I picked up the shiny, silver Pachamama statuette that I had packed down in my scratched and weather-worn backpack. I looked at my partner Elaine, and she nodded. This was it. This was the sacred tomb of Pachamama, the Incan goddess of Earth, a Zetan alien who had taken a divine form to gain human followers.
I picked up the ink-stained map I had of the tomb. This was it; this was the location that Juan Pizarro had marked down. Although we had something that he lacked back in 1540, we had the statuette that served as the key to the inner sanctum of the temple.
I looked at the wall. There was an opening, shaped precisely as the statuette we had brought. I was about to insert the figurine into the hollow compartment, when I heard Elaine's voice: "Martin, I am afraid. Are we really meant to see a dead deity? What if she isn't dead?"
"Don't worry, Elaine. The Zetans are not real gods, and if Pachamama was locked up here centuries ago, she would have perished by now," I replied, but I felt that my partner's unease was influencing me.
I pushed away my fears. I was here on a mission, and I would complete that mission. I inserted the figurine in the opening, and I waited for something to happen. Suddenly, the wall moved and revealed a tunnel. I heard a shrill, piercing voice, hissing nonsensical chants in an alien language.
"What's that noise?" Elaine exclaimed.
"It's just a recording. Pachamama probably used that to keep the locals away back in the day," I replied with fake confidence. "Anyway, we have a mission, and I am going in!" I continued.
"I am not going in there!" Elaine said obstinately.
"Oh well, then I'll go myself," I replied irritably and walked into the tunnel.
As I entered the inner sanctum of the Pachamama temple, I was overwhelmed by a sweet and pungent smell. Where did the smell come from? I found the source of the distinct smell in the centre of the room, where the body of Pachamama was lying on an altar.
Elaine approached me: "Is she dead?" she asked tentatively.
"So, it would seem, but there is only one way to find out," I replied.
"But why would a corpse smell like that?" Elaine asked.
"Probably a Zetan preservation technology," I replied as I walked up to Pachamama and touched her body. The body, that was cold and greasy, filled me with disgust.
"What do I do now?" I asked the voice in my head that had followed me since my incident in Nepal in 2022.
"Your mission here is to acquire Pachamama's Veil. Burn the body, humanity is not ready to find out the truth."
"Yes, Empress Rangda," I replied and took the veil. We cremated Pachamama's body and left the temple without a word. Our real mission was still ahead of us!