Chapters 4-5 of Indiana Jones and the Black Book

Posted by Goodsport from adsl-216-102-199-185.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net on July 26, 2000 at 02:09:11:

Chapter 4

    Indy was on his second cup of coffee when he heard the morning paper skid across his front porch and bang against the screen door. Indy quickly retrieved the paper and spread it across his lap. He scanned it page by page, searching for the promised advertisement for Morgan's shop. He finally found it buried in the back section among the slower news stories. Stories like Britain's newest proposed contribution to passenger air travel, the four jet-engine "deHavilland Comet" airliner, proported to be the fastest passenger plane yet, as well as the unfolding story of the Chinese Communist's successful progression across China, replacing Chiang Kai-Shek's democratic regime with Mao Tze-Tung's "New Chinese People's Republic".

    Bracketed between the two stories, Indy found the small advertisement.

    In large block print, Indy read "Morgan's Jewelers announces a special, today only! Bring in One watch for cleaning, and today only the service will be performed for Five dollars! That's right, ONE watch, FIVE dollars, ONE day only! Owner must bring in the watch in person, sale only at store between 5 and 6 p.m. tonight!"

    Indy re-read the ad, then underlined the capitalized words ONE-FIVE-ONE. No address given. "'Owner must come in person between five and six that evening'. Something must have happened to make them want him to come directly to the shop." Indy pulled out his watch, looked at his reflection in its dust cover and said aloud, "Well, old friend...I guess you're due for a cleaning!"

    The courthouse clock was striking the fifth toll of the hour of five when Indy entered the jewelry store. Morgan was not present, but a young woman was behind the counter, flashing a welcoming smile. Indy wondered how open she flashed the fake toothy grin at potential buyers who entered the store.

    "Good evening, sir. How may I assist you?"

    Indy pulled out the ad and his watch from his pocket.

    "I'm here regarding this ad and the watch service. Specifically, the 'one-five-one' offer today between five and six?"

    The girl's smile disappeared.

    "Please wait here."

    She turned and disappeared behind a curtain in the corner of the room. Indy could hear hushed discussion; when the curtains again parted, it was Morgan who entered the room.

    "Dr. Jones, I am very pleased you accepted the invitation!"

    "I though you were going to supply an address? You could have just told me last night to meet you here," said Indy.

    "Well, things have changed to a degree. Please, follow me," replied Morgan.

    Holding the curtains apart, Morgan lead Indy to the back area of the shop. Indy passed three watchmakers staring intently through their eye loops at the inner workings of timepieces. After walking through several dark hallways full of file cabinets, Morgan stopped and opened a door that appeared to lead down to a basement area.

    "After you, Dr. Jones."

    "No, I insist… you go first," replied Indy.

    Morgan smiled. "Ah, a cautious man. Very good. You're making yourself more valuable by the minute, Dr. Jones!"

    Morgan turned on the lights, then walked ahead of Indy down the steps. After passing through another door, they entered a small room. Out of habit, Indy quickly side-stepped to the right after entering the door to avoid any possible projectile that may head his way, be it lead, edged weapon or thrown fist.

    "I can assure you, Dr. Jones, you are of great importance to us. The last thing we need now is to have any harm come your way at this time," Morgan said.

    "My trust is earned, Morgan," Indy responded, standing still and allowing his eyes to adjust to the dimly lit room. The room was approximately 10 X 15 feet, sparsely furnished with only one long table and thirteen high-backed chairs. A pentagon was roughly drawn in the center of the table, and one bare light bulb hung by its wire from the ceiling. The walls and inner doors were painted black, making the room appear smaller than it actually was.

    "Dr. Jones, you'll find a chair behind you in the corner. Please have a seat and I'll see if the others have arrived."

    Indy remained standing and watched Morgan walk to the opposite end of the room, open another door and step outside. With the door opened wide, he could hear muffled conversation. Eleven individuals entered the room wearing black hooded robes, the same as the girl had been wearing that evening in the library. They stood behind their chairs without saying a word. Morgan entered the room wearing the same robe, and was pushing a wheelchair that held an elderly man who sat upright in a strapped position. He appeared to be short in stature, but was also apparently well fed, as the chair seemed to emit groans in its efforts to support the man's great girth. Morgan pushed the man to the head of the table, then took his seat to the man's right.

    The eleven all watched the elderly man's entrance, and once he was in position, all turned as one to look at Indy.

    The silence of the room could have been that of a tomb's. The elderly man gazed up at Indy through pale, watery blue eyes. A gravely voice now came from this hulk of a man, startling Indy.

