The Gold of the Incas

THE GOLD OF THE INCAS
WRITTEN BY
JORDI ORTIZ
ILLUSTRATED BY
JAVI CHALER

THE GOLD OF THE INCAS
WRITTEN BY
JORDI ORTIZ
ILLUSTRATED BY
JAVI CHALER

Hi! How are you?
I’ve always liked ancient
CIVILIZATIONS.
And now I know more than
anyone, because I can visit
them with all the gang!
Well, I think the opposite:
The TIME MACHINE is the
worst invention in history.
But I’m not going to
leave my cousin
Christina or my pals,
Victor and Ibis,
by themselves.
The Gold of the Incas
MEET THE GANG
Tee-hee!
Me and Cali just
play all the time!
CHRISTINA
Did you know that
Cali is the only living
ORNITHOSAURUS? She’s
half-dinosaur, half-bird!
Hey! How’s it going?
Yeah, I know, we get into a
MESS from time to time.
VICTOR
SELDON
But this time travel
thing is the best
invention in history.
•4•
CALI
•5•
IBIS

Hmm. For many years I have
been working in SECRET
to assemble a collection
of the most important
objects in the world
The Explorers make a
formidable team, and they
could achieve this, but Eternal
Maleficent won’t allow it.
I have all the time in
the world to thwart
Sockrates’ plans.
BWAHAHAHA! All the
time in the world!
The Gold of the Incas
…AND US TOO
The Explorers are scared to
death. Ho, ho! They know they
can’t EXPOSE ME and that, at
any moment, I’ll squash them
like bugs! Ha, ha! Ho, ho!
PROFESSOR
SOCKRATES
ETERNAL
MALEFICENT

THE
GOLD
OF THE
INCAS

The Gold of the Incas
FLYING TO THE INCA EMPIRE
S
eldon was lying on his back on Cadaqués beach, sleeping
DEEPLY—so deeply that nothing could have woken him. He
had his swimsuit and shades on. His entire body was smothered
in sunscreen. In his left hand he held a BACKPACK containing his
clothes and shoes. Protruding from one side was a cheese-andtomato
sandwich nearly a yard long and wrapped in paper, which
he’d brought with him in case he felt hungry.
When Christina had suggested going to the HYPERMEGASUPER-
BIBLIOMUSEUM first thing that morning, Seldon had refused
point-blank.
“No way, Chris. I’m not spending two hours walking there and two
back just because you want to look something up in a few books.”
“Victor’s coming too,” Christina persisted, “and I’m sure Gertrude
will make you a superbreakfast.”
“You won’t convince me. I’ve got things to do.”
“What things?”
“Sleeping.”
Seldon was dreaming of fourteen-story-high CAKES, five-pint
chocolate shakes, and bus-sized bags of chips. He suddenly heard,
“…DON! …PER! …DIES!”
•11•

The Gold of the Incas
It sounded like Victor’s voice, but it seemed like it was coming from
a very long way off. At the same time, he heard a FAN. But it must
have been a giant fan, because it was making a lot of noise.
Seldon was very proud of his dream. It was so real that he could
feel the blasts of cold air. He smiled. He loved dreams like that.
All of a sudden, it went dark. The clouds must have covered the sun,
although Seldon didn’t remember seeing any clouds before he fell
asleep.
Then he heard those words again, louder, but just as unintelligible.
“…DON! …PER! …DIES!”
The wind was getting stronger and the noise louder all the time.
They would have awoken anybody but Seldon—and he would have
carried on sleeping if he hadn’t felt a sudden, painful blow to his
BELLY. He sat up with a start and his shades fell off. He opened his
eyes and saw Cali sitting on his tummy.
Cali yelled in Victor’s voice, "SELDON! THE TIME-
STOPPER CANDIES!"
Seldon quickly opened a pocket in his backpack and took out a
handful of licorice candies, which he put straight into his mouth.
Then he looked around him. People were running away in fright, as
if fleeing from danger.
Then he understood. A HELICOPTER gently landed in front of
him. The pilot was Archie, the Scottish butler who had worked for
Professor Sockrates ever since he had saved his life in the 17th
century. He was wearing his usual waistcoat with black-and-red
vertical stripes. In the co-pilot’s seat was Victor, who was signaling
for him to climb aboard. Ibis sat behind him with an empty seat
next to her. Seldon leapt to his feet and yelled at Cali:
“What the heck!?” he exclaimed. “What’s this hen doing here?”
•12•
•13•

