- On The Trail Of The Third Artefact

Three days had passed since Lara met up with Kurtis, Jane and Professor Bowmane in Egypt. During that time they had relocated to France so they were nearer to the North Sea, where the third artefact should be. They were staying in the town of Calais, and were based close to the coast. There was no word or rumour heard of what Eric Copper was planning or doing in that time-scale, but there was no doubt he was not holding back on his search for the final relic. Preparation for the adventure out to the sea was the main objective and trying to stay one step ahead of Eric Copper, even though they didn't know his progress.

Whilst staying in Calais, Jane and the Professor managed to get a view some of historic records in a few ancient retired logbooks of the trading shipments that were going in and out of the harbour throughout the times. Going upon the information Lara provided about Rhamoon saying that the third artefact had already been discovered and retrieved in another time-frame, they assumed that he probably meant more specifically in a different century. Furthermore Rhamoon also stated that the artefact wasn't on land and it is currently to the north of France, so it must be out in the North Sea somewhere. Whether it was intentionally underwater or if it was there by accident, they would soon find out.

Together Jane and Professor Bowmane looked through the catalogue pages of these books dating from around 1700's to the 1900's, reading every detail that was handwritten upon each page side quite quickly as time was crucial. There had been of course many entries that they went through, a few stood out as questionable and were noted down, but it wasn't until Jane found one entry to be very suspicious. Apparently this particular one that was dated on March 23rd 1814 was scheduled to take an important high priority delivery to Newcastle in England, precisely to the Port Of Tyne. Not much detail was written about the shipment nor any specific information regarding what item the ship was going to deliver, but once it had delivered the goods to the port, it was expected to come back to Calais immediately without delay. However confusingly there was an empty entry next to it's return date, surely meaning it hadn't returned.

"Professor, come have a look at this entry." Jane called him over. The Professor came over and read the entry she was pointing at.

"Hmmm, interesting, I wonder what happened to that ship. There could be a number of theories of why it didn't return to Calais...perhaps they stayed at the Port Of Tyne after they delivered this special item, that's if they reached there." Professor Bowmane assumed. Jane disagreed with that theory.

"But they had strict instruction to return as you can see here, I'm sure they wouldn't of disobeyed an order like that." Jane argued, and the Professor nodded in agreement with her answer.

"Hmmm yes that could be true. We'll make a note of it and the route they might have taken down on the map as an area to explore." Professor Bowmane acknowledged. He then scribbled down the notes and a line on the map at which the ship would've taken to reach Port Of Tyne from Calais harbour.

During that time they had noted down three more possible leads to the whereabouts of the third artefact. Kurtis and Lara had joined them later on that afternoon after sorting out what equipment they would need for the scuba dive underwater. The Professor and Jane briefed them on their findings and then altogether they carried on with their investigation till the evening.

The next day was going to be the day that they were going out into sea for the first time. With what they already knew combined with the research they had conducted, the four had together over the last two days came up with some possible co-ordinates that they were planning to explore throughout most of the day. They hired a speedboat cabin cruiser to travel out to sea, along with getting all the necessary equipment for the underwater exploration. It was decided that only Lara and Kurtis would venture out to the North Sea, just in case if anything unexpected happens and they would need help from Jane or Professor Bowmane. As Kurtis and Lara were about to leave the hotel they were staying at, the Professor and Jane had one last thing to say to the duo.

"Be careful out there the both of you, if anyone of these co-ordinates are true, who knows what you might encounter...Best take this with you just in case..." Jane stated. She went to one of the wardrobes, took out a shining yellow spear gun with some ammunition that was stood upright in there and then gave it to Lara, who was took completely by surprise.

"Nice...Where did you get something like this from?" Lara asked her still in awe-shock and amazed by the weapon.

"I'm afraid it's a secret for me to know and for you to find out, I do have my sources." Jane replied tapping her nose and smiling at her.

"Ha fair enough I will let you keep that secret. Thanks very much Jane for the weapon, we may need it." Lara said as she again examined the weapon, and then hugged her.

"No problem, that's what friends are for." Jane happily said, as Lara strapped the harpoon gun with the ammunition onto her back. The Professor then gave them the map that was marked with all the co-ordinates to them.

"Here is the map. Good luck out there, let us know if you find anything or need any help."

"We will do." Kurtis reassuringly said with one of his thumbs up, and with that the duo headed out of the hotel ready for their voyage out to sea.