    "You are no doubt wondering what we are all about, sir!" he growled.

    Indy shook his head affirmatively.

    "We term ourselves as a coven, as we are indeed the descendents of those generations before us who escaped the brutality and injustice of the Spanish Inquisition. Any group who did not agree to participate or adhere in the politically correct nature of man at his worship at that time was tortured and killed horribly by the hand of the Inquisitors. There were, indeed, those of a sect that had gone too far in their search for the 'Dark One'. From what we know through oral tradition, they had delved too deeply into the black arts and had discovered the source that can free that evil force upon mankind. Man, in his piddling efforts to control this new, so called 'atomic age', has absolutely no concept as to what mindless, unstoppable force true evil can be if released! The Court of the Inquisition knew this. They did not know who the members of this dark cult was, and therefore believed that a bonfire of all participants who were non-believers would purge this evil from mankind. Innocents and tainted alike were thrown into their pious inferno to rid the world of this dangerous knowledge."

    The wheelchair-bound man seemed to rise up in his seat with the telling of this story, his eyes shining, his voice rising and lowering with each utterance. He continued...

    "As the fire was growing closer to the guilty, a plan was made to secure by scribe the incantations and evil black words and works that would free the black on the earth. The scribes broke the formula into five pieces, a puzzle. Five books were produced, then given to five separate groups of the sect to carry away from the slaughter and to safety, to be re-assembled at a later date. Those of our sects that knew of this plan tried to stop the books from being created and distributed, but it was too late. The dark sects and books escaped. We gathered together the survivors of our sects and swore an eternal oath to stop the re-assembly of the five texts. We are the 'Watchers', the guardians of the books. We are not allowed to destroy the works, as they are indeed still the most powerful study of the ancient arts that have ever been produced by our groups. We can stop their rediscovery and the possibility of allowing the final release of the Dark One!"

    The final sentence seemed to sap the strength from the man, and he sagged back into his chair. Morgan turned to Indy and said, "Ask what questions you may have and we'll answer if we can."

    Indy looked down the table at the hooded specters, then asked, "Am I then to understand that I have discovered one of the five texts?"

    "Yes."

    "Why haven't you just seized the books and hidden them from the others?"

    "We are denied direct power of absolute possession by decree of the ancients, and other reasons as well that we can not share with a non-believer," replied Morgan.

    "So why do you need me?"

    "The key to the ancient codes and languages died with the ancients, as were held by the dark sect. We have had no way to confirm or renounce the true nature of the volume on our watch. It was my grandfather who donated the book to the college library in the hope that that someday someone would rediscover the key and confirm the texts."

    "That was a pretty risky idea, wasn't it?' asked Indy. "Anyone could have just walked away with it."

    "No, we have always had a watcher over the book at all times, day or night."

    "How has that been possible?" asked Indy.

    Morgan gave a knowing smile, and no reply.

    "So, I ask again, what are you wanting from me?"

    "Dr. Jones, it's imperative that we discover and confirm the authenticity of the other four books, as well as our own volume. Only you, with your knowledge, may have found the key to perform that test," replied Morgan.

    Indy thought of Michaelson's current involvement, but said nothing to the group.

    Indy began to pace back and forth, considering the request. At last he stopped and turned back to the group who had been watching his pacing with no comment.

    "First, if I decide to help, how will this be funded?"

    "You have full funding for any and all ventures, no matter where it leads you. We have many powerful and influential members," said Morgan.

    "Secondly, where do I start? Do you have a clue as to the location of the other books?"

    "Only one, besides the book on our own watch. It is located somewhere in London."

    "Very well, I would like to sleep on this. I want to consider what you've told me tonight and decide whether or not I want to be involved any further that I already am."

    The elder sat up and pointed a pudgy finger at Indy.

    "Do not sleep too long on this, my young friend. We have already heard of the disappearance of your notes from a box that contained our Black Book. You may have already handed the code key to the members of the Dark Sect, allowing them to find and use the other four books! If this is the case, you will have been personally instrumental in opening the door to the destruction of all mankind!"

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Chapter 5

    The elder's explosive outburst seemed to take the last bit of his strength as he immediately slumped back into his wheelchair, exhausted. Indy stood quietly for a moment, oblivious to the thirteen sets of eyes that now stared at him. He raised his head and looked around the room. Reaching back to the corner chair that Morgan had previously offered, he pulled both it and himself up to the end of the table, opposite of the elder, and sat down.

    Folding his hands in front of him, he once again sat quietly in thought. After a few moments raised his head and spoke.