The Gold of the Incas
Seldon got into a helicopter for the first time in his life, and Cali
jumped onto Ibis’ lap. Very POLITELY, Archie asked, “Have the
young lady and gentlemen eaten the time-stopper candies?”
Victor gave a thumbs-up to confirm that they all had. Then the
butler took a pinch of green, paralyzing TIME-STOPPING POWDER
from the right pocket of his waistcoat and another pinch of orange
FORGETTING POWDER from the left pocket. He opened his fingers,
and the wind from the helicopter blades scattered them straight
away.
Move it, or you’ll
be staying here!
In an instant, everyone except himself and the Explorers froze in
quite ridiculous positions. The forgetting powder guaranteed that,
when the Explorers returned from their mission and scattered the
TIME-STARTING POWDER, nobody would remember this very odd
incident.
The helicopter took off. While he put on the clothes he had in his
backpack, Seldon asked, “Where are we going?”
•15•

The Gold of the Incas
“We’re flying to the HYPERMEGASUPERBIBLIOMUSEUM,” replied
Archie.
“Professor Sockrates has suddenly decided that everything is ready
for the MISSION,” Victor explained. “We’re leaving for the Inca
Empire in a little while from now.”
“What about Christina?” asked Seldon. “How come she’s not with
us?”
“Well…it turns out there’s a slight problem,” said Victor.
HEADED FOR FAILURE
“Tee-hee!” laughed Ibis. “Christina and Grandpasocks can’t
agree.”
“Can someone explain?” asked Seldon in surprise.
Archie turned around to say, “I regret to say, I must confirm your
friend’s words. There is a fundamental DISAGREEMENT between
Miss Christina and Professor Sockrates as to how the next mission
should be carried out. The Professor had planned that you would
travel to Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire, but Miss Christina
would prefer to visit MACHU PICCHU.”
Go back in time!
The Time Clock takes you there
through the Bibliochronohistories.
Granite.
Explorers, do you know what
material the buildings
at Machu Picchu are made of?
Archeologist
Hiram Bingham will
reveal the city’s secrets
on page 158.
•16•
•17•

The Gold of the Incas
“Whaaat!? I can’t even pronounce it.”
“MACHU PICCHU!” exclaimed Cali in Archie’s voice.
They all went into the kitchen. Christina was half-hidden behind
the piles of books that covered most of the huge, round table. She
was entirely ABSORBED in what she was reading.
“I hear you. One place is much the same as another as far as
I’m concerned, but... Archie, would you mind turning around and
taking hold of the helicopter CONTROLS? I’m trying hard not to
look down, and the last thing I need to see is this heap of junk flying
itself.”
“Naturally, Master Seldon.”
Nobody said another word until the helicopter landed
behind the little wooden house that hid the entrance to the
HYPERMEGASUPERBIBLIOMUSEUM. Once inside the enormous
building, they went down the staircase that took them straight to
Basement 12.
Oh. How come you
got here so quickly?
Did you fly?
Archie announced, entirely unnecessarily, “We are in BASEMENT
12, young lady and gentlemen. If you would kindly follow me,
I will take you to the kitchen. If I am not mistaken, you will find
Miss Christina there. I trust that the cook will be able to give you
something to help you recover from your journey.”
“Of courrrse I’ll be able to gifff them something!” exclaimed
Gertrude in her trademark German accent. She had come out to
greet the Explorers with a broad smile on her face and a tray full
of big portions of chocolate and apricot jam cake with whipped
cream. “Do you think I vould let them go hungrrry? Herrre’s my
delicious Sacherrr torrrte.”
•18•
•19•

