"Um, kind of like the Aztecs, right? Weird hairdos. Like to chop off body parts. The Spaniards did a number on them?" Blake
frowned at me. "Thank you for that historical insight. No, I'm talking about the Popul Vuh."
"Popul Vuh? Sounds like something you'd find at a cocktail party with a toothpick stuck in it," I pulled my belt a
little tighter and tried to get comfortable in one of those little-bitty seats the airplanes have these days.
Blake sighed. "No, dummy. The Popul Vuh is the Mayan equivalent of the Christian Bible. It tells the
story of creation from the Mayan point of view."
The plane was starting to taxi. I looked out the window and watched the city disappear from under our wheels. Finally, we were airborne, the captain gave us the
usual pep talk and the flight attendants showed us how to blow up our life vests. I loosened the belt and turned to my partner.
"What has all of this to do with finding Nine?" I asked. It was a darned good
question. We were after the man who infiltrated the Cairo office of the British Secret Service. The man who probably killed the real Nine. I couldn't figure out what an ancient civilization had to do with a present day
spy and traitor.
"We think Nine is hiding out among the Maya."
"Among the Maya? They still exist?"
He nodded. "They do and there's something distinctly un-Mayan going on down there."
"You mean in Mexico?"
He nodded. "Yeah. But first, before we hit Maya territory, we need to stop in Mexico City and visit a professor by the name of …" he reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a
notebook, then flipped it open. "Matthias Lichtman."
"Good Mexican name."
"Yeah. Lichtman's German, but he's lived here for the last 40 years. Came to Mexico as a young graduate student and stayed."
Blake stuck his legs out in the aisle and stretched them. "Man, these seats get closer together every time I fly."
"What does Lichtman teach?"
"He's an anthropologist. But his real interest is in Mayan
folklore and legends. He's considered a world expert."
"So what does that have to do with Nine?"
"We're not sure. But there's reason to believe Nine may be living somewhere among the Maya. And there's
one more thing." Blake said.
"Am I supposed to guess?"
"No. It's just that I feel stupid saying it."
Now, I thought, that's a first! Blake admitting to stupidity! "OK, I'll bite. What is it?"
He cleared his throat first. I don't know what I expected him to say – but it wasn't what he actually did say. And what he did say made me want to check him for head wounds.
He said: "The professor
believes there is a strong possibility Nine is here and he's, uh, managed to bring an ancient Mayan god to life."
I laughed then. But, as it turned out, I didn't laugh for long.
