The Vilcabamba Prophecy: A Nick Randall Novel by Robert Rapoza

abruptly closing the door, as the heavy lock clicked back
into place. Sam could hear the two men speaking briefly, followed by the sound
of their heavy footsteps walking away.
    Sam thought about how
appearances could be misleading. Even though she gave the outward appearance of
being calm and brave, on the inside she was an absolute wreck. Scratching her
head, she walked back over to Monica and noticed something odd on the floor.
There, by the table near the couch, Sam noticed that her father’s book had been
knocked to the floor by the earthquake. Squatting to pick it up, she noticed
for the first time that the cover seemed to have a tear in it. Looking more
closely, Sam realized that it wasn’t a tear, but rather, a seam in the leather.
Picking up the book with her left hand, Sam examined the seam more closely. She
gently lifted the fold and reached inside, where she discovered a piece of
paper tucked away in a hidden compartment. The paper was folded into quarters
and was worn. Unfolding the paper, she realized it was part of the clue she had
been searching for, earlier.
    “What is it, Dr.
Randall?”
    “Excuse me, Monica?”
    “You just said, ‘Oh my
God!’ Is everything all right?”
    Sam hadn’t realized that
she had spoken. She turned the paper over to look at the back, but the back was
blank. She rotated it once more in her hand, so she could see the writing. Her
father had written this information and, apparently, hadn’t wanted it to be
discovered. The note explained the missing tablet from the jungle temple and
translated some of the symbols that Sam had been unable to decipher. According
to her father’s research, the markings on the medallion were the inverse of the
markings on the wall of the tablet room in Vilcabamba .
The words on the edge of the medallion were also translated on the sheet.
Written on the sheet under the medallion writing, in large print was, “THE
KEYSTONE.”
    “What can this mean?”
    “Dr. Randall?”
    Sam strode across the
room to her backpack. Unzipping the main compartment in a single motion, she
reached into the main compartment and gingerly removed the medallion. She
looked at it more closely this time, with the trained, objective eye of a
seasoned scientist. Around its outer edge, were
unevenly spaced notches reminiscent of those found on a large gear. The strange
writing on the medallion was exactly the same as the phrase written by her
father on the sheet of paper. At its center, there were pictures of a square
made of small rectangles stacked upon each other with a round jewel in the
middle—a jewel that resembled the one in the middle of the medallion.
    “Oh my God.”
    “Dr. Randall, you’re
worrying me. What’s the matter?” Now Monica’s voice sounded a bit more
demanding. As Sam turned to face her, she noticed that Monica was sitting up on
the couch, hands on the edge of the cushion, her feet flat on the floor. Her
arms were stiff and her leg muscles were flexing. She looked like a coiled
spring ready to snap.
    “I think this medallion
is a key to something, but what?” Sam held it by the chain with the inscription
facing Monica. “See the serrations around the outer edge?” Monica nodded. “I
had originally thought that this was simply an ornamental design, but now I
think they serve the purpose of fitting into a precisely carved opening. I also
hadn’t noticed the importance of this raised ridge around the jewel in the
center. If you look closely, the ridge has tiny grooves all around it. Almost
like the grooves are meant to help you get a grip on the ridge.”
    Monica looked confused.
    “The writing is also a
clue. If my father is right, and he usually is, the inscription reads ‘THE
KEYSTONE.’ My father was away on research when he got a call that someone had
retrieved a significant relic for him. Since he wasn’t home, my mom called him
and he asked her to get it. He said it was very important and told her to get
it as soon as she could. She