Angel of Darkness: Resurrection
.... and upon the Earth bred a curse, an abomination of shadow.

story by Roger Pederson
this story takes place after the events in "Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness"

Part 2

Chapter Four 

When she arrived in Paris, Lara contacted Louis Bouchard. Not exactly one of her favorite people in the world! But he was a man involved in some very dark dealings in the Parisian underworld, and she was interested in knowing of the whereabouts of Dr. Grant Muller. 

Lara checked in at her hotel, after leaving word with some local neer-do-wells of her wish to see Bouchard. She paid them well, so what did they care? It was her funeral.

That evening, there was a knock on her door. Lara spied through the peep hole and pulled out a small pistol she had bought from some locals. She opened the door. 

Bouchard: "You understand my reluctance at coming here, no?"

Lara: "Hello, Louis."

Bouchard: "The last time we met, you threatened to kill me."

Lara: "If I recall, you hired a hit man to kill me before that."

Bouchard: "We all make mistakes. What is it you need?"

Lara: "Information."

Bouchard: "That's all?"

Lara: "I need to know if you have any idea of the current whereabouts of a Dr. Grant Muller."

Bouchard: "Muller?"

Lara: "He was one of the Cabal's top scientists."

Silence, ..... as Bouchard stroked his jaw.

Lara: "Alright, Bouchard. How much?" 

Bouchard: "For you, a mere ten thousand euros." 

Lara: "What?!"

Bouchard: "But, .... it may take time."

Lara: "Just don't take too long. Remember, ..... I have a nasty temper."

Bouchard: "I will, as you say, .... stay in touch."

He left the room and Lara locked the door behind him. Nothing to do now but wait. It was late so she decided to turn in. That night, Lara suffered through another nightmare .........

Lara: "But why? You worked for him!" 

Karel: "No, unknowingly he worked for me, but his usefulness was ended." 

Lara: "Will you destroy his work?" 

Karel: "Of course not. The Great Work will be finished. I'm offering you the chance to become part of a benign new order in the world." 

Lara: "You are kidding! Right!" 

Karel: "We Nephilim have only been trying to survive." 

Lara: 'Too many people have died for me to trust you. Including a good friend, Von Croy." 

Karel: "He was an unfortunate victim of history, Lara. Eckhardt was stupid to have killed him. I have helped you all along, both here and in Paris. You can trust me, Lara Croft."

Lara: "You killed Von Croy!" 

Karel: "Stupid mortal! So be it!"

Again, she awoke in the middle of the night, startled and drenched in sweat. She splashed some cold water on her face and went back to bed. 

The morning sun shone brightly through the sheer drapes over the windows in her room. Lara arose from bed and grabbed a quick shower, then dressed. Before she left the hotel, she stopped at the main desk and asked that anyone who might come by to see her leave a message with the manager.

Lara took a cab to the northeastern portion of Paris and the Rue de Repos to the Cemetery of Père-Lachaise. The cemetery was affectionately called "la cité des morts" .... the city of the dead .... by Parisians.Many great figures from the past have their resting place there, including Proust, Colette, .... even Chopin and Oscar Wilde.

She wanted to pay her respects at the grave of Mademoiselle Margot Carvier. Carvier had long been a colleague and friend of Louvre Galleries in Paris at the time Lara was last there. She too, had been a victim of the Monstrum after a conversation between her and Lara. A conversation that helped Lara retrieve Werner's journal. 

On Carvier's tombstone, below her name and the date of her birth/death was inscribed in Latin: ""Memento tibi ipsi credere semper et diem carpere". Quite simply, it meant "Never forget to believe in yourself and to seize the day". 

"Come here often, Mademoiselle Croft?"

Lara: "Bouchard. I didn't expect to see you so soon, ..... especially not in the daylight."

Bouchard: "I must confess, I had already heard of Muller having been set up again in Chechnya."

He handed her a slip of paper.

Bouchard: "You will find him at this place. You can contact an associate of mine there. You have my money?"

