Shan saw that some of those among the workers did understand. Several Tibetans were talking in excited tones, and three or four ran away as if to bring others to witness the miracle. Jiao cursed and picked up one of the tools in the arc, a large hammer with a metal handle. He gasped and dropped it, shaking his hand. The hammer had burned him.

“What the hell is this!” Jiao shouted.

When no one spoke, Shan stepped through the crowd. “Gekho,” he announced as he reached Ren’s side at the base of the two arcs. “Gekho the Destroyer. Gekho the Mountain God.”

“You fool, Shan!” Jiao spat. “Stop spouting nonsense!”

“It was that meteorite last night!” Huan insisted, then hesitated as he gazed at the tools. No one seemed comforted by his explanation. Meteors did not come equipped with the tools of a god.

Shan spoke toward the director and Tan as he recalled the painting of Gekho he had seen in the secret archives. “Gekho has eight arms on each side. In his left hands he holds bow and arrow, lasso, battle hammer, iron chain, iron hook, spear, horn of a ram, and a caldron of boiling water.” He pointed to each item that comprised the left arc, which in sequence were an old battered bow with an arrow nocked in it, a coil of rope, the hammer Jiao had dropped, one of the chains used for hauling logs, a large hook that was used with the chains, the handle of a shovel that had been broken off and sharpened to a point, the horn of a sheep, and a brazier filled with a liquid that was also spouting blue flames.

“On the other side,” Shan continued, “the ferocious Mountain Warrior God carries a cutting wheel, a maul called the Earth Shatterer, a scimitar, a ball of fire, a thunderbolt arrow, a crushing killing wheel, a battle-axe, and a sword.” He pointed to each of the objects on the right side, indicating in turn a large circular saw blade, a heavy sledgehammer painted entirely blue, a mock scimitar that appeared to have been made for the old ritual dances, a tarry black mass that burned with a low blue flame, an arrow with scorch marks on it, a wide smoldering tire that looked like it had been taken off a forklift, an ax painted blue, and a sword that also appeared to be a prop made for dance performances. He paused by the smoldering rock. He doubted it was the actual meteorite, but Jaya and her friends had used the appearance of the meteorite to great advantage. The boulder was cupped at the top, providing a basin for the liquid that burned.“Toys and stolen tools!” Jiao shouted. “Cheap theatrics!”

“The meteor last night?” a voice called out from the crowd of workers. “Like the knob said! We all saw it! It was the arrival of the blue god! He was here! Whatever he touches burns blue!”