By Monkey

Chapter 53

Battle in the Realm of the Dead

     “How close?!” Indiana Jones spoke in Arabic to Rashid who now stood before him, out of breath, with chest heaving in and out.

     Loud shouts in German coming from down the passageway behind them rendered any answer to his question moot.

     The Nazis were already emerging from beneath the crawl space and into the corridor.

      “Everyone!  Quickly!” Indiana Jones whispered loudly, “Get around the corner! Come on!  And put out those torches!”

     The archaeologist motioned for all to round the corner of the tomb’s richly decorated underground passageway and into the right hand side branch of the ‘T’ with him.  The three torches were put out, leaving the diffused light of the Nazis electric lanterns as the only illumination.  Unfortunately this light was becoming brighter and brighter as more and more Nazis emerged from under the crawl space and into the corridor.

     Jones turned to Rashid and once again spoke to him in Arabic, “Did they see you?!” He asked anxiously.

      “No,” Rashid answered.

      “You’re sure?”

      “I’m sure.”

      “How many are there?” Jones asked hurriedly as he listened warily to the sounds of the Nazis.

      “At least twelve, maybe fifteen,” the young Arab nodded as he answered, “many, many guns.  But there was one…Britisher with them; he is being led at gunpoint, and he holds the map in his hand.”

     Indiana Jones digested this information for a moment, and then said simply, “Malboury………the Nazis have the scroll.”

     Elliot fingered his revolver and re-checked its magazine, ensuring that the weapon was fully loaded, “This is what we came this far to do,” the MI5 Agent said with grim determination, “I guess it’s time to get our prisoner back.”

      “Wait!” Jones said, “We can’t just shoot it out down here with a heavily armed platoon of SS goons; we’re outmanned and outgunned.”

      “What do you suggest then Jones?”

      “We should continue on down into the tomb and find a better place to lay a trap for them,” Indy said.

      “You know how to proceed from here?” Elliot asked warily.

      “I hope so,” Indy answered, “but there’s only one way to go from here anyway.

      “I see two ways,” Elliot said, pointing down the left hand branch of the passage.

      “That’s a dead end,” Indy said, “….literally.”

      “Oh,” the MI5 Agent said, knowing instinctively to trust the archaeologist on his own turf, so to speak.

     The German voices grew louder and more numerous.

      “Come on,” Indy said to the group as he led the way down the dark passageway to the right.

     They proceeded in the same order that they had descended into the tomb, with Jones leading and Sallah bringing up the rear.  The branch of the corridor continued on for a considerable distance before eventually making a right angle bend to the left.  Indiana Jones thought it safe to cut his electric torch back on since the Nazis were still far behind, and would probably be delayed momentarily anyway as they stumbled on the bodies of Yuri and Yelena.

     Shortly after the bend, the tomb passage began to slope downward.  The walls were continuously decorated with fine examples of New Kingdom bas relief and the ceiling began to get higher and higher.  After descending down nearly fifty meters the passage opened into a wider room. Jones shined his electric torch around.

     The group found themselves standing in a sizeable chamber.  Before them, the floor of the chamber sloped down into a large, square pool of water that was nearly twenty meters on each side.  Across on the other side of the pool was a wall with a beautifully painted scene of a Royal hunt.  An Egyptian Prince stood in an open chariot with stretched bow waiting to deliver the death blow to a cornered lion while Royal attendants stood by waiting to sacrifice themselves to the beast should it turn on their master.

     Agent Elliot scanned his eyes, and his electric torch around.  Seeing no other entrances or exits to the chamber, he turned to Jones again.

      “This is it?” He asked perplexed, “This is the end of the tomb?  Where then are the Tablets?”

      “Let the wheel of the chariot guide you,” Indiana Jones answered cryptically.

      “What?” Elliot screwed up his face in confusion.

      “That’s what the scroll says,” Jones nodded, and then waded into the pool.

     The archaeologist strode forward through the water.  As he proceeded, the level of the water eventually reached as high as his waist, but then dropped again as he approached up close to the painted wall mural.  There he went straight to the chariot wheel and pushed.

     The rest of the group listened to the distinct sound of stone scraping against stone as they watched the chariot wheel recede inwardly from Jones’ efforts, and eventually tumble forward.

     The archaeologist leaned into the newly created hole and shined his electric torch.

     He turned back to the group, “Well, what are you all waiting for?” He said to them as he disappeared through the hole.

     They followed Indiana Jones through the opening in the false wall and found themselves standing in yet another corridor.  This one though was unadorned, and had natural outcroppings of rock that protruded here and there into the passage.  Like the first chamber they’d found themselves in when they descended, this one too looked much like a cave.

      “Re-light the torches,” Jones ordered once all were through the hole and into the new passage.

     The three torches that had been previously lit were quickly burning again, allowing Jones, Elliot, and Sallah to cut their electric torches off.

      “What is that sound?” Agent Elliot asked as he cocked his ear.

     All of the party fell silent for a moment as they too tried to discern the sound that the MI5 agent heard.

      “It sounds like running water,” Elliot said.

     Jones nodded, “It is,” he said, “it’s an underground tributary of the Nile.  Where do you think the water for that pool came from?”

      “It sure sounds like an awful lot of water to be flowing under a desert,” Elliot said in a surprised voice.

      “Don’t forget, we’re pretty deep underground,” Indiana Jones reminded him.

     The party moved on down the cavern like passageway in the flickering light of the torches.  About one hundred meters further on it opened into a room that caused all of them, including the experienced archaeologist Indiana Jones, to give out with an involuntary gasp of amazement.