Lara: "I don't walk around with ten thousand euros."

Bouchard: "You can leave it for me to pick up at your hotel."

Lara: "You trust me?"

Bouchard: "Let us say that I owe you that much." 

Lara finally looked over at Bouchard as he walked away. She knew that he had held no particular loyalty to either Eckhardt or the Cabal. She looked back at the grave, then glanced at the paper. Now, she thought, ..... now I must finish this! She turned and made her way back to the hotel. Lara arranged to leave the money Bouchard had asked for in the hotel vault. She then packed and left for the airport after contacting Bryce and Henry. 

Once in Prague, she immediately contacted Luddick's lawyer friend at his office.

Lara: "Hello, .... I'm Lara Croft. We had a mutual aquaintance, ..... Thomas Luddick. I believe you spoke with an associate of mine about Mr. Luddick's notes on the Cabal?"

Lawyer: [extending his hand] "Alexy Yelkem. Yes, I did speak with someone about that."

Lara: "I hope he told you that you would be rewarded handsomely?"

Alexy: "He did, yes. Does this have anything to do with the people who have been reported missing in Chechnya?"

Lara: "Yes, it does."

Alexy: [getting up and walking over to his file cabinet] "I have his notes here."

Lara: "I'd like to examine them first, of course."

Alexy: "Of course." 

He hands her a copy of Luddick's notes and Lara quickly looks them over.

Lara: "Right, well, everything seems to be in order. This is for you." [she hands him a thick envelope and stands up] "Thank you so much for your time."

Alexy: "You are quite welcome." 

Lara leaves and the lawyer opens the envelope, smiling at what he finds. She enters a waiting car outside and returns to the airport.

Chapter Five - Chechnya 

Lara carefully studied Luddick's notes while she was on her flight to Chechnya. He called the Cabal an inscrutable organizations that, operated from the shadows (much, Lara thought, like the Illuminati). They manipulated events for their own unfathomable purposes. He had reason to believe that they were based in the Strahov fortress, the Mafia center of operations in Prague. Luddick wrote that Mathias Vasiley had been silenced by the Mafia and the evidence was taken to the Strahov. 

He wrote more about Eckhardt and the other major players in the scheme. The Cabal is so dangerous and powerful, Luddick continued, that it used the Mafia as a front for its activities. She read on ...............

When she arrived, after presenting her passport to the authorities, Lara contacted an associate of Bouchard's, ......Vasily Koskoff. He approached her at the back booth of a small cafe near her hotel. 

Koskoff: "Lara Croft?"

Lara: "Koskoff?"

He sat down. They spoke quietly.

Koskoff: "You are looking for ... 'colleagues' ... of mine, yes?"

Lara: "Yes, .... but first I need to make a purchase."

Koskoff: "Bouchard told me you may need this." He slid a package to her under the table.

Lara: "I hope this is enough." She slid a fat envelope across the table to him. He looked inside.

Koskoff: "Da, this is good. For the package. The information will cost another seven thousand."

Lara: "Done. I'm looking for a man named Muller, .... Dr. Grant Muller."

Koskoff: "Why do you search for this man?"

Lara: "Not that it's any concern of yours, but he helped murder a good friend of mine. I intend to see that he pays for it. Bouchard gave me this address, I was hoping you could tell me best how to get there." 

She slid a small slip of paper across the table. He looked at it and closed his eyes..

Koskoff: "No one goes to this place and returns alive. Look around you. Once, the streets were busy ..... even at night. Now, our people remain in their homes in fear, ... not of the rebels ..... but of something else.."

Lara: "I have no choice in the matter, ...... I must go there. Besides, if I'm successful, .... you're people will no longer live in fear."

Koskoff: "As you wish. See those two men at the door?"

Lara: "Yes."

Koskoff: "They are with me. They will come to your room tonight at midnight for my money. They will then guide you part way to your destination."

Lara: "Part way?"

Koskoff: "As I said, ... no one has ever returned from this place alive."

