and the Fires of Atlantis
Featuring: The Lost Goddess
co-authored as a round-robin by: Dusty Fedora and Lost Goddess
Part One:
(LG>)
He hunched close to the wall.
The small brush working in small, measured strokes raised whispy clouds of dust as the torch cast flickering
shadows across his vision and sweat beaded his brow. He removed the old fedora and wiped his forehead with
the battered leather sleeve of his jacket. He gingerly rubbed the sore shoulder and stood to relieve the pressure on
his wounded knee.
"I'm getting too damn old for this," he muttered as he rotated the arm and shoulder.
"Well, is this what you were looking for?" She asked. He turned to face the the stunningly beautiful Redhead
holding the torch.
"It's got to be," he said. "Everything fits." He pulled the small note book from his jacket pocket. She moved the torch closer and peered over his shoulder. "This passageway was the main temple entrance. It should connect to the main chamber but who really knows? Not many Atlantean Temples around to study."
"No, I guess not," she agreed. "But, in the main chamber, we should find the Sacred Armor of the Goddess, right?"
"Let's hope so," he grumbled and rubbed the shoulder again.
While he worked his much abused joints, she took the torch to explore the chamber. Suddenly cast into gloom he
felt uneasy and wondered if snakes ever invaded these levels.
"What's this?" she called from across the darkness. He stumbled and bumped towards the light, stepping lightly
over the shattered stone floor of a narrow passage. Several near falls and curses brought him into the torch light
and a new chamber.
She was facing a stone wall thickly covered in dust. Yet some design showed through, maybe writing or a
border to a painting. The wall was flanked by massive columns rising high into the darkness. He tried to see the
roof but it was lost in inky blackness. Yet something made him look again and he saw a fleeting flicker of red glint in the light. His bad feeling burst into bloom as the blackness above erupted in motion.
"Duck!" He called and threw himself towards the light and the woman holding it.
Bats , hundreds maybe thousands all screeching and seeking the passage out of the chamber where they had
been disturbed. Leathery wings brushed their faces, claws scraped ther necks. The redhead screamed as her
hair was pulled by the fleeing bodies. He tried to cover her with the old jacket as the wave of winged creatures
rolled over them. Finally, the swarm thinned and then was gone.
He was back at the wall holding the torch as she tried in vain to smooth her hair back into its place.
The small brush was working again, uncovering the design ever so carefully. His excitement built as he
discovered a beautiful exotic script carved in the wall face. He once more checked the notebook. There, the
letters were a close match. This was it, The Inner Sanctum entrance.
But something else caught his eye ..higher on the wall at eye level. He began to brush again as she finally gave
up on the hair and stood quietly behind his back.
There was a painting under the dust. He carefully brushed it and two sea green eyes stared at him... so life like
he expected them to blink. He brushed again, a soft curve of cheek, aquline nose, high arched eyebrows. And
red hair.
He turned, looked at the woman, intending to say something, and found himself still looking at the wall. No, that
wasn't right it was her , but....She and the wall looked... He turned back to the wall , back to her. She smiled.
He raised a finger to almost say something and she grabbed him. She pulled him over and down behind one of
the columns. "You ..you .." was all he could sputter as she put a finger to his lips and said "SHHHH."
A faint noise was growing in the narrow passage they had used to enter. Light flickered , shadows approched on
the walls.
Indy reached for the trusty whip secured at his belt and really wished he hadn't lost the gun a while back. The feel of the woman beside him was nice though. Yet she wasn't just a woman was she? He laughed softly as she
cast him a curios glance then snuffed out the torch.
The blackness was broken by the entrance of several uniformed men. All wore the dusty brown of the German
Afrika Corps and after them came a tall and dour Colonel Von Traken dressed in the pure black of the Waffen SS.
"Damn, I am really starting to hate these Nazi guys." He muttered.
(DF>)
While Indiana Jones was no stranger to Nazis, and he hadn't really expected to get through his entire trip to Africa without seeing any, the appearance of Von Traken worried him. Had Der Fuher given up on Christian artifacts? Atlantis was more legend than either the Ark of the Covenant or the Grail, both of which Indy had personally saved from his hateful hands. But, somehow, the Nazis had discovered that this place existed at the same time Dr. Dearborne had hired Indy to find it.
He listened to the doctor's slow breathing in the dark next to him and caught a glimpse of the Nazi torchlight in
her emerald eyes. She was listening to them, of course. Indy cursed himself for not learning at least a little
German whenever he went home. Seemed he always wound up eavesdropping on conversations he couldn't
understand. Dr. Dearborne was a linguistics professor, though. Perhaps he should look into some tutoring when
they got home...
Shouts from the entryway turned everyone's attention to a German soldier running in. His hand shot out from his
chest and with a "Heil Hitler" he reported to the officer in charge. The Nazis beat a hasty retreat outside. Indy had
managed to catch "Jones" in the report and he waited in the black for Dearborne to translate.
"They know we're here. They found your gun."
"How do they know it's MY gun?"
"I don't know. Come on. We don't have much time," she said, walking out from behind the column. Indy lit the
torch with the Zippo in his pocket and joined her as she cleared away more of the dirt on the painting.
No question. That was her on the wall, not an ancestor. So... what? She was a thousands- year old goddess
worshipped by Atlanteans? While she certainly cut a goddess-like figure in that skirt and blouse, the fact- finder
in Dr. Jones held out for another explanation. If she was what he was thinking, why would she need him? Why
would she even be on earth, searching for a suit of armor?
"Dr. Dearborne" had cleared off enough of the mural now to show a life- sized picture of her- or, the goddess-
standing proudly in a suit of sparkling armor made of chain mail and plates. Her right arm was raising a sword
that disappeared up into the dirt above.
She handed Indy the brush and stood back. Indy looked sideways at her.
"So, how do we get in?"
"I don't know. I didn't build it," she said with a smirk.
Indy scanned the wall. The fact that the painting was life- sized had to be a clue. If this was decoration, it would
have to be smaller than whatever it decorated, right? "So the door has to be bigger than us," he finished out loud.
"Stand back." The lady linguist complied. Indy lowered the torch and tossed it up as high as he could. The
light bounced around the chamber as the torch flipped end over end. It never even came close to the ceiling, but
Indy did see what he was looking for. Dearborne saw it, too.
"Big folks, Atlanteans," she said, picking the torch up from where it had fallen.
Indy kept his eyes on the spot where he'd seen the giant ring that served as a door handle. It was about ten feet
off the floor. He uncoiled his whip and let it fly up into the darkness. It stayed there, but something else dropped
onto his hat. Something long and thin- he ducked, dumping the thing on the ground, and jumped back into the
torchlight next to Dr. Dearborne.
She cast the light down onto a sliver of rotted twine. The panic on Indy's face left with a sigh.
"Thought it was a snake..." he said. The redhead arched an eyebrow. Indy cleared his throat and returned to his whip.
He walked his end over to the left hand column and, planting his foot on it, pulled gently on the whip. He
squeezed more strength in gradually, and, finally, felt the big stone doorway give a little. A remarkably quiet
sliding of stone on stone heralded a breeze of long- trapped, stagnant air that blew dust and dirt into the room,
almost blowing the torch out. Dearborne approached the opening as Indy tugged a little more.
"That's enough," she said.
A flick to loosen the bind, and Indy's whip was again being coiled up and snapped into the thong at his side.
Dearborne held the torch out in front of them as they entered the Inner Sanctum.
(LG>)
"Wait ,we better make sure we don't leave any clues behind. But we have to hurry," said Dearborn as she placed the torch in his hand. "Those Germans will be back and with reinforcements." She knelt down and scooped up a hand full of dust from the floor.
"Stand back." With a gentle breath she blew the dust across the painting and right before Indy's eyes it was covered again as if never disturbed.
"Let's go." And she retook the torch and dragged him through the door .
"How did you..." Just then he tripped over something scattered on the floor. It was a gauntlet and over there was a breastplate. Many pieces of armor were scattered around the small circular room in disarray.
"Looks like there was one hell of a big battle in here and these guys lost." He looked up to see that Dr. Dearborn wasn't listening. She was standing transfixed in front of a statue - an exact duplicate of the painting outside , yet so much more. Rendered in three dimensions, it was even more of a striking resemblance and he stared speechless. The statue was dressed in the same armor as the painting too, though not carved in stone, but of a gleaming silver metal that shined in the flickering torchlight. She turned, and for a brief second her head held the same pose.
"What are you looking at?" she asked. He looked into the deep green eyes.
"It's you isn't it?"
She tried to feign amazement "Me .. you mean me ...the Goddess?"
Indy crossed the distance between them in two strides. "Look Dr., I need some answers... what's this all about and why did you hire me to find this place ?"
She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck "Indy, have you gone crazy?"
He looked into the eyes again felt himself falling into them. He wanted to kiss her so badly. .."Ho no, not that again... I fell for that in Casablanca ...not here." He pushed her away.
She put on a defeated look."Well there is no fooling the famous Dr. Jones is there?" Her attention shifted suddenly and he felt the hand close on his shoulder . Instinctively, he whirled and punched .
A surprised yelp and a crash.
Indy looked back at Dearborn who's eyes had grown wide , her hands over her mouth.
"INDY.. what have you done?" She rushed over to Howard, who was laying prone on the stone floor cradling his busted nose.
"Well, he shouldn't sneak up on people..." sputtered Jones. "Besides he was supposed to be watching the horses."
"Thed Germans werd watching them pretty gdd when I leftd."
Dearborn had somehow produced a clean rag and was applying pressure as he leaned his head back. "How the heck did you get past the Germans and in here anyway?"
"Therd an aird shadft up dere ..whend the Germand showedd up I hid thered .. then fell downd and here I am" Indy stared at the writer in amazement. It had taken him hours to find the buried passageway and Mr Robert E. Howard ,pulp writer extrodinare, just fell in a hole and was here.
"I am definitely getting to old for this." He muttered.
Dearborn looked angelic kneeling next to Howard and he wondered if his suspicions were crazy. Could she be an immortal Goddess? He had seen some strange things over the years; why would that be so impossible? A million questions flooded his mind and he needed answers. She looked up and read his expression.
"Ok, You deserve to know whats going on and what will happen if we fail here," she said finally. She walked over to the statue again, letting the torch illuminate the features. "Dr. Jones , what do you know of Atlantis and its destruction?"
Jones was joined by Howard, still rubbing his swelling nose. "Just the usual, Plato described it as a utopian society, very advanced for its time , it was destroyed by an earthquake and volcanic eruption. The whole island sank in three days. There were other myths and half stories of a war between the gods. Some deal with our Lost Goddess here, the matron goddess of the Atlantians. She was a warrior goddess... rivaled Ares himself."
Dearborn turned to face them, a misty look in her eyes. "That is only part of the story, and I think its time I told you the rest. Because the fate of the world depends on us." She wiped off a space and took a seat on the statue's base.
"Long ago Dr Jones when the world was young, and the Egyptians were still playing in the mud of the Nile, Atlantis was a great city. Its golden spires rose above the land in beautiful splendor, a true wonder of the ancient world...now forgotten. The Atlanteans ,tall and handsome, were the envy of all the world and of the gods. Skilled in both magic and science, the Atlantians spread across the world trading and exploring, bringing peace with them. "She drew in a hushed breath. "The Goddess was worshipped and revered by all Atlantians. She was the essence of duality, warrior and peacemaker, science and magic, death and rebirth... But, mainly, she was worshipped because she Lived among the people who loved her.
"Her grandfathers were Vulcan, god of the forge, and Neptune ,god of the eternal seas. Her symbols, the fire and the wave, another duality."
Indy opened his mouth to say something and thought better of it. She continued.
"But not all loved the Goddess. Some worshipped the dark Ares, god of war and conquest. Ares sought to make Atlantis his own and rule the gods. Though the Goddess was ever his equal in the arts of war, there was much strife between the two."
"Excuse me, but what does this have to do with saving the world?" Indy wanted to punch Howard again for asking such a stupid question, but Dearborn continued before he could act.
"A good question, Mr. Howard, and one I am coming to. There was in Atlantis one called Pellias. He was a wizard of Titan blood, ill repute and a disgraced former priest of the Goddess. His arcane experiments were banned and he fled to the hills , where he continued ..."
"Of Titan Blood ?"asked Howard.
"Yes Mr. Howard ,he was of the race of immortal Titans , who ruled this earth before the gods came from the heavens and defeated them. Most were imprisoned in the earth by Father Zeus, but a few escaped or were spared. So Pellias experimented ...and .. and he discovered a power so great even the gods did not posses it. The power that makes the sun burn."
"You Mean Fission ?" asked Indy. "I've heard of experiments at the University... actually trying to rip apart atoms and realease the energy inside them." Her silent nod was answer enough. "So Pellias allied himself with Ares and ..."
"And ..." continued Dearborn. "There was a terrible war, a civil war among the gods with Atlantis caught in the Middle. The final battle took place deep inside the extinct volcano called Vulcan's Forge at the heart of the island of Atlan where Atlantis was located. Goddess and Ares fought to a draw in brutal hand to hand combat." She shuddered and drew a ragged breath. "Pellias ignited his infernal machine, turning on his master , attempting to destroy both War God and Goddess. The Goddess threw herself on the device in a vain effort to stop its workings. The resultant explosion destroyed her physical body, blasting it to scattered atoms. Ares' mind was partially destroyed by the intense waves of radio energy . And Pellias, underestimating the power of his own device died in the resultant eruption of the volcano.
"Vulcans Forge rumbled back to life and burst. Atlan shuddered to its foundations and died in a sea of fire and flooding tidal waves. Ironic, isn?t it? The very symbols of the Goddess, fire and water, destroyed her home. The Goddess somehow survived as a disembodied spirit. The Atlantian survivors scattered across the world and were finally overwhelmed by or intermarried into the native populations . Atlantis was forgotten by the time the Sumeriams built Babylon."
She suddenly stood and turned to the statue. "I needed you Dr. Jones , because I really had no idea where this temple was located. Your reputation is well earned and I couldn't take a chance on someone else." She ran her hand over the breast plate tracing the design of its intricate inlays. "Beautiful ..almost as beautiful as the original..." she muttered as her hand touched the closure at the neck and there was a click which echoed off the stone walls. The left breast swung open to reveal a small cavity. She reached in and removed a tattered scroll. "And this is what we came for..The formula of Pellias the Fire Titan; the power that makes the sun burn. If Hitler gets this .. well he could rule the world with it."
"And that, Freuline, is exactly why we were sent to retrieve it." Dearborn , Howard and Indy all turned at once . The icy German accent seemed to lower the temperature of the room.
"A most entertaining story, Herr Doctor , and one I am sure the Furer will enjoy hearing as well." It was then he noticed the statue. "Mine Gott, the resemblance is uncanny!" He smiled an evil smile "Another surprise for the Furer, not only do I bring him the Atlantian secret, but an actual Atlantian as well. As for you Dr Jones... you have been a thorn in my side long enough. A pity you won't live to trouble me further." He turned to the troops. "Bring the woman with us , and make sure Dr. Jones and Mr. Howard have a nice long time to contemplate their impending demise."
Dearborn was hustled out by the soldiers as Indy and Howard were backed towards the statue.
"What's the plan Jones, gonna punch 'em in the nose ?" whispered Howard.
"Be my guest, Howard, maybe they'll waste a few bullets on you. As for me I got a bad feeling about this..."
(DF>)
Four of the burliest Nazis Indy had ever seen were fanning out around them. Only two of them had guns,
however. Indy and Howard put their hands up. Indy looked to Howard and flicked his eyes toward one of the
gun-toters. Howard looked at him incredulously.
"Did- uh..." Howard stammered. "Didn't he say to give us some time to contemplate our demise?"
"You have had several seconds already, Mr. Howard," said a thick- necked Nazi, cracking his knuckles. How long could it take your short life to pass before your eyes?" The Nazis all laughed in that yes-man stooge way that
they did so well.
Indy used the distraction to work his toe under a long metal object on the floor. He'd need to extend his reach and
kick up a little dirt in the process...
"There's a lot to consider, though," Howard stammered. "My books, my awards, my family..."
"You won't have to consider any of it anymoOOF!"
Indy's foot sank into the Nazi's belly as it came up, tossing the metal object in the air. Indy had underestimated
it's length, however, and this caused it to sail wide and in Howard's direction. Indy uppercut the doubled-over
Nazi and yanked him in front of himself as bullets sprayed the room. His Nazi shield was dead instantly.
A primal scream erupted from Howard at that moment, stopping the gunfire as he tried to cut one of the machine
guns in half with the sword he was now holding. The gun did NOT get cut in half, but the barrel dented sufficiently to ruin it as the Nazi lost his grip on it. The other gun- weilding Nazi turned toward him. Indy dropped his human sheild, grabbed and arced his whip with lightning speed, wrapping it around the barrel. A wide pull caused the ensuing bullet spray to perforate the statue of Dearborne and pull the Nazi down into the dirt. The remaining gunless Nazi and the newly-gunless Nazi stepped to either side of Howard, who was keeping them at bay with wild swings of his weapon.
"Let 'im go," Indy said. He had the only gun now. The Nazi on the ground got up and joined his compatriots with
their hands raised. Howard grinned with excitement and stood next to Indy.
"Well, we effectively turned the tables! Great escape, Dr. Jones."
Indy looked at him. "We're not out of here yet."
Chaclick. Looking back at the Nazis, Indy's heart sank. They were all holding sidearm lugers. Wait- one of those
was HIS gun. Howard dropped the sword. Indy's gun was still pointed at them. He could get all three of them, but not before they got a few shots off... he tried to squeeze the trigger surreptitiously and found that the gun was jammed. He dropped it and raised his hands...
Dearborne was fairing little better. Von Traken, while not being overly unproffessional, was leering at her as she
struggled against the ropes that bound her to her seat in the cramped quarters of the amphibious crawler
vehicle. Indy had said it looked like an eight- wheeled truck with a boat-belly.
"Don't see many redheads in Berlin?" she asked. "Or do I just remind you of your boyfriend?"
Von Traken blanched, but recovered quickly. He chuckled and returned to flipping the unrolled scroll over, trying
to make sense of the Atlantean script.
"Tell me, Doktor. How difficult are you goink to be about translating ze scroll?"
"I won't be able to help you at all, sadly. My goal was to keep it from you, not translate it. Besides, Atlanean is a
dead language."
"But not all Atlanteans are dead... yet. I saw ze statue, Fraulein. For zat matter, I saw you and Doktor Jones in
Casablanca in zat cafe wis de gamblink in back. Ve haf been followink you for some time und ve know who you
are. Und you VILL translate ze scroll."
"Why would I do that? If you know who I am, then you know that threatening to kill me will do you no good."
"Zere are fates much vorse, Fraulein," he said as a twisted grin lapsed into a facial tick. "Much, much vorse..."
After a supervised beating, Indy and Howard were tied to the statue of The Dearborne Goddess and left alone in
the dark, musty chamber. When the sun went down, Atlantis would sink again.
Every five thousand years, there is a perfect alignment of planets and their moons in this galaxy. The ensuing
gravitational pull creates an extremely high tide on the nighttime side of the planet, and an extremely low tide on
the daytime side. This extremely low tide has pulled the ocean back from the African coastline enough to reveal
the crater that was once the volcano known as Vulcan's Forge and the island that surrounded it- the fabled land
of Atlantis. As the tide continued to pull out, the seawater that had occupied Atlantis since the last conjunction
was drained away through pockets created by gas bubbles when the lava cooled over the island as it sank.
These pockets were their passages into Atlantis. Indy and Dearborne had carefully decided which one to use to
get into the temple and Howard had just fallen into one right over...
"Robert," Indy said, ignoring the pain in his swelling jaw. "Robert, wake up!" Indy shook around as much as he
could and kicked Howard in the back of the leg.
The writer groaned his way to conciousness. "Ow... ohhh..."
"Robert, where is the airshaft you fell in?"
"Mmm... up..." Howard spit blood out of his mouth.
"Is it directly above us?"
"No... near the door..."
Indy looked for a ray of sunlight or something, but nothing penetrated the blackness. Except the bubbling... that
gurgling, spritely tinkle of water beginning to trickle in.
"C'mon, Robert, stay with me! I don't know how long we were out, but we've got less than half an hour to get to
that shaft!"
