As a piece of fiction, "After the Maya" takes a unique, human look, through the eyes of ordinary, fallible people, at the build-up to what could turn out to be a tipping point in our fragile and probably inconsequential "civilisation."
A young storm chaser, Osram, comes across a large iron meteorite on the sands of the desert in New Mexico. His only interest in this rare object lies in its potential monetary value, unaware that the appearance of this spectacular extraterrestrial artefact has been keenly awaited by people in tune with ancient prophecies and with the impending fulfilment of the most controversial and media hyped prophecy of all - the rollover of the 2012 Mayan calendar, when for the first time in 26,000 years, our sun will be aligned with the centre of the Milky Way on earth's winter solstice.
Osram's casual encounter on the desert highway with a couple of bike riders, and their subsequent violent death on Interstate-9, leads to Osram and his precious meteorite being traced, by more than one interested party, to his hometown, where events rapidly spiral out of his control. It seems that all of the scheming and plotting around this valuable piece of space debris will come to nothing, running through greedy fingers like desert sand.
In an ironic twist of human ignorance, the historic, centuries-old clash between religions, civilisations and hemispheres is brought to a head as the sacred object, together with its pursuers meet their fate in a totally unexpected way.
