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.Now there is only Nata-Ah left to rule after I amgone.""And Quintanodan the priest?" Chiun asked."He was a wandering holy man, possessed of the Sight.Quintanodan promised tobring back the power of Kukulcan to my kingdom in exchange for one service:that, on the return of the god, I should sacrifice my granddaughter Nata-Ah tothe fire mountain Bocatan.""And you thought we were the returning gods," Remo said."For Kukulcan, I would sacrifice the last of my dynasty," the old king saidwith dignity."But at the fire mountain I saw that you did not wish thissacrifice.I knew then that Quintanodan was still my enemy.""Still?""He is Olmec," the king said."I have known for many years.But I saidnothing, because without the power of Kukulcan I do not wish to wage war withthe Olmec, who are sly and murderous and will burn my city and kill its womenand children.I retained the priest, keeping spies secretly trained on him andavoiding any talk of important matters in his presence.Since he has been withme, the Olmec have not attacked.""But if he was your enemy, why did you listen to him?""I am a foolish old man," the king said."I thought that perhaps, after allthe years I have given him shelter and position, he would see the good of mypeople and come to be loyal to me.But I know now that he wished only to killmy only successor and end my rule in Yaxbenhaltun so that the Olmec warriorscould attack and conquer my people without resistance.""Why did he try to kill Po?""Because I called him the voice of the gods.In the prophecy, the voice of thegods is to lead my kingdom to greatness.By pretending to recognize the lamePage 57ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlboy as that voice, I forced Quintanodan to show his true nature.Now that Ihave banished him, the priest will return to his people to wage war on mykingdom.""Then why did you let him go?" Remo asked."You could have had the priestkilled on the volcano.""For two reasons," the king said."The first is because this is a holy day.Ten years ago did Kukulcan appear from the sky in his flaming chariot.On thisday every year, it is forbidden to kill in anger.I banished Quintanodan tothe land of the dead, to return to the tribe of jackals that spawned him.""But why? You said yourself he'll organize an attack."The king shook his head."I have told you there were two reasons why Idismissed Quintanodan.I saw what you did today, how you rescued the boy fromthe gaping mouth of Bocatan.""So?""You are my second reason," the king said."When I saw you fly into the depthsof the fire mountain and return with the boy unharmed, I knew that the godshad returned.The prophecy is come to pass.""But we're not gods," Remo explained.The king's eyes sparkled."Perhaps you are not Kukulcan.But you are worthystill.You will protect us from the Olmec."The old man was seized with an attack of coughing."Stay with him," Remo said to Chiun."I'm going to the spaceship."?Chapter NineWhile Chiun and the boy stayed with the king, Remo and Lizzie made for thesmall craft locked into the inner walls of the Temple of Magic."This was the panel," Remo said, going over to one of the brightly coloredcloth squares lining the aisle of the ship."I fell into it.It exploded intodust.""I know," Lizzie said."I saw it, too.That was another time, far in thefuture.The cloth is whole again now, because the incident of your fallinginto it hasn't happened yet.That's still thousands of years to come.""It's hard to understand," Remo mumbled, pulling the cloth away."It happened,I saw it happen, and now it didn't happen.Hey, here's something."Behind the curtain was a metal console.The metal glowed with the samegreenish tint as the fragile exterior of the ship.Remo pressed it with hisfingers.It was harder than steel.He rushed to the ship's doorway and poundedon the metal."It's holding," he said.Lizzie did the same."It must weaken with age," she said."But it's got to bea powerful alloy to last all those years.""Where did they come from?" Remo said slowly, walking back to the console."This is no flaming chariot.Whoever Kukulcan was, he wasn't a god.This thingis some kind of transport." He ran his hand along the dark console [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]