“The woman next to him is almost as tall,” Remi responded.

Leonid muttered, “Giants—real giants. The legends are true.”

“They were worshipped as gods,” Remi murmured softly.

“Astonishing,” said Lazlo. “They’ve been amazingly well preserved by the dry atmosphere deep underground. And look—their facial features are Caucasian. See? Thin lips and narrow noses. Even their hair and his beard are intact.”

“Look at the tattoos on their faces,” said Sam. “They’re incredible. Their forehead and cheeks have intricate designs in black and blue. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

The giants had been interred in full dress. The male figure’s coat was crafted from leather trimmed in fur, the lining and tartan pants woven wool. The female’s draped dress and scarf were a royal blue. Both of their legs were encased in felt boots that came above the knees.

“How old do you think they are?” Leonid asked Sam.

“Two, maybe three thousand years? Just a wild guess. DNA would give the best estimate.”

“So how did they get on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean thousands of years ago?” Remi asked.

“I’ll leave that mystery to a qualified anthropologist,” answered Sam.

“Many of the mummies are women,” observed Remi, glancing around the macabre circle. “Their clothing is beautiful.” She paused a moment, eyeing the gold thread of the elaborate embroidery. “Sam, their jewelry is so ornate. Gemstones, rubies, and emeralds, from the look of it, all trimmed and inlaid with gold . . .”

Sam laughed. “In their day, precious and semiprecious stones and gold were probably as common on the island as coal.”

Remi stopped in front of another female mummy. Despite the desiccation, it was easy to tell she had once been strikingly beautiful. Remi could only stare in amazement.

“So what do we know about these people?” asked Greg.

“Only what we see,” Leonid gave his shoulders a slight shrug. “And our eyes are the first to see them in thousands of years.”

Sam turned his attention back to the giants in the central vault. The huge man’s red hair was long and braided on the sides, the beard was broad, and the ends of his mustache twisted at the ends. Around the female’s head was a gold crown encrusted with semiprecious stones. Unlike other ceremonial burials, the man lacked a spear or other weapons. Small wonder, Sam thought. What man could hope to fight a seventeen-foot-tall giant who probably weighed in excess of eight hundred pounds?

“The giants’ immense size would have made it natural for them to be considered deities,” Leonid said. “This would also explain the dead around them. They must have been royal nobles, advisers, close friends, wives, and concubines—all those who wished to stay with their gods for continued existence in another world.”

They fell silent, staring at the mummies in the vault. Finally, Lazlo spoke in a hushed voice. “We have to keep this secret until the government can be relied upon to preserve, maintain, and build a world-class museum around the entire site.”

“Well,” said Remi, “with the discovery of the treasure, they now have the funds to tackle a project like that.”

“What better place to keep them than right here at their original site?” added Leonid.

“Where they deserve to remain,” Sam said in a low voice. “Not only have we discovered a great historic site here today but we’ve revealed a civilization that was never even suspected to exist. The legends are all true. Gold, gemstones, advanced civilizations . . . and giants.”

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