by Max McCoy
"That's Loki," Indy whispered disbelievingly, blinking his eyes to make sure of what he saw. "It can't be...."
Tzi tried to block the dog's open jaws by bringing up both arms and twisting his head, but Loki landed in the saddle with Tzi. Razor-sharp fangs dug into the flesh of Tzi's right cheek, while the dog's springing leap knocked the overfed warlord from his chestnut's back. He toppled heavily to the ground, landing with a thud and a groan as blood spewed from his face. Loki backed away snarling, a chunk of bloody tissue dangling from his jaws.
Chang shouted to other warriors as he came at Loki with the gleaming sword, swinging his blade in a deadly arc toward the Alsatian. But the scent of blood triggered a far more frenzied reaction among Tzi's wild dogs. First two, then half a dozen animals jumped on him, tearing at his bleeding wound while the warlord began to kick and scream. More wild dogs landed atop Tzi's fat belly to bite him wherever spilled blood had fallen.
"Good Lord," Granger muttered.
The entire pack charged him now, snapping and yelping in a feeding frenzy. Twenty dogs, then a few more, nipped and chewed upon Tzi's flesh, tearing off his clothing and pieces of skin. Tzi thrashed back and forth on the ground, shrieking with pain, wind-milling his arms and legs. Indy saw Loki trot off a short distance, then the shepherd sat on its haunches and watched while General Tzi was ripped to pieces by his own dogs.
None of the other Mongols came to the general's rescue.
Chang backed his pony away, staring down at the feeding dog pack as he sheathed his sword. A wild dog tore off Tzi's left foot and slunk away to chew on a morsel of flesh and bones. When Chang saw this he shouted to his tribesmen, but because of the din made by so many snarling animals, Indy couldn't hear what he said.
"Good Lord," Granger mouthed again breathlessly. The attack had come so fast he hadn't had time to speak. "That was Loki who knocked General Tzi off his horse, wasn't it?"
"That was him all right." Indy sighed, examining his beloved dog's coat from a distance. "Who needs bullets when you can rely on the loyalty of a dog? I can't remember when I was so glad to have a friend show up."
Wild dogs continued feeding on Tzi's carcass, only now there was no movement from him, save for a jerk or a twist when a dog bit off a hunk of meat, nor were there more of his eerie, bloodcurdling screams. Blood lay everywhere in dark crimson pools, quickly lapped up by smaller canines. A speckled female ripped open Tzi's belly, seeking his internal organs, burying her head inside his rib cage.
More Mongol warriors rode slowly toward Chang, sheathing their swords, lowering their rifles, no longer paying any attention to Granger and Indy.
"They're having some sort of conference," Granger observed. "It must have to do with what they plan to do with us." He put his pistol inside his belt to watch what was going on. "Do you suppose they'll let us go free?"
Loki abandoned the melee and trotted in Indy's direction.
"Damn, what a beautiful sight," Indy said under his breath, ignoring Granger's question, hoping Loki could get to him before Chang or any of the others exacted revenge for what he had done to General Tzi. Indy noticed Loki's limp, and all the old scars covering the dog's body, and a few new scars, and of course the missing ear.
Loki walked up, wagging his tail. A trace of blood remained on the dog's upper lip until a long pink tongue flicked it away.
"I thought you were dead," Indy said as he hugged the dog's neck and stared into the Alsatian's mysterious, almost human blue eyes. Loki made a sound in his throat, a happy noise.
"Good to see you," Indy whispered, then Loki began to pant. "You look like you've been half starved.... What's the matter, can't bring yourself to eat what they feed the others?"
A commotion at the end of the ravine halted Indy's reunion with the dog. Chang, for reasons Indy couldn't understand, began to lead his warriors away. The nomads who just minutes ago had formed a deadly circle around them reined their ponies, starting back in the direction from which they had come, taking their dog packs with them. They rode off in a cloud of pale sandstone dust, leaving Indy and Granger to themselves.