     They entered into a huge chamber.  The ceiling was at least fifteen meters high, and decorated with images of constellations, as well as a huge painting of the sky goddess ‘Nut’, stretching her star studded body the entire length across the ceiling from wall to wall.  The chamber itself was a perfect square, at least forty meters on each side.  Each wall had an opening that beckoned further passages, corridors, and unknown chambers.  But the most striking feature of the room was the nine pillars.

     Evenly spaced throughout the chamber were nine large pillars reaching from floor to ceiling.  Each pillar was a statue of a different God of the Egyptian pantheon.  Huge figures of the jackal headed Anubis, falcon headed Horus, Osiris clutching his crook and whip, Taweret with hippopotamus head and lion feet, Isis, and several more Egyptian gods and goddesses stood stoically supporting the high ceiling, and indeed the earth itself which loomed high above this wonderful tomb deep beneath the Valley of the Kings.  Upon the base of each statue was a small altar for offerings and sacrifices.

      “It’s magnificent,” Marcus said with awe in his voice.

      “Yes,” Elliot echoed him, “truly impressive.”

      “It’s beautiful Indy,” Vadoma said in a low whisper.

     The combined flames of the three torches lit up the enchanting chamber in a brilliant light that threw dancing shadows upon the walls and the towering Gods of ancient Egypt standing mute beside them.

      “This is where we’ll lay in wait for the Nazis, and spring our trap.”

      “What trap Jones?” Elliot asked, “And shouldn’t we proceed onward to get the Sun Tablets?”

      “If we go any further we’ll be cornered,” Jones said, “this is the only place in the tomb where we’ll have any chance of confronting them and getting away.”

     Jones paused for a moment and then said, “Besides, without the scroll, I don’t remember which of the three doors to take,” he motioned towards the three openings that led further into the tomb, “we take the wrong one and we’re dead; they’re laced with booby traps.”

      “Alright then,” Elliot said, “so what of this plan?”

      “Yeah,” Jones said, “we’d better get it straight,” he paused to listen to the sounds of German voices far off in the distance, but getting closer, “and we’d better hurry up.”

     Indiana Jones motioned for all to gather around. Without mincing his words he quickly explained his idea to surprise the Nazis, get Malboury, and get out of the tomb.  Elliot, Marcus, Sallah, and the others all nodded in agreement.  The torches were once again extinguished.

     Everyone took their places…and waited.

     It wasn’t a long wait.  Within one minute’s time the beams of the German archaeology team’s electric torches began to pierce the darkness of the chamber as they emerged from the passageway. Just like Indiana Jones and company before, audible gasps of amazement could be heard.

     Indeed it was Lord Richard Malboury himself walking in the lead holding the scroll. To the casual observer it might even seem that Malboury was one of them, except for the Nazi with the sternly set jaw and the sub-machine gun who walked closely behind, eyes glued to the British archaeologist.

     As the Germans assembled in the chamber, Indiana Jones lay low behind the towering figure of Anubis.  Close to the entrance, Sallah, Elliot, Marcus, and Vadoma, each clutching tightly to one of the stout, wooden torch handles, crouched behind the statues of Osiris and Isis.  Rashid and Abdul crouched down across from one another behind Hathor and Thoth, ready to do their part in the life or death scenario soon to take place. 

     The German group paused as Malboury alternately studied the three doors, and the scroll.

      “What is the matter!?”  SS Major Adolph Krupp, the Nazi Officer in command shouted at Malboury, “Schnell!  I don’t want to spend any more time in this place than I have to!  This is a place for the dead!”

     Malboury turned and spoke, “Well I can’t bloody well ‘schnell’ if I don’t know which door to take, can I,” he said with obvious distaste for the German lout and as much bitter sarcasm as he could muster under the circumstances.

      “We take the wrong door and we’ll all likely spend the rest of eternity down here you bloody Hun,” Malboury mumbled as he continued to study the scroll.

     Finally the British archaeologist seemed satisfied that it was the center door, and not the left or right that was the correct one.

      “Well?!” The Major Krupp said impatiently when he saw Malboury lower the scroll.

     Malboury simply pointed ahead, and once again began walking forward.

     It was time for Indiana Jones and company to execute their plan.

     There wasn’t really much to the plan other than to create a little chaos in order to enable them to snatch Malboury and make a run for it.  Jones hoped however, that it would be somewhat orchestrated chaos.

     It began with a single shot into the air from Elliot’s pistol.  The sudden, loud report of the .45 caliber hand gun reverberated and echoed off of the chamber walls.  The effect was immediate.  As one, the German team instinctively crouched down low and all heads turned to look back to where the shot came from; that’s when Indiana Jones dove out from his hiding place, grabbed Malboury and ran for cover behind the lion feet of Taweret.

     Loud shouts and curses in German were followed by the clattering din of automatic weapons as the Nazis recovered from their initial shock and fired in the direction of the two fleeing archaeologists.

      All heads of the German party now turned to look forward.  This gave Sallah, Elliot, Marcus, and Vadoma their chance to step out from their places and put their stout wooden torch handles to good use, taking down four of the Nazis in a single stroke before they knew what hit them.

     Indiana Jones, pulling Malboury, now ran between the statues of Thoth and Hathor and dove to the left, narrowly avoiding a staccato river of bullets that clattered off of the granite floor of the chamber sending chips of stone flying in all directions.  The Nazis ceased firing and gave chase as the confused SS Major screamed out a stream of frantic orders.

     This was just as Jones had hoped, because a moment later the half dozen or so pursuing Nazis toppled to the ground in a heap like so many bowling pins; tripping over one another, and the length of rope that Rashid and Abdul held tightly between the two statues.