    "I now realize the heavy responsibility that you and your ancestors have carried all these years. It's important for me to totally understand as much as you'll be willing to reveal to me in exactly what I would be facing if I do decide to continue. To begin with, can I assume that you are the leader of the group, sir?"

    The old man to whom the question had been addressed did not move or reply, but sat staring at the table top in front of him. The hooded member that sat to his immediate left placed a hand softly upon his shoulder, then rose and removed the hood. It was Morgan's wife, Ann.

    "Dr. Jones, my father is the last living member of the coven's last generation of 'watchers'," she said, "I am now the new leader and spiritual guide of our coven."

    Indy nodded, and she continued.

    "Our oral tradition has strong roots, and yet we're discovering that in the re-telling of this history, many specific facts have been lost regarding the five books. We know of their existence, but no single coven knows the whereabouts of more than two at any given time. The two we know of are our own and the one in London. Those in London know of theirs and another, but not of ours. The Dark Sect has been kept at bay so far as they have never been able to discern the exact locations from any single source, nor the key codes that must be used to translate the texts. They also know that no amount of threat of harm or death will cause any of us to divulge any of the information regarding the books that we know about. Much of this you have been told. It has also been known that the Dark Sect has been waiting for a sign from the evil unknown that will tell them when it is time to seek the five books and begin the final work in earnest, the re-assembly of the evil work begun so many centuries ago."

    She paused for a moment, then continued.

    "Dr. Jones, the recent war and its unspeakable horrors appeared to them to be the beginning of that very sign. When the atomic devices were dropped over Japan, they knew that such power, in the hands of only a few, was the absolute sign they were foretold to watch for. They knew that man had thrown away all vestures of common sense and decency, and started down the road to their own self-destruction if not kept in check. What better world to bring the evil one into than this?"

    Her eyes flashed with the same zeal as demonstrated by her father a few minutes before.

    Ann sat down, looked around the room, and each hooded individual nodded a slow agreement. Ann turned to her father, who had recovered somewhat and had also nodded an affirmative.

    "Dr. Jones, we are asking you to find the remaining books, physically determine that they are the authentic items, and to destroy them if possible."

    "But I'm a scientist!" exclaimed Indy. "It's my job to find the keys to historical mysteries, not to destroy them!"

    "You must, Dr. Jones, or the world will be facing the end of life as we know it. It's as simple as that."

    "Is this in agreement with the other covens?"

    "We'll try to get the word out, but I'm afraid this is a problem that you'll have to face, as each group is slowly coming to the same conclusion that we have," she replied. "It's just guess work on our part that all five covens have reached it at the same time."

    Indy sat still, digesting this latest information.

    At last he rose from the table and said, "I still want time to consider. I'll contact Morgan in the morning and tell him my decision. The easiest road for me to take would be to destroy the work I've done to date and forget the entire thing, but too many people are now involved and know that I've translated as much as I have, so that avenue is now out. I'll be in touch."

    Morgan walked Indy to the front door of the shop.

    "Please give this serious consideration. Oh, and your watch will be ready when you come by in the morning."

    Morgan then closed and locked the door.

    When Indy walked into his apartment, the phone was ringing impatiently.

    "Indy, it's Steve. You really need to get over here now. I've discovered something you have to see...UHHH..."

    Indy heard a crash and a heavy thud on the line.

    "Steve?! What happened!"

    The phone line went dead.

    Indy ran out the door, heading toward campus.

    It took him ten minutes to run the distance from his front room to Michaelson's building. He ran toward the open door of Steve's office and found a campus security guard crouched over a motionless body lying by the desk.

    "Is he dead?" asked Indy.

    "Can't tell. No, he's breathing, but there sure is a lot of blood on his head. I've called the cops and an ambulance."

    "Hang on Steve," Indy said softy to his gravely injured friend.

    As the ambulance pulled away with Michaelson, Indy stood answering the usual answer that the detective was asking. No, he didn't know of any enemies that Michaelson might have had. No, he was across campus on the phone when Steve called. No, he couldn't see anything missing, though his eyes darted over to the desk and noticed that all of Steve's notes, along with the book, were now missing.

    Early the next morning, Joe Morgan sleepily answered his phone.

    "Yes, Morgan speaking."

    "Indiana Jones here. I'll meet you at your shop in an hour. I'll need a couple more details and a plane ticket. I'm going to find those books and the bastards that are after them!"

    Morgan hung up his phone, a thin smile appearing on his lips.

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Michaelson, we are anxiously awaiting your Chapter 6! :)

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