He felt the air smashed out of his lungs, and the silver specks of light that drifted across his vision seemed even brighter since he was thrown into total darkness.
Indiana rested on the dusty ground for several minutes until he was able to breathe normally again. Then he slowly stood up. In the darkness, he couldn’t even tell what direction he was facing. He knew that meant the tunnel was entirely blocked, or else he would be able to see some sunlight.
He wasn’t panicked. He was upset; mostly at himself for tripping the wire, and a little at Bond, who had trapped them. Why hadn’t Bond pulled him toward the exit instead of pushing him further down the passage? In the blackness, Indiana smiled. He knew exactly why Bond had done it. The mission wasn’t over, and Bond was the kind of man who would rather be cut off from safety than his mission. He had separated them to ensure the mission would be a success. Before the cave in, if they had chose the wrong tunnel they would have been able to double back and take the other one. But afterward they would have been stuck with there first choice, and if Grimson had gone down the other tunnel he might escape. By separating them, Bond had insured that either he or Indiana would find Grimson. Indiana was almost flattered. Bond apparently trusted him enough to take on Grimson if he was the one who found him.
The flashlight in Indiana’s backpack still worked. When he turned it on he discovered rock on three sides of him. The fourth side stretched away into the dark, and that was where he had to head.
Indiana had done his share of caving in his life, and he could use that knowledge now. Of course, some of the information was mostly useless, like knowing that the fallen rocks behind him were called a ‘choke’. The only thing he needed to know about those rocks was that they were blocking his exit. Indiana seriously considered using the pickax in his pack to dig his way out. There couldn’t be that much rock. The explosion had been relatively minor. However, for some reason he didn’t want to let Bond down. Bond had been brash enough to jump into the unknown to finish his mission and had taken a gamble that his partner was too. Indiana wouldn’t let Bond lose his money on that gamble.
With all thought of trying to leave expelled, Indiana headed down the passage. As he walked along, he noticed signs that humans had been there. The ground had been smoothed with crude tools, and rocks that would have jutted into the passage had been broken away. However, Indiana saw no signs of recent human passage. There were no footprints in the dust or water droplets that surely would have fallen off of Grimson’s snow-covered coat if he had been that way.
“Looks like Mr. Bond gets to take on Grimson,” Jones said aloud, his voice reverberating along the walls. Since Bond was on Grimson’s tail, Indiana again considered digging his way out of the tunnel. He could even then did into Bond’s tunnel and perhaps catch up with him. Indiana looked back toward the choke but decided to press on. His curiosity had gotten the better of him. With Grimson out of his hair, he could really examine the temple.
As he walked along the passage he unzipped his parka and took off his gloves. It was getting warmer quickly. Jones was at the threshold; the place where the environment rapidly changes from that of the outside environment to that of the cave’s environment. The first drop of sweat slid down his brow, and he wondered why the cave was so warm. Most caves stayed cooler that the surface temperature. He also wondered how large the cave was.
Indiana didn’t have to walk far before he reached a large chamber. There was a door on the other side of it, and a pedestal in the middle of the floor. The pedestal was about waist high. There was writing on the side of it, and Indiana stood in front of that side.
The writing was similar to the writing on the wall of the entrance chamber. It was a single sentence written in many different languages. Indiana noted that all of the lines were written inside an outline of the African continent. He read the Latin, since he was most fluent in that language.
“Place the stone in front of the statue.” Jones noticed the two shiny stone charms. One was in the shape of a circle, and one was in the shape of a square. In the middle of the pedestal was a small statue. The statue wasn’t in the shape of anything, but was just a geometric shape. Between Indiana and the statue was a circular depression, and on the other side of the statue was a square depression. Jones read the line in Greek. “Place one stone in front of the statue.” That was definitely what he was supposed to do.
“That’s easy,” Indiana said, unconcerned that he was talking to himself. “The circular hole is in front of the statue. The square one is behind it.” Jones picked up the circular stone, ready to place it in the depression. He hesitated. This was too easy. Something was nagging at him; something about the words being inside an outline of Africa. Was there something else, or was he just second guessing himself?Indiana shrugged and placed the circular stone in its depression.
Indiana sighed and returned the circular stone, instead placing the square stone in its depression.
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