poemtry and prose

The fireplace upstairs cracked and shifted as the blackened, burnt wood collapsed under its own weight. Autumn sat on the floor carefully reading the spines of all the books. Occasionally, she would pull out one book and hold it in her hands, feeling the texture of the leather binding and the edges of the pages crinkle in her fingers. This time she had pulled out a pre-turn-of-the century bible from the lower bookshelf. Religion had never been something her parents carefully installed in her and for that she was grateful. She lkiked having the freedom to pick and chose whatever belief systems she wanted to spend time devoting energy into.

Footsteps sounded behind her and Andrews stood in the doorway with a glass full of cold mocha. He smiled at her and said, "You having fun looking over all the books?"

She nodded and stood up, "I am sorry if I disturbed you or the books. I was just looking at them. You guys have quite a collection here, I am quite impressed."

He nodded approval and smiled again, "Good. I am happy. So, apparently the wonder twins came through yet again and they have a presentation to show us. They finished translating the book you found and we gave them. I would like it a lot if you came with me and listened to what they have to say."

"Um, okay, sure. I can do that," Autumn said, straightening her clothes out. "Not sure what value I can bring to the discussion but I would like to know what the boy, er... Steve, died for."

"Fair enough," Andrews said as he walked out of the room and lead Autumn down the hallway to another room, that appeared to be the Dining room at first glance. A large dark cherry wood table sat in the middle of the room. Large, oversized and plush matching brown leather chairs with soft armrests sat evenly spaced around the ovular table. A quick count showed that there were exactly thirteen chairs at the table. An odd looking device sat on top of the table, it had three legs and a curved hub in the middle. A keypad with white numbers displayed on one of the arms. Autumn guessed that the device was some sort of office phone for conference meetings. She felt a little out of place in the room.

Across from her and Andrews sat the twins, Darius and Daniel. Autumn giggled a little bit to herself at their names. She was half determined to call them D&D for short. They were still arguing as Daniel handed herself and Andrews both a spiral bound book, while Darius was slowly and lovingly unrolling a few maps for visual aids. It felt like she was back at college and some of her peers were attempting to look very professional at presenting their semester's work on it.

"So, yeah," Darius said, clearing his throat, "The journal you gave us was fairly easy to decipher. Thanks to my brother's skill at Latin and the books we had for reference. It tells the story of a sceptre created by a Mayan priest who was power hungry. He wanted to become a God, having tired of serving as a channel for the Gods themselves. So he set about fashioning a scepter of metal and many extraordinary objects from beasts and mines that probably do not exist today. This weapon, along with the blood of a sacrifice would open up a portal to the heavens and give him unimaginable control over the earth and all the peoples in it. So, it stands to reason that our buddy Blackstone had heard about this item somewhere and he has been working on trying to find it."

Daniel picked up at that moment, "The second half of the book gives clues and hints as to where the sceptre is located. From what we have been able to read, it was moved from the great city and hidden deep in a ruin known as de Pirámide del Adivino, or The Soothsayer's Pyramid. Basically, it lays there, heavily guarded by traps and the terrors of the jungle. The book also has notes about the possible activation rituals and words that transmute the power from the four elements of the earth into the earth destroying forces that build into the sceptre and give the weilder of the item the power to become God-like."

He turned to a map that had been clipped to a stand, "From our best guess, you will need to go here." The map displayed a rough outline of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, a place that Autumn had always wanted to go to but never really could afford the time off or money to travel. Daniel pointed to a spot on the North-eastern tip of the map. "This is where we believe that the Pirámide del Adivino is located. And it is here where you will find the sceptre, that is, if Blackstone or looters have not figured out how to get to it first."

Darius tossed out two plane ticket packets, "I set you both up with a direct flight from Portland International Airport to Mexico City. You both have fake names and will be going in as a relatives, Uncle and neice, doing a little bit of touring around the Mayan ruins. From there, you will need to take a jeep to Merida and Uxmal where you will need to find the Pirámide. The flight leaves tomorrow, which gives you some time to get familiar with the translations from the journal which we have provided you both with. Oh, and we will also need to get Miss Chase's picture taken for her passport id. That is, presuming she does not already have one."

Autumn's heart jumped, and her mind raced. "Er, wait one minute. Andrews, no one said anything about me going to Mexico. I cannot go to Mexico. I have a store to run and a siamese cat to take care of. Besides, I am no special government agent, what good could I do in Mexico? Knowing my luck I would just get you all killed."

Darius laughed that the thought, "No one said anything about me and Daniel going. We do not travel. It is not in our contract. No, instead we stay here and protect the library and items and do research and make sure you are given enough information to go and hunt down the items."

"Autumn, please calm down," Andrews said," Your cat and store will be fine. Now I have known you since your store opened and you have never once taken a day off. Oh sure, you have closed down for a bit when you got sick but you have worked so hard. Think of this as the once in a lifetime chance adventure. Like I already told you, your bookstore is safe. And we can have the twins here go visit your apartment and your cat and make sure he is well fed and watered and gets some playtime in."

Daniel shot a frusterated glace at Andrews but did not say anything. Apparently the success of the mission hinged on their convincing Autumn to fly with Andrews and if that meant having to go play pet owner with a cat for a few days, then he would do so. He figured that he would try and work it out so they got a bit more pay out of the babysitting job from Andrews when they got back, if they got back.

"I do not know, this is all really really sudden and I have never been out of the country," Autumn said. Secretly inside, she was excited at the chance to finally get out for a bit and go someplace new, see an entirely new country and get some exploring in. She leaned back in her chair and thought a bit more about it. "You promise me that when I get back I will have my store and my apartment and my cat to come back to? That nothing will have changed and everything will be okay?"

