"So I've been dying to know," you say, "how is my gear holding up?"


"Quite well," Meredith says. "I'm not sure I set the tent up right, but it didn't rain, so who cares? That down sleeping bag sure was comfy, though. I see that you figured out a way to make do without all that stuff."


"I'm just glad you left your initials in that tree. Otherwise I'd have no idea who was after me."


"You think I'm after you? Ha, don't flatter yourself."


"I can only believe what the evidence leads me to conclude," you say.


"Well, OK, sure. I needed you to put me on the right trail, because I couldn't make heads or tails of those military maps. But then after a certain point I had to assume you were still Walter's agent, and I know how much he gets bent out of shape when he thinks he's been betrayed. So who was it that sang that song — 'In this ever-changing world, live and let die'?"


"So here we are, Meredith, just you and me on top of this mountain. Are we going to shoot it out? Wrestle each other off the side of the cliff? Join forces and claim the Stone of Vul-Kar together?"


"I don't know yet," she says. "What you're looking for is across that bridge, you know. Now that we both know we're here, there's no point in playing games. I'll let you go if you let me go."


"Isn't what you're looking for on the other side of that bridge, too?"


"Maybe, but I'm guessing not."


You see that her gaze has stopped on something behind you, so you turn to see what it might be. There, on a rock about fifty feet behind you, are three letters: BPV. The writing is frail and white, as if scratched onto the rock by someone holding another rock.


"That's what this is all about?" you say. "You're trying to find Beatriz Paya-Vallejo?"


"You could say that," is all she says.


"How do you know that's not her down on the rocks?"


You step over toward the bridge and point down into the chasm, to the battered set of human remains sprawled across the talus pile. Skeptically, Meredith comes to see what you see, and she gasps when she spots the bones.


"Do you think that's her?" you say.


Meredith's eyes are wide with surprise, and for the first time since this encounter began she seems to be at a loss for words.


"So what's the big deal, anyway?" you say. "You two weren't… you weren't… you know…."


"Oh, Christ, don't be so lurid," she finally says. "Look, the temple is across this bridge. If that's what you want, then just go. Be Walter Berringer's little pawn and get your million dollars. If you want to know my secrets, you're gonna have to help me get down into that chasm."


__________________________________________________

You cross the bridge and climb to the temple ruins.

"I don't know what you're up to Meredith, and maybe I don't care. But I'm here for a single purpose, and if I don't make good on my commitments then I may have trouble being employed ever again."


"Your commitment to your job is admirable," Meredith says. "Misguided, but admirable."


"What can such people as I do, crawling between heaven and earth?"


"Oh come now, let's not get all literate on each other," she says. "Go. Be on your way. I wish you success on your journey."


You think about demanding your stuff back, but the way this day is proceeding your mission to obtain the Stone of Vul-Kar is almost over. By this time tomorrow, you should be back on board the Big Papi sailing north to Hawaii, with Walter Berringer wiring the balance of your million dollars to your account. You'll be able to buy your own REI store if you want.


As you turn toward the rope bridge, Meredith says, "Hold on. Before you go, seriously, how should I get down into that chasm?"


"Jump, for all I care," you say, and you turn back toward the bridge.


You are too fed up with Meredith to care too much about the condition of the bridge; if this thing can withstand the weight of a grown Woban, then you won't be too much of a load. Still, there isn't very much to this bridge: just four thick, russet-colored ropes and dozens upon dozens of rough-hewn wood slabs. The upper two ropes serve as rudimentary handrails, and smaller ropes bind everything into something resembling a unified structure.


It seems steady at first, but the further out you go the bouncier the bridge gets. Several times you feel compelled to come to a stop to let the vibrations stop; they are shooting forward and back through the bridge like sine waves, growing so strong that you worry you might get bounced off the span. You can't help but look down, because the gaps between the slats are wide enough you could sink a boot through one if you weren't careful. Could that really be the remains of your old nemesis down there on those boulders? Somehow the bones seem too big to be Paya-Vallejo, but you'll let Meredith figure that one out for herself.


Speaking of Meredith, you turn and see no such person on the summit behind you. Maybe she plays dumb a lot, but perhaps that has just been an act. You're confident she'll figure out a way into that gorge down there.


Hold on — what's that?


The sound is so faint that you almost missed it. Actually you were tuning it out, because that drumming noise you heard last night has returned and has been going on for a few minutes. You have been paying too much attention to the bridge to notice. The Wobans are up to something, but it's hard to say what.


When the bridge stops shimmying underneath you, you continue stepping gingerly across. After reaching the sagging midpoint of the span, you have to climb up a slight grade to reach the opposite end. The vibrations become less intense the closer you get to the anchor point, until finally you reach the ledge on the side of the island's main summit. Before you enter the tunnel leading into the mountain, you take one last look at the landscape behind you. There is no movement other than clouds drifting lazily in the sky, but the drumming does sound like it has gotten closer.


The Wobans aren't your concern; for all you know they're on the hunt for some giant flightless bird or something. You're on the hunt for something else entirely, and right now your quarry is so close that you almost smell all the twenty-dollar bills that will be spewing out of the first ATM you come across back home.


