Bubba And The Mayans

El Mirador

We spent the better part of the next three days setting up some preliminary ideas of what a ruling council of advisors would look like and what items they would address so Ubah Kan would not have to deal with the mundane.

Dingo and Danny Boy had appeared from the midst of the village over that time and joined us. Bubba and Mikimo appeared briefly each evening for dinner. We discussed what had been accomplished.

We were unable to find Waziki. We sent word out to ask him to come back to help advise the council since he was the one who discovered and declared that Bubba was a god.

We had the stone blocks removed from the side rooms of the pit and Osned flew the shuttle up to remove the remainder of the snakes. Bubba made a show of it by going to each one of the holes and waving his hands around and muttering under his breath. Osned dropped them in a valley a few miles away and headed back home.

On the fourth morning after the wedding, we set out for El Mirador with twenty warriors as company to our original group. I had been right about Danny Boy wanting to be on the ground with us.

After our initial abduction, and eventual return to earth, Danny Boy had tried to come back and stay. It had not taken him long to realize he would never fit in on earth. No one believes abduction stories. Still, like the rest of our group, besides Mikimo, we all felt like it was good to be home. Earth was not our residence anymore, but our roots were here.

The twenty warriors went with our group to protect Bubba and Mikimo. The man in charge of the group was named Cadmael. He would talk to me briefly in strictly a business sense. I did not know if he did not like us or if he was just tense being in charge of protecting Bubba. They could not have cared less about the rest of us, however. They made it noticeably clear they were there to serve Ubah Kan and his bride.

That was fine with me. Besides, they knew the quickest and safest route to El Mirador. On breaks from our trek, we were able to use our tablets to catch up on news from around the world. Arlo and I read up on some of the distinct aspects of Mayan society, religion, customs, and cultural beliefs so we would have an idea of what some of the expectations from the council would be when we met with them again.

Just past noon on the third day we were approaching El Mirador. I had been able to link my tablet to the ship’s computer and locate the weapon I had given Janet/Felicia. It was half a mile from where we were.

Our entrance caused quite a stir. Although there were Guatemalan academics on the dig with Mayan ancestry, they were not accustomed to seeing tribe members in El Mirador.

I went in search of the lead archeologist to see if they were willing to share what they knew of the area with us. The warriors staked off an area for Bubba and Mikimo’s tent and began to set it up. We would have to fend for ourselves though.

After asking around I was led to a tent with the sides rolled up where I found Dr. Ariana Fugate. She was thin and blond with deeply tanned skin and five foot seven. In her company were my ex-girlfriend Janet, and an unfortunately familiar third face.

My shock registered upon seeing the third person in the room. John Smith of the CIA looked up at me from a folding chair and gave an insincere smile. He had always reminded me of John Ritter.

“Ah Jack,” he began without rising, “I can see you’re surprised to find me here.”

“A little,” I stumbled out.

“Felicia,” he indicated my ex, “told me you were coming. I found that quite odd since reports indicate you were abducted by aliens.”

“At the time,” I responded, “Felicia seemed to insist it was immigrants if memory serves.” She gave me a withering stare but said nothing.

Agent Smith waved his hand in vague dismissal. “I suppose it does not matter now. I have reported that you have been located.”

“Reported it to whom?” I asked with surprise. “I thought all our business was wrapped up.”

“As I was explaining to your lovely lady friend, we like to track people of interest. When they disappear without explanation it can cause concern in certain departments.”

“I’m not sure Felicia,” I emphasized the name, “should be considered a lady, or a friend,” I retorted. “Our history,” I said pointing to her “is really not much better than the one you and I share.”

“Come on now Jack, you are not upset about that little investigation, are you? That was years ago, and no charges were filed against you or your friends.”

“Little my arse! We were interviewed, tailed, investigated, and harassed for over two years. You made our lives a living hell for no reason at all.”

“We had our reasons Jack, believe me. But, as I said, all that is behind us. That was a decade ago. Finding you alive in South America will satisfy some other questions too. I do believe there are some IRS against who would like to talk to you about your estate when you get back to the states though.”

“I don’t know that I will be going back,” I replied.

“I haven’t been able to find any record of your passport or visa application for Guatemala,” Agent Smith continued. “Would you mind if I took a look at those when you get a chance?”

“Not at all,” I answered. I had none of those documents of course. “I’m sure we could get some official to verify my paperwork, and to verify what the CIA is doing at an archeological dig in Guatemala.”

“Come on now boys, play nice,” Felicia suggested.

“I thought you were with the customs department cataloging our finds, so they don’t end up in private collections,” Ariana said, looking at agent Smith suspiciously.

“That is part of what I’m doing,” Smith responded.

I turned to Ariana and offered my hand. “My sincerest apologies mam,” I stated. “Agent Smith was a bit of a surprise. I am Jack Wilson. We are visiting the ruins with Waxaklahun Ubah Kan of the Mayan tribesmen.”

