Bond was unharmed as he hit the ground, but his pack was hit against the wall. Bond winced as he heard the shatter, assuming he knew what had happened. He stood up and opened his pack, taking out the flashlight. The shattered glass tinkled to the ground.
“Damn.” Bond reached into the pocket of his coat and took out his lighter. He flicked it on. He looked over his shoulder and saw that a wall of crumbled stones was blocking him in. He grabbed one of the rocks and pulled. It came free, and the pile of rocks shifted. A small hole opened at the top, and Bond could see sunlight. “Good,” he thought. The pile wasn’t thick. With the help of his pickax he could probably dig himself free in ten minutes. He considered doing so, but somehow he knew that Indiana would be pressing on already, and that was exactly what he would do. He had a mission to finish.
Bond looked down the passage he was in. He quickly noticed the footprints and water on the ground. Grimson had gone this way. Bond looked as far down the tunnel as he could, trying to memorize its layout. He then turned off his lighter, wanting to conserve fuel.
The small sliver of sunlight penetrating the passage gave Bond enough light to move forward safely for the first hundred or so feet. Then he was forced to turn on his lighter. Shortly after doing so he arrived at his first surprise. He was in a chamber with a closed slab door at the end and a pedestal in the middle of the floor.
Bond walked over to the pedestal. It had lines of writing in different languages, similar to that of the entrance wall. There was writing both on the side of the pedestal and the top. There was also a line on the top of the pedestal that divided it into two halves. Each half contained lines of writing and a hole. Resting on a small protrusion on the front of the pedestal was a cylindrical stone, which looked like it could fit in either of the holes. Bond read the Latin line above the stone.
“Which is bigger?” Bond looked at both of the holes. They seemed to be exactly the same size. Perhaps the question wasn’t referring to the holes. Bond read the Latin line on the top of the pedestal. The line on the left said “anlomas”. The right side said “licimin”. Bond frowned. Neither of these words was familiar to him. He looked at the lines written in Greek. “The same pronunciations as the Latin words,” Bond thought. Yet the words weren’t Greek either. They were nonsense words.
“If they’re made up words,” Bond wondered, “how can I know which is bigger?” He counted the letters; seven each. No help there. Bond noticed that the Latin line included macrons, to ensure that the ‘a’s were pronounced long, as in ‘father’. He assumed that meant that it was the pronunciation that was most important. Bond said both words aloud. Which one sounded bigger?Bond decided, and placed the stone in the hole on the "anlomas" side.
Bond decided, and placed the stone in the hole on the "licimin" side.
Back to Home Page