     The few seconds of diversion caused by the trip rope was vital.  It gave Indiana Jones the time he needed to execute the next phase of the plan as he handed off Malboury to Sallah, who hurried him back towards the chamber entrance and out.  Marcus, Rashid and Abdul followed.  Vadoma was supposed to go with them also, but she had no intention of doing so without Indiana Jones.  Instead she remained at the entrance way to the chamber, along with Elliot, the rear guard, who crouched with his .45 caliber at the ready.

     Now came the last and most deadly phase of the chaotic plan for Indiana Jones: delaying the Nazis while the others escaped, and then trying to get himself the hell out of there alive.

     The Nazi troopers had now recovered themselves and their weapons from off of the chamber floor and fired in Jones’ direction as the archaeologist rolled behind the looming statue of Horus and withdrew his Webley.  As they advanced upon him he stuck the gun out and fired three shots, stopping them in their tracks and causing them to dive for cover themselves.

     But as he crouched behind the statue, Jones began to realize just what a bad spot he was in.  He was in the furthest corner of the chamber away from the entrance….and he was cornered.  And then things got even worse as he saw what looked and sounded like a metal can roll across the floor and come to rest next to him.

     Indiana Jones looked down to see a potato masher hand grenade snuggled up against his boot.

      “You guys don’t know, I’ve got experience with these things,” the archaeologist said as he calmly picked up the grenade and tossed it back over from whence it came.

     A second later a deafening explosion ripped through the underground chamber.  The shock wave that the powerful hand grenade created knocked Jones to his knees and sucked the breath from his lungs.  Even Elliot and Vadoma, crouching near to the entrance were knocked over.  Echoes and reverberations from the blast drowned out the death screams of several Nazi troopers.

     But as Indiana Jones struggled back to his feet, another sound caused him to look up.

     With a crisp crack, the pillar of Horus broke itself neatly in two and began to tumble down, followed by the ceiling stones above.  Indiana Jones and the Nazis forgot all about each other for a moment as all in the chamber scrambled for cover.

      Then, weakened by the shock wave of the explosion, and the collapse of Horus, more pillars began to crack. Hathor’s pillar fell, accompanied by huge slabs of stone that rained down into the chamber floor.  Anubis followed next, and then Isis.  With the immense load above no longer evenly supported, all of the pillars began to crack and crumble in a domino effect, escalating into a maelstrom of destruction.

     Indiana Jones ran for the entrance where Elliot and Vadoma stood waiting.

      “Indy!” Vadoma screamed out his name with overwhelming relief.

      “Come on Jones!” Elliot shouted above the din of falling stone, “I’d say it’s time we got the hell out of here!”

     With the MI5 Agent’s electric torch leading the way, the three ran down the passage, away from the chamber of pillars.  Jones wondered for a brief moment if any of the Nazis would make it out of the destruction alive, but then a few seconds later the sound of shouting voices in German gave him his answer; that and the crack of a Luger pistol.

      “They’re shooting at us!” Vadoma said breathlessly.

     Jones was about to say something when a sudden jolt knocked all three of them to their knees.  The tremor also knocked down all of the pursuing Nazis.

      “What in the hell was that!?” Elliot said, stunned.

      “I don’t know,” Indiana Jones said as he stood back up and helped Vadoma back to her feet, “but I don’t think it was anything good”.

     What they saw next confirmed Jones’ statement.

     Coming towards them down the passageway from in front was a surge of ankle deep water.  The water rushed and swirled around their feet, and then began to climb upwards, towards their knees.

      “The tomb…!”  Jones shouted “It’s flooding!”

      “What in the devil happened Jones?!” Elliot said with dismay.

      “I don’t know!  There must have been some kind of a shift in the ground layers….and the underground river!” Jones said, “…from the explosion, and the collapse of the pillars!”

      “Well I sure as hell don’t want to drown down here!” Elliot shouted, “I suggest we get moving!”

     The three of them ran for their very lives to escape the watery death that now encroached upon them.  The going became more and more difficult as the water rose up past knees and up to thighs.  Behind them, frantic shouts in German told them that the Nazis were still there and also fought against the rising water to try and escape from the strange and terrible fate of drowning deep below the ground of the desert.

     A minute later Jones, Elliot and Vadoma reached the false wall, and the hole where Jones had earlier pushed out the chariot wheel; except that now things had changed.

     Water gushed out through the hole; water that now reached up to their waists.  The three stopped for a moment and just stared at the unexpected sight.  Then Jones shouted above the din of the rushing water.

      “You go through first Elliot!  Then help to pull Vadoma through…then me!  Go!”

     Elliot wasted no time as he plunged into the hole and fought his way through the force of the rushing water to the other side.  He emerged into nearly neck deep water.

     Vadoma followed, and with a push from Jones, and a pull from Elliot, she too made it through to the other side.  Jones was next, and if he needed any added incentive to push his way through the rush of water it was provided by another crack from the Luger pistol of SS Major Krupp following closely behind.  Despite the circumstances the maniacal Nazi seemed hell bent on killing them all.

     Once through the hole the three waded through the pool water; now chest deep.  After emerging from the pool they found themselves in the relative safety of the upward sloping passage that led back towards the tomb’s entrance.  It would take quite a long while for the water to climb up through this passage, Jones thought as they began to ascend.

     Behind them the remaining Nazis struggled through the rushing water of the chariot wheel hole and plunged into the pool, desperate too to escape a watery death.  There were only three who had escaped the destruction of the chamber of pillars; the maniacal Major Krupp, and two Corporals, Krebs, and Mueller.  The Major, using his rank to intimidate, forced the other two out of his way in order that he go first.

