Oops- I forgot to label "(somewhere in Mexico)"- it's just off the coast of Mazatlan... I get so wrapped up in it that I over look things like that... I probably should get a beta, but I really don't have the patience for it...
Chapter 12
The little boat puttered up to the edge of the island. Bobby stepped off, thanked the ferry-man, and headed into the jungle.
It took him only 5 minutes to find the trail. It was obvious that it was in heavy use- Valdez never did have the sense of respect that Neal did.
Bobby followed the trail from a distance in case anyone else was on it. After 45 minutes of trudging through the swampy jungle Bobby was tired and sweaty. His already curly hair was now a frizzy mess.
((A/N: he looked good...))
He finally approached the ancient ruins. The actual lair was underground, but you had to get in first.
Embedded in the ancient stone was a small computer screen. Bobby touched it. "Authorization Code," it read, and then provided a touch-keypad to type in the code. In the bottom right-hand corner was a little icon that read "Forgot your password?"
"God bless you, Neal," Bobby said aloud, pressing the icon on the screen. To his right a stone shifted beneath the fallen leaves. It opened to a small chamber that held 25 stones and a small piece of paper.
On the paper it read: "The Pyramid of the Earth has fallen. When the earth falls, so does this island, so do the animals, and so does life. The Pyramid of the Earth has fallen."
He set the paper down and began to examine the stones.
Each stone had a word in Spanish on it: snake, river, "stealth", trees, water, tornado, scorpion, trout, beach, fire, wind, "trap", marigold, steam, air, rock from the sky, palm, "force", cougar, volcano, ruins, earth, spiders, and "poison." The 25th stone was a drawing of the earth.
"The Pyramid of the Earth has fallen," he read again. "They must form a pyramid. But... it would take either 14 or 30 stones to make a full pyramid... this can't be right..."
He continued reading. "When the earth falls, so does the island, so do the animals, and so does life." He looked at the stones again. "4 different groups, 4 levels."
He began to sift through the stones to sort them...
"Earth," he said. He found the stone with the drawing of the earth and set it aside. "The animals." he pulled out the Snake, Spider, Cougar, and Scorpion stones. "Life." He pulled out the Fire, Air, Water, and Earth stones. That still left 16 stones.
"They all form one pyramid," he said. "They must all be connected." Then he understood.
He pulled out the Trees, Wind, Volcano, Tornado, Steam, Falling Rock, Beach, and River stones and added them to the pile with the stones of the 4 elements. He then pulled out the "Trap", "Force", "Poison", and "Stealth" stones and added them to the pile with the 4 animal stones. That left the Palm, Marigold, Ruins, and Trout stones for the island.
"They're all connected," he repeated. Fire was connected with water through Volcano and Steam. Water was connected to Earth through Beach and River. Earth was connected to Air through Tornado and Falling Rock. And Air was connected to Fire with Trees and Wind. That formed a 4x4 square with the 4 center stones missing.
He then looked at the animals pile. Snakes and Spiders "Trapped" their prey. Spiders and Scorpions "Poisoned" their prey. Scorpions and Cougars both possessed "Stealth." And Cougars and Snakes both used "Force". That formed at a 3x3 square with the center stone missing.
The Island pile. That was really quite simple. The order didn't matter he decided. The island was unique to the earth; therefore, they were all connected within the unique entity of the island.
And then there was the earth.
Bobby reconstructed the pyramid with the 4x4 "Life" on the bottom, the 3x3 "Animals" on top of that, the 2x2 "Island on top of that. And Finally, the Earth.
Bobby clicked the last stone into place and the door behind him (next to the screen) opened, revealing a dark descending stair-case.
Bobby drew his gun and headed down the stairs.
When he reached the bottom he was just about to open the door when it flew open. In the threshold stood a panting Alex Eames.
