Prologue

The submersible glided down through the waters over the Chicxulub Crater near the Yucatán Peninsula. Pings from the sonar sounded through the tight cabin but the small crew's attention was on the video feed coming from the cameras in the ship's nose. The floor was approaching but so far there was nothing to see but water, bubbles, and the occasional flat, curious fish.

The leader of the expedition was Roger Trevant, an experienced treasure hunter and the one putting up the money for this excursion. He was in his fifties and in the back of his mind thought this might be his final dive. If what he expected to find was down here, there would be nothing else that could compare. It would be the greatest find in history. He was exhilarated despite being covered in sweat.

"It's here," Roger said, "I know it is. I can feel it."

His assistant, Claire Whelon, handled the controls next to him. They were the only two on board, though they had a team waiting for them up top keeping track of the weather. She kept the vessel honed on Roger's hand-picked coordinates. "We should be almost on top of it," she said. "We're only twenty meters from the bottom. I'm going to level off and drop the rest of the way."

The ever present hum of the motors changed to a lower pitch. Roger wiped his forehead dry and leaned in closer to the main monitor. "Come on, honey," he whispered. "Don't be shy. Show yourself to me."

"I'm getting a message from the boat," Claire said. "It's Rudy but it's hard to hear. I think he said they're having trouble locating us all of a sudden. Wait, now I've lost contact. Should I try..."

"There! There it is!"

Claire looked at the monitor but saw nothing save the dark water. She looked back at Roger to say as much but the man seemed to be mesmerized. She followed his pointing hand and looked out the acrylic window in the bow of the vessel. "Oh my God."

A glowing red light pulsed faintly in front of them. Claire roused herself from her own trance so she could guide the vessel towards it. Roger finally lowered his arm but the grin on his face remained.

"I can feel it, Claire," he said, "I can feel it pulsing in my chest. Can you feel it now?"

"No, I'm sorry, Roger," was all she could say. Her focus was on maneuvering towards the light with increasingly delicate, minute touches to the grip controllers. The light finally appeared in the crosshairs of the main monitor.

"Roger. Roger?"

Roger looked at her as if waking from a dream. "Yes?"

"The light? You wanted control of the arm. Are you going to try to grab it while I've got the ship steady?"

"Absolutely," he wiped his shaky hands on his pants. "I'm sorry. This is just so... fantastic."

In the monitor, Claire watched the robotic arm slowly extend towards the red light. It was difficult to see what the light was attached to, if anything. Roger opened the arm's claw and rotated it in order to grasp it from what he perceived as its sides. His movements were deft from years of experience with shipwrecks and downed planes. Only minutes later, the arm rose with the light glowing between its pincers.

"Got it! I got it!" Roger shouted. His face was drenched in sweat and his entire shirt was obviously damp.

"Get it in the basket," Claire said. "Then we can back away from all this disturbed silt to get a good look at it."

Roger's smile was gone. His face was a mask of concentration. He could not afford to make a mistake now. If it were to drop, the light could be lost for a long time amidst the sand and mud of the basin's floor. The top of the small basket by the monitor slowly opened and Roger moved the arm until the claw and the light were completely inside it. It was the best he had ever handled the arm. His grandson with all his video game playing skills could not have done better. He released the pulsing light then sealed it within the basket. "Done." He finally breathed.

Claire backed the vessel away and towards the surface to get clear of the cloud they had created with the vessel's propellers. She couldn't help but grin. "We did it, Roger. We got it."

Roger released the arm controls and sank back into his seat. His chest rose and fell quickly, too quickly for Claire's liking. She brought the vessel to a stop.

"Roger, are you all right?"

"Fine. I'm fine. Let me see it. I need to know what it is."

"Let me just try to contact the boat..."

"Please, Claire," Roger said, his voice hoarse. "I need to know."

Claire left the radio and went to the camera controls next to her. "All right, Roger. I'm dying to see what we found, too." Claire wished she had chosen her words better but did not want to give in to her nagging suspicion that something was wrong. She enabled the camera and pointed it down towards the basket. The red light from the object pulsed faintly into the cabin.

"What is it, Roger?"

It was still difficult for either of them to see despite the nearby light. Whenever the light dimmed to near dark, however, its shape was revealed. The red light pulsed from within the center of a black, elongated crystal about a half meter long.

"I have no idea, Claire. But I can feel it is not from here. I can feel it means no harm. It is here to sow peace, to bring order..." Roger gasped and clutched at his chest. "It is here... it is here..." Roger fell forward against the console.

"Roger!" Claire yelled, pushing her friend back into her seat. His breathing had stopped. She had no room to perform any sort of CRP. "Roger, hang on. I'm going back."

Claire prepared the vessel to ascend. It may have been her imagination but the object seemed to be brighter now, the light beating with a new power. Now she could feel it, too.