Chapter 26

The cargo area of one of the empty transport had been transformed into a makeshift office for Elder. She sat on a small stool before a folding table, sipping coffee as she worked.

The table bore her laptop computer, connected to several instruments by a series of wires, a carafe of coffee, and the other four pieces of the artifact. After being joined, their shape was that of an odd pentagon, with a side missing. On either side of the missing piece were identical symbols, symbols that were currently displayed on Elder's computer screen, with the translated coordinates in appearing in another window.

She swept a lock of blond out of her face, re-applying a barrette so that it remained out of the way. She then opened up a map of the area and traced her fingers from the latitude and longitude, her digits meeting and her eyes narrowing.

Lara was close, very close.

The coordinate system of the artifact provided very accurate positions - up to three hundred meters. Elder's foe was well within that area, but her exact location was unknown.

From her belt, she pulled a small radio and transmitted.

"Horch, come in."

Nothing.

She fought back the initial panic that threatened to set in. This was not the first time she had dealt with Lara Croft, and she thought she had conveyed to her employees that the Tomb Raider was not to be underestimated under any circumstances.

Elder could almost see the Horch's radio, her own voice coming over an earpiece that was attached to a corpse. He, and all of the others, murdered by the vengeful Lara Croft.

"Horch, respond."

"Stand by..." came back over the radio.

While pleased that her long-time associate was still alive, there was impatience and a little anger towards him. Employers tell their employees what to do, not the other way around, and Horch knew that.

Horch, after all, was a professional.

That fact was what stopped her from delivering a verbal reprimand to him. If he was not able to speak at to her, he must have a very, very good reason. Perhaps a reason more important that the Tomb Raider's close proximity had the large German's attention.

There was a few more moments of absolute silence.

"Horch here, over."

"Be advised, Croft is near, take the necessary precautions."

"I have her, ma'am - over."

"Say again?"

"I have Miss Croft in my custody, over"

Elder paused a moment in amazement. Whatever small fortune she was paying Horch for this trip would have to be raised.

"Bring her to me," she ordered with a smile - she had always wanted to speak those words to an underling.

"Acknoledged...out."

Working quickly, Elder placed a crate before her table, then took her seat again. For a moment, she wished that she had brought a more proper chair so that she could swivel around to face Lara as she was brought before her.

True, that was somewhat cliché, but she was honestly excited about Lara's capture and getting the last piece of the artifact. Finally, she would take back what Lara had stolen so long ago...

There was a knock on the metal body of the truck. Horch was impeccably polite and courteous, yet knew more ways to kill a person than anyone Elder had ever met.

"Come," she ordered.

The canvas flap was pulled outwards and Lara Croft, hands bound behind her, was hefted into the makeshift office. Horch was behind her in an instant, guiding her to a seated position on the crate.

Elder was about to give a speech she had been rehearsing for years, when something extremely offensive found it's way to her nose.

"What is that smell?"

"Bile, ma'am, that's how I found her."

"Supper not agree with you?"

"It's not my vomit," was all Lara said.

No one spoke for a moment.

"Yes, that camera man of yours, never thought you'd take a partner like that. Where is he, no doubt planning some dramatic rescue."

"He's dead."

"Pardon me if I don't take your word for it."

"If he were still alive, nothing would have stopped him from filming this little confrontation here, nothing at all."

"Perhaps he's standing guard over the last piece, eh?" Elder turned to Horch, who remained two paces from Lara, hand lying gently on his MP5, "was the piece with her?"

"All she had were a set of M-11's and a BAR."

"Ah, must be Fernando's weapon."

"I believe so, ma'am."

"He was a good man."

"Aren't they all good after they're dead?" Lara asked.

"Quite."

"So, how long are you going to grandstand before your man puts a bullet in my head?"

Elder smiled. "Lara, if I wanted to you dead, Lynn could have slit your throat quite easily while you slept."

"Was she a good man too?"

"As a matter of fact, she was among the best thieves I have ever met. Very impressive, the way you gunned down an unarmed woman."

"I thought she was you..."

"Sorry to disappoint you. However, you did save me from paying the other half of her compensation, thank you for that."

"So, if it's not my death, what are you after?"

"What I've always wanted, Miss Croft. I want you alive and beaten, not dead and martyred - though that can be arranged. I want you to publicly say that I have beaten you, announce it to the world. You stole my life, and now I want yours as compensation - but I'd love it of you were still around to regret it."

"You just want me to admit that you've beaten me?"

"Yes - publicly and sincerely."

"All right."

"Don't be so quick to agree, do you have any idea what that admission would do to the great Lara Croft? Children might not idolize you any longer, sales of those ridiculous games might falter, and you can forget all about that university fellowship."

"I understand," Lara replied, for the first time getting honestly scared, not for the potential loss of notoriety and revenue, but for the fact the Elder was stark, raving mad - and therefore unpredictable.

Lara had assumed that Elder, as the series of competitors who had preceded her, was motivated by greed or something of a similar nature. The mission of publicly humiliating Lara was both ridiculous and utterly unexpected. What Elder failed to realize was that the thing she sought to take from Lara - for whatever the reason - was not something that Lara placed any value in. Lara would almost prefer to work in a little more anonymity.

"I'll do as you ask."

"Your word?"

"You have my word."

"And no escape attempts?"

"Max was my ride out of here, I don't fancy walking down from this mountain. I'd rather ride."

"Your word on that, too?"

"Yes, you have my word."

A big smile spread across Elder's face. "Wonderful! Horch, get everyone ready to go - as soon as you tell us where that last piece is."

"I stuffed it into a small vent thirty meters north-west of your camp."

"Horch."

The man spoke softly into his radio, no doubt sending a search party.

"Would you mind if I freshened up a bit?" Lara asked, tipping her head to the large, foul-smelling stain on her top.

Elder paused for a moment, as if sizing the Tomb Raider up.

"Certainly," She moved to a set of duffels that rested under her cot and removed a shirt and a pair of trousers, "I think our fair little princess is having a little trouble here..."

She tossed the clothing onto her desk and moved to the opening.

"Watch her, Horch."

The large man nodded in his employers direction, not taking his eyes off of Lara as Elder exited the truck on her fool's errand.

This left Lara alone with the mercenary. They looked into each other's eyes for a split second, then Lara turned her back to him and raiser her bound hands.

"Could we do something about these? I am a guest now, after all."

Horch's brow narrowed slightly, while his boss was clearly a lunatic, he was nothing of the sort. He raised his MP-5 at Lara with one hand and drew a bayonet with the other. With his gun trained on Lara, Horch slid the blade between her wrist and the zip tie, the blade slicing the plastic with no apparent difficulty.

Freed from her bonds, Lara rubbed her wrists for theatrical value - though she seriously doubted that her attempt to appear weak had any influence on the probing eyes of her captor. She was merely playing her part in a plan that had to work.

Had Lara been alone, she probably would have cooperated with Elder's wishes, even giving her the last piece. Lara had a knack for getting artifacts back from those who had stolen from her. However, she was very decidedly not alone. Were she to leave this place with Elder, there was little chance of Max making it back to the car by himself, much less getting out of a country in which he was a stranger.

Part of Lara recoiled against the fact that she was going to escape even though she had giver her word that she would not. In the past, Lara had used the strictest sense of her "word" to play with some of her more foolish competition, but this Horch was no fool. Words of her father rolled about in her brain about honor and loyalty - words that she had learned to disregard years before...

Lara briefly courted the idea of sending Elder for her friend, but at that point, Elder would have something that did matter toLara. There was a realistic possibility that she would just kill Max in order to hurt Lara more.

That was a possibility that the Tomb Raider would not allow.

She scooped up the clothing from the desk, noting that Elder had left the remaining pieces of the artifact there. With new attire in hand, she turned to Horch, giving him a look that suggested he give her some privacy in which to change.

He gave her a look back that suggested she not even bother asking.

Without hesitation, her hands reached down began to pull up her top. At the moment her breasts were revealed, the options of the typical male would be limited: stare at her breasts or look away in embarrassment. Lara preyed that Horch had not survived so much that a shapely female form was not enough to affect him.

She removed the top rather slowly, delaying the moment when the fabric of her top would obscure her vision and her plan would fail.

With the barest of moments left to spare, Horch's eyes instinctively lowered to the ground. Lara leapt at the man, covering half of the two meters that separated them before his eyes returned. Her right foot found purchase on the ground and her left came forward in a devastating jab at Horch's crotch.

The large German had long ago learned the price of being careless or foolhardy. He had known that Lara would make a move, and had given her the illusion of a opportunity to do it so that he could control the situation. He did give grudging respect to the Tomb Raider for creatively using her feminine wiles, but he was a professional, no matter how physically attractive his prisoner was.

Horch shifted his weight into Lara's blow, lowering his arm to block her attack. A split second after realizing she was feigning her kick he was hit squarely in the nose. His block even served to amplify the force of her hit as a distinct crack was heard. His eyes closed and began to tear up, as was the annoying nature of nasal impact, but Horch kept his head about him, even as he felt his submachine gun being grabbed.

On his worst day, Horch was stronger than Lara, it was a simple fact. His right hand tightened on the grip, not allowing the weapon to be taken from him. With his left, he managed to strike with a jab that found purchase in Lara's ribs, but it was not nearly enough to topple her. Even as he completed the blow, he tightened his ribs in anticipation of a another attack from Lara.

He realized his second mistake as he felt not a physical blow, but a tugging at his webbing. Managing to open his eyes, he saw her strike at him with the bayonet while still holding onto the foregrip of the MP5. His neck went suddenly numb, and Horch knew it was over. His thoughts were not of a last-breath vengeance killing, though. As the life drained out of him, he swore that he could see his father, who had died long ago believing his only son a hero. That image was soon replaced by a montage of other faces, those who had fallen because of the life that Horch had chosen. There was no feeling in his hand as Lara claimed the MP5, there was only a fading away to nothingness...

* * *

Several minutes later, a figure emerged from the truck. While wearing the fatigues that other members of the group bore, a close inspection revealed that they were not only ridiculously too large for the wearer, but also bore a good amount of blood.

A quick glance about her revealed that most of Elder's party were to the south. She headed north, towards the Subaru.

While the location of her weapons was unknown (apparently, the late Horch did not leave them in a frighteningly convenient location for her to find) she was carrying the MP5, and wore a Sig P226 pistol in a holster. If she had the slightest bit of good fortune, she would be able to slip out of the came easily and get to the car.

The closest sentry was over two hundred meters away and either did not notice, or did not care that she was heading away from camp. Over Horch's headset, she heard status reports from the search parties as they continued to look for the final piece of the artifact. Little did they know the the item was safely tucked away in Lara's webbing.

She was less than fifty meters from the vent that housed the car. Lara allowed herself a small congratulations for escaping the camp without firing a shot, but stopped short as a noise caught her attention.

The car was starting.

From the hurried talk on the radio, the others had heard it as well and were heading in towards them. Lara broke into a run towards the vent, just as the Impreza was vaulted out of it...

...and accelerated directly towards her.

Realizing the situation, Lara discarded her headgear and waved her arms in the air. The nose of the car dipped as it came to a rest a few meters before her.

"Hey, I was supposed to be rescuing you..." Max shouted from the driver's seat.

"I had the situation well in hand," she replied as she approached the wagon.

"Can't blame a little brother for trying..."