The Eyes of Shiva, Part One:
A Man, A Woman & A Mouse

By C. Mage & Sarah Crisman

Lara's recovery went well, thanks to the latest in medical technology and a large wad of money from her account in America. David had wondered why her insurance didn't cover her bills until Lara told him that, because of her active lifestyle, she had been rejected by just about every insurance agency in the U.S. and most of the civilized world. "Too high a risk," she quipped while going through physical therapy.
David sighed. "Well, Lara...what now? We've just survived an assault by an enemy you thought long dead..."
"Wouldn't be the first time."
"...and you've managed to demolish the New York Museum of History..."
"Don't forget, Dave, you helped me on that one. Remember our 'little talks' with the Mayor?"
David smiled, enjoying the sound of her using his nickname. "Yeah. Did you notice that little vein that kept popping out on his forehead?"
"Which one?"
"Anyway, the point is, what are we going to do now?"
Lara considered, then broke into a big grin. "I believe that one of your famous tourist adverts said it best...let's go to DisneyWorld!"
David stared at Lara while his mind raced. *Take Lara Croft to DisneyWorld? It was ludicrous, risky, dangerously close to maniacal. The idea had potential...* "Alright, but first, you've got to get well. If we're going to DisneyWorld, you're going to have to be at your best."
"Why? It's only a tourist attraction, like EuroDisney."
David looked skyward. "This ain't EuroDisney."
"If you insist, David." Lara looked down at herself. "I feel ridiculous...it's like wearing a muumuu with a giant rip down the back."
"Hey, is it the hospital's fault that it was the only one in your breast size? Count your blessings." David looked at his watch. "Listen, I gotta go."
"So soon?" Lara whined in mock petulance.
"Hey, if I'm going to take some time off, I've got to make some arrangements with the office. Plus, I've got to talk to a man about a few items." He smiled. "I'll be back later tonight, promise."
"Alright," Lara pouted in a playful attempt to garner sympathy. David kissed her gently and left the room.
The nurse watched him as he left, her eyes moving up and down David's back. "Can I have him when you're done with him?" she asked wistfully.
Lara's mind immediately went to full defensive. "Sure...I'll call you in a century or two."


David stopped off at the office to find that his secretary, Luz, had left. The note on her desk spoke about a "family emergency," but David suspected that it was more likely even more unscheduled vacation time. At this point, he was too tired to put up with and calmly wrote out a letter of termination, mailing it to her home. He then called a moving company he trusted and put in an order to have his furniture and files moved to a secured storage area in upper New York state. *Sorry, Luz, but you're not working out...I should've gotten the hint when I came into the office and found her screwing a prospective client...*
After he called the landlord and had his lease taken care of, he went to visit Doug.
Doug was a bookish type, slightly overweight with a pair of semi-thick glasses with a couple of extra lenses hooked to his spectacles. He ran a fix-it shop that was rather prosperous, thanks to his clientele and his record of fixing things to run better than they did when they were new. When David walked in, Doug was working on a toaster, placing some coils along a set of guidetracks with a needlenose pliers and a medical clamp. He put down the tools as the bell over the door jingled loudly, turning to see David waiting at the counter.
"David!" Doug got out of his chair and walked out of the workshop, flanked by the shelves containing all sorts of appliances and electronic devices for resale. "Good to see you! I heard about my flashbomb...did it work okay?"
"I did better than the last time I tested it."
"Come on, David, I paid for your medical bills and your chest hair grew back, didn't they?"
"It worked. Let's leave it at that."
Doug shrugged. "So, what's been going on with you? You and your lady-friend have been making the papers lately. Good for business?"
"Not really. To a lot of people, a scumbag hero is still a scumbag. I haven't had any wonderful offers for jobs." David leaned on the glass showcase that served as the countertop. "Listen, I wanted to bring the grapplegun and the flashpak in to get re-loaded..."
"That reminds me." Doug went into the back and brought out a fist-sized object made to cover the knuckles of a person's hand, like a very wide set of brass knuckles. "I want you to have this."
"You mean, to test this."
"There's a difference?" Doug smiled widely.
"What is it?"
"I refined the design on the grapplegun and made it into a hand-form model."
"THIS is a grapplegun?" He looked at the object, noting a familiar firing assembly. "How much line do I have to work with on this thing, a foot?"
