The telephone on the 86th floor rang noisily. A powerful hand lifted the handset up and over to the muscular man who sat behind the enormous inlaid desk. From a distance, the size of the desk and the man would appear normal. It was only in comparison to the phone and an open book that the true dimensions were seen. Sitting in the office chair was a giant of a man, whose movements flowed with strength and grace. Impressive muscles rippled beneath skin bronzed by exposure to the tropical sun. Dr. Clark Savage, Jr. was an imposing man.
A controlled voice filled the room. "Hello. This is Doc speaking." There was no need for formality. Only a few trusted people knew the number to the direct line.
"It's Johnny. I'm calling from a pay phone. The Archaeological Society event is winding down and I couldn't wait to tell you what I found out."
A small smile appeared on Doc's face. Johnny seldom used his immense vocabulary against Doc, but the mere presence of contractions showed that his thin archaeologist aide was plenty excited.
"What did you discover?"
"You were right, Doc. My old friend Indy does know something about the gold shipments. How did you know?"
"Your friend Jones has been asking a lot of questions. How bad is the damage?"
"I think he's shaken up a hornet's nest. A pilot friend of his has been working out of Belize. Well, this pilot apparently overheard the weekly radio calls and understood just enough to get him curious. He put Indy on to it when they were working a job together a few weeks ago. Indy understood enough Mayan to figure out there are periodic gold shipments, but I don't think he knows from where."
"That doesn't sound that bad."
"It gets worse. He thinks the shipments may be connected with a French archaeologist and treasure hunter named Rene Belloq. Belloq has been a rival for years and Indy suspects him of selling antiquities for personal gain. In fact, he had just stolen a valuable piece from Indy before that last radio call. Indy thought he might've overhead details of a smuggling operation, but he wasn't able to get on the trail before he came home because his semester starts on Monday."
"Calm down Johnny. None of this sounds too bad."
"You don't understand. Indiana Jones NEVER gives up. He's hoping to convince Marcus Brody, his primary museum sponsor, to fund a trip to find Belloq on the selling end. And he's filed an international charge of antiquities theft and smuggling, which could draw the attention of the League of Nations. That's the hornet's nest."
"I see. This leaves me little choice. I need to divulge our funding source to them before an investigation gathers momentum."
"Doc, that could really put a spotlight on what we do. Should I do something to distract Indy?"
"No. I have an idea about that. Two officers from Army Intelligence have been bothering me about helping track some Nazi treasure hunters. I told them it wasn't our line of work, but perhaps Dr. Jones would enjoy it."