Indiana Jones & the Peril at Delphi

'I've already met Mr. Jones, as you recall. I found him a bit odd, but that's not unusual for Americans.

However, I didn't think he was a criminal, and I'd like to hear his story.'

Exactly what she wanted to avoid. She glanced at Mandraki. Say something, damn it.

'I don't think it's going to be necessary to go to that trouble,' Mandraki said. 'You see, in deference to Dr. Belecamus, I don't want to press charges against Jones or the other men.'

The king nodded, and motioned to one of his aides. 'Prepare their exit papers. I want them on board the ship to Brindisi in the morning.'

Dorian stood, feeling relieved, and extended a hand. 'Thank you, Your Highness. I appreciate this, and I apologize for the inconvenience it's caused you.'

'I'll be happy to take charge of them until their ship leaves,' Mandraki said.

The king shrugged, then waved a hand. 'It's no trouble keeping them here tonight. In fact, I'd prefer it. I don't want to hear about any more wild esca pades.'

He said it with a tone of finality, and Dorian knew it would do no good to argue. She was about to stand up when the king changed topics.

'Now what about the artifact? It was the reason you pursued Jones and the others, wasn't it?' He glanced at Mandraki. 'Besides the car, of course.'

'Yes, it was, Your Highness.'

'Well, do you want to take it with you?'

Just the thought of the Omphalos made Dorian uneasy. She never wanted to hold it again. But she couldn't say that to the king.

'I'd rather not right now. I'll send someone to pick it up in a couple of days.'

'What is this thing, the Omphalos?'

'I believe it's a meteorite that was cut and polished and covered with a rope netting that's petrified. Its value was symbolic in the time of Pythia. Now it's mostly a curiosity.'

'Why did Jones want it?'

She shrugged. 'Who knows? I think he was a little deranged from breathing those vapors. I was speaking prematurely when I said they had no apparent effect. The fact is, they seem to have varying effects.'

She smiled modestly, the humble servant. 'I'm just pleased, Your Highness, that they affected me in a way that helped you. I don't recall what happened, but I understand that I was able to warn you of a threat against your life.'

The king touched his hip, and she wondered if he still believed the vapors had healed him. 'Yes, I want to thank you. It was a peculiar situation, but if I hadn't been warned who knows what would have happened.'

He stroked his chin, and nodded. Then he rose from his chair. 'Well, now it's late.'

Dorian said good night, and waited as Mandraki shook the king's hand. She smiled to herself as she heard the king murmur that he was sorry about what happened to his car. As she and Mandraki left the library, she spoke quickly under her breath. 'I think we did just fine. He'll go to bed soon, and by the time he wakes up they'll be gone.'

Mandraki didn't respond.

'What's wrong?'

'I'm not worried about Jones anymore,' he said in a hushed voice as they walked down the wide hallway.

'We've got to get that bastard out of power. The Agora is filled with refugees; more are arriving every day.

The country is falling apart.'

'He'll pay for his mistakes,' Dorian said. 'We'll see to it, and we'll do it right this time.'

'And soon,' Mandraki added.

24

IN THE PALACE

In a barren cell somewhere below the palace, Indy hovered on the border of sleep. He saw the eagle flapping its wings, soaring high above him, then Mandraki's face obliterated the eagle. The colonel smiled cruelly, then pointed the barrel of his gun in his face.

Indy jerked awake, pounded the hard mattress, and turned over. He knew that what had happened to him in the crevice had been more than a dream. But he didn't want to think about it, didn't want to give it meaning, because all he could see was death, his death obliterating his future.

He turned over again, trying to stop his thoughts, but couldn't do it for more than a few seconds. He counted backwards from one hundred. Ninety-nine, ninety-eight ... He made it to eighty-five before the numbers muddled in his mind, and he drifted. Eighty-six, seventy-eight... He slept.

He blinked his eyes open.

Something had jarred him from his sleep.

He listened.

He heard breathing.

Shannon and Conrad.

But another noise had awakened him. He heard it again. Hollow, distant voices.

Growing closer.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway. He heard a jingle of keys. A voice like gravel growled, another grunted in response. Now what?

The door opened. In the dim light from the hall he saw two uniformed guards enter the cell. They looked around. One pointed at Indy and the other immediately jerked him from the floor.

'What's going on?' Shannon shouted as Indy was dragged toward the door.

'Where're you taking him?' Conrad stood, but he was pushed back down. The door slammed shut.

Hope this isn't the execution call, Indy thought. 'Is it morning already?' he asked in Greek as he was led away.

The guards didn't answer. No one had told the prisoners anything. They'd been fed soup, bread, and water, and given a blanket and a thin mattress apiece. But their pleas to see the king or anyone who would listen to them were met with silence. In fact, they didn't even know the whereabouts of Nikos. They hadn't seen him since they left the car, and Indy hoped that somehow in the confusion he had managed to escape.

They reached a stairway, and the guards literally ran him up the steps. 'Hey, boys, what's the rush?' He was ushered into a back hallway. He glimpsed a huge kitchen off the hall where men in white uniforms scrubbed the floor. He smelled the faint odor of food.

'Oh, time for breakfast already?' The guards' sullen expressions remained intact. 'Guess not.'

They kept walking, and soon they entered another hallway, but this one was ornate, suitable for a palace.

His feet sank into the plush carpeting. The walls were mahog any and the cornices were trimmed with gold leaf. He had no doubt that he was now in the main part of the palace.

Halfway down the hallway they stopped in front of double doors tall enough for a giant to enter without ducking. One of the guards tapped lightly. Immediately, the door opened a couple of inches. A few words were exchanged, then Indy was escorted into a library filled with books that reached from floor to ceiling.

The royal library, he thought. Like in my dream-vision.

A large, muscular man in a suit pointed to a wooden chair and Indy sat down. He looked up glumly at the man, expecting an interrogation session. But why in a library? Maybe he was going to beat him to death with books. Joyce's Ulysses could kill him with a single blow.

'Hello, Mr. Indiana Jones.'

Indy looked around and saw the king step into view. He was wearing a blue satin robe and slippers—just like in the vision—and he limped slightly as he walked.

'Your Highness.' Indy stood up, but the guard shoved him back into his chair.

The king lowered himself into a swivel chair in front of a fireplace. 'I'm talking to you against the wishes of my advisors. They thought I should expel you from the coun try without another word.'