Lara: "Until tonight then."

Koskoff got up and left. Lara waited a few minutes, calmly fiinished her tea, then picked up her package and left for the hotel. When she got back to her room, she opened the package Koskoff had given her and found a pair of H&K 9mm guns with ammo and holsters. She also found some C-4 plastic explosive and timers, along with five flash bang grenades. She opened her suitcase and retreived the items she would need. Her "work" clothes, backpack with medical kit, a small flashlight, rope, grappling hooks, compass and night-vision goggles. 

She called the local embassy and arranged to have Koskoff's payment brought to her room. Once that had arrived, all Lara needed was some sleep before later that night. She set her alarm clock for eleven-fifteen.

She woke up later that evening and began to get ready. Fortunately, Henry had packed a loose-fitting dress that Lara could slip on over her "outfit". After all, she could hardly walk out of the hotel with a pair of guns seen strapped to her hips!

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Lara looked through the peep hole. It was Koskoff's men, but she took no chances and held a gun behind her back as she opened the door.

"Koskoff sent us. I am Dimitri, this is Ivan. You have money for us, yes?"

Lara: "Here."

Dimitri opened the bag she handed him and counted the money as Lara smiled and winked at Ivan, .... who simply stood there stone-faced. Dimitri then nodded to Ivan and closed the bag. 

Dimitri: "We go now."

Lara grabbed her backpack and left with the two men. Once outside the hotel, they got into a discreet car and drove off. Lara sat in the back seat. She undid her dress and placed it in her backpack, as Dimitri watched from the rear view mirror. 

Lara: "Eyes on the road please."

It was a very dark night, overcast, with no moon whatsoever. After traveling several miles outside of the city and into a mountainous region, they pulled off the road and stopped. 

Dimitri: "We can go no further."

Lara: "Interesting. And where do I go from here?"

Dimitri: "There is fortress in mountain range. No one goes there."

Lara: "Yes, I got that before."

Dimitri: "You have compass?"

Lara: "Yes."

Dimitri: "Go east from here, ..... you will come to area after five or six kilometers."

Lara: "Really? Five or six kilometers?" [pointing to Ivan] "Just out of curiousity, ... does he ever speak?"

Utter silence.

Lara: [smiles] "Right."

She got out of the car and closed the door, speaking to Dimitri once more.

Lara: "I don't suppose you boys will be waiting here for me when I get back?"

The car turns around and drives off.

Lara: [sighs] "Didn't think so."

She walked over to a large tree, got out her compass and flashlight to check her position. East. She turned off the flashlight, put on her night-vision goggles, and started walking. She was near the Caucasus Mountains. 

Not a bad location choice, Lara thought to herself. Chechnya was surrounded on nearly all sides by Russian Federal territory. And with the collapse of the former Soviet Union, an independence movement was formed. The Russian Federation argued that Chechnya was a part of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic and therefore had no right under the Soviet constitution to secede. The foregoing position was held by several successive Russian governments. 

In the ensuing decade, the territory had been locked in an ongoing struggle between various factions, usually fighting unconventionally. Lara knew that various demographic factors, including religious ones, had continued to keep the area in a near constant state of war. 

Aslan Maskhadov had been elected in an internationally monitored election in 1997 for four years. Maskhadov faced accusations of terrorist offences in Russia. Lara heard that Maskhadov left Grozny and had moved to the separatist-controlled areas of the south at the onset of the Second Chechen War. He was unable to influence a number of warlords who still retain effective control over Chechen territory, and his power was diminished as a result. Russian forces killed Maskhadov in 2005. 

England. Zakayev and others chose Abdul Khalim Saidullayev, a relatively unknown Islamic judge to replace Maskhadov following his death. In 2006, it was reported that Russian special forces killed Saidullayev in a raid in the Chechen town of Argun. Lara couldn't help but think that this was the perfect hiding ground for someone who did not wish to be found, .... espercially members of the Cabal.