     This trio now found themselves having to swim, rather than wade through the pool as they followed closely behind Jones, Vadoma, and Elliot.

     As both parties ran for their lives up the passageway a new and far more violent tremor shook the earth around them.  Once again all were knocked down to their knees as the ground beneath their feet trembled and shook.  A moment later the sound of a new and more powerful rush of water could be heard. 

     The three Nazis turned to look.  Behind them a wall of water now surged up the passageway and threatened to overtake them.  The Major let out a scream.

     The tomb was now rapidly filling up and threatened to drown all within minutes.  

      Jones stood up and pulled Vadoma back to her feet.

      “Run!” He shouted, “As fast as you can………run!”

     Six people raced against time to get out of the collapsing, flooding deathtrap that the tomb had now become.

     Within moments Jones, Vadoma, and Elliot reached the top of the sloping passageway and turned right.  Racing past the dead, stiffening bodies of Yelena and Yuri, they turned left and charged headlong for the crawl space ahead that lead out of the tomb.

     The rushing water had now risen all the way to the top of the sloping passage and began to flow steadily into the upper reaches of the tomb.  Once again it caught up with Jones, Vadoma and Elliot; surging around their ankles as the three dropped to the floor of the corridor and prepared to enter the crawl space that led out.

     As before, Elliot went first, followed by Vadoma, and then Jones.  Water already began to flow into the low, claustrophobic passage as Jones slid himself under.  A moment later the Nazis rounded the corner.  Major Krupp took a pot shot at Indiana Jones’ feet that missed, just before the archaeologist’s boots disappeared under the stone.

     A moment later the Nazis arrived at the small opening as the water continued to rise.  It didn’t take long for the three of them to see plainly that only one at best could hope to make it through before drowning.  Major Krupp, perhaps more trained and experienced in ruthlessness than his lower ranking subordinates, didn’t even hesitate.  With cold calculation he fired a single shot from his Luger into the chest of each unfortunate Corporal, and then slid himself under, holding his pistol out in front.

     The Major struggled along, scraping his face and arms bloody, gagging and choking as he gulped mouthfuls of water.  He fought desperately against time as the rising water threatened to close off the tiny air space between the water and the top of the tight passage.  But as was inevitable, that space finally did cease to exist, and Major Krupp found himself completely under water, and not yet out of the crawl space.

     Panic ensued.

     The brutal SS man now fought madly to reach the end of the tight tunnel.  His craving for air nearly forced him to open wide and suck in a lungful of killing water.  But just as he reached the limit of his endurance, his head popped free into the first chamber of the tomb where Jones, Vadoma, and Elliot were preparing to ascend back up through the vertical passage to the safety of the desert floor above.

     Still clutching his Luger pistol the SS Major struggled to hold his head above the rising water as he sucked in a lungful of air.  Then he prepared to push himself up and out of the tiny, flooded crawl space.

      But his foot was caught.

     As much as the man struggled he could not free his foot.

      He began to panic once again as the water in this, the last chamber of the tomb before the vertical tunnel, began to fill rapidly.  The Major’s screams of mad panic were choked off by a mouthful of water as his head began to disappear below.  Frantically Krupp kicked out at what held him.  He was baffled as to what his leg was caught on.  It almost felt as if something alive, something living, was clutching on to him.

     He was right. It was indeed something living…barely.

     Though his life’s blood flowed out from the mortal wound in his chest, and his lungs were filling with water, Corporal Mueller held tightly to his death grip on Major Krupp’s right leg.  He only hoped he could hold out long enough to seal the fate of the treacherous Officer who had sealed his own.

     Though Mueller died without knowing, his morbid wish was fulfilled.

     Major Krupp could hold out no longer as the water rose above him.  He opened his mouth to scream one last time, but his screams were silenced by the rush of water that filled his lungs.

     As a last bitter act of his cruel life Krupp thrust his arm up out of the killing water and repeatedly squeezed the trigger of his Luger, blindly firing at his fleeing enemies until the weapon was empty.

     Across on the other side of the chamber Elliot had already entered the vertical passage.  Vadoma was about to enter as well when the shots from the doomed SS Major’s Luger rang out and echoed and ricocheted off of the rocky walls.

     Vadoma stumbled and fell forward into Indiana Jones’ arms.

      “Indy I….I think I’ve been shot!” She said, with more of an odd curiosity in her voice than pain or shock.

     Jones quickly looked down and saw a small amount of blood oozing out of a flesh wound to the gypsy woman’s right forearm.

      “I think you were nicked!” Jones said to her, “Just stay calm, you’ll be alright.  But we’ve got to get out of here now!”

     The speed at which the water was filling the chamber now seemed to be accelerating.  Elliot reached down to lend a helping hand to Vadoma, and then Jones entered the passage.  The ascent was once again one step ahead of the rising water, and Indiana Jones could feel it rising up to the level of his waist even as the three of them reached the lip of the opening and climbed back out on to the desert floor of the Valley of the Kings.

     The helping hands of Sallah, Marcus, Abdul, Rashid, and Malboury himself reached out for them to help pull them out.

      A moment later water bubbled up out of the tomb entrance and began to trickle and flow along the ground; a new desert spring, born of the folly and violence of men.

     Indiana Jones went to Vadoma, who looked a little bit uneasy on her feet.

      “Let’s have a look at that wound,” the archaeologist said gently as he reached out for her wounded forearm.

     Vadoma held the injured arm in close to her chest; cradling it in her left hand.

     But something was wrong…very wrong.

     Why was there so much blood for such a small wound?

     And then Jones saw it; the hole in her blouse and the spreading red stain on her chest.

