Part 9 of Indiana Jones and the Ring of Ra...
Previous parts: I / II / III / IV / V / VI / VII / VIII

Catherine had pestered Indy, begging him not to leave her alone. It was dark and cold, and the jeep was uncomfortable. Begrudgingly he'd let her accompany him, down into the depths of the pyramid. He'd decided that the downward passage was most likely to produce results. The other tunnels might have been cut later, after the pyramid's initial function had ceased. Down was the way to go.

The oil soaked rag produced a smelly, smoky light. It flickered, making the narrow tunnel walls appear to be closing in on them. Catherine tried not to think about the 6.5 million tons of stone over their heads.

They emerged into the unfinished chamber. At the far end of the room stalagmites of stone loomed in the shadows - the limestone that had never been chipped away by the workmen. If there was a clue here, Indy didn't know where it was. There were no inscriptions, no wall paintings, just bare stone.

"Just as bare as I remembered it," said Indy.

"Then why did we come down here?" asked Catherine.

"This is the earliest part of the pyramid," said Indy. "If any part of the pyramid's interior existed when that stone ring was made, then this is it. If the chamber had originally been meant for some other purpose, and was enlarged later but left unfinished, then the part nearest the door would logically be the earliest. Any passageway would have gone left or right, east or west. The pyramid's entrance is on the north side, so a tunnel that led west would lead out away from the plateau. A tunnel east, however, would end up underneath Khufu's mortuary temple."

"But there's nothing left of the temple," said Catherine. "Just the courtyard's black basalt pavement."

"Right, it's been demolished down to the bedrock. And where are we at the moment?"

"In the bedrock?" said Catherine.

"Exactly," said Indy. "We're ninety feet under the plateau."

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," said Catherine.

"Just because it's been demolished down to the bedrock doesn't mean there's not something underneath it," said Indy.

He walked over to the east wall. Holding the torch in his left hand he ran his fingers over the limestone, looking for evidence of a secret door.

"It's solid rock!" said Catherine.

Indy ignored her. Systematically he searched every inch of the wall, before coming to the conclusion that she was right. If there was a door there, he couldn't find it.

He looked over at Catherine. She was sitting on the lumps of limestone, examining the amulet around her neck. It glistened in the torchlight. She looked up at him, and removed the necklace.

"It was found with the stone ring," she said.

Indy carefully took the proffered amulet. He turned it over, marvelling at the workmanship.

"A wadjet eye," he said.

"Symbolising both the vengeful eye of the Sun god Ra and the eye of the god Horus," said Catherine.

Still holding the amulet, Indy walked back to the wall he'd examined so carefully. He held the amulet up, watching it move from side to side.

"We could do with Ra's help about now," he said, jokingly.

Then there was a metallic whooshing noise. Rings appeared from above and hovered around him, before shooting back to wherever they'd come from. Indy had disappeared.

Catherine stood, alone in the pitch blackness. Indy had been holding the torch. She tried to push back the overwhelming sense of panic that was threatening to overtake her.

She found her way to the wall, to where she guessed Indy had been standing.

"Indy?" she cried, her voice trembling slightly.

Following the walls, she found her way back to the passageway.

posted by Fiery Fred @ 8:44 PM