It is bright. The sun is out. The sky is blue. There are no clouds. The year is 1262. It is summer. The weather is hot and dry. Below is the desolate region of plateaus, valleys, ravines and rock formations that will one day be known as south-eastern Utah. Today, the area is under the nominal control of a small community of people known as the Bahloo.
A small group of people are walking through a narrow steep canyon. There are two men in front. They appear to be Native Americans with straight black hair; they are dressed in drab pale brown robes and wearing moccasins. Their names are Qextel and Windtogn. Qextel is the high priest of the Bahloo. Immediately behind them is another man, whose name is Dresden, dressed as the first two and pulling yet another man, whose name is Kwondoong. Dresden has a rope that is attached to a collar on Kwondoong's throat. Kwondoong is naked except for a black hood that covers his entire head. His hands are bound behind his back. Behind him is a woman; her name is Roxneng. She wears a brightly colored robe that is actually too large for her. She has to hold the robe up off the ground as she walks. Behind her are two more men dressed as the first two. Their names are Weendeng and Onquetzl. Onquetzl is Qextel's son and next in line to be high priest. No one is speaking as they walk.
They follow the crevice for several hundred yards then turn into a large opening in the rock wall. They walk down a corridor for about fifty feet and reach a vestibule. There are four openings in the vestibule. They go into the second opening from the right. They walk through a short hallway and into a large chamber with a low wooden ceiling. There are two small rooms at the back of the chamber. Each room has a log beam above the doorway and a seat carved out of the rock on the back side. Each seat is covered with a straw mat. In the middle of the room is a large device with two seats. The seats sit back-to-back with a column between them reaching almost to the low ceiling. Starting at the top of the column and protruding through the ceiling is a dark opaque greenish crystal. There are four small doors, two above each seat, arranged around the crystal. The device has a ceramic look to it -- a dull dirty flat white coloring -- smooth surfaced with no seams. There were two indentations for feet, two armrests and a cradle in the back for the occupant's head. On the wall is a panel with seven wooden switches.
When everyone in the group is inside the room, Qextel points to the woman, Roxneng. Weendeng moves forward and gently takes hold of her left arm and escorts her to the seat that faces the two small rooms. She removes her robe and hands it to Weendeng. He folds it over his arm. She is now totally naked. He helps her as she sits in the seat. She positions each foot in the indentations in the floor, places her arms on the rests and leans her head back into the cradle. Weendeng looks back, and nods at Windtogn, who is now standing by the panel. Windtogn pulls the first switch on the right. Two clamps roll out and secure her ankles. He pulls the second switch and two clamps roll out and secure her arms. The third switch is pulled and a clamp rolls out around her neck. Weendeng looks at her and verifies that she is secure; he steps back away from the woman and lays the robe on the mat in the room to the left. Then he walks out of the chamber back into the vestibule.
Onquetzl and Dresden take hold of the arms of the naked man. They unbind his hands, remove his collar, and maneuver him into the other seat and locate his feet, arms and head just as had been done to Roxneng. Windtogn pulls the first switch on the left and two clamps roll out and secure his ankles. The second and third switches are pulled and his arms and head are secured in the same manner. Dresden pulls the hood off. Kwondoong has an anxious look on his face; he looks around the room. Onquetzl and Dresden leave the room back into the vestibule.
Qextel looks at Windtogn and nods. Windtogn walks around and drops open the wooden panels on the ceiling. They are mirrors that angle between the seats, and their occupants, and the crystal in the middle of the device. Windtogn moves back to the panel and pulls the middle switch. He walks over and stands next to Qextel.
A low pitched hum begins. The room shakes a little. Kwondoong stops fidgeting and looks at Qextel. The device begins to vibrate. A light appears in the crystal and it begins to increase in intensity. It continues to increase until a beam begins to appear in each mirror. The beams angle down directly onto the face and the stomach of the occupants of each chair. The intensity continues to increase until it was so bright that Qextel and Windtogn each hold a hand over their faces. Kwondoong and Roxneng each squeeze their eyes shut.
This goes on for about ten minutes. Kwondoong and Roxneng both disappear into the brilliant glow of the light. Finally, the light's intensity begins to decrease and the two begin to reappear. In another ten minutes, it is over.
The middle switch on the panel rises back up to its original position. Qextel looks at Windtogn and nods. Windtogn returns to the panel and pushes the three left switches back up. The clamps on Kwondoong's seat retreat. He stands out of the seat, and rubs his wrists, arms and neck. Windtogn goes into the back room, and retrieves the colorful robe. He brings the robe to Kwondoong and places it over his shoulder. Kwondoong tightens the straps on the robe. He steps over to Qextel. They each reach out with their right hands and touch each other's left shoulders. They both turn and look toward Roxneng, who is still clamped in the seat.
Onquetzl and Dresden return to the chamber and stand on either side of Roxneng. Windtogn pushes the three right switches back up. The clamps all retreat. Onquetzl and Dresden take hold of Roxneng's arms and stand her up. She tenses and resists their help, but they are too strong for her to fight. They take the collar that had originally been on Kwondoong and place it around her neck. Dresden gets the rope that is attached to the collar and hands it to Kwondoong. They walk out of the chamber leaving Kwondoong and Roxneng alone. He takes her into the back room on the right. He pushes her down so that she is bent over with her hands on the seat. He walks behind her, pulls his robe apart, probes her with his hands between her thighs and massages her, pulls out his member and slowly pushes into her from behind. He takes her vigorously for several minutes, capping it off by filling her with his cum. He steps back, closes up his robe, takes the rope attached to Roxneng's collar and stands her up. He takes a cord from a pocket in the robe and binds her wrists behind her back. He pulls her out of the chamber by the rope attached to her neck and leads her back into the vestibule.
The group lines up in the vestibule just as they had entered it earlier, except that Kwondoong, wearing the colorful robe, is now pulling the naked and collared Roxneng. They all walk back out into the canyon. At the end of the canyon everyone stands aside so that Kwondoong and Roxneng can continue on. They walk down onto the plain and eventually out of site. Everyone else then turns and walks back up into the canyon. They disappear out of sight.
***
Fast forward to a little over five years ago -- the name on the door says 'Dr. Fredrick Marshall, Archaeology Department.' Dr. Marshall is seated behind a large mahogany desk that is immaculately neat and tidy. He has been with the university for over forty years and is nearing retirement. Today, he will be making his last study site assignment to two young girls in the department. They each have outstanding academic credentials but are extremely inexperienced. He has appointed his imminent successor, Professor William Hodgkins, as their advisor. The project involves a newly discovered site in a remote section of southeastern Utah. It is very small and ancient. He expects that not much of value will be found -- it is not that far off the main highway. More than likely, it has been pillaged by several hundred years of grave robbers. He has assigned his older and more competent teams to other projects with more potential. These young ladies will be able to get their feet wet on this one.
Dr. Marshall calls Professor Hodgkins on the phone. "Bill, this is Fred. I'm getting ready to interview the girls, and then I will send them to your office."
"Thank you, sir. I have the packets ready with the site maps and initial assessments. I think we will try and visit the site this weekend. It's only a couple of hours away; the van can hold all the equipment plus the three of us."
"Good. These ladies have a lot of potential. Train them carefully. In four or five years they could become your top students."
"I am ready. You have placed them in the right hands, Dr. Marshall."
Dr. Marshall grins, clicks the receiver, and then he asks, "Hello, Miss Newton. Please send the young ladies to my office."