Currently, it's sole purpose was to use their power to revive the ancient Nephilim race through cloning the DNA that lie dormant from the last surviving "Sleeper". With Eckhardt and Karel gone now, the task fell to Marten Gunderson as a senior member of the Cabal. Gunderson had previously been a mere provider of forces for Ekhardt. But now, he was in charge of all operations. Including the revival of the Nephilim!

Lara glanced at her watch and compass as she came to a steep upgrade at the mountain's edge. She carefully made her way up. Once she reached the top, she came to the edge of a cliff. She got out her rope and harness, securing the rope to a strong tree. Once hooked up, Lara repeled down the side to the ravine below.

When she touched ground, she removed the harness. She saw something strange among the trees up ahead. Lara switched her night-vision goggles to pick up infra-red. Lasers! Motion detectors no doubt. They were low enough to pick up anything taller than five feet, yet high enough that they would not be set off by every small animal that came by. She also had to watch out for the cameras here. She was close now. 

Chapter Six - Infiltration 

Lara took off her goggles and got out her binoculars. Switching to night-vision, she looked ahead about 500 meters or so and spotted two guards at what appeared to be the main entrance. She looked around and spotted security cameras at key positions. 

She put her binoculars away and slipped her goggles (infra-red mode) back on. Lara then carefully, quietly, made her way in that direction, ..... deftly passing under the motion detection lasers she came upon, and staying out of sight of the security cameras. Rumbling. The sound of a truck coming down the road. Suddenly, the lasers switched off as the truck approached the main gate. She moved quickly, again staying out of sight of both the guards and the security cameras. 

Watching quietly from the bushes next to the stopped truck, Lara patiently waited for just the right moment. The guards checked the under carraige of the truck with mirrors. Once they saw it was clear, they walked around to tell the driver to pull on through. 

She then rolled quickly and quietly under the truck and grabbed hold of its frame, pulling herself off the ground. Once inside the main gate, the truck pulled inside a warehouse and parked. The trucks occupants got out and began unloading. When all was quiet and she could see no one around, she rolled out from under the truck against the cool brick wall of the loading dock. 

Lara crouched, peeking over the edge of the dock to see three men enter the warehouse. One guard remained. She also had to look out for the security camera which panned back and forth across the dock. She waited until the camera began to pan in the direction away from her. When the camera was off the guard, she quickly moved in behind him .... snapping his neck and tossing him to the ground, out of sight of the camera. She took his jumpsuit, head gear, goggles and passcard then dropped him into the dumpster and closed the lid. She gathered up his automatic weapon with silencer. 

Lara slipped his jumpsuit, headgear and goggles on and slid the guards passcard through the slot, opening the door. She stood on a high grating. It was a large warehouse filled with stacks of large containers. Security cameras were everywhere, armed with automatic weapons locking in on any unauthorized movement no doubt. She made her way down the stairs, trying not to draw any undue attention to herself. 

Walking across the area below, she came to a storeroom in the far southeast corner. She entered. Lara spotted a grating in the far corner, above her. She jumped up, pulled it off, then jumped back up and tucked it inside the shaft. Listening at the door to make certain no one was coming, shen lept and pulled herself inside. She then grabbed the lid and pulled it back on so that no one would notice. 

Quietly she crawled through the ventilation duct. She came to a fork up ahead. Continue straight or go left? She stopped. There were voices, ..... coming from the left. She headed that way and came to another grating, stopping just before she reached it and listened. She heard a man's voice. 

"It shall be decreed, by our supreme authority, what must be believed by all. From this, all will know that this new Council is possessed of rights altogether more powerful and more valid than the authority of anyone! We will hold the key to immortality itself. And no one will stop us!" 

"But, ..... we have yet to learn how to truly control the Nephilim once we have restored them." 

Lara recognized the second voice. It was Muller! Her worst fears had just been substantiated.

"Then I suggest you return to your lab, doctor." She heard footsteps leave the room. Lara then quietly backed up to the fork in the ventilation duct and went in the other direction. After crawling some fifty meters or so, she came to another grate. She looked below and saw nothing but shelving and storage lockers below her. 

