Several seconds passed as Libby watched the playback on the video camera. Andy took the time to glance around. Alejándro Cala, Nathan Buxton, and Jonathan Roth were huddled near the altar, continuing to excavate around the large boulder. The others, Andy assumed, must all be back atop the temple ruins.

“Sound levels are perfect,” Libby said. “And you’re right, it does look great with that tree behind you.”

Libby had initially wanted to shoot the interview next to the altar, but Andy had figured they had plenty of footage of the altar, and the lighting next to the giant tree was much better.

“Ready when you are,” Andy said.

Libby said, “Okay, so first question: How did you find the altar?”

Andy spent the next minute detailing how he noticed the stone while talking to Darnell. Andy skirted over the fact that he never would have made the discovery had he not been getting ready to tell the jungle just how much he hated teaching. Andy guessed Darnell would give him some guff for this later on.

When Andy finished, Libby said, “Actually, can we back up to the temple? And the large earthen mound?”

“You mean, the temple that the amazing Dr. Farah Karim discovered yesterday?”

“Yes, that one,” Libby said, with what Andy thought was a slight roll of her eyes. “What would be the significance of a temple to these people?”

Andy cleared his throat and then said, “The temple would have been a centralized place where religious activities and decisions were made. It would be similar to a neighborhood church.”

“Okay, and what would it have looked like?”

“Well, the large earthen mound was most likely once a pyramid made from organic material, possibly bricks of clay and straw—mudbrick.” Andy went on a quick tangent explaining that nothing organic could survive the highly acidic conditions of the Amazon, and that over time those bricks had eroded into the large earthen mound they now saw. “On top of the pyramid,” he said, getting back on track, “you would have the stones we found, which would serve as the foundation. And on top of the stones would have been the temple—most likely made from wood, which is the most abundant resource in the jungle.”

“Great,” Libby said. “Now let’s talk about the altar. What would the significance of an altar be to this ancient civilization?”

“An altar is basically a communication port to a god or deity. Anything you put on the altar—prayer requests, good feelings, flowers, different offerings, sacrifices—will be transferred to the deity. Think of it as a Star Trek transporter to another realm, where the deities are.”

“Star Trek?” Libby said with a laugh.

Andy felt foolish for half a second—that is, until Libby flashed him Spock fingers.

“You a Trekkie?” Andy asked.

“Maybe,” Libby said, shrugging her shoulders lightly, then quickly moving along with the interview. She said, “Can you talk briefly about the sacrifices?”