Chapter One


A young professor stood in front of his attentive class and explained how the Egyptian empire had fallen to the Romans after Alexander the great had defeated the Egyptian army and then built Alexandria.


The class was made up mostly of young women but there were a few young men there too. The young women were all leaning their elbows on their desks, their eyes following every move the professor made.


He fiddled with his glasses a moment then continued his speech.


"As the Roman empire increased its power it also adopted some of the Egyptian ways. For example, they started their own kind of mummy making. They weren't as obsessed as the Egyptians about how well the body was preserved though. They were more interested in the wrappings. The Romans wrapped their dead in long strips of cloth and while they wrapped they made diamonds and many other geometrical shapes..." The professor stopped a moment. The class looked like it wasn't paying that much attention to him. He saw that most of the girls were staring at him but not hearing what he was saying and the ones who weren't staring were passing notes. The boys on the other hand, looked almost asleep. He glanced at the clock and decided to let them out early, besides he had things to do.


"Class? Class?" He finally got everyone's attention then continued. "I'm going to let you out early today," The boys all started to rise and pick up their notes. "Wait a minute, I'm not through yet. I want everyone to remember the paper that is supposed to be on my desk Monday. All right?" Everyone but the most entranced girls nodded. "Okay, now you can go." He stared sorting the papers on his desk as the students filled past him. After a while he looked up to make sure he was alone. He was. Then he went to the door and peeked out into the hall. It was empty.


He closed the door then went to his desk and opened the middle top drawer. After pulling it out all the way he checked the door once more then went back to the desk. He reached way back into the cavity where the drawer had been and pried at the board that was supposedly the front of the desk. It popped out and after placing it on the desk he reached in again and this time drew out a bundle wrapped in newspaper.


He unwrapped the bulky object and laid the newspaper on his desk. In his hands he held a magnificent golden plate. The rim was decorated with raised designs in gold and in the middle was an etching of the sun.


As he turned it over and over in his hands while examining it the story of its discovery ran through his mind.

A few years ago a group of men went into the Andes mountains on a camping trip. They soon discovered that there was a cave in the side of one of the mountains. After looking at it and going in a few hundred feet they concluded that it was a tunnel that must run for miles. They decided that they should take all of their gear and try to find the tunnel's end.


A few weeks later during a mass held at the Temple of the Sun that was built by the ancient Incas, priests that were trying to convert the nearby villagers were startled to hear a pounding that seemed to come from under the floor tiles. At first all were scared that the noise was made by something divine, then curiosity took over as the pounding continued. One of the priests and a few of the people pried up the tile that the sound seemed to come from under.


As the dust settled a man shouted to them to help him out. The agreed. A hand came through the opening and in it was the very plate that the professor was holding now.


The man was very excited when he came out of the hole. He was talking about treasure and how he was the only one left of his camping expedition. Everyone got excited but after the man was taken to a hospital he was declared crazy and everyone wrote of his story as the ravings of a mad man. Almost everyone that is.


The government closed up the opening that the campers had found so that no one else could wonder in there accidentally and get lost as the poor man had. They also put the tile back in place at the temple and now no one knew which tile the man had come out of. Everyone except the priest who had opened it. The professor figured that he was probably dead by now though. He had been at least 95 when all of this had happened. That was sad because now there was no way to...


"Indy!" The professor jumped as a man in a suit with graying hair slapped him on the back. "That's a nice looking piece there. Is that the one you wanted to show me?"


"Marcus! Don't do that! I could have dropped this and then years of tracing people and searching the black market would have been lost!"


"Sorry Indy. I thought you heard me come in." Indy waved it off.


"Never mind. Anyway, yes this is the piece." Marcus took it from him and looked it over.


"It looks real enough. The designs match a lot of others that have been found on other Inca objects."


"That's what I thought." They stood there is silence, both looking at the golden dish. "Do you think it can be found Marcus?"


"What?"


"The treasure? The one the man said that he got this from." He waved the plate in front of Marcus's face. Marcus looked skeptical.

"I really don't think so Indy. That was a long time ago..."


"I know," Indy interrupted, "but if it is true then it would be a simple matter to go to the temple, find the right tile and then follow the path that's down there."


"How do you know there's a path?"


"There's got to be. That man got to the temple from an opening that was hundreds of miles away. And think Marcus! Think what kind of objects could be down there. Take this for instance," He held up the plate, "think of this times, times hundreds! Your museum would be the envy of every museum in the world with a collection like that!"


"Yes, it would..." Marcus said thoughtfully. Suddenly his attention snapped back to Indy. "Wait a minute, how would I get these things unless I sent someone after them? I know what your trying to do Indy." Indy just grinned. "You want me to sponsor this crazy adventure when all that might be down there is dust."


"Gold dust." Indy said his eyes sparkling.


"Indy stop it, that's ridicules."


"Is it?"


"Yes, perfectly."


"C'mon Marcus. Have I ever let you down before?"


"Lets see, there was that time you went after those 'Magic Eyeballs' from that statue in India. Then there was that 'rare' book that as it turned out was already in every library on America. And lets not forget the Ark of the Covenant."


"Hey, I found that one! Its not my fault the government stepped in."


"Yes, well still..."


"Marcus, Please! I know I can do it." Marcus looked at him a moment then smiled.


"All right, old chum. I'll see what I can round up."


"Thanks Marcus. I knew I could count on you." Suddenly they heard a noise by the open window. "What was that?" Indy asked. Marcus shrugged and Indy ran to the window to look out. On the lawn people were strolling around. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. He shrugged and turned back to Marcus so they could continue discussing the arrangements for Indy's upcoming adventure.