Tomb Raider: The Legacy

Chapter 9: Let's Play

Lara listened carefully to Zip's entire speech, not interrupting him once.

The hacker had settled into his own environment, a small prefabricated barrack he'd stuffed, of course, with computers and laptops, antennas and cables, screens and monitors, fans whistling and roaring trying to refresh the suffocating air saturated with machines – and he didn't seem to be bothered by it at all.

When he finished, Lara glanced sideways at Kurtis, who had leaned against the closed barrack door, his arms folded across his chest, and a harsh, absent mood. He'd not uttered a single word.

"You approve of this?" She asked, surprised. It was easy to address him when the subject to discuss was not about them... about their problem.

"No," Kurtis muttered. "But he's right. It's our best chance."

"So that's what it's all about." She turned to Zip. "Does Selma know?"

"Not yet, but I'll tell her right away." The geek replied. "We need your approval first, babe. Otherwise we're fucked."

Lara remained silent, studying him closely.

"What's up?" The Afro-American mumbled.

You being that serious creeps me out, Lara thought, but she said instead, "If Anna gets hurt..."

"...I know, I know. You'll kill me." Zip sighed and glanced sideways at Kurtis. "I care for the little monster. This is some serious shit, babe."

Yes, he definitely gave her the creeps.

Lara shifted and crossed her arms. "Not sure he's after Selma, or what his motivations are. He could have done this a long time ago. Selma's vulnerable, she's always been helpless, and all he has to do is sneak into the Archaeology Department and snoop around her papers to see what she's up to. None of this explains why a professional like Schäffer waited so long to get his hands on it." Zip opened his mouth, but Lara raised her hand to stop him and continued. "He's not after me either, for he refused to attack Anna. He could've kidnapped her and demanded a ransom for her - but he's not touched her. Not interested. Zip, that man's not after us."

"Whatever." Kurtis said suddenly. Lara turned to face him. The look on his face was grim. "Schäffer's a loose end. I hate loose ends."

"I wasn't done." Lara replied. He remained silent. She turned back to Zip. "Of course he's a loose end, and I don't like having him around. Neither near nor far, really. That man worked for our enemies, served that insane Giselle, put a pistol to Marie's head, handed Selma over to that butcherer, murdered Ivanoff, and tortured Kurtis for months." Behind her, Kurtis slightly raised his eyebrows at the mention of himself. "I want him dead. So tell me what to do."

Zip nodded, and began to expose his plan.

(...)

Anna loved fairy chimneys.

As magical as their name might seem, they were in fact nothing more than capricious rock formations in Cappadocia, born from a geological process of millions of years, the hardened ash from volcanic eruptions transformed into the basaltic tuft, and then slowly shaped by erosion. During the time of the Roman persecutions, the Christians had fled from Caesarea to the present Göreme, where they built their houses and churches excavating in the easily malleable tuft. An immense network of complex tunnels and galleries swept through them, forming authentic underground cities, such as Derinkuyu, Kaymakli... or Eden, the ancient city of the Nephili, also called Tenebra, which had until then been ignored - but not for long anymore.

The girl enjoyed running around the galleries, followed closely by a troubled Selma who was terrified of losing sight of her, though she knew and not only from Lara, that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. The reason was to prevent her from storming into a private house or hotel, which, despite her care, she did several times.