. Chapter Two: The Dig
Ken knocked on the door for the third time. Kaylie yawned and said,
"You know, I don't think he's here." Then a voice called out,
"Coming!" A female with freckles and messy black hair opened the door. "Can I help you?" Ken asked, "Is Indy home?"
"Yeah, hang on. Indy!" she yelled. "Get out here! There's two kids who want to see you!"
"Kids!" Kaylie said indignantly. "I'm 21!"
"Hey, juniors!" Indy said, combing his short hair back. "We're almost ready, wait here while I get dressed."
"Go?" Marion asked. "Go where?"
"To the dig. I didn't tell you?" She slapped Indy.
"No! You always leave out the important details!" Indy ruefully rubbed his cheek.
"I guess I do." Indy walked back into the house to change. He slipped on his brown leather jacket and his shoes. He then put on his belt and attached his .350 Magnum revolver to it. He grabbed the handle of his whip, coiled around a bar. He yanked hard on it, and it produced a loud cracking sound as he coiled it back and attached it to his belt. On his way out, his hand found his battered old fedora, which he wore everywhere. During an adventure, that hat never left his head. Marion was now dressed, wearing a white shirt with khaki pants.
"Charmingly simple." Indy said, kissing her hand. Marion giggled, then picked up her bag.
"Flatterer. Let's go." Indy swung his satchel over his shoulder and nodded to Kaylie and Ken.
They were all on the plane in a matter of half an hour. Indy sat drinking his Scotch, and looking over the manila folder with the information on the Cross of Kings. It was a perfect opportunity to get this artifact. Perhaps a little too perfect. But that had never stopped him before. Indy was a risk taker, never one to back out. And he was always ready to help out Marcus's museum. But something wasn't right. Ken couldn't have just found the information. Indy had only known a little about the Cross of Kings before he had the file. It bothered him. He leaned over to Kaylie, who was sitting next to him looking out the window.
"Is it just me, or does this seem to perfect?"
"I don't know. This was Ken's idea. I'm just along for the ride." Indy raised his eyebrow.
"If you lived my life, you'd see there is no ride. You're either in or out." Kaylie turned around, facing Indy.
"I've been through a lot, Indiana. But the one thing I need help with from you…is love." Indy laughed.
"Why, you looking for a date? I'm a little old."
"Eww. Not with you." She leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I need help with Ken."
"Oh, so you like him?" Kaylie changed the subject.
"What do guys look for in girls?" Indy thought.
"Looks, charm, humor. It's a fairly basic existence."
"I noticed."
"Let me put it this way. If you wanna win the game, you gotta play. Don't be shy."
"Thanks, Indy." Indy smiled, ruffling her hair fondly.
"No problem, kid. Just ask the old geezer whenever you need help."
"You're not that old yet." Indy grinned lopsidedly, and pulled his fedora over his face.
"It's not the years, honey. It's the mileage." He let sleep overtake him, and he dreamed of women. Typical of men.
Ken woke Indy upon landing, and they all headed to the bottom of the plane to get their stuff. The Appalachian Mountains could be seen in the background. Very fetching. As Ken grabbed his bag, he heard a voice speaking to Indy.
"Hello, Dr. Jones." He looked up to see an attractive short female with brown curly hair and a gentle face. She spoke with what was clearly an American accent, but it sounded out of place in Tennessee.
"And you are?" Ken asked suspiciously.
"Sierra Jackson, Professor of Archaeology at University of Tennessee."
"Convenient." Marion muttered.
"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Ken whispered.
"Are you thinking about what they have to drink here?" Ken rolled his eyes and helped Kaylie get her stuff out.
"Come with me to the dig site. Totally free of charge." Ken was shocked. Stalker, he thought.
"How do you know where we were going? And how do you know us?" Sierra laughed.
"Ken, I know many things about you."
"That's creepy." Ken said to Indy. He turned to Sierra and said, "You're creepy, lady!"
"Yes, yes I am. Now come with me." She beckoned, and Indy mechanically followed. Ken snorted and followed reluctantly. Kaylie leaned over to him and said.
"Why are we doing this again?"
"I don't know. 'Cuz Indy is? I think it's a trap." Kaylie nodded nervously.
Ken had to admit, the air-conditioned car felt better than the hot Tennessee air. Sierra talked about different types of digs and a bunch of archaeology stuff.
"Excuse me, but who's your friend in the driver's seat?" Sierra turned to Ken.
"Oh, this is Rex Goldman, he's an old friend." Ken raised his eyebrow skeptically. Rex didn't say much, he was a large muscular man who clearly could hold his own in a fight. He had a buzz cut on his head, and a had an angry expression on his face.
"The strong, stoic type, huh?"
"What does stoic mean?" Kaylie asked. Sierra giggled.
"More or less. Here we are!" The dig site didn't look like much. There were three tents sitting side by side, and the beginnings of a hole in the ground, with tools scattered around the hole.
"This is the dig site?" Marion said, amazed by how small it was.
"Or the beginnings of one. We have just recently discovered the Cross of Kings, and through careful research, we discovered the location of it."
"Well, who gets the cross?" Kaylie asked. Sierra shrugged.
"Whoever finds it first, my dear girl. Go choose your tents." Ken headed for the middle tent, and Kaylie followed. Ken entered the tent to find nothing except two cots.
"This is really, really weird." Ken set his stuff down on the bed and grabbed the tools on the side. He walked past Kaylie into the hot Tennessee sun and found Indy already jumping into the pit.
