Chapters 13-14 of Indiana Jones and the Curse of Rhan

Posted by Goodsport from adsl-216-102-199-185.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net on June 06, 2000 at 07:46:44:

Chapter 13

The Mediterranean Sea - 1956

    "How much more time?"

    "An hour - two at the most" said Louis Belloq, standing on the deck of 'La Haise', a small tug-like boat that had left France and was now well on the way to its destination of Cairo. Remarkably, the police incident in Corinth had had little effect on Louis' travelling and life; whatever misdemeanor they had wanted to arrest Louis for in Greece was obviously not serious enough to warrant alerting other countries.

    Standing on the deck with Louis was Dr. Jerome. The two men looked out to the sea as it splashed the sides of the boat. The captain was taking the boat as fast as he could through the waters, part of Louis' growing impatience to reach the Temple. Louis didn't want to end up as impatient as Grundman. Unlike the Nazi Commander, Louis realised that such archaeological searches and discoveries took lengthy periods of time. But in the same heartbeat, Louis was also desperate to reach Cairo, travel to Chad and then explore for the Temple of Rhan.

    "I wonder how our friend Dr. Jones is coping?"

    "I hope he is suffering down there," grinned Louis.

    When Indy had been brought aboard the ship, he had yet again been tied to a chair, and taken down into the dark, almost cavernous hold of the boat and stuck in a corner. Belloq had almost thought this punishment enough, but to minimize problems, he made Kas punch Indy hard in the face and chest, knocking him out.

    "What are you going to do with him?"

    "I am not certain," said Louis, like an bored child with a toy. "I may let Kas murder him. I may torture him myself. Or I may let the hundreds-year old ritual of Tet Rhan claim its first victim of the twentieth century....a true sacrifice to Rhan"

    Dr. Jerome was concerned by Louis' maniacal glare.

    "Don't be concerned!" laughed Louis. "I am going to sacrifice Jones. Not you".

* * * * *

    Indy woke up, tied to a chair.

    He felt groggy, slightly disorientated.

    The last thing he could remember was being brought aboard Belloq's ship, headed for Cairo - onwards to Chad - and then having the lumbering menace Kas knock him out.

    It was quiet for a moment.

    The ship's motors had stopped. Indy had no idea how long they'd been travelling for, but figured it was near impossible that they had already arrived in Cairo. Something must have happened. The police? Indy hoped so.

    Indy heard voices - Louis' and Dr. Jerome's - and other various shouting. A few unknown voices shouting in Egyptian. Indy could hear loud footsteps on the roof of the hold, some making their way downstairs.

    A key turned in the hold's lock. As the door opened, Indy winced slightly at the ray of sunlight that came beaming in to the dark, cold room. As his eyes readjusted, Indy saw the figure of one of the ship's crew in the doorway. He was carrying a lead pipe - probably to hit Indy with should he try and cause any trouble.

    Locking the door behind him, the guard slipped the keys into his breast pocket. He stood against the door, watching Indy with an evil glare. Taking a packet of cigarettes out, he placed one to his mouth and lit it. Indy decided against trying anything bold.

    "You wouldn't want to untie me, would you?" asked Indy.

    The guard sneered at Indy, snorting a laugh then once again paying full attention to his cigarette. The burly, slow-looking guard wasn't worried about a tied-up man - an American at that - escaping. This was the guard's easiest shift yet.

    Indy paused for a moment, thinking.

    There was some shouting upstairs. The guard unlocked the door.

    "What is happening down there?" Indy heard Belloq shout.

    "Nothing," replied the guard.

    "How is Dr. Jones?" Belloq shouted down.

    "Going nowhere," laughed the guard.

    There was a brief silence, which Indy broke.

    "Can you ask him a question?"

    "What?"

    "Ask Belloq a question - can you do that?" said Indy.

    "Mr. Louis!" the guard shouted upstairs. "Mr. Louis!"

    "What is it?"

    "The American has a question"

    "Oh?"

    "Oh?" repeated the guard.

    "Can I at least have a cigarette?"

    The guard repeated the question to Belloq, who shouted back "Very well, Dr. Jones. Just to show you I am not at all uncivilised, I will let you indulge in that particular treat - keep an eye on him". Louis said a few more words, then the guard once again locked the door.

    Meanwhile, up on deck, problems were brewing. 'La Haise' had come to a complete halt when a fishermen's boat had sailed into its path. The two boats were now blocking each other's paths, both refusing to move and both shouting orders.

    Back in the hold, it had irritated the guard that he would now have to give this American one of his cigarettes, but begrudgingly he removed one from the packet and paced over towards Indy. Before Indy could say anything, the guard had jammed a cigarette in Indy's mouth.

