I sensed uncertainty in her voice. "Is that it?"
She sighed. "Truthfully, I'd planned to take just one trip. But after new information came to light, I decided it would be wise to bring as many supplies as possible. I might have overdone it, but at least we'll have every tool imaginable at our disposal."
I narrowed my gaze. "What's the new information?"
"The Maneros have made a lot of headway on that plate we recovered from the tomb. For one thing, we now know the Library of the Mayas contains thousands of books, far more than Hope had reported. We've also confirmed that those books are made of gold."
I grinned. "That's a good thing."
"We also learned a little about the pyramid. It's not just a storehouse for the library. It's also a vault."
My grin vanished.
"The Mayas sealed something inside it with the library. We don't know what exactly." She took a deep breath. "All we know is that it was something terrifying. Something evil."
Chapter 23
"A vault?" Graham lifted his voice. "Are you serious?"
"Apparently, we're the last ones to know about it," I said quietly. We stood in a small niche situated between the cockpit and the cabin. "My point is this. If she kept that from us, she might try to hide other stuff too."
"Agreed." Beverly's eyes sparkled in the dim light. "And she might not be the only one keeping secrets around here."
I looked over her shoulder. Emily continued to flip furiously through her strange book, making occasional notations on a pad of paper. Her muscles were tense. Her forehead was scrunched up in a questioning manner. Meanwhile, Crowley watched her with a careful eye.
Miranda and Tum sat together. They appeared to be locked in a quiet, private conversation.
In the back of the chopper, the Maneros were hunched over a small table, speaking in soft tones. The gold plate from the sarcophagus lay on top of the table, glimmering gently.
"You're right," I said quietly. "We should get to know these people. Then they'll be more likely to share information with us."
"Sounds like a waste of time to me," Graham said. "Most likely, we'll never see them again.
"It's not just about gathering information. We're going to an extremely remote part of Mexico. We'll have no contact with the outside world for days, maybe even weeks."
"So what?"
"If things go wrong, we're going to need allies. So, we need to know who — if anyone — we can trust."
Chapter 24
"What do we do if the rotors stop turning?" I asked.
Dr. Wu gave me a quick look before turning back to the controls. "What kind of question is that?"
"An honest one." I edged into the cockpit. "It's been a long time since I flew in a helicopter."
"You pray," he said after a moment. "You pray like crazy."
I chuckled. "That's reassuring."
"You don't need to worry. This here is a Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma. It's a bit old but it's got a five-blade main rotor that cuts way down on vibration. Plus, two Turbomeca Makila 2A1 turboshaft engines linked up to a dual-channel Full Authority Digital Engine Control, or FADEC, system."
I blinked. "What?"
He smiled. "Basically, a digital computer controls the engines. If things go haywire, the FADEC system will protect them, provide redundancy, and issue emergency responses. In other words, if the engines stall, our little FADEC system will force them to thrust."
"Without your input?"
"Yes."
"What if the FADEC system fails?"
"Then the engines fail. There's no manual override so I've got no way of restarting the engine."
"That's crazy."
"Sure, if we only had one FADEC system. But this baby's got three of them. That's Emily's doing. She's all about redundancies."
"Is that right?"
"We've got two language experts, Dora and Renau," he replied. "Crowley doubles as my crew. He can fly if something happens to me. Plus, we've got a second doctor. Well, sort of."
"What do you mean?"
"Tum is a Maya shaman. He deals in natural remedies and healing rituals. A bunch of nonsense if you ask me." He gave me a quick look. "Even you. You're a redundancy."
The doc was telling the truth. Miranda's team was more experienced with normal excavations and my team was more experienced with unconventional ones. Still, there was overlap between our skill sets.
"How long have you worked for Emily?" I asked.
"Two years. No, wait. Three years."
"Is she married? I didn't notice a wedding ring."
"Why?" He arched an eyebrow. "You interested?"
"No. But she says this expedition is open-ended. I find it hard to believe she'd leave a spouse on those terms."
"She's not married. At least, I don't think she is."
"You don't know?"
"Emily's a very private person."
"What's she like as a boss?" I asked.
"She's a — what do you call it — a technocrat. She thinks she knows better than everyone else. And you know what? She's usually right."
"She must be successful."
"She is."
I cocked my head. "So, how sick is she?"
He gave me an odd look. "What makes you think she's sick?"
"Most people don't employ a personal physician."
"True." He paused. "All I can say is I'm sworn to confidentiality."
"I just want to know if I should be worried. Is she contagious?"
"She's not contagious." He was quiet for a moment. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be worried."
Chapter 25
"This isn't right." Miranda's voice trembled.
"If you'd read the contract—"
"Forget the contract," Miranda screamed. "We had a deal."
Emily didn't respond right away. From experience, she knew the trick to managing an angry person was to avoid fueling the fire. So, she kept her tone even and spoke quietly. "You still get to examine it."
"Yeah, along with a hundred other people."
"Please try to understand. The quicker I get the library into the right hands, the quicker Arclyon can start testing remedies."
"Just give me six months. That's all I need."
After cutting through the fancy jargon, an expedition was nothing more than a project to be managed. The key was division of labor. In other words, finding the right people for the right jobs.
However, good management also required a personalized approach. Some people needed scolding. Others needed coddling. Miranda belonged in the latter category.
"You don't need to worry." Emily looked around. The others, for whatever reason, seemed to be ignoring the argument. "Remember, you have exclusive archaeological access to the library."
"That won't matter if someone leaks pictures to the media."
"Every person who sees the library will be required to sign a binding contract. Arclyon will sue anyone who doesn't abide by the terms."
"And that person will use income from the leak to buy the best defense possible." Miranda shook her head. "I can't believe an imbecile like you has kept a business alive this long."
Prior to undertaking the trip, Emily had researched older expeditions. She'd studied teams led by Thor Heyerdahl, Robert Peary, and Ernest Shackleton, among others.
In the process, she'd learned something interesting. Those old leaders would deliberately bring losers on each expedition. And not just normal losers. They'd hire the worst of the worst. Liars, scoundrels, slackers.
At first, Emily hadn't understood it. But a little more research uncovered the truth. Those old leaders had worked in difficult conditions, largely isolated from the comforts of modern society. As such, their expedition members tended to harbor subconscious anger. By having losers around, a leader could focus that anger at certain individuals rather than at the expedition as a whole.