"Try three hundred meters." Doug grinned even wider.
"You're shitting!"
"Nope. This forearm unit holds a four-hundred-pound test line."
"How? This thing looks like a toy!" David slipped in on over his forearm, buckling the leather straps and rotating his wrist.
"Got it from the military. Newest polymer line. They're planning on using it as the core for their newest ropes and cords, make them lighter and stronger. Problem is, it isn't cost-effective enough for them yet. Friend of mine sent me a spool to get my input on it."
"Geez..." David dropped his sleeve over it. The cloth didn't show a bulge and the device looked like a thick fingerless glove. "Where do you come up with this shit?"
"Hey, what can I say? I've got a machine shop, an electronics lab, a chemistry lab and a lotta time on my hands."
"I'll bet. As I recall, you're an insomniac."
"Best kind. Did you know Thomas Edison only slept in ten minute intervals during the course of his normal day, spreading the intervals out over a period of twenty-four hours? It works, believe me."
"Damn mad scientist..." David said in awe.
"You know it."
"So what else do you want me to test?"
"Well, since you asked..." Doug went into the back while David checked the forearm section, discovering four extra jet grapples with hook mounts. "I thought up some interesting stuff while you were out...what's the term?"
"Tomb raiding, I think."
"Yeah." Doug came back out with a duffel bag. "Here's some gear I think you'll like." He pulled out a slim attache case. "Portable comm unit. Hooks up to the sat network, produces a pseudo-signal that you can use to transmit voice or data on just about all know sat frequencies. Never have to pay a phone bill again."
"Cute." He looked at Doug, placing a hand on his arm before he could withdraw another gadget. "Look, this stuff must be costing you a mint. Why give all this stuff to me??"
Doug reached up with his other hand and pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. "Listen, David, I've been hearing some things...you're getting the attention of some serious heavyweights, especially since you hooked up with Lara Croft. She's got more enemies and takes more risks than you do. All I can say is that we've been friends for a long time, ever since you saved my butt back in New Orleans. I owe you big time. I just want to make sure you get out of all this in one piece, okay?" Doug's mouth quirked into a smile. "Of course, you testing my stuff helps."
David looked at Doug, then smiled a little in return. "Okay...but rein it in a bit, I don't want to walk around like James Frigging Bond. I'll set off metal detectors from here to Boise."
"Don't worry. Besides, most of my stuff is ceramic, anyways."
David let go of Doug's arm and he pulled out another device that looked like a slim cellular phone. "Increased range, works with the comm unit. You can control the main unit from a remote location, setting it on autopilot or voice activation." He put it down and pulled out a box. "New mix of Semtex...think of it as Semtex version 2.8. Radio detonators, timers, everything you need to blow a hole in the world."
"Thanks...I think." David looked at the box warily. "Ummmm...could I just leave it here for now?"
"Sure, just let me know when you need it. HERE'S a beauty." He pulled out a keychain with a squarish section of metal hooked to the ring. He pressed the button on the side and a strange piece of ridged metal sprang out. "Designed to open 80% of the world's locks...in theory."
"I could use that." He looked at the metal tool. "Pretty accessible. Hate to be a wet blanket, but what if someone else gets ahold of it?"
"That's the trick. Remember, when you need the tool, press and hold down the button for at least five seconds, even after the tool springs out. If you release it early, BOOM. Wafer sized contact explosive, should destroy the tool and the hand holding it."
"You are certifiable, you know that?" He put the keychain away. "Anything else, Doctor Frankenstein?"
"Yeah. Check this out." He brought out a large hunting knife. "What do you think?"
"So it's a knife Rambo would love. There are knives like it all over town."
"Not like this one. This one's made of a special alloy that's harder than steel, harder than titanium. It's indestructible., right down to the handle. It should be able to handle stress normal knives would split under. Even has a handy survival kit inside the handle: fishing line, hooks, matches, wire saw, the usual stuff. Well, that's it for this month...see you in a few weeks?"
"Yeah. Going on vacation."
"Well, take the stuff, just in case. Who knows?"
"Yeah, who knows." David waved good bye and left the shop. *Now all I need to do is visit one more stop.* His face drooped slightly. *Time to visit my wife and kid.*


David parked the car and got out, looking around. The grass had been freshly mown and the smell of flowers was in the air. *They do some good landscaping around here...quiet neighborhood, too. Kathy and Jared don't have to worry much about loud parties in this area, that's for sure.* He walked across the grass, passing by some trees. After walking for a few minutes, he stopped, then crouched in front of his wife and child.