"I haven't seen you move that fast in years." Ken commented dryly.
"Hey, maybe you're just getting slower." Indy started to dig out the hole, deliberately dumping the dirt into small piles. Kaylie came out and started to come into the pit, but Indy halted her. "I need you to sort through the piles for anything interesting. We might have missed something." Kaylie nodded and started raking through a medium-sized pile. Sierra and Rex came out and began digging on the opposite side of the hole.
"A little competition never hurts, hey Indy?" Indy stopped chipping, stood up and straightened his back.
"I wouldn't say that, considering my competition almost got Marion and I killed. Speaking of which, where is she?"
"Taking a nap." Kaylie said. "She said she wasn't feeling well." Ken snorted. He was officially in a bad mood.
"Right…." He slammed his pickaxe into the dry ground, wiping sweat off his brow. "Just allergic to work."
"You said it, kid." Indy said, marking off the spot where he was digging. It was going to be a long day…
***
Kaylie was done after about two hours of this. She picked up her tools and went back to the tent to lay down. After all, who wouldn't in this heat? The sounds of the group working outside soon became monotonous, and she fell asleep, content but very, very, hot. She woke up about an hour later when the sounds stopped. It was almost like the sounds had kept her asleep.
She heard someone messing around outside, and figured it was Ken. She smiled as she thought of him. He was kind of cute, in that little brother kind of way. She liked his humor, he was just a nice person to be around. He could make a joke out of almost anything, and he was her size. In a hierarchy based on height, they would both be peasants. It was good to have someone to relate to. She was pulled out of her mindset by the wind blowing, pushing the tent canvas to it's maximum, producing a loud crack. She looked out into the fading sunset and saw Sierra walk by, heading to Indy's tent. There was something about Sierra that Kaylie didn't like, but she couldn't put her finger on what. Kaylie closed her eyes and tried to sleep. As she began to doze, she began to hear soft footsteps, probably Ken's, trying not to wake her. She smiled and said,
"Hey, Ken." She opened her eyes and did not see Ken. Rex was standing there with a strange glint in his eyes. With the speed of a viper, he clamped his hand over her mouth as she tried to scream. Rex pulled out a syringe and inserted it into her throat. "Oh, god." She mumbled as she fell limp, succumbing to the dark world of unconsciousness.
Indy was putting his tools up as Sierra stepped into his tent.
"Got a minute?" she asked, her brown hair blowing with the wind. Indy nodded, then put his hand to his lips, indicating to be quiet, then he pointed to Marion. Sierra stepped inside the tent as Indy sat down on his cot and pulled out his revolver. "Do you think this is ridiculous? I mean, the search?" Indy was lost for words. Sierra had stumped him. He had been grappling with that question for a while.
"I mean…one search is as good as another, but…this doesn't make any sense. Why is an Israeli cross in Tennessee? That just seems ridiculous to me. Something doesn't add up." He opened up a case of cleaning supplies for the gun. He opened the spinner and removed the bullets, then began wiping the slots out with a spotless white cloth. Sierra nodded.
"You are a smart man. You have earned this well." Indy was alert.
"Wait, earned what?" Sierra giggled coyly.
"For a long time, I've been looking for someone like you. With knowledge like yours, and wit, I could live with that."
"Oh no, sister. I've already got my love." He said, looking at a sleeping Marion. Sierra looked pleadingly at him.
"Come on, Indy. Have some fun." She pushed him down onto the bed. Indy cursed under his breath, and tried to find a route of escape. Sierra's hand snaked inside his leather jacket and pulled it apart, revealing a manila folder. "What's this?" she said, opening it. "All the information I've been searching for. You stole it." Indy was flabbergasted.
"I did no such thing!"
"Then who did?" Indy's mind raced as she neared his face. He honestly did not know, and he hoped Ken didn't steal it. "I like a rebel every once in a while." She touched his lips, but Indy fought it. Then he felt the passion behind it, the warmth, and fell in. They held the kiss for what seemed like an eternity, and the Indy heard a groaning sound as Marion rose. He pushed Sierra off of him, trying to rid himself of the evidence. Marion sniffed and walked out of the room.
"Marion! It's not what it looks like!" he called. There was no response. Indy cursed, this time out loud. Sierra laughed.
"Thank you, Indiana." Indy felt rage running hot through his veins, and he unleashed his anger.
"What for? What was it for?"
"Well, I've screwed you. In more ways than one. I've screwed your relationship and your search. I have all the information I need to find the Cross of Kings and use its power." Indy grimaced.
"You have no idea what you are toying with, Sierra." She laughed, and then shook her head.
"Dr., I have been studying the Cross for years. I know full well of its power. And it will be mine. Goodbye, Dr. Jones." Sierra shook her head, flinging the brown hair out of her face and pulled out a syringe. "And one more thing," Sierra said. "My name is not Sierra." She said, the American accent slipping away into broad German. "I am Kristina Belloq."
"Any relation to Belloq who opened the Ark of the Covenant?"
"Daughter. You killed him." She said, anger in her eyes.
"I did not! Idiot killed himself, opening the Ark."
"You could have warned him." She said softly.
"I did." Indy said in a low voice. Indy stood up, ready to fight, but he couldn't bring himself to hit her. Kristina pushed the syringe into his neck, and Indy fell back into sleep, and for once, the brown fedora left his head.