Title: Ancient Man
Author: NubianGeek

     Declan Dunne was in his office, when he received an unexpected visitor.
     "Hello, are you Declan Dunne?"  When Declan looked up, he was stunned by 
her exotic beauty.  She had long, black hair, almond-shaped eyes and dark 
skin.  Her beauty was mesmerizing.
     "I need your help.  Your name was given to me by someone who knew my 
father, Michael Patton."
      Declan recognized the name not from personal experience, but from 
academic circles.
     "I was sorry to hear about your father."  Declan invited her to sit down.
      "That's just it, Mr. Dunne, I do not believe that my father is dead."
      Declan had heard about Michael Patton disappearing in the jungles of 
Central America.
     "I have been having dreams about my father.  I believe that he is very 
much alive."
     Declan looked at the girl standing before him.  She definitely did 
believe what she was saying, but, from everything that he had seen and read, 
Michael Patton was dead.
     "So, Ms. Patton, what would you like me to do?"
     "Tamika."
     "Excuse me?"
     "Tamika.  My name is Tamika. I want you to help me find my father."  
Declan stared at her for a few moments, and the first thought  that came to 
his mind was that this was a wild goose chase.
     "Declan."
     "What?"
     "Declan, my name is Declan.  I guess I can help you."  He didn't sound 
too sure of himself, Tamika thought as she looked at him.
     "Tell me about your dream."
     "I am standing in the middle of the jungle, when two jaguars - one black 
and one spotted - race toward me in slow motion.  I start to fall, when the 
voice of my high school Spanish teacher appears.  She's fussing at me, 
'Senorita Patton, es muy facil to find your father.'  I hear parrots 
shrieking all around. 'El tigre, el tigre!'  The monkeys are teasing me.  
Then, in the distance, I see my father.  He was kneeling to study an ancient, 
round altar carved with the face and paws of a jaguar and the body of a man - 
what the natives call a were-jaguar.  The cats are coming closer and closer 
to my father."
     Declan watched her as she related the dream.  She seemed to be paralyzed 
with fear as she spoke.
     "I watched him being torn apart and there was nothing I could do to help 
him."  She was crying now and there was no doubt in his mind that he was 
going to help her.

     Tamika showed Declan a necklace and a letter from her father before he 
disappeared.  The necklace was a green plaque.  She wore it on a leather 
thong around her neck.  On the front was a carving of a jaguar. 
      "Jaguars were often used as symbols in Mayan writings."  Declan said.
      He looked at the letter from her father.  In the letter, her father 
mentioned the Peabody Museum.  He had been there just last December.
     "Wait a minute."  Declan went shuffling through his many books and 
papers, and finally found the one that he was looking for.  He responded to 
her questioning gaze.
     "It's a catalog from the Peabody Museum."  Declan flipped through the 
catalog until he found a picture of the jaguar on her necklace.
     "Here it says, 'Cast of Stela 40, Tikla, Guatemala.  Date: circa 633.'"
     There was a look of purpose on Tamika's face.
     "We have to go to Boston."

     "You're going where?"  Miranda asked.
     "I'm going to Boston - to the Peabody Museum, to be exact."
     Miranda shook her head not understanding.
     "So, this girl just walks into your office and lays some story on you, 
and now you're going off to Boston with her?"
     Declan knew that it sounded strange, but he believed her for some reason.

     They had been cleared for take off and each of them sat in nervous 
silence.  They had not spoken of anything other than the mystery surrounding 
her father.  He wanted to get to know her.
     "So, Tamika, tell me about your childhood."
     Tamika looked shyly at this man that she had asked for help.  He was 
very handsome, and his eyes seemed to pierce right through her.
     "I was born in the United States, but my mother was Guatemalan.  My 
father met my mother on one of his first trips there.  He used to write 
poetry to her.  She kept every one of his letters.  They were so in love."  
She lowered her head in embarrassment.  She had not meant to talk about love.
     "When did your mother die?"  He saw a sadness come over her face.
     "She died a month ago.  That's when I decided to find out what happened 
to my father."  Declan couldn't help but feel sorry for this girl who has 
suffered so much tragedy in such a short period of time.
     "Yes, I lost my mother and my father within the last year.  I am alone 
now."  She was trying to be so strong.  He wanted to put his arms around her 
and hold her.
     They spoke some more throughout the trip and Declan couldn't shake the 
feeling of being drawn to this woman.