"Hi, Kathy...hi, Jared," he said to the two tombstones as he reverently placed a rose on the ground on the graves. He gazed at the markers for some time, tears forming in his eyes as he read the etchings in the marble. ERECTED IN LOVING MEMORY BY LOVING HUSBAND AND FATHER. KATHY ANN CONNORS, BORN SEPTEMBER 8, 1971, DIED APRIL 19, 1993. JARED DAVIS CONNORS, BORN APRIL 19, 1993, DIED APRIL 19, 1993.
He sat on the grass and looked at the graves. "I'm sorry, baby...."


Lara shut her eyes as the nurse slid the needle under her skin. She felt the warm sensation of the medicine as it traveled up through her arm, into her shoulders, and off into the rest of her bloodstream.
"There now; that should do it," the nurse remarked cheerfully. He smiled down at her in a condescending way. "The pain should go away in a minute or two." He glanced at his watch for a moment, as though he were going to count the seconds, then returned his gaze to her. "You know, most people who are recovering from gunshot wounds don't attempt to fake a miraculous recovery just so they can take a stroll outside with their boyfriend."
"He is NOT my boyfriend," Lara growled. She didn't know quite what he was yet, but boyfriend...that was too strong a word. Business associate, she decided. A very handsome business associate, who just happened to be nice enough to save her life a couple of times. "He's simply a nice man who comes to visit me every now and then."
"He's been here at least six times over the last day," the nurse commented, making a note of the injection on her chart. "Either that's love, or I'm a true idiot. Nah, Miss Croft, that is devotion if I ever saw it."
"No," Lara replied, "that is his free time from work. He, like most other citizens of the world, holds a job. And he performs it very well." Unlike some other person I could mention, she thought. Why was she wasting her energy arguing with this jerk? And now she was tired. Every time they gave her anything, she got tired.
She felt sorry for David, in a way. Several times, he had left a note on her lap that he had come to see her but hadn't wanted to wake her up. Damn it, it's only drugs, she told herself. The arm where she had received the injection was already beginning to numb. She felt her eyes closing, and heard the nurse say something, but it wasn't really comprehensible to her for some reason. There was a jumble of colors, the man said something else, and then she heard footsteps across the floor.
Eyes finally closed all the way, Lara's head tilted softly to one side as the drowsiness overtook her. Her breathing slowed a little, and her brainwave activity began to slump off. She could vaguely smell the flowers from the vase Daddy had sent her, and she almost felt like she was back at home in her own bed in England, on a summer night, with the windows open and the smell of the beautiful poppyseed dancing in on the beam of the moon.
Lara Croft fell asleep, dreaming of times long ago.
She dreamed of her first really big find: the set of Nero-stamped gold coins in Rome. How excited she had been then! She dreamed about slinking through the tall grass of Africa. And then she dreamed of flying. She moved slowly, at first, and low to the ground, but then she got more daring and began trying a few swoops.
The flying dream ended, and was replaced with a dream about Michael.
Poor Michael... In the real world, a single tear rolled down Lara's face. The man watching her took this as a sign that she was in pain, and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Lara...Lara, are you OK? Why are you crying, dear? Where does it hurt?"
The image of Michael faded from her mind, and suddenly she had no recollection of what she had been dreaming about. "What? Hurt? What are you talking about?" Her eyes squinted open, and settled upon David's rough-hewn, yet soft face. "Oh, David...sorry, just a dream, I suppose. I wish I could remember what it was about..." But the drug was not out of her completely, and she began to drift back.
"I have something for you," David said. "Stay awake for a bit longer, you little drugged out girl." He smiled. "You know, I wish I could say I envy you..."
"Oh, David, just get to the point," Lara groaned. She was very tired, not in the mood for games and sarcasm. And he said he had something for her. Which was no surprise, because he always brought her something when he came, but...
"Here, I'm going to hang this up." David pressed a pin into the wall above her head and hung the object over her.
"What is that?" she asked, fighting to make the words form.
"A dream-catcher," David told her. "To keep the nightmares away. And to help you remember your dreams."
"But the doctors won't-" Lara started.