    "Thanks," grumbled Indy. Even with slight movement in his chair, Indy was too restricted to do anything at the moment. Just as the guard moved the flame of his Zippo lighter towards the cigarette in Indy's mouth, Indy flinched, moving away from the flame.

    "Stay still!"

    "How can I smoke if I can't hold the cigarette?" asked Indy.

    "I don't care"

    Indy's simple plan to get the guard to unite the ropes and let Indy smoke the cigarette in peace had clearly not worked. Despite the fact that Indy didn't really want the cigarette in his mouth, the guard went ahead and lit it.

    "Abdul!"

    The guard turned. Another voice shouting from upstairs.

    "Abdul! Come to the door!"

    The guard - Abdul - paced back to the door of the hold. He once again unlocked it, opening it wide, and stood at the bottom of the steps as he had a conversation in Egyptian with another of the crew members. From what Indy could make out, it was something regarding why the ship had stopped, but Indy was not sure what.

    Taking no chances, Indy quickly spat the lit cigarette out of his mouth, tilting his head as he did so. Indy cupped his right hand, and the cigarette fell into it - still burning. Although it was hurting Indy, there was method in his madness. Indy had little room to move, but could just get a good grasp on the cigarette and turn it towards the ropes binding him to the chair.

    There was a faint noise as the ropes started to burn. The guard finished his conversation, and turned back round. He locked the hold door yet again, slipping the key back into his breast pocket. Then he stopped sharp. He saw Indy without the cigarette. Now the guard could see smoke coming from behind Indy's chair.

    "American! What are you doing?!" shouted the guard.

    "Smoking"

    The guard started marching towards Indy, who still had both hands behind the chair. The smoke intensified as the guard got nearer and nearer. The guard wasn't risking anything, and raised the leap pipe in the air, ready to knock Indy out. But just as he brought it down, Indy's now burnt-free hands swept forwards in fist-shapes, punching the guard in the chest and sending him to the floor.

    Indy quickly used his now freed hands to untie the ropes on his legs and feet, and jumped up. It took him a few seconds to get used to standing upright and not being tied to something for so long. When he was orientated, Indy watched the guard get back to his feet, and swiftly punched the guard hard in the face. "American..." hissed the guard as he slumped to the floor.

    Indy rifled through the guard's pockets, finding the key to the door of the hold. The guard had no weapons on him, only the leap pipe, which Indy took with him just in case. The key slotted into the hold door and soon unlocked it. To his relief, Indy found that the hold door opened without a noise.

    As he looked outside, Indy saw a few steps leading up to the deck. Then, about two metres further, Indy saw the edge of the boat. Indy saw a fishermen's boat in the waters - not too far away and, unlike Belloq's boat, the fishermen were slowly revving up their engines and preparing to sail away. If they had been the cause of Belloq's boat stopping, they had certainly learnt their lesson.

    Indy took another step up.

    "I have you now!"

    Indy felt two hands wrap around his neck, and haul him up the stairs, pulling him backwards onto the roof of the hold. Indy looked up to see another fat guard glowering down at him, his hands in a choke hold on Indy's neck.

    Instinctively, Indy used the lead pipe in his hand, cracking the fat guard on the head with it. With some pathetic noise, the fat guard rolled to one side, limp, as Indy got back to his feet. But it wasn't to be for long. Louis Belloq had seen him.

    "Jones..." said Belloq, almost breathless.

    The fishermen's boat started up, moving away.

    A gunman, wielding a powerful-looking ammunition loaded piece, took position on the deck and under Belloq's command, aimed the gun at Indy, who was caught like a cat in headlights. But the fishermen seemed to be cheering Indy on.

    "Fire!" shouted Belloq.

    The gunman aimed at Indy, pulling the trigger. Indy threw the lead pipe directly at him. It hit him hard on the side of the face, sending him tumbling overboard. The very next second, Indy jumped and ran across the deck, diving into the sea with a resounding splash.

    Belloq raced to the side of the boat. He watched Indy clamber to the side of the fishermen's boat, bobbing his head to keep out of view - or more specifically gunshot - of Belloq's boat. As the fishermen's boat had already started its engines, it was moving away.

    "Captain!" shouted Belloq, "Move!"

    Belloq heard the engines of 'La Haise' roaring, grumbling, spluttering, then he heard a large band that rocked the boat. Smoke started to billow out of various portals on the boat. The Captain raced downstairs, panicking.

    "JONES!" shouted Belloq as the fishermen's boat moved further and further away. In minutes the men - and Indy - would be safely out of range and would have a good headstart on Belloq.

    "Damn!" cursed Dr. Jerome.

