Page 123 (1/2)

"That's right," Paul said "Orville's theory is that Colue to start with He knew there was treasure but couldn't decipher the glyphs He had drawingsto find someone ould translate for him"

Austin had been staring at the diagraators had ht lines called rhu fro him the most direct route and set a compass course You'd end up where you were supposed to be, as long as you weren't ly thought these lines were rhumbs The Maya were a lot more sophisticated than he knew Were you able to work this out on a map?"

"It didn't make sense at first," Paul said "Venus would have been in a different position in the sky a couple of thousand years ago We had to do souess is that the V-shaped intersection of the jaws, here where you see the boat, is where so is located"

Austin had another question "How long do you think it will take Halcon to figure this out?"

The Trouts exchanged glances Paul said, "There have been reports of Colu stolen fro to piece things together, but we've got the stone, and noe kno to use it"

"We'd better geton this in case Halcon's smarter than we think," Austin said

Gunn cleared his throat and squared the edges of his papers "With all due respect, Kurt,into the jaws of Kukulcan we had better figure out what all this is about Starting with Halcon and why he is causing so much trouble"

"I see your point Okay I'll start the ball rolling Here's my theory Like Columbus, Halcon is after the Phoenician treasure that was re the stuff lies in pre-Columbian evidence He doesn't want anyone else to step on his turf so he destroys the evidence and those who have found it"

"I've considered that theory and think it's on the mark," Gunn said, "but it's only part of the picture I asked Yaeger to compile a detailed dossier on Halcon Tell us about his finances, Hiram"

Yaeger glanced at a computer printout in front of his, he's worth billions, and that's a conservative guess"

"Thanks, Hirah all this trouble of killing people, attacking you on the Andrea Doria and trying to steal the so-called talking stone, just so he can find a treasure, however fabulous? He has more money than any normal person could ever want"

"You may have answered your own question," Austin countered "You said a normal person From what Zavala told us about the ball court executions, Halcon sounds like a madman"

"I've considered that possibility, too But I think Senor Halcon is a lot more com

plicated than a bored rich eccentric who takes up treasure hunting for a hobby Hirah the other entleman?"

Adjusting his granny glasses, Yaeger said, "Francisco Halcon was born in Spain of a faoes back centuries Halcon, which means 'falcon,' was apparently not the real family name, which I was unable to determine He went to expensive private schools in Switzerland and attended college in England Oxford hter known as El Halcon and didn't do too badly but left the toro business under a cloud of scandal He was said to have put poison on the tip of his killing sword, so even if he didn't hit the bull's vitals it would die"