"I don't care what the doctors think," David said. "This is staying up here even if I have to stay awake and in this room for the next week to make sure they don't remove it."
Lara's lips curled into a smile. He certainly was a nice man, she told herself. She wanted to tell him that too, but she began snoring softly before she had the chance.
David put his fingers to his mouth, then pressed them to her lips. "Au revoir, Lara," he said. "I'll be back again soon to visit." He paused, as though hoping for a reply. He glanced furtively over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching, then ducked his head to hers and placed a kiss upon her cheek.
Lara shifted in the bed as David walked to the door, and a small smile crossed her face. But she wasn't aware of it.


The next week was spent with David spending a great deal of time at the hospital. In fact, the nurses suggested bringing in a hide-away bed for him at one point, but the doctor refused. Two days later, David pile-drived an orderly who had also been a part-time molester, visiting some of the women and kids in intensive care and showing off his "equipment." David had been walking by on his way to visit Lara and promptly shoved a steel-toed boot into the aforementioned equipment, called the doctors and conducted a brief, but very informative investigation, with many of the intensive care patients as witnesses.
The next day, the head nurse brought in a hide-away bed for David.
Lara recovered quickly, but the dreams continued to plague her as her biochemistry was subtly altered by the medication she was receiving. As she healed, the medication and the dreams came less and less. David was always there when she woke up.
Finally, the day came when Lara was ready to be released. Under protest, she was wheeled to the door of the hospital in a wheelchair, with David pushing her along. He was silent that morning, most of his usual quips were noticeably absent and Lara could tell that something was on his mind. "Shilling for your thoughts, Dave?"
"Huh? Oh...well, there was something I kinda wanted to ask you."
"We agreed, Dave, DisneyWorld." Ever since David had put up the idea, Lara was finding herself more and more eager to go...but she suspected that it was the company, not the vacation site.
"It's not that...I was kinda thinking about afterward. Lara...I know I probably don't have the right to ask, but...would you consider taking on a partner?"


Meanwhile, someone else was dissolving a partnership.
"Manny...you made a big mistake, trying to cut me out," said a tall, remarkably handsome gentleman wearing a $3000 suit and holding a $59 knife up against a $9 rope which was holding up his business partner, who was, at this moment, not worth a bucket of warm cow urine. "I don't like it when my business partners cross me..."
"Leo....p-p-p-please..." said Manny, who had tried the stonewalling act already. That was the reason why he was hanging by his heels from the roof of a skyscraper. "I can get you the money back, get you the diamond back..."
"It's not the money, or the diamond," Leo said smoothly, as if trying to teach a child her ABC's. "It's about PRINCIPLE. Look at me. Leo Daglione, the Lion of Detroit. I own millions of dollars worth of land, employ about half the city, whether they know it or not, and can cause the economic downfall of the state of Michigan simply by moving all my money to the Caiman Islands. Do you think I got all that simply by making deals when it was easiest, or fastest?" He opened his arms as if to embrace the city skyline, his right hand still holding the knife. "Easy and fast are terms used to order hamburgers, not run an empire. You thought that, by shafting me and selling the diamond off before I could lay claim to it, you could get more money and leave town before I'd notice." Leo shook his head. "That, my old friend, is dangerous thinking. Manny, you're not the first to believe that, just for a few moments, that you were smarter than me. It's an all-too-common mistake, made by many people before you. Do you want to know what sets you apart from all those other people right now, Manny?"
"Wh...what...?" he asked feebly.
Leo smiled. "You're alive."
"Leo...!"
"You call him MISTER Daglione, pal!!" said one of the bruisers next to Leo, an ex-defensive lineman that went from pro-football to pro-bodyguard.
"Joseph, calm down. Manny is just about to tell me where his contact is, weren't you, Manny?"
"Sure!! Sure, Mister Daglione!"
"Please, Manny, call me Leo. We're friends, after all. Just tell me who the contact is, and I'll cut you down." Leo Daglione's voce never lost its smooth, purring appeal.
"The contact's in New York...he's a valet in the Hotel Regency, name of Roger Bolton!" Manny said quickly, sensing redemption and terra firma in his future. "He's supposed to leave for Florida to meet the buyer in a week!"
"A week...plenty of time." Leo smiled a father's smile of pride. "Thank you, Manny. I knew, in the end, I could trust you."