    "Kas!" shouted Belloq. "You let him get away!". Belloq was infuriated, red in the face with anger. He pulled a revolver from its shoulder holster, aiming it squarely at Kas. Although Kas didn't even flinch, Dr. Jerome was sweating - the scene needed diffusing and quickly before it got out of hand. Before it got deadly

    "Louis! He is not the main prize. Remember..."

    "No?!" shouted an enraged Belloq.

    "Louis - you set out to find the Temple - not Jones"

    Louis thought for a moment. "The Temple..."

    "Well?" asked Dr. Jerome.

    "Yes. You are right," concluded Louis, calming down. He put his revolver back in its holster and buttoned his jacket back up. "Dr. Jones will not be gone for long. He knows where we are headed and will not wait to track us down. I very much hope he brings some help with him - he's going to need it"

*************************

Chapter 14

The Mediterranean Sea - 1956

    "Kill you?"

    "Yes" said Indy.

    "Why would they want to?" asked the deep-voiced man.

    Indy was sitting on the deck of the fishermen's ship he had escaped on. Around him lay old nets, discarded pieces of fish and bones, and even what was left of a clearly very popular bottle of some exotic spirit.

    A good half hour had passed. Indy had taken the time to dry off and get his breath back. His crumpled fedora lay on deck, drying out in the baking Medietteraean sun. Indy had been chased, shot at, punched and kept captive all within the last few days. He was taking what chance he could to simply sit back and regain his energy.

    Thankfully, the fishermen hadn't thrown Indy off the boat once he'd jumped onto it. On the contrary, after their argument with Belloq's men, Indy was something of a hero to them. He'd stood up to the obnoxious Frenchman, and in the captain's eyes, that equated to a hero's welcome for Indy.

    The captain repeated his question, lighting a cigaretter. "Why do they want to kill you?"

    "Because Belloq is insane," said Indy.

    "Smoke?"

    Indy shook his head 'no'.

    "This man Belloq," said the captain, "look at what his men did to our boat - bullet holes; if the ship holds together till we reach our destination it'll be a miracle". Indy looked worried, but the captain bellowed out a laugh, patting Indy on the shoulder. The captain was strong, and the pat shook Indy slightly. "A joke, my friend - this ship may look small, but it's sturdier than any other in the Mediterannean. We'll get you where you want to go - and in one piece"

    The fishermen's boat was indeed small - a small trawler, with only a sparse sleeping cabin below. Indy was sitting to the side of that day's catch, a net filled with fish. There were only five people on the boat; Indy, the captain and three other fishermen.

    "Why did they stop you?" asked Indy.

    "The Frenchman..."

    "...Belloq"

    "Yes, him," said the Captain. "His cumbersome ship was in our path. What an infernal machine; a great lumbering thing in these waters! They disturbed our fishing - scared the fishes away with their loud motors. We've only caught half our regular catch...and when their ship crossed our path, we refused to move"

    Indy grinned.

    "We're stubborn like that" smirked the Captain.

    Indy laughed. "I'm grateful you didn't move"

    "Yes, it did turn out for the best, didn't it?"

    "Have you finished for the day?"

    "Oh yes. We've caught all we can. We're headed back home now"

    "Where's home?" asked Indy.

    The captain paused. "Where do you need to be dropped off?"

    They were nearing Egypt now. "I suppose...Cairo...I've got an old friend there" said Indy.

    "What excellent news. We are headed there ourselves" The Captain patted Indy's shouler again, then walked off in the direction of the other three fishermen. He muttered something to them, and they all nodded. Then the Captain turned back to Indy "We should arrive in Cairo in no less than a half hour!"

    "Thank you"

    Indy realised that Belloq had made a mistake with his extreme arrogance. Belloq, who was so sure of himself that he had Indy caught and unable to escape, had willingly revealed the location of the Temple to Indy back in Paris. Whilst Belloq and Dr. Jerome were translating the scroll with Indy sat inches away, Indy had taken in every detail, every place name. He took in all the throwaway comments, the intricate plans, the destinations - memorizing everything.

    Indy took it all in; he thought that if he did get the chance to escape, he would rather have some sense of where to go than let Belloq continue on to - what? Indy knew he was headed for a village called Bokao which he had never heard of in Chad, a place he had never visited. This wasn't going to be easy. Although Indy knew that Chad had borders with Niger and Libya, there was no associate or friend - or even enemy - that Indy knew within Chad. The nearest would be Sallah - and that was dependent on his still being in Cairo. Perhaps Sallah had been hired for work in Tunisia or even further away? Thoughts that Indy didn't want to have raced through his mind. Thoughts of facing Belloq and his gang alone.

