The Lost Lakes at Agate 

It was a normal day in Luxor , hot and dry. The year (by our reckoning) was 1225 BC and King Ramesses II (aka King Ramesses the Great, aka Ramesses Usermaatra Sepetenra) was in a room off the main court in his summer palace talking to several military scouts who had just returned from several years mapping territories unknown to the west. Their tale was fantastic about a land that existed across a large ocean, of a trek that took two months each way to cross the water and two years to complete.

“I will send a large group west across the water. I want this land under my domain,” said the King. “Prepare a large group to go explore this large area. If it is fertile, we will send hundreds of our people to settle and build a new Egypt .”

So it was to pass that 21 ships, with soldiers, priest, and several learned men prepared and set off thru the Mediterranean, past the large island that would later be known as Gibraltar, and out into the Atlantic .

The trip took a month and a half, four ships were lost, either getting lost in the dark or to storms. The convoy found a delta, most unlike the delta of the Nile , but still familiar to the mariners. They used both oar and sail to go up this large river. There were crocodile like creatures, and the weather was hot, but with much water in the air.

After 2 weeks, they landed, secured a small area to land the ships, and set off west overland to explore the new land. They had many skirmishes with locals who showed no respect for the Gods or the Army of Egypt.

The explorers came to mountains near what would later be near the future city of Denver where they turned back by cold weather and snow. The natives had attacked many times, and the numbers of soldiers was shrinking. Only the use of the Blood Ruby kept the natives at bay. The Priest called a halt at two lakes and the officers formed a circle while a conference took place.

It was decided to hide the sacred objects, and send word of their plight back to the ships so they could bring reinforcements. Two runners were to try to make it through to the ships to carry work of the expedition's situation back to the King. Two identical messages were prepared with the details written on parchment sealed in jars with oil and wax.

The first runner left the camp before dawn. He made it past the circling natives, got back to the ships, and 4 ships set off to return to Egypt at their fastest speed. Two ships made it across the Atlantic, but while in the Mediterranean a storm blew in. The ship with the message sank.

The second runner left camp as the sky was starting to grow light. He ran east less than 3 miles when he had to turn and flee natives. He ran west, and when he got to the base of the great mountains, he turned north looking for a place to hide. Knowing that he had little time to live, he hid the message jar in a crack at the base of a cliff. Then drawing his knife, he turned to face the native warriors and his end.

The diver found the remains of what could only be a wreck. The wreck was very old, probably Egyptian. Very little of the ship remained, and it was covered in mud and sand. A glint caught the diver's eye, and he fanned the slit away to reveal a jar. Carefully the diver cleared around the jar. Bringing it to the surface, he marked where the wreck was found on his chart, weighed anchor, and headed for land with the jar. Professor Belloq would be very interested.

Professor Belloq took the jar into his lab, and after much examination, he opened it. The seal had remained intact, and the message was fantastic. It was from a messenger to Ramesses II and his estimate was that the message was written around 1220 BC. The objects described included an object of power, and several of great value. Belloq made three phone calls, first to Colonel Dietrich, second to a contact at the University of Colorado , and the third to make travel arraignments to Denver , CO .

A sea voyage to Miami , Florida was taken by the six men that formed the core of the group led by Professor Belloq and his German financiers. The Professor had asked COL Detrich to secure a large group of men to help dig and to secure the site. While the group was crossing the ocean, many a cable was exchanged with the men that would meet them in Colorado .

Professor Belloq had no idea where in Colorado the objects were, other than a reference to being about 50 miles east of the mountains and at twin lakes that may or may not still exist. His plans when he got to Colorado was to secure maps and search the areas 50 miles east of the mountains where lakes might have existed about 3000 years ago.

The men took a train from Miami to Denver , with the Professor studying the scrolls and his reference books the whole way.

Professor Jones was attending a conference of Egyptologists at the University of Colorado , the time was April of 1935, and the conference was boring repeat of debates between learned men who never ventured out of their safe seats into the field to explore on their own.

A grad student, Rick Weber, brought a very old jar that looked like 19 th Dynasty Egyptian to Indy. After examination, Indy used a small knife to unseal the jar, inside was a perfectly preserved scroll. The scroll was carefully opened and the message described a journey across what could only be the Atlantic to North America , and about the plight of the explorers, and abut where the sacred objects were hidden.

“No Egyptians ever came to North America ; this is a fraud, but a very good one. It looks like it is from the 19 th Dynasty, somewhere around 1250 to 1220 BC and is addressed to Ramesses II. Still, let us send this jar and the message to the lab for more examination.” Professor Jones then returned to the conference.

The lab, and examinations by resident Egyptologist confirmed the scrolls to be authentic. Indy then went to the courthouse and compared the description of where the scroll described and where it might be in modern time. He was excited by the implications, and the location of the last camp has to be within 70 miles of where Indy was standing.

Then he called on a group of men to help dig, and was joined by most of the archeology students at the college for a weekend dig out near the rural town of Agate , CO.

Professor Belloq was in Denver and frustrated with the process of securing transportation for the group when he saw several men walking across the street and getting into cars. The figure of Indiana Jones was at the head of the group.

“Great,” said Rene, “Professor Jones can do the hard work and we will just follow him and take the objects when he finds them. Although I do not know how he found out about the objects, I thought we had the only scroll from the Ramesses expedition.”

Rene Belloq and COL Detrich followed Indiana out to where a dig was being set up. From a hilltop almost a mile away from the camp where Professor Jones' group stopped, the two men surveyed the scene.

“Colonel, we will establish a camp 400 meters away from Professor Jones and start our own exploration. Bring our men and let us set up camp.”

“Won't there be trouble?” asked the German officer.

Are you afraid, Colonel?”

So begins the adventure to be known as the Lost Lakes of Agate, where the two rivals are again pitted against each other in a race for a treasure from the ancient past.

Study your Egyptian Gods and Hieroglyphs, and forget the Greek translations. Ancient Egypt is the language, and instead of words, reinforce your augments with .68 paintballs.