"It is my great pleasure to announce that the TARDIS has materialized," Dr. Smith said authoritatively.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbD5mII0cHW
"Where are we now?" asked Penny, Dr. Smith's fifteen-year-old niece.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXlElsQlA1
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2rgmYsvRW
"Well?" Penny arched her eyebrows. 515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡELzBzRsQkL
"West, hand me a screwdriver," Dr. Smith said testily.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4QVTv47DZ
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66VfkPA9sb
"We could always stick our heads outside the door and look," Ann MacGregor suggested.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXsh1DKxaT
"And be devoured by a dinosaur, or dictated to by a Dalek, perhaps?" Don added.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPSSWqwapZ
"Let's check the atmosphere," Penny said.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWMGiVmRLT
"Good idea." Don turned to Dr. Smith. "May I?"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBso7Qx2fHM
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpGsXS1Z3g
"Stale?" Penny echoed.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5JTzysjYy
"That means breathable but musty."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xqbLN1ol4
"Then we can take a peek," said Ann. "Are you coming with me?" she asked Penny.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRgKGsAAj1
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftuE3zzIkp
Cautiously, Penny and Ann opened the door and peered out. Apart from the light inside the TARDIS, they were in total darkness.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbL6JgQHTQ
"Where do you think we are?" Penny whispered.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZbmPLRCMJ
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGr8hzRnjf
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. 515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRDPtidt4m
But it was the cloak, geometrically woven with silver and golden threads, and the superb mask that fascinated Barbara.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxD51i6CyeK
"Look at that, Penny," she murmured.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhotvKonwrz
"I am," Penny shuddered with a sense of foreboding, anticipating the evil to come.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYFQWKTJmCn
"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?"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0N3Nf3kP5
"No."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8etXHuuC1
"His personal fly-swatter."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBICzbNI6A3
Penny giggled. Since the Aztecs were Mexicans, the TARDIS must definitely be on Earth. "But what year is it?" she asked.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xeaQ2d4dv
"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."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFVN6F8O1h5
"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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpf9Yfuwsgg
"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?"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3H4bZL9fk
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."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4V7KfIxXyR
"The Spanish didn't think so when they came here."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHH8ovNRDD
"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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3dPKs8dc4
"The Spanish landed in the early 1500s, didn't they?" Penny asked.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlt2PSEkDJB
"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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBj334d0vIX
"They're just like cartoon strips," Penny remarked. "But they're all the same. What does it mean?"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPU41cR8oj1
"That the warriors will protect the High Priest's spirit until he rejoins his people."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jrD7LFbk5
"Did the Aztecs believe in reincarnation, then?" Penny sounded surprised.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpGhj6Q8WI
"Oh, definitely." Ann moved closer to the wall. "This painting has hardly faded at all." 515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ai3XM83Zr
She touched the mural, then quickly withdrew her hand.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8oK0POjAH
"What's wrong?" Penny asked.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5bqydh9lG
"It may be my hyperactive imagination at work," Ann replied, "but I think the wall moved when I touched it."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxIKb9NT9ZA
"Let's both push it and see."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihbs7UpTe0
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZnxFnrPfW
"This tomb is part of a temple," Ann whispered.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4l1M8ta3HB
"Hadn't we better go back to the TARDIS?" Penny asked nervously.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDaFh0Pyi6
"No, it's all right," Ann replied, "there's nobody here."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgZthOFHCX
"I think I'd better fetch uncle and Don anyway," Penny said and ran back into the tomb.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNvcEdNIUtJ
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPmbSkV35t
"Woman!"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPqqnBOcCi
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfRHg0Zft7
Ann looked towards the entrance to the tomb in the back wall of the temple, but it had swung closed.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3CrxZyu6I
"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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKVX49YL8q
"Wait, warriors!" he cried out with an expression of incredulity on his face. "Wait!"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kz3kl8L9h
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvoVJy8N6p
"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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSdld7abHd
"The wall's closed," Penny exclaimed.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxKtbDIkII
"Which wall?" Don asked.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobt3t07iEX
"The one with the mural," Penny replied.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLxRDgR9ev
"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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnY3P1rkG4N