"I promise."

Autumn looked around the room once more, her eyes pausing on the face of the three men in it. "Okay. Fine. I am in. Where do I go to get my picture taken for this passport? And what names are we assuming?"

Everyone smiled at her naievity and giggled a bit. "Come on," Darius said, "we will go take you to our photolab. And your first name stays the same. We do not believe in giving you a completely new makeover for the trip. It would be hard enough just trying to keep your new last name straight."

It only took the twins twenty minutes to take Autumn's picture. Five hours later, she was staring back at her image reflected in an official United States passport. It was her first and she traced the edges of her face with her finger. The paper felt so smooth to the touch, and Autumn wondered if the passport would really do the trick. She did not like the idea of fooling government officials. But then again, she was also with the government.

Andrews drove Autumn back to her apartment one last time. She had no idea what the weather would be like down there during the Portland rainy season, so she threw a few cool weather clothes, skirts and t-shirts in with some pants and long sleeve shirts into a black gym duffle bag she kept around for small trips. She also threw her toothbrush and some toothpaste in the bag, for good measure. Bubba Gadget hovered around Autumn purring. She reached down and pet the tiny kitty with both hands, scooping the cat up into her arms.

"I wish I could bring you with me Bubba," she said, hugging the cat until it gave a small meep and strugged against being crushed. "But do not worry, momma will be home soon before you know it. I just got asked to go away for a little bit, a vacation. Which, as you know, I need. Two nice young boys will be coming in to take care of you. So do not give them too much trouble, okay?"

Her eyes watered a little bit. She hated the thought of leaving Bubba behind, stuck inside her apartment. But she knew that if she did not help Andrews with finding the sceptre or wand thing, then there may not be much of a life with him or her apartment or her bookstore. She walked around her apartment one last time, lightly touching her furnature, just to make sure it was still real and would still be there when she returned. Taking a deep breath, she turned and left the apartment once more, locking the door behind her. It was time.

Andrews was standing outside of his truck when she came through the apartment's main door. He was smoking a cigarette. It was dark out and the street lights were now just turning on. Autumn swung her bag over her shoulder and stood near Andrews, "So this is it?"

"Yep. This is it. Please, do not worry. The twins will take great care of Bubba Gadget. And do not be surprised to see a spotless apartment when you come home. They tend to clean everything."

Autumn snickered, "Great. My own personal maids. If I had known what you were really like years ago, why I should have asked for a vacation then. My house can really use a good cleaning."

Andrews snickered and reached out for her bag, "Come on. Let us head back to The Hive and get some sleep. We have an early day ahead of us and thousands of miles to go."

She nodded and wondered what her room at The Hive was going to be like. She was so tired and hungry that even just a cot would be fine for her.

They stopped at a fast food place on their way back and purchased dinner for the four of them. The smell of fries and burgers made Autumn's stomach growl. It had been a long time since she had eaten anything. The twins were practically standing at the door when they arrived back at The Hive. Autumn held the bags of food up at them and they wisked them out of her hands and dashed back into the kitchen. "From the looks of it, they were hungry too," she thought.

Conversation that night was light. Autumn told the twins about Bubba Gadget and where his food was stored at. She had given them her spare key and hoped they did not lose it when she got back. They also chatted a bit about favorite movies and music. No one mentioned the trip to Mexico or what would happen once they got there. Once dinner was over, Daniel took Autumn to her room. It had a twin bed and one night stand with a lamp on top of it. There were two abstract art paintings hung on the wall and the room smelled of fresh wood and mold, as if the room had recently been built but not lived in.

"Good night Autumn," Daniel said. "And good luck. Try not to worry too much about your mission. Andrews is great at what he does and he would not put you into danger at all. And even if there is anything life threatening down there, he will protect you."

"Thank you Daniel," Autumn smiled numbly. She went into her room and shut the door behind her. It was eight o'clock and she was not tired yet, so instead she started reading the notes on the translations that D&D gave her.

A knock at the door woke her up suddenly. "Come in," she said. Since there was no clocks in the room, she had no idea what time it was. Andrews opened the door a crack.

"Autumn," he wispered. "You awake? It is time. We need to head out soon if we want to make our flight."

She had collapsed on the bed, the spiral papers had slid on the floor. She looked a little confused at where she was at but nodded at Andrews. "Give me ten minutes to get cleaned up and I will be downstairs."

Traffic was light on the highways. Considering it was way too early in the morning, Autumn was glad that rush hour had not started yet. The truck's clock displayed five fourty-five, and considering it was still dark out, Autumn presumed that it was in the morning. Both bags were in the back of the truck and Darius was driving them. Autumn yawned a bit and did a mental run through of her name and the identification cards.

The departures ramp at Portland International had some light commuter traffic on the top ramp when they pulled into the airport. Darius turned on the truck's hazard lights and helped get their bags out from the back of the truck. He shook both their hands and quickly wished them both a hearty good luck before getting back in the truck and heading back to The Hive.

Andrews picked up his bag and Autumn slung hers over her shoulder. They headed into the main terminal and Andrews lead them over to the Aeromexico check in counter. Their flight was on time and since they only had a carry on bag each, they went straight to their terminal. All the international flights at PDX were down on Terminal D. They were only an hour early, so they stood in line at the security checkout, waiting to be ushered through.

Four minutes later, there were seated next to the window at gate 22. Autumn watched the airplanes arrive and leave, their engines roaring as they took off. Random things were being said over the loud speaker and she did not pay any attention to them. Fifteen minutes later their plane arrived, the white Aeromexico pyramid logo displayed on the tail of the airplane, which was painted blue. Autumn stood up. She was ready to to see what the mexican peninsula was like.