Alan Grant - Batman: The Stone King (Justice League of America)

Incredible!

Jenny Ayles stood on the top of the pyramid, a flat platform about thirty feet square, her head turning slowly to take in the panoramic views. Night was falling, and the surrounding Gotham Hills seemed to glow deep purple in the fading light. The planet Venus shone brightly just above the horizon, and the first stars were already twinkling softly in the rapidly darkening sky.

This view cant have changed all that much since the pyramid was first built.

Beside her, Jennys companion nodded agreement. Nearly five thousand years, Peter Glaston murmured. More than a hundred and fifty human generations. He glanced up, raising his right hand to point to the brightest star. Of course, the land might be the same, but the night sky was very different. Polaris wasnt the Pole Star then. It was one of the stars in the constellation Taurus, I think.

And tonight well find out if the ancients recorded what they saw in the architecture of their pyramid, a skeptical voice broke in from behind them. Right, Peter?

Jenny and Peter started. They hadnt realized Robert Mills, professor of archaeology at Gotham University and leader of their little expedition, was standing so dose. Instantly, Peter became defensive at the faintly mocking tone in the older mans voice.

You might find it far-fetched, Professor, Peter said evenly, his lanky frame turning to acknowledge Millss presence, but you cant deny it is a possibility. And youve always taught us to investigate every aspect of an artifact.

Mills didnt reply. Casting his eyes to the side, Peter could see the renowned archaeologists handsome face as he appraised the night sky, now filled with a thousand glittering stars. The aquiline nose and prematurely silver-gray hair gave Mills a distinguished, almost aristocratic look that men envied and women admired.

I mean, look what they discovered about Stonehenge, Peter went on, irritated with himself for being so sensitive to Millss unspoken criticism.

It had been rumored for centuries that the massive stones that made up Englands most famous neolithic monument were somehow connected to the night sky. But confirmation had to wait for the creation of computer software that could accurately plot the changes in the night sky due to Earths tilt against the solar plane. Now, archaeologists were turning up established and potential stellar alignments at ancient sites all over the world.

A possibility, yes. But not a probability, Professor Mills said smoothly. We mustnt allow preconceptions to color anything we might find.

Peter took a deep breath. Sensing he had more to say, Jenny grasped his arm and squeezed it lightly, a gentle hint that hed said enough already. Peter was the professors star student, and theyd always argued in friendly, if heated, fashion. But their relationship had deteriorated seriously since the previous year.

Jenny sighed. Peter and Robert had good cause to dislike each other, and she had given them that cause. With increasing frequency, she found herself trying to act as a buffer between them. Somehow, it was easier than facing up to what had happened and sorting it out like intelligent adults.

We should join the others, Jenny found herself saying. Theyll be cursing us for slacking while they do all the work.

She took a step away, tugging on Peters arm for him to follow. Obstinately, he didnt budge, and Jennys heart sank.

One of the reasons our profession advances so slowly, Peter said, choosing his words carefully, is that certain older archaeologists refuse to approach their work with an open mind.

Robert Mills smiled, his expression invisible to the others in the darkness that swathed the landscape.

Ill check with Lorann and the guys, he said amicably, as if unaware of the accusation and insult in Peters words. Flicking on the heavy-duty flashlight he held in one hand, the professor walked away across the pyramids flattened top.

It was almost a month since the Gotham Dam had burst and its swirling waters divulged the mysterious structure. What the expedition had established was astonishing. Radiocarbon dating of vegetable fibers found in the structures foundations pointed to its having been built approximately forty-five hundred years agothe only such pyramid ever discovered in America. Unlike the Great Pyramids at Giza, this one had been built in steps, in the same fashion as the pyramids of Central and South America, or the ziggurats of ancient Babylon. Europes largest Stone Age structure, Silbury Hill in England, had been similarly constructed. Ten feet of rock, ten feet of chalk with soil infillthe process repeated until the pyramid stood a hundred feet high, ending in a flat, rocky platform about thirty feet square.

Reconstruction of the dam was due to begin in another three or four months, after the structural engineers had finished their investigations. In the meantime, Robert Mills and his select team of top students had been asked to excavate and analyze as much of the site as they could in the brief time left.

They had found an enigma, wrapped in a mystery.

Weve all heard the legends surrounding Silbury, one of the other students, David Rymel, had said. A giant king buried at the center, a hidden chamber filled with treasure. Any chance of that here, Professor Mills?

They were digging a trench into the side of one of the chalk layers, their progress impossibly slow as every trowel of soil was painstakingly sifted for artifacts. Theyd found a pea-sized bead of black jet, some charred animal bones, and a single broken deer antler with a crude spiral incised on it.

Unlikely, Robert Mills replied. Remember, nothing was ever found at Silbury. Still, its not completely impossible, he admitted. Only a full-site sonic scan would reveal if theres anything inside, and unfortunately, thats a resource we dont have this time around.

Under Mills, the same team had spent the previous summer on excavations at Sipin in northern Peru, working on vegetation-covered ruins that dated back more than two thousand years. It was a well-funded operation, meticulously planned, and it paid off in spectacular fashion. Theyd found elaborate tombs buried deep inside the ruins, in several layers, and a rich profusion of priceless jade face masks and jewelry.

The Gotham pyramid is much older than its counterparts at Sipan, and of completely different structure, Mills went on. They were tombs, especially built to house the bones of the tribes religious leaders. Our pyramid would appear to have been built for a different purpose entirely. Religious, perhaps.

Thats what they always say. There had been a sneer in Peter Glastons voice, one that was often there these days, Jenny had reflected sadly. When they dont know what something was for, they say it had religious or ritual significance.

Then perhaps you could enlighten us, Peter, Mills said coldly, for the first time visibly stung by the younger mans criticisms. Why do you think the pyramid was built?

I cant say for sure, of course. Peter rose to the challenge. But I can make several suggestions. First, the chalk/granite makeup: alternate layers of organic and inorganic material. Almost like a gigantic storage battery. But what kind of energy would such a thing store?

Peters eyes were alight as he took off on one of his flights of fancy. Speculative archaeology, he called it.

Hed continued, the words falling over themselves to get out: Well, science has recently shown that Earth energies do existhe cast a quick, knowing glance at his teacherdespite most archaeologists having denied it for years. Theres piezoelectricity, generated by the grinding of quartz rocks under the surface. On a small scale, Japanese scientists can now duplicate it in the lab, where it manifests as plasmoid light.