Chapter 3: Investigations
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Lara turned off the engine after parking in front of a small building. It wasn't a five-star hotel, but it would do, and it was less conspicuous than one of the places she might have preferred to stay.
In other words, it was just what they needed.
She got out of the car, slinging her light pack over her shoulder almost absently, and made her way to the motel office, not bothering to see if Jones was following.
"Hey!" he caught up and settled into a slightly disgruntled walk beside her, catching on to her pensive mood and prudently keeping quiet.
"Excuse me… Hello?" Laura called, glancing around the empty office.
"A moment, a moment," a tired voice answered and an old woman slowly made her way from a back room into the office. "We close," she explained in broken English, "No time."
"Yeah, I don't have a whole lot of time, either," Lara snapped. She was tired, she was grumpy, and all she wanted was a place to shower and sleep, and the order didn't matter.
Indy rolled his eyes. Come on, Croft. Not the way to work. "Excuse her," he smoothly cut in front of the irritable relic hunter. "She's just tired. We just need a room, and we'll pay for it. Please?"
The old woman gave a little smile at his pleading expression, "Yes, yes, your name?"
"Right, I'm In… d'oh," giving his real name might not be such a good idea. Not with the Nazi's after him. He'd forgotten that in this time, he'd been dead for sixty years—and dead archaeologists weren't something a whole lot of people outside the realm of academia bothered to remember.
Lara elbowed him, "His name is Inni D'oh, and I'm Laura Smith."
Indy glared. Inni? That sounded a bit too girly for him.
"Which name do you want the room under?" the old woman asked.
"We would like two rooms," Lara amended Indy's earlier request. "One for each of us."
The woman nodded, "Of course," they did seem more like colleges than family, and she somehow couldn't picture the two as lovers. "Here are your keys. You may pay in the morning, if you wish."
Lara nodded thanks while Indy was slightly more vocal with his gratitude, then the two made their way outside to search out their rooms—side-by-side, the room numbers were seven and eight.
"Two, eh?" Indy teased.
"Of course, Mr. D'oh."
Indy sulked.
Meanwhile, in a nearby bar…
Herman was refilling his glass of whiskey for the third time. It was a distraction, and dulled the pain in his hand. It had not been a good day, though he had accomplished his mission and was due certain payment from his boss. He glanced up as the door opened, more for something to do than actual curiosity, then blinked and looked again.
A young man, perhaps mid-twenties from the look of him, made his way into the bar. He was clearly European; tall, blond hair, pale skin. Herman guessed his eyes would be blue or light gray, but sunglasses kept it at that: a guess. What really got the mercenary's attention, though, was the large white wolf following him.
The fact that the animal was a northern breed was strange enough, as Egypt did not tend to be easy on heavy-furred beasts built for cooler weather, but everything about it indicated that it was not tame. It carried itself like a wild alpha, its eyes full of wary pride, and yet it followed the young man almost meekly.
The man sat down next to Herman and the wolf lay quietly behind his stool.
"I hope you have it," he stated, his words tinted with a British accent.
Herman shot the man a slightly offended glare, "Of course I have it, Erwin. It was a perfect setup, having Lady Croft do our work."
"Did you follow my instructions? Did the statue remain untouched?"
"Yes. Croft was nowhere near it when we got there."
"Good," slight satisfaction leaked into the otherwise even voice, "Now all we have to do is find the others."
"How will we know where to look?" Herman wasn't sure where the map he had 'given' to Croft had come from, but without something else similar—unlikely—finding the other statues would be like looking for a raw diamond in a pile of broken quartz.
"That is none of your concern. Give me the statue."
Herman did not like all the secrecy. He had met the intimidating young man some weeks before, and offered to pay very well for a certain statue, with more to come should Herman continue working for him in search of more, similar statues. He was rich and he paid.
To a mercenary, that was reason enough to work for him, but his orders were odd. Why not touch the statue with bare hands? What could possibly happen? How did he get the map and, more importantly, how did he know where the others would be found? And, most importantly of all, why did he want them? Sure, they were gold, but the man was rich. He wasn't in it for the money, and he didn't have the air of a collector.
"Herman?" the slightly sharp tone cut through the mercenary's private musings.
"Right, fine." Herman lifted the heavy canvas bag at his side, inside which the statue lay, wrapped in thick fabric.
The younger man lifted the bag onto his lap and opened it, then tugged aside a corner of the protecting cloth.
The statue's face was unmistakable; a perfect representation of the Ancient Egyptian God of the Nile.
"Osiris… so I have you at last," he subtly covered the gold again and set the precious bag beside his seat, near the quiet wolf. "What happened with Croft?" he asked, smiling over the statue as he nodded towards Herman's bandaged hand.
"…" Herman hesitated, "Well…"
Erwin glanced at him sharply, the smile taking on a brittle edge. "What. Happened?"
"She… she got away," Herman grimaced, "We thought she was alone, but then that guy came…"
The smile vanished. "What 'guy'?"
A hot shower had been exactly what he'd needed. The last few days had been… stressful. What with Nazis, angry mercenaries, jumping off cliffs, oh, and let's not forget time travel. Indy left the bathroom half-dressed, barefoot, and scrubbing a towel over his hair—then stopped, blinking, and suddenly very glad he'd bothered to pull on pants before exiting the little room.
Lara was at the table in his room with the book.
"Did you find something?"
She glanced up and gave him an absent smile, "Nothing interesting. Have a nice shower?"
"Great, yeah. I needed one," he grimaced, remembering the tiny cell he'd been in before his journey over the cliff. "Hey, if you're tired, I can take over translating."
"Hm? Oh, no, I'm fine," Lara frowned at ancient text, trying to remember what a particular word translated to.
Indy shrugged, "Ok, well, I'm going to make some coffee."
"Hold it!"
Indiana jumped, then scowled, "What!? Am I allowed to do anything? First it's 'don't touch', then it's 'don't talk'—can't I even make my own coffee?"
"Shut up and look at this. I didn't think it was anything important—everyone in the field has heard the story of Seth killing Osiris and Isis and Anubis bringing him back—but there was more here…"
"Come again?" Indy walked over to look at the page she was glaring at.
"Here, look," Lara pointed at the section she was translating, "Right there, after Seth cut Osiris' body to pieces in a fit of gleeful rage and scattered the pieces throughout the lands. 'And the goddess Isis prevailed and found her lost lover. With the aid of Anubis, Osiris was reassembled, embalmed, and wrapped in clean linen. He was magically restored to life, and, with the aid of the three divine golden gods…"
"Golden gods as in… statues?"
"I'm not sure," Lara shook her head, "The rest is missing."
Indy looked closer at the edge of the papyrus page. "That looks deliberate—someone cut out the rest!"
Erwin's orders had been simple. Herman was to take his men track down Lara Croft and her companion and find out anything and everything they knew. That done, he returned to his own rooms to examine his first prize.
He turned the statue over in gloved hands, running a critical gaze over the base. It had to be there… ah. Erwin pulled a knife out of his pocket and flipped it open, carefully working the tip into an almost invisible crack in the gold, prying gently.
A small rectangular panel popped loose and he set the knife and statue aside, flipping the plate over. He smirked in satisfaction as he read the hieroglyphs etched into soft metal.
A sharp knock interrupted his reverie and the white wolf's bristling fur and silently bared teeth caught his attention. He stroked the animal's head, soothing it as he set the piece of gold on the table. "Enter."
Herman came in, closing the door behind him and sparing a glance for the statue lying on its side, gleaming against dark wood.
"The document you requested wasn't at the library. Croft and her friend have it."
"How did they… never mind. It matters not," Erwin resumed petting the wolf's head, "Now we can simply take it from them without having to worry about pesky details like library security. I assume you have located them?"
Herman nodded, "Right, they checked into a hotel near the bar under false names."
Erwin smiled, an oddly chilling expression, "Good. Bring me the documents and find out who Lady Croft's little attack dog is."
Herman nodded, "All right. I've got a man who specializes in such… business."
"Perfect. Get ready to leave. We leave for Alexandria tomorrow."
Herman almost gaped, "Are we doing some kind of tourist route?" he asked, a trace of sarcasm in his voice.
"Don't be stupid," chill blue eyes flashed irritably and Erwin gestured sharply, a clear dismissal that the wolf backed up with a soft growl.
The European returned his attention to the golden message as Herman left.
-Search for the Eternal Fire of Ra-
To be continued…
Thank you, everybody for reading. I know this doesn't seem very Indy oriented, but it's coming… btw… reviews are appreciated, so let me Know! :D
And, of course, thanks again to Shadewolf7 ;)
Additional author's note: () The legend of Osiris' death varies upon translation and location, but they all agree on the main points of Seth, god of Chaos (which the Egyptians saw as evil) tricking his brother Osiris, god of the fields and the Nile, into getting into a chest (read 'coffin') and throwing it into the river, where Osiris died and floated away. His sister/wife (both—gods apparently don't have to worry about inbreeding) Isis brought him back to Egypt for either resurrection or burial, depending on what version you're reading, and Seth found the chest with Osiris' body while Isis was going to get her son, Horus. He cut his brother's body to pieces and scattered them throughout the lands.
Isis, undeterred at the setback, sought out the pieces. She either reassembled him or gave each piece a proper burial where she found it, depending, again, on which version you are listening to. Some say that she enlisted the aid of Anubis, god of death (Egyptian version of the Grim Reaper), to reassemble her husband and bring him back to life. As Osiris had died, he could no longer rule over the lands of the living, and so was made ruler of the lands of the dead, though he did still get to be the god of the Nile.