702. Chapter 702

After The Squab and the Quail

Episode 5.21

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Even though I don't own Castle, my last supper list does include Kate Beckett. Rating: K Time: See above.

Author's note: This is a sequel to chapters 623 and 632.

"Should I write as Dr. Katherine Beckett, Dr. Katherine Castle or as Dr. Katherine Beckett-Castle?"

Rick Castle pondered the question. "Well, Beckett-Castle makes you sound like you're English. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but you are American. But most of the academic world knows you as Katherine Beckett." He smiled. "You could write as Kate "Idaho" Beckett, world famous archeologist and adventurer."

Kate gave him a mild glare. "I'm writing for the American Institute of Archeology, not some pulp magazine. Our discovery of the first written explanation of the tenets of Buddhism is something the world should know of. I'm hoping if I can finish it and get it on the mail steamer heading to San Francisco, I can get my paper in to the Summer 1925 edition. That way it'll be available when the universities reopen in the fall."

"And we'll be able to leave on time for our next adventure." Castle said, smiling.

"Our next adventure? I wasn't aware we had a next adventure planned. Besides. I don't want adventures. I want a well-founded archeological expedition that will advance human knowledge."

"That doesn't sound like much fun."

"Oh, it's fun you want?" She said, standing up and undoing the buttons on her dress.

The next morning, over breakfast served in their hotel room in Shanghai, China, Rick explained what he had in mind. "The Silk Road ran from China to the Eastern Mediterranean and for thousands of years Chinese silk was sent to the Middle East and to the Mediterranean world beyond. It ran for thousands of miles over vast mountain chains, burning and trackless deserts and all about were bandits and raiders, ever ready to swoop in and rob and kill for the riches."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "I am an archeologist, you know. I have heard of the Silk Road before."

Castle pouted. "I'm just trying to make it exciting for you." He went on before Kate could reply. "They went across the Taklamakan Desert and stopped at oasis cities, but hundreds of years ago, the oases dried up and the cities died. There are dozens of lost cities, now covered by drifting sands just waiting to be excavated."

"And you know about this how?" Kate asked, skeptically.

"Dr. Royce." Castle said softly.

"Royce!" Kate said angrily. "My former professor? The one who sold us out and almost got us killed? The man who let his love of liquor blind him to….to everything? How could you even talk to him?"

He shrugged. "I ran into him in the bar. He's very sorry for what he did. He wants to make it up to you."

"No! I will absolutely have nothing, do you understand, nothing, to do with Michael Royce."

Two months later, deep in the Taklamakan desert….

"I'm really so very sorry, Kate."

"I would really prefer you to call me Dr. Beckett, or Mrs. Castle. Actually, I would prefer that you never talk to me again, Mr. Royce."

Rick came out of their tent to join his wife and their….associate. "I knew these books would come in handy. I found a translation of a report by Memecht Ali Jinnah, the twelfth century Arab traveler about an oasis city. He made a map and took bearings on several of the Pamir mountains, so later travelers could locate the city by triangulation. Look." Castle held the drawing up. "Those are the exact mountains there."

Kate looked at the map, the drawings and then at the mountains. They were almost identical. "We may be a few miles to the north." She said. "And…"She glanced at the calculations the long dead Arab had made. "…A bit to the east."

"He said the city was besieged by desert tribesmen and so the wealthy hid their gold and jewels. However, one of them had a lamp with a powerful djinn in it. The djinn chased the tribesmen away. But then the djinn chased everyone in the city away. The treasure and the djinn should still be there."

Kate smiled at her husband's boyish enthusiasms. "Rick, there are no such things as djinns and most stories of hidden treasures are just that: Stories."

"Yeah, but can't we go look?"

Kate looked around at their current dig, which so far been disappointing. "It's probably better than here."

It took a few days, but after several false starts, they found what looked very much like the remains of a large city.

"Buddhist monasteries with paintings preserved by the desert heat, and an Islamic mosque, and even a Nestorian Christian church. And that must be a caravansary there on the other side of the mosque." Kate said, looking at the map of their dig she had made.

"But no treasure and no djinn." Rick said sadly.

"There's still hope." Kate said, teasingly.

They were interrupted by their Uighur headman, Masud. "Come quickly, we have found something."

They rushed after him to where their workers were standing by a large clay pot. "This is it." Cried Masud.