     Vadoma staggered and fell forward into Indiana Jones’ arms.  The archaeologist gently lowered the beautiful gypsy woman to the ground and laid her back up against a large rounded boulder.

      “Indy I’m cold,” she said weakly, “I’m so very cold….please hold me.”

     Jones crouched down beside her, took her hand in his and then placed his arms around her.  He pressed his hand tightly up against the hole in her chest, but it was to no avail.

     The Luger bullet had entered Vadoma’s back, and had exited through her chest.  Now she was bleeding to death, and there was nothing Indiana Jones or anyone else could do.

     Vadoma gazed at Jones through the half closed fluttering lids of her dark eyes; eyes which, though her life was ebbing, still held the fire that had so captivated Indiana Jones ever since the two had first met.

     Indy gazed back at her; fighting to keep his feelings of helpless hopelessness from showing through.

      “Vadoma….I…”

      “Kiss me Indy.” She said as she began to struggle for breath, “Please….kiss me one more time.”

     Jones leaned down, gazed into her pretty eyes for what he knew would be the last time, and then softly pressed his lips against hers.

     Vadoma moaned softly, and then breathed out the last breath of her life.

*********************************
EPILOGUE
*********************************

     Indiana Jones sat beneath the starlight of the clear desert night and watched the fire burn brightly.  Sallah had located the dead palm trunks and he, Abdul, and Rashid had chopped them up and carried the wood to the summit of the hilltop separating the Valleys of the Kings and Queens where Jones now sat.  They’d helped him to build the pyre, and then had left him alone.

     Now Indy sat and watched as the fire consumed the body of the gypsy woman; the woman that he had known for barely more than a week’s time, but whom he would never forget for as long as he lived.

     Jones forced himself to watch as the flames turned the woman’s beautiful flesh into ashes; into the dust from which all flesh is created, and to which all flesh returns.  He watched stoically, taking solace from the knowledge that Vadoma’s spirit, her Ka, was being released in such a hallowed place of the ancients; into the company of Nefertiti, Hatshepsut, and the many other spirits that inhabited this deceptively lonely desert.

     The twenty-sixth year of her life, Jones thought; bad luck…a gypsy curse.  It was only a couple of days ago that Vadoma had told Jones of her birth date.  It would have been tomorrow, he thought bitterly. She would have finally turned twenty six.  They had talked of celebrating late, perhaps in Cairo, or Casablanca, or…..

     Deep down Indiana Jones knew that he could never be sure whether or not it was truly a gypsy’s curse that had stolen the young woman’s life.

     But deep down, Indiana Jones knew that it was a Gypsy’s Kiss that had stolen his own heart.

The End Chapter 53

Battle in the Realm of the Dead

     “How close?!” Indiana Jones spoke in Arabic to Rashid who now stood before him, out of breath, with chest heaving in and out.

     Loud shouts in German coming from down the passageway behind them rendered any answer to his question moot.

     The Nazis were already emerging from beneath the crawl space and into the corridor.

      “Everyone!  Quickly!” Indiana Jones whispered loudly, “Get around the corner! Come on!  And put out those torches!”

     The archaeologist motioned for all to round the corner of the tomb’s richly decorated underground passageway and into the right hand side branch of the ‘T’ with him.  The three torches were put out, leaving the diffused light of the Nazis electric lanterns as the only illumination.  Unfortunately this light was becoming brighter and brighter as more and more Nazis emerged from under the crawl space and into the corridor.

     Jones turned to Rashid and once again spoke to him in Arabic, “Did they see you?!” He asked anxiously.

      “No,” Rashid answered.

      “You’re sure?”

      “I’m sure.”

      “How many are there?” Jones asked hurriedly as he listened warily to the sounds of the Nazis.

      “At least twelve, maybe fifteen,” the young Arab nodded as he answered, “many, many guns.  But there was one…Britisher with them; he is being led at gunpoint, and he holds the map in his hand.”

     Indiana Jones digested this information for a moment, and then said simply, “Malboury………the Nazis have the scroll.”

     Elliot fingered his revolver and re-checked its magazine, ensuring that the weapon was fully loaded, “This is what we came this far to do,” the MI5 Agent said with grim determination, “I guess it’s time to get our prisoner back.”

      “Wait!” Jones said, “We can’t just shoot it out down here with a heavily armed platoon of SS goons; we’re outmanned and outgunned.”

      “What do you suggest then Jones?”

      “We should continue on down into the tomb and find a better place to lay a trap for them,” Indy said.

      “You know how to proceed from here?” Elliot asked warily.

      “I hope so,” Indy answered, “but there’s only one way to go from here anyway.

      “I see two ways,” Elliot said, pointing down the left hand branch of the passage.

      “That’s a dead end,” Indy said, “….literally.”

      “Oh,” the MI5 Agent said, knowing instinctively to trust the archaeologist on his own turf, so to speak.

     The German voices grew louder and more numerous.

      “Come on,” Indy said to the group as he led the way down the dark passageway to the right.

     They proceeded in the same order that they had descended into the tomb, with Jones leading and Sallah bringing up the rear.  The branch of the corridor continued on for a considerable distance before eventually making a right angle bend to the left.  Indiana Jones thought it safe to cut his electric torch back on since the Nazis were still far behind, and would probably be delayed momentarily anyway as they stumbled on the bodies of Yuri and Yelena.

     Shortly after the bend, the tomb passage began to slope downward.  The walls were continuously decorated with fine examples of New Kingdom bas relief and the ceiling began to get higher and higher.  After descending down nearly fifty meters the passage opened into a wider room. Jones shined his electric torch around.