"No problem, Leo! Anything you say!!" Tears of relief made Manny blink.
"Of course. Now, Manny, before you go, there's something I'd like you to say for me." Leo walked up to the winch holding the rope.
"You say it, Leo, it's done!"
"I'm so happy to hear you say that. I wouldn't want you to go with anything less than a clean slate. Now, Manny, repeat after me." Leo brought up the knife again and placed it on the rope. "Now I lay me down to sleep...I pray...Manny? You're not repeating after me, Manny," he said calmly, with the barest hint of sadness.
The reason why Manny wasn't echoing Leo was it was hard to recite when one is screaming at the top of his lungs in panic.
"Manny, for old times' sake...aren't you even listening? This is an old prayer, didn't your mother ever teach it to you?" he asked the wailing, flailing man disappointedly. "Alright, I'll say it for you. Now I lay you down to sleep..." He slid the razor-sharp knife forward and nylon fibers parted, aided by Manny's struggling.
"...I pray the Lord your soul to keep...."
More fibers parted.
"...and if you die before you wake..."
The rope was now more than half-gone.
"...I pray the Lord your soul to take."
The roped parted and Manny dropped fifty floors, howling a high, woman's scream before the pavement silenced him forever. As he dropped, Leo looked over the side to watch him fall, a small, worried smile on his face. When he hit the ground, Leo didn't even flinch. "Gentlemen, Manny has paid his dues and I have cut him down. Now that both our plans are settled, it is time to go." He walked towards the door to the roof, a spring in his step.
Today was such a beautiful day. *Makes one happy to be alive,* Leo thought arily and he brightened. "Joseph, please charter the private jet and tell the pilot that we will be leaving for New York immediately. Tell him to have the plane ready by the time I reach the airport."


Roger paced the room, worried, as his girlfriend looked on. "What's wrong, baby?" asked the vapid redhead.
"Lorraine, I was supposed to get a call from Manny last night. I ain't heard nothing from him..." He paced the apartment some more, looking at the phone from time to time.
"Maybe he's flyin' ovah." Lorraine got up and crossed the threadbare carpet to hold Roger. "It's gonna be okay, baby."
"Lorraine, pack your stuff. We're going to get outta here. Something's wrong and I don't think it's safe to stay here."
"Where we goin'?" the redhead asked.
"Orlando, Florida. Come on, grab your stuff. I've gotta go get somethin' outta the bank. I'll meet you at the airport in an hour. Make reservations for the next flight out, for two. Put it on my credit card and HURRY." Roger left the apartment quickly and Lorraine worriedly went to the phone, calling up the airlines and writing down a time and flight number.
As she was packing her things, she heard a knock at the door. *Not now...!* The knock came stronger and she dropped the bag, striding quickly for the door. *If that's some salesman, I'm gonna KILL him if he makes me late!*
She opened the door to the limit of the chain and was forced back as the door was shoved open, ripping the chain out of the doorjamb.
It wasn't a salesman.


Lara blinked a couple times as this information settled in. "Dave, this really is not the time for your sense of humor to-"
"I'm serious," David interrupted. He felt himself flushing red. This was not the best way to start this line of talk. "Well, I guess...you know we get along, and I sorta thought that we might, you
know, give it a trial run for once? I mean, if it didn't work out, we wouldn't have to stay with it at all, but I was figuring..." He stopped, suddenly unable to discern what it was he had been figuring. Not that he
hadn't been wanting to ask her for weeks now, but he couldn't come up with any better reasoning than 'You are nice looking, and good at what you do.' And bringing up the first point didn't seem quite the way to introduce this partnership. He could feel the slight tugging of something between himself and Lara, but he didn't think he was ready to admit it yet, and he knew that Lara would never say so herself without him first coming out to her with the fact that he found her very beautiful, and of course, then what would happen if she laughed at him and decided to-
"HEY! Are you listening to me?"
David's train of thought derailed itself and he turned his attention back to Lara who had decided to wobble her way out of the wheelchair. "I'm sorry, momentary lapse of time. What did you say?"
He's not paying attention to me, Lara thought. This could be a problem... "I said, why don't we wait until after the vacation to decide that?" Just to make absolutely certain that we make no snap judgments here, Lara told herself.
"Oh, right, right, of course," David said. Damn... "After Florida is fine by me, I just thought you might want to consider the possibility, that's all."
