Indy and the Amazonian Shroud (Part 4)

A bolt of lightning shot from the sky and then a phone booth just appeared in the middle of the street, surrounded by smoke, scaring away children and receiving hexes from the old timers sitting outside a local watering hole. Indy, Rufus and Rick stepped out of the booth. Rick immediately bent over and started to retch.

"Rufus, what the hell man! You tell me to hold on and then just take off?! Not cool!"

Rufus and Indy laughed, even though (or actually because) Indy had literally had the same exact thought not even an hour earlier when they were leaving his home. Rick stood up, pulled another beer off his six pack, cracked it open and took a big swig. "Nice teleportation trick, Now what?"

"Rufus, I assume we're somewhere in South America?" Indy surmised based on the temperature, humidity and plants that he could see through the smoke that was clearing.

"Yes, we are in Manaus, Brazil."

Indy knew this city before, he had been here before, decades ago, during his battles with Rene Belloq. Suddenly memories of his past came flooding into reality. He thought often of those times, but remembered them like stories in a book, not times and places and people in his own life, not like things that he had done, but now he was in a city that he had been in nearly 30 years earlier during the height of his adventures. This realization and the kick of reality it brought to him was like a dose of adrenaline. Up until now he had been going along but felt led. Now he was starting to feel like himself again and the fire in his eyes was starting to smolder again.

Rick, was having similar feelings. The trip in the phone booth and landing in this distant land was reminding him of all the magical and unbelievable things he had witnessed in his days fighting mummies and egyptian demigods. Rick was excited about something for the first time in a very long time.

"Let's go sit in that dining establishment and discuss our plans, shall we?" Rufus suggested.

"Sure, that seems reasonable" Indy replied.

They went and found a table in the cantina.

"So, what the hell are we doing?" Rick asked.

"Now you're interested." Indy jabbed, but more for fun and less from annoyance. This adventure had already started to change his opinion of Rick which kinda scared him, but also made him feel less alone.

"So, as I've explained to Indy, we're here to retrieve the Shroud of Turin." Rufus began and then proceeded to explain the situation to Rick. Rick was not nearly as incredulous as Indy and only asked questions to gain clarification, not to find flaws. Indy was envious of this almost childlike belief and untamed excitement for adventure.

"Well, the only problem is that we have no idea where to find this abandoned temple. We know it's approximate location in the Amazon, but, even with the best equipment it could take months to find it. I mean, this would be a major archeological discovery, those don't just fall into your lap." Indy couldn't help but find the problem in the plan.

"Time shouldn't matter, let's just take however long it takes and then use the booth to bring it back to right after the Christmas robot guy kills baby Ted?" Rick replied.

"If only we could do that, but the Shroud cannot be carried through the Circuits of Time, because it is a holy relic of God, and cannot be transported through time which is totally bogus." Rufus responded.

"So, we have to fly it out of here once we find it?"

"Yes, and the travel will take at least a week, so we are running low on time to find it."

Just then a young man, likely in his 20s or 30s walked up to their table. "Hello gentlemen, My name is Paul Serone and I couldn't help hearing parts of your conversation." Indy looks at Rick annoyed, knowing that anyone in the city would have heard Rick, for his lack of discretion. Rick looks back apologetic. "I know of a lost temple deep in the rain forest, along the river, it may just be the one you are looking for."

"Thanks kid, but explorers and archeologists have been looking for this temple for centuries and never found it. I'm sure you know of some temples out there, but none that haven't been discovered already." Indy replied.

"Well, I can see why you'd doubt me, but this temple has not just been lost, it's been hidden by the natives and the land. The locals believe it contains a magic that would grant the bearer immortality and they don't want that falling into the hands of modern men. They know me, and know I am only here to seek one thing, and that one thing is not immortality, this is why they have not feared to show me the temple. Once while I was out on the river, a horrible storm came in and I was knocked unconscious. The natives had been watching me and took me back to the temple for shelter."

"What is that one thing?"

"The giant Anaconda."

"Yeah, I don't really like snakes, so hopefully we don't find any on this journey." Indy said, visibly uncomfortable at the idea of a giant anaconda.

Having no other options, and after he told them he had a boat, Indy and Rick agreed to let Paul guide them.

"This is where I leave you gentlemen, good luck, the future depends on you. I'll meet you back here in two weeks, at which point you'll need to be ready to make the trip to Beirut via traditional means, but before that, Indy, you'll need to go back and convince yourself to come on the trip. Be excellent to each other." Rufus waited for their response and then remembered that they were not from his time, so he finished. "and party on dudes."

"Umm, ok, see you in a couple weeks." Indy replied.

"See ya Rufus, and thanks for thinking of me to do this, and uh, party on to you too!" Rick said with genuine gratitude, and then switched his focus, "hey Paul, before we go, where can I get some cervezas for the trip?"

"I have plenty on board, don't worry!" Paul laughed.

At that, Rufus entered the phone booth, shut the doors and with a flash was gone.

"Alright, Paul, let's see this boat of yours." Indy said. He was itching to start the journey. He was scared that he might not still have what it took, physically or mentally, but he knew he had to try and standing around waiting to get going was just messing with his nerves.

"Right this way, gentlemen." Paul led them to a small dock on the Amazon. The boat was old and worn out and Indy didn't think it looked seaworthy, but Rick assured him that if there was beer on board, it was a fine boat. And then, more seriously, Paul explained that, despite its appearance, the boat was actually in great mechanical shape and that he took it up and down the river regularly and that he was proud to say it never leaked and the engine had never seized up.

Knowing he was too far in to now back out over the condition of the boat, Indy acquiesced. They boarded the boat, Paul fired up the engine, which sputtered, but did not seize up, and they headed down the river into the jungle, into adventure, and into the unknown.