Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Carts and Bicycles rushed through the streets, delivering people and goods through the city. The smell of foods and animals blended together, creating an unusual, although pleasant scent. Dirt was rising in clouds from underfoot, not being moist enough to become effectively packed. The season seemed unusually dry. Anna stood on the sidewalk, trying to translate a map, or find someone who spoke English, whichever came first. Indy walked up to her and handed her something that resembled a sausage on a stick. She stared at it, and reluctantly took a bite. To her surprise, it was rather tasty. She devoured it; glad for real food, not just peanuts or whatever the heck Picarde had been giving them.

Indy took advantage of her temporary inability to talk. "Follow me, I've got an idea." He led her to a small alleyway in a residential area behind the tiny airport. There sat several vehicles about twenty or so years old, rusted and unused. They walked among the trucks and cars, and found a small motorbike that looked to be from WWII. Indy knelt beside it. It was rusty, but not as bad as some of the others. It was salvageable. After about thirty or so minutes of tinkering and stealing a few spare parts from the other vehicles, along with some gas from an unattended delivery truck, the motorbike was running. Indy hopped on, and gestured for Anna to do the same. She hopped on behind him, and they drove off to the edge of the city.

It didn't take long to find a small trail meandering through the trees. They took it, and continued along it for several hours, hoping to find the temple.

"Okay, I know we've passed that tree before." Anna quipped.

"No, we haven't. All the trees look the same. You're just imagining things."

She scoffed, and stared at the ground whizzing by beneath them. She shrieked. "Ah! Look! My button! I lost that almost an hour ago! See? I told you we were going in circles!" There was no response from Indy. He only kept driving. "Why don't we pull over and ask for directions?"

"I know where I'm going." He said icily. "Besides, who is there to ask? We're miles from the city."

Anna looked around. "We could ask him," she said, pointing to a native who looked to be gathering a kill from a trap.

"No. We don't have time. He probably doesn't speak English anyway. And I'm a bit rusty on my Spanish."

"It wouldn't hurt to try." Anna pointed out. Indy continued to drive the bike along the trail, ignoring Anna's remark. "C'mon, try?" She pleaded. Indy released an aggravated sigh and looped back around to the native.

Indy stepped off of the bike, and made an effort to speak to him. "To…tu…hablas engli—ingles?" He hoped he didn't insult him in anyway.

The native grinned. "Yes. Little. You need help?"

Indy reluctantly nodded his head, and Anna broke in. "We're looking for a temple. Maybe others have been there. Do you know where it is?" she spoke slowly and clearly. The native nodded, and began walking along the trail; in the opposite direction from their initial course. "Told ya." She said, moving to let Indy get back on in front of her.

They followed the man for several miles along a little used trail meandering through the forest. After a while, the path became so overgrown that they were forced to leave the bike behind. Together the three moved cautiously among the trees, where their course opened into a clearing. In the center of the clearing stood a towering Inca pyramid. Its great stairs reached to the very top; their stairway to the heavens. Vines and other forest growth crept up the sides of it, making a home for themselves in the crevices of the stone. At the base of the pyramid were several scattered ruins of other buildings, possibly old markets where small animals could be bought to sacrifice to the gods. Other items such as old pots and a toy here or there rested peacefully on the ground where they have laid for centuries. A stone pathway wondered aimlessly through the ruins, and eventually led to a corridor cut into the pyramid; probably the entrance. Indy stood in awe, remembering the golden days that had been buried so long ago. He grinned, happy to be back. His thoughts were interrupted by an unnatural click from directly behind him.

He whirled, instinctively grabbing his whip and snapping it at the source of the sound. As he did so, the shotgun fired, but it was diverted enough by the whip that the bullet missed him by less than a meter. He recognized the gun's holder to be the youth that had attacked them in his office in the states. He cracked the whip again, whirling it over his head. The boy stood his ground. More of Picarde's crew emerged from the surrounding area. They moved carefully about him, much the way a pride of lions does before the kill. He reached for his revolver tucked away against his right side and fired a warning shot at the closest enemy. The man jumped back in response, and aimed his own gun. Indy dove to the side, knocking Anna over as well.

She regained her footing, and stared in bewilderment at the scene around her. She couldn't move. As much as she wanted to help, or just run and hide, her feet wouldn't budge. She heard Indy shout at her to duck; and she did so without a second thought. She trusted him not to get her killed. That seemed to be her only option at the moment.

Indy swung a hard left hook at the man standing behind Anna as she hid behind the nearest ruin, then he was instantly latched on to by another who had come up at his side. Indy jammed his elbow hard into the man's ribcage, causing him to double over. Indy took advantage of this, and vaulted over him to kick the gun from the boy's hands. He cracked his whip out in front of him to ward off the others.