"Why, they aren't going to kill us after all!" Granger exclaimed. Some of Tzi's wild dogs chewed on bits of his dismembered carcass for a moment more, until a tribesman whistled sharply, ending the animals' feeding. One brown cur carried Tzi's bloody severed head toward the ravine, until a spotted dog attacked the brown's flank savagely over the prize. Tzi's fleshless skull now appeared to be grinning as it rolled over the lip of the ravine like a misshapen ball.
"The nomads never wanted us in the first place," Indy said. "It was Tzi and the False Lama who had them under their spell. Now that they're both dead, maybe they'll forget about us."
"Maybe," Granger said. "But I think we just got lucky."
"Yeah," Indy said. "And our luck is a blue-eyed dog."
"We could use a little more luck to retrieve those horses," Granger said. "That was a damn fool idea, letting them go like that. We have to get back to the valley. Our egg is waiting on us."
"It isn't our egg," Indy warned. "It belongs where it is, in the valley. It's too important to history for any disputes over ownership."
"Now hold on a minute!" Granger complained. "You and I saved that egg from certain destruction. We were lucky to get out of this thing alive. It is our egg, and we should take it back to New York."
"It's staying in the valley of the Dune Dwellers, where it is being watched over by somebody with even more claim to it than we have. Get off the ownership crap, Granger. It won't wash with me and you know it."
"How dare you!"
"That egg, and whatever's inside it, belongs in that valley, period."
"I deserve credit for finding it, Jones."
"We all found the eggs, in a manner of speaking." Indy patted Loki's head, not wanting any more senseless argument. He gave the Mongols a final glance as he stood up. "Let's get out of here before they change their minds about feeding us to the dogs."
"This issue isn't settled," Granger said.
Indy gave his friend a steely look.
"No, I don't suppose it is at that," he said. "But we can settle it someplace else... some other time."
"Don't push me on this, Jones. I have every right to claim this discovery and you know it. For all the time I have known you, Jones, I have labored in obscurity while you sucked up the headlines. It's my turn for a little fame and fortune."
"Shut up," Indy told him. "We have some ponies to find."
Neither of them spoke on the long search for the ponies, or even after, during the longer ride back to the ravaged monastery in the Flaming Cliffs. With nowhere to keep the ponies while they entered the mountain, they again let them roam free.
They navigated the dangerous passageway in the dark with as much caution as they could muster, having gone without food or water for two blistering days and as many freezing nights. Indy led the way, walking a few yards in front of Granger across the sheer, narrow ledges. Loki trotted behind, his toenails clicking on the stone passageways.
Finally they emerged at the cavern that was the entrance to the lush valley as morning sunlight paled the skies beyond the towering sandstone peaks.
Indy paused a moment to take in this eerie primordial sight, allowing his eyes to wander across the traces of a Stone Age civilization below: the thatched huts and, farther down, the little shrine they had erected to the egg.
He wondered again if the wisdom of Urga's holy man might not have transcended all modern knowledge when he extracted a promise to protect the beast called allergorhai-horhai. Here, in the heart of Mongolia, awaited living answers to riddles having to do with the dawn of mankind and the end of the dinosaur age.
Indy felt his animosity toward Granger soften.
"It feels like home, doesn't it?" he asked.
"Yes," Granger allowed, "it does."
"Where is everybody?" Indy asked. "I don't see a sign of a living soul."
"That's because they're all down at the shrine," Granger said. "L
ook! I think the entire population is crowded down there. I think we may have arrived just in time, Jones."
Starbuck greeted them warmly outside the shrine. He embraced Indy, but before he could do the same to Granger, the hunter put out his hand.
"Come and see what's happening!" Starbuck exclaimed as he pumped Granger's hand. "The egg is moving. Once in a while we can hear a tapping noise from inside the shell—I believe one of its developing horns is ready to break through. Quite possibly the smaller horn on the tip of its nose develops first to fulfill this purpose."
All of the People were crowded around the shrine, gesturing and talking excitedly in a language that neither Indy nor Granger pretended to understand. Then a young girl dropped to the ground and draped her arms around Loki, followed by several other of the children.
"Where's Joan?" Indy asked.
