“Sure,” Andy said. “The main reason behind sacrifices is the belief that you have to keep the deities alive. You have to keep them sustained, and the primary way they did that was by offering a blood meal. Mostly animals, but sometimes they offered children as sacrifice.”

“Are you saying a child might have been sacrificed on that altar?”

“It isn’t out of the question. But human sacrifices only took place on the most momentous of occasions: to pacify the gods during a time of famine or pestilence, the death of a ruler, or the accession of a ruler.”

Libby said, “That’s about all I had planned for today.” She paused for a moment then added, “But since we’ve got you here, could you spend a few minutes giving background on the Incas?”

Andy looked at his watch. It was 3:18 p.m. He still had fourteen minutes left. Plenty of time. He said, “Sure.”

“Okay, maybe just the basics. Assume the viewer has no idea who the Incas are. I might interrupt you with a couple questions, but feel free to pick and choose what you think might be captivating. And don’t worry if you slip up or need a minute to think, I can piece it together in post to look good.”

She would piece it together? Wouldn’t Roth be the one to edit the film?

Andy shook away this thought for the time being, then conjured Professor Depree from the mental rubble in which he’d been buried. “The Incas were an ancient civilization that flourished in South America from the early 1400s to around 1533. In less than a century, they built one of the largest, most tightly controlled empires the world has ever known. If you can believe it, at the height of their rule, the Inca Empire covered more than three thousand miles, extending from Ecuador in the north, into Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile in the south.”

Libby gave him a big thumbs-up.

Andy continued, “What most people don’t know is that the Incas were actually only a group of around forty thousand, but they governed a territory with ten million subjects speaking thirty different languages.”

“What language did the Incas speak?” Libby asked.

“The Incas spoke Quechua, a dialect of it anyhow.”

“Quechua is still in existence today, isn’t it?”

“Eight million people still speak it. Mostly in Cusco and the highlands of Peru, but in a few parts of western Bolivia as well.” Andy added, “I speak it pretty well. At least I used to.”

“Can you say something in Quechua for us?”

“Ch’inllamanta parlaykuway.”

Libby laughed. “What did you say?”

“Please speak more slowly.”

“What . . . did . . . you . . . say?”

It took Andy a minute to realize Libby was messing with him. Andy let out a small laugh.

“Okay, sorry,” Libby said. “Keep going.”