Anna sprung from her hiding place at the man in front of her, leaping onto his shoulders and pulling him to the ground in the process, then found a club-like branch and hit him over the head. So this is how Mother learned to control those bar fights…

The men seemed to keep coming; as soon as one was down, another came out of nowhere to replace him. The sounds of the snapping whip sounded loud and clear through the otherwise tranquil forest, accompanied by a symphony of gunshots. Anna had now managed to pick up a machete and did her best to fend off any who came her way. She weaved among her enemies, moving closer and closer to Indy with each step.

Indy's whip danced above his head, and struck with the speed of sound. He aimed his hand gun and shot at the youth that had first attacked them, and discovered he was out of ammunition. He noticed Anna holding the machete and shouted at her. When no reply came, he groaned, and swung a punch at the young man. That was for cutting my class! His eyes darted around the area for any form of weapon he could use for close combat. He caught sight of a small table, on which were several more machetes and a couple of pistols. Damn, they're too far away. As he continued to fight, he noticed an archway between himself and the table that still stood, mostly intact. He ducked beneath the youth's fist that was aimed at his jaw, and rolled about ten feet in the direction of the fixture. He was close enough now. Indy leapt to his feet, and cracked his whip at the arch. It obediently wrapped around it, and he swung to the table. Just as he landed, the arch started to give way. Anna noticed this, and sprinted as fast as she could to reach it. She skidded through the dust cloud, and stopped on the other side. The Arch collapsed, creating a smoke screen for the two to escape. Indy grabbed a pistol and they both ran into the temple.

Inside, the walls wore beautiful carvings, intricately woven around the support columns. The floor was made of stone, smoothed and polished. The ceiling was tens of feet tall, stretching to the highest reaches of the temple. Aside from a small altar and several benches, the room was otherwise empty. Off to one side there was a stone door inset into the wall. It was only about four feet in height, and seemed to be added as an afterthought. What was behind it they couldn't be sure. Indy moved toward the altar, and up onto the steps around it.

"Indy, what are you doing?" Anna hissed, moving behind one of the columns, in hopes of finding a hiding place.

Indy slowly circled the altar, examining every crevice. There were no holes or cracks that were purposely put there. There were no booby traps, no darts, no counterweights; nothing. The idol wasn't kept here. It was too valuable and too powerful to be kept in the open. He remembered this from his previous trip.

Anna had found a promising shelter in the form of an overturned table, and had sat behind it. Indy walked over to the little door. "It's in here, somewhere behind it. Look for a lever or a switch; I know there's one here somewhere." He cleared away the edges of the door, and tried to pry his fingers into the crevices. It held fast. Anna rose from her hiding place and started toward him.

"How do you know that? Maybe it's supposed to stay shut."

"I've been here before. This was about as far as I got."

"What are you—OOF!" Anna stumbled over a vine that decided to grow in an awkward loop jutting out of the cracks in the floor. She immediately knew that she was going to lose her balance whether she wanted to or not, and, hoping to retain some dignity, she chose to fall against a pedestal rather than land on the stone tiles. She knocked into it, and it began to give way. Not entirely expecting this, she realized that she was fighting a losing battle with gravity and tumbled to the floor in an unbecoming pile. The little door moved sideways enough to allow Indy through. Anna grunted, and sat up to watch Indy disappear through the little door. "Wait for me!"

"Hurry up then!" Indy called from the darkness.

Anna moaned, and followed, nearly on his heels. She leapt through the doorway, and, to her dismay, discovered the room's lack of a floor. She fell down a short flight of stairs, and barreled into Indy, knocking him over as well.

Indy sat up. "Alright, where did you get your complete lack of coordination? I know I'm not that clumsy."

Anna blew air up at her bangs that hung over her eyes. "Honestly, I have no idea."

Indy half-laughed, remembering his own father in the castle on the Austrian-German border; hitting him over the head with a pot, dropping the lighter thus setting the place on fire, and triggering the dropping stairway with that chair. He also had a sneaking suspicion that the Nazis didn't really shoot the tail off of their plane. "Maybe clumsiness skips a generation."

Anna looked at him curiously, not knowing what he was referring to. He shook his head, and gestured for her to follow him. She stood, using a hook attached to the wall to support her. This inadvertently triggered the device to close the door behind them; which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. As the door closed, Indy stopped, tilted his head skyward and exhaled loudly.

"Shut up. I know." Anna now felt as if she were the cause of all the world's problems. She certainly was the cause of theirs. All she could do was close her eyes tightly and hope she would miraculously become un-jinxed.