"Alright. We can talk more on the plane. Right now, let's get me home, OK?"
"In the wheelchair," David insisted.
"David, wheelchairs are for people who are sick. I am fine. Take the blimey thing back to the hospital and then I'll drive us home."
David began to laugh. "Oh, Lara! That's a rich one. You'll drive? Please. Sit back down and let me drive you for a while."
"I'm not a vehicle of some kind," Lara argued. "You don't go around driving women unless you want to drive them mad, crazy, or up the walls." She staggered her way over to him. "Besides, I'm in perfect physical shape." Except for that damn pain in my ankle, she thought to herself. But that's nothing. I can deal with that.
David lunged forward as her left leg gave out, and caught her before she hit the ground. "Woah there, dear." He placed her back in the wheelchair. "Now, we're going to go to a nice restaurant for some good old fashioned Cajun cooking, and then we will discuss this vacation and our partnership, and you will enjoy it."
"Keep your hands off of me," Lara murmured. "You don't need to 'save' me everytime I fall. I'm quite used to falling by now."
"I should have let you hit the sidewalk then," David said in annoyance. "That rear of yours is so well insulated you probably wouldn't have felt it."
"MY rear?!?" Lara shrilled. "I could go on and on about some parts of you that aren't exactly perfect, David."
"Perhaps," David said. "But then you couldn't eat at this fine restaurant we are about to enter."
"A restaurant?? I don't want to eat with you! Let me out of this chair."
David pretended not to hear her. He liked her when she was in a good mood, but Lara Croft, he had to admit, was one of those people who were just naturally more lovable when upset a little. "They serve the best escargot here, I'm certain you'll have a wonderful time."
"David, I don't eat snails," Lara argued.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you Brits don't like to eat anything that can outrun you," David tsked. "Well, that's OK. They serve some very excellent rice here too, and-"
"I can outrun a bloody snail!" Lara snarled. In an attempt to prove this point, she started to get out of the chair, but fell back in again.
"Right now, I'm bettin' on the escargot," David snickered. "Come on, Lara, I'm only teasing, and I know you're hungry. And besides, you can't go anywhere. So enjoy the pickings, eh?"
Lara made a huge, pouting frown, crossed her arms, and swore to herself in her brain over and over again. Dave--no, she corrected herself, David, this _evil_ man-- was teasing her because she was in a bit of a pickle. Well, fine for him. He wasn't the one who got shot repeatedly trying to prevent Natla from regaining all her power. This was humiliating... So why do I really feel like laughing? It's not supposed to be funny...


"The Cock Of The Walk," Lara murmured as she read the sign over the restaurant's main doors. "Somehow, it seems rather fitting."
"Oh, you're funny today. Being in pain must bring out the comedienne in you." David wheeled her up the ramp into the restaurant, both suddenly assaulted by some wonderful smells coming from inside. Spicy smells of meat and fish came billowing out at them and David smiled. "Ahhhhhhh... nothing like the smell of Cajun food, is there?"
"I wouldn't know. Can't say I've ever tried it." But if it smells like this, I may start.
An attractive older woman came to the foyer and smiled when she saw the two of them. "David! Comment ca va?"
"Ca va bien, merci beaucoup." He smiled. "Lara Croft, meet Jeanette Boudreaux. She's the owner of this bastion of good taste amid the craziness of New York."
"Croft? Not the archaeologist??"
"The same. Nice to meet you, Madame Boudreaux."
"Certainement, the pleasure is all mine. Odette! Juli! Vite, vite!! Table for two!" She turned back to David. "Your class of dinner guest has improved greatly since we saw you last...you haven't come around in some time."
"Yeah, well, I didn't want to impose upon your hospitality," David said, an odd tone in his voice.
"Don't worry about it, mon ami. You're always welcome here."
"Thanks." David and Lara were escorted to a table.
The blond, Odette, asked, "What would you like to order?"
Before Lara could ask for a menu, David said, "I'd like an order of your chicken and sausage jambalaya, with some hush puppies on the side. The lady will have your special House Gumbo, with lots of rice."
Odette nodded and walked off. Lara looked curiously at David. "Gumbo?"
"You'll love it, trust me."
"Hmmmm...so tell me, Dave, what did you do that guaranteed you such service?"
"Jeanette has a son who ran with some bad kids...drugