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"It is my great pleasure to announce that the TARDIS has materialized," Dr. Smith said authoritatively.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5vHM9wGbO
"Where are we now?" asked Penny, Dr. Smith's fifteen-year-old niece.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNlOPh7EEN
Dr. Smith moved around the central control deck of his marvelous, though, at times, quirky, time/space ship to the digital time/place orientation printout and pressed the correct button. Alas, nothing happened.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QZkRvGWoV
"Well?" Penny arched her eyebrows. 456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeq52X0OuK
"West, hand me a screwdriver," Dr. Smith said testily.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKz8cqbT6by
Don took one from the toolkit, and gave it to Dr. Smith, remarking that with any luck they were on Earth during the 1990s in an aerospace factory where the TARDIS could be thoroughly overhauled. Dr. Smith was not amused and he began furiously unscrewing the front panel of the printout.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xK98J6FMz
"We could always stick our heads outside the door and look," Ann MacGregor suggested.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJ1Mag3SyM
"And be devoured by a dinosaur, or dictated to by a Dalek, perhaps?" Don added.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMlUe0db7o
"Let's check the atmosphere," Penny said.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCVNQFVluA
"Good idea." Don turned to Dr. Smith. "May I?"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPoPB2fbjkd
The only reply was a grunt which Don took to mean "yes," so he switched on the atmospheric sensor. A display screen gave a breakdown of the gases outside. Don studied it for a moment and then said that it appeared that they were on Earth, but the air was stale.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiO0CMzg2gj
"Stale?" Penny echoed.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JMjZk5M2P
"That means breathable but musty."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nl42ZTuHi
"Then we can take a peek," said Ann. "Are you coming with me?" she asked Penny.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioRc9TOt8v
When Penny asked her uncle if she could go, he waved one hand rather vaguely at her and told Don to help him to remove the panel. When it was off, the Doctor began poking at the electronics with his screwdriver, making the 28-year-old scientist wince with despair.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBvPRT3ITR
Cautiously, Penny and Ann opened the door and peered out. Apart from the light inside the TARDIS, they were in total darkness.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEruEduAdO
"Where do you think we are?" Penny whispered.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJtzWrRhx3
Ann shook her head, but as the light from the TARDIS diffused and their eyes got used to the gloom, they stepped outside and looked around.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJi53CBCsJ
They were (apparently) in a large tomb, and in the middle was a raised stone slab on which lay a superbly cloaked skeleton with a magnificent gold mask covering the skull. On the floor around the slab were earthen bowls and jugs, as well as ornaments, statuettes, bracelets, ear-rings, and brooches, all of them made of jade. 456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgOhMT1K9a
But it was the cloak, geometrically woven with silver and golden threads, and the superb mask that fascinated Barbara.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lb3pPvG5E
"Look at that, Penny," she murmured.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCWtoVUQLy
"I am," Penny shuddered with a sense of foreboding, anticipating the evil to come.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBKq8RoMMho
"It's an Aztec mask of Quetazcoatl, the Sun God, who was driven into exile by Huitzilipochtli, the God of Darkness," Ann looked down at the skeleton again. "He must have been a High Priest." Beside one skeletal hand was an oblong rod of carved jade with six beaded threads of silver, each about six inches long, attached to one end. Ann picked it up and smiled. "Do you know what this was?"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIb42NwWXid
"No."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLKMU1KCHY
"His personal fly-swatter."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKHAss6M4O
Penny giggled. Since the Aztecs were Mexicans, the TARDIS must definitely be on Earth. "But what year is it?" she asked.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5N3JZeY21
"I can tell you when he died." Ann pointed to the objects strewn on the floor. "About 1430. These things all come from the Aztecs' early period." She picked up a gold bracelet shaped like a coiled snake that lay on the slab above the mask and turned it over in her hands. This indicates that after he died he was revered as a god."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3OVzOGrXx
"You really do know your subject," Penny exclaimed. Ann smiled and admitted that when she was in college she had been particularly interested in the Aztec Indians and their civilization.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUgpBLzAww
"What little I know about them doesn't make me feel very well disposed towards them," Penny replied with a grimace. "They used to cut out people's hearts while they were still alive, didn't they?"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1LF3xaQ2pZ
Ann picked up the razor-sharp knife hewn from stone which lay at the skeleton's feet. "They did it with this," she said. "It's called an obsidian knife. But there was another side to their nature----a highly civilized one."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLmTVOAIik
"The Spanish didn't think so when they came here."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDhQ1pPx6a
"Hernando Cortez and his conquistadores saw only wealth for themselves and barbarous acts of savagery by the Aztecs," Ann replied. "That was the tragedy of the race: their civilization was totally destroyed, the good as well as the bad." Ann put down the knife and picked up the bracelet again.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSWnIF4Icc
"The Spanish landed in the early 1500s, didn't they?" Penny asked.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgClwiH8Lk
"1519, to be exact." Still holding the bracelet Ann pointed to the wall behind the head of the slab. A colored fresco depicted an eagle clutching a coiled snake in its claws, surrounded by warriors in loin-cloths, cloaks, plumed headdresses and sandals, who held shields, spears and short-swords slung from their hips. From their mouths cam bubble filled with hieroglyphs. Ann studied the fresco and, almost without realizing it, slipped the bracelet onto her wrist.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCni9bO7QL2
"They're just like cartoon strips," Penny remarked. "But they're all the same. What does it mean?"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFEQx5XFIfw
"That the warriors will protect the High Priest's spirit until he rejoins his people."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdEEMLEoxt
"Did the Aztecs believe in reincarnation, then?" Penny sounded surprised.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡap74GnzDYY
"Oh, definitely." Ann moved closer to the wall. "This painting has hardly faded at all." 456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrocbIlDI1
She touched the mural, then quickly withdrew her hand.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6iuEaljT7
"What's wrong?" Penny asked.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKa0AJH1L4
"It may be my hyperactive imagination at work," Ann replied, "but I think the wall moved when I touched it."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFO6AbZvtD
"Let's both push it and see."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugXtkz8vOM
They put their hands to the wall and started to push. The wall swung slowly outwards and upwards. Light trickled into the tomb and then flooded in as the wall rose higher and higher. Both of them blinked as their eyes adjusted to its intensity.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KKUlLaDcP
"This tomb is part of a temple," Ann whispered.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pnsjZxtmW
"Hadn't we better go back to the TARDIS?" Penny asked nervously.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuewtW8QhpZ
"No, it's all right," Ann replied, "there's nobody here."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZESkJrL4Tz
"I think I'd better fetch uncle and Don anyway," Penny said and ran back into the tomb.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hLLSHNmdA
Ann left the tomb, walked to the middle of the temple and looked around. The temple itself was not large---about fifty square feet. Three sides were painted in white and blood red, decorated with sculpted skulls and coiled snakes, and hung with elaborately woven brocade curtains. The fourth side opened onto a terrace, in the middle of which stood the sacrificial altar. Ann shivered involuntarily as she approached the terrace to see what lay beyond it.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqJyJVyBQYN
"Woman!"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mkvEsELI2
The man's voice was firm and Ann spun around to face him. He was in his mid-fifties, just like Dr. Smith, with a craggy face and long, gray hair. He wore a loincloth, a cloak similar to the one that enveloped the skeleton in the tomb, sandals and a head-dress of multi-colored plumed feathers. In one hand he carried a posy of flowers. "How came you here?" he asked.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3c49drCR4h
Ann looked towards the entrance to the tomb in the back wall of the temple, but it had swung closed.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqZ7Np2Sym
"This temple is sacred to the memory of the High Priestess Nenetl," the man said. "You trespass, and you shall be punished for it. Warriors, guardians of Nenetl's tomb," he called out. Four young Aztecs, who Ann thought bore an uncanny resemblance to those on the mural, emerged from behind one of the curtains. "Take her!" They advanced towards Ann who backed away to the closed entrance. It was only when she reached it with her arms outspread that the man saw the coiled-snake bracelet on her wrist.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3PXE4yrSu
"Wait, warriors!" he cried out with an expression of incredulity on his face. "Wait!"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Qio3u20EX
Dr. Smith and Don had just finished replacing the front panel when Penny burst into the TARDIS and told them excitedly where they were. The Doctor pressed the digital time-orientation button and the number 1507 lit up.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHI0Yc32HeN
