Chapter 28 - Continuing the Quest
The Temple of Hathor at Dendera, Middle Egypt...
Four Days Later...
The sun beat mercilessly down on Lara's head, and she felt as though her scalp would set on fire from the exposure. She took another labored drink from her canteen, wiping her mouth with a gloved hand. She was covered from head to toe in sand and dust, her eyes beginning to swell with irritation.She looked about her, giving herself time to catch her breath. It was a dry, hot day, but the sun would be setting in a couple of hours. The team had made marvelous progresssince they had set out from their encampment beside the Nile. The Iseum had been almost completely uncovered, and what was left of the Sacred Lake could be seen behind it and to the left a ways. She took a deep breath, casting a glance at the roof of the Hypostyle Hall. Alex and a small group of excavators were unearthing an entrance beneath the layers of sand, since the main entrance had caved in long ago. She tried to shake off the memories that kept rushing back like small bursts of adrenaline whenever she looked at him. She felt so stupid for that night at the club in California. She had been nearly drunk off her ass, and had barely remembered dressing up and leaving the hotel. But she hadn't said anything of it to Alex. In fact, they hadn't spoken since the incident. They had been successfully trying to avoid each other for several days. She didn't know how to explain that she hadn't been in control of her senses. That she had boozed it up in attempt to erase all the stress of working through plans for the next stage of the quest, and had therefore acted rather silly. She doubted he'd even believe her. He could be an ass that way.
She saw Mason hurrying toward her from the direction of the birthing houses in the rear of the temple, Nicholas scurrying along behind him. She heaved a sigh and decided it would do no good to look as though she were busy. Mason hailed her with a dirty hand, his stony face covered in sand.
"Lara! Lara, come quick! Alex says they've found the roof entrance at last!" Lara perked up a bit. This was what she had been waiting for. If her research was correct, there was a secret passageway inside the Hypostyle Hall on the right of the temple that led to the main chamber itself. It was only a matter of finding a way into the Hypostyle Hall, since the front entrance had disintegrated under years of sand and scathing winds. But she knew that most temples built before the Greco-Roman Period were always outfitted with roof entrances, which doubled as ventilators to air out the smoke from ceremonial fires and incense.
"Wonderful. Maybe now we can actually get somewhere," she replied, wiping her dusty brow again.
"He just yelled the news down to me a moment ago. They're setting up some rigging and platforms to lower the two of you in with your equipment." Lara stopped, her skin suddenly seizing up.
"What... You mean me and Alex? Just the two of us are going in?"
"Why of course, Lara. You could hardly argue that the temple is in any condition to receive a large party of visitors in such a dilapidated state."
"Well, no, I can't. It would be extremely unwise to send more than a few select people in there. But why just me and Alex? You know we don't get on very well."
"Lara, this is no time for childish squabbling. I'm not paying you to be at odds with the man. I brought you on to work with him." Lara's brow darkened.
"Look here, Mason. Let's get a few things straight. You're not paying me at all. I can handle my own finances just fine. And if you don't like the rivalry between me an Alex, you shouldn't have hired him in the first place. But since you did, you'll suffer our 'childish squabbling' unless you want me to pull out and take my share of the financing with me!" Mason's face clouded over, but he remained perfectly composed.
"All right, Lara. There's no need to get yourself all flustered over it," he replied, his hands clenched into fists at his side. "However, the deal was for you to work alongside my archeological team leader. And that's Alex West. The two of you will enter the temple ruins, and only the two of you. I won't take any chances on the place collapsing on top of all our hard work."
"Or the tomb raiders!" Nicholas chuckled from behind Mason. When he received no laugh from either Lara or his employer, he quieted once again.
"Fine Mason. But I'm serious when I warn you not to cross me. I don't make idle threats. And I don't appreciate being taken advantage of." With that, she walked off in a huff, heading for the equipment tent to gear up for the descent into the temple.
"All right there! Look lively now! Alex hollered as one of the excavators began lowering his rope into the roof entrance of the Hypostyle Hall. Lara looked down, seeing only blackness below. There was a sweet, stale sort of smell wafting up from the hall below. Lara recognized it as a sort of dry rot that happened in the desert. Instead of decaying and molding, clay stones left in the sand for centuries just sort of crumbled away, releasing gasses into the enclosure.
"Come on! Be careful! It's a fifteen-foot drop to the floor below!" Alex bellowed, the excavators trying desperately to keep his rope and tie steady. Finally they managed to lower him to the ground floor, and he tugged the rope three times, giving a shout to tell them all was clear to send Lara down. When they motioned her over to the roping platform, she only smirked, stamping her boots against the ground to firmly plant her feet against the soles. With that, she jumped into the blackness and landed with a thick thud in the Hypostyle Hall below. Everyone poked there heads into the hole, so that there was barely any sunlight streaming in at all. They all looked at Lara with a mixture of surprise and awe, muttering to themselves. She only shook her head and chuckled slightly, wondering why everyone on this trip had to make things more difficult than they really had to be.
She caught Alex looking at her from above the light of a RLS glow tube. He looked slightly wounded, and Lara guessed it was probably his pride. She took a tube of her own from the bottom left pocket of her pack, breaking it in the middle and shaking it to life. The Hypostyle Hall went aglow in a soft spread of orange light.
Well Lara," Alex said, hitching up his khaki shorts, "This is it. I'll be you're feeling quite at home right about now. All this sand and decay and plenty to steal."
"Hah! That's something coming from you, West! I've never stolen anything in my life. All the artifacts I've ever brought to the surface were properly coded and catalogued with the Historical Society. I've always played by the books, save for once or twice. But there's good reason for keeping some things a secret. You on the other hand will take anything of archeological value and sell it off for extra cash! Of the two of us, I'd certainly say you would be the thief," Lara screamed, her voice echoing off the clay stone walls like a ping pong ball. Alex flinched, immediately aware he had hit a nerve.
"You're still sore about those damn prayer wheels, aren't you?"
"Certainly not! Even though you did steal them from me! I found them first, fair and square. Those monks were my friends and entrusted me with them for good reason. Thanks to you, I had to fight toe to toe with a yeti and go home empty-handed!"
"Look, Lara, there's only so many times I can try to apologize. A part of me thinks you'll never accept."
"Well at least one part of your brain is working correctly." Alex rolled his eyes, groaning in frustration.
"Is this about what happened at the club? Because I'll try to apologize for that if you want."
"Of course it isn't! It's about you being a selfish, greedy, money-grubbing, sorry excuse for a man! And just so you know, I was drunker than a skunk that night. I wouldn't have known you from Adam if Nicholas hadn't talked to me about it." At that Alex's shoulders slumped, and his face turned a strange white. Lara thought it might have been the play of the lights across his face, but thought better when he turned his back to her. She had hurt his feelings.
"Okay, let's get this show on the road. Enough fighting for now. We have a key to find." And with that, he started looking about at the hieroglyphics chiseled on the walls for clues.Lara dropped her head, trying desperately not to think too deeply. She had meant to hurt his feelings, hadn't she? Of course she had. But of course now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure what she had meant to do.She looked up, watching him for a moment. She instantly remembered the way it had felt when he had kissed her that night in the club, even though she told him she couldn't remember a thing. It had frightened her, and yet somehow had made her feel like a glowing ember at the bottom of a roaring fire. She shook it all off, deciding it was best to just stop thinking about anything other than retrieving the second key to the Serpent's Gate. She reached up behind her, digging in her right back pocket for a piece of paper she had stashed there before her descent. She pulled it out, examining it under the pale orange glow of the RLS tube.
"You're on the wrong side of the hall, Alex. The secret passage should be on the far side, over there near the stone altar. We should be able to find it by moving the altar aside and revealing a secret panel of some sort built into the stone." Alex turned to look at her inquisitively, his brows arched.
"And how do you know that?"
"Number one, I actually did a great deal of research before all this. Number two, I read hieroglyphics better than you. No offense."
"None taken. This time." And he smiled slightly at her, moving towards her side.He gazed at the scrap of paper she held in her hand, studying it carefully. "You know Lara, I think you're right."
"Of course I'm right, Alex. I'm Lara Croft." Alex only rolled his eyes again, but proceeded to follow her as she made her way across the hall to a large stone altar placed against a darkened wall.
"This should be it," Lara said, stuffing the piece of paper back in her pack. She jumped down on all fours and began climbing behind the altar to look about. "There should be a mechanism of some sort either on or around the altar. Start looking would you?" she called up to Alex. He started running his hands across the smooth stone surface of the altar, feeling slowly and carefully for anything that felt even remotely out of the ordinary. Suddenly, his fingers lit on a small round depression, and he pressed it firmly. Lara screeched as the wall jutted away and she nearly fell forward into another black opening. Alex managed to grab her gun holster at the last minute, keeping her from falling inward.
"That was close," he muttered, helping her up to her feet again.
"Yes. Too close. We'd best be on our guard. This temple wasn't known to be a fortress or anything, but a booby trap is a booby trap, just the same." Alex nodded, and he pulled out another glow tube, snapping it and shaking it till it began to glow brightly. He tossed it into the blackness in front of them, looking tentatively at Lara.
"Well? Shall we go?" Lara nodded solemnly, patting her hands reassuringly against the twin .45's strapped to her hips. She ducked her head under the low stone outcropping, and stepped inside.