The Gold of the Incas
Seldon tried to answer with his mouth full and sprayed CAKE
crumbs all over.
“Gulp. Sorry. I want you to know that I’m totally against this. I
can’t stand heights. Anyways, it made me hungry. May I take
another piece, Gertrude? Oh, by the way, Archie told me you
wanted to persuade the Professor to let us go somewhere called
I-don’t-know-what. Did you do it?”
Christina’s face fell slightly.
“No. We’re going to CUSCO, as planned. I don’t know what I was
thinking to suggest changing the mission. The Professor knows
perfectly well what he’s doing. Going to Machu Picchu would’ve
been like a dream, but we can’t use the Time Machine for sightseeing.”
While his cousin was talking, Seldon busied himself by looking
at the illustrations in the books about the Incas on the table,
especially the ones of people. He frowned but said nothing.
A little later, Gertrude hit the COOKING POT with a ladle and
asked, “Could someone please mofff all these books? I need rrroom
forrr the language beans.”
Victor and Seldon helped Christina to pile all the books up
haphazardly on one side of the table. Archie said, “Don’t you worry,
Miss Christina. I’ll put them all away. Oh, an EXCELLENT choice,”
he assured her on reading the title of one of the largest books.
“Basement 125, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Indeed, Archie. Seventeenth corridor to the left, then the room
through the third door at the bottom. It’s the one with a skull in a
cage.”
Victor and Seldon looked at each other. The latter murmured,
“They’re completely nuts, those two.”
Gertrude made the children sit around the table and placed a
steaming wooden bowl in front of each of them. On a small plate
were the four TRANSLATING PEAS. The Explorers took one per
person and put them in their ears. Gertrude explained, “Each
bowl contains thirrrteen grrrains of maize frrrom a cob that vas
harrrvested on the last night of the full moon. Therrre arrre also
seventy-one vite lupin beans, all on top of peanut butterrr. Vith
this, you’ll speak perrrfect Quechua.”
His mouth full, Seldon said, “I guess QUECHUA is the language the
Incas spoke.”
•20•
•21•

The Gold of the Incas
“The main one. All the peoples that were conquered by the Incas
had to learn Quechua, even if they had a different first language,”
explained Christina.
When the Explorers finished the language beans, Gertrude opened
the door under the stairs that led up to the mezzanine floor
overlooking the kitchen. She took them into the CHANGING ROOM.
“I hafff yourrr clothes rrready. Ve just hafff to do a few alterrrations.
But I think you’ll look verrry elegant.”
Suddenly they heard, “THEY’RE COMPLETELY NUTS!!!”
Cali and Ralf sprang out of a chest full of helmets worn by
bikers, medieval knights, astronauts, and all sorts of people. The
ornithosaurus was chasing the turkey, who was shrieking, “Gobble,
gobble, gobble!”
Gertrude chased them out of the CHANGING ROOM.
“What about mine?” asked Ibis.
“It’s yellow, vith a jaguarrr’s head on the frrront. The Incas hafff
to like yellow because it’s the colorrr of gold and maize, and they
hafff plenty of both.”
“Tee-hee! I love it!”
“The girrrls’ clothes,” explained Gertrude, “arrre voven frrrom
vicuña vool, vich vas kept forrr the most imporrrtant figurrres in
the empirrre. The boys hafff to settle forrr alpaca and llama vool.”
They spent a while longer choosing hats, footwear, and backpacks
to put the finishing touches to their OUTFITS.
“Just one last thing: Chrrristina, let down
yourrr hairrr. Ve’ll make two nice, long,
fat brrraids. Yourrr verrry long hairrr vill
attrrract a lot of attention.”
“If I catch you, I’ll pluck you both!”
Gertrude had made them some fairly inconspicuous tunics and
ponchos with geometric motifs to wear. Each poncho had one main
color. Christina’s was purple, the most important color to the Incas,
because she was the LEADER of their group. Victor’s was green, like
nature, because he couldn’t be tamed. Seldon’s was red, because he
was really hot-tempered at times.
•22•
•23•

The Gold of the Incas
Seldon had been SULKING for some time. When Gertrude finished
doing Christina’s hair, he asked, “Is that it?”
“What do you mean?” his cousin asked.
TITANOSTROMBUS GALEATUS
“I think you need to explain what you mean,” said Victor.
“It’s obvious,” replied Seldon. “Even if we dress like the Incas, we
don’t LOOK LIKE them at all. What do you suppose they’ll think of a
girl with blonde hair like Christina? Or red, like mine? We don’t look
like Incas; we look like Europeans! We’ll be found out in no time!”
“I’m Egyptian,” observed Ibis.
Victor scratched his head and said, “The Professor must have
thought of that already. Perhaps he thought we’d pretend to be
FOREIGNERS.”
You just have to
look at yourselves.
You can say I’m no expert,
but I can tell you for nothing
that this mission is headed
for total FAILURE.
Then they heard Professor Sockrates, who had just arrived.
“Hmm. What an interesting conversation. ARCHIBALD!!!”
“I am right here, Professor. Who do you think is pushing your
wheelchair?”
“Ah, very well. Archibald, take me to the PARCHMENT ROOM to
finalize the details of the mission and clear up young Seldon’s
misgivings. Then get a feather from Ralf while Gertrude goes to
fetch Otto.”
•25•

