Chapter 9 of Indiana Jones and the Golden Spider

Posted by A tale of stool pigeons, slimy worms and spidermen from cisco8-s0.pacific.net.sg on March 17, 2000 at 08:43:13:

Here it is! *tah-dah* The long-awaited, much discussed, controversial sequel : Chapter 9!

Hopefully this'll meet your needs for more Indyfanfic. It's quite long (again?); 10 Pages in print (font size 12), and has 24,294 Characters (with spaces), so it'll be worth the looong arduous indyless wait.

After this I am taking a break (for the weekend). It's 9:30pm here now, and in 6 hours I have to be up to climb a mountain. Literally. The Department of Enviromental Revenue is sponsoring a trek to the historical site, Mt. MANUNG-GAL and of course, I'm taking up on that offer. Jerico, you're invited. Wanna come along? If not, may I borrow your walkman?
I'll be back on Monday (if I make it back alive), to see if there have been violent reactions and recommendations which is compusory on this chapter. [eg."What happened to...?" ; "how dare you leave me out!", "what...what?","how...?"; "why did..." and my fave: "The chapter was just perfect, except for one tiny thing"] Can't hardly wait!

Wish me LUCK!
Deirdre Campbell

----

Serendipity
by Deirdre Campbell

San Francisco

"Nothing!" Meg spat derisively and struggled against the tight ropes that bound her to the chair, "And even if I did know anything about this Golden Spider, you would be the last to know!"

Disdainfully, Fritz squinted his eyes and raised his hand. He slapped her forcefully across the face. The sound of it echoed through the tiny space of the shabby two-story building. The shutters had been drawn and a low lamp hung from the ceiling, partly illuminating the faces of the four people present.

"That'll be enough." Jerico deterred as he stood up from his chair and pulled back the German by his shoulder. He'd been watching their fruitless interrogation counterparted by her stoical stubbornness going on for too long. "I'll take it from here." He motioned the others to leave.

"Well be back in a couple of minutes. If she hasn't sung until then," Ludwig reminded him before he shut the door and gave him a knowing look, "you know what to do."

--

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

"Smack Brett?" Micah guffawed and slapped his leg in amusement. He visibly remembered James' older brother, from more than one occasion, and this idea clearly didn't agree with him. "Pretty sure he won't appreciate that very much."

James rolled his eyes, "I was kidding, Micah! Don't take everything so literally."

"Okay kids," Indy interrupted their bickering, "We'd better get back to our camp. It's gonna be nightfall soon and I don't think any of us would like to spend it here." With a shudder, he glanced at the dead spider lying on the ground. Who knows how many more of these lurk here?

They had just picked up Webley whey the darts started to fly again. It were the same ones which had killed their guide Carlos.

---

His knife deftly cut her loose from the ropes. She rubbed her hands as the blood came rushing back to her veins.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of the Studebaker being started.

Taking a peek through the shutters, he watched the car drive away.
"They're leaving. We’d better get out of here.”

"You're helping me escape." It was more of a baffled statement than a question.

He met her gape and nodded. “You’re ready?”

She nodded, ignoring the prickling sensation in her wrists. "Y-yes of course."

Furtively they descended downstairs. The house was empty. They must have taken Aragorn with them, Jerico thought. He opened the backdoor that lead to a narrow alley, one way leading to a dead end the other back to the main road. "This way, we'd have to hurry though, I have no idea when they'll be back."
They had just reached the corner, when they came face to face with the Studebaker.

"I knew we couldn't trust that slit-eye!" Fritz roared scornfully and purposefully drove the car towards the startled couple.

--
    "Duck!" Indy shouted.
    The darts flew all around, missing them by inches. Crawling behind a fallen dead tree trunk, they sought cover.
    All of a sudden the attack stopped and the forest grew still again.
    Warily, they glanced about. They however did not notice the bushes behind them part, as barely audible footsteps closed in. Without warning they were knocked out.
    Before he could lose consciousness, Indy was able to see several dark-skinned and bare feet standing on the ground before him. Then everything went pitch-black.
_

    "Welcome back."
    Slowly her eyes adjusted to the light, and she groaned as she saw Fiddler sitting on her bedside.
    "Was that groan meant for me or does your head hurt?"
    Wrinkling her brows she scrunch up her eyes at him, "Both.
    He smiled inspite himself. "Want me to call the doc-"
    "No, it…it's alright. I'll be fine. Thank you." She looked at him thoughtfully. "I should also thank you for saving my life, Detective."
    "Yeah, whatever."
    Noticing his discomfort, she changed the topic. "What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be with the other cops or detectives, investigating?"
    "Well, first of all I am watching you. Who hired those assassins might want to look for you in your own house. As for the investigation, that's why I am here. You slept longer than you thought, Deirdre. In those hours of your unconscious state of mind, as I might like to put it, we've examined the evidence, or what was left of it and … you still with me?"
    She nodded dazed.
    "And found out that the two men are not unrelated to those who did the Murray bomb attack. We located two unutilized bombs in the backseat. They were of the same kind, you mentioned to me yesterday."
    "I see."
    "We are still waiting for the testament of one of the assassins. Unfortunately he is still unconscious and in medical treatment, after that car crash and the gun wounds." He didn't mention the death of the other gunman. Too many people had died in her vicinity since yesterday. Even he found all this hostility startling as well as puzzling. But to him it was just a job, nothing more.
    "Deirdre, tell me," he asked not taking his eyes off her, " Of what significance is this project of yours? What effect does it have on our society? What great mystery lies behind all this? To properly investigate this case I need to know the whole truth.
    Her eyes were half-closed and she seemed like she hadn't been listening to him at all.
    "Detective, there is something I need to show you something, before I answer all your questions."