    The only plan Indy had seemed simple, but would prove devilish to put into action. Find Sallah, track down Louis armed and prepared, settle the score. If only it were that easy, thought Indy. Indy didn't know how Sallah was going to react He hoped that his old friend would go with him. Otherwise it was going to be an impossible fight.

* * * * *

    "Fools!"

    It had taken another hour and a half to rectify the problem with the motor on 'La Haise', but the boat had eventually started movingagain. An annoyed - but calm on the exterior - Louis Belloq stood on his own on deck, watching Cairo approach.

    "Fools!" repeated Louis. Kas nodded, eyeing the horizon menacingly, as if he could see Indy. Kas wringed his thick hands, but Louis didn't notice. Belloq was more concerned with getting the Staff of Rhan in one piece. His anger dissipated as he reassured himself that although it was an arduous trail, the prize was magnificent, beyond the contemplation of ordinary, powerless people.

    'La Haise' approached Cairo, Louis shifted slowly in the heat of the sun. In days he would uncover the Temple of Rhan, and find out what glorious fate awaited him - and the rest of the world. However, a million thoughts played on his mind as he stood on deck. A million thoughts revolving around Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. Yes, Louis wanted the Temple. But he also wanted Jones dead.

    In Louis' opinion - and that of the high-ranking Nazis and the files Louis had managed to investigate - Jones was the man responsible for Rene Belloq's death. He was, thought Louis, a common murderer. An American at that. "Two good reasons to kill him".

    Jones had evaded Louis and his men every time they came near to killing him. "Like vermin...or a snake" hissed Louis. He wringed his hands as thoughts of a painful, lingering death for the American archaeologist crossed his mind. Things had taken a turn for the worse; Jones had escaped. His location now was a mystery; he could be anywhere from Egypt to England.

    Louis had to decide what to do. Either trace Jones' movements from Cairo, find him - and kill him - or set out to the Temple's supposed location, ignoring the trials of a petty archaeologist. Louis was sure that Jones had overheard his ideas and plans of how to reach the Temple ofRhan, of what power was held inside. "He could prove an unnecessary annoyance" Louis said to Kas.

    Kas nodded.

    It didn't take long for Louis to decide which course of action to take. "Dr. Jerome!" shouted Louis, "When we dock at Cairo, we will need transport. A truck, digging tools. We will proceed to Chad as planned. See to it. And don't let me down"

    "Yes, Louis"

    "Soon, very soon, I will be at the Temple"

    "WE will be at the Temple," said Dr. Jerome.

    Louis paused. "Of course"

* * * * *

    Late.

    It was late when the small fisherman's boat had eventually docked, letting Indy off to continue on his way. Indy had used what persuasion he could to get transport to Sallah's house, hoping that his old friend would be home - and willing to help.

    The moon was already out by the time Indy arrived at Sallah's house. It was getting colder, and Indy's ripped clothes and battered body both needed repair and rest. Rapping on the door, Indy took a deep breath, unsure of what his opening line should be. How about hello? he asked himself.

    The door opened.

    "Indiana!" cried Sallah's wife. She was standing in the doorway, smiling. She wrapped her arms around Indy, embracing him with the vigour as if she'd just met a long-lost relative. To Sallah's family, Indy was that - a relative of sorts. It was helpful knowing Sallah; he'd helped Indy out of a lot of tricky situations. Indy hoped that Sallah would be willing to help out again; one more for the road.

    "How are you?" smiled Indy.

    "Marvellous, Indiana, just marvellous"

    "How are the children? How's Sallah?"

    "They are fine" Sallah's wife stood back, ushering Indy inside the house. She closed the door behind Indy, leading him through a set of rooms to a large rectangular room where Sallah's children sat, eating. When Indy entered the room, they turned to see him and sprang out of their seats excitedly, racing up and asking him a million questions at once.

    The last time he had been here, Indy remembered Sallah's children as small teenagers - now they were growing up, more sensible but all with that charm of their father.

    "How've you been?" Indy asked them all at once.

    They responded with a chorus of more questions.

    An overwhelmed Indy turned to Sallah's wife. "Where's Sallah?"

    "Tunisia"

    "Tunisia?" asked Indy, trying not to shout. "Tunisia?"

    "Yes, he is working on a site there. It is going to bring in a lot of money. Good work, honest pay" smiled Sallah's wife. "It will come in very handy - he has been out there almost a month now. We will have a fair amount to spend when he returns" she grinning.

    Indy was concerned "When will he return?"

    "Five weeks' time"

    Indy looked stunned. Quickly, Sallah's wife beckoned for Indy to take a seat, and then told one of her children to fetch Indy a drink - preferably alcoholic.

*************************

Muppet, we are anxiously awaiting your Chapter 15! :)

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