"Cortez isn't due for another twelve years," Dr. Smith observed. "But the Aztecs have some rather gruesome habits, and the sooner we collect Ann and move on, the better." The three of them went out into the tomb.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mXtJB7vdl
"The wall's closed," Penny exclaimed.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbcHdVJdo1
"Which wall?" Don asked.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKyz1xQcaW
"The one with the mural," Penny replied.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyuoajiMxCI
"I can't see anything," Dr. Smith complained, and went back into the TARDIS to fetch his pencil-flashlight. When he came out again he switched it on, but the beam of light was too narrow.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FaCJmgJka
"I still can't see anything," he grumbled.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgcADgYBwrC
"Give me your hand, Uncle Zachary," Penny said and led him past the raised slab.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmn9MoYTaSJ
"What's that?" Dr. Smith asked.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsucOV4pQKI
"According to Ann, he was a High Priest now revered as a god," Penny replied.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUwd9WCms71
Dr. Smith snorted.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA49h4tnIUa
"We push it up," Penny explained when they reached the wall, and a few seconds later they were standing in the temple.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZxFg8Ge4u
"Ann's not here," Don said.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jLuBhGPiz
"But----she was here when I came to fetch you," replied Penny defensively.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2hTFYpg71
Don called out Ann's name. "There's no sign of her now," he said, "unless she's out on that terrace." He walked to the sacrificial altar and glanced down either side of the terrace. "She's not here." Then he looked down. "Good Lord, Doctor, come and see this," he exclaimed.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQER9ZyudpL
Both Dr. Smith and Penny went to Don's side. As they passed the altar the Doctor muttered that they had better find Ann soon as he didn't fancy being carved up on it by some Aztec High Priest of Sacrifice, concluding his statement with his inevitable "Oh, the pain, the pain."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSMsROmnOt
"Just look at the city," said Don. The temple was on the top of a pyramid and the city lay two hundred and fifty feet below them, patterned like a chessboard, with broad avenues between the squares of houses. There were gardens, irrigation aqueducts, and several markets.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTm6Y9PEf3
"The Aztecs knew how to build as well as kill," Dr. Smith observed dryly. "We must find Ann and leave." He looked back into the temple and saw the wall sliding back into place. "The wall, West! Quick! The wall!" he cried, and Don raced across the temple in a vain attempt to reach the wall before it shut them out. Dr. Smith and Penny hurried after him.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SxExXNvGs
"I was too late. There was nothing to grab onto." Don felt ashamed at his failure.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlykmVbo885
Penny looked perplexed. "But it must open somehow, Don."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcPhG2Imky
"It does, my dear," Dr. Smith said with a shrug, "you push it from the other side. Tombs like this were designed to stop grave-robbers, not help them."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxTrxjGkwq
"But how shall we return to the TARDIS?"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QTI2DR9Ev
"That, Penny, is a very good question."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCw04GXWVQ
Don cleared his throat. "Dr. Smith, we've got company," he murmured.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zvFjeN1nk
The man whom Ann had met and the four Aztec warriors were standing by one of the brocade curtains. The man raised in salute a hand which held a posy of flowers.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYw3aUMzzEk
"I, Tetzal, High Priest of Knowledge, most humbly greet the servants of Nenetl," he said, while the four warriors bowed reverently.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnK1Gl0LiyF
Dr. Smith glanced at Don. "The servants of what?" he asked.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLO2NlBdkn
Don shook his head and looked at the High Priest. "Where is Ann?"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2YJlpP2Xl
"Of whom do you speak?"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbx42c47du6
"The young woman who was here a few minutes ago."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7GpNo10Ns
The High Priest smiled at them. "In due course, you will meet Nenetl again. But first, grant us our courtesies. Be assured that we harbor no evil towards you in our hearts. Indeed, we honor you."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlvGODDyUa
Dr. Smith looked at Tetzal for a moment. "Er, what did you say your name was?" He sounded suspicious.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyQUsmDgao
"Tetzal."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPYHZzCq1u
"And you're the High Priest of Knowledge?"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolSAbMmGa3
"I serve as such."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdE5JqKa3E
"Do you know where we came from?" Dr. Smith persisted.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ23qtK6fH23
"Nenetl's tomb."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YqQTd9X2M
"How does one enter it from the temple?"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7WyWauFSk
"One cannot. It is sealed." Tetzal gestured toward the four warriors. "Go now with these attendants and soon you shall see the coiled serpent of Nenetl again."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2iPc480Zg
Dr. Smith scratched his head. "I don't know what he's talking about," he said as they crossed the temple to where a warrior held aside one of the curtains.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDhiK6LzBR
"Ann, I think," Penny hissed. "I'll explain when we're alone."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptNQ8T1kRU
Just before they reached the drawn curtain, the deformed figure of a powerfully built man limped into the temple from the entrance. He was younger than Tetzal and far less elaborately dressed. He wore a priest's loose-fitting robe which at first glance seemed to be caked in mud, but a second look told Penny it was dried blood. The plumes on his head-dress were splattered with it and his long hair was matted. He had a hard, thin, almost lipless mouth. But it was his eyes that commanded the attention----they were jet black, piercing, and totally fanatical. He stared at Dr. Smith, at Penny and at Don, then bowed curtly to them and limped to the back of the temple where Tetzal stood.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdukawM7Me
"You know who he is, West," Dr. Smith said as they were escorted from the temple.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FsxT7kf2D
"The local butcher, by the look of him," Don replied.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CALadgdvg
"Exactly."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxzS8vJ7wP
Tetzal waited until they had gone before he spoke.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4K8QLC5xy
"You have seen her, Ollin?" he asked.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOXEO9N3ij
"A vision is with us, Tetzal," Ollin replied and, turning away, he limped back to the sacrificial altar. He looked up at the sky. "When does it rain?"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlv4Wi6MWI
Tetzal came halfway along the length of the temple and looked with disgust at Ollin's back. "This day when the sun's fire first touches the horizon to the west," he replied.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8H0SZvn1v
"At that moment we shall present her to the people. A vision shall stand before them, and I, in supplication to Tlaloc, the Rain God," Ollin stretched out his left hand over the altar, "I shall offer human blood. And the rain will come. No more talk of Tlaloc being angered by us and bringing drought to the land. There will be ra n," he exulted, "and all power shall be ours again." Facing the altar, Ollin raised both hands and shook his clenched fists to the heavens.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKWwCsbQ8u
"I tell you, O' High Priest of Sacrifice, there will be rain," Tetzal spoke gently and hesitated before continuing, "...with or without human blood."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghK7z34Ekg
Ollin spun around, his eyes ablaze. "Does the High Priest of Knowledge serve only Quetzalcoatl, the banished God, and not Huitzilopochtli who has made us strong?"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3qYye0Lfr
"I serve the same god as you," Tetzal's voice was even.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupXSRtQkZv
"Then, above all else, honor him. He demands blood," Ollin shouted, "and blood he shall have!"456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9c7VTsTIi
Dr. Smith, Penny and Don were in an antechamber below the temple. The walls were covered with colorful tapestries; the stone floor was carpeted; there were three couches to recline on, and a legless table laden with food and wine. Penny and Don sat down while the Doctor paced up and down.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdM6pj5yATH
"So you think Ann may have been wearing the bracelet when she went into the temple, is that it, Penny?" Dr. Smith didn't stop to look at her.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXXFURDaz5
"I know Ann picked it up and I have a feeling she may have put it on," Penny replied half-apologetically, "but I can't be sure, Uncle Zachary, it was dark in the tomb."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNX5unnfnP
"If she were wearing the bracelet and came out of the tomb then that fellow Quetzal...."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnNlr61Ib5
"Tetzal," Don corrected him, and was ignored.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKHqTWuYJo
"....must associate Ann in some way with that skeleton, Yentl."456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzOSauN1JX
"Nenetl."It was Penny's turn to put him ri ght.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLrLiGuq5J
"Oh, the pain," Dr. Smith muttered.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLi3cITs5Q
"Well, they've treated us all right so far," Penny said brightly.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLOlnNFbAr
Dr. Smith stopped in his tracks and glared at her. "The Aztecs always showed the utmost courtesy to their intended victims," he observed icily and continued pacing the room.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnxpmlGxHm
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwa9ponL2CP
