I am not making any money with this. I do not own Lara Croft, Tomb Raider
etc.
Only to be archived at Fanfiction.net and 'Lara Croft's Tales of Beauty and Power'. All other sites email me first to gain permission.
================================================== The Last Revelation Part II: The Rainbow Serpent by Heidi Ahlmen (siirma6@surfeu.fi) ==================================================
Chapter 4
The coffin held a dead priest in his oddly grinning death mask that reminded Lara of the sad and happy Greek-style masks that you can see adorning every theatre. The body was clothed in some kind of light, white fabric, which time had turned brown. All around the body were gold bracelets, rings, heavy gold-plate necklaces, feathery arrows, and knotted strings. Pushing Jean aside, Lara lowered her flashlight hand to the coffin to see better.
And she found what she was looking for. Underneath the dead priest's left arm was a small gold idol the shape on a bird. It was smaller than the one that had served as the key, but this one was decorated with jewels. Jean watched as Lara fished it out along with a large, golden necklace with stars engraved in it. In Jean's opinion she had the look of of a scavenger as she, obviously without feeling any guilt, wrapped the artefacts in handkerchiefs, and put the packages in her pockets.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Lara?"
"I found the entrance, I've come to claim my prize. Do you honestly think I'd go running to Murray that I had found the entrance and give up all this? Nobody knows we've been here. No harm done."
"Low morals don't suit you, Lara."
"Like you care, bookboy. Here, grab a necklace and feel good about yourself." Lara dug up a piece of jewelry from the coffin and tossed it to Jean, who threw it back to the coffin.
"I knew there was something about you that didn't fit that hard-working and honest image. Whatever. It's four past four a.m. We should get back."
Lara seemed slightly worried as they started walking back to the hallway.
"Are you going to tell Murray?"
"You could at least say 'Professor Murray'."
"Point taken. I don't get you, Jean. You've seen far too many movies. It doesn't work like that; all the professional ethics crap."
Jean stopped and smiled slightly, ignoring Lara's last comment.
"You didn't take much but I don't like it. But no, I'd never let down a friend. You took me with you. And yes, if I'd dared, I'd have done the same. I'm sure you, too, will discover that honesty is the best policy."
Lara smiled back. "The idol is an Itkal bird. It's going to a collector in France."
"Lara Croft, freelance grave robber."
"Experience in currency, Jean. I've done this before."
How much, Jean would have liked to ask, but shut his mouth. Obviously quite a lot. But how? She couldn't have such good resources or employers. She was a second-year archaeology major, but she did seem to have a much more formidable background than all the other students.
"Who do you work for?" Jean asked.
"Since I finished my MS in anthropology, the British Museum employed me. They got me this research assistant job, as they knew this was a piece of cake if I just got a hold of the idol before it was sent anywhere."
"You are one piece of work, Lara. You knew about the idol, all the time?"
Lara smiled in the flashlight's flickering light.
"We have to hurry. Daylight's not far behind, and my battery's dying." She said.
They quickened their pace. Jean cleared his throat.
"Lara.?"
"Mm-hmm?"
"Why did you take me with you?"
"I figured you'd be smart enough to guess what I was up to, bookboy."
"If Professor knew his very own student was grave robbing his tomb."
"Please don't call it grave robbing. These artifacts will get the attention they deserve, and not gather dust in a cardboard box in a museum basement. Everyone has the right to see these. The collector I work for has promised to make sure they get a decent place at a world-touring exhibition of Incan treasures."
Jean was a little more convinced. "How are you going to get the gold through customs?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," Lara said, smiling and leading the way out of the tomb.
Lara and Jean covered the door trigger with mud and leaves, took the flashlight back, and returned the gold idol key to its box in the tent. Before returning to their trailers, they greeted the rising sun, sitting on a rock near the excavation.
"You still up to helping me out with the Iris?" Lara asked, taking off her sweaty boots and stretching her toes.
"Anytime, Croft. By the way, that is a lovely set of toes."
Lara giggled that same, rare giggle. It seemed to come up everytime someone commented on her looks.
"Thank you. That is a lovely piece of a beerbelly, Mr. Jean-Yves," she teased back, blinking as the first rays of the orange Peruvian sun reached the forest. Jean tried to shove her down the rock playfully.
"The excavation ends the 31st of July. We have all August to run around in Angkor Wat." Lara commented when she scrambled back onto the slab of red rock.
"Very nice. What do I get out of it?"
"Every damned book we find," Lara winked at him; "You'll get fifty percent of everything we benefit from that trip. Deal?"
"Sixty."
"Fifty-five?"
"Fifty-seven and a half?"
"I'll give you fifty-eight, if you survive the trip."
"You'll see, Lara. You'll see."
"So we have a deal?" Lara offered her hand for Jean to shake. He pushed it aside.
"Not a handshake, Lara. All good companionships and deals are sealed." Jean leaned closer; ".With a kiss."
Lara had no time to resist before Jean pressed his lips on hers and then pulled back. Realizing she had actually closed her eyes, Lara felt a sudden urge to leave. She pulled her boots back on, getting up to leave.
Jean grabbed her arm. "We do have a deal, don't we?"
Lara turned back, smiling. "We do. I'm just not yet used to your French politeness."
"You think you could get used to it?" Jean asked playfully.
"You'll see, Jean. You'll see," she grinned mysteriously, and jumped down from the rock. As Lara Croft disappeared into the Peruvian bushes gleaming in the sunlight, Jean realized he was already looking forward to Angkor Wat.
"The excavation ended in schedule, the 31st of July 1989. The excavation team had no real success after they decided the door rock was not going to move. Professors Sandringham and Murray decided some tree roots had pinned the rock down, and planned on using explosives the next summer. And as always happens when impatience rules over creativity and scientific methods, it was a disaster. The whole system of chambers collapsed as the explosion ripped through the supporting pillars, destroying the coffin underneath a pile of rock. I knew I should have opened my mouth about the key, but that would have revealed my plan to my educators, and I couldn't afford to lose the sum of money I was getting from the Itkal bird statue. I was poor as a rat at the time of my studies in Chicago, as my father obviously wasn't sending me generous cheques. That gold statue probably paid the rest of my Ph. D. Studies.
I believe every human being is allowed one mistake because of ignorance, and one for sheer stupidity. This arrogant case tomb raiding was my ignorance. My stupidity followed years later, in a place known as the Valley of Kings in Egypt.
But some good did come out of it as the bird statue also helped fund our little trip to Angkor Wat.
But that is another story.
Lara Croft"
End of part II/V
~For additional information and insight concerning this story, check out the archive "Lara Croft's Tales Of Beauty And Power". I hope you've enjoyed the ride so far.
Heidi
All feedback to: siirma6@surfeu.fi
Only to be archived at Fanfiction.net and 'Lara Croft's Tales of Beauty and Power'. All other sites email me first to gain permission.
================================================== The Last Revelation Part II: The Rainbow Serpent by Heidi Ahlmen (siirma6@surfeu.fi) ==================================================
Chapter 4
The coffin held a dead priest in his oddly grinning death mask that reminded Lara of the sad and happy Greek-style masks that you can see adorning every theatre. The body was clothed in some kind of light, white fabric, which time had turned brown. All around the body were gold bracelets, rings, heavy gold-plate necklaces, feathery arrows, and knotted strings. Pushing Jean aside, Lara lowered her flashlight hand to the coffin to see better.
And she found what she was looking for. Underneath the dead priest's left arm was a small gold idol the shape on a bird. It was smaller than the one that had served as the key, but this one was decorated with jewels. Jean watched as Lara fished it out along with a large, golden necklace with stars engraved in it. In Jean's opinion she had the look of of a scavenger as she, obviously without feeling any guilt, wrapped the artefacts in handkerchiefs, and put the packages in her pockets.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Lara?"
"I found the entrance, I've come to claim my prize. Do you honestly think I'd go running to Murray that I had found the entrance and give up all this? Nobody knows we've been here. No harm done."
"Low morals don't suit you, Lara."
"Like you care, bookboy. Here, grab a necklace and feel good about yourself." Lara dug up a piece of jewelry from the coffin and tossed it to Jean, who threw it back to the coffin.
"I knew there was something about you that didn't fit that hard-working and honest image. Whatever. It's four past four a.m. We should get back."
Lara seemed slightly worried as they started walking back to the hallway.
"Are you going to tell Murray?"
"You could at least say 'Professor Murray'."
"Point taken. I don't get you, Jean. You've seen far too many movies. It doesn't work like that; all the professional ethics crap."
Jean stopped and smiled slightly, ignoring Lara's last comment.
"You didn't take much but I don't like it. But no, I'd never let down a friend. You took me with you. And yes, if I'd dared, I'd have done the same. I'm sure you, too, will discover that honesty is the best policy."
Lara smiled back. "The idol is an Itkal bird. It's going to a collector in France."
"Lara Croft, freelance grave robber."
"Experience in currency, Jean. I've done this before."
How much, Jean would have liked to ask, but shut his mouth. Obviously quite a lot. But how? She couldn't have such good resources or employers. She was a second-year archaeology major, but she did seem to have a much more formidable background than all the other students.
"Who do you work for?" Jean asked.
"Since I finished my MS in anthropology, the British Museum employed me. They got me this research assistant job, as they knew this was a piece of cake if I just got a hold of the idol before it was sent anywhere."
"You are one piece of work, Lara. You knew about the idol, all the time?"
Lara smiled in the flashlight's flickering light.
"We have to hurry. Daylight's not far behind, and my battery's dying." She said.
They quickened their pace. Jean cleared his throat.
"Lara.?"
"Mm-hmm?"
"Why did you take me with you?"
"I figured you'd be smart enough to guess what I was up to, bookboy."
"If Professor knew his very own student was grave robbing his tomb."
"Please don't call it grave robbing. These artifacts will get the attention they deserve, and not gather dust in a cardboard box in a museum basement. Everyone has the right to see these. The collector I work for has promised to make sure they get a decent place at a world-touring exhibition of Incan treasures."
Jean was a little more convinced. "How are you going to get the gold through customs?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," Lara said, smiling and leading the way out of the tomb.
Lara and Jean covered the door trigger with mud and leaves, took the flashlight back, and returned the gold idol key to its box in the tent. Before returning to their trailers, they greeted the rising sun, sitting on a rock near the excavation.
"You still up to helping me out with the Iris?" Lara asked, taking off her sweaty boots and stretching her toes.
"Anytime, Croft. By the way, that is a lovely set of toes."
Lara giggled that same, rare giggle. It seemed to come up everytime someone commented on her looks.
"Thank you. That is a lovely piece of a beerbelly, Mr. Jean-Yves," she teased back, blinking as the first rays of the orange Peruvian sun reached the forest. Jean tried to shove her down the rock playfully.
"The excavation ends the 31st of July. We have all August to run around in Angkor Wat." Lara commented when she scrambled back onto the slab of red rock.
"Very nice. What do I get out of it?"
"Every damned book we find," Lara winked at him; "You'll get fifty percent of everything we benefit from that trip. Deal?"
"Sixty."
"Fifty-five?"
"Fifty-seven and a half?"
"I'll give you fifty-eight, if you survive the trip."
"You'll see, Lara. You'll see."
"So we have a deal?" Lara offered her hand for Jean to shake. He pushed it aside.
"Not a handshake, Lara. All good companionships and deals are sealed." Jean leaned closer; ".With a kiss."
Lara had no time to resist before Jean pressed his lips on hers and then pulled back. Realizing she had actually closed her eyes, Lara felt a sudden urge to leave. She pulled her boots back on, getting up to leave.
Jean grabbed her arm. "We do have a deal, don't we?"
Lara turned back, smiling. "We do. I'm just not yet used to your French politeness."
"You think you could get used to it?" Jean asked playfully.
"You'll see, Jean. You'll see," she grinned mysteriously, and jumped down from the rock. As Lara Croft disappeared into the Peruvian bushes gleaming in the sunlight, Jean realized he was already looking forward to Angkor Wat.
"The excavation ended in schedule, the 31st of July 1989. The excavation team had no real success after they decided the door rock was not going to move. Professors Sandringham and Murray decided some tree roots had pinned the rock down, and planned on using explosives the next summer. And as always happens when impatience rules over creativity and scientific methods, it was a disaster. The whole system of chambers collapsed as the explosion ripped through the supporting pillars, destroying the coffin underneath a pile of rock. I knew I should have opened my mouth about the key, but that would have revealed my plan to my educators, and I couldn't afford to lose the sum of money I was getting from the Itkal bird statue. I was poor as a rat at the time of my studies in Chicago, as my father obviously wasn't sending me generous cheques. That gold statue probably paid the rest of my Ph. D. Studies.
I believe every human being is allowed one mistake because of ignorance, and one for sheer stupidity. This arrogant case tomb raiding was my ignorance. My stupidity followed years later, in a place known as the Valley of Kings in Egypt.
But some good did come out of it as the bird statue also helped fund our little trip to Angkor Wat.
But that is another story.
Lara Croft"
End of part II/V
~For additional information and insight concerning this story, check out the archive "Lara Croft's Tales Of Beauty And Power". I hope you've enjoyed the ride so far.
Heidi
All feedback to: siirma6@surfeu.fi