Chapter 4
Two By Two
Once again, Indiana Jones found himself observing his surroundings. He had already determined that there was no chance of escape at this time but it was always in his nature not to accept things as they came. He was a man of action and hated the feeling of being powerless. However, a heavily-armored train was indeed one of those things that could not be easily broken out of.
The room had no windows, barricaded doors, and three SS guards, one standing right next to him. And to make things even worse, Indy had nothing in his possession that could be used as a weapon.
He sighed. I can't believe it! he thought. The Nazis seem to have everything planned out so well, for once. Someone must have known that me and Betty were eating at that restaurant. There's no way they could have captured me without my trademark stuff and this train must have been prepared in advance for me.
Suddenly, a door at one of the ends was being unlocked. All the guards straightened up as it opened. A man wearing a typical SS officer's uniform—complete with trench coat—entered. A Nazi guard stationed at the door clicked his heels and saluted. The strange man did not seem to notice the guard and walked up to Indy, sitting in a vacant seat across from him. As Indy stared into the man's pasty complexion with thin, grey lips, high cheek bones, and sunken-in fierce blue eyes, he knew he was dealing with the typical, creepy Nazi.
"Doktor Jones," the man said, grinning, "I haff heard so much about you. You do haff quite a reputation in Deutsch. . . I mean, Germany. I never sought I vould haff ze chance to meet you like zis in person, but now here you are."
The man extended a gloved hand. Indy folded his arms.
"What d'you want?" Indy asked bitterly.
The man chuckled and leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs. "You don't haff to be rude. In fact, perhaps if you were more cooperative, ve vould reach our goals sooner."
"Cooperative!" Indy exclaimed. "You know I'll never cooperate with you! Besides, I still don't even know why the hell you guys captured me. What is it that you guys could possibly want?"
The man shook his head. "Really, I'm ze one interrogating you, not ze ozer vay around. Any time zat you may forget zat, I'm certain zat vone of ze guards vould be glad to remind you of your place."
The man gestured to the guard closest to Indy, who in turn gave the world-famous archeologist a fiendish grin.
"But," the interrogator continued, "if you really can't figure out vhy you vere captured, I vill tell you."
"Humor me," Indy said sourly.
"Very vell. Our intelligence has told us zat you haff been vorking on some secret dig site. Vhere is it?"
Indy did not even try to suppress his laughter.
"Doktor Jones," the Nazi sighed, "I hardly find zis to be amusing, considering your situation."
Indy tried to speak, but the laughter was too much. He had to take in a few deep breaths before he was able to respond. "I guess that Nazi intelligence is an oxymoron! Look, there is no secret dig site. Yes, I have been digging, but I've been keeping it quiet because of all the publicity I've been receiving recently."
The man leaned in closer, tilting his head downwards and rolling his eyes upward to keep a demented-looking gaze on Indy. "Ze dig site is in Sveden, is it not?" he said in a frighteningly-calm voice. "Tell me vhere."
Indy's laughter disappeared and countenance became much more serious as the man continued his evil glare.
"I can't believe this," Indy murmured. "Look here, Fritz or Klaus or whoever you are, you Krauts are getting paranoid! There's nothing there except some old pottery shards that I was planning on giving to my friend Marcus for his birthday. It isn't like you're going to find anything there that will enable your Fuehrer to take over the world."
Indy laughed again, but when his interrogator's face remained the same, it died into a nervous chuckled.
Suddenly, the Nazi leaned back in his seat, relaxing his face to an emotionless gaze before up turning his lips into a false smile. "You sink you're so clever, don't you? 'Nazi intelligence is an oxymoron' und 'Fritz or Klaus'. Really, if you vere shmart, you vould not make such comments. You don't even know who I am, do you?"
"I don't care who you are, all you Nazis are the same to me."
"It is not very often you are interrogated by someone who receives orders directly from the Reichsfuehrer himself und who is responsible for your capture!"
"You mean—"
"Yes, I am in charge of zis whole mission. I vas ze vone who gave ze orders for your capture."
"Let me go," Indy demanded through clenched teeth.
"Doktor Jones," the Nazi sighed, "if you refuse to cooperate—"
"Torturing me or killing me won't get you anywhere!"
"Vhat about Betty?"
Indy could feel the blood draining from his face and his whole body suddenly seemed to fall limp. The Nazi's lips formed a large, malicious grin when he realized he had found Indy's vulnerability.
"Don't you dare!" Indy hissed.
"Or you'll do vhat?" the interrogator said mockingly. "Ze girl is of no use to us. She zhust takes up space und eats our food."
Indy took a deep breath, trying to control himself from punching the Nazi right there. "You won't get away with this. I'm well-known in all countries throughout the globe. They'll realize that I'm gone, and when they do, others will be sent after me."
"Is zat suppose to frighten me?" the man asked. "Besides, your friends may never know."
"What do you mean?"
The Nazi reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph.
"Do you recognize zis man?" he asked, handing the picture to Indy.
The archeologist only glanced at the photograph. "Well, that's me, unless this is all some sort of a joke."
The Nazi gave a wry smile, then turned to the back of the room. He addressed the guard by the door in German who responded by clicking his heels and opening the door. A man suddenly walked in. Indy's jaw dropped.
"Doktor Jones," the interrogator said, "meet your counterpart."
The other Indiana Jones, dressed in the whole attire (whip, hat, and all), strolled over to the true Indiana Jones, smiled, and winked.