Hi there! Didja miss me? I'm sooooo sorry this chapter took so long. My excuses are 1) I was gone for a week and lost my train of thought, and 2) I got really bad writer's block like three times! Anyway, I'm sorry.

In my opinion, this chapter sucks. I think that's just because it took me so long to write that I got sick of it. Most of the inconsistencies in this chapter are intentional, but if you find any that you think might not be, please let me know! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Indiana Jones or anything about it. I do, however, own my freaky-weird originality. Try not to be jealous...

...

Chapter One: Escape

Dr. Henry Jones, Jr., also known as Indiana or Indy,was actually feeling nervous. It was a pretty rare feeling for him, and he was not enjoying it.

This isn't so bad, he thought, Mac's right, I've escaped alive and well from much worse. There are only about, oh, thirty Russians at the most... they all have guns, and this woman, Dr. Spalko, has a rapier or something... the soldiers don't seem too smart, but she does... damn, I'm getting too old for this. No, can't think like that! I have to concentrate. Now. Keep the banter light, show no fear. I don't know what Dr. Spalko wants me to do, but I won't help her. What's she doing, putting her hand in my face like that? It looks like she's trying to read my mind or something...

This was a good observation on Dr. Jones' part because that was exactly what Colonel Doctor Irina Spalko was attempting to do. She had, some months before, located an artifact that was said to turn ordinary humans into superhuman warriors. After her initial experiment, her conclusions were these: the artifact worked, but it also caused damage to the person you were enhancing. In order to make up for these weaknesses, you would have to enhance someone who was already nearly superhuman in strength and mind power. After these conclusions, she had modified the artifact so that it only bestowed minimal mindreading abilities and used it on herself. In this case, however, her subject needed more than minimal talents.

"You are a hard man to read, Dr. Jones," she said smoothly in her strong accent.

Dr. Jones, meanwhile, was wondering if she had lost her mind. What did she mean, hard to read? How could you learn anything about anyone by holding your hand in front of their face and staring into their eyes? You had to watch them carefully, under all different circumstances. Now Dr. Spalko was waving over one of her soldiers. She said something to him in Russian, and Indy thought he heard the name Natalia spoken by both of them. Dr. Spalko waved her hand emphatically, and the man hurried off.

"Now, Dr. Jones, I think I shall have to introduce someone to you. She will be able to figure out what I want to know."

"How can you be so sure?" Indy asked, thinking, Keep the banter light!

"Quite easily, as you will see. Ah, here." Dr. Spalko gestured at a strange group that was approaching. Indy almost gasped in surprise, and he heard Mac say, "What the 'ell?"

Three people were coming towards them. Two of them were soldiers, and between them they dragged a young woman. She was very small, only about five feet tall, and quite slender. She had medium brown wavy hair that reached to her collarbones. Her eyes were an incredibly light blue, so pale as to be almost gray or silver. But the thing that shocked Indy the most was the fact that she bore quite a strong resemblance to Dr. Spalko. The difference was that Dr. Spalko looked cruel and in control, and this young woman looked kind but deeply frightened by something. She looked at Indy, wary but curious. Mac she ignored.

"I have someone I would like you to meet, Dr. Jones," Dr. Spalko said with a slightly triumphant air in her voice, " This is my younger sister, Natalia Spalko. She will find out from you what I want to know."

Indy practically gaped at her. He looked over at the young woman with even more interest, and noticed that at the mention of her relationship to Dr. Spalko, the young woman's expression changed from one of curiosity about Indy to cold quiet hatred at her sister.

Maybe she won't cooperate, he thought, This could be a good development for Mac and me. How in the world would this Natalia Spalko find out information from me?...

Natalia Spalko was looking at her sister with a strangely intent look on her face. Dr. Spalko turned to face her ans said, just as if Natalia had spoken, "You will do it. Find out what he knows about this," she paused slightly, " especially its location. You will then tell me everything you learn, and you will not attempt to lie, you know you cannot do it now."

There was a pause as though Natalia was saying something, then Dr. Spalko said sharply, "Now! Talk to him if you have to."

Indy had been wondering when this Natalia was going to speak, he was curious to see if she had the same strong accent as Dr. Spalko. But what happened next was so startling that he almost felt real fear.

He heard a voice in his head. It was clearly the voice of a young woman, but she didn't have any accent to speak of.

"Hello, Dr. Henry Jones, Jr.," the voice said, " My name is Natalia... Spalko." This last word was filled with contempt. She went on, "Please don't be frightened by this. It must be very startling."