Lara dropped down into another storeroom. There was a small window on the door. She waited until the guard pacing in the outer hallway walked past. Exiting the room, she snuck up from behind and knocked him out. Dragging him into the storeroom, Lara then tied him up securely and took his keycode card. Breaking out the smelling salts, she slowly brought him around.

Lara: "Hello there, ....... want to stay alive?" [holding a knife to his throat] "I suggest you speak and speak softly! I have no qualms about killing you, especially considering what you blighters are doing here."

Guard: "You ........ you won't kill me." 

Lara: "Really? Are you willing to bet your life on that? ....... Is your life really worth whatever they're paying you?" 

Silence. 

Lara: "Right. ......... Now, where do I find Muller and his lab?"

Guard: [pause] "The lab is downstairs, ..... his office is at the end of the hallway. But you can't get in without the keycode." 

Lara: [smiles] "You mean this?" [holding up the keycode card she had taken from him] 

She knocked him out, then taped his mouth shut. 

Lara: "Idiot." 

Exiting carefully into the hallway, Lara made her way to the far end. Looking in through the small window, she saw that no one was in the room. She slid the card through the slot and entered the now open door to Muller's office. 

This was it. This would be one of the main computers that Muller worked on. She walked over to his desk and saw from the way it was hooked up that it was connected to a network. Lara noticed a set of numbers on a small slip of paper lying on his desk. She also noticed an open book. The Book of Enoch. The passage read ..... "And all shall be smitten with fear, ...... And the Watchers shall quake, ........ And great fear and trembling shall seize them unto the ends of the earth." 

Lara inserted the 3.5 floppy into the drive on Muller's computer. She typed in what Bryce had taught her about activating the drive. The screen went black. "DRIVE A:" flashed onscreen. Typing in Bryce's code word "TERMINATE', a series of encrypted passwords flashed across the screen until finally "PASSWORD ACCEPTED" appeared. The screen went blank and a countdown DOS window popped up, ..... she entered the time and hit the enter key. 

The countdown began. ......... 9:59 and counting. She set an explosive charge of C4, timed to go off after the computer system had been infected, that would effectively destroy anything else in the office. 

Turning, she exited into the hallway, making her way to the end and heading down the staircase. At the bottom, Lara glanced carefully around the corner. Two armed guards stood at the entrance to the door. A third man, wearing a lab coat, had just exited the door. He walked down the hall and turned the corner. Before he had a chance to call out, Lara grabbed him, cupped one hand over his mouth, and knocked him out. 

No choice now. She set her weapon to semi-automatic mode and dove around the corner. Lara fired just two shots, ..... instantaneously killing both men. She got out of the jumpsuit she had on and put on the lab coat. Standing at the keypad by the door, Lara entered the code she had seen on Muller's office desk. The door opened. 

Chapter Seven - Revelation 

Lara entered the lab. She stood on an upper gantry, looking down on a series of chambers. Walking down the stairs, she got a glimpse of the vague, fetal mass encased in a clear, gel-like substance in each of the six individual chambers. Nephilim! The fetal stage, she thought, .......... she wasn't too late. 

There were a series of tubes and cables attached to each fetus. They ran out of the chamber to a single tank. An instrumentation panel monitored heart rate, blood pressure, body and fluid temperature, DNA sequencing, energy supply, along with other data. This cloning process was an attempt to create a genetically identical copy of an original organism. Cubiculum Nephili. The chamber for the developing Nephilim contained six cylindrical-shaped cloning tanks that housed the developing clones. Muller must have taken the genetic material ("Sleeper" DNA) from the host and modified it to meet the desired parameters. 

It was all used to create artificial embryos in this "egg" lab. The new embryos were grown inside these glass incubation "wombs" housed in the cloning chamber. Filled with some sort of greenish liquid, each individual tank provided an embryo the nutrients each one needed to develop into the form of a Nephilim through some attached tubes. Lara was entranced. 