The Gold of the Incas
“Ralf is playing with Cali,” Ibis said.
“I am aware of that, Miss Ibis. The racket they’re making is echoing
through the entire HYPERMEGASUPERBIBLIOMUSEUM.”
The Explorers followed Archie and the Professor out of the
CHANGING ROOM. They crossed the kitchen and went into the
PARCHMENT ROOM through the door to their right. When Archie
went off to do what the Professor had asked, Gertrude arrived with
Otto the squid in his tank. Soon after, they heard Cali repeating
Ralf’s cries over and over again.
“Gobble, gobble, gobble!”
“GOBBLE, GOBBLE, GOBBLE! GOBBLE,
GOBBLE, GOBBLE!”
Archie returned with a turkey feather in his
hand and a SCRATCH on his face. Cali
came in silently behind him, ran over
to Ibis, and jumped into her arms.
the twenty-one missions that the Professor had planned stuck on
the inside of the door. The first two had a line drawn through them.
The Professor tapped the tank glass with his finger to scare Otto,
who immediately released a stream of ink to hide in. The Professor
dipped the tip of the quill pen into the tank, then crossed out the
third mission:
THE OLYMPIC GAMES OF GREECE
“Hmm. Perfect. Now we can concentrate on the Incas. Ahem. Young
Seldon made a most interesting observation, and young Victor
gave a very good answer. Well, my PLAN took this into account. You
won’t pass yourselves off as foreigners but travelers from a far-off
region in the north of the empire, more than fifteen hundred miles
from the capital. Nobody will know what the inhabitants of such a
remote area look like.”
“Close the door,” Professor
Sockrates ordered Archie.
The butler obeyed, and they
could all see the PARCHMENT with
Go back in time!
The Time Clock takes you there
through the Bibliochronohistories.
Explorers, do you know what
the Incas called
the ruler of a community?
Curaca.
Mountaineer
Annie Smith Peck
will explain how Inca
territory was divided up
on page 161.
•26•

The Gold of the Incas
Seldon made a face implying he didn’t entirely agree. He asked,
“And will they swallow the story that blondes and redheads come
from there?”
“ARCHIBALD!!!”
“There’s no need to shout, Professor. The PARCHMENT ROOM is very
small, and I am still in it. You wanted to ask me whether I believe
it possible that the Time Explorers will manage to pass for
genuine Incas, and my answer is that I do not have the slightest
idea. However, the explanation that you have thought up seems
fairly plausible.”
Victor and Seldon looked at each other blankly. Ibis had been
entertaining herself by TICKLING Cali for some time. It was
Christina who explained:
It was the Incas’ most
important festival. It was held
every year to honor Inti, the
Sun god. And on a very special
day and in a very special
place, right, Professor?
“Hmm. You make it very complicated. Do you think I’m right or
not?”
“Indubitably, Professor.”
“Ah. Very well. Hmm, you don’t need to worry. When you reach
Cusco, there will be THOUSANDS of people from all over the
empire dressed in all fashions and looking entirely different. You
will attract no more attention than any other visitor from a farflung
province. I have also chosen an opportune moment so that
you can blend into the background.”
“And this moment is…?” Victor asked impatiently.
“The festival of Inti Raymi in 1487.”
Indeed!
ARCHIBALD!!!
“Yes, Professor. Miss Christina is full of surprises. I agree with you.”
“Hmm. I didn't say anything. However, that is what I meant. Brrr.
You’re always one step ahead. Well, yes, Christina is right. Every
winter solstice, the Inti Raymi begins in CORICANCHA.”
Seldon looked at his cousin and asked in a pleading voice,
“Translation, please.”
•28•
•29•