     The old woman was doing what she had done for so many times before.  She 
took a pinch of the ground tortilla dough that she had already made.  She 
rolled it into a ball and put it on a banana leaf.  She flattened the ball 
into a thin disk.  She put the flattened disk of tortilla dough on the comal 
- a blackened circle of thin metal held over the fire.
     Rosana was Mayan.  She and her husband Raul had come to Guatemala from 
Yucatan twenty years ago.  Raul was a stone mason who had come to work on the 
ruins of Tikal.  The ruins were different here - the mounds were higher and 
steeper than those of the Yucatan.
     There were many archaeologists, at first, at Tikal.  Only a few 
remained.  Last winter Raul and his wife had talked about moving back to the 
Yucatan, when suddenly, the work began again.  A man named Joshua Watkins, 
who Raul assumed was an archaeologist, had hired him.  Most of the work was 
at night, for some reason.
     Then, Raul vanished.  He had been gone four months.  Rosana went to ask 
Joshua Watkins where her husband was, but Senor Watkins said that Raul must 
have gotten drunk and run off.  Rosana, however, did not believe this.

     When Tamika and Declan arrived in Boston, they checked into the hotel.  
Declan didn't ask where Tamika's money came from.  Maybe she was 
independently wealthy.
     They made their way to the Peabody Museum and were directed to the Mayan 
display.  They were directed to see Jeff Godwin who is a graduate student in 
Mesoamerican Anthropology.  They were disappointed with what he had to tell 
them.
     "The exhibit that you want, is on loan to the American Museum of Natural 
History in New York.  Tomorrow is the last day there and then it will move 
to Vienna."
     "Is there anything you can tell us about this pendant?"  Tamika showed 
him the pendant.
     "Well, I can't comment on the hieroglyphics - it's not my field.  It does 
have one glyph that is called the emblem glyph which is probably the name of 
an ancient Mayan city.  I remember seeing this somewhat recently.  I think 
that it might be on a cast sent from the Guatemalan government.  It's in the 
Tikal stela with the exhibit in New York."
     Tamika looked confused, so Declan filled in the blanks.
      "Stelae are big, stone monuments that were set up to commemorate 
special days and events.  The Mayan did a lot with calendars.  The jaguar may 
represent a certain dynasty of rulers of that city.  There are different 
kinds of jaguars in Mayan art."
    Jeff Godwin confirmed what Declan had to say and added, "Your father 
thought that the stelae contained mathematical formulas.  He was also 
interested in astronomy.  The pendant might be part of a formula that has to 
do with the location of a city."

     They decided to spend the night in Boston and leave for New York the 
next day.
     That night at dinner,  Declan asked more questions.
      "You think that I'm a spoiled, little, rich girl, don't you?"  Declan 
didn't particularly think that she was spoiled but. . .
   "I have money from a trust fund from my grandmother.  I hadn't used any of 
it until now."  She seemed very proud of the fact that she was independent.
     "So, what were you doing before your father disappeared?"  Another cloud 
came across her face.  Declan was beginning to read her very well.
     "I traveled with my father some.  He was working on a book and I was 
helping him with it.  In fact, I would have been with him when he - 
disappeared if I hadn't been off with some man."  She caught herself again.  
She hadn't meant to say that.  Declan was now curious.
     "Who was this man?"  Is he still uh - in the picture?"  Declan was 
trying not to be so obvious and not succeeding very well.  Tamika smiled at 
this.  It was obvious that she was interested as well.
     "We are no longer seeing one another.  We broke up shortly after my dad 
disappeared."  Declan 's only response was a smile.

     "He's where?"  Peggie said, looking up from her paperwork.
     "He's in Boston, but they are headed for New York."  Peggie could hardly 
believe her ears.
     "And, he's doing this because this girl just walked into his office?"
  Miranda nodded.
     "He knows her father's reputation, but that's it.  Do you think he's 
getting in way over his head?"
     "Declan?  Is there any doubt?"