     The group found themselves standing in a sizeable chamber.  Before them, the floor of the chamber sloped down into a large, square pool of water that was nearly twenty meters on each side.  Across on the other side of the pool was a wall with a beautifully painted scene of a Royal hunt.  An Egyptian Prince stood in an open chariot with stretched bow waiting to deliver the death blow to a cornered lion while Royal attendants stood by waiting to sacrifice themselves to the beast should it turn on their master.

     Agent Elliot scanned his eyes, and his electric torch around.  Seeing no other entrances or exits to the chamber, he turned to Jones again.

      “This is it?” He asked perplexed, “This is the end of the tomb?  Where then are the Tablets?”

      “Let the wheel of the chariot guide you,” Indiana Jones answered cryptically.

      “What?” Elliot screwed up his face in confusion.

      “That’s what the scroll says,” Jones nodded, and then waded into the pool.

     The archaeologist strode forward through the water.  As he proceeded, the level of the water eventually reached as high as his waist, but then dropped again as he approached up close to the painted wall mural.  There he went straight to the chariot wheel and pushed.

     The rest of the group listened to the distinct sound of stone scraping against stone as they watched the chariot wheel recede inwardly from Jones’ efforts, and eventually tumble forward.

     The archaeologist leaned into the newly created hole and shined his electric torch.

     He turned back to the group, “Well, what are you all waiting for?” He said to them as he disappeared through the hole.

     They followed Indiana Jones through the opening in the false wall and found themselves standing in yet another corridor.  This one though was unadorned, and had natural outcroppings of rock that protruded here and there into the passage.  Like the first chamber they’d found themselves in when they descended, this one too looked much like a cave.

      “Re-light the torches,” Jones ordered once all were through the hole and into the new passage.

     The three torches that had been previously lit were quickly burning again, allowing Jones, Elliot, and Sallah to cut their electric torches off.

      “What is that sound?” Agent Elliot asked as he cocked his ear.

     All of the party fell silent for a moment as they too tried to discern the sound that the MI5 agent heard.

      “It sounds like running water,” Elliot said.

     Jones nodded, “It is,” he said, “it’s an underground tributary of the Nile.  Where do you think the water for that pool came from?”

      “It sure sounds like an awful lot of water to be flowing under a desert,” Elliot said in a surprised voice.

      “Don’t forget, we’re pretty deep underground,” Indiana Jones reminded him.

     The party moved on down the cavern like passageway in the flickering light of the torches.  About one hundred meters further on it opened into a room that caused all of them, including the experienced archaeologist Indiana Jones, to give out with an involuntary gasp of amazement.

     They entered into a huge chamber.  The ceiling was at least fifteen meters high, and decorated with images of constellations, as well as a huge painting of the sky goddess ‘Nut’, stretching her star studded body the entire length across the ceiling from wall to wall.  The chamber itself was a perfect square, at least forty meters on each side.  Each wall had an opening that beckoned further passages, corridors, and unknown chambers.  But the most striking feature of the room was the nine pillars.

     Evenly spaced throughout the chamber were nine large pillars reaching from floor to ceiling.  Each pillar was a statue of a different God of the Egyptian pantheon.  Huge figures of the jackal headed Anubis, falcon headed Horus, Osiris clutching his crook and whip, Taweret with hippopotamus head and lion feet, Isis, and several more Egyptian gods and goddesses stood stoically supporting the high ceiling, and indeed the earth itself which loomed high above this wonderful tomb deep beneath the Valley of the Kings.  Upon the base of each statue was a small altar for offerings and sacrifices.

      “It’s magnificent,” Marcus said with awe in his voice.

      “Yes,” Elliot echoed him, “truly impressive.”

      “It’s beautiful Indy,” Vadoma said in a low whisper.

     The combined flames of the three torches lit up the enchanting chamber in a brilliant light that threw dancing shadows upon the walls and the towering Gods of ancient Egypt standing mute beside them.

      “This is where we’ll lay in wait for the Nazis, and spring our trap.”

      “What trap Jones?” Elliot asked, “And shouldn’t we proceed onward to get the Sun Tablets?”

      “If we go any further we’ll be cornered,” Jones said, “this is the only place in the tomb where we’ll have any chance of confronting them and getting away.”

     Jones paused for a moment and then said, “Besides, without the scroll, I don’t remember which of the three doors to take,” he motioned towards the three openings that led further into the tomb, “we take the wrong one and we’re dead; they’re laced with booby traps.”

      “Alright then,” Elliot said, “so what of this plan?”

      “Yeah,” Jones said, “we’d better get it straight,” he paused to listen to the sounds of German voices far off in the distance, but getting closer, “and we’d better hurry up.”

     Indiana Jones motioned for all to gather around. Without mincing his words he quickly explained his idea to surprise the Nazis, get Malboury, and get out of the tomb.  Elliot, Marcus, Sallah, and the others all nodded in agreement.  The torches were once again extinguished.

     Everyone took their places…and waited.

     It wasn’t a long wait.  Within one minute’s time the beams of the German archaeology team’s electric torches began to pierce the darkness of the chamber as they emerged from the passageway. Just like Indiana Jones and company before, audible gasps of amazement could be heard.

     Indeed it was Lord Richard Malboury himself walking in the lead holding the scroll. To the casual observer it might even seem that Malboury was one of them, except for the Nazi with the sternly set jaw and the sub-machine gun who walked closely behind, eyes glued to the British archaeologist.

     As the Germans assembled in the chamber, Indiana Jones lay low behind the towering figure of Anubis.  Close to the entrance, Sallah, Elliot, Marcus, and Vadoma, each clutching tightly to one of the stout, wooden torch handles, crouched behind the statues of Osiris and Isis.  Rashid and Abdul crouched down across from one another behind Hathor and Thoth, ready to do their part in the life or death scenario soon to take place. 