Muller: "Hello, Miss Croft." 

Lara: "Hello, Doctor. ........ One question. ........ Why are you doing this?" 

Muller: "For the simplest of reasons. In the hopes of creating new life. That, ..... plus I wish to live. ........ Man has dreamed of immortality for centuries. I wanted to make that dream a reality." 

Lara: "In ..... THIS?" 

Muller: "Our intention was to create a genetically identical clone of the Cubiculum Nephili. You were indeed successful in your destruction of the 'Sleeper', but we retained some of its DNA for just such an emergency. " 

Lara: "I'm guessing that what you have going on here wasn't exactly approved by the World Health Organization." 

Muller: "Every great discovery has it's costs." 

Lara: "And the cost is the extinction of the entire human race!?" 

Muller: "I assure you I did this with the greatest of intentions. If I could successfully combine the human genome with that of the DNA from a cloned Cubiculum Nephili, we could finally acheive immortality. " 

Lara: "Ultimately, we all have to accept responsibility for our actions. ...... That is how we are judged, Doctor. Not by our intentions." 

She looks around and sees bodies draped and lying lifeless on tables around the lab. 

Lara: "Oh, my God. .......... This is what's been happening here. ......... All the people who were reported missing. .... You've been experimenting on them! They were snatched off the streets. You've been using them as guinia pigs. Trying to perfect your sick, perverted version of immortality." 

Gunderson: "This isn't exactly well-regulated territory, Miss Croft." [he said as he walked down the steps, brandishing a gun] 

Lara: "Marten Gunderson. Now, why am I not surprised to see you here?" 

Gunderson: "You still don't understand, do you?" 

Lara: "Let me guess. You want immortality. You want to rule the world. Is that about it?" 

Gunderson: "Ultra vigilis umbram, ecce veritas." 

Lara: "Through the spirit of the keeper, behold the truth." 

Gunderson: "Very good. Though I'm afraid the potential benefits of this race go far beyond your puny ability to possibly comprehend, Miss Croft. I must confess that I would like to know how you gained entry into this complex, but it really doesn't matter .... since you will soon be dead. And unlike my predecessor," [pointing a gun at her] "...... I'm going to kill you right now. 

Lara: "Do you have any idea what you're unleashing on the world? ..." 

Gunderson: "Perfection, Lady Croft. Perfection." 

Lara: "Hardly." 

Gunderson: "I will be possessed of rights altogether more powerful and more valid than the authority of anyone! But, I am not a monster, my dear. I merely intend to have my DNA melded with that of the Nephilim, so that I may acheive true immortality! Believe me, I have no intention of unleashing these things upon the world. They would destroy it. Then, ..... what would be left for me to rule?" 

Lara: "Do you REALLY think that you can keep them confined in these chambers?? They're far too powerful and destructive!" 

Gunderson: "Once they reach full term, ..... yes, they would break free. But, I can control them at these early stages of growth. Muller 'farms' their DNA for his experiments. After I have what I need, they'll be ...... disposed of. " 

Lara: "And what about Muller? Will he be ...... 'disposed of', as well?" 

Gunderson: "Muller is merely a scientist. He knows his place. He does as he is told." 

He raises his gun to fire at Lara. A single gunshot shatters the silence in the lab. Then, a surprised look of horror appears on Gunderson's face. He slowly drops to his knees, ....... and collapses forward. Behind him stands Muller with a smoking gun. 

Lara: "Not that I'm complaining, mind you, .............. but, why?" 

Muller: [speaking softly, looking at Gunderson's lifeless body] "As you said Lady Croft, ....... we all have to accept responsibility for our actions." [he looks over at the chambers] "My vanity, ...... my desire to create a new species got in the way. People have always had an innate suspicion of scientists which lead them to presuppose that if something were possible, the temptation to resist would be too great. I'm afraid, in my case, they were right. I thought I could succeed. But my experiments have failed. There is no known way for a human host to assimilate Nephilim DNA." [looking down at Gunderson again] "He refused to accept that. Gunderson was the fool, not I. You are quite correct Lady Croft. Should they grow to adulthood, ..... they would escape and destroy us all." [he pauses, then whispers] "Do what you must. ....... As I do now."

Muller then put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. His lifeless body dropped to the floor. 

Lara looked at him, almost sorry to see him dead now. He'd saved her life. 

She knew that she didn't have much time. Slipping off her backpack, she pulled out the small box that Dr. Lamberton had given her. She loaded the syringe and injected the fluid into the main tank, then injected the contents of the other vial directly into the tubing leading to the bodies of the Nephilim fetal mass.

As the these creatures were a hybrid offspring of fallen angels and humans, ...... this little concoction should do nicely, she said to herself. The fetal masses had already begun to twitch and change color as Lamberton's "cocktail" infected the embryonic cells of each fetus. Their cellular structure was beginning, slowly, to break down. The ECG and other lifesign monitors were flatlining. 

Lara then grabbed her backpack and planted two more C4 explosive devices in the lab. She bolted for the door. The death of the Nephilim triggered an alarm. She ran down the hallway and ducked around a corner. Two scientists, along with armed guards, rushed into the lab and quickly examined the failing bio-systems.

Scientist 1: "I can't stop it! " 

Scientist 2: "Somehow, the cloning tanks must have been infected."

Guard 1: "Stop it!"

Scientist 2: "We can't!"

Scientist 1: "I thought you people were being paid to prevent this from happening?" 

Guard 1: "We all were."

They see the dead bodies of Gunderson and Muller on the floor. 

Scientist 2: "Yes, ...... but not enough!" 

The two scientists ran from the room. 

Guard 2: "I'm not staying around here either!" 

They all run from the lab. In Muller's office, the countdown had reached "00:00" and the computer worm began to infect his computer ...... along with all the others on the network. The remaining personnel were now fleeing the building as Lara fought her way back to the exit.

She made her way back to the gantry leading up to the exit. Bryce's 'worm' had done its work, multiplying to the point where it had eaten up all data on the computer system. The explosives that Lara had set approached sixty seconds. People stampeded up the stairs to the exit as an alarm continued to sound. 

Lara made it to the main exit as people poured out of the building. She ran as far away from the complex as fast as she could, just as the explosions began and dove behind a boulder for cover.

Finally, the explosions began to subside. Lara checked her compass and got up to begin her walk back. Why did they do it, Lara asked? She remembered something she had once read. 

The injustice of man's inhumanity to man does not hinder one's imagination, .... it merely demonstrates how perverted our imagination can become. History, if we listen carefully, is a witness of the times. It is a light, if we pay attention to it, of the truth. It can be the life of memory, if we have remembered it at all. It can be a teacher of life and a messenger of antiquity, .... if we have ears for it. History is the light of truth, and the witness of the ages. 

Why not give Bryce's new gizmo a try, she thought? She wanted to hear a familiar voice. Lara reached into her backpack and pulled out a small hand-held antenna. She hooked it up to her headset and punched in the numbers on the pad. 

Lara: "Hello? ........ Anybody there?" 

Bryce: "Lara? ..... Lara? ....... Are you there? Are you all right?" 

Lara: "I'm fine. But it appears I'll have to hitch a ride from here." 

Bryce: [sighs] "Lara, .... can't you ever do anything the easy way?" 

Lara: [smiles] "Now where would the fun be in that?" 

Walking along, she was still troubled by the deaths of Kurtis and Werner Von Croy, then Lara remembered something her father once told her. It had become her motto. And it was especially appropriate, considering what she had just been through. 

"Magna specta tamquam semper victura, vive tamquam hodie moritura" 

"Dream as if you will live forever, .................. live as if you will die today.” 

The End

Lara Croft and Tomb Raider are trademarks 
or registered trademarks of Square Enix Ltd. All rights reserved.
This story may not be published, or re-created.  All rights reserved.  Story by Roger Pederson