"How can I-" Indy said out loud, unconsciously finishing his sentence in his head, talk to you, without Dr. Spalko hearing me?

"Just think what you want to say very clearly in your mind, and I will hear it."

How are you able to do this?

There was a pause, and Indy felt a sort of shrinking coming from Natalia. Finally she said, "My... sister... did this to me. Or rather, an artifact that she found and tested on me did. The artifact is, I believe, supposed to give strange powers and great strength to the person it is used on, but in my case... there were some very strong side effects to results that were not very strong in the first place. I can read minds and I'm a little stronger than before, but I can't physically see, hear, or speak."

Really? You heard both me and Dr. Spalko speak out loud, and you act like you can see.

"Somehow, my mind adapted, and I can see and hear with my mind. It is... different than the physical ways of seeing and hearing, but I am trying to limit these new ways to the parameters of the old ways. Another thing I lost is, strangely enough, the ability to lie. I can omit some things and refuse to answer, but I cannot say even the smallest of lies. So please, trust me. I know you are planning planning to try an escape, but I will not tell Irina. Firstly because I want you to get away, and secondly because... I want to come with you."

You do? Indy thought to himself for a moment before continuing. I can guess that you are not treated very well.

"No, I- no. I'm not."

Well... you can come, but you'll have to keep up. Mac and I won't be able to watch you constantly.

With a slight air of annoyance, Natalia retorted, "I can take care of myself, Dr. Jones."

All right. Dr. Spalko wanted to know about something, you should tell her what I've already told her: I don't know what she's looking for.

"Is that..." Natalia seemed to concentrate, and Indy felt an odd tingle run through his mind. "It is the truth. I will tell her. And I will let you hear our conversation as well, so that you know I'm not betraying you."

Just after Natalia said this, Mac leaned over to Indy.

"What the 'ell just 'appened, Jonesey? You had the oddest look on your face."

"Later, Mac," Indy muttered back, just in time to hear Natalia's voice in his head again. There was a slightly different quality to it, a sort of echo. Indy guessed that by what she was saying that this new quality was because she was also talking to Dr. Spalko.

"He doesn't know what you are looking for, Irina. He has memories of it, but he has no idea where it is."

"Are you sure of this?" Dr. Spalko looked very hard at Natalia. Natalia met her gaze squarely.

"Quite."

"Very well," she turned and addressed Indy, "We shall have to do this... what is expression? The old-fashioned way." Dr. Spalko pulled her gloves on and directed that the doors of the huge hanger be opened. They were, and Spalko had her soldiers pull Indy and Mac to the hanger. Natalia was grabbed and dragged along, too.

Indy listened and responded to what Dr. Spalko was saying, but most of his attention was focused on finding weaknesses in her. It was proving to be harder than he had hoped it would be. The thing that really snapped his attention on to what she was saying was her description of of the thing she wanted him to find. She described a box, giving its dimensions and stating that its contents were mummified remains. Indy suddenly realized what Dr. Spalko was looking for and felt a strange chill of dread. He remembered that box and its contents. He had no idea what those remains were, but they gave him the creeps. When he felt the chills he saw Natalia's eyes dart over to him. She looked hard at him for a few seconds, then looked away. Indy heard her say, as though she were whispering in his ear, "Just take Irina to it. I don't know why she wants it, but if you don't take it... I know from experience that she won't be very charitable to you or your friend."

Indy decided to use this opportunity to test Dr. Spalko. So, in so many words, he refused to look for the box. In an instant she drew her rapier, grabbed his shoulder, and stuck the point of the blade right in his face. Indy heard Mac make a little sound behind him, and Natalia's voice in his head said urgently, "I told you! Just help her, and it might wind up helping you!" With a sigh of reluctance, Indy agreed to look for the box.

Dr. Spalko looked triumphant. She directed her soldiers to form a circle around her, Indy, Mac, and Natalia, and they started off. Indy was trying to figure out how he could possibly find the right box in this immense warehouse with enumerable boxes when an idea struck him. He called out, "I need a compass!"

Everyone stopped and looked at him like he was crazy.

"You know, a compass!" he said, hoping the Russians would catch on to what a compass was, "North, South, East..."

"West..." Mac muttered, trying to help.

When no one responded, Indy walked right up to one of the soldiers, got right in his face, and said, "I need your bullets."

The man stared at him, then laughed and called out something to the other soldiers, who also laughed. Indy decided he would have to talk to the only person around besides himself and Natalia who had any brains: Dr. Spalko. He turned to her.

"The contents of that box were highly magnetized. I need gunpowder. Do you want my help or not?"

She seemed to catch on and ordered one of her men to empty a grenade into Indy's hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Natalia looking at him admiringly. He heard her words in his mind, "I know what you're going to do, Dr. Jones, and ZI think it's brilliant! I just hope it works..."

So do I, he thought back. He started to climb up a pile of boxes, the gunpowder clenched in his hand. Several of Dr. Spalko's soldiers moved to stop him, but she raised her hand and they fell back. When Indy reached the top, he looked around. The warehouse was even bigger than he had thought. Looking down at Dr. Spalko, he finished explaining his idea.

"If they still are, the metal in this gunpowder should point the way." Then, praying hard, he threw the gunpowder into the air. It didn't fall. Instead, it seemed to float in one place for a second, and then it flowed off through the air as though drawn by a force stronger than gravity. Everyone watched it, making mental notes as to its direction. When it was out of their sight, Indy climbed down and Dr. Spalko said something to her soldiers in Russian.

The group set off in the direction the gunpowder had taken. One of the soldiers gave Indy his cap and three others emptied grenades into it, clearly under Dr. Spalko's commands. When they reached the spot where they had lost track of the first gunpowder, Indy hurled the second gunpowder load into the air. It did exactly what the first batch had done, only this time everyone ran after it and were just in time to see it enter a huge stack of boxes and not exit. They all ran up to it, and Indy turned to Dr. Spalko.

"I need shotgun shells and some pliers," he said. She nodded and directed her men to get what he needed. When Indy had his tools, he climbed up the enormous pile. At the top, he broke the shells with the pliers, dumped the little pellets out of then into his hand, then paused. Everyone was looking up at him with varying mixtures of excitement and impatience. Indy dropped the pellets and every heard and saw them fall through the cracks in the boxes. Suddenly, they all stopped falling and got sucked into the middle of the pile. Indy climbed down as Dr. Spalko had her men pull boxes out of the pile. Finally, in the exact middle of the pile, they found the side of a box that had shotgun pellets stuck to it.

"Well done, Dr. Jones!" Indy heard Natalia's voice say, "I don't think anyone else could have ever found it, but you did in about five minutes!"

Since you're the only one congratulating me, I guess no one else really appreciates it, he thought back. After a moment, he added, So, thanks.

"You're welcome."

Dr. Spalko, who seemed very excited, had her soldiers pull the box out. They moved it to a clear space in the floor, grabbed crowbars, and pulled the top off. This revealed a metal box inside the wooden one which was obviously highly magnetic because the crowbars stuck to it instantly. The men holding them had to wrench them off and break up the rest of the wood box by hand. When they had finished, Dr. Spalko had them carry the box over to the Jeep that had been following the group. As they did, all manner of metal things followed them, from nails and things rolling after them on the floor to the ceiling lamps straining against their cords towards the box. This was all rather unnerving, and many of the soldiers were starting to mutter in fear. As they approached the Jeep, all the other soldiers in the area began to have odd things happen to the metal they had on them. They had to grip their guns very tightly to keep them from flying over and sticking to the box. Some men even had their dogtags floating horizontally in front of them, pointing towards the box. The muttering was getting louder, but with a few sharp words from Dr. Spalko they stopped. As the men carrying the box lifted it to set it in the back of the Jeep, the scabbard of Dr. Spalko's rapier leaped out and stuck to the end of the box. She had to pull very hard on the scabbard to return it to its normal place at her side. Indy thought he saw Natalia's mouth twitch in amusement at this. Dr. Spalko, seeming to decide that she didn't want to have to deal with it sticking to the box all the time, unbuckled her sword and handed it to one of her soldiers. This taken care of, she climbed into the back of the Jeep next to the box.

Indy saw Dr. Spalko flip open the latches on the side of the box and lift the lid, but he had a lot harder time seeing after that because all the soldiers crowded in front of him to watch. There was a sound like something decompressing, and Indy thought he saw Dr. Spalko open another lid, this one made of glass. He watched her face. Her eyes were very wide, and she looked extremely excited while still being serious. Indy turned to watch Natalia. She had her eyes closed, and she seemed to be concentrating.

What are you doing? he thought at her.

"Watching," was the only explanation she gave.

Suddenly Indy heard a lots of gasps and muttering. Dr. Spalko was lifting something slightly out of the box, and with a jolt of horror and disgust Indy realized it was a semi-mummified hand. The sight of the hand reminded him of the rest of the remains he had seen, which, while not being much, had been grotesque.

Indy decided this was as good a time as any to attempt an escape. He saw one of the soldiers near him holding his bullwhip and almost grinned. He readied himself, then lunged at the man and grabbed the whip, sending the man flying in the process. Another soldier whirled to face Indy, raising his gun, but Indy was too quick for him. He flicked his wrist hard, and the 10 foot bullwhip snapped out and coiled around the gun. Indy tugged hard on his whip and pulled the gun right out of the man's hands. It flew through the air and was caught by Mac. Indy grabbed the gun of the man he had sent flying. The other Russians pulled out their weapons, but by that point Indy and Mac were standing almost back-to-back, ready to fire. Indy took aim at Dr. Spalko.

"Put your weapons down or the Colonel Doctor dies," he said triumphantly.

The soldiers did as they were told. At least, for a moment. The man who stood in front, whom Indy recognized from earlier without remembering his name, smiled and raised his gun again. All the other men did, too. Indy was confused until he heard the click of a gun off to his left. He turned.

It was Mac. Indy almost gaped at him, then managed to say, "Why, Mac?"

Mac shrugged. "What can I say, Jonesey? I'm a capitalist, and" he gestured at the Russians, "they pay."

Indy glanced at Natalia, who looked horrorstruck.

Did you know about this? he thought furiously at her.

"No, I swear I didn't. I didn't even think to check if he was trustworthy. I'm sorry. But don't worry, I'm your ally now. Just go along with them for a minute, we can think of something."

So Indy did. He asked Mac if he was kidding and got to hear a lame excuse for treachery in response. The man who had first raised his gun changed his aim to point straight at Indy's head, and Dr. Spalko smiled coldly and asked him if he had any defiant last words. He smiled back and said, in a sarcastic tone, the first thing that popped into his head: "I like Ike." Some of the soldiers laughed. Dr. Spalko smiled in triumph, and the man aiming at Indy said, "Drop the gun!"

In that instant, Indy knew exactly what he was going to do. Hoping that Natalia was paying close attention, he said, "You got it, pal," and threw the gun down. When the gun hit the ground, it fired and the bullet hit one of the soldiers in the foot. The man shrieked and hopped in agony, and the sudden loud noise and stumbling man threw everyone off and gave Indy his chance. He started to run, and as soon as he did he heard Dr. Spalko yell, "Natalia! Stop him!"

In spite of himself, Indy stopped and turned around to watch. Apparently everyone else did, too, for none of the soldiers shot at Indy, or even moved.

Natalia turned slowly to face her sister. She spoke to her, but Indy could tell that she was also speaking to everyone else because many of the soldiers flinched or cried out. And also, Indy heard her.

"No."

"What did you say?" Dr. Spalko said venomously.

"I said I won't help you catch Dr. Jones. In fact, I'm never going to help you again, Irina. No matter what you think, I'm not on your side. I'm on Dr. Jones' side, I'm going to help him escape, and... I'm going with him."

"We will stop you!" Dr. Spalko cried, but Indy thought she looked very slightly worried.

"Do your worst, Irina, but we're not staying."

Dr. Spalko grabbed a gun from one of her men, aimed right at Natalia, and fired. Indy yelled, but instead of falling with a bullet in her head Natalia did something he would only have expected in a dream. At the same time that Dr. Spalko had raised the gun Natalia had raised her hand, and when the gun had fired her fingers had twitched. What Indy guessed to be some kind of energy formed a sort of shield in front of Natalia, and when Dr. Spalko's bullet hit it it just ricocheted right off. There were several loud cries of surprise, and a cry of fury from Dr. Spalko. She threw the gun back to its owner and yelled for her soldiers to get Indy.

"Let's go, Dr. Jones!" Natalia cried in his mind, "Run, or do whatever you were planning to do!"

I don't things like that, he responded, and leaped into action.

Doing escapes like this always made Indy feel extremely scared and yet extremely exhilarated. He dodged bullets, commandeered vehicles, and mostly ran like heck. His favorite part was throwing Dr. Spalko out of the Jeep as she tried to drive it out of the warehouse to protect the box and its contents. He had some very near mishaps, such as missing the Jeep when he was trying to swing into it on his whip and winding up landing in a truck. He only caught a few second-long glimpses of Natalia, she seemed to be fine but tiring a little fast. Indy wasn't surprised at her wearing out a bit, after all, she was a very petite young woman. He was getting a little worn out, himself. He was just thinking this when he encountered one of the last people he wanted to meet: the colonel from earlier, the one who had almost shot him. This man had hit Indy very hard almost the first moment after they had met each other, and Indy had no wish to get in a fistfight with this man. Unfortunately, it seemed he would have to because the man tackled him. They flew backwards and crashed through a glass panel. When they hit the floor on the other side, it turned out to be glass as well. It shattered, and Indy and the man fell though into a lower room and landed on some strange equipment.

Indy was glad that the equipment was there because this new room had a very high ceiling. If the equipment hadn't been there they would have fallen 30m feet or more, but as it was they only fell about 15. The man immediately got up and punched Indy. Indy hit him back, then started looking for a way down. Long chains hung down from the ceiling, and both Indy and the man grabbed one. As they climbed down, Indy swung over and crashed headlong into the man, sending him hurtling through a glass wall onto some sort of control panel. After a second, the man got up and charged Indy, sending him flying. While Indy recovered, he saw the man grab some chain and wind part of it around his hand, making a sort of whip. He lashed out at Indy with it, and Indy barely managed to dodge. The man swung again and again, forcing Indy back towards some sort of jet engine or rocket, which Indy thought might be powering up.

Maybe this guy threw some sort of switch when he landed on that control panel, Indy thought, and ducked the chain whip as it whistled over his head.

The two men were now on the jet engine itself. The man hit Indy very hard several times in the stomach, then wrapped his chain around Indy's throat. Indy fought back, but the man hoisted him up and hooked the chain around around Indy's throat to another chain dangling from the ceiling and continued punching him. Indy, his vision blurring slightly, saw a person dash into the room closely pursued by five or six other people. The person being chased was Natalia, and at the sight of her Indy felt like cheering. Her chasers were several random Russian soldiers and ... Mac. Indy remembered just in time not to be too excited about Mac being there.

That traitor! he thought, and the thought filled him with anger and gave him the strength to fight again. Indy kicked the man holding him repeatedly until he dropped him, then unhooked the chains and pulled them from around his neck. Indy saw that Natalia had just reached the side of the jet engine and that the men chasing her were directly behind it when the engine ignited. A huge jet of flame shot out of the back of it, engulfing the men, but Indy thought he saw Mac get out of the way just in time. The other men screamed as they burned, but once again Indy was distracted. The man next to him hit him in the legs, causing Indy to fall. They were just about to start fighting again when something very disruptive happened: the jet engine blasted off along its track.

Just as it started, Indy thought he heard Natalia cry, "Hold on, Dr. Jones!" in his mind, but then it seemed like everything was gone. The jet engine roared down a tunnel and then out into the open air, and its speed was such that Indy, who was on the front of it, felt as though he was being crushed. He and the man were flattened back onto the engine, their faces contorted by the extreme speed. It seemed to Indy that they would keep going forever, but finally the engine slowed down and stopped at the end of its track.

Indy was feeling very stunned, and it was hard for him to remain conscious. The other man passed out, and his head flopped over onto Indy's shoulder. Indy grimaced in disgust, moved his shoulder out from under the man's head, then pushed him away. The man slumped away and fell limply off the other side of the engine onto the ground with a thud. Indy shook his head to clear it and heard Natalia's voice.

"Are you all right, Dr. Jones?"

He looked over to his right and saw her standing on a sort of shining shield-like thing, which was hovering in midair. She looked down at him, concern in her eyes.

"Wha- how the hell?" Indy said weakly, raising a still-shaking finger to point at her.

"Oh. Yes. Well," Natalia said a little sheepishly, "I... wanted to follow you when that thing," she pointed at the engine, "took off, and... this is what happened. I don't know where the idea came from, but it worked." Sher looked up, then looked back down at Indy, suddenly very worried.

"They're coming. Please hurry, Dr. Jones."

Indy pulled himself to his feet and grabbed his hat, swaying. He tried to step off the engine to the ground, but wound up falling flat on his face. Natalia's shield vanished from beneath her feet, and she landed at his side. She touched his shoulder.

"Please get up, Dr. Jones, we have to hurry!"

Indy managed to stand. He turned and saw some cars driving up on the other side of the engine. The other man had gotten up and was weaving drunkenly towards the cars. Indy grabbed Natalia's arm and pulled her over to a clump of bushes. They dropped down on the other side of them, listened for a few seconds to the sound of car doors opening and closing, then fled off into the night.

...

There you go! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review! The more reviews I get, the sooner I'll update... -