     The German group paused as Malboury alternately studied the three doors, and the scroll.

      “What is the matter!?”  SS Major Adolph Krupp, the Nazi Officer in command shouted at Malboury, “Schnell!  I don’t want to spend any more time in this place than I have to!  This is a place for the dead!”

     Malboury turned and spoke, “Well I can’t bloody well ‘schnell’ if I don’t know which door to take, can I,” he said with obvious distaste for the German lout and as much bitter sarcasm as he could muster under the circumstances.

      “We take the wrong door and we’ll all likely spend the rest of eternity down here you bloody Hun,” Malboury mumbled as he continued to study the scroll.

     Finally the British archaeologist seemed satisfied that it was the center door, and not the left or right that was the correct one.

      “Well?!” The Major Krupp said impatiently when he saw Malboury lower the scroll.

     Malboury simply pointed ahead, and once again began walking forward.

     It was time for Indiana Jones and company to execute their plan.

     There wasn’t really much to the plan other than to create a little chaos in order to enable them to snatch Malboury and make a run for it.  Jones hoped however, that it would be somewhat orchestrated chaos.

     It began with a single shot into the air from Elliot’s pistol.  The sudden, loud report of the .45 caliber hand gun reverberated and echoed off of the chamber walls.  The effect was immediate.  As one, the German team instinctively crouched down low and all heads turned to look back to where the shot came from; that’s when Indiana Jones dove out from his hiding place, grabbed Malboury and ran for cover behind the lion feet of Taweret.

     Loud shouts and curses in German were followed by the clattering din of automatic weapons as the Nazis recovered from their initial shock and fired in the direction of the two fleeing archaeologists.

      All heads of the German party now turned to look forward.  This gave Sallah, Elliot, Marcus, and Vadoma their chance to step out from their places and put their stout wooden torch handles to good use, taking down four of the Nazis in a single stroke before they knew what hit them.

     Indiana Jones, pulling Malboury, now ran between the statues of Thoth and Hathor and dove to the left, narrowly avoiding a staccato river of bullets that clattered off of the granite floor of the chamber sending chips of stone flying in all directions.  The Nazis ceased firing and gave chase as the confused SS Major screamed out a stream of frantic orders.

     This was just as Jones had hoped, because a moment later the half dozen or so pursuing Nazis toppled to the ground in a heap like so many bowling pins; tripping over one another, and the length of rope that Rashid and Abdul held tightly between the two statues.

     The few seconds of diversion caused by the trip rope was vital.  It gave Indiana Jones the time he needed to execute the next phase of the plan as he handed off Malboury to Sallah, who hurried him back towards the chamber entrance and out.  Marcus, Rashid and Abdul followed.  Vadoma was supposed to go with them also, but she had no intention of doing so without Indiana Jones.  Instead she remained at the entrance way to the chamber, along with Elliot, the rear guard, who crouched with his .45 caliber at the ready.

     Now came the last and most deadly phase of the chaotic plan for Indiana Jones: delaying the Nazis while the others escaped, and then trying to get himself the hell out of there alive.

     The Nazi troopers had now recovered themselves and their weapons from off of the chamber floor and fired in Jones’ direction as the archaeologist rolled behind the looming statue of Horus and withdrew his Webley.  As they advanced upon him he stuck the gun out and fired three shots, stopping them in their tracks and causing them to dive for cover themselves.

     But as he crouched behind the statue, Jones began to realize just what a bad spot he was in.  He was in the furthest corner of the chamber away from the entrance….and he was cornered.  And then things got even worse as he saw what looked and sounded like a metal can roll across the floor and come to rest next to him.

     Indiana Jones looked down to see a potato masher hand grenade snuggled up against his boot.

      “You guys don’t know, I’ve got experience with these things,” the archaeologist said as he calmly picked up the grenade and tossed it back over from whence it came.

     A second later a deafening explosion ripped through the underground chamber.  The shock wave that the powerful hand grenade created knocked Jones to his knees and sucked the breath from his lungs.  Even Elliot and Vadoma, crouching near to the entrance were knocked over.  Echoes and reverberations from the blast drowned out the death screams of several Nazi troopers.

     But as Indiana Jones struggled back to his feet, another sound caused him to look up.

     With a crisp crack, the pillar of Horus broke itself neatly in two and began to tumble down, followed by the ceiling stones above.  Indiana Jones and the Nazis forgot all about each other for a moment as all in the chamber scrambled for cover.

      Then, weakened by the shock wave of the explosion, and the collapse of Horus, more pillars began to crack. Hathor’s pillar fell, accompanied by huge slabs of stone that rained down into the chamber floor.  Anubis followed next, and then Isis.  With the immense load above no longer evenly supported, all of the pillars began to crack and crumble in a domino effect, escalating into a maelstrom of destruction.

     Indiana Jones ran for the entrance where Elliot and Vadoma stood waiting.

      “Indy!” Vadoma screamed out his name with overwhelming relief.

      “Come on Jones!” Elliot shouted above the din of falling stone, “I’d say it’s time we got the hell out of here!”

     With the MI5 Agent’s electric torch leading the way, the three ran down the passage, away from the chamber of pillars.  Jones wondered for a brief moment if any of the Nazis would make it out of the destruction alive, but then a few seconds later the sound of shouting voices in German gave him his answer; that and the crack of a Luger pistol.

      “They’re shooting at us!” Vadoma said breathlessly.