“I doubt that” she said. “Waxaklahun Ubah Kan has been dead for over a thousand years, if he was even real in the first place.”

“Well, they believe the reincarnation of Waxaklahun Ubah Kan has arrived,” I explained. “I can take you to meet him and his new bride if you would like.”

“Bubba got married?” Felicia asked.

“Yes, and should I assume it is going to be Felicia from now on since that’s what John has been calling you?” I asked.

“Yes,” she answered. “I can’t see any reason not to use my real name now.”

“Well, lead the way,” Ariana suggested as she pointed out of the tent.

We walked over to where the warriors were setting up a tent. Ten were there and ten were gone. Bubba and Mikimo had gone off to look around. Cadmael and the other warriors were with them.

Dingo looked at the group of us from a few feet away. “Well, well, if it ain’t mister Dover,” he commented as he looked at agent Smith.

“Hello Dingo,” agent Smith said smoothly. “The band is still together.” He commented. Bubba, Arlo, Dingo, and I had been the subjects of an intense investigation into leaked documents a few years before.

“Why did you call him Mr. Dover?” Ariana asked.

“All CIA agents are called John Smith,” Dingo explained. “I decided to call this one Benjamin. Yep, that’s old Ben Dover.”

“I don’t get it,” the doctor said in confusion.

“If you see ol’ Smith there coming you may as well bend over,” Dingo said with a raised voice, “because you are about to get...”

“Let’s not be vulgar Dingo,” I cut him off.

“It’s the truth,” Dingo defended.

“Be that as it may,” I deflected.

“What’s the CIA doing at an archeological dig in South America anyway?” Arlo asked. He too had no love for agent Smith.

“I’m more of a cultural attaché now.” Smith offered. “You know how government service is. You do what is asked.”

“What’s all this about?” Ariana asked.

“Spiders,” Arlo answered. “It had to do with research in weaponizing spiders.”

“That’s absurd,” Ariana commented.

“And yet the government spent untold amounts of time and money investigating us for two years,” Arlo explained, “when we put in a grant application to fund the research.”

“Why?” Ariana asked.

“We aren’t allowed to talk about that,” Dingo replied.

“And we aren’t supposed to talk about the Mayans either,” Bubba said as he walked up behind us with his entourage.

“Waxaklahun Ubah Kan,” I started, “may I introduce you to Dr. Ariana Fugate. She is leading the dig. Ariana, this is the reincarnated Waxaklahun Ubah Kan and his bride Mikimo.”

“Do they really think Bubba is a god?” Felicia asked with surprise.

“What do you think the thing with the pit full of snakes was about?” Dingo asked her.

“I never got to find out,” she retorted angrily. “Someone tied me to a post in a hut and then ordered me out of the village before I knew what was going on! Not to mention being doused in water a couple of times.”

“Okay, that is a somewhat valid point,” Dingo admitted.

“Why aren’t you supposed to talk about the Mayans?” agent Smith enquired.

“I ain’t talking to you about nothing!” Bubba said vehemently.

“I’d forgotten about that,” Felicia said as she looked at me. “You stated repeatedly in Kansas that you were not supposed to talk about the Mayans. Yet here you are in a Mayan city and Bubba is a Mayan god.”

I could see Cadmael tense every time Felicia called Bubba by his nickname. “And that would be a good reason to refer to him as Ubah Kan from now on,” I pointed out to her. “We can’t even talk about why we aren’t supposed to talk about the Mayans,” I explained.

Ariana looked around in confusion for just a moment at the warriors who were with us. “Aren’t all these guys with you Mayans?” She asked.

“Well, yes and no,” Arlo answered.

“Care to clarify that?” She asked.

“Well, we can talk about these Mayans,” he began to explain. I shook my head as I caught his eye. He stopped before speaking again.

“Then what Mayans can’t you talk about?” She continued.

“Yeah,” Felicia added, “is there another group of Mayans out there somewhere?” she asked as she looked off into the jungle.

“Yes,” I agreed after a moment. “There is a group from the village that does not believe that Waxaklahun Ubah Kan is the real reincarnation of,” I searched for a word, “himself,” I finished lamely.

“None of this makes any sense,” Ariana stated.

“Which is a good reason not to talk about it,” Bubba said boldly. “Let us get the tents set up and you all can work out what we are doing here. I am tired of walking around and want to sit for a while and relax. Nice ruins by the way,” he said to Ariana, as if she owned them.

I could see the conversation was finished as far as Bubba was concerned. “Yes, Ariana,” I redirected, “let us go back to your tent and talk about what you have learned here at El Mirador. We want to stay out of your way as much as possible.”

After a moment she shrugged. We started walking back towards her tent. “Why do they think he is the reincarnation of Waxaklahun Ubah Kan?” She asked.

“The Mayans have a prophecy of his return. When we were hiking to El Mirador it was determined that he might be the one to fulfill the prophecy.

“Bubba?” Felicia asked again in disbelief.

“The universe is a strange place,” Arlo commented, “as you well know.” He pointed out to Felicia.

“Yeah, but Bubba,” she said and shook her head.

“Maybe you should tell me about this,” Ariana suggested as we reached the shade of her tent. We took places in folding chairs. Arlo, Dingo, and I gave a convoluted, but eventually somewhat coherent, course of events that had led us to El Mirador. In a pause, when I was not speaking, I began to wonder where Danny Boy had gone. I had not seen him since we arrived in El Mirador.

“None of that explains why you were coming to El Mirador in the first place,” Ariana was saying as my attention returned to the current conversation.

“Noibium and Promethium are a couple of rare earth metals that we believe could be in this area,” I offered.

“And what would your interest in these metals be?” agent Smith asked.

“None of your beeswax!” Dingo responded defiantly, as usual.

“Get rich quick schemes are a staple of their existence,” Felicia stated as she looked at me. “Wasn’t there something about finding gold in the Arizona desert a few years ago?” She asked.

I pulled the gold bar from my pocket that I had retrieved from Alejandro and laid it on the table. Smith reached for it, but Ariana got it first. She examined it for a moment and looked appraisingly at me.

“The lost Dutchman gold mine in the Arizona desert,” she asked with a hint of wonder.

I held her gaze for just a moment and smiled before I shook my head. “No, that is from a different venture.”

“I’m sure our IRS friends would love to hear about that,” Smith said as he took the gold bar and slowly fondled it for a moment. I put a handout and he reluctantly returned it to me.

I pointed at Dingo for a second. “A recent situation Dingo found himself in led us to believe there is a limited, but specific market for what we are looking for. We are not talking about trying to mine in the area or anything large scale in any way.

“Call us a scouting group to see if there is any reason for our backers to follow up on the information they received.” I offered.

“You have no interest in what we are doing here,” Ariana suggested.

“Not true at all,” Arlo replied. “We would love to know what you have learned about the Mayans at El Mirador.”

“I thought you couldn’t talk about the Mayans,” she responded with a raised eyebrow.

“Different Mayans,” Arlo reminded her. “El Mirador we can talk about.”

Something clicked in Felicia’s head. She poked me lightly. “He means those other Mayans,” she whispered to me and raised her eyes towards the sky while tilting her head slightly upwards.

I nodded. We could talk about it later. I had been watching Arlo and Ariana watch each other as we discussed our trek through the jungle from Osned’s bar to El Mirador. I had a feeling Arlo was going to willing to listen to anything Ariana wanted to explain to him.

I thought about how things had been with Hello and Arlo before she was killed. It had been a long time since he had taken an interest in a woman. I hoped this one would be less traumatic for him.

“If I may Ariana, where are you from?” I inquired.

“South Texas originally,” she answered. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” I answered. “I don’t think Arlo knows much about South Texas, do you?”

“Well, no not really,” Arlo looked at me with a bit of confusion.

“Why don’t you find out about it,” I suggested as I rose from my chair. Dingo and Felicia followed suit and we went out to set up our tents.

I noticed agent Smith heading away from the tent and pulling out a satellite phone. Nothing good could come of that.

Cadmael approached me as we were preparing for dinner. “I do not like this.” He stated succinctly.

“You do not like what exactly,” I probed.

“Ubah Kan should be in the village surrounded by servants and warriors. We are his people. He should not be here,” he said pointing to the ruins, “with you.” The last had a moderate hint of disdain.

“I,” I said with emphasis, “do not dictate what Ubah Kan does. It will take some time to adjust to the new dynamic. You have to remember that he has not been raised to be a god.”

“He follows you,” Cadmael stated. “This is wrong. He should be in charge. He should lead. He is Waxaklahun Ubah Kan!”

I did not want to besmirch Bubba in any way. Anyone who knew him was well aware that he did not need to be in charge. I was not going to point this out to Cadmael, however. We were hoping to keep that fact from them.

“Have you said anything to Ubah Kan about this?” I inquired.

“It is not my place to question him,” he answered.

“Then why do you question me?” I responded. “As I said, Ubah Kan is free to do as he wishes. I will ask him if he wants to go back or stay here. Do you want the conversation to be private or public?”

“What do you mean?” Cadmael asked.

“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. I can ask him then. It will be out in the open for everyone to hear. What else would you have me ask? Perhaps you think he should have chosen a different bride,” I suggested.

“He may have as many wives as he wishes,” Cadmael answered. “One of them should be a true blood.” He added boldly.

“So, you believe that you should dictate what a god does?” I asked thoughtfully.

“No, I…” He stumbled as he tried to find a response.

I waited for a few moments before I spoke again. “We do not have to work against each other,” I proposed.

“Soon we will be back in the village and Ubah Kan will begin learning the responsibilities of his new role. Until then, let him enjoy the last of his freedom without those burdens.”

After a few seconds Cadmael slowly nodded his head. “There are many problems he must face,” he said.

“And over the next few days we can discuss those things and talk about workable solutions,” I replied. “But for now, for the next few days, let him enjoy his new bride.”

I watched Cadmael walk away. I wondered how in the world we were going to meet the expectations they had for Bubba. He was none of the things they thought he was. Everyone was expecting some grand visionary leader who would perform miracles and all we had was illusion.

We ate dinner out in the open in camp chairs and on stumps of wood. It was mostly local fare with a mix of meats, fish, fruits, and vegetables. I waited quietly while the small talk was mixed between the archeology students, the locals, and our group. Although we could understand everyone, I had quietly asked everyone in our group to stick to English when we spoke. There were plenty of people around to translate.

Dingo and Danny Boy were telling stories of past adventures trying to impress a couple of the college girls. Neither had been drinking so substituting different countries for the worlds we had been on was working well for the moment. Danny Boy had shown up just before dinner was ready.

Arlo and I answered the occasional question but were more reserved than our rambunctious friends. I could see he was just as worried as I was that something about aliens and alien worlds would slip out. If so, it probably would not be believed. Still, it was better not mentioned.

Bubba and Mikimo were still wrapped up in each other. The wedding had done something to them I could not explain. They had been together for a couple of years now. It seemed as though their vows had allowed them to discover each other all over again.

After a while it was down to Ariana, Arlo, agent Smith, a female college graduate student, and me. I waited for a lull in the conversation before asking Ariana what she knew of Waxaklahun Ubah Kan in history.

“The god or the person,” she asked in reply.

“I did not know there was a person,” I said with genuine surprise.

“Well,” she replied after a thoughtful moment, “the history gives plenty of perspective for the god. Originally, he was seen as a messenger between the gods and the king. There is less information on the man, however.

“In a mix of the Maya and Aztec mythologies the god’s name was changed to Kukulkan and his worship was centered in Chichen Itza. It appears that this was also the name of a priest in Chichen Itza sometime in the tenth century. There are Maya writings from the sixteenth century that mention him as a historical person. However, older writings from around the ninth century have no mention of him.”

“Interesting,” I commented. “But, since we are dealing with the Maya and their prophecy of his return, should we concentrate on the original god?”

“Your friend,” she hesitated for a moment, “is not the reincarnation of Waxaklahun Ubah Kan. I know that there is now a large group of locals who believe he is,” she conceded. “I am not a believer however.”

“We aren’t asking you to be,” Arlo offered. “We’ve known him for years and are well aware of his limitations.”

“There is still a question of what the current population is going to expect of him,” I prompted.

Ariana shook her head slowly in agreement. “As I said, originally, he was a messenger between the king and the gods and was depicted as a winged serpent. After the mix of the beliefs, it would be hard to predict what today’s Maya would expect of him.

“Some may have a classical view. I would expect more of them to have the latter idea of a warrior serpent or even an evil serpent that is the pet of the sun god.”

The history lesson was great. However, it was not helping me with any sort of plan on how to help Bubba rule over a people who saw him as a god.

“As a god,” Arlo wondered aloud, “doesn’t he get to make up his own rules of how to do things? I understand there are certain expectations he is supposed to meet. Can he disregard those he does not wish to perform?”

“If he does not live up to expectations,” Ariana explained, “then he may be seen more as an evil serpent than a messenger from the rest of the gods.”

“Maybe he will just fly away to the heavens again,” I said meaningfully as I looked at Arlo. He met my eyes and gave a barely perceptible nod.

“Perhaps he might,” Arlo commented after a short pause.

“What do you mean?” Ariana inquired.

“I’m not sure yet,” I answered. “It is something to think about though. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us,” I said as I stood and stretched.

“Calling it an early night,” agent Smith asked. I noticed he had been silent while Ariana spoke to us. So had the college kid. She was just soaking it all in. Agent Smith on the other hand was taking mental notes, I was sure.

“A man gets tired trekking through the jungle, dealing with the tribesmen, and advising a god,” I answered as I let out a yawn. I could see Ariana was about to argue the last point again. I walked away before she had the chance. She could argue with Arlo.

I was sharing a tent with Arlo. Dingo and Danny Boy shared another. Neither of them was present. I heard laughter from a short distance and knew that they would still be trying to impress a college girl or two somewhere in the darkness.

All in all, it had been a decent day. I was tired. Tomorrow would bring challenges, I was sure. I had not seen Felicia since dinner. That worried me only momentarily before I lied down and fell quickly asleep.