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"It is my great pleasure to announce that the TARDIS has materialized," Dr. Smith said authoritatively.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pNQfkR5Kc
"Where are we now?" asked Penny, Dr. Smith's fifteen-year-old niece.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPIYY09Muj
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFDmrroKAZ
"Well?" Penny arched her eyebrows. 560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogt0FAmoTI
"West, hand me a screwdriver," Dr. Smith said testily.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshi4FOmwFY
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHtUTXRQ28m
"We could always stick our heads outside the door and look," Ann MacGregor suggested.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdk6ObrBQKF
"And be devoured by a dinosaur, or dictated to by a Dalek, perhaps?" Don added.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfN2D4RVMoP
"Let's check the atmosphere," Penny said.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCNpMjp7Hc
"Good idea." Don turned to Dr. Smith. "May I?"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKc7pMZgNC
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxxDZUmB5W
"Stale?" Penny echoed.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JhyV0Xqv9
"That means breathable but musty."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAKTu3yC3b
"Then we can take a peek," said Ann. "Are you coming with me?" she asked Penny.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXFZJJwZgs
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpBlck6rf1
Cautiously, Penny and Ann opened the door and peered out. Apart from the light inside the TARDIS, they were in total darkness.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKtdY1aX8W
"Where do you think we are?" Penny whispered.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKNiMXw4yF
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDaMkdnGTU
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. 560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdaYuHL3RE
But it was the cloak, geometrically woven with silver and golden threads, and the superb mask that fascinated Barbara.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyIUfQUlqy
"Look at that, Penny," she murmured.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qUs6C9v2w
"I am," Penny shuddered with a sense of foreboding, anticipating the evil to come.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBr8J96t0rQ
"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?"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtTqrrWz3i
"No."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwzzOkzh29
"His personal fly-swatter."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuK7MsepBn0
Penny giggled. Since the Aztecs were Mexicans, the TARDIS must definitely be on Earth. "But what year is it?" she asked.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKxtm1l3V4
"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."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wFfOQ2hkA
"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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pEInkPeCl
"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?"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwy51Lf25kN
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."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4m8vAvyse
"The Spanish didn't think so when they came here."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLyjjnhjSl
"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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB91F1JOxfe
"The Spanish landed in the early 1500s, didn't they?" Penny asked.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGpIbAy2hL
"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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCAdTQ3nYS
"They're just like cartoon strips," Penny remarked. "But they're all the same. What does it mean?"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IjfnH3rSk
"That the warriors will protect the High Priest's spirit until he rejoins his people."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAazoqcTAsu
"Did the Aztecs believe in reincarnation, then?" Penny sounded surprised.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxklzfDcCUS
"Oh, definitely." Ann moved closer to the wall. "This painting has hardly faded at all." 560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmF9bZhzoh
She touched the mural, then quickly withdrew her hand.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDvQei8gFB
"What's wrong?" Penny asked.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwBjdy9kSI
"It may be my hyperactive imagination at work," Ann replied, "but I think the wall moved when I touched it."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMvZ4luO3U
"Let's both push it and see."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6pMCI3TZ2
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNij0PubTxV
"This tomb is part of a temple," Ann whispered.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxyn64We15
"Hadn't we better go back to the TARDIS?" Penny asked nervously.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxCc6UW3Cn
"No, it's all right," Ann replied, "there's nobody here."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftOmX4pGMa
"I think I'd better fetch uncle and Don anyway," Penny said and ran back into the tomb.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRhNhpw8QY
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYajxzMLka
"Woman!"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LxSFd4nKJ
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEx3Y3qW7m
Ann looked towards the entrance to the tomb in the back wall of the temple, but it had swung closed.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjmgme1pBoX
"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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Zn91CkLcF
"Wait, warriors!" he cried out with an expression of incredulity on his face. "Wait!"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wICpMvsLJ
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnKJ2fYg2W
"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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1iIg3DWb9b
"The wall's closed," Penny exclaimed.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbv8W8PKNz
"Which wall?" Don asked.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqB17ycbXg
"The one with the mural," Penny replied.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmZlLTrV4g
