prospered between A.D. 100 and 700. Then for no known reason, their civilization vanished.
    Henry tapped a few more keys, and Sam’s computer screen split into two images, side by side. On the left was the aerial map of their ruins. On the right was a new computer schematic of a flat-topped pyramid. His uncle pointed a finger at it. “Here is the pyramid at Pampa Grande.” He zeroed the image onto the tip of the Moche structure.
    â€œOh Lord!” Sam gasped.
    â€œNow you know my little secret.” The two images merged together, overlapping one another. It was a perfect match. “The Sun Plaza is actually the tip of a buried Moche pyramid. Our underground ruins are actually the remains of a subterranean pyramid. One of their sacred temples.”
    â€œMy God, Uncle Hank! Why are you keeping this a secret? You should announce your discovery!”
    â€œNo. Not until I have further physical proof. I had hoped the researchers here at Johns Hopkins would be able to correlate genetic markers in the mummy to a Moche lineage, thus substantiating my claims. But…” Henry shrugged. “It looks like the mysteries of this jungle ruin just grow with each new piece we add to the puzzle.”
    â€œThe Moche,” Sam said, stunned with too much information. Mummified priests, exploding skulls, buried pyramids, strange warnings scrawled in Latin…how would they tie it all together?
    As if reading his thoughts, his uncle spoke, “The answers to all these mysteries may lie beyond that door, Sam. I can almost feel it. So be careful.”
    Â 
    Guillermo studied the dark camp. Midnight beckoned.The group of young scientists and the Quechan laborers had all retired to their tents. The only lights left were those positioned around the dig.
    Raising his rifle, Gil signaled Juan and Miguel.
    Juan, his skeletal frame barely discernible under the eaves of the surrounding forest, nudged his companion. Broad of back but squat in height, Miguel stepped out from the jungle’s edge, his back bowed with a large canvas bag. It contained the tools they would need to crack through the tomb door. Juan followed, a pickax over his shoulder.
    Gil waved them toward the highest terrace. He knew they would have to be quick, but Gil did not complain. Sufficient hours until daybreak still remained, and the news that the tomb had a good chance of being intact had buoyed Gil’s hopes for a significant strike.
    He joined Juan and Miguel by the entrance to the shaft. “Keep it quiet, you hijos de putas ,” he hissed to them. Gil threw the switch that sped current from the generator in the camp to the lamps below. He nodded for Juan to lead, followed by Miguel.
    Gil kept a watch on the camp as they climbed down. The surrounding rain forest, its edges lit up by the four spotlights positioned at the compass points around the ruins, echoed with the hoots and occasional screeches of the night. The jungle noises and the chugging rattle of the camp’s generator should mask their efforts.
    Satisfied, Gil hooked his rifle over his shoulder and climbed down the