"I still can't see anything," he grumbled.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquy1otShN6
"Give me your hand, Uncle Zachary," Penny said and led him past the raised slab.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpl0gs0AupZ
"What's that?" Dr. Smith asked.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfcPayvC76
"According to Ann, he was a High Priest now revered as a god," Penny replied.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAP1iGEDyuq
Dr. Smith snorted.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6TXXp8SFXz
"We push it up," Penny explained when they reached the wall, and a few seconds later they were standing in the temple.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQL25OAegC
"Ann's not here," Don said.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazXbhdwsZR
"But----she was here when I came to fetch you," replied Penny defensively.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwansXokok
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27L1RF2gHa
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."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvG2otXWe7J
"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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ20D8tvsuL8
"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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwn3dj5G5E
"I was too late. There was nothing to grab onto." Don felt ashamed at his failure.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUELEDmbFzY
Penny looked perplexed. "But it must open somehow, Don."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCKpwgN6WY
"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."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqfBI6gouR
"But how shall we return to the TARDIS?"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXf872m8gA9
"That, Penny, is a very good question."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcT8rULHgyp
Don cleared his throat. "Dr. Smith, we've got company," he murmured.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtr7qTFXd2R
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBmn5F9c0C
"I, Tetzal, High Priest of Knowledge, most humbly greet the servants of Nenetl," he said, while the four warriors bowed reverently.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJG52YFtpLa
Dr. Smith glanced at Don. "The servants of what?" he asked.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfmDMS5OPBj
Don shook his head and looked at the High Priest. "Where is Ann?"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGh78yft4DY
"Of whom do you speak?"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3ar7U7fm3
"The young woman who was here a few minutes ago."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdsEJebc4Q
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."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVS7iYZLPy
Dr. Smith looked at Tetzal for a moment. "Er, what did you say your name was?" He sounded suspicious.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZG0Lhihcw
"Tetzal."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN734nJsjYD
"And you're the High Priest of Knowledge?"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfJvPNXZh8
"I serve as such."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkgnoGRbPK
"Do you know where we came from?" Dr. Smith persisted.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQfHaLI4lD
"Nenetl's tomb."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJAN6qCAM3
"How does one enter it from the temple?"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhg2TOr91cg
"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."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPftAq9WzO
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0MYVrFT6X
"Ann, I think," Penny hissed. "I'll explain when we're alone."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2l3x3YWJSy
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsUK4EJaRO
"You know who he is, West," Dr. Smith said as they were escorted from the temple.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2hXAiPQXU
"The local butcher, by the look of him," Don replied.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBjVWEnTQr
"Exactly."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd17l3zG1Io
Tetzal waited until they had gone before he spoke.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgU6nX8vYJi
"You have seen her, Ollin?" he asked.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17I7XCkeLo
"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?"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqquDOvonN
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkwJHzaAjG
"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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNTA143zhl
"I tell you, O' High Priest of Sacrifice, there will be rain," Tetzal spoke gently and hesitated before continuing, "...with or without human blood."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdSf2lBzZw
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?"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdwuexXMDb
"I serve the same god as you," Tetzal's voice was even.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWOBNXPcJc
"Then, above all else, honor him. He demands blood," Ollin shouted, "and blood he shall have!"515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0BIUbHSwNg
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDmGQOqsl9
"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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡle30RwQ3k1
"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."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLBsvaHTl3
"If she were wearing the bracelet and came out of the tomb then that fellow Quetzal...."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvsPs0A92E
"Tetzal," Don corrected him, and was ignored.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVOJV91Ne4
"....must associate Ann in some way with that skeleton, Yentl."515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZW8NW8z4I
"Nenetl."It was Penny's turn to put him ri ght.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7G0zxJVDM3
"Oh, the pain," Dr. Smith muttered.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7X2ARhqCf
"Well, they've treated us all right so far," Penny said brightly.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwoQ1CqIyZ
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.515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHgx8cJL5L0
515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRbRq9Dx5n4
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