To the ancient Mesoamerican Indians, the dark rift was known as Xibalba Be, the Black Road that leads to Xibalba, the Underworld. New excavations in Teotihuacan have discovered large channels heated beneath this roadway, which we now know were designed to gather rainwater. This would indicate that the Avenue of the Dead may not have been a roadway at all, but a magnificent cosmic reflecting pool.

The similarities between Giza and Teotihuacan do not stop there. The largest of the Mesoamerican city’s three temples is called the Pyramid of the Sun, a precise, four-sided structure whose base, at 742.5 feet, is only twelve and a half feet shorter than its Egyptian counterpart, the Great Pyramid of Giza. This makes the Sun pyramid the largest man-made structure in the Western hemisphere, the Great Pyramid the largest in the east. Interesting enough, the Sun pyramid points west, the Great Pyramid east, a fact that caused Maria to think of these two immense structures as giant planetary bookends.

Precise measurements of both the Great Pyramid and Pyramid of the Sun clearly indicate the ancient architects at both sites possessed a firm grasp of advanced mathematics, geometry, and the value of pi. The perimeter of the Pyramid of the Sun equals its height multiplied by 2pi, the great pyramid twice its height at 4pi.

One clue as to who designed Teotihuacan may be found in the smallest of the three structures, the pyramid of Quetzalcoatl. The temple is located in an enormous squared enclosure, called the Ciudadela (Citadel), a plaza large enough to accommodate 100,000 people. The most elaborately adorned structure in all of Teotihuacan, the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl contains a myriad of sculptures and three-dimensional façades that feature one distinct character—a menacing plumed serpent.

To the Toltecs and Aztecs, the plumed serpent symbolized the great Caucasian wise man, Quetzalcoatl.

Once more, the presence of a mysterious bearded teacher seemed to be directing our journey into the past.

Upon abandoning Teotihuacan, the Toltecs and their leader had migrated east, settling in the Mayan city of Chichén Itza. It was here that the two cultures would again meld into one, creating the most magnificent and perplexing structure in all the ancient world—the Kukulcan pyramid.

I didn’t know it at the time, but it would be in Chichén Itza that we would come face-to-face with a discovery that would not only change my family’s destiny, but condemn us to remain on our journey forever.

—Excerpt from the Journal of Professor Julius Gabriel,

Ref. Catalogue 1977-81 pages 12-349.

Photo Journal Floppy Disk 5. File name: MESO, Air Balloon Photo 176.

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

DECEMBER 4, 2012
ABOARD THE USS BOONE,
GULF OF MEXICO

Secretary of State Pierre Borgia steps down from the helicopter, to be greeted by Captain Edmund Loos. “Morning, Mr.Secretary. How was your flight?”

“Lousy. Has the psychiatric director from Miami arrived yet?”

“About twenty minutes ago. He’s waiting for you in my briefing room.”

“What’s the latest on Gabriel?”