"She is with the egg, as always, my friend," Starbuck answered. "She sleeps with it and never leaves the shrine. There has been more movement the last two days. It may hatch at any moment."
"I guess they've never seen a dog," Indy said.
"Then we're even," Granger said. "I've never seen a triceratops."
"Where have you two been?" Starbuck asked. "We've been looking for you everywhere. You just seemed to disappear."
"We had some unfinished business to attend to," Indy said, but Starbuck was too excited to ask him to explain. The old man took Indy by the arm and led him through the Stone Age crowd to the center of the shrine.
Loki abandoned the children and followed his master, nosing his way through the tangle of legs and bare feet.
Joan was sitting beside the egg, a notebook in her lap. On the open page of the notebook was a sketch of the egg and the shrine.
"Miss me?" Indy asked.
"You don't know," she said, and looked away. "I didn't expect to see either of you again, alive or otherwise. My father didn't know where you had gone, but I did."
"That's why we didn't tell you," Indy said.
"I thought I would at least rate a good-bye."
"I was afraid you would talk me out of it," Indy said.
"Where's Tzi?" she asked.
"Dead," Indy answered. "Eaten by his own wild dogs. If it hadn't been for Loki, we never would have gotten out alive. He seems almost human. Any other dog couldn't have known what to do to help us."
"Some animals have rather remarkable intelligence." Starbuck reached down to scratch Loki's ear. He drew his hand back when Loki growled. "But then, others are poor judges of character."
Indy laughed.
Joan extended her hand. Loki smelled it, then accepted a few pets from her. "You poor fellow. You look hungry and there are fresh wounds everywhere. But we'll fix you right up—"
A tapping sound interrupted her.
"There!" Starbuck said with great enthusiasm, pointing to the egg with a trembling finger. "Listen to it! The triceratops is almost ready to hatch. It could come at any moment."
Granger pushed past Indy to approach the egg, leaning over it as a soft, irregular tapping continued. "It's alive," he said in a hushed voice. "The damn thing's actually alive. When the world sees this we'll be the most famous explorers on the face of the earth."
Indy pushed his fedora back on his head.
"Let's not count our dinosaurs before they're hatched," he said pleasantly.
"We need to settle this," Granger said.
"You can't be serious about removing it," Starbuck said. "I thought you agreed with me that there are too many risks, taking it out from this valley across hundreds of miles of desert, then a voyage to America. A thousand things could go wrong."
"He's right," Indy said. "Besides, how do you plan getting it past the authorities at Urga? We agreed that they could inspect whatever we took out of the desert? Do you want to give them the greatest find of the century?"
"We can smuggle it out," Granger said.
"Please," Starbuck pleaded. "You can't remove it. There's an outside chance that another living egg exists somewhere inside this valley—perhaps even another living triceratops. If you remove this egg, you will be dooming the species to certain extinction. And if you attempted to smuggle it out of Mongolia, you could end up killing it. What are you going to feed it? Do you know that the triceratops eats those wonderful late Cretaceous blooms that the People hung around your neck upon your arrival? Where are you going to find those on the outside?"
"Even if we had a dead specimen, it would be the most amazing thing the world has seen," Granger said. "I refuse to come back from this expedition empty-handed. Besides, Joan has been studying things here, and she will know how to take care of it on the way back."
"I'm not going back," Joan said.
"What?" Granger asked.
"I'm staying here," she said. "It's where I belong."
"What about your newspaper story?" Granger was incredulous. "Don't you ever want to see that in print?"
"It will be published, eventually." She smiled. "And I'm sure it will be a major story. But now is not the time. And the outside world is not for me."
"Utter nonsense," Granger argued. "You are just enamored of these good-looking bare-butted Stone Age lads. When you tire of them, you'll want to come back."
Joan shook her head.
"Have you all gone insane?" Granger shouted. "The three of you have no right to make a decision like this, keeping an earth-shattering zoological find from the outside world because you feel better qualified to study it in private. It's outrageous. This expedition was commissioned by the museum. Marcus Brody has a stake in this—he financed the whole thing as he has in the past, and what we found belongs to the museum. Brody has to be consulted and I'm quite sure what he'll have to say about it."