You step into the tunnel expecting darkness, but finding a shaft of light from above instead. The tunnel leads in a hundred feet or so to a circular room with no ceiling; it extends upward for hundreds of feet all the way to the top of the mountain, making you feel like you're at the bottom of a well looking up. Stone steps protrude from the wall, spiralling gracefully all the way up.


Eagerly you take to the steps, learning quickly that they weren't carved with your little human legs in mind. This was a place designed by seven-foot giants, with steps made for people with longer strides — meaning you have to work harder to ascend each riser, and then make an awkward half-step in between. The closest thing to this in your life experience was that time when you climbed an old lighthouse once on the East Coast, but that was a narrow and confined space. This place was constructed on a grand scale.


On the other hand it's a tall shaft to climb, and going round and round gets tedious quickly. You feel like the action hero in a poorly-edited movie: you've discovered the secret to vanquishing the alien invasion force, and only you can save Planet Earth — but first you need to run a marathon to deliver the news to the rebel base, so check back after a couple hours.


All right, so it doesn't take that long to reach the top of the spiral stairs, but by the time you get there you feel spent — and when you lean against a wall in exhaustion to catch your breath, this further delays the completion of your mission. 


__________________________________________________

Next page.

Looking up at your new surroundings, you find that the land here on top of the mountain is completely flat. However, the entire plateau is occupied by stone ruins, the remains of some civilization that is practically unknown to academia — a culture that existed nowhere else on Earth.


But what a strange culture that must have been, like a race of ancient tourists who traveled the globe and recreated the various architectural styles they found, here on the one or two acres of buildable space atop this mountain. There are four small buildings around the edge of the summit, each a house-sized stepped pyramid like something out of Mexico, but with four Greek-style columns on top. All four face the central structure, which is a stepped pyramid of the same size. But instead of the columns, this one is capped with a statue.


If the Stone of Vul-Kar is anywhere, it's going to be in that central structure. You step over the crumbled remains of a toppled column to get a closer look. The statue looks like a Buddha from afar, a cherubic being with a large grin — except that this "Buddha" is horned, giving the otherwise complacent grin a malicious subtext. Is this the Vul-Kar god whose precious gem you've come to rob?


A tall and dark entrance leads into the temple, which is not large at all. The interior is something more like a closet, with room for three or four people to enter and feel intimidated by the carving of Vul-Kar that occupies an entire wall. Here he is nothing but an enormous face, with pupils the size of manhole covers and a nose on which you could easily bump your head. His eyes are crossed and his mouth is opened, revealing a raised tongue. Clearly this not a kind and forgiving god, but one who seeks to instill fear and demand obedience.


There is something missing, though: there is no purple gem. You look around in case you're missing something, but the interior of the temple is so small there is nothing to miss. The focus of this entire chamber seems to be that stuck-out tongue; it's what the crossed eyes are looking at, and it's what the nose shelters. You duck under the nose and examine the stone tongue more closely, noticing only a flat spot where it seems a prominent object should be. Other than that, the only noteworthy thing you see now is a single inscription, scratched onto the tip of Vul-Kar's tongue with a piece of stone much like the way Paya-Vallejo inscribed her initials down by the rope bridge:


MAMMON


Before you have a chance to ponder its significance, your concentration is broken by the sound of shouting outside. What the hell is going on? You rush out of the temple and follow the sound to the edge of the plateau — hesitating to go all the way to the edge because of the dizzying drop-off you know you'll find, but getting close enough to get a good look at the scene below.


The mountain at the other end of the rope bridge where you encountered Meredith Nowitki has been overrun by a hundred angry Wobans, who seem to be celebrating the capture of a prisoner. They surround the hapless victim, making it impossible for you to get a good look at who it is… but then again, who else was on this mountain today? The crowd has gathered atop the cliff near the rope bridge, parting as the victim is pushed toward the edge. That's when you finally get a good look at the person:


It's Meredith.


Then the Wobans go quiet as an imposing figure with a feathered crown and a feathered robe steps forward. "I keia la, e ho'olei makou i keia haumia i ka make i loa'a ia ia ma muli o kana mau hana hana kolohe," he shouts as the others pay respectful attention. "Ua piha kona kino i na 'uhane 'ino. E waiho makou i kona kino make e pehu i ka la, 'a'ole lawe 'ia mai i ka makou papa'aina."


The Wobans cheer in agreement to whatever their king has just proclaimed. Meredith is kneeling at the edge of the precipice, scanning the sky as if looking for divine intervention. Then she spots you watching from the top of the mountain.


"Help me!" she shouts… and to your dismay the Woban king follows her gaze and sees you too.


"Pepehi ia ia," the king says. "A laila e kauoha aku 'oe ia 'oe e lawe mai ia'u i kekahi pio."


You watch in horror as Meredith is shoved off the mountain into the rocky chasm. The Wobans don't waste any time enjoying the grisly spectacle though; a detachment of about a dozen angry warriors charge across the bridge single-file and into the tunnel leading to the spiral stairway. They are coming for you next, and there is no other way off the mountain.


THE END