IJ-12: Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx by Max McCoy

Author:Max McCoy
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Indiana Jones, Action & Adventure, Fiction
ISBN: 9780553561975
Publisher: Bantam
Published: 1999-02-02T05:00:00+00:00

7

CHILDREN OF THE DEVIL

The big silver biplane with the red Standard Oil logo emblazoned on its corrugated sides glided down to within a yard or two of the desert floor. The 360-horsepower Wright radial engine sputtered and died as it sucked the last drop of fuel from the ninety-gallon tank. The big low-pressure tires bounced twice on the hardpan, leaving twin plumes of dust behind, and then there was a jolt as the tail wheel dropped to the deck.

Sitting on the floor of the cargo hold of the PT6 transport, Faye Maskelyne lost her balance and nearly landed in Indy's lap.

"Sorry," she mumbled, suddenly self-conscious.

When the aircraft had rolled to a stop, Mystery unlatched the rear cargo door and jumped down to the ground. Both she and her mother were dressed in khakis they'd purchased two weeks earlier at a bazaar in an unnamed village along the banks of the Indus.

The Iraqi sun blazed overhead, and with the exception of some hazy blue mountains in the north, there was nothing to see except the unforgiving desert.

"Where are we?" Mystery asked.

"Somewhere in the Upper Plain," Indy said as he emerged from the plane with a plank of wood. "Here—position this on the ground, would you?"

Indy mounted one of the two motorcycles in the cargo bay, released the clutch, and rolled it down the board to the ground. Then he returned to the aircraft and did the same thing with the other motorcycle, which had a sidecar attached.

Both motorcycles were red American-made Indians, and both had already been well-used by the time Indy had spent the last of the money to buy them from a trader at the oil company camp in the Pakistani desert the day before. The first motorcycle was a 1929 Indian 4, with four black exhaust pipes exiting on the left side and a broad seat that looked like it belonged on a tractor. The motorcycle with the sidecar was a 1928 Scout. On the sidecar was painted, in English and Arabic, Property of British Geologic Survey.

Faye brought out the food and supplies, which they strapped to the motorcycles and packed into the luggage area of the sidecar. They hung the canvas water bags from the front fenders of the bikes.

Indy and Mystery then hauled out the gasoline, ten cans of which were designated to get the aircraft back to the Indian border. The other eight cans would be strapped to the rears of the motorcycles.

The pilot opened the big triangular glass-paned door and jumped down from the cockpit.

"You cut that a little close, didn't you?" Indy asked.

"This was the first flat spot I could find that wasn't strewn with rocks," the pilot said. "Besides, you said you wanted to get as close to Lalesh as possible. Well, it's about a hundred miles in that direction."

The pilot jerked his thumb over his shoulder to the north.

After they had finished refueling the aircraft, Indy took the map from his satchel and unfolded it on the ground, then placed his compass on it.

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