Tomb Raider: The Ten Thousand Immortals by Dan Abnett, Nik Vincent Page B

the first floor and walked through room twenty, the Aegean, to room sixteen.
    “Wait a minute,” said Lara as they stood before a cabinet full of painted Greek pottery. “Colchis isn’t in Greece… It’s in the Caucasus.”
    “It’s about two and a half thousand kilometres away in Georgia, on the Black Sea coast,” said Kennard. “The Ancient Greek civilisation isn’t your area of study, is it?”
    “I know the basic, undergrad stuff, but not recently, no,” said Lara.
    “The Greeks extended their empire just as the Romans did. Remember Alexander the Great?”
    “Of course,” said Lara. “Foolish of me. He conquered chunks of Africa and Asia, and didn’t he get as far as Pakistan?”
    “Precisely,” said Kennard. “The Black Sea was a stone’s throw away by comparison. A lot of my studies on Colchis relate in some way to Ancient Greece.”
    “Thanks for the coffee, and this,” said Lara, gesturing at the room around them. “It’s been useful.”
    “We’ve hardly started,” said Kennard as they found their way back to the main staircase. “I’ve got quite a lot of notes back in my rooms. Some of them might prove useful to you. I’ve got plenty of time, and it’d be a pleasure.”
    Lara checked her watch and smiled.
    “Sadly, I’ve got to be somewhere,” she said.
    “Later, then?” asked Kennard.
    Lara was aware that she didn’t want to miss the opportunity to learn more about the Golden Fleece. She was also aware that Kennard Montez was flirting with her.
    “Can you meet me in the college bar around nine o’clock?” she asked. “I’ve got a dinner, but I’d appreciate the chance to take a look at your work.”
    “Only if you let me buy the first round,” said Kennard.
    “Nine o’clock, then,” said Lara as they left the Ashmolean.
    “It’s a date,” said Kennard in his soft American accent. Lara stalled for a moment, and Kennard turned right to walk back to the School of Archaeology, just as she hoped he would. She turned left to cross the road and walk down Broad Street. If he turned around, she wanted him to see her walking away with a purpose.
    Chapter 9
    I t wasn’t hard to track down Willow at St. Edmund Hall. Lara needed a break. She needed to relax, and Willow and her friends on the train had made her smile, had made her remember what it was like to feel like a student again, to feel normal. In their company, Lara had almost forgotten what had happened to her and Sam on Yamatai and in the last couple of weeks. She could almost put aside her worries about Sam and what she was going through.
    The college was open to visitors, and Lara walked into the pretty, lawned quad as a flutter of students poured through from the JCR beyond. One of them was Elliot, who had been sitting on the train to Oxford with Willow.
    “Excuse me,” said Lara, “Elliot, isn’t it?”
    “Hello,” said Elliot. “You decided to visit after all.”
    “It’s very pretty,” said Lara, looking around at the buildings surrounding the quad.
    “Just don’t walk on the grass,” said Elliot, smiling. “I’d give you the tour, but I’ve got a lecture.”
    “No, that’s OK,” said Lara. “I just stopped to say hello.”
    “Wait there a minute,” said Elliot. He ducked back through the archway at the far end of the quad, and returned two minutes later with Willow in tow. The girl trotted gleefully up to Lara and threw her arms around her.
    “You stayed,” she said.
    “Just for a couple of days,” said Lara. “I’ve been at Merton, sitting in on some lectures.”
    “You could have stayed with us,” said Willow. “Promise you’ll have dinner with us tonight.”
    “I was hoping I might,” said Lara. “But I’ve got to be back by nine.”
    “Stay now, then,” said Willow. “I’m supposed to be writing an essay, but it can wait. Say you’ll stay.”
    “I’d love to,” said Lara.
    Lara was sorry to leave at nine o’clock. She felt more relaxed after a few hours with