"A pot?" Castle said, disappointed.

"No, what is in the pot." Masud reached in and removed a massive gold necklace set with diamonds and lapis lazuli.

"It's fascinating." Said Kate.

"It's gorgeous." Castle said with a smile.

"It's valuable." Royce thought.

Kate began examining it at once. "It's Byzantine, I'm sure. Probably it was being sent to China to pay for the silk the Byzantines imported. It's even held together with gold wires, otherwise it would have fallen apart."

Castle took it and put it around Kate's neck. "Perfect."

Kate tried to glare at her husband, but couldn't. "Castle, it's not some bauble. It's an archeological treasure. This belongs in a museum."

He shook his head slowly. "It belongs right where it is."

"We can discuss this later." Then everyone began searching in the area where the pot had been found. However, nothing but sand was found.

In the morning Rick and Kate were woken by Musad calling to them. "Can you come out please? It is very urgent."

Hastily dressing they walked out to face the muzzles of a dozen rifles and a familiar face.

"Herr Joshua von Davidson." Castle said with a smile. "Your army seems to have shrunk since last we met."

Von Davidson smiled nastily. "So it has. On the other hand, you don't have any machine guns with you this time, do you? And by the way, it's Ritter von Davidson. Nobility, you know."

"And where is your friend, de Ming?"

Von Davidson shrugged. "He fell madly in love with a dromedary some weeks ago. He wouldn't leave her. But I came with my men to see you. I hear you found a treasure?"

Rick and Kate turned on Royce. "You betrayed us again?" Kate raged.

"Absolutely not. Now see here, von Davidson. That's a priceless antique. It belongs in a museum and I…"

Von Davidson drew his pistol and fired, knocking Royce down.

"It wasn't Royce, it was me." Said another familiar voice.

"Ulric von Von. You?" Rick said.

"I'm afraid since you ruined my plans the last time we met, I've fallen on hard times. My financial empire collapsed and I barely had enough to bribe a jailer to allow my escape. I had to go to work for von Davidson. But I think things are looking up for me."

Von Davidson sent one of his men, a villainous looking Mongol, into the tent. He came back with the necklace in this hands and handed it to von Davidson. He smiled coldly. "I can buy enough weapons for an army with this. I can become a real power in Central Asia. And then, I can run the British, the French and Americans out of China and out of Asia all together. The world will be ruled as it should be, by Germany."

As he spoke, von Von hummed Deutschland Uber Alles. "Wonderful, Ritter von Davidson, but could I have my share now? I have a Ponzi scheme I need to begin in Shanghai."

"Is there more treasure?" Von Davidson demanded. "Where did they find this?"

"In that old pot by the tent."

Von Davidson walked over and kicked the pot with all of his might. Instead of shattering, the pot rang like a gigantic bell. Then multicolored smoke poured from it. Finally, a huge djinn emerged from the old pot. "Who woke me?" He demanded, in a stern voice.

"I did." Cried von Davidson. "Now you must give me three wishes."

"Wrong. The Djinn union got that stupid rule changed years ago. Now, who ever releases the djinn has to take his place."

"In that case, I lied. It was von Von who woke you." He pointed to the cowering man.

"If you're lying to me…"The djinn roared. Von Davidson and his men ran for their horses and quickly disappeared, leaving the necklace behind.

"Well, I guess if you're the guilty party…" The djinn said. With that, von Von disappeared and in his place was a scantily clad blonde. She walked over to Royce. "Say, you're kind of cute."

Royce looked up at her. "The bastard shot me in my silver flask. My Scotch is all gone."

"You're okay?" Kate said.

"Of course I'm not okay. I haven't got anything to drink."

"I can fix that." The djinn said, holding out a bottle of single malt Scotch whiskey.

Royce smiled at her. "So you like older men?"

"Honey, I just celebrated my seven hundredth birthday." She wiggled her nose and they were gone in a flash.

"We should bury the pot. Really, really deep." Castle said.

"Add several more reallys to that."

And so they dug down until they came to a thick floor from the ancient city. They knocked a small hole in the floor and lowered the pot down by rope, then let the rope fall. Then they sealed the floor and covered it with sand. Unknown to those above, the pot landed on a huge pile of gold coins and rolled to a rotting leather sack of diamonds.

But Rick and Kate were just as happy with what they had: Each other.