7- ARG026
She pushed the iron door open and finally found herself outside in the open air. At first she thought she would feel better, but she soon realised that she felt even worse now. Her heart was beating fast against her ribs. She looked desperately at the shoreline and the sea in front of her, but the feeling of anger and incomprehension she felt was so strong she could not think straight anymore. Everything in her head was in turmoil.
This is a nightmare...
She leaned against the large railing that bordered the pier and took several breaths to regain her composure. Whereas she thought she would find simple incriminating information about the Svendsens, she now found herself in the worst situation she could have imagined. For a moment she thought she had found answers, but now she was left with an even more incomplete and larger puzzle.
The assistant of Tobias Svendsen's Nazi grandfather, was therefore the mother of one of the Cabal's pillars.
She just couldn't believe it.
"It's that man's fault," the old woman had repeated several times.
Lara understood that she was not talking about Bickenbach himself. Valentina Boaz had worked with him for years, she certainly wouldn't have called him that. So there was only one person who had a connection to Kristina Boaz and to whom the old woman could refer here.
Eckhardt
Lara sighed.
So Kristina Boaz's mother knew Eckhardt and certainly worked for him, before her own daughter even did herself.
It is very likely that Valentina passed on her love of medicine and scientific research to her daughter, who herself studied surgery with distinction. And Kristina Boaz's disappearance in Europe was surely no coincidence
Boaz had left for Europe to get treatment after her accident, but it was now obvious to Lara that Eckhardt had recruited her at a time he was recreating the Cabal.
He undoubtedly took advantage of her knowledge and surgical skills for his own research. But she was clearly an ambitious woman too
Lara couldn't help but think of Prague and the Strahov, where Eckhardt, with the help of Boaz, had conducted all kinds of experiments using nephilim essence. Boaz had cleverly shored up the alchemist by taking over one of the biggest research departments at the Czech base. The adventuress knew that Kurtis had been confronted with what she had done to some of the men trapped in the sanatorium. But like all members of the Cabal, she had been blinded by her lust for power and longevity.
Lara suddenly remembered what Kurtis had told her in St. Petersburg, after they had reunited at Kriegler Castle.
The Nazis bombed Kriegler Castle to free Eckhardt in 1945. He broke free from the Lux Veritatis prison and found refuge with them. But when they discovered the extent of Eckhardt's powers, the Nazis undoubtedly planned to use them to complete their goal
The Nazi experiments were obviously based on what Eckhardt was working on himself, and designed to create a much more powerful and dominant human race. They had seen him as a means to their crazy theory of a superior race and eternal life, just like the Prussian imperial family before them. Lara understood everything was linked in a way.
He remained in hiding until he regained his strength. But Eckhardt's priority was to reconstitute the Cabal. His goal was to find a way to resurrect the Nephilim super-powerful race, so he escaped and went back to Europe
It suddenly appeared logical to the adventuress that Bickenbach had kept on working on his own when the alchemist flew away. And now it was even more logical to her that the Svendsens' hidden genetic manipulations were directly related to Bickenbach's work, and thus to Eckhardt's.
She shook her head sharply. Kurtis and her had destroyed everything related to the Nephili, there was absolutely nothing left of them now. Everything had been destroyed before her very eyes and Kurtis' in Turkey, and she personally made sure the Nephilim cradle was completely destroyed when trying to find Kurtis. It was clearly impossible someone could have gone down over there and find out about the Periapt sword and the last Sleeper...
There's nothing left of the Nephili and the Sleepers now. They're probably trying to recreate a superior human race, like Bickenbach before them. But how could they do that?
Lara's eyes focused on the sea, which the north wind was pushing hard against the rocks a few feet away. She took another deep breath, and a terrible doubt seized her. All this implied the Nazis had bombed Kriegler Castle because they knew where the alchemist was kept prisoner. And more specifically, they knew what he was capable of.
And perhaps they even knew about the Lux Veritatis
The more information she gathered, the worse the situation became and the more it seemed to escape her. She suddenly felt as if she was facing the tip of a huge iceberg: if Bickenbach knew about Eckhardt and the Lux Veritatis, it was very likely that he had passed on what he knew to some of his descendants. Lara felt the uncontrollable stress return to the pit of her stomach.
That would explain why Tobias and Miranda Svendsen contacted Kurtis. They needed him and his knowledge to continue the experiments. They tricked him
The stress was soon replaced by worry.
Now I need to find a way to know where the Svendsens are hiding, and where they have taken Kurtis
"Lara!"
Diego's voice echoed somewhere behind her back and made her jump. When she turned her head, she saw the old man crossing the road and coming towards her in a hurry, somewhat out of breath.
"I've been looking for you. What's going on?"
Lara remained silent for a moment, unable to get out of her train of thoughts.
"You lied to me. You told me you didn't know Valentina Boaz…"
The adventuress shook her head sharply.
"I didn't lie to you, Diego. I don't know her at all, I've never met her before..."
"But something in what she said clearly disturbed you," the man proclaimed inquisitively.
Lara looked away.
"You knew her daughter, didn't you?" Diego asked.
"Sort of, yes."
"Sort of?" the old man insisted, his voice as firm and distant as ever.
Lara finally turned her gaze back towards him. She felt like she had her back to the wall, but she didn't know if she should reveal her findings to the old man. It was risky. She had to be careful, even if Diego seemed to be benevolent towards her.
"Kristina Boaz was involved in an extremely powerful criminal organisation in Europe," she finally explained quietly. "An organisation that literally worked for the darkest forces, and did terrible things, just as terrible as what happened here."
"An organisation that you and your husband are fighting?"
Lara nodded with an almost imperceptible movement of the head.
"To be quite honest, I didn't think it would have anything to do with what I came here for. It's all… it's all indirectly related to the people I'm looking for."
"You were looking for answers, and you got them, right?" Diego asked a bit coldly.
At this moment Lara seriously wanted to retort that she was actually no further ahead with what Valentina had told her, but she changed her mind. There was no point in getting angry at Diego anyway. She bit her lips. Nothing seemed to be clear in her head anymore.
"The further I go into my research, the more unclear everything becomes. I've hit a dead end," Lara told him, annoyed.
The sound of a large wave crashing against the rocks below them echoed around them. The wind from the sea was blowing extremely hard against the shore. A few miles away, the metallic clatter of the few trawlers moored in the harbour resounded.
"We're not necessarily proud of what happened here, believe me," Diego told her, his hands on his hips. "We don't like these stories to surface, especially when foreigners get involved."
"I totally understand your position, Diego. But I can't stop here, I can't pretend nothing's happened, after everything I've discovered so far. I'm getting closer to what I'm looking for, there must be a way to know, somewhere or somehow. Too many people are getting hurt, or have suffered too much already, it's time to put an end to this once and for all."
The old man nodded, his eyes still fixed on the young woman. Without a word, he nodded and suddenly turned to leave. Lara followed him to the car, where the old man sat down. Resigned, unmotivated and still angry, Lara took the passenger seat. The old Chevrolet started up slowly and drove down the main street, leaving the hospital behind. Soon Lara noticed that Diego had passed the main square in the centre of town. After a few minutes, the houses and small buildings disappeared, giving way to the countryside. Suddenly they were outside the city, on an old road that ran deep into the pampas and the barren landscape. Far to the west, the sun was shining its last rays on the plain around them.
"Aren't we going back to the inn?" Lara asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
For a moment, all she could hear was the ambient noise of the bad road and the stones and dust on which the old car was travelling.
"I think there's something you should see," the old man finally said, his eyes fixed on the road.
—
They drove for almost three hours, going deeper and deeper into the Argentinian bush. Night had fallen and the sky was gradually filled with stars, each more sparkling than the last. Lara lost herself for a moment contemplating them, before being interrupted by Diego, who finally deigned to speak to her after long minutes of silence.
"The Second World War brought quite a number of changes to the region, as did the arrival of the Nazis. We had no choice but to adapt and deal with it."
The Englishwoman just looked at him without a word, listening carefully to the old man who was holding his steering wheel firmly. Now that it was completely dark, she could only make out his silhouette.
"I don't know exactly why Bickenbach came here in exile, and what made him stay," he continued in a monotone voice. "The remoteness from Europe is obvious, however, the region is not really known for its industrial or economic wealth. There were clearly no viable facilities for their work and what they were planning to do. In any case, he was sure to be out of sight in such a remote region of the world."
He paused for a moment, and grabbed a small bottle of water to drink. He offered some to the young woman, who refused with a wave of her hand. When he put the bottle back in its place, Lara saw him shrug slightly.
"In any case, people started disappearing and missing when they arrived here."
"Disappearing and missing?" Lara repeated, unable to contain herself.
Diego nodded slowly.
"First of all, only marginal people disappeared. In general they just went AWOL and nobody saw them again. Most of the time, people thought they just had died suddenly, or had been attacked during the night by beasts that prowled around. Then old and sick people started missing in some of the surrounding villages. Some children too, but that was rarer. At first, no one asked questions. Actually in a region like ours, it is not uncommon for people to disappear without a trace, as lots of people leave overnight to reach the bigger cities. Most of the time we just thought they intentionally left, and many people I know here even thought some of the missing people had had accidents or something like that, or even sudden illness. At the time, that was unfortunately common here, you know. We were kind of used to see people disappearing overnight. Until one day I realised that we were not the only ones affected. When I started gathering information, I soon realised that people were disappearing in the whole region, but also in many other parts of the country."
"Do you think that the Nazis were using these people for their experiments?"
"Without a doubt, yes."
"And you think they took them to the laboratory that was hidden here, somewhere in Argentina?"
"I'm sure they did. You may have noticed that Puerto Deseado, as the name suggests, is a port city. There were even rumours that cargo ships full of kidnapped people were leaving from there, right under our noses, to another, much larger secret base. Where exactly, I can't tell you, unfortunately. Nobody ever knew here."
The car suddenly slowed down, and Diego turned right. The Chevrolet turned onto a small dirt road. After a few minutes and another long silence from the old man, they stopped abruptly, in the middle of nowhere.
"But maybe you'll find a way to know," said the old man suddenly, turning his gaze to the young woman.
Before she had time to react, the old man opened the door and got out of the car. When Lara got out of the car too, she was surprised to discover that they had stopped at the foot of a long barbed wire wall, which seemed to stretch for miles. An old sign hanging on the gate indicated a danger zone. The place reminded her of her trip to the American desert a few years earlier. In the light of the headlights, she turned to Diego, her eyebrows furrowed, even though he could not see her expression from where he stood.
"What's on the other side of those gates?" the young woman asked suspiciously, even though the answer to her question seemed to lie deep inside her.
"Ironically enough, this is a former American base."
"This is where the laboratory was set up, isn't it?"
"According to the rumours, this is where some of the missing persons were brought. And so, supposedly, is the lab."
Lara glanced around. Luckily she had a minimum of equipment and ammunition in her bag. Her 9mm was in there too, but she hoped that would be enough to defend herself if she had to venture into this godforsaken area.
"Is the area disused?"
"Officially, yes. To be perfectly honest, I've never seen nothing myself around here, but there are quite a lot of rumours about the place, some say it is haunted by the spirits of those who died there."
"How charming," Lara replied wryly.
"There are a lot of wild animals roaming around here, especially at night. But some local people are convinced they have seen things there."
"What kind of things?"
"Things that are no longer animal, neither human."
Their eyes met in the darkness. A blast of warm air swept over them, and made the rusty iron fence beside them creak.
"Why did you bring me here, Diego? Why are you helping me?"
The old man shook his head gently, and shoved his hands into his pockets. He took a deep breath before speaking again, now looking away.
"My own son disappeared in 1989. He left for work one morning, but never came back. We never saw him again. And that's it, it was as if he had never existed. It couldn't be proved officially, as there were very few clues back then, but I know he presumably went taken away by the nazis for their experiences. I'm deeply convinced of their guilt in all this."
"I'm really sorry for you and your wife, Diego."
"I wish we could have known the truth…" he replied in a whisper, but obviously more to himself.
Lara remembered the photo she had seen in the inn's entrance. The image of a smart and handsome boy, tightly embraced by his proud and loving father, came back to her mind. She could see the pain in the old man's eyes. But he seemed definitely somewhere else in this very moment, as if he was not really with the young woman anymore, maybe lost in his own thoughts or kind of resigned in a way. She really felt sad for him.
"I just agree that some questions deserve answers," Diego finally said after this long silence. "You yourself have a right to find answers to your questions. I can't guarantee anything of course, but maybe you'll find them here."
Lara thanked him with a sincere smile, regaining her seriousness as the old man came back to reality too. She leaned in the car window to grab her backpack from the passenger seat. She put it on her back and readjusted it. The old Argentinian pointed to the area behind the fence with a movement of the chin.
"The base is not very big, the buildings are straight ahead from here, about two kilometres, hidden in the rock formation of Jamarillo National Park. You won't be able to get lost, it's all flat and deserted until you reach the old base. But I'm not worried, you seem relatively resourceful for a tourist."
Lara could not hold back a cynical laugh, and looked away, almost embarrassed by the old man's frankness.
"You've been here before, right?"
"Several times, indeed. But we've never found anything down there. And besides, that place is not really safe anymore… And not to mention all the atrocities that took place over there…"
They both shook their heads in the same movement of both approval and sympathy.
"Just promise me you'll take care of yourself and come back alive," Diego told her in a very serious voice this time.
Without answering, the young woman approached the fence. After a quick look, she slipped her fingers through the gate and began to climb. She pulled herself up at arm's length between the loose barbed wire that dotted the top of the fence, and dropped heavily on the other side. When she stood up, Diego was still waiting with his hands in his pockets, standing in the light of the car's headlights.
"I can't promise you anything, Diego. But I thank you for everything, for your help. Don't wait for me, I'll find my way back."
"I'll wait to hear from you. Once again, take good care of yourself."
They exchanged a last smile before the old man decided to get back into the car. The tyres screeched and the car slowly started to move backwards on the dirt road. Lara watched the headlights and the car driving away, before they finally disappeared completely further into the night.
She found herself plunged into total darkness. The silence around her was interrupted only by the whistling of the wind and her own breathing. She took her 9mm from her backpack, took a breath, and began her walk across the desert plain.
—
As Diego had predicted, it didn't take long for the rock formation to come into view in the national park. She had moved relatively quickly, walking briskly through the sand that mingled with the rock and pebbles. So far, she hadn't spotted anything out of the ordinary, except for the sound of coyotes howling several miles away.
As she rounded a bend in a pile of large rocks stacked on top of each other and some tall grass, she came face to face with an imposing, high mountain, which suddenly stood in front of her. Guided by the light of her torch, she followed the natural undulation of the rock, skirting the relief for several dozen more metres, before finding the first signs of human construction. She passed a new low wall in ruins covered with barbed wire, where once again some signs forbade her to go further. A little higher up in front of her, there was indeed a building dug out of the rocky facade, of which nothing was visible except one or two iron doors, and some condemned windows. Lara was surprised by this strange mixture of nature and concrete, as if the whole had merged in the middle of this austere nature.
The perfect hiding place for a clandestine laboratory, almost invisible to the rest of the world
An ominous creaking noise caught her attention, but she realised that it was only one of the old doors that had been left slightly ajar. She took a few more moments to check the surroundings and make sure there was no danger. But the place was silent again.
Almost dead like
Something slipped somewhere above her, and she felt dust and dirt falling on her. When she turned in the direction of the noise, her pistol and torch pointed in front of her, Lara saw nothing. Her eyes scanned the void for a few seconds before finally turning away. She continued her advance, taking slow, measured steps towards one of the tall iron doors that stood a few feet away. She pressed herself against the wall to peek through the double doorway, but it was pitch black inside. With her fingertips she pushed the door open a little more and slipped inside. A strange smell, a mixture of dampness, stale and scrap metal, suddenly stung her nose. There was a lot of rubble and waste on the floor. She discovered a large room, with what looked like two cabins on either side and partly collapsed iron fences.
A checkpoint
It was probably the main entrance to the old base. A huge, long corridor opened up in front of her and seemed to go on indefinitely into the bowels of the mountain.
An underground fortress, for a change...
She moved forward at a cautious pace, skirting around some of the debris that come in her way. After a quick look in each of the cabins, of which there was nothing left, she headed towards the long tunnel. She prepared herself for the worst, and couldn't help the sensation of déjà vu. Holding her torch high as she pointed the light in front of her, her breathing controlled and on her guard, the adventuress began her descent into the depths of the base.
Apart from the sand and suspicious marks on the walls, Lara didn't notice anything in particular and continued to move forward for a long time, without seeing anything but this dark and suffocating tunnel ahead of her. After a period of time that seemed interminable, she finally reached a sort of fork in the road, with one tunnel going off to the left, and one going off to the right.
The adventuress alternately shone her lamp to one side, then to the other, looking for a clue as to which way to go. Then, finally following her instinct, she took the left-hand path.
The corridor narrowed at first, before giving way to a huge underground complex, several metres high and wide. Lara quickly realised that this was a huge common room, undoubtedly an old control room, judging by the few pieces of furniture that stood in her way. There were desks, most of them overturned or destroyed, sheets and documents littering the floor, telephone equipment and other old radios.
In the back of the room, something caught her eye. She wove her way through the old furniture to get a little closer. Opposite where she had arrived was a heavy round iron door, slightly open. Lara was then drawn to a wide open door on one side. She approached slowly and stopped in the doorway before entering. She discovered a small, uninteresting room where wooden crates were stored. After analysis, she noticed the logo printed on the wood, and she realised that they were only boxes of ammunition.
In a corner, another crate, more imposing and still sealed, a little apart from the others, caught her attention. The young woman quickly observed it, and noticed several indications in German, including logos warning of the dangerousness of the contents. To remove any doubt, she picked up an iron bar lying on the floor and hooked the lid of the box. The fastenings gave way without resistance, and she pushed the lid aside so that she could peek inside. She discovered whole blocks of dynamite, all still wrapped in their thick grey hessian.
Enough to destroy entire cities...
Something moved behind her. Or rather, something was moving somewhere in the darkness. She froze. She turned around, pointing the light of the lamp and her 9mm in front of her. But as soon as she turned around, the noises stopped abruptly. She held her breath.
There's something here with me
She waited, motionless, her fingers literally clutching her lamp and gun. Adrenaline was beginning to course through her veins, as cold as an ice pick. Her heart was pounding against her rib cage at high speed in a uncontrollable way. She finally took a step forward, approaching the door. Just as she was about to reach the room entrance, something burst out of the shadows and charged at her.
She had no time to react. The thing, which had leapt into the air, had fallen on top of her and knocked her to the ground. Lara let out a cry of surprise. She fired several bullets, but they only grazed the assailant. She heard them ricochet off the metal walls around them, narrowly missing their target. Caught under the thing that attacked her, the adventuress struggled and seeing a jaw open wide and ready to slam into her, she raised an arm to protect herself. The pain was searing and pierced her to the shoulder as the thing's teeth closed on her flesh. She felt a hot liquid run down her arm and fall in great drops on her. She screamed in pain. The lamp slipped out of her hand and slid further away, but she still had enough light to see her opponent's movements, which were extremely precise and fast. Lara could not hide her fright as the figure attacking her finally came into view in the darkness. She pushed a little harder to push back the man with the swollen and disfigured face, whose deformed jaw was snapping at her. His almost black teeth were razor sharp. She smelled his putrid odour and slime dripping down on her. Her eyes met the bloodshot red eyes of the creature, who seemed completely out of rage.
Refocusing, Lara managed to kicked it into the abdomen and to pull her arm slightly free, but not without another cry of pain as the teeth separated from her flesh. She grabbed her weapon with both hands and fired. The bullet pierced the thing's shoulder with a soft sound, and it finally let go of her arm and tipped backwards slightly. The adventuress then kicked it hard once more in the stomach to push it away. The thing collapsed backwards with a hoarse cry of anger.
She barely had time to get back on her feet when the creature charged at her again. It hit Lara head-on, and the two of them toppled over again and fell onto one of the wooden crates stored in the room, which exploded into a thousand pieces on impact. Lara felt all the metal bullets spill out from underneath her with a deafening noise as the creature leaned over her, throwing its hooked hands in her direction to rip her open.
With her hands she blocked the thing's attacks, and this time pushed with both feet against its strangely soft belly. She managed to push the beast back. It resisted, but backed off just enough for Lara to position her gun and fire. The bullet perforated the skull of the thing, which finally collapsed to the ground with a terrifying scream.
Lara lay there for a moment in the scattered bullets, trying to catch her breath. Then she stood up as quickly as she could, almost jumping back on her feet. She went forward to retrieve her lamp and returned to the corpse lying on the ground. A new wave of disgust swept over her as she discovered in details her assailant: she guessed that the deformed thing, with its exaggeratedly long and thick arms, had once been a man. His shaven head, covered in dirt, glistened with sweat. His mouth was a sort of gaping hole, he had no lips. Dark veins ran under his almost translucent skin. Lara pointed her gun at it, wary. But the creature did not move.
The creatures Diego was talking about. It looks like a bad Z movie in here
Pain suddenly came back in her lower arm. The aventuress glanced briefly at the wound. On her skin were the sharp marks of sharp teeth, which had sunk quite deep into the flesh. The wound was still bleeding, but she had nothing with her to clean it properly. She took a small bottle of water out of her bag and spread it on the wound, before grabbing some gas compress to make a quick tourniquet. A strong shiver of both disgust and annoyance ran through her from top to bottom.
Hope I'm not going to turn into one of those things…
She then abruptly turned around and walked out of the room, 9mm brandished in front of her. She had a feeling that the man-creature she had just encountered was not alone.
After a quick check of the area, she made her way up the large control room and towards the round iron door she had seen before. Behind it, another tunnel seemed to continue to sink into total darkness.
It was just open enough for Lara to squeeze through. The Englishwoman wriggled a little and finally passed to the other side. To her surprise, she found herself in a very small room, which looked very much like a round airlock. In front of her was another large iron door, identical to the one she had just passed through. Once again, she slipped nimbly through the opening with her weapon and torch in front of her. She found herself in a new corridor, much smaller and much narrower this time. At the end of it, another heavy round iron door stood wide open. To the sides were several rooms. After a quick glance, Lara discovered several offices and rooms in which medical equipment was stored: whole crates of drugs, syringes, catheters, test tubes and containers of all kinds. She also discovered a whole stock of military equipment, filled with suits and other helmets.
She then headed for the iron door, which opened onto a wide metal staircase. Ignoring her stress, the adventuress stepped in without hesitation. She descended with slow, silent steps, keeping her torch high to provide maximum light ahead. It was getting hotter and moister as she went deeper into the underground. She heard strange noises, but she couldn't work out what they were. Was it just the rock and structure of the bunker creaking around her?
When she reached the bottom, she found another tunnel and a whole new set of rooms around her. Again she took a quick look around each room, but found nothing of interest. One last room was locked, however. It was obviously much thinner and less solid than the previous ones. With a little backward movement, Lara kicked the metal several times, before the door gave way and opened wide with a loud creak. She waited a few seconds for the silence to subside to make sure she wasn't being followed and that no other creatures suddenly appeared. She listened for a moment, on the lookout, but nothing happened. So she walked into the room she had just opened and discovered with surprise a large, high-ceilinged, empty space. Or so it seemed.
As she took a few steps closer, she noticed strange shapes around her. Large shapes, which were visible in the light her torch was spreading. They were piles of something.
Clothes
Lara felt the blood run cold through her veins. In front of her were impressive piles of clothes of all kinds: old shirts with holes in them, torn trousers, and an impressive quantity of shoes.
The missing people who served as guinea pigs
Preferring not to linger in this sinister place, the adventuress lost no more time and turned around. She went back to the corridor and followed it, before it branched off to the left. Not surprisingly, it was similar to the rest of the structure. But the young woman soon noticed that the doors on either side were large reinforced doors, all lined up in an extremely regular fashion.
Cells
Far ahead of her, she seemed to see lights flickering vaguely. There was another, much larger room at the other end of this corridor. She saw what looked like cables. A large structure sat visibly in the centre of the room, but she couldn't make out what it was exactly for now. Lara hesitated for a moment. She glanced behind her and at the metal staircase, then turned to the hallway that opened up to her. Diego was right about one thing: sometimes it was better to leave things where they were. But at this point, she had no choice. She had already come too far to stop there, she had to continue, despite the apprehension that was growing fiercely inside her at the thought of what she might discover here. Not to mention the weird creatures lurking around.
I've seen worse. But if I found an alien body, that would be the last straw
She checked her magazine to make sure it was full, and finally moved forward. She went through the first few cells fairly quickly: most of them were closed, but through the portholes, she saw that the rooms were almost empty. All that remained were simple rusty metal beds. A little further on, she entered a cell whose door was open, but she quickly stopped dead in her tracks as she found out an informed mass lying on the slumped bed. At first she thought it was another man-creature, but seeing no reaction from it, and considering the unbearable smell of putrefaction, Lara realised that it was a man whose body had completely decomposed. Again she saw nothing of interest here, so she resolutely turned back, her arm over her mouth and nose to cover the smell.
The lights she'd seen were slowly coming closer and closer, looming before her. After checking the last few cells, where she found nothing more, she reached eventually the end of the corridor.
There she found herself in a huge space with a vaulted, but partially collapsed ceiling. As she had noticed at first, electrical cables hung from the ceiling, and old neon lights still glowed dimly in places. In the centre was what looked like a huge glass airlock, in which Lara saw all sorts of facilities. Overturned metal tables, chains hanging from the ceiling among other things that were supposedly buried under the sand and rocks now. Taking another step forward, she noticed, further behind the airlock, that there was also a series of large Plexiglas tanks at the back of the room. One of them was still filled with rotting water.
It all looked like a giant science complex, obviously set up in the heart of the base. Lara was unable to contain the shiver that ran through her as she imagined, for a split second, what this place had been used for back then.
After checking the corridor behind her once more, making sure there was no one- rather nothing- coming after her, she quickly went around the room and the facilities, before heading for a small adjoining room, whose walls were made of plexiglass.
A sort of small control room, I imagine
There was a desk inside, and some spilled or broken scientific equipment on the floor. But mostly there were old filing cabinets and books. The young woman's heart began to beat a little faster.
Maybe there's something here
When she tried to enter, however, she realised that a huge block of stone was blocking her way. Part of the ceiling had collapsed there, and the door was therefore blocked by a pile of debris. It was impossible to open.
Lara took a moment to think, hands on her hips. She looked at the small desk and the glass wall in front of her. Then she looked around. Not far from her she noticed something buried in a pile of sand.
A chair
She reached over and pulled it out of the pile of debris and dust, before returning to the glass desk. She gained some momentum, and threw the chair against the wall with all her might. But nothing happened. She tried a second time, but the wall did not budge.
The young woman took a moment to think again. Then an idea came to her. She cocked her 9mm, and fired at two precise points on the slide. Large cracks appeared and scratched the glass from side to side. She grabbed the chair, and with a final burst of speed, threw it against the wall of glass, which exploded and scattered into a thousand pieces on the floor. Without wasting any time, the adventuress stepped over the debris and entered the small room. She quickly flipped through the folders, which unfortunately were of little interest to her. They were only maps of the region, geological surveys. She found some plans of the base, which she took the time to observe, but they did not give her any more answers. As Diego had told her, the base was not very large, and it was obvious that she was currently in the heart of the base, where the bulk of the installation was located. She then glanced at the few books still lying around on the desk, but again, nothing of interest to her. There wasn't much else here, apart from a metal box on the wall, which had obviously been used as a key box for the cells. She huffed loudly in frustration. She turned around and considered leaving the room.
As she stepped to the other side, her eye was caught by a sudden movement. In front of her, suddenly coming out of the corridor she had come from, were two creatures similar to the man she had shot on the upper floor running at her. However, the two creatures coming towards her seemed to have mutated differently. One seemed much larger and stockier than normal, as if it had been fused with a wild animal. The other looked almost human, except for the lump that had grown on the top of its head and which was tilting it dangerously to one side.
Both creatures hissed when they saw her. Without hesitation, Lara dropped the torch and drew her two 9mm guns to fire at them. Her aim was the nearest creature, and the bullets pierced its torso and then its arms. It screamed with rage. Before they fell on her, Lara took one last aim and shot the other creature in the head. It collapsed with a mournful grunt.
She barely had time to catch her breath before focusing on the second creature, which was already upon her. She fired several times, but the thing dodged her bullets with agility. It was thrown off balance for a very brief moment when one of the bullets went into its leg, but that didn't stop it. Just as she was about to fire again, there was a loud click as Lara pulled the trigger. Her magazines were empty.
She saw the creature suddenly run at her and leap into the air. Before the young woman could react, the thing fell on her heavily, and they both toppled backwards. They fell to the ground and, carried away by the momentum, rolled into the office behind. Under the force of the impact, Lara dropped her weapons, which slid a little further into the room. She quickly got up and charged straight at her opponent. But just as she was about to hit it, it got up in a jump and grabbed her firmly by the waist to throw her against the wall. The adventuress hit the wall with force, pushing aside the desk and making fall the key box, before she collapsed to the ground, a little stunned.
The thing was coming back at her. As it bent over and flung its sharp claws in her direction, Lara threw her foot with all her might to fend off her enemy. She managed to hit the creature in the face. Blood poured out of its nostrils and mouth, which seemed to make it even angrier.
Lara suddenly noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Taking advantage of the creature's moment of distraction, she dived forward. She slipped in the dust and reached out to grab one of the pieces of glass lying on the ground. She felt the beast's hooked hands grab her. She turned around and without hesitation slammed the thick piece of glass she was holding firmly into the creature's ribs, and it screamed in pain.
She abruptly removed the glass from the assailant's slimy flesh and brought the blade down on it a second time, this time in the head. There was an unpleasant gurgle, then the creature suddenly stopped moving, before collapsing face first into the dust.
Slowly catching her breath, Lara pushed the blocking corpse away with one foot before slowly standing up. Her body ached, she could already feel the repercussions of the blows she had just received in all her limbs. She glanced at the body lying at her feet.
Bloody creatures
But she also felt a touch of compassion for these beings who were obviously the direct victims of the experiments that had been conducted here. She felt a sort of guilt seize her, but she also told herself that it was perhaps better for these creatures to die than to remain locked up in bodies bruised by the madness of certain men.
She suddenly felt a warmth, then a sharp pain somewhere on the back of her head. She winced as she ran her hand over it, and found that it was bleeding slightly. She stared at the iron box that had fallen to the floor and the desk that had been pushed aside when the creature had thrown her against the wall. Looking a little closer, Lara was surprised to discover that there was an opening in the wall, partly hidden behind the desk.
A hiding place
Her heartbeat, which had been slightly calmer, started racing again. Ignoring the pain in her head and the bite on her arm that continued to burn brightly, Lara approached, torch in hand again. She pushed the desk a little bit more, so that she could gain full access to what she had discovered. She crouched down.
A tiny rectangular cavity had been cut into the wall, right out of the rock. And there was something in it. Without thinking, Lara slipped her hand into the opening. She felt something with a familiar shape and feel under her fingers, which she pulled out of the hiding place. It was several folders full of papers.
She turned around and swept the few debris and objects that were lying on the desk next to her to place the files she had just found on it. The young woman quickly leafed through the documents one by one. Luckily, despite the dust and humidity, they were all still more or less legible. She couldn't believe it.
All Bickenbach's work was there, but above all, there were precise plans, diagrams, dozen of pages of notes on the experiments and on all the secret laboratories. Lara soon realised the first documents were all related to what was missing on the USB stick, all classified under the name "ARG026". On several occasions, she noticed the words "Prima Materia" noted in different page corners. And then came the last documents, all of them relating a much larger and more developed project than the one Bickenbach had started here, in Argentina. A huge and complex base, which included the most powerful and advanced scientific facilities of the time. A project soberly entitled 'The Whale'.
As soon as she saw this, Lara felt as if the ground was crumbling beneath her feet. She made the connection with Kurtis' back tattoo and it's Celestial Wheel, which had already shown them the way to Cappadocia before, and which represented the major events or places in the world the Lux Veritatis was linked to.
The Whale is the constellation that corresponds to the Nephilim base in Antarctica*
But this base was supposed to have been destroyed years ago by Kurtis' father. She shook her head in disbelief, her eyes running through the documents at high speed.
So that's where the Svendsens are hiding...
She gathered up the documents and put them into her backpack.
... and supposedly that's where they took Kurtis
Something suddenly got her attention. When she raised her head and took the time to listen carefully, holding her breath, she realized some of the walls were vibrating around her. Out of the deepest darkness, distinctive and angry growls started resonating from the depths of the fortress. But this time, she knew it wasn't just about the infrastructure itself. Her heartbeats quickened when her eyes fell upon a large opening, which came out of the dark and which was hidden behind the broken tanks. Another empty and gloomy tunnel, from which the noises were coming. Some other creatures were coming at her, she had to get out of here, quickly.
As she put her backpack back on her shoulders, and turned round in hurry, she heard growls coming suddenly much closer. Several forms sprang from the hole: she drew and fired at will into the pile.
She hadn't had time to relight her torch, but she didn't need to make out the monsters that were coming at her. The first two or three, who formed the leading pack of a whole group of creature-men, collapsed at the feet of the tanks just inside the tunnel. In the back of her mind, Lara hoped that this would hopefully slow down the others coming up behind. But she didn't take the time to wait and check.
Without further ado, she turned around and started running at full speed. Behind her, she heard the other male creatures struggling to slip through the opening. Their growls of rage rang out once more.
The adventuress walked up the long corridor and past the previous cells, which seemed even more oppressive than the first time. Her heart was pounding hard against her ribs, and she tried to control her rapid, gasping breathing, but deep down she feared that at any moment she would be confronted by another group of mutant men, no doubt waiting to ensnare her. She passed the cell where the clothes of the former prisoners were kept and climbed the metal stairs at full speed. She saw the heavy round metal door a little further up. She might have time to close it behind her if she hurried.
If I have the strength to...
But even before she reached the top of the stairs, she heard metallic footsteps echoing behind her. Lara turned around and fired again blindly. With horror, she discovered in the light of her weapons, nearly a dozen men in pursuit, piled up against each other, almost stepping on each other to reach their common prey. Their dark eyes glowed in the dark and their mouths filled with a dark liquid opened wide in her direction. Jaws snapped with force. As with the first men she had met, all bore the marks of the deformities caused by Bickenbach's experiments. Their hands, or rather their claws, clawed at the walls and metal steps with shrill, unpleasant noises.
Bullets pierced flesh with an unpleasantly soft sound. Black blood spurted in all directions. Pieces of rotting flesh flew into the air. The adventuress managed to put one eye out, shot down another, which collapsed head first into the steps, but the creatures were determined. For a fraction of a second she had the unpleasant impression that she was facing the creatures that had been present in her visions and dreams when she had been trapped by Karel.
She didn't let go until her magazines were empty. She started running again, reloading her weapons, and rushed to the big metal door. She grabbed the thick, rusty iron handle and pulled with all her might. But the door did not move.
She took a breath and pulled again. The door creaked, and moved, but only a few inches. It was far too heavy, and more importantly, completely rusted.
Damn it!
The man-creatures still alive had just reached the top of the stairs. They would be on her in a fraction of a second. Lara started to run again and made her way down the empty corridor that opened up to her. She had to get to the airlock with the double metal doors, a few feet away. There, she might have a chance to block them.
She pulled out one of her 9mm guns, and fired randomly into her back. She heard the bullets ricochet off the walls. One of the men, wounded in the leg, collapsed and started to scream. The Englishwoman then felt the man who was following him quicken his pace and gain momentum. There was a very brief silence and time suddenly seemed to stand still. Instinctively, the adventuress stopped running and crouched down abruptly. She raised her pistol and fired at the beast that was passing over her. The bullets passed through its abdomen one by one, and the it collapsed. It rolled several feet to the next metal door, leaving large trails of blood behind itself.
Lara got to her feet without delay and fired in the other direction to keep at bay the few creatures still on her tail. When she had managed to take down more of them, she started to run again and rushed towards the airlock, the last step before returning to the last rooms before the surface. If she could close at least one of the two metal doors, she would be safe.
No more room for error
But as she stepped over the fallen creature to enter the small airlock, it suddenly reared up and grabbed her by one leg. Lara let out a cry of surprise, before toppling over and falling heavily to the ground. Her weapon fell a few feet away from her, out of reach. Her head hit the hard ground and she felt stunned for a moment. She was trapped in the airlock, between the two doors. She felt the creature grab her firmly and claw at her calf. Its huge, raspy hands were full of blood and slime. She also felt its hot, fermented breath against her skin. She knew that his teeth were not far from closing in on her. She gave a first kick to make it let go, but the creature held on. The claws dug a little deeper into her. Lara tried to crawl for her weapon, but her hands slipped on the wet and damaged ground. She could hear the other creatures coming. She let out a cry of rage.
"You like biting things? Well bite this!" she screamed, beside herself.
Drawing on the last of her resources, the adventuress stood firmly on her elbows, and launched powerful kicks into the creature's arm, then into its head. The mutant let out a terrible scream as the bones in its arm snapped. Then, the woman's foot sank into its eye, then into its jaw, which broke in turn. With a final cry of rage, Lara threw her foot one last time, which shattered the skull of the beast. It suddenly let go.
Lara pulled her leg free and scrambled to her feet. She bent down to retrieve her 9mm and rushed behind the second door. With what strength she had left, even though her whole body was protesting in pain, she grabbed the handle of the heavy door firmly and pushed.
Unlike the other door, this one moved. It creaked loudly, but slowly closed. As the door yawned, Lara saw the hateful looks of predators who saw their prey narrowly escape. One of the mutant men stepped into the airlock and tried to grab her. The young woman pushed him away with a flurry of bullets. She gave a final burst, and with a final cry of effort, the door slammed shut and closed on the monsters.
She stood there for a moment, leaning against the big door, trying to catch her breath. Long minutes passed without her daring to release the pressure she was maintaining against the metal. And although the door was blocked, she waited until the muscles in her arms were almost completely tetanized before letting go.
Lara finally took a few steps backwards, her gaze still fixed on the door. She could hear scratching and growling behind it. She had to get out of there as soon as possible, before they found another way to reach her.
The young woman turned and ran in short strides into the large control room, slaloming between the furniture. But just as she was about to exit the room, she suddenly stopped.
She stared at the small room where the ammunition boxes and dynamite were kept.
—
She checked her installation one last time before turning away. With a calmer step, but still on the lookout, she left the large control room and the door behind which the monsters were locked. She returned to the first room, at the checkpoints. She slipped through the iron entrance door.
Being out in the open air did her a world of good. She felt as if she were coming back to life as the warm wind caressed her face. She began to walk through the Argentinean desert, and quickly moved away from the base and the rock formation of Jamarillo Natural Park, letting the spool of thread unwind as she went.
After about a hundred metres, when she ran out of wire, she stopped. She put the big hand-held detonator on the ground. She undid the safety catch, grabbed the handle with both hands, and without the slightest hint of hesitation, lowered it.