     Jones was about to say something when a sudden jolt knocked all three of them to their knees.  The tremor also knocked down all of the pursuing Nazis.

      “What in the hell was that!?” Elliot said, stunned.

      “I don’t know,” Indiana Jones said as he stood back up and helped Vadoma back to her feet, “but I don’t think it was anything good”.

     What they saw next confirmed Jones’ statement.

     Coming towards them down the passageway from in front was a surge of ankle deep water.  The water rushed and swirled around their feet, and then began to climb upwards, towards their knees.

      “The tomb…!”  Jones shouted “It’s flooding!”

      “What in the devil happened Jones?!” Elliot said with dismay.

      “I don’t know!  There must have been some kind of a shift in the ground layers….and the underground river!” Jones said, “…from the explosion, and the collapse of the pillars!”

      “Well I sure as hell don’t want to drown down here!” Elliot shouted, “I suggest we get moving!”

     The three of them ran for their very lives to escape the watery death that now encroached upon them.  The going became more and more difficult as the water rose up past knees and up to thighs.  Behind them, frantic shouts in German told them that the Nazis were still there and also fought against the rising water to try and escape from the strange and terrible fate of drowning deep below the ground of the desert.

     A minute later Jones, Elliot and Vadoma reached the false wall, and the hole where Jones had earlier pushed out the chariot wheel; except that now things had changed.

     Water gushed out through the hole; water that now reached up to their waists.  The three stopped for a moment and just stared at the unexpected sight.  Then Jones shouted above the din of the rushing water.

      “You go through first Elliot!  Then help to pull Vadoma through…then me!  Go!”

     Elliot wasted no time as he plunged into the hole and fought his way through the force of the rushing water to the other side.  He emerged into nearly neck deep water.

     Vadoma followed, and with a push from Jones, and a pull from Elliot, she too made it through to the other side.  Jones was next, and if he needed any added incentive to push his way through the rush of water it was provided by another crack from the Luger pistol of SS Major Krupp following closely behind.  Despite the circumstances the maniacal Nazi seemed hell bent on killing them all.

     Once through the hole the three waded through the pool water; now chest deep.  After emerging from the pool they found themselves in the relative safety of the upward sloping passage that led back towards the tomb’s entrance.  It would take quite a long while for the water to climb up through this passage, Jones thought as they began to ascend.

     Behind them the remaining Nazis struggled through the rushing water of the chariot wheel hole and plunged into the pool, desperate too to escape a watery death.  There were only three who had escaped the destruction of the chamber of pillars; the maniacal Major Krupp, and two Corporals, Krebs, and Mueller.  The Major, using his rank to intimidate, forced the other two out of his way in order that he go first.

     This trio now found themselves having to swim, rather than wade through the pool as they followed closely behind Jones, Vadoma, and Elliot.

     As both parties ran for their lives up the passageway a new and far more violent tremor shook the earth around them.  Once again all were knocked down to their knees as the ground beneath their feet trembled and shook.  A moment later the sound of a new and more powerful rush of water could be heard. 

     The three Nazis turned to look.  Behind them a wall of water now surged up the passageway and threatened to overtake them.  The Major let out a scream.

     The tomb was now rapidly filling up and threatened to drown all within minutes.  

      Jones stood up and pulled Vadoma back to her feet.

      “Run!” He shouted, “As fast as you can………run!”

     Six people raced against time to get out of the collapsing, flooding deathtrap that the tomb had now become.

     Within moments Jones, Vadoma, and Elliot reached the top of the sloping passageway and turned right.  Racing past the dead, stiffening bodies of Yelena and Yuri, they turned left and charged headlong for the crawl space ahead that lead out of the tomb.

     The rushing water had now risen all the way to the top of the sloping passage and began to flow steadily into the upper reaches of the tomb.  Once again it caught up with Jones, Vadoma and Elliot; surging around their ankles as the three dropped to the floor of the corridor and prepared to enter the crawl space that led out.

     As before, Elliot went first, followed by Vadoma, and then Jones.  Water already began to flow into the low, claustrophobic passage as Jones slid himself under.  A moment later the Nazis rounded the corner.  Major Krupp took a pot shot at Indiana Jones’ feet that missed, just before the archaeologist’s boots disappeared under the stone.

     A moment later the Nazis arrived at the small opening as the water continued to rise.  It didn’t take long for the three of them to see plainly that only one at best could hope to make it through before drowning.  Major Krupp, perhaps more trained and experienced in ruthlessness than his lower ranking subordinates, didn’t even hesitate.  With cold calculation he fired a single shot from his Luger into the chest of each unfortunate Corporal, and then slid himself under, holding his pistol out in front.

     The Major struggled along, scraping his face and arms bloody, gagging and choking as he gulped mouthfuls of water.  He fought desperately against time as the rising water threatened to close off the tiny air space between the water and the top of the tight passage.  But as was inevitable, that space finally did cease to exist, and Major Krupp found himself completely under water, and not yet out of the crawl space.

     Panic ensued.

     The brutal SS man now fought madly to reach the end of the tight tunnel.  His craving for air nearly forced him to open wide and suck in a lungful of killing water.  But just as he reached the limit of his endurance, his head popped free into the first chamber of the tomb where Jones, Vadoma, and Elliot were preparing to ascend back up through the vertical passage to the safety of the desert floor above.

     Still clutching his Luger pistol the SS Major struggled to hold his head above the rising water as he sucked in a lungful of air.  Then he prepared to push himself up and out of the tiny, flooded crawl space.

      But his foot was caught.

     As much as the man struggled he could not free his foot.

      He began to panic once again as the water in this, the last chamber of the tomb before the vertical tunnel, began to fill rapidly.