-Travelling to India

The stairs of the luxury private jet mechanically unfolded, allowing the passengers to come on-board. When Lara took her first steps inside the cabin, she was astounded by the amount of available space inside. Since she was mainly used to a somewhat crowded interior, it was pleasant having the luxury to travel in style.

"Do you like it Lara, all of this is state of the art equipment, only the best money can afford" boasted Eric Copper, as he sat down in a massive throne type of seat that was proudly installed in a dominant like position in the aircraft.

Lara nodded in agreement, noting that during the whole time she had spent with him, he had been trying to impress her or showing off what he can obtain. Why is that? Could that just be what his overall personality was like? She had no interest whatsoever in what he had in his possession, and to be honest she wasn't immensely impressed. Lara knew he could afford what he likes, so she just had to play along, and not to be rude or get him upset. 'That could spoil the adventure and the new discovery' Lara thought, as Mr. Copper signalled Lara to sit opposite him. She saw the crew readying to serve drinks.

"Please take a seat Ms. Croft. We will be taking off shortly after the pre flight checks, would you like a drink?" he informed and asked her, as Lara sat down opposite to him.

"No thanks, I'm alright at the moment" Lara answered.

"Very well, a martini for me please" Eric Copper ordered one of the crew members, and in a flash of a second, an half a glass of martini was in his hand.

The minutes flew by, as more people surprisingly joined Lara and Eric Copper onboard. Eric stood up as these smartly dressed suited people came into the cabin, greeting Mr. Copper and then turned their attention towards Lara. She felt quite out of place, as not only did they all knew and were acquainted to one another, but also what she wore differed greatly to what they were wearing. 'Doesn't matter, there was no dress code in the invitation' Lara thought, as she scanned the new arrivals. There were five of them, three male while two were female, all giving Lara a good sharp stare, briefly examining her before Eric Copper suddenly interrupted them.

"Lara Croft, I would like to introduce you to my executive board of directors at Green Copper Industrial Corporation. First we have Jennifer Brown. She has been the managing director of the corporation for around 10 years, mainly being in charge of management for me. Next we have Matthew Corbin, leader of the technology division at the company. The department has been using our technologies extensively to find out the potential of what this uncovered specimen has. It is indeed extraordinary, nothing we've ever seen before, and amazingly we're the only company to have knowledge of this material!"

Lara quickly shook hands with the two, before Eric Copper moved onto the next person explaining their role within the company.

"This is Sarah Baritone, she is my personal assistant. In actual fact, she was the one who organised this gathering and persuaded me to come onboard to India. Now this fellow chap is David Underwood, he is a great investor of the company and has been since day one! Finally we have Tim Lampshire, leader of research and development at the company. He was the one whom started this whole project of researching this new material, so you won't be reporting to me directly. Instead you will be reporting to one of his associates, which will then get back to him and after that he will relay the information to me." Eric Copper clarified to Lara.

As before, Lara shook hands with the remaining directors. In the back of her perspective mind Lara thought, 'there was more to this than meets the eye'. From Lara herself, they were obviously expecting great results from her, and for her to be successful and to uncover more from what is beneath the mine. There was no other explanation... why else would the directors be joining them on the flight to India.

The two engines on both sides began to start up, with the captain of the jet announcing over the communications speaker to put the seat belts on during take-off. The plane began to move out onto the field from the hanger, making its way to the long track to where it will gain further ground. Once it reached the strip, the engines as expected came into life, and the roaring acceleration from them transferred to the wheels of the plane, as the jet speeded up. Near the end of the long path, it began to lift and with its top end nose pointing diagonally to the sky. They were going for a good 8 hour and 41 minute flight, and wouldn't be landing in India till 3:25AM in their time zone as they were 4:30 hours ahead in the UK.

It certainly was a strange one time flight experience for Lara, as there was nothing but silence for the first hour. No conversations whatsoever between the directors, not even the captain was speaking over the communications speaker. Then, just after an hour, the directors including Eric Copper told Lara that they were going to hold a private meeting in the other room, and saying that they won't be long. This left Lara bored, as the only entertainment in the cabin was the elevator-esque type of music, which was continuously playing in the background. She thought of trying to go sleep, but it was still too early for that yet. 'Wish I brought a book now' Lara jokingly reflected. There was really nothing to do...Unless...

Lara started looking all around the cabin especially the ceiling, just in case she was being monitored by a hidden camera... She didn't see anything from where she was. Lara stood up and wandered in the small space, watching out for any system scanning her movements. 'Better to be safe than sorry' Lara reassured herself. She couldn't find anything of the sort, so she moved towards the door, deciding since there was nothing to do she might as well eavesdrop on the meeting.

That way she may be able to discover their true intentions and found out what they could be doing with her at India. Lara knew that all this was too good to be true. They must have an ulterior motive of what they were planning to do. Given that Lara didn't have any gear useful for listening in on the meeting, the only thing she was capable of doing was pressing her ear against the wall splitting up the two separate cabins. Lara did her best to hear out what was said...

She heard the recognisable voice of Eric Copper speaking out at that moment, addressing the members in a professional manner. Though Lara couldn't fully make out what he was saying thanks to the reinforced wall.

"Until Ms. Croft... Retrieves...Then...No...How...What...Research...Who...Partner" Lara caught of the broken conversation. She next heard another voice, this one was female, and so it could have either been Jennifer Brown or Sarah Baritone.

"The...In...Position...We...Hotel...Phoned...Informed...Trouble...Dispose..." She was able to hear. 'What on earth are they talking about?' Lara considered the possibilities, not liking the ideas she thought of. Until yet again the proud voice of Eric Copper filled the meeting room.

"Okay...Sarah...We...Instructions...Hope...Ms. Croft...Declare...Meeting...Over...Next...Schedule..."

That was when she next heard footsteps heading for the door. 'Blast!' Lara cursed and rushed back as swiftly as she can back to her seat on the other side. On time, the door swung open and with a board smile on his face, Eric Copper reappeared along with his associates. They re-entered the cabin, and sat down in the seats they were previously sat in before they had their little meeting.

"Sorry about that Lara, as you know business affairs are kept confidential and we couldn't include you in it. If we were talking about you, of course we would have called you to be involved too." Eric Copper stated to Lara, and she nodded in agreement.

This was the first lie Lara heard from Eric Copper's mouth. The more she heard from these people, the more suspicious she became of them.

"Oh, it's starting to get a little late. I think I'm going to turn in for the flight" Eric Copper suddenly changed the topic, whilst yawning out aloud.

"Same here" Sarah declared...

"Me too" David followed on, as he gave out a huge yawn...

"I think I am as well" Matthew stated, rubbing his eyes...

"Well it sounds like we all are going for a snooze. Lara, how about you?" Eric Copper asked Lara.

"Yeah might as well, we'll land there quite early won't we?" Lara inquired.

"Indeed, okay I'll show you to your quarters. You see the best thing about this remarkable jet is that we all have our private areas onboard, so if you like to follow me Lara." Eric Copper gestured, as he led the way.

Lara followed Eric Copper through the corridor of the jet, overlooking how many separate cabins there was. It was an impressive way the jet was set out inside, Lara hadn't seen anything like it before. They reached to the end of the plane, and Eric Copper gave the keys to the small cabin to Lara.

"Here you go Lara, if you need anything, do not hesitate and ask one of the crew members. Okay I'm off bed too, so I'll say good night to you Lara. We'll wake you up when we are close to India"

"Okay, thank you, good night Eric" Lara said, and with that, Eric Copper left Lara alone in the corridor, outside her private cabin. She put in the given key into the hole, turned and entered. It was a cute little cabin, with just having enough room to manoeuvre around a bit. Her bags were inside too, so after a small tour around and Lara getting herself accustomed to the tiny space, she slipped into bed. A whole notion of alternative thinking ideas came into Lara's mind as she reflected her opinions of what she briefly heard during their meeting, and her initial impressions of the directors.

One thing was for sure...Lara didn't trust any of them. However she would just play her part for the time being and see what happens the next day. Her first impressions could after all just be her being wary. With that trail of thought, Lara drifted off into her sleep, knowing she may need her strength for what tomorrow may bring.