"Underground?" asks Berthold Wagner, stating almost everyone"s query."Ho-h-hold on, underground," repeats Samuel. "That can"t be right. This is Machu Picchu, Lame Leader,"
"As much as I like to d-disagree with Samuel, Team Leader," says Esmeralda. "I don"t think the scientists were given the authority to build a lab underneath an important archeological site. You know this yourself."
"Yes." Ephraim nods. "I have studied archeology and I know about Machu Picchu. ANDROMEDA"s s.p.a.ce station is located kilometers away from Machu Picchu,"—he stops—"However; as much as I hate to speculate, I believe what we"re finding is here in this spot."
Ephraim points exactly the citadel. "Underneath this city. I have been thinking and researching about it ever since I received the doc.u.ments of ANDROMEDA. It"s built near in Machu Picchu for a reason." He says. "For the past fifty years, graduates of BS Archeology that are sent here to find a certain object in the lab come back empty-handed. Do you know why?"
"Because there"s nothing there?" Samuel says.
"No," Ephraim answers. "Because they failed to look outside the lab."
"What are you planning to do?"
All of the members of the task force turned to the source of the voice. It was one person who rarely spoke. The man of few words. Agent Night. Hiroaki Mochizuki.
"What do you mean, Mr. Mochizuki?" Ephraim retorts.
"You plan to go to an excavation site," Hiroaki exclaims. "The president strictly told you not to deviate from the task at hand."
"I am not," Ephraim answers. "I"m merely considering the possibilities."
"Possibilities?" Berthold asks.
"Yes," Ephraim exclaims. "There must have been a good reason to justify the laborious construction of this magic city in such a challenging land. Since the Incas did not have a written language the real purpose for the building of Machu Picchu is not clear, it remains a mystery and is open to speculation."
Ephraim circles the map that narrowed down Machu Picchu. "There are many theories but few among the most plausible. The most common conclusion from experts on Inca history and archaeologists is that it was built first and foremost as a retreat for the Incans to worship natural resources, deities, and especially the Sun, Inti. In reality, things do not have one single purpose and Machu Picchu had a multiplicity of uses and significance."
Ephraim stares at his team members as he speaks. "Located in high in the Andes, Machu Picchu is therefore known as the "City within the clouds." Its whereabouts providing an unhindered view of the astronomical phenomenon. The Intihuatana stone, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows are three edifices in the citadel of Machu Picchu that the Incas built in order to observe celestial events. These structures were dedicated to the greatest deity, the Sun, or Inti. The Intihuatana stone or Hitching Post of the Sun was used to indicate the date of the two equinoxes and other significant celestial periods."
"Buildings and windows were strategically placed in order to observe astronomical events of importance to the Incas. These observations served to predict changes of season and were used as an agricultural calendar. For survival, these events had to be carefully tracked." He explains. "These are, therefore, as you all know, done aboveground."
Ephraim eyes the map. "The city was occupied for just over one hundred years and n.o.body really identified why the Incas deserted such a city. It is apparent that the civil war amongst the brothers Atahualpa and Huascar had interrupted the food supply to Machu Picchu. Another possibility is that it was affected by an epidemic that killed its residents. Whatever the reason, its residents abandoned Machu Picchu before the Spaniards arrived in the Andes. It was forgotten for 400 years until the American explorer Hiram Bingham rediscovered it in 1911."
"I don"t get it," Samuel says. "The information doesn"t make sense to me. How is this connected to ANDROMEDA?"
"Thanks for asking," Ephraim says. "When was NASA founded again?"
"1958." Sam answers. "Dwight D. Eisenhower is the founder."
"Correct," Ephraim says. "But before NASA there was a preceding agency called NACA, which was created in 1915."
"Hm, now I remember," Samuel says, with his eyes closed. "Among NASA"s subsidiaries are Johnson s.p.a.ce Center, G.o.ddard s.p.a.ce Flight Center, Marshall, Ames Research Center—and the most trivial one—ANDROMEDA. It was founded in the 1980s and was quick to shut down. Nothing special about it, as well."
"ANDROMEDA"s information is missing," says Ephraim. "ANDROMEDA is in South America; near Machu Picchu and Vilcabamba . . . the official statement says, at least,"
"Huh," Samuel frowns. "That"s odd. Machu Picchu was even restricted to some archeologists. Not even scientists could build something underneath an ancient ruin. It would be reckless as well as stupid."