     He walked her back to her room and he knew that he was going to kiss 
her.  His only question was whether or not she would kiss him back.
     "What are you thinking about?"  she asked as they stood outside her 
door.  Declan was trying to decide whether to tell her the truth or to lie, 
when Tamika put her arms around him and kissed him.  Her tongue parted his 
lips as she deepened the kiss.
     Declan moaned as he put his arms around her. He desperately wanted to 
move things to another location, but before he could do anything to act on 
his feelings, Tamika suddenly stopped and pulled away.
     "W-What's wrong?"  he asked.  Declan was breathing 
erratically and knew that he would not have stopped if she hadn't.
     "I'm sorry.  I had no right starting something that I knew I couldn't 
finish - at least not yet anyway."
     She smiled weakly as she turned and went inside and shut the door.
    Declan had a hard time sleeping that night and he did have to take a cold 
shower when he returned to his room.  Little did he know that someone was 
watching their every movement.

    The next morning when Tamika saw Declan, she was very embarrassed.  
     "Declan, look, I want to apologize for last night.  I'm sorry."
     "Well, I'm not sorry."  Tamika lowered her eyes.  She 
hadn't expected him to say that.
     "Look, if you want me to act as if nothing ever happened,  I suppose I 
could, but I don't want to."  Declan put his hand on her cheek.  She shook 
involuntarily,  but she was glad for his touch.  She then deliberately 
changed the subject.
     "Are you ready to go to New York?"

     When they arrived in New York, they went directly to the American Museum 
of Natural History.  They looked up and saw a sign that said, "The Children 
of the Sun" exhibit.  They looked at each other trying to decide what to do.  
Declan reached for the cassette players and earphones that they issued to 
people for self-guided tours, and they joined the throng of people going to 
see the display.
     "Hello, I'm Ansley Dunkirk,  assistant curator at the American Museum of 
Natural History.  I will be guiding you through the "Treasures of the Maya - 
Children of the Sun" exhibition.  You will see fifty beautiful pieces that 
have been found during the last century.  As you go along the tour, please 
feel free to stop this recording at any time to view items more closely.  
From time to time,  you will hear a beep that will signal you to turn the 
machine off until you move to the next item.
     The first item that you will see is an ancient Mayan priest in full 
ceremonial regalia.  This is how he  might have appeared between A.D. 600 and 
700."
     They came to a stone shaped like a jaguar, but with human eyes and nose 
and a drooping, sinister mouth with large fangs."
     "It's not the same as the one on my pendant." Tamika whispered.
     Tamika and Declan moved on and found another stone.  The writing was the 
same as that on the pendant.
       "Cast of Stela 40, Tikal, Guatemala  Date: 9.10.0.0.0.1 Ahau 8 Kayab 
in the Maya calendar, equal to January 25 A.D. 633.  This Stela depicts a 
priest or ruler, probably of Tikal.  The badly eroded glyphs conceal the 
exact time interval, but the event relates to another city symbolized by the 
emblem glyph in position D4."
     The jaguar was present.
     "I still think the jaguar stands for a city and the information on the 
back refers to that city."  Declan said.  Tamika could not refute what he was 
saying.  She couldn't help feeling hopeless about the whole situation.
     Declan, seeing her disappointment in not finding more clues, decided to 
cheer her up.
     "Come on,  I'm going to show you the stars."  Tamika looked at him 
strangely.
     When they arrived at the planetarium,  she was perplexed even more.
     "It'll take your mind off things.  Besides, the Maya thought a lot about 
stars."

     "These movements of the stars and even the time of the sunrise at 
different periods of the year are correlated with the stones of Stonehenge, 
the temples of the Mayan, and perhaps even some circular rock formations in 
Wyoming, according to the findings of Leo Goodman of the University of 
Pennsylvania.  Recently Professor Goodman, working with field anthropologists 
like the late Michael Patton, further substantiated his theory that many of 
the monuments of the Mayan and others. . ."

     Tamika didn't like hearing of her father referred to as 'late'.
     "I need to get out of here."  she whispered and left before the show 
was over.  Declan followed her out and put a comforting arm around her 
shoulder.