Author Description

Drs. Elena Juarez and Ted Wilson are in Mexico City to do a quick "commercial" survey at the site of a large office complex where a six-foot gold-plated model of Cortés' ship was uncovered during the excavation. Found near the center of Tenochtítlan, capitol of the Aztec empire, the ship could cause a disastrous shutdown of the entire project. In the Yucatan Peninsula an ancient mine is discovered. The Aztecs were mining a curious red stone from an asteroid that struck some 65 million years ago. Chemists discover that when used to filter gas into a combustion engine, the gas burns so slowly that it creates autos that could travel hundreds of miles on a single gallon of gas. It quickly becomes apparent that whoever controls this mineral will control the world's transportation industry. Thousands of tons of the mineral had been excavated from the mine, and research indicates that the Aztecs carved statues of their principal war-god Huitzilopóchtli with the mineral and placed them in temples across the One-World. But there is not a single statue remaining in all of Mexico... During the survey in downtown Mexico City, Elena and Ted uncover amazing discoveries about the last Aztec ruler, Cuauhtémoc, and the final days of the Aztecs. Among Elena's discoveries is a mysterious clue on a gold map of the Aztec world that she knows could reveal the hidden treasure of the Aztecs. But she's not the only one who knows of this clue. It could either lead to an amazing discovery, or to her death.