Chapter 60
As Danielle worked on McCarter, Hawker went to find Father Domingo. Sneaking into his room, he switched on a flashlight.
“Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned,” he said.
Father Domingo blinked in the bright light. He blocked the beam of light with his hand. “What have you done, my son?”
“I woke a priest up in the middle of the night after he threw a heck of party.”
Hawker lowered the light.
“Is that all?” Father Domingo asked.
“No,” Hawker said. “But that’s all we have time for.”
Father Domingo sat up. It was a heavy, ponderous movement, like a bear coming out of hibernation. “You’re leaving,” he said, looking at Hawker’s manner of dress.
Hawker nodded. “Tell me where I have to go.”
“What makes you think I know?”
“You asked us if we planned to do anything with the stone, not what we might do or where,” Hawker said. “I figure that’s because you already know.”
“Are you sure you want to go there?”
Hawker nodded.
“You want to, or you believe you must?” Father Domingo asked.
“Other people believe,” Hawker said. “Right now, that’s good enough for me.”
“Then you must hike back to the lake where we found you,” Father Domingo said.
“Go past it and past the long, narrow lake beyond. There you will come to a series of hills. Between the third and fourth ridge you will find a sinkhole, much like the cenotes of the lowlands. At this time of year it is filled with water, with a small island in the center no larger than this room.”
“That’s the temple?” Hawker asked.
“The island is the temple; the cenote is the Mirror.”
“Why do you call it the Mirror?”
Father Domingo nodded. “The water is like glass. Like any mirror it shows us who we are.”
Hawker tried to take it all in. “Where’s the stone? The others were hidden.”
“Get onto the island. The Temple of the Jaguar is a simple place. Up close you will see what looks like a common drinking well. But it is different. Instead of dropping a bucket and working to pull it out, a system of counterweights was developed. All you must do is release the lever. The weights will drop, the shield of rock will move apart, and the stone will be brought up to you.”
“You’ve been there.” He guessed.
Father Domingo nodded. “I have seen it. I have touched it.”
“Last of the Brotherhood,” Hawker said, admiringly.
A gleam appeared in Father Domingo’s eye. “I should hope not,” he said, staring at Hawker.
Hawker didn’t know what to think. All he knew was that he had to get away from San Ignacio as fast as possible, to lure their pursuers in one direction and make his way in the other. “Thank you for trusting us.”
The priest stood and took a sip from a glass of water. “The Mayan people that I know would tell you this day is not doomsday but a day of transformation. Perhaps like many transformations it will be painful, even destructive. But they believe it will lead to a new dawn.”
“What do you think?” Hawker asked.
Father Domingo looked to the Bible at his bedside. “When he was on the earth, the Lord told us that he would make all things new again. He did this through his death and resurrection, and by granting us the faith to believe we could do the same. Painful, destructive, but leading to a new dawn. So who am I to say this isn’t another way of his making?”
Hawker stood to go. “I just wonder why they didn’t design these things to do what they’re supposed to do automatically.”
“You’ve said they are machines, sent here to save us?” Father Domingo replied, echoing an earlier conversation.
“Some people think so,” Hawker admitted.
Father Domingo smiled. “My son, even God requires an affirmative act of faith. Machines cannot save us alone. We must have a part to play. It seems that part is yours.”
Hawker did not know if he had the faith everyone was placing in him, but he had no time left to worry about it. “I have to go,” he said.
“I will pray for your safety,” Father Domingo said. “Vaya con Dios.”
A moment later, Hawker was leaving the village, sneaking out of town two hours before dawn, the stone and the pellet secured in his pack.
In a small house near the edge of the village, Yuri awoke in the darkness. He had heard something, as if someone had shouted. But there was no sound around him, no light or noise. The other children slept, some of them breathing loudly, but there was no movement.
And yet he could feel movement.
He sat up and looked around. He was certain now; he could hear it again. He could feel it.
Carefully, he picked his way across the room and looked out the window. There was no light, but there were colors to be seen. He could see it off in the hills just past the edge of town: The siren was moving.
He found his clothes, put on his shoes, and snuck out the door.