"I know," Ephraim says. "Have you heard of the secret door in the ruins?"
"Well, I don"t usually dig archeological information," says Samuel. "Thiery Jamin."
"There"s an article I"ve read—" Samuel exclaims, closing his eyes. "It says: "Archaeologist Thierry Jamin was in Machu Picchu based on the authorization given to him by the Ministry of Culture in Lima to carry out observational studies and tour the citadel, but when he proposed, above all, to excavate based on some hypothesis, because a laser scanner had detected an Inca tomb that was surrounded by children, and at the same time there were some steps lined in gold. It has been completely denied because this goes against the reality." Samuel says.
"That"s right," Ephraim says. "The ministry of culture and park directors said they worried the excavation project could jeopardize the stability of the structure. Past excavations have caused partial collapses of the historic walls and they said they worried the Inkari group was after the precious metals and not taking into account the historic nature of the site,"
"Meaning?"
"In Layman"s term," Berthold Wagner exclaims. "They were forbidden to enter the archeological site."
"Correct." Ephraim answers. "In the public eye, it was nothing but normal. They were just protecting the ruins."
Esmeralda and the others nod.
"But WHAT IF," Ephraim says, "the object the UHE archeologists cannot find just lies underneath the ruins?"
Berthold leaned to the back of his seat, "Ah . . . it"s good speculation."
"But still. . ." Esmeralda starts. "It"s too risky."
"Yeah," Samuel agrees. "AND above all, illegal. I like it,"
"Sam . . ." Berthold says.
Samuel grins. "I like it, what"s the plan?"
"The plan is—" Ephraim flashes his usual smile, as he explains to the team their plan for tomorrow. Hiroaki Mochizuki closes his eyes as he listens to the team leader laid out the procedures, processes, and the trails which they"ll follow.
**
"What do you think about Ephraim, Sam?" Berthold asks after he and Sam headed to bed. This was their usual—Berthold was the one who became Samuel"s guardian (supposedly) when the Albrechts got involved in an unfortunate accident that took their lives. Samuel"s family including his father, mother, died. His older sister was in a coma for several years, sending Samuel to live with his distant relatives.
It is (widely believed) that the accident had had an enormous influence on Samuel"s exceptional memory. It had (as said by Berthold"s coworkers) hit his frontal lobe and delivered an impact to his hippocampus, a.s.sociated with declarative and episodic memory as well as recognition memory.
"Hmm, the lame leader, huh . . ." Samuel exclaims. He was sitting on a chair that faced a study-desk. He was browsing through his laptop, looking over a journal. It was NASA"s doi file. Samuel was storing information with his exceptional photographic memory; he only scanned the journal once and he already had memorized its contents.
"Am I interrupting you?" Berthold asks. He was reading an anatomy book. Even as a surgeon, he had to study every day to retain critical information. He wasn"t Samuel, after all.
"Not really, I"m good at mult.i.tasking."
It was a routine for both Berthold and Samuel to meet and simply do their jobs. It was something done out of comfort. They were very much at ease with each other—and it was done out of their subconscious. For the course of many years, both of them had spent each time with each other in both idle times and busy times. They were less than family, but a lot more than acquaintances.
"Hmm, NASA, huh . . ." says Samuel. "Well, huh . . . Team-Leader-Who"s-Lame, huh . . ."
"Yes," Berthold exclaims. "What do you think about him?"
"Well," Samuel starts. "For starters, he"s lame."
"And. . .?"
Samuel paused, and remained silent for a few seconds.
"And," Samuel says. ". . . I can"t read him."
Berthold smiles, and then the two of them met each other"s eye briefly.
"Me too."
**
Esmeralda lied in her bed, staring at the ceiling unable to sleep. When Ephraim finished on a.s.signing each of them their tasks and had told them the plans, they had returned to their corresponding quarters. About thirty minutes had pa.s.sed ever since Esmeralda Sanders closed her eyes, yet she still wasn"t able to drift onto a deep slumber.
"Ephraim . . ." She mutters, and then browsed her phone. She opened her Facebook and then scanned through Raim Hughes" timeline. She blushed when she sees his smile.
"Leader. . ."