"Brody will agree," Indy said, "when I have a chance to explain things in private. And this will remain confidential, Granger, until Professor Starbuck here decides that the time is right."
Granger's eyes narrowed to slits.
"You're trying to cheat me out of the recognition I so richly deserve for leading you here, Jones," he railed. "I won't take it lying down."
He moved toward Indy with his hands doubling into fists.
"What is wrong with him?" Joan asked.
"I don't know," Indy said. "Maybe he's experiencing an aftereffect of that mushroom drink."
"So you think I'm insane, eh?"
"Take it easy, Granger," Indy protested. "Everyone will see to it that you're credited with guiding the expedition. All any of us wants is what is best for whatever is inside that egg. It will be safer here and you know it."
Granger halted a few inches from Indy's chest, his dark eyes flashing with smoldering anger.
"I won't let you take advantage of our friendship, Jones."
"I'm not—"
"I'm in charge of this expedition, if you'll remember, so back off and let me do my job. You have ruined everything you have touched on this journey. The dinosaur goes to New York and I won't let you stop me from taking it."
"Don't do this. You aren't thinking straight."
"There's nothing wrong with my thinking." Granger laughed. "But yours is out of line. Whatever is inside that egg is going back with me, and that's final."
"You aren't leaving me much choice." Indy sighed.
"Whew!" Joan said, attempting to change the subject. She put her arm around Indy's waist so that he wouldn't be able to lunge at Granger. "Is it me, or is it hot in here?"
"It's not the heat," Indy said. "It's the stupidity."
Granger swung a meaty fist toward Indy's jaw so quickly that Joan had no time to get out of the way.
Indy shoved Joan aside as he brought up a forearm to block Granger's heavy blow. Joan tumbled to the floor of the shrine just when Granger's fist landed on the muscle below his elbow. Indy felt sharp pain, wincing before he took a step back.
"You shouldn't have done that," he added in a voice like dry sand.
"To the devil with you, Jones!" Granger shouted, bringing his left fis
t whistling through the air in Indy's direction.
Cat-quick, Indy sidestepped the wild punch and swung a fist into Granger's belly, striking soft flesh that brought a grunt from deep in his throat. Granger's knees buckled momentarily, then he righted himself and reached for his stomach.
Indy threw a left jab, hitting bone above Granger's temple with enough force to crack knuckles, twisting his head violently to one side.
Granger staggered back near the shrine, blinking furiously to clear his addled brain.
"The egg!" Starbuck shouted, rushing toward Granger to block his path.
Granger shook his head, crouching down, his senses returned all at once. He leaped for Indy, looping a dangerous right hook at his opponent's cheek.
"Dammit, Granger!" Indy cried. "You're forcing me to knock some sense into your empty skull."
Granger's fist whispered past Indy's face, off by a mere few whiskers. This gave Indy an opening he hadn't counted on while his adversary was off balance. He drove a fist into Granger's belly again, not wanting to seriously hurt a friend who was, for the moment, out of control.
His punch brought a deeper groan from Granger, who fell back from the force of Indy's knuckles. He stumbled toward the shrine on rubbery legs, reeling back blindly, gasping for air.
"The egg!" Starbuck cried again.
Granger tripped, slamming against a much smaller and lighter Starbuck. Both men tumbled over the cradle that held the egg before they slumped to the dirt floor.
Joan screamed. In the same instant Indy was diving for the egg with arms outstretched. The precious egg teetered on an edge of the shrine, then it rolled off.
As if in slow motion the egg fell into Indy's hands, but the weight of it dropped his knuckles to the stone floor. A cracking sound echoed like thunder in the grotto, a sound that brought a groan of a different kind from Indy and Starbuck.
"It's broken!" Starbuck shrieked.
Joan wailed as though she was in pain.
In the dim light from the lamp, Indy saw the shell split in two places. Fluid leaked into his palms before the egg broke in half near its center. Bits of shell cascaded to the floor. Indy was left holding a sticky, squirming ball of rough skin and armor plate that was so heavy he moaned with effort.
