Indiana Jones & The Curse of Rhan - Chapter 12 [New]

[ Reply ] [ The Indyfan Fan Fiction Forum ]

Posted by Muppet from modem7.langly.kingston-internet.net on August 23, 1999 at 13:16:29:

===================================
Chapter Twelve: Paris, France, 1956
===================================

“It’s almost disappointing”

“What is?” asked Dr. Jerome. He and Louis Belloq were talking at one end of the main room in Jerome’s apartment. A large table separated them from Kas and Indiana Jones. Kas was standing behind Indy; who was tied to a chair.

“The chase is over. I had hoped that Dr. Jones would prove a challenging adversary. I am very disappointed in you,” Louis said in a patronising tone of voice, looking at Indy. “You are like the fox being chased by the hounds - always being hunted and always caught, torn to shreds”

Indy laughed. “You’re just like your father”

“Why thank you, Dr. Jones”

“He was an idiot too”

Kas stormed over to where Indy had been tied up and hit him hard in the face. Kas looked at Louis, who grinned. “You should watch what you say, Dr. Jones - it’s hard to control Kas at times”

The Jewel of Rhan - the very thing that Indy had fought so hard to steal and take away from Belloq - was now sat on a table in front of Louis and the double-crossing Dr. Jerome. Indy was so well tied to the chair that he couldn’t even move his fingers, let alone his arms. Added to that was the menacing shadow of Kas looming over him. “It is time to come one step closer to immortality” Louis said to Dr. Jerome.

Deep down, however, Louis wasn’t in the mood for sharing the glory - whilst Jerome would have his uses for translation and expedition, Louis was the one who wanted the results; the mythical power of Rhan that they were getting closer and closer to.
Louis paced across to a cabinet in the room. He opened it, taking out his book of notes on Tet Rhan. Louis flicked through the book, past drawings and press clippings, until he saw the crude rendition of the alphabet that he already knew.

“Are those the letters?” asked Dr. Jerome.

“Yes,” said Louis. “See, in my book I have the first alphabet of Rhan - all the drawings and their corresponding letters. That was how I could decipher the top line of the scroll...”

“What about the bottom line?”

“I can now solve it!” exclaimed Louis.

“How?”

Louis picked up the headpiece of Rhan. “See, on the headpiece there are two rows of drawings - one on the top and one on the bottom of the headpiece. The row of drawings on the top is the first alphabet of Rhan. The row on the bottom is - I believe - the second alphabet of Rhan. This second alphabet is the one used for the writing on the bottom of the scroll”

Dr. Jerome looked puzzled. “How can you be so sure?”

“There is only one way to find out,” said Louis. He took his book over to the large table, where both the headpiece and the scroll were already resting. Sitting down, Louis grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, then flicked through various notes. Taking hold of the headpiece, Louis remarked “Yes...quite a magnificent piece” said Louis, grinning. “And now in the rightful owner’s hands.

Louis was distracted by Indy, who was shifting in his seat from the pain the ropes were causing. “Don’t worry, Dr. Jones. It shouldn’t take too long to decipher the headpiece and find the temple. Then your long wait will be over...you get to die!” laughed Louis.

“Now, we have two alphabets on the headpiece - the first alphabet we know already....the second alphabet is revealed on the headpiece. This drawing on the first alphabet is the letter ‘A’” said Louis, pointing to a drawing of three lines with a dash through them. “And the corresponding drawing for the second alphabet is written on the headpiece...” concluded Louis, this time pointing to a circle with two lines across it, engraved at the bottom of the headpiece.

“Fascinating” said Dr. Jerome, sitting down.

It took over an hour - considerably more time than Louis had anticipated - to decipher the full alphabet. However, when they had done so, Louis was elated. He could now decipher the bottom of the scroll and locate the Temple of Tet Rhan. “Every minute we get one step closer...”

Louis began to scribble down letters, phrases. The bottom half of the scroll was mixed around slightly, but the location of the Temple was hidden within the writing. Of that, Louis was sure. “The scroll speaks of mountains...”

“Mountains?”

“Look,” said Louis, “The drawings of mountains correspond...clearly, the Temple is hidden within a mountainous region...the whole scroll is written in a secret code; it will have been a special language known only to a few - perhaps to prevent the wrong person from ever translating it”

Dr. Jerome nodded.

“But they weren’t successful on that score, were they?” asked Louis, laughing.

“You won’t be either,” sneered Indy.

“Kas,” sighed Louis, “Do the honours”

Kas, who had been standing next to Indy, swooped his thick hand down and across Indy’s face. It sent shockwaves through Indy - waking him up to the situation. Indy shuffled, restricted by the ropes that tied him to his chair.

“So we are looking for mountains,” said Dr. Jerome. “But where? They could be anywhere in the world”

“Not just any mountains. The scroll speaks of a “Crown of Three”; three individual peaks on the mountain. The location of this mountain range is also written on the scroll...a place called ‘Ceehatt’”

Dr. Jerome looked puzzled. “I don’t know of such a place on the entire Earth”. Louis nodded. “But...” said Dr. Jerome, leaning towards the book of notes on Tet Rhan, “the way that the people who wrote the Rhan alphabet spelt the letter ‘D’ translates in our time as ‘TT’...so we now have Ceehad...still I don’t know it...”

“Wait!” exclaimed Louis. “You are quite right with the double-T theory” he said, flicking excitedly through the book of notes. He eventually found the page he was looking for, read the few lines scribbled on it and turned to Dr. Jerome. “The theory applies just the same when two of the letter ‘E’ follow in a word...in modern times it translates as, well, nothing. Useless”

Dr. Jerome was puzzled. “So what is the name?”

“Chad!”

“Chad?” asked Dr. Jerome. “Do you think so?”

“I am certain” said Louis. “Pass me that globe...” he said. Dr. Jerome nodded, picking up and handing Louis a miniature model of the world. Louis span it round a few times, then stopped it quickly. “Here...” he said, stopping it when Africa was in view, Louis’ finger hovering over the region of Chad.

“Ah...I see it” said Dr. Jerome.

“Indeed you do...” nodded Louis. “In Africa. Who would have thought it? Just think - somewhere near Chad lies our prize. Untouched for hundreds of years. Resting perhaps only miles from modern civilisation... the goal. But where? Mountains, there have to be mountains.”

Dr. Jerome sighed. “But it is not a mountainous region, Louis, the globe shows it to be so. If the Temple was hidden in the mountains, it must be a small Temple; the highest peak of the surrounding mountains is just over one...perhaps you translated the scroll incorrectly?”

“I translated it perfectly!”

Kas made one step towards Dr. Jerome.

“Yes you did...”

“Thank you for your confidence, Dr. Jerome” said Louis. “There is one mountainous region - not too large, but still relatively untouched. It is quite possible that the Temple is somewhere there...remember the scroll spoke of the ‘Crown of Three’”

“And?” asked Dr. Jerome.

“And the Crown of Three will be three mountain peaks...all we have to do is find them within the mountains”

“There could be thousands of mountain peaks!”

“Not three shaped so...” said Louis, holding up the scroll. Dr. Jerome saw a drawing of one large mountain peak, with three unique peaks on top, forming a circle. It was indeed an individual sight. “A Crown...” said Louis, grinning.

“A Crown of Three” concluded Dr. Jerome

“Now what is the best way to Chad?”

“We have to go to Cairo. From there we can get transportation to Chad. However, we may have to set out to the mountains on our own” said Dr. Jerome.

Louis interrupted. “I will pay some local peasants. They can come with us and do all the hard work. And should anything prove dangerous, well, they can be the first to die.”

“When do we leave?”

“Immediately” said Louis.

Dr. Jerome cleared his throat, looked at Indy and then asked out loud “What about Jones?”

“He’s coming with us”

“He is?”

“Of course,” grinned Louis. “I am so looking forward to showing him the full power of Tet Rhan...although I very much doubt that Dr. Jones is filled with the same feeling”

Indy flinched. He wasn’t elated.

He was worried.


Follow Ups:



Post a Followup:

Name:    
E-Mail:  
Subject: 
Comments:

Optional:

Link URL:   
Link Title: 
Image URL:  


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Indyfan Fan Fiction Forum ]