The image changes, zooming past Xibalba to focus upon the planet’s smaller moon—an immense potato-shaped starship. ‘This damaged transport was left behind by the transhuman culture that vacated the planet. Our scientists have effected repairs. With the wormhole’s passage now secured, we’ll be able to use the vessel to escape before the star explodes.’

‘We’re going back to Earth,’ states the female. ‘Back through time to save Homo sapiens from the caldera.’

Dominique perks up. ‘You can do that? Change history?’

‘It’s possible,’ the younger male answers. ‘Unfortunately, Jacob cannot possibly hope to defeat Lilith and Devlin alone.’

‘He won’t be alone,’ Dominique says. ‘I’ll be with him.’

‘You?’ The male elder shakes his head. ‘You are not Hunahpu. You’re not even a transhuman. Devlin and his followers would crush you like a bug.’

The female Guardian holds up her hand. ‘Don’t rush to judgment. First-Mother’s presence in the Underworld may actually confuse the Abomination and her son, who are still expecting both Hero Twins. Once Dominique reaches the Dark Road, her mind will remain cloaked to all trans human telepathy. It may present her an advantage.’

‘Advantage?’ The elder Guardian’s eyes blaze at his female comrade in disbelief. ‘They’ll never make it past the Dark Road without Immanuel. Or have you forgotten the tlachtli?’

Dominique looks puzzled.

The younger male explains. ‘The entrance that leads into Devlin’s netherworld is guarded by a band of sociopaths. Lilith has convinced these transhumans that they are reincarnations of cannibals who lived thousands of years ago in ancient Mesoamerica. These Devil-worshipers exist only to serve the Abomination and her son. To enter Devlin’s netherworld, you must defeat these warriors in a game of tlachtli, and the battle is to the death.’

Jacob turns to his mother. ‘The battle in which you’ve seen me train for the last seven years.’

‘And what about weapons?’ Dominique asks. ‘Can’t we just shoot them with an ion cannon or something?’

‘Modern weapons do not function within the spiritual realm,’ the female answers. ‘The laws of physics as you know them do not apply in the Land of the Damned.’

‘One of our transport ships will take you to the surface facility where the last remaining Tezcatilpoca is penned,’ the younger male says. ‘Jacob, use your Hunahpu powers to summon the beast. The creature will allow you access beyond the nexus into the Abomination’s netherworld. The Guardian brotherhood have programmed the serpent to safeguard a weapon, one we believe is capable of destroying the Abomination and her son.’

‘My sword,’ Jacob tells his mother. ‘I’ve seen all of these things in my visions.’

‘Remember,’ the female cautions, ‘you only have thirty hours before we must depart through the wormhole. If you haven’t returned by then, don’t bother coming back. The radiation from the supernova will kill you.’