The Uncharted Tomb

Chapter Five - Enemy of my Enemy

"So how the hell are we supposed to get to Iraq?"

Sully blurted out while continuing to assist Samantha with her equipment.

"Great question," Sam began, "luckily for all of us, Lara has quite the frequent flyer miles."

"Come now Sam," Lara started  over to the two of them while Drake continued examining the flame script paper. "Let's not go babbling about to our new-found acquaintances."

"Hey if you two make an effort to be open books with us, I'm sure Nate and I will oblige." Sully added while mustering the most honest grin his face could allow. Then he turned to look at Nate.

"Isn't that right Nate?"

"Yeah sure."

Nathan's eyes were glued to the page. Sully looked at Lara and Sam while shrugging his shoulders.

"I bet he didn't hear a damn word I said."

"Of course I did, Sully!"

Victor jumped slightly as Nathan's hand slapped against his shoulder.
"So what was that you mentioned about frequent flyer miles?

"Yeah so..."
Samantha's words were cut short as Lara stepped in front of her.
"Umm... it's like I said earlier, we're explorers and we've had the grace to be able to see quite a bit of the world over the years."

"Yeah, you did mention that," Nathan began, "so where are some places you've been?"

"Well, we've traveled to many places; South America, Africa, locations in Europe."

"Yeah and even a couple months ago we returned from quite a perilous journey in the Dragon's Triangle." Sam added.

"The Japanese Bermuda?" Sully pried. "What were you two doing in a place like that?"

"Well there were more of us," Lara's expression morphed into a somber look while she sat on one of the stools at the table front. "Unfortunately, we lost more than just our ship. We were lucky enough to survive ourselves."

Nathan could sense from her solemn expression the truth of her tale.
"I'm sorry about your losses. Sully and I have seen and been through similar experiences  ourselves."

Sam decided to lighten the mood.
"So Lara, about those frequent flyer miles?"

"Yeah," Sully added, "how exactly does that work?"

"Well my father left quite the inheritance, which included a tight network of contacts."

"Well I hope its secure," Nathan began, "Because it's going to take a lot more than a circle of friends to get us to one of the most dangerous countries on the planet."

"Well this wouldn't be the first time we've been there." Lara responded.

"Lemme guess," Nathan began, "military-aided assistance?"

"Something like that." Lara smirked.

"Wait a minute," Drake placed his hand against his forehand. "I assume both of you are freshly in your twenties, so how did both of you manage to get into a warzone without military help? And what the heck were you doing there to begin with?"

"Like I said, Mr. Drake," Lara walked up to Drake in full confidence, "we're explorers. We've seen quite a bit - from the dangerous, dismal and even fatal. I'm sure both of us have had quite our fair share of experiences. But we know that the one key that keeps us going - keeps us alive - survival."

Nathan couldn't help but analyze her words. For a moment, he didn't want to believe that there was actually someone even remotely on par on with his field of expertise... let alone a young woman. It was spellbinding to him, even attractive.