Not of This Earth

By Michael Cole

Alexis Brooke, an expert at identifying Mesoamerican structures, is called upon to head up an expedition to the Yucatan Peninsula to investigate a half-buried Mayan ruin and a metallic anomaly that purportedly lies beneath it.

With the help of three other scientists, she soon discovers that not only is the ruin hollow, but that it also emits strange sounds, sounds that can only be heard at night. When a member of her team discovers a way to open it, she lowers herself into the ancient structure.

But it's not the ruin that puzzles her--it's what lies directly beneath it. Her archeological training doesn't begin to prepare her and her team for what they will find. . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Foremost Press
• Release date: Apr 22, 2017
• ISBN: 9781939870360

Book preview

PROLOGUE

The anomaly lay hidden in a layer of sedimentary rocks. It had settled there at a time when the Roman Empire was at the height of its glory, before Christianity was a religion, and before the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula had been explored. It probably would have remained there, untouched by human hands, had it not been for a shaman who had stumbled upon it by accident. Curious, the Mayan prophet entered one of its monolithic chambers, a cold, dark place that hadn’t seen the light of day for over two thousand years. Fortunately, the torch he carried provided just enough light for him to see. When he glanced at one of the ramparts, he jerked back in fear until he realized that what he had seen was an elongated shadow along one of the walls. He laughed once he realized that it was his own silhouette that had frightened him, towering above his head like some unwanted interloper.

Wondering what the place could be, he ran his hand against something that felt cold and smooth to the touch. The wall was unlike any he had ever seen. He thought it strange that it had no identifying marks, no caricatures, inscriptions, or symbols of any kind. Curious, he continued to explore the barren, cavelike room until the torch he was holding began to flicker. Afraid that if his light burned out, he would never be able to find his way back to the surface, he started to leave. But that was before his foot came in contact with a translucent cylindrical object.

He picked it up to examine it, surprised that whatever he was holding gave off an eerie incandescent glow. He also noticed that the top of it had a seal. Curious, he tried to pry the lid off the container, but it wouldn’t budge. When he brought his torch closer, he saw a malevolent pair of eyes staring at him. Surprised that something alive was inside, he inadvertently let the container slip from his grasp.

Upon landing on the ground, it shattered and a strange-looking creature immerged. Thinking that it was probably a bat, he lowered his light for a better look. But what he thought was a bat wasn’t a bat at all. His fear became so intense that he tried to scream, but no sound came out of his throat.

He dropped his torch. Darkness enveloped him much like some unwanted shroud. When he reached for his torch, he felt something slimy latch on to his throat. Before he could brush it away, the creature sank its teeth into his windpipe with such force that he was unable to breathe. The pain was so excruciating that he fell to his knees. Choking on his own blood and knowing that he was beyond help, the shaman closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen.

CHAPTER 1

Alexis Brooke glanced at her engagement ring with pride. She’d had no idea that Max Schooner was going to pop the question. He had taken her to an Italian restaurant just off Sunset Boulevard, their favorite haunt, and after a candlelight dinner, he had proposed. There was no hesitation on her part. Max was the love of her life. He wasn’t tall and he certainly wasn’t handsome, but he did have one physical trait that she found mesmerizing. It was his eyes. Blue as a cloudless sky, they always seemed to flash and glitter with savage laughter.

They started dating a year ago. Shortly after they had met, Max began spending most nights at her apartment. He had literally moved in. They enjoyed each other’s company, and the sex was great; however, the subject of marriage had never come up. She supposed that was the reason why he had caught her so off guard.

Putting warm thoughts of Max aside, she opened the door to her office at the university when she realized she had left her laptop at home. She chastised herself for not transferring her notes for the forthcoming lecture onto her work computer, but blaming herself for the mistake wasn’t going to help. She reached for her cell phone and called Max in the hope that he was still at her apartment as it would be a simple matter for him to email the notes to her. When her call went to her answering machine, panic seized her. There was no way she could give the lecture without those notes. Alexis glanced at her watch. Fortunately, the class wasn’t due to begin for another hour. She mentally calculated the amount of time it would take her to drive to her apartment. If traffic was light, she could make it there and back in fifty minutes. Did she dare try?

There was no other option. Better to be late than to be unprepared, particularly when she expected Dr. Emery Elson, her boss and chairman of the archeology department, to be in attendance. On the way to her car, she again tried to reach Max. For the second time, her prerecorded voice came on the line, Sorry we missed your call. Neither Max nor I are in right now. Leave a message, and we’ll get back to you just as soon as we can.

Damned him, anyway, Alexis muttered. She figured that since he didn’t have any morning classes to teach that he was most likely sleeping. It had taken her thirty minutes to drive back to her apartment. At the rate she was going, she would never make it back in time. She didn’t bother to shut off the engine. Within minutes, she slipped her key in the lock and entered the living room. Sure enough! Her laptop was resting on the coffee table where she had left it the night before. She grabbed it and was about to leave when she heard muffled sounds coming from the bedroom. Curious, she opened the door.

The action caused Max to climb off the woman he was having sex with. A startled expression crossed his face. What are you doing home?

Alexis stood there, paralyzed, until the enormity of what she had just witnessed sunk in. She turned, slammed the bedroom door shut, grabbed her laptop and ran down the stairs. She didn’t start shaking until she was forced to stop at a red light. How could he do this to her, betray her like this? They had been virtually inseparable ever since UCLA hired him to teach astrobiology. It was bad enough that he was unfaithful, but for him to make love to another woman in her bed the day after he had proposed was beyond unpardonable!

A car to the side of her honked. Forcing herself to put the image of Max humping the naked woman aside, she swerved back into her lane. Alexis glanced at her watch. She’d never make the lecture on time. She hoped there weren’t any cops in the vicinity. Pressing her foot down on the accelerator, she didn’t slow down till she was within a block of the university. Moore Hall, the largest lecture venue at UCLA, was filled to capacity when she arrived five minutes late. She surveyed the room. Fortunately, Emery Elson was nowhere in sight. She turned on her laptop, cleared her throat and began speaking:

Today’s lecture deals with the downfall of the Maya and some of the theories archeologists have as to why the civilization ceased to exist. Emerging from the rain forests of southern Mexico, it became one of the most sophisticated societies of its time. The Mayans built their cities using technology we are only beginning to understand. The question is why did a population of nearly thirteen million people disappear?

Alexis found herself talking in a monotone. When she glanced up from her laptop, she noted that most students didn’t appear to be paying attention. A few were taking notes, but far too many had a stoic expression on their faces that told her she had better stop dwelling on Max and his infidelity and do more than just go through the motions of presenting her material. She took a deep breath, let it out, and was about to continue when a hand shot up at the back of the room. After being given a nod, the young man asked, What happened to them?

No one knows for sure, but there has been quite a bit of speculation. Some claim they died because they had no natural immunity to diseases that the Spanish brought with them. Personally, I don’t buy into that theory. I believe that starvation caused their demise.

Starvation? How so? I thought the Maya were farmers, another student asked.

You’re right. They were big in agriculture. Their main staple was corn. One of the ways they made room for their fields was through the slash-and-burn method. They would cut down all the trees and foliage in an area, burn what was left, and then they would plant their crops. Rain forest soil is not nutrient-rich, so this method would have only yielded three to five years worth of harvests.

A young woman in the front row raised her hand. Are you saying they were unable to feed themselves any longer?

That’s the conclusion I’ve come to. As the land was depleted of nutrients, each subsequent year would have produced less and less food. Eventually, the Maya would not have been able to grow enough corn for everyone. Of course, there are a number of other theories. Climate, warfare, drought, or a combination of those things could have also caused the civilization to die off.

Alexis paused to look at the clock, thankful that the bell would ring in a few minutes. Make sure you read chapters seven and eight—and don’t forget about the quiz. She paused to glance around the room. This time her students appeared to be more attentive. She didn’t think it was because they found her lecture to be interesting. High marks was what most of them were after.

Just as the auditorium cleared, her cell phone buzzed. It was Max.

She ground out the words through her teeth, I want you gone from my apartment by this afternoon.

Please listen to what I have to say, Max whined. It was a mistake. It will never happen again.

Alexis worked at keeping her voice steady. You heard what I said. Get the hell out of my apartment. Not only did you betray me, which would have been bad enough, but you had sex with some stranger in our bed after you had proposed. I want you out of my life!

That afternoon, when she pulled into her parking space, she noticed that his car was no longer there. The minute she entered her apartment, she headed to the bedroom. His clothes were gone, but the smell of him wasn’t. She walked up to the unmade bed, stripped it, and carried the sheets, pillowcases as well as the comforter, and placed them in the dumpster. If it had been feasible, she would have burned the mattress. But that would have been carrying things too far. She had given him a year of her life. One fucking year! She’d had plenty of opportunities to go out with eligible men, men who were better looking and made more money, but no. She had made her choice. At thirty-four, she was beginning to reach an age when having children was her number one priority. Now all of that would have to be placed on the back burner. She vowed to never again allow a man into her life. As far as she was concerned, they were all only after one thing. She wasn’t naive enough to think that sex wasn’t of primary importance to a young virile male. Could it be that he hadn’t found her passionate enough?

The mitigating gall of what she had seen in her bedroom unnerved her. A feeling of hopelessness brought fresh tears to her eyes. Her entire life had just been turned upside down. She opened a bottle of wine, poured herself a glass, and gulped down the contents. It was only after she had drained her second glass that she began to relax. She had to stop wallowing in self-pity. Things could be worse. After all, she did have her career. Her objective had been to attain a full professorship. She had been told by her immediate supervisor, Emery Elson, that in order to be considered for such a position she would have to publish, a daunting task to say the least. Alexis had been meaning to start a book, but with Max in her life there hadn’t been time. Now she would have all the time in the world.

CHAPTER 2

Dr. Maxwell Schooner sat in his miniscule office with his head buried in his hands. He had made a terrible mistake. The woman who he ended up sleeping with lived across the street from Alexis’ apartment. She had come over one day when he was alone, told him that her refrigerator had broken down, and asked if she could have some ice. In her early twenties, she was a looker. She began flirting with him from the minute he opened the door. After a brief conversation, he quickly came to the realization that she had singled him out and that her request for ice cubes had just been a ploy.

A week later after Alexis had gone to work, she came again. There was no pretext this time. When he opened the door, she walked in and closed it. The scent of her made his adrenalin start pumping. She put her arms around him and kissed him full on the lips. She then unbuttoned his shirt. When