"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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZXsBr1e0b
"I still can't see anything," he grumbled.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlnG6NcbXh
"Give me your hand, Uncle Zachary," Penny said and led him past the raised slab.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNZCjI9WSu
"What's that?" Dr. Smith asked.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq2DV73B7Kj
"According to Ann, he was a High Priest now revered as a god," Penny replied.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYFIDU5soh0
Dr. Smith snorted.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LKcQaE10C
"We push it up," Penny explained when they reached the wall, and a few seconds later they were standing in the temple.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNX7thwUxA
"Ann's not here," Don said.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcXmgw1R8b
"But----she was here when I came to fetch you," replied Penny defensively.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGDTEtN4gt
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXERSG6YUMU
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."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMA1phmead
"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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIwi5H88YF
"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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXz7VqUiaEg
"I was too late. There was nothing to grab onto." Don felt ashamed at his failure.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMWQyAUW9M
Penny looked perplexed. "But it must open somehow, Don."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzv5Q86BSIp
"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."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7KEKxrQXh
"But how shall we return to the TARDIS?"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaLqaBBOPP
"That, Penny, is a very good question."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooGeGyijmo
Don cleared his throat. "Dr. Smith, we've got company," he murmured.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb16vmrzl85
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxUXiISURA
"I, Tetzal, High Priest of Knowledge, most humbly greet the servants of Nenetl," he said, while the four warriors bowed reverently.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5mZOJ2DwP
Dr. Smith glanced at Don. "The servants of what?" he asked.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMOE1oU7o3
Don shook his head and looked at the High Priest. "Where is Ann?"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5HDv8CTCf
"Of whom do you speak?"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡon3DlgMZtE
"The young woman who was here a few minutes ago."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTd7uomZSW8
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."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAI9mcbQFye
Dr. Smith looked at Tetzal for a moment. "Er, what did you say your name was?" He sounded suspicious.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5aL5ahYTh
"Tetzal."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctel9TcUOj
"And you're the High Priest of Knowledge?"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAG5NSUpAy9
"I serve as such."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ241nNNapCu
"Do you know where we came from?" Dr. Smith persisted.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnmNBYWtN7
"Nenetl's tomb."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0Z0p2GJyF
"How does one enter it from the temple?"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Macw9RfCB
"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."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ28OiQxebp0
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGZEXSHmUI
"Ann, I think," Penny hissed. "I'll explain when we're alone."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGGrduy16Sx
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB98ekD6Nes
"You know who he is, West," Dr. Smith said as they were escorted from the temple.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBvyV6RNPD
"The local butcher, by the look of him," Don replied.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC75rRD8cCn
"Exactly."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJptrNQmyFZ
Tetzal waited until they had gone before he spoke.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKjIdoGp4d
"You have seen her, Ollin?" he asked.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiej50dzYiu
"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?"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fybvuvrAQ
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs00rmEnELB
"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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3NJd0XtySM
"I tell you, O' High Priest of Sacrifice, there will be rain," Tetzal spoke gently and hesitated before continuing, "...with or without human blood."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMVetWWHcQ
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?"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAkhauVSNXC
"I serve the same god as you," Tetzal's voice was even.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL6mw8qutOr
"Then, above all else, honor him. He demands blood," Ollin shouted, "and blood he shall have!"560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2gzL9mQib
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SkAZzGWA0
"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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJwaNPKoxp
"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."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48GjSaBWc2
"If she were wearing the bracelet and came out of the tomb then that fellow Quetzal...."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvbZN38Ito
"Tetzal," Don corrected him, and was ignored.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmLy9TqJuS
"....must associate Ann in some way with that skeleton, Yentl."560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwstB5SaaF4
"Nenetl."It was Penny's turn to put him ri ght.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEK0tjT2dD9
"Oh, the pain," Dr. Smith muttered.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ORJcH3atn
"Well, they've treated us all right so far," Penny said brightly.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQpYKu3NhE
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.560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6rxYNZww4
560Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTYUCpbmBW
