The Cradle of Life (27 page)

Two thousand years, or twenty-five thousand—the force within the box knew no conception of time. It had no conception of space or distance, either.

One world was much the same as the next.

Life and death, shadow and light—all aspects of existence were contained within its being. It knew the essential, existential truths that lay at the heart of mankind's eternal, never-ending quest for knowledge.

Lara sensed all those things, somehow, as she held the box in her hands, on the verge of placing it back in the black pool. For a minute, she was tempted.

The lid seemed to lift a little, beckoning her to gaze within.

Just a peek, she thought. Just a glimpse of the knowledge, the power that lay within.

But she knew how that story went.

She set the box down in the pool and stood.

All at once, a shaft of white light filled the room. Daybreak so soon?

“Lara!” That was Kosa's voice coming from above.

She looked up toward the roof of the chamber and began to climb.

It wasn't just Kosa. Standing outside the crater that surrounded the entrance to the chamber, waiting for her, was the entire tribe. They had made the light she saw—all of them carried flashlights, or lanterns, or lamps of some sort.

Kosa smiled and walked toward her. She smiled back, happy to see that he was all right, that neither his fight with Reiss or his encounter with the shadow guardians—

Sudden terror filled her heart and she spun around, looking to the forest.

“They're gone. The shadow guardians,” Kosa said.

“So is Reiss,” Lara said.

The tribal leader stepped forward and spoke.

“The box is safe now, he says,” Kosa told her.

Lara nodded. “Will you tell him something for me?” She looked the leader in the eye. “Tell him I understand now, what he was saying before.”

She looked back across the summit, at the primordial, windswept landscape, the towering cones of black rock, the pools of bubbling mud, and the entrance to Pandora's chamber.

The mountain of God.

“Tell him he was right,” Lara said. “Some things aren't meant to be found.”

 

The descent to the village was a long one.

The whole way down, Lara found herself thinking about Terry.

She thought of him lying on his back in the chamber below, staring up to the heavens with a stunned expression on his face. To the last, he hadn't believed she would shoot him. And to be honest, up until that very instant that Terry had gone for his weapon, Lara hadn't known herself what she would do.

She thought, too, about why he'd done what he had. Why the five million pounds MI6 had promised him wasn't enough for him.

Why she hadn't been enough for him—either back in Chasong, or in Pandora's chamber.

Something had died inside him long ago, she decided. Maybe there was even a little part of him that had wanted to die, had wanted Lara to shoot. Maybe that was why he hadn't killed her right off in the chamber, why he'd only slapped her, telegraphing his intentions so that she was ready the next time.

Maybe. Lara didn't suppose she'd ever know for sure.

The sun was shining high in the sky now. Just ahead, she saw a clearing in the jungle. The village.

She heard Bryce and Hillary laughing in the distance. Well. At least somebody was having a good time.

Kosa came up alongside her.

“Sometimes it's a lonely path.”

Lara nodded.

“But it is the right one.” He smiled and laid a hand on her shoulder. “You did well back there.”

His words—an exact echo of what Terry had told her, not once but twice over the last couple of days—stopped her right in her tracks.

“Are you all right?” he asked, frowning.

“Fine.” She managed a smile now. “And Kosa—thank you.”

“I did very little—but I do appreciate the sentiment.” All at once he burst into laughter and pointed straight ahead, toward the village.

“I see your friends have made themselves at home.”

Lara's eyes widened in surprise.

“What on earth…”

Bryce and Hillary were seated in the middle of a large group of tribespeople—most of them women. Both men had abandoned their clothes for traditional tribal costume.

Lara and Kosa joined the group. Both men were so involved in what was being done to them—Bryce was having his hair braided and Hillary was having his face painted—that they didn't even notice.

“That rather tickles,” Hillary said.

“Be thankful you don't wear makeup everyday,” Lara said.

Hillary's eyes opened and he shot to his feet.

“Are you all right? Where's Reiss?”

“Pandora?” Bryce asked. “Sheridan?”

She avoided their eyes. “I'm fine. It's over.”

“Lara?” Hillary frowned. “Are you sure?”

“Sure. Really. Even better now seeing the two of you. It's…touching.”

“You know us,” Bryce said. “Always making friends, sharing a laugh—”

Kosa, who had been talking to one of the women in the group, leaned forward and interrupted.

“Getting married.”

Bryce's jaw dropped.

“What?” Hillary said, the smile suddenly frozen on his face.

“This is a wedding ceremony. And these—” Kosa pointed toward the two largest women in the group, who smiled back at him “—are your brides.”

“Er.” Bryce stammered. “That was never explained to us.”

“No. Definitely not.” Hillary shook his head. “No proposals were exchanged.”

“That we know about,” Bryce said.

Hillary glared at him. “Definitely not.”

“Don't worry,” Kosa said, winking at Lara. “I'll explain this is a miscommunication.”

The tribal leader had joined them. Kosa and he began to talk.

Lara discreetly backed off. She'd spotted her Jeep at the edge of the village—Kosa must have had it brought up earlier.

He suddenly looked up and spoke in English to Bryce and Hillary.

“Run,” he said.

The two men turned and headed straight for Lara.

She fired up the Jeep. They clambered into the back—Kosa ran up alongside and jumped in the front.

“This'll teach you to spend time with other women,” Lara said, eyeing Hillary and Bryce in the rearview mirror.

Both men smiled back.

Lara and her friends sped away then, across the African savannah, heading for home.

Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) is convinced that she knows the location of the tomb.

Bryce (Noah Taylor) and Hillary (Chris Barrie), with an assist from the Royal Navy, find Lara.

Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler)—just released from an ultra-prison deep within the former Soviet Union—is singularly ungrateful.

Sheridan said he could take Lara to the Shay Ling—he just didn't mention how.

Chen Lo only
thinks
he has gotten the best of Lara.

Lara and Sheridan are determined at all cost to stop the truck carrying the Orb.

If recapturing the Orb kills a few of the Petrakis' killers, so be it.

Dr. Jonathan Reiss (Ciarán Hinds) watches with anticipation as his computers work to unlock the message of the Orb and the location of Pandora's box.

While she may enjoy his “company,” Lara does not trust Sheridan.

The Orb reveals a map showing the location of the Cradle of Life and ultimately the box.

Kosa (Djimon Hounsou) and Lara secure help, hoping they can get to the box first.

When Lara sees no alternative, she agrees to lead Reiss to the Cradle of Life.

As an unseen force picks off Reiss's men, Lara knows it is the Shadow Guardians.