34
'Moorshni'
Indiana Jones saw the mare grazing carefree at the edge of the clearing; oblivious and innocent to the evil, murderous deeds of human cruelty occurring around her.
By her build, and the sleekness of her well groomed, chestnut colored hair and mane, Jones guessed that she was not one of the horses used to pull the wagons, but rather one of the more pampered and valued riding horses.
He just hoped that she was fast.
He'd made his decision about the 'something' that he was going to do.
The archaeologist broke from the edge of the woods and made a life or death dash across the twenty meters of open ground that separated him from the horse. He was counting on the element of surprise to garner him a few crucial seconds of time; seconds that might just make all the difference.
But that was only half of it. He also hoped that his sudden appearance would create enough distraction to stop the executions, even if only for a moment; a moment that might just make the ultimate difference, that between life and death, for Vadoma.
He hoped he hadn't lost his knack for dodging bullets either.
Jones ran as fast as his legs could carry him, and yet it all seemed almost surreal to him; seconds felt like hours, moments became eternities, and time seemed to stand still.
It surprised him that he reached the horse before hearing any rifle reports. But could he hear them anyway? Even sound itself seemed to be frozen in some kind of vacuous void as the archaeologist made his desperate gambit to save the gypsy woman and escape from the evil that had been visited upon this otherwise peaceful alpine meadow.
Jones leaped up on to the back of the animal. She was momentarily startled, and reared up. Indiana Jones gripped tightly to her muscular neck and stroked her ear for a quick second to calm her.
As animals often do, this one seemed to have a sixth sense. It was as if in an instant she recognized her rider, and his purpose. What Jones couldn't know was that her name was Moorshni, which in the Rom language meant "Heroine".
Indiana Jones dug his heels hard into Moorshni's flanks while at the same time he gently pulled on her neck, aiming her nose directly at the line of Nazi executioners. She took off like the wind. Jones then pulled the two Luger pistols from his pockets and opened fire with both barrels as he galloped atop the snorting, charging mare directly at his enemies.
Indeed the surprise and utter audacity of the move had benefited Jones, and only now did his adversaries recover and begin to return fire. It was too late for three of the SS soldiers who were quickly felled by the bullets of their former comrades' weapons now turned against them by the mounted archaeologist. Jones fired continuously, spitting fire and death from the twin barrels of the Lugers at a full gallop. The Nazis returned fire, and a volley of 8 millimeter Mauser bullets cut the air all around Indiana Jones, but the fact that he was a moving target confounded their aim.
Vadoma stood up, "Indy!" she screamed with joy.
A soldier standing in front of the gypsy woman drew a bead on the charging archaeologist. Though Vadoma's hands were bound, her feet were not and she delivered a swift kick to the backside of the soldier, throwing off the otherwise fatal trajectory of his bullet which whistled past Indiana Jones' ear.
The soldier turned on Vadoma with rage in his fanatical, Nazi eyes. He chambered another round, shoved the barrel of the weapon into her chest, and prepared to squeeze the trigger. But before he could do so a Luger pistol round entered his skull behind the left ear and lodged itself in the center of his brain stem causing him to change his mind suddenly.
A moment after that Indiana Jones threw both of his spent weapons to the ground and reached his arm out. At a full gallop he clutched tightly to Moorshni's neck with his right hand and swept Vadoma off of her feet with his left, grabbing her by her shoulders, lifting her up and throwing her onto the horse's back just behind him. Vadoma grasped on to Jones' leather jacket and held on for her life.
Jones rode the horse right through the group of Nazi soldiers knocking several of them to the ground while the gypsies seized upon the opportunity to scatter in all directions, seeking the sanctuary of the thick forest all around.
The SS troops held their fire momentarily for fear of hitting each other while Jones galloped through them. But once through, the remaining soldiers who were still on their feet raised up their weapons again to fire. Jones urged Moorshni into as best a zigzag pattern as he could. Once again 8 millimeter Mauser rounds cut through the air around the archaeologist but did not find their mark.
Behind him the Hauptsturmfuhrer raged; screaming, ranting, and urging his men to kill the mounted rider who had rudely crashed his little Nazi party. But the Hauptsturmfuhrer had made a major military blunder. He had been so intent on murdering innocent people that he had forgotten to leave a guard on his vehicles.
Indiana Jones pulled Moorshni to a stop in front of one of the two armored cars and jumped off, pulling Vadoma down off the animal's back as well.
"Get in and look for the starter!" He shouted loudly as he finished untying her knots.
A bullet struck the steel side panel of the vehicle and ricocheted, "Hurry!" Jones urged her as he saw a line of soldiers charging towards them.
He himself jumped up on to the back of the vehicle and grabbed the twin machine gun mount. The archaeologist swiveled the weapon around even as bullets clanged off the armor plating in front of the gun turret. He jacked the slide back, took aim at the charging Nazi soldiers and squeezed the dual trigger mechanism.
Death spat forth from the twin barrels of the Nazi weapon and in just a few seconds cut down three of the advancing SS men. The others quickly dove down onto the ground or ran for cover.
Jones ceased firing as he heard Vadoma start the engine, and then jumped down into the driver's seat. She eased over to let him take the controls. With a gnashing of gears he got the armored fighting vehicle moving forward.
"You know the terrain here, which way is the lake?!" Jones shouted over the roar of the armored car's powerful Mercedes Benz engine.
Vadoma searched her eyes around for a moment, and then pointed down one of the dirt tracks that led into the woods. Indiana Jones moved through the rest of the gears until he had the machine racing along the road at a speed that was probably far too fast for the winding, undulating forest track.
Behind them the SS soldiers had regrouped. They were stunned at the losses inflicted on them by just one man, and they were seething with vengeance. The Hauptsturmfuhrer jumped into the other of the armored cars accompanied by his driver and the gunner, and sped off after Indiana Jones and the gypsy girl. The rest of the soldiers piled into the back of the truck which followed closely behind.
Ominously for Jones and Vadoma, the Hauptsturmfuhrer picked up his armored vehicle's radio transmitter hand set and spoke in rapid German; the call went out for reinforcements.
Up ahead of them Jones drove wildly through the forest. His foot pounded on the accelerator pedal, squeezing every ounce of speed he could out of the well built, sturdy little machine.
After a series of downhill twists and turns the road widened slightly and opened on to a long, straight stretch. This enabled Jones to get even more speed out of the vehicle. He estimated that they were probably only seven or eight miles from the lake, and if the road conditions continued as they were it would only be about ten more minutes until they reached it; though what they were going to do after that he hadn't yet figured out.
He threw a cautious look back to see how closely his pursuers followed, and was alarmed to see that despite his head start they had gained significant ground on him. Why their vehicle was faster than his Jones didn't know, but he suddenly found himself hoping for more twists and turns in the road ahead.
A moment later he heard the distant crackling fire of the other armored car's machine guns. They were too far out of range, but Jones knew that it wouldn't be too long before they would find it.
A bullet clanged into the back of their car confirming it.
A few miles away at the Luftwaffe base near Immenstadt, the pilot of a Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter plane checked his gun ammunition racks, making sure they were fully loaded. He then climbed up into the cockpit, turned over the aircraft's powerful engine, and taxied down the runway in preparation for take-off.
His orders were simple. Stop the two enemies of the State who now tried to flee towards Lake Constance in a stolen SS armored car.
This one should be easy, he thought, as he hurtled down the runway and lifted the bird up into the sky.
'Moorshni'
Indiana Jones saw the mare grazing carefree at the edge of the clearing; oblivious and innocent to the evil, murderous deeds of human cruelty occurring around her.
By her build, and the sleekness of her well groomed, chestnut colored hair and mane, Jones guessed that she was not one of the horses used to pull the wagons, but rather one of the more pampered and valued riding horses.
He just hoped that she was fast.
He'd made his decision about the 'something' that he was going to do.
The archaeologist broke from the edge of the woods and made a life or death dash across the twenty meters of open ground that separated him from the horse. He was counting on the element of surprise to garner him a few crucial seconds of time; seconds that might just make all the difference.
But that was only half of it. He also hoped that his sudden appearance would create enough distraction to stop the executions, even if only for a moment; a moment that might just make the ultimate difference, that between life and death, for Vadoma.
He hoped he hadn't lost his knack for dodging bullets either.
Jones ran as fast as his legs could carry him, and yet it all seemed almost surreal to him; seconds felt like hours, moments became eternities, and time seemed to stand still.
It surprised him that he reached the horse before hearing any rifle reports. But could he hear them anyway? Even sound itself seemed to be frozen in some kind of vacuous void as the archaeologist made his desperate gambit to save the gypsy woman and escape from the evil that had been visited upon this otherwise peaceful alpine meadow.
Jones leaped up on to the back of the animal. She was momentarily startled, and reared up. Indiana Jones gripped tightly to her muscular neck and stroked her ear for a quick second to calm her.
As animals often do, this one seemed to have a sixth sense. It was as if in an instant she recognized her rider, and his purpose. What Jones couldn't know was that her name was Moorshni, which in the Rom language meant "Heroine".
Indiana Jones dug his heels hard into Moorshni's flanks while at the same time he gently pulled on her neck, aiming her nose directly at the line of Nazi executioners. She took off like the wind. Jones then pulled the two Luger pistols from his pockets and opened fire with both barrels as he galloped atop the snorting, charging mare directly at his enemies.
Indeed the surprise and utter audacity of the move had benefited Jones, and only now did his adversaries recover and begin to return fire. It was too late for three of the SS soldiers who were quickly felled by the bullets of their former comrades' weapons now turned against them by the mounted archaeologist. Jones fired continuously, spitting fire and death from the twin barrels of the Lugers at a full gallop. The Nazis returned fire, and a volley of 8 millimeter Mauser bullets cut the air all around Indiana Jones, but the fact that he was a moving target confounded their aim.