The Gold of the Incas
“The winter SOLSTICE is the day with the fewest hours of daylight
and the longest night. As Cusco’s in the southern hemisphere, it
falls in late June. And Coricancha is the most sacred place in the
entire empire—it’s the Temple of the Sun.”
“Now I get it,” said Seldon. “And what do we have to go and find in
this Temple of the Sun?”
“A gastropod of the Titanostrombus galeatus species,” revealed
Professor Sockrates with a satisfied smile.
Archie felt it expedient to add, “The common name for this object
is PUTUTU.”
Victor and Seldon turned to look at Christina, who explained,
“Pututus are sea snail shells that the empire’s messengers blew
to announce their arrival someplace. They must be about eight
inches long, like the palm of Seldon’s hand.”
“Ahem. Just so,” confirmed the Professor. “And you will have no
problem finding messengers in Cusco, because all the messages
in the empire leave from or finish up there. So, if you have no more
questions, we can go to the CLOCK ROOM.”
Before they went through the door marked TIME CLOCK, Archie
handed Victor a torch and a single, unlit match.
“In case the Time Tunnel drops you off somewhere dark. Remember
that the match cannot enter the Inca era because it’s an alien
object to that CULTURE. Whether you need it or not, you’ll have to
light it before you leave the Time Tunnel and let it burn to ashes.”
“I hear you, Archie. Can we go now?” Victor asked impatiently.
Archie mounted the bicycle that supplied the Time Machine with
energy. He waited for Professor Sockrates to give the order to
start pedaling. The Explorers stood in front of the DISHWASHER
that would take them to a distant place and time. Victor went first.
Behind him was Christina. Next was Ibis, with Cali in her arms. Last
of all was Seldon.
The Professor gave Archie the signal to start pedaling. Several
lights came on, and Gertrude reminded them, “You hafff only
seventy-two hourrrs beforrre you rrreturrrn—thrrree days. Don’t
stay a minute longerrr.”
•30•
•31•

Naturally, in the HYPERMEGASUPERBIBLIOMUSEUM, those
seventy-two hours would go by in a flash: For those who stayed
behind, only fifteen minutes would pass.
Just as Professor Sockrates was pulling the dishwasher door open,
Ralf came RUNNING into the room. Cali jumped out, and the two
animals started to chase one another.
“Cali!” yelled Ibis. “We’re going. Are you coming or not?”
Cali turned tail and jumped on top of the gadgets that controlled
the Time Machine to get back to Ibis. Ralf chased her until Gertrude
managed to grab him by the tail.
“Gobble, gobble, gobble!”
“Ve vill hafff a little talk, you and I.”
Cali and Ralf had left a TRAIL of ornithosaurus and turkey feathers.
Professor Sockrates, who was a little flustered, cried, “Onward,
Explorers! The Temple of the Sun awaits you!”
Once Seldon climbed into the Time Machine, Professor Sockrates
closed the dishwasher door and turned the Time Clock over. The
SAND began to fall, and the fifteen minutes began. They then
heard the sound of something small falling to the floor.
Clink, clink, clink, clink.

The Gold of the Incas
Once the Explorers were in the Time Tunnel, there was no need for
Archie to keep pedaling. He got off the bicycle, bent down, and
picked up a round object that he had spotted on the floor.
“A control KNOB!” exclaimed Professor Sockrates. With his eyes
as round as oranges, he looked at the dashboard that Cali and Ralf
had knocked it off of.
“Is it serrrious, Prrrofessorrr?”
“Serious, you say? I cannot imagine a greater CATASTROPHE.
Right now, I have no way of knowing where they are. They are lost
in time!”
Seldon belly-ached endlessly.
“What the heck!?”
And Cali, who had climbed onto his backpack, repeated his
complaint over and over.
“WHAT THE HECK!?”
BY TORCHLIGHT
“We’ve been unlucky,” Victor, who was lighting the way with the
burning torch, tried to calm him down. “Who could’ve imagined
that the Time Tunnel would drop us off at the BOTTOM of a well?”
“We’re soaked right up to our knees,” Seldon carried on grumbling.
“And as if that wasn’t enough, we’re getting plastered with mud
outside. Luckily, it’s not cold. Otherwise, we’d have caught a
chill.”
“Nobody catches a chill because of a bit of mud,”
contradicted Victor.
“Tee-hee! It’s fun to play in the mud. Come on, Cali!
Let’s run to that big rock!”
Cali tried to slide down Seldon’s backpack, but she ended
up crashing into the ground and SPLASHING Seldon
with mud.
•34•
•35•