He briefly explained, again, his reasons for doing this, so that he could put their minds at ease. They were still understandibly reticant, so he thought that if he could perhaps prove to them that his intentions were honest, that might sway their opinions.

"I think perhaps it would be a good idea if you told me something of your discoveries thus far, " he began. "Maybe I can help you with some of your unanswered questions. Perhaps we should start with your most recent adventures, since you arrived in Mexico," he suggested.

Max became the spokesman for the group. "We arrived here on Saturday, around lunchtime. That didn't give us much time to do any real exploring, although we did take a boat trip and visited the site for a short while that afternoon. We went out that night for some relaxation," he grinned, as he recalled their evening, " and then we made plans to visit the ruins early the next morning."

"We spent the morning studying the wall at the Temple of Inscriptions, looking for some similar symbols to the ones we had found in New Mexico," and he briefly explained the Mesalinco cave discovery and the metal book that Tess had given them. Balam nodded in understanding and Max continued. "Then we split up for awhile, and combed the site to get an overall feel for the place. And that's when the trouble started."

Max described their run-in with the caiman and Kyle's theory on the jaguar. Balam recorded this in a neat penmanship in his noteback and sat back to signal Max to go on.

"That night, Liz and I had the dream visit, from Grandma, and we woke up the next morning all bruised and scratched. We still don't know what happened," he shrugged. Balam frowned as he heard this, but recorded it duly. "Liz and I had to take the bus to the site because we had slept in, and when we finally got there, the guys told us about a howler monkey that attacked them earlier, and tried to destroy Alex's camera."

"Then we went to explore the Temple of Chac and that's when this guy pushed a stone slab down the hill and tried to cream us with it. I caught a glimpse of him as he took off, " Max verified. "The next day, you saw what happened to me and I think that's about it."

"Max, tell him about the snake," Liz urged him.

"Oh, yeah, after I took off yesterday, I got lost in the jungle and got bitten by a snake. Isabel dreamwalked me and found me and brought some anti-toxin and saved my life."

Balam looked up from his transcribing, and gave Max a puzzled look. Max explained.

"Remember when I told you that we all have special talents?" Balam nodded. "Well, Isabel can get in peoples dreams and find out what's happening to them. Liz had collapsed at the site that day, 'cause she felt my pain and bore the marks of the snake's fangs in her shoulder too, even though she hadn't actually been bitten. So she knew something was wrong with me and she sent Isabel to find me," he finished matter of factly.

"Yes I understand.....I think," Balam admitted. "Please go on.

"Well, I left early this morning to go down and talk with Pakal at the dock to ask him about El Diablo. When I got back, that's when I heard about Liz's accident with the scorpion," he shivered. He reached instinctively for her to reassure himself of her wellbeing.

He described what their friends had learned at the site today, and then sat back to take a pause.

"Well, you have certainly been very busy since you arrived in Mexico," Luis agreed. "If you will permit me some time to go over this most interesting information, I will be glad to offer you my interpretation of the course of events," he bowed humbly. He sat down to rifle through his notes and to extract some manuscripts from his briefcase.

--------------------------------

The teens gave him some privacy and retired to the balcony to talk among themselves.They had some more coffee, and waited anxiously for Balam to enlighten them. Finally, after about half an hour, he called them back in excitedly.

"I have divided all the information into categories," he explained. But before I go on, I would like to address some of the things that we discussed this afternoon," he said, turning to Max and Liz.

"Do you recall the last thing I said to you before I left today?" he asked Liz.

"Yes I do," she answered eagerly. "Did you mean to imply that I am a reincarnation of Nahb's wife Ohl?" she asked increduously.

"No, no," he laughed waving his hands in the air. "Just as I did not wish to imply that Max had an incarnate connection with Nahb'. I think this goes much deeper than reincarnation," he added thoughtfully. "Please, bear with me as I try to explain some of the other strange occurrences that have taken place."

"You must forgive me, but I have always had a fondness for Agatha Christie, and I too, set my little grey cells to work after I left here today. I will not say for certain that what I am about to tell you is etched in stone, so to speak. I can only tell you what I know to be true.....what has been passed down through the centuries from one generation to the next."

"Let us begin. You described two odd things occuring about one week after you consummated your relationship. I have already told you about the dairy connection. Now, let us look carefully at what happened to Max."

"You described Max's symptoms as dizziness occuring after a twenty four hour period if he were deprived of....ahem....intimacy, correct?"

Liz and Max blushed in mortification as the guys started hooting.

"Yes, I thought that would get your attention," Balam eyed the boys. "In any case," he continued, " Nahb' also suffered from the same symptoms. He and his wife could never bear to be separated. She would talk to her handmaidens about this, curious if their husbands were as attentive as Nahb", and they reassured her that they were not."

'And your reference to the males of your planet having this special birth control status. That is most curious. As I indicated, Nahb' and Ohl had a very close and intimate relationship and yet Ohl did not conceive her first child until she was twenty years old, three years after they had consummated their relationship. They had many children after that, all of them girls, naturally, but they were never able to explain why she had such trouble conceiving when they first married."

'And finally, one more thing.Max. Could you describe your grandmother to me please?"

Max gave an accurate description and Balam smiled as he handed him a photograph.

"Does this picure ressemble your grandmother?"

Max's jaw dropped as he handed the photograph to Liz. It was almost identical to his grandmother!

"Where did you get this Balam?" Liz asked, astonished. She handed the picture to her friends as it was circulated around the room.

"This is a photo of a painting that was done of Lady Sac, Nahb's grandmother.When you talked of her before, I wondered if she could be the same person."

"Are you saying my grandmother is Lady Sac?" Max asked increduously.

"No, I am not. What I am implying, is that she is a representation of Lady Sac. Liz briefly explained to me your visit from your alien mother in the cave. Just as she appeared to you in earthly form, so did your grandmother. I can only guess at her reasons for appearing in such a way. Perhaps, she was trying to convey the love she had for you, as Lady Sac had for her own grandson, and her watchful presence even after she had passed on. She didn't want you to feel the abandonment that her grandson felt when his mother left him."

Max looked over at his sister, who sat in silence contemplating all of this. They had suffered the feelings of abandonment, and even though their earthly parents were wonderful people and loved them dearly, they couldn't shake the terrible loss of their alien parents.

"Please, I did not mean to upset you," he apologized as he realized the pain his words had caused. "I am just trying to set the stage for what I am about to reveal." Max and Isabel nodded for him to continue.

"I have listed the five incidents involving animals in their chronological order, as well as the proximity of their occurences. I will read it to you:

The caiman incident........................Temple XXII

The jaguar incident.........................Temple XXII

The howler monkey incident..........Temple of Inscriptions

Nawiaka incident...........................Jungle

The scorpion incident.....................Hotel

"Are there any other incidents involving animals that you can recall?" he asked, as he crossed his fingers secretively.

They thought hard for a moment, and then Alex spoke up. "Well, this isn't really an incident. We found a symbol involving four turtles surrounding a tree, and we thought it might represent the four square symbol we were familiar with," he shrugged.

"Bravo, young man, Bravo!" Luis exclaimed happily. "That is exactly what I was hoping for!"

The kids looked at him askance, wondering if they were right to trust him afterall.

"No, I am not crazy," he laughed at their expressions. "This is the most important information you have given me thus far," he told them. This is the one thing that ties you to your roots.....the one thing that binds your ancestors to mine. Very good, young lady," he bowed to Maria. "You have a very sharp mind! I commend your effort!"

Maria bowed in front of her friends. "Thank you, thank you," she gushed.

"Sit down, Blondie. Don't let it go to your head!" Michael smirked.

"Shut up, Michael," she swatted him.

"Sssh, you two," Isabel interposed. "Let Balam talk.

"Thank you , Isabel. As I was saying, I believe your assumption was correct. As far as the other incidents are concerned, they say more about you personally. I will now go on to explain what I mean."

"Let us begin with the jaguar incident. Kyle, you told us that you felt the jaguar push you, but he did not attempt to attack you at all, am I correct?"

"Yeah, that's right," Kyle agreed.

"The jaguar is a symbol of royalty, my friends, and it is a very aggressive and confrontational animal. It is unusual for it not to attack, if it is the position to do so. And yet, it chose not to attack Kyle. That was an indication of its willingness to confront authority. It was challenging Kyle as it would one of equal status....one of royal blood. When Max healed your gunshot wound Kyle, he changed you, just as he changed Liz. You have become like them now.....you are part of the royal group."

"I'm royal," Kyle boasted. "LONG LIVE KING KYLE" he shouted.

"I did not say you were a king, young man......just that you were of royal blood," Luis responded drily.

"Long live Prince Kyle," he whispered.

They all burst out laughing.

"Kyle, you are a very funny young man," Luis affirmed as he shook with laughter.

"I try," he deadpanned.

------------------------------------------

"Now, we will move on to the caiman incident. They are quite hideous, are they not? They are not very bright either. They have existed in their present form on earth for many millions of years, and yet they are no smarter now, than they were then."

"They have only one thing on their minds.....well two, if there is a receptive female nearby," he chuckled. "But there main preocccupation is with eating. They lie waiting patiently for a tasty morsel to come there way and they are content with that. Isabel, did you notice how fast they move?"

"Yes," she nodded vigorously. "They move like lightning!"

"Yes, that is so, and yet, two helpless people lay injured on the riverbank not 300 feet from their snapping jaws, while six hungry caiman waited and watched for their next meal......and it took at least five minutes for Max and Michael to reach you from the time Kyle fell over the embankment. Do you not find this curious that it took over five minutes for creatures that move like lightning to travel a mere 300 feet?"

"Well, now that you mention it, it doesn't make much sense," Isabel agreed, confused.

"That is because you were never in any real danger," he said. You see, Kyle was very fortunate that you were there to protect him."

"But I didn't protect him," she denied."I was too shaken up and my powers wouldn't work!"

"Your powers were not required," Luis said. "There is a story of a brave Maya Princess who was surrounded by 6 caiman one night. Their snapping jaws came closer and closer, and she called for help. Finally, her brothers heard her cries and came running, thrusting their torches at the vile creatures until they had burned them up."

He took a book from his case and turned to the page bearing the picture of the princess. Isabel took the book and gazed at the picture.

"She was so beautiful. Is that her name?" she said, pointing to the inscription under the picture.

"Yes, her name was Ishtahl, a beautiful name for a beautiful lady, " he affirmed.

---------------------------------------------

"Let us now examine the Howler monkey incident. This is very self-explanatory. Why do you not tell us what it means, Alex?"

"Okay," he hesitated. "Well, I guess the monkey saw me as a threat, since to the viejos, he was considered a scribe. When he saw me taking pictures and making sketches, he thought I was taking over his job, I guess, " he shrugged, sheepishly. "But, I wasn't the only one taking pictures and sketching.....we were all doing that at one point or another," he argued.

"Yes, but Liz told me that you were the one who was initially assigned to compiling information, is that not correct?"

"Y....yeah, but Kyle helped me and eventually, we all had a hand in it."

"Yes, but you were the first, and the others assisted you."

"Yeah, I guess so, " he admitted.