Vadoma stood up, "Indy!" she screamed with joy.
A soldier standing in front of the gypsy woman drew a bead on the charging archaeologist. Though Vadoma's hands were bound, her feet were not and she delivered a swift kick to the backside of the soldier, throwing off the otherwise fatal trajectory of his bullet which whistled past Indiana Jones' ear.
The soldier turned on Vadoma with rage in his fanatical, Nazi eyes. He chambered another round, shoved the barrel of the weapon into her chest, and prepared to squeeze the trigger. But before he could do so a Luger pistol round entered his skull behind the left ear and lodged itself in the center of his brain stem causing him to change his mind suddenly.
A moment after that Indiana Jones threw both of his spent weapons to the ground and reached his arm out. At a full gallop he clutched tightly to Moorshni's neck with his right hand and swept Vadoma off of her feet with his left, grabbing her by her shoulders, lifting her up and throwing her onto the horse's back just behind him. Vadoma grasped on to Jones' leather jacket and held on for her life.
Jones rode the horse right through the group of Nazi soldiers knocking several of them to the ground while the gypsies seized upon the opportunity to scatter in all directions, seeking the sanctuary of the thick forest all around.
The SS troops held their fire momentarily for fear of hitting each other while Jones galloped through them. But once through, the remaining soldiers who were still on their feet raised up their weapons again to fire. Jones urged Moorshni into as best a zigzag pattern as he could. Once again 8 millimeter Mauser rounds cut through the air around the archaeologist but did not find their mark.
Behind him the Hauptsturmfuhrer raged; screaming, ranting, and urging his men to kill the mounted rider who had rudely crashed his little Nazi party. But the Hauptsturmfuhrer had made a major military blunder. He had been so intent on murdering innocent people that he had forgotten to leave a guard on his vehicles.
Indiana Jones pulled Moorshni to a stop in front of one of the two armored cars and jumped off, pulling Vadoma down off the animal's back as well.
"Get in and look for the starter!" He shouted loudly as he finished untying her knots.
A bullet struck the steel side panel of the vehicle and ricocheted, "Hurry!" Jones urged her as he saw a line of soldiers charging towards them.
He himself jumped up on to the back of the vehicle and grabbed the twin machine gun mount. The archaeologist swiveled the weapon around even as bullets clanged off the armor plating in front of the gun turret. He jacked the slide back, took aim at the charging Nazi soldiers and squeezed the dual trigger mechanism.
Death spat forth from the twin barrels of the Nazi weapon and in just a few seconds cut down three of the advancing SS men. The others quickly dove down onto the ground or ran for cover.
Jones ceased firing as he heard Vadoma start the engine, and then jumped down into the driver's seat. She eased over to let him take the controls. With a gnashing of gears he got the armored fighting vehicle moving forward.
"You know the terrain here, which way is the lake?!" Jones shouted over the roar of the armored car's powerful Mercedes Benz engine.
Vadoma searched her eyes around for a moment, and then pointed down one of the dirt tracks that led into the woods. Indiana Jones moved through the rest of the gears until he had the machine racing along the road at a speed that was probably far too fast for the winding, undulating forest track.
Behind them the SS soldiers had regrouped. They were stunned at the losses inflicted on them by just one man, and they were seething with vengeance. The Hauptsturmfuhrer jumped into the other of the armored cars accompanied by his driver and the gunner, and sped off after Indiana Jones and the gypsy girl. The rest of the soldiers piled into the back of the truck which followed closely behind.
Ominously for Jones and Vadoma, the Hauptsturmfuhrer picked up his armored vehicle's radio transmitter hand set and spoke in rapid German; the call went out for reinforcements.
Up ahead of them Jones drove wildly through the forest. His foot pounded on the accelerator pedal, squeezing every ounce of speed he could out of the well built, sturdy little machine.
After a series of downhill twists and turns the road widened slightly and opened on to a long, straight stretch. This enabled Jones to get even more speed out of the vehicle. He estimated that they were probably only seven or eight miles from the lake, and if the road conditions continued as they were it would only be about ten more minutes until they reached it; though what they were going to do after that he hadn't yet figured out.
He threw a cautious look back to see how closely his pursuers followed, and was alarmed to see that despite his head start they had gained significant ground on him. Why their vehicle was faster than his Jones didn't know, but he suddenly found himself hoping for more twists and turns in the road ahead.
A moment later he heard the distant crackling fire of the other armored car's machine guns. They were too far out of range, but Jones knew that it wouldn't be too long before they would find it.
A bullet clanged into the back of their car confirming it.
A few miles away at the Luftwaffe base near Immenstadt, the pilot of a Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter plane checked his gun ammunition racks, making sure they were fully loaded. He then climbed up into the cockpit, turned over the aircraft's powerful engine, and taxied down the runway in preparation for take-off.
His orders were simple. Stop the two enemies of the State who now tried to flee towards Lake Constance in a stolen SS armored car.
This one should be easy, he thought, as he hurtled down the runway and lifted the bird up into the sky.