---

    Jerico grabbed Meg's hand and pulled her to the side just as they Studebaker shot past them, almost crushing them into the brick wall. A few minutes away, the car squealed to a halt and started to reverse in the one-way alley.

"Megara, run as fast as you can to that chapel! You hear me?"

"A-and you?" she eyed him apprehensively.

"Don't worry. Now GO!"

Hesitantly at first, then nimbly, and as fast as her high-heels could carry her, she ran up the steep hill towards the sanctity of the little church. Daring a glance over her shoulder she saw Jerico draw his gun from the inside of his overcoat, and take aim.

"Hold your fire!"
Muppet had just stepped out of the ladies room when he came face to face with a mixed crowd of appalled restaurant personnel and curious customers. The police, who had just arrived, was inspecting the body of a profusely bleeding woman lying on the floor of the foyer area. Ulla, he realized with a shock. Two other policemen were pointing their guns at Muppet, whose wrinkled and torn white suit was soiled with the splattered blood from the brute Ulla had shot down a while ago.

--
"Show me what?" The Fiddler repeated as he followed her down the marble staircase, which wound down to the main hall. She gestured him to follow her as she pushed open the huge oak door leading to the house library. The room was huge; walls lined ceiling-high with bookcases that were crammed in with countless books. The detective took a look at some of the authors and titles of the books,as they passed several shelves.

W. van Katwijk, Spinnen van Nederland, D. Jones, Spinnen, R & K Preston-Mafham, Spiders of the worldBiology of spiders, Hillyard, The book of the spider, The common spiders of the United States, London E. Simon, Les arachnides de France.

    Having reached the back of the library, Deirdre walked over the bookshelf aligning the wall, and pulled out a book. "How to kill a Mockingbird.", The Fiddler read aloud. Disconcerted he turned to her. "A book? What does-"
    He hadn’t notice her pushing a button at the back of the shelf, when unexpectedly the whole wall slide open with an audible swoosh, to reveal…
    "My lab."

---

    Jerico's aim had been precise. The first bullet of his Colt had smashed the glass of the car's back window; the second shot hit Ludwig square in the back. That however had not hindered Fritz, who was sitting in the passenger seat, to take over the wheel and to push his dead companion out of the car.
    By the end of the corner, a couple of crates, filled with rotten fruit were stacked up high. Pushing with all his might, Jerico thrust over the boxes, so that they obliterated the narrow street.
    The Studebaker crashed into the crates and stalled there. Moldy apples rolled across the street and curious bystanders stopped to stare. Cursing in his native language, Fritz climbed out of the car. By the time he'd climbed over the obstacles, Jerico was out of sight.

Somewhere in the jungles of Brazil.

    It was Indy who had woken up first. His head felt like lead and he could feel a slight lump at the back. Micah and James were still lying unconsciously on the hard ground beside him. Where was Webley? In the dimness of the wooden shack he could barely make out his own hand.
    Instinct however told him that it was already night-time. Light flickered through the bamboo walls and he moved over to peek through the slits. He couldn't make out much but wild shadows and light from a fire.
    He searched his pockets for his knife, then realized that they had been emptied of its contents. Groping through the darkness, his hands found a short but thick enough stick, to pry open the bamboo a few inches.
    The flickering light of a huge bond fire danced across his eyes, as he observed the whole spectacle unfolding before him. Dozens of half-naked men in curious costumes were circling the fire doing a rather unorthodox worship dance. Their eerie chants filled the silence of the night with howls and incomprehensible utterances half-sung, half-wailed.
    "Aw… Doctor Jones. Where are we?" Micah had sitting up and holding his head.
    Indy hushed him and instructed him to wake James. "Take a look at this."
    The two students peered through the opening.
    "Those aren't cannibals, are they?" James inquired a bit alarmed.
    "I hope not." Indy replied. " They seem to be doing a sort of spiritualistic rite. Hm, see that man over there, painted in black?"
    "Yes, he's wearing a funny costume." Micah pointed at a native, who was dressed in an intricately designed outfit made of a hard yet light material, with eight divisions, that hung from his neck down to his ankles.
    "What does it remind you of?" the archeologist asked, slowly turning to them.
    The two students stared at each other and said in unison, "Spiders!"

    "I hope you are not afraid of spiders, Detective." The little Professor inquired. Her back to him, facing a metal door, she was searching in the pockets of her lab gown for her key.
    Gulping, he looked around at the hundreds of jars and glass stalls, crawling with all sorts of arachnida. He felt rather vulnerable in the white lab gown, Deirdre had given him as they had entered her hidden laboratory. Clearing his throat he answered her question, "Deathly afraid."
    "I had hoped you weren't. Spiders are very useful animals in our ecology, and most are quite harmless too." She had found her key and inserted in the lock of the door and pushed it open.
    "After you."
    "Wait. I'll switch on the lights."
    Sudden bright light blinded him for a minute, and as his eyes adjusted, he staggered back in shock. "That can't be real, can it?"
    "She's a beauty, isn't she?" A touch of misery belied her proud remark.
    Before them was the largest spider, the Fiddler had ever seen. He had no idea that miles away, an archeologist and his three pupils had just eliminated one of its first progeny.

    "I'm innocent. I swear."
    "Yeah sure." The Police detective Michealson circled Muppet's chair and gave him an exasperated look. "You mean to say, that you had absolutely nothing to do with the stabbing of Ulla our famous donut-maker, and two men in the ladies restroom; one dead and the other knocked totally unconscious with sever chest wounds, while you were not only in the vicinity when this happened but also had the victim’ s blood all over your suit and hands?"
    Somewhere in the back or the room, someone let out a snigger.
    The dapper Englishman turned a dark shade of red, “Oh bloody hell, I did not kill these people! Today was even the very first time I ever laid my eyes on them. Why would I even want to kill them?”
    “Good question,” Michealson replied, “but that still remains to be found out. For the mean time the question here is not why, but how and that you were able to do it. As we all are very much aware of Mr. Muppet, you are the prime suspect to this murder case. Numerous customers can testify to your having been seen leaving the main dining hall several times. On these occasions you had sufficient time to be able to go about your doings. Shot that man, then stabbed Ulla, placed the murder weapon in her bag, and the knife in the hands of this other man who probably caught you in the act and whom you had to eliminate too. Very wisely planned, and it would have worked, resulting in another unsolvable crime, if it hadn’t been due to the arrival of the policemen as you stepped out of the restroom.”
    Speechlessly, Muppet stared at the Police Detective. “I... I-“
    Michealson held up an outstretched hand, “Please spare me, I have had enough of mysterious crime for today.” He stomped over to the door, “ I’ll leave you with Sgt. Abramoff. He will interrogate you further and give you the details why you are not allowed to bail out. Oh and by the way, the car you claim to be yours… it’s a stolen car, but we’ll talk about that later. In the meantime you can perhaps think of an excusable reason for that too. Call your lawyer if you think that will help.”
---

    Goodsport and Indiana Riggs, ran up the stairs leading to the San Francisco Police Department and proceeded through the sliding doors. They almost collided with Michealson who was on his way out.
    “Goodsport! What the hell are you doing here?! When the Chief sees you around here--”
    “Mike, it’s okay. I’m here to report something. Where were you headed to, anyway?”
    “The docks, apparently there was some sort of explosion.”
    “Oh, that is what we are here for. “ Quickly Goodsport explained what had happened during the past few hours.
    Michealson motioned them to follow him, “ We’d better discuss this in my office.”

    Fritz checked Ludwig’s pulse again. His partner was dead. Damn that traitor!
    Returning to the corner, he surveyed the street. It being a weekend, the street was half-empty. The shots Jerico had had fired, had gone barely unnoticed on account of the dump truck which noisily had rattled by during that time.
    Where would they have gone?,he asked himself. He looked around the deserted neighborhood and suddenly he knew.
---

Megara cowered in the confession booth, afraid even to let out the faintest sound. Minutes past by without anything happening. Where was Jerico?

Just as she was about to bolt out of the booth, she heard the massive door of the church creak open. She drew in her breath in fear. Foosteps. Someone walked down the aisle and halted. Her heartbeat was racing so wildly, she feared that someone might hear it. The footsteps neared. One by one the other doors to the booth were pulled open. Preparing herself, she awaited whosoever was standing outside her door.
--

    The ramshackle door burst open and someone holding a torch strutted in.
    Indy squinted against the torch light, trying to make out who standing before them. Micah and James curiously watched on, as the native motioned with his hands for them to follow him.
    “Uh, we better do as he wants.” Indy said.
    They stood up and dusted off the grime on them.
    “ I wonder what he wants.” Micah whispered as they stepped outside.
    “Perhaps, they finally gonna get us dinner.”
    “Perhaps to have us for dinner.”
---

    He caught her wrist before she could hit him with her stiletto heel. “Megara!”
    “Jerico! Thank God you’re alive.”
    He grinned, “Prayed for me?”
    Light was filtering in through the stained glass and its reflection bounced off on marble floor. The setting was eerily still and mystic. A robed man came in from the scaristy to light a candle by the altar.
    “Where are those Germans?” Megara whispered as she pulled Jerico to one of the benches.
    “Fritz is still out there somewhere. He might find us any minute. Come on, we don’t have time.”
    Unexpectedly, the doors opened again and a couple of nuns entered the parish church. The sacristan greeted them merrily as they handed him some flowers and candles for the altar.
    “I might have an idea.” Meg whispered.

    “This not a good idea.” Tessa said as she climbed over the fence. Jayne was already on the other side taking in her surroundings.
    “Just shut will you? You’re slowly getting on my nerves.” A disgruntled Jayne answered, having had not enough sleep on the flight back to New York.
    “Listen to me, there are guards all around this place,” Tessa said, holding her companion back by her arm,” how do you expect to get to the main house?”
    Stealthily they ran under the snow covered trees which circled the frozen pond that wound its way through the gardens on the Campbell Grounds.
    Jayne ignored Tessa’s complaints and checked her gun securely holstered under her skirt.
    “I really got a bad feeling about this.”
    Tessa stopped short as a snarling dog blocked their way.
    “Good Doggie...”

---

    " So you mean to say that there are more of this… spider and that this is their mother?"
    "No and Yes." She answered the Fiddler. "Our experiment involved crossbreeding. Our use of hybridism, resulted in several varying offspring. Not all of them were alike, but yes, this is their original host mother."
    Bewildered, the detective walked around the specimen in the glass cage. "Where are these other offspring? Behind another metal door?"
    "No…" Deirdre glanced down at her hands," That is one of the first things I needed to tell you though, after I showed you Ina. You see our experimentation needed to be conducted in a suitable place, which had to be located in a research environment that had to conform to the habitat of the arachnida we were dealing with…."
    "In layman's terms, please?" Fiddler slowly asked, anticipating the worst. His instincts told him something was very wrong.
    Interminable time seemed to pass before she could answer him.
    "Brazil."

--
    “God bless you, son.”
    Entering the parish, Fritz examined the place carefully. A couple of women in habits and a priest were on their way out as he passed them. He nodded curtly, barely giving them notice. A lady was kneeling in the front pews. He quickly walked up to her and jerked her back by the shoulders.
    “Entschuldigung.” he pardoned himself as his eyes met those of a lady who was about twice the age of that Italian woman. Frantically, he scanned the room. The sacristy was empty too.
    However by the confession booth he found something lying on the ground. Picking it up he realized, that he had just missed them by minutes. He ran outside but it was too late. Flinging away the silver button of Meg’s blouse, he let out a bloodcurdling curse.
--

    Several blocks away in front of the Man in the Hat, a bar and restaurant, two people got off a horse-drawn carriage.
    “Grazie, sisters! You have no idea of what great help you have been.” Meg smiled and waved after them as they rode off again. She turned to face Jerico who was pulling off the white piece of paper from his collar. “Where to now father?”
    Jerico turned to her and, giving her that cheeky grin, he replied. "That depends on how much you trust me, Sister.."

---
    Goodsport, Indiana Riggs, Michealson and Short Round were sitting in the little office of the Chief of Police.
    “So chief, after we disposed of the bomb, we came right back here.” Goodsport ended his report.
    The man sitting behind the desk, looked at his former employee skeptically. “I see.”
    Michealson spoke up. “And we figured out the name of that asian woman too.” He said handing over a folder. The chief flicked it open to see a file on one of the wanted criminals on their list. “Jayne Jones. Also known as Indiana Jayne.”
    “You mean the woman who was involved in that scandal at that security agency Bill was covering?”
    Goodsport nodded. “She’d been charged with robbery and murder. Bill was on her tail, and almost got her. I remember him telling me that before the week was over, he’d have her traced. Well,” His voice faltered. “He never got to see the end of that week.”
    Michealson watched the P.I. hold back his rage. Bill had been Goody’s best friend and yet he had also been the one to betray him. That very week, had been the time, when he had come home to find Bill in bed with his wife, Dorothy. Goodsport would have shot them himself, Michealson mused, hadn’t they been dead already. The house had been ransacked too. Apparently a couple of burglars had come in, found the couple in the bedroom and shot them. Bad Timing Goodsport had been working on a case in another city at that time, and when he discovered that his wife had not only had an affair behind his back, but was also dead, he nearly went out of his mind. The chief detective and everyone else in the office realized that ever since that day, Goodsport had never been the same.

---

Indiana Jones, Micah and James pushed aside the beads that covered the entrance of one of the larger huts. It was richly decorated with rugs, beaded curtains, colorful cloths and intricately hand carved wooden statues. Whoever occupied this dwelling was someone of higher status among the natives.
The man who had lead them there pointed at some hand woven carpets on the floor. When at first they didn’t understand, the half-naked man sat down on the carpets and motioned them to do the same.

“What now?”
“Beats me.”

They had just spoken when someone walked through the entrance and greeted them in perfect American English, “Welcome. I hope I have not kept you waiting for too long.”

In astonishment, Indy stared at the man, whom he could barely recognize under that beard, but it was no one else but ... his long lost colleague.

---

End of Chapter 9. Who is next?

Follow Ups:

The chapter was just perfect, except for one tiny thing... the Fiddler 18:26:19 3/17/2000 (3)
- Oh, and BTW Deidre: the Fiddler 18:28:26 3/17/2000 (2)
  - Merci. Deirdre 02:18:27 3/20/2000 (1)
    - Re: Merci. the Fiddler 18:48:46 3/20/2000 (0)
I'll take Chapter 10, and I believe that Indiana Jayne has Chapter 11... Goodsport 09:43:49 3/17/2000 (2)
- No prob! (nm) Indiana Jayne 08:12:36 3/18/2000 (0)
- Ok! DC 16:19:06 3/17/2000 (0)

Post a Followup:

Name:    
E-Mail:  
Subject: 
Comments:

: <html>
: 
: Here it is! *tah-dah* The long-awaited, much discussed, controversial sequel : Chapter 9!

: Hopefully this'll meet your needs for more Indyfanfic.  It's quite long (again?); 10 Pages in print (font size 12), and has 24,294 Characters (with spaces), so it'll be worth the looong arduous indyless wait.

: After this I am taking a break (for the weekend). It's 9:30pm here now, and in 6 hours I have to be up to climb a mountain. Literally. The Department of Enviromental Revenue is sponsoring a trek to the historical site, <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/3712/bernadc.html">Mt. MANUNG-GAL</A> and of course, I'm taking up on that offer. Jerico, you're invited. Wanna come along? If not, may I borrow your walkman? 
: I'll be back on Monday (if I make it back alive), to see if there have been violent reactions and recommendations which is compusory on this chapter. [eg."What happened to...?" ; "how dare you leave me out!", "what...what?","how...?"; "why did..." and my fave: "The chapter was just perfect, except for one tiny thing"] Can't hardly wait!
:

: <center>Wish me LUCK!
: Deirdre Campbell
: 
:

: 
: ----

: Serendipity
: by Deirdre Campbell</center>

: <center>San Francisco
: </center>

:     "Nothing!" Meg spat derisively and struggled against the tight ropes that bound her to the chair, "And even if I did know anything about this Golden Spider, you would be the last to know!"

:     Disdainfully, Fritz squinted his eyes and raised his hand.  He slapped her forcefully across the face.  The sound of it echoed through the tiny space of the shabby two-story building.  The shutters had been drawn and a low lamp hung from the ceiling, partly illuminating the faces of the four people present.

:     "That'll be enough." Jerico deterred as he stood up from his chair and pulled back the German by his shoulder.  He'd been watching their fruitless interrogation counterparted by her stoical stubbornness going on for too long. "I'll take it from here." He motioned the others to leave.

:     "Well be back in a couple of minutes. If she hasn't sung until then," Ludwig reminded him before he shut the door and gave him a knowing look, "you know what to do."
: 	
: --
: <center>
: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
: <img src="http://brazilonline.com/candidoneto/jau.gif">
: </center>

: 
:      "Smack Brett?" Micah guffawed and slapped his leg in amusement.  He visibly remembered James' older brother, from more than one occasion, and this idea clearly didn't agree with him. "Pretty sure he won't appreciate that very much."

:     James rolled his eyes, "I was kidding, Micah! Don't take everything so literally."

:     "Okay kids," Indy interrupted their bickering, "We'd better get back to our camp. It's gonna be nightfall soon and I don't think any of us would like to spend it here." With a shudder, he glanced at the dead spider lying on the ground. Who knows how many more of these lurk here?

:     They had just picked up Webley whey the darts started to fly again.  It were the same ones which had killed their guide Carlos.

: ---

:     His knife deftly cut her loose from the ropes.  She rubbed her hands as the blood came rushing back to her veins. 	
:     Suddenly, they heard the sound of the Studebaker being started.

: <img border="0" src="http://stude.com/63Hawka.jpg" align=bottom>
: Taking a peek through the shutters, he watched the car drive away. </img>
:     "They're leaving. We’d better get out of here.”

:     "You're helping me escape." It was more of a baffled statement than a question.

:     He met her gape and nodded.  “You’re ready?”

:     She nodded, ignoring the prickling sensation in her wrists. "Y-yes of course."

:     Furtively they descended downstairs. The house was empty. They must have taken Aragorn with them, Jerico thought. He opened the backdoor that lead to a narrow alley, one way leading to a dead end the other back to the main road. "This way, we'd have to hurry though, I have no idea when they'll be back."
:     They had just reached the corner, when they came face to face with the Studebaker.

:     "I knew we couldn't trust that slit-eye!" Fritz roared scornfully and purposefully drove the car towards the startled couple.

: --
:      "Duck!" Indy shouted.  
:     The darts flew all around, missing them by inches.  Crawling behind a fallen dead tree trunk, they sought cover. 
:     All of a sudden the attack stopped and the forest grew still again.
:     Warily, they glanced about.  They however did not notice the bushes behind them part, as barely audible footsteps closed in.  Without warning they were knocked out.
:     Before he could lose consciousness, Indy was able to see several dark-skinned and bare feet standing on the ground before him. Then everything went pitch-black.
: _

:      "Welcome back."
:     Slowly her eyes adjusted to the light, and she groaned as she saw Fiddler sitting on her bedside.
:      "Was that groan meant for me or does your head hurt?"
:     Wrinkling her brows she scrunch up her eyes at him, "Both. 
:     He smiled inspite himself. "Want me to call the doc-"
:      "No, it…it's alright. I'll be fine.  Thank you." She looked at him thoughtfully. "I should also thank you for saving my life, Detective."
:     "Yeah, whatever."
:     Noticing his discomfort, she changed the topic. "What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be with the other cops or detectives, investigating?"
:     "Well, first of all I am watching you.  Who hired those assassins might want to look for you in your own house. As for the investigation, that's why I am here.  You slept longer than you thought, Deirdre.  In those hours of your unconscious state of mind, as I might like to put it, we've examined the evidence, or what was left of it and … you still with me?"
:     She nodded dazed.
:     "And found out that the two men are not unrelated to those who did the Murray bomb attack.  We located two unutilized bombs in the backseat. They were of the same kind, you mentioned to me yesterday."
:     "I see." 
:     "We are still waiting for the testament of one of the assassins.  Unfortunately he is still unconscious and in medical treatment, after that car crash and the gun wounds." He didn't mention the death of the other gunman.  Too many people had died in her vicinity since yesterday.  Even he found all this hostility startling as well as puzzling.  But to him it was just a job, nothing more.
:     "Deirdre, tell me," he asked not taking his eyes off her, " Of what significance is this project of yours?  What effect does it have on our society?  What great mystery lies behind all this?  To properly investigate this case I need to know the whole truth.
:     Her eyes were half-closed and she seemed like she hadn't been listening to him at all.
:     "Detective, there is something I need to show you something, before I answer all your questions."

: ---

: 
:     Jerico grabbed Meg's hand and pulled her to the side just as they Studebaker shot past them, almost crushing them into the brick wall.  A few minutes away, the car squealed to a halt and started to reverse in the one-way alley.
:    
: "Megara, run as fast as you can to that chapel! You hear me?"
:    
: "A-and you?" she eyed him apprehensively.
:    
: "Don't worry. Now GO!"

: <img border="0" src="http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~sjames/medieval/sompting/photos/msouth.jpg " width="167" height="136" align=bottom> Hesitantly at first, then nimbly, and as fast as her high-heels could carry her, she ran up the steep hill towards the sanctity of the little church. Daring a glance over her shoulder she saw Jerico draw his gun from the inside of his overcoat, and take aim.</img>

: --

:     "Hold your fire!"
:     Muppet had just stepped out of the ladies room when he came face to face with a mixed crowd of  appalled restaurant personnel and curious customers.  The police, who had just arrived, was inspecting the body of a profusely bleeding woman lying on the floor of the foyer area. Ulla, he realized with a shock.  Two other policemen were pointing their guns at Muppet, whose wrinkled and torn white suit was soiled with the splattered blood from the brute Ulla had shot down a while ago.

: --
:     "Show me what?" The Fiddler repeated as he followed her down the marble staircase, which wound down to the main hall. She gestured him to follow her as she pushed open the huge oak door leading to the house library.  The room was huge; walls lined ceiling-high with bookcases that were crammed in with countless books.  The detective took a look at some of the authors and titles of the books,as they passed several shelves.

:     W. van Katwijk, Spinnen van Nederland, D. Jones, Spinnen, R & K Preston-Mafham, Spiders of the world</b, R.F. Foelix, Biology of spiders, Hillyard, The book of the spider, The common spiders of the United States, London E. Simon, Les arachnides de France.

:     Having reached the back of the library, Deirdre walked over the bookshelf aligning the wall, and pulled out a book. "How to kill a Mockingbird.", The Fiddler read aloud. Disconcerted he turned to her. "A book? What does-" 
:     He hadn’t notice her pushing a button at the back of the shelf, when unexpectedly the whole wall slide open with an audible swoosh, to reveal… 
:     "My lab."

: ---

:     Jerico's aim had been precise. The first bullet of his Colt had smashed the glass of the car's back window; the second shot hit Ludwig square in the back. That however had not hindered Fritz, who was sitting in the passenger seat, to take over the wheel and to push his dead companion out of the car.
:     By the end of the corner, a couple of crates, filled with rotten fruit were stacked up high.  Pushing with all his might, Jerico thrust over the boxes, so that they obliterated the narrow street.
:     The Studebaker crashed into the crates and stalled there. Moldy apples rolled across the street and curious bystanders stopped to stare.  Cursing in his native language, Fritz climbed out of the car.  By the time he'd climbed over the obstacles, Jerico was out of sight.

: --
: <center>
: <img src="http://brazilonline.com/candidoneto/rioc.gif"
: 
: Somewhere in the jungles of Brazil.
: </center>

:     It was Indy who had woken up first. His head felt like lead and he could feel a slight lump at the back. Micah and James were still lying unconsciously on the hard ground beside him. Where was Webley? In the dimness of the wooden shack he could barely make out his own hand. 
:     Instinct however told him that it was already night-time. Light flickered through the bamboo walls and he moved over to peek through the slits. He couldn't make out much but wild shadows and light from a fire.
:     He searched his pockets for his knife, then realized that they had been emptied of its contents. Groping through the darkness, his hands found a short but thick enough stick, to pry open the bamboo a few inches. 
:     The flickering light of a huge bond fire danced across his eyes, as he observed the whole spectacle unfolding before him. Dozens of half-naked men in curious costumes were circling the fire doing a rather unorthodox worship dance. Their eerie chants filled the silence of the night with howls and incomprehensible utterances half-sung, half-wailed.
:     "Aw… Doctor Jones. Where are we?" Micah had sitting up and holding his head. 
:     Indy hushed him and instructed him to wake James. "Take a look at this."
:     The two students peered through the opening.
:     "Those aren't cannibals, are they?" James inquired a bit alarmed.
:     "I hope not." Indy replied. " They seem to be doing a sort of spiritualistic rite. Hm, see that man over there, painted in black?"
:     "Yes, he's wearing a funny costume." Micah pointed at a native, who was dressed in an intricately designed outfit made of a hard yet light material, with eight divisions, that hung from his neck down to his ankles.
:     "What does it remind you of?" the archeologist asked, slowly turning to them.
:     The two students stared at each other and said in unison, "Spiders!"

: --

:     "I hope you are not afraid of spiders, Detective." The little Professor inquired.  Her back to him, facing a metal door, she was searching in the pockets of her lab gown for her key.  
:     Gulping, he looked around at the hundreds of jars and glass stalls, crawling with all sorts of arachnida. He felt rather vulnerable in the white lab gown, Deirdre had given him as they had entered her hidden laboratory.  Clearing his throat he answered her question, "Deathly afraid."
:      "I had hoped you weren't.  Spiders are very useful animals in our ecology, and most are quite harmless too." She had found her key and inserted in the lock of the door and pushed it open.
:     "After you."
:     "Wait.  I'll switch on the lights." 
:      Sudden bright light blinded him for a minute, and as his eyes adjusted, he staggered back in shock. "That can't be real, can it?"
:     "She's a beauty, isn't she?" A touch of misery belied her proud remark. 
:     Before them was the largest spider, the Fiddler had ever seen.  He had no idea that miles away, an archeologist and his three pupils had just eliminated one of its first progeny.

: --

: 
:     "I'm innocent. I swear."
:     "Yeah sure." The Police detective Michealson circled Muppet's chair and gave him an exasperated look. "You mean to say, that you had absolutely nothing to do with the stabbing of Ulla our famous donut-maker, and two men in the ladies restroom; one dead and the other knocked totally unconscious with sever chest wounds, while you were not only in the vicinity when this happened but also had the victim’ s blood all over your suit and hands?"
:     Somewhere in the back or the room, someone let out a snigger.
:     The dapper Englishman turned a dark shade of red, “Oh bloody hell, I did not kill these people! Today was even the very first time I ever laid my eyes on them. Why would I even want to kill them?”
:     “Good question,” Michealson replied, “but that still remains to be found out. For the mean time the question here is not why, but how and that you were able to do it. As we all are very much aware of Mr. Muppet, you are the prime suspect to this murder case. Numerous customers can testify to your having been seen leaving the main dining hall several times. On these occasions you had sufficient time to be able to go about your doings. Shot that man, then stabbed Ulla, placed the murder weapon in her bag, and the knife in the hands of this other man who probably caught you in the act and whom you had to eliminate too. Very wisely planned, and it would have worked, resulting in another unsolvable crime, if it hadn’t been due to the arrival of the policemen as you stepped out of the restroom.”
:     Speechlessly, Muppet stared at the Police Detective. “I... I-“
:     Michealson held up an outstretched hand, “Please spare me, I have had enough of mysterious crime for today.” He stomped over to the door, “ I’ll leave you with Sgt. Abramoff. He will interrogate you further and give you the details why you are not allowed to bail out. Oh and by the way, the car you claim to be yours… it’s a stolen car, but we’ll talk about that later. In the meantime you can perhaps think of an excusable reason for that too. Call your lawyer if you think that will help.”
: ---

:     Goodsport and Indiana Riggs, ran up the stairs leading to the San  Francisco Police Department and proceeded through the sliding doors.  They almost collided with Michealson who was on his way out.
:      “Goodsport! What the hell are you doing here?! When the Chief sees you around here--” 
:      “Mike, it’s okay. I’m here to report something.  Where were you headed to, anyway?”
:      “The docks, apparently there was some sort of explosion.”
:      “Oh, that is what we are here for. “ Quickly Goodsport explained what had happened during the past few hours. 
:      Michealson motioned them to follow him, “ We’d better discuss this in my office.”

: --

:     Fritz checked Ludwig’s pulse again. His partner was dead. Damn that traitor!
: 	    Returning to the corner, he surveyed the street. It being a weekend, the street was half-empty. The shots Jerico had had fired, had gone barely unnoticed on account of the dump truck which noisily had rattled by during that time.
: 	    Where would they have gone?,he asked himself. He looked around the deserted neighborhood and suddenly he knew.
: ---

: 
: <img border="0" src="http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~sjames/medieval/brixwort/photos/naves.jpg " width="136" height="167" align=bottom> Megara cowered in the confession booth, afraid even to let out the faintest sound.</img> Minutes past by without anything happening. Where was Jerico? 
:    
:     Just as she was about to bolt out of the booth, she heard the massive door of the church creak open. She drew in her breath in fear. Foosteps. Someone walked down the aisle and halted. Her heartbeat was racing so wildly, she feared that someone might hear it. The footsteps neared. One by one the other doors to the booth were pulled open. Preparing herself, she awaited whosoever was standing outside her door.
: --

:     The ramshackle door burst open and someone holding a torch strutted in.
:     Indy squinted against the torch light, trying to make out who standing before them. Micah and James curiously watched on, as the native motioned with his hands for them to follow him.
:     “Uh, we better do as he wants.” Indy said. 
:     They stood up and dusted off the grime on them. 
:     “ I wonder what he wants.” Micah whispered as they stepped outside.
:     “Perhaps, they finally gonna get us dinner.”
:     “Perhaps to have us for dinner.” 
: ---

:     He caught her wrist before she could hit him with her stiletto heel. “Megara!”
:     “Jerico! Thank God you’re alive.”
:     He grinned, “Prayed for me?” 
:      Light was filtering in through the stained glass and its reflection bounced off on marble floor. The setting was eerily still and mystic.  A robed man came in from the scaristy to light a candle by the altar.
:     “Where are those Germans?” Megara whispered as she pulled Jerico to one of the benches.
:     “Fritz is still out there somewhere.  He might find us any minute. Come on, we don’t have time.”
:     Unexpectedly, the doors opened again and a couple of nuns entered the parish church.  The sacristan greeted them merrily as they handed him some flowers and candles for the altar.
:     “I might have an idea.” Meg whispered.

: --

:     “This not a good idea.”  Tessa said as she climbed over the fence. Jayne was already on the other side taking in her surroundings. 
:     “Just shut will you?  You’re slowly getting on my nerves.” A disgruntled Jayne answered, having had not enough sleep on the flight back to New York.
:      “Listen to me, there are guards all around this place,” Tessa said, holding her companion back by her arm,” how do you expect to get to the main house?” 
:     Stealthily they ran under the snow covered trees which circled the frozen pond that wound its way through the gardens on the  Campbell Grounds.
:     Jayne ignored Tessa’s complaints and checked her gun securely holstered under her skirt. 
:     “I really got a bad feeling about this.” 
:     Tessa stopped short as a snarling dog blocked their way. 
:     “Good Doggie...”

: ---

:     " So you mean to say that there are more of this… spider and that this is their mother?" 
:     "No and Yes." She answered the Fiddler. "Our experiment involved crossbreeding. Our use of hybridism, resulted in several varying offspring. Not all of them were alike, but yes, this is their original host mother."
:     Bewildered, the detective walked around the specimen in the glass cage. "Where are these other offspring? Behind another metal door?"
:     "No…" Deirdre glanced down at her hands," That is one of the first things I needed to tell you though, after I showed you Ina. You see our experimentation needed to be conducted in a suitable place, which had to be located in a research environment that had to conform to the habitat of the arachnida we were dealing with…."
:     "In layman's terms, please?" Fiddler slowly asked, anticipating the worst. His instincts told him something was very wrong. 
:     Interminable time seemed to pass before she could answer him.
:     "Brazil."

: --
:     “God bless you, son.” 
:     Entering the parish, Fritz examined the place carefully. A couple of women in habits and a priest were on their way out as he passed them. He nodded curtly, barely giving them notice. A lady was kneeling in the front pews. He quickly walked up to her and jerked her back by the shoulders. 
:     “Entschuldigung.” he pardoned himself as his eyes met those of a lady who was about twice the age of that Italian woman. Frantically, he scanned the room. The sacristy was empty too.
:     However by the confession booth he found something lying on the ground. Picking it up he realized, that he had just missed them by minutes. He ran outside but it was too late. Flinging away the silver button of Meg’s blouse, he let out a bloodcurdling curse.
: --

:     Several blocks away in front of the Man in the Hat, a bar and restaurant, two people got off a horse-drawn carriage.
:     “Grazie, sisters! You have no idea of what great help you have been.” Meg smiled and waved after them as they rode off again. She turned to face Jerico who was pulling off the white piece of paper from his collar. “Where to now father?”
:     Jerico turned to her and, giving her that cheeky grin, he replied. "That depends on how much you trust me, Sister.."

: ---
:     Goodsport, Indiana Riggs, Michealson and Short Round were sitting in the little office of the Chief of Police. 
:     “So chief, after we disposed of the bomb, we came right back here.” Goodsport ended his report.
:     The man sitting behind the desk, looked at his former employee skeptically. “I see.”
:     Michealson spoke up. “And we figured out the name of that asian woman too.” He said handing over a folder. The chief flicked it open to see a file on one of the wanted criminals on their list. “Jayne Jones. Also known as Indiana Jayne.”
:     “You mean the woman who was involved in that scandal at that security agency Bill was covering?”
:     Goodsport nodded. “She’d been charged with robbery and murder. Bill was on her tail, and almost got her. I remember him telling me that before the week was over, he’d have her traced. Well,” His voice faltered. “He never got to see the end of that week.” 
:     Michealson watched the P.I. hold back his rage. Bill had been Goody’s best friend and yet he had also been the one to betray him. That very week, had been the time, when he had come home to find Bill in bed with his wife, Dorothy. Goodsport would have shot them himself, Michealson mused, hadn’t they been dead already. The house had been ransacked too. Apparently a couple of burglars had come in, found the couple in the bedroom and shot them. Bad Timing Goodsport had been working on a case in another city at that time, and when he discovered that his wife had not only had an affair behind his back, but was also dead, he nearly went out of his mind. The chief detective and everyone else in the office realized that ever since that day, Goodsport had never been the same.

: ---

:     Indiana Jones, Micah and James pushed aside the beads that covered the entrance of one of the larger huts. It was richly decorated with rugs, beaded curtains, colorful cloths and intricately hand carved wooden statues.  Whoever occupied this dwelling was someone of higher status among the natives.
:     The man who had lead them there pointed at some hand woven carpets on the floor.  When at first they didn’t understand, the half-naked man sat down on the carpets and motioned them to do the same.

:     “What now?”
:     “Beats me.”

:      They had just spoken when someone walked through the entrance and greeted them in perfect American English, “Welcome.  I hope I have not kept you waiting for too long.”

:     In astonishment, Indy stared at the man, whom he could barely recognize under that beard, but it was no one else but ... his long lost colleague.

: ---

: End of Chapter 9.  Who is next?

Optional:

Link URL:   
Link Title: 
Image URL:

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Indyfan Forum ] [ FAQ ]