The astronomical meaning behind this incredible design cannot be overstated, for, as I have discussed earlier, the dark rift of the Milky Way is one of the most important symbols of Maya culture. According to the Popol Vuh, the Maya book of creation, the dark rift is considered to be the road that leads to the Underworld, or Xibalba. It is here where the Maya hero, One Hunahpu, had journeyed to the Underworld to challenge the evil gods, a heroic, though fateful, challenge ritualized by the Maya in the ancient ball game. (All members of the losing team were put to death.)

According to the Mayan calendar, the name One Hunahpu equates with 1 Ahau, the first day of the fifth cycle—and its last—the prophesied day of doom. Using a sophisticated astronomy program, I have charted the heavens as they will appear in the year 2012. The Great Ball Court will once again align itself with the dark rift, only this time on the day of the winter solstice—4 Ahau, 3 Kankin—humanity’s day of doom.

It was on a cool fall day in 1983 that a team of Mexican archaeologists arrived in Chichén Itza. Armed with picks and shovels, the men proceeded to the Great Ball Court in search of an artifact known as the center marker—an ornamental stone found buried at the center point of many other ball-court fields in Mesoamerica.

Maria and I stood by and watched as the archaeologists unearthed the ancient artifact. The vessel was like none any of us had ever seen—jade instead of rock, hollow, the size of a coffee can, with the handle of an obsidian blade protruding from one end of the object as if it were some Mayan “sword in the stone.” Despite many attempts to remove it, the weapon remained wedged in tight.

Adorning the sides of the jade object were symbolic images of the ecliptic and the dark rift. Painted on the bottom of the piece was the detailed face of a great Mayan warrior.

Maria and I stared at this last image in absolute shock, for there was no mistaking the man’s facial features. Reluctantly, we handed the center marker back to the expedition’s leader, then returned to our trailer, overwhelmed by the potential implications of the object we had just held within our hands.

Maria had been the one to finally break the silence between us. “Julius, somehow—somehow our own destiny has become directly entwined in the very salvation of our species. The image upon the marker—it’s a sign that we must continue our journey, that we must find a way into Kukulcan’s pyramid.”

I knew my wife was right. With renewed vigor, forged from feelings of trepidation, we continued our search, spending the next three years turning over every rock, exploring every ruin, uncovering every jungle leaf, investigating every cave in the region.

Still—we found nothing.