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Cipher
L.A. Sway
The small café buzzed with conversation. Woman giggling over the gossip they had just shared, business men closing deals over cell phones, young couples whispering quietly to each other. Lara leaned back in her chair, sipping her coffee, waiting. For the third time in the past five minutes, she glanced impatiently at her watch. Outside the window, hurried pedestrians pushed past each other, never bothering to apologize for every time they knocked into someone. Everyone who lived in the city always seemed to be rushed, except Daniel, who was taking his merry ole time at the moment. Finally, he appeared at the door of the café, wearing jeans, a black button up shirt and a black jacket. He settled into the seat parallel to her, and smiled. Lara did not return it.
"You're late."
He shrugged, and leaned back in his chair.
"Traffic's horrible this time of day."
"You live a block away."
He laughed, "Calm down Croft, I'm 5 minutes late-"
"Would you stop calling me that!"
"Well, what do you want me to call you?"
Lara sighed. Barely a minute into their conversation and he was already pressing her buttons. "Lara will be fine."
He shook his head, with a bit of a smile on his face "Are you always this impossible?"
"Are you always this arrogant?"
When he didn't reply, but instead just stared at her with a neutral expression on his face, she continued. "Did you bring it with you?"
"Yup." He said patting his jacket pocket.
"May I see?"
He removed it from his coat, looking around casually to make sure no one was watching, and handed it to her. Lara immediately flipped to the back of the book, finding exactly what she was looking for. The entire Spanish alphabet was arranged in a table, with small symbols adjacent to each letter.
"What is it?" Daniel asked.
She looked up at him, and lowered her voice. "On the piece, there are all these symbols, some I recognized, some I had never seen before. In the back of this book, the Spanish alphabet is listed. It has a symbol next to each letter, enabling whoever has the book and the piece, to decipher the markings."
"So like a code?"
"Exactly."
"Well, how long will it take you to decipher all the markings?"
"Shouldn't' take long. But we only have half the puzzle, without the other piece that Lawrence discovered, its incomplete." Lara leaned down, picking up her bag and placing the diary in it. She stood from the table, only to be halted by what she expected.
"Do you think I'm just going to let you leave with that?" Daniel said, standing up as well. Lara glared at him, "I thought we had an understanding, I need the diary if I'm going to decode the piece."
"And when you're done, you're going to skip town, with both?"
Lara found herself rolling her eyes, irritated with this man's constant accusations. Not that his comment was a half bad idea.
She sighed, "Tomorrow I'm going to the British museum to see a friend of mine. A historian. She can answer some of the questions I have about the piece. Since you obviously don't trust me with the diary, you might as well come." Lara paused a moment, thinking about what she had just said. Of course he didn't trust her. Why should he? She certainly didn't trust him in the least.
Daniel smiled a little, like a child who was getting his way and nodded. "See you tomorrow then." Lara nodded, placed her designer shades over her eyes and walked out the café door.
***
The soft clicks of the woman's shoes echoed throughout the empty halls of the museum. It didn't open for another hour, and Lara was glad not have to compete with the flow of tourists. Lara and Daniel followed close behind the woman, trying to keep up with her quick pace. Finally they entered into the woman's office, and she gestured for them to sit in the two seats adjacent to her desk.
Her office was plainly decorated ,the white walls barren, except for a small award certificate hung up behind her desk.
She was a small woman, her once beautiful features now lined with wrinkles and her graying hair pulled into a tight bun. She folded her hands in front of her, letting her gaze sweep over the pair. She had introduced herself as Catherine Maguire, curator of the museum.
Lara had come to visit her old friend, Gale Jennings only to find that she had retired nearly two years ago. She felt somewhat guilty for seeming to only connect with old friends when she needed their help, and made a mental note to catch up with Gale in the near future.
"Now let's see Miss Croft," Maguire said, pulling the glasses that had hung in front of her to the tip of her nose,
"There is limited information of the chest of Saints. It appeared in the late 15th century, and was immediately ordered to be shipped off. Eduardo de los Santos was the captain of El orgullo del mar, the ship that was sent off from Spain by the Queen herself. The ship was said to have been carrying the Chest of Saints, containing the sword of St. Michael. There are various rumors about the sword. Said to have fought Satan himself. Overall, the sword when wielded, has absolute power over all their enemies." She sat back in her seat, obviously in a hurry to move on with her day. But she had accepted the meeting, not wanting to turn away the Lara Croft.
Lara leaned forward, "So what of the ship?"
Maguire pursed her lips, "It shipwrecked just off the coast of Spain. Archeologists have never found any evidence of the ship, or the chest for that matter. The only evidence we've ever acquired on the subject, was the half of the key of saints that Alfred Stevens discovered in Germany. I have no idea how it ended up that far from Spain. As for the other half of the key, archeologists have had no luck."
Daniel and Lara exchanged glances, but said nothing. Maguire continued, "Because of the lack of evidence, most historians are skeptical of it's existence."
Yeah, and Archeologists never found evidence of Atlantis either, Lara thought smugly.
"And when the two pieces are combined, they unlock the chest?" Daniel asked, eyeing her. "Precisely. When combined it's said that the two pieces will create a map leading to the chest and unlock it."
She leaned back in her chair, "I'm afraid that's all."
Lara nodded and stood from her chair, Daniel doing the same. "We appreciate your help, Mrs. Maguire."
They made their way out of her office and onto the street, climbing into Lara's land rover. "Eduardo de los Santos," Daniel said, pulling out the diary from his jacket pocket, "That's whose diary this was. The captain. If the sword was as powerful as said to be, then why would the queen give it up? You'd think that people would be doing everything they can to get a hold of it, not get rid of it."
Lara thought for a moment, her eyes remaining steady on the road, "Maybe she was afraid of its power. Perhaps she'd meant for the ship to crash, so that no one could ever touch it." Daniel looked out the window and nodded. "Yeah, maybe."
***
Lara ran the tip of her fingers along the glossy surface of the piece. It was as if she could feel the history leaking from it. Outside, the sky was etched in a sullen gray, the rain clouds having remained stationary all day. Now the only sound that could be heard inside the den was the light drumming of the rain against the windows.
She leaned back in her chair, her eyes sweeping across the contents of the piece. She smiled in satisfaction, standing from her desk, carrying the diary and the piece with her. Daniel looked up at her from his place on the floor, an ocean of books spread out in front of him.
"Got it." She smiled, settling on the floor next to him.
"You translated the inscription?" He asked, his eyes lighting up.
She nodded, and flipped open the diary to where she had written the inscription first in Spanish, and then in English. Daniel glanced over Lara's shoulder, watching as she ran her finger along the inscription.
"Seek out thy Sword of pure heart and ye shall prosper; Seek out of thy self and ye shall be judged."
Lara paused a moment, glancing at Daniel, trying to discern what he was thinking.
She took a breath and continued, "For be warned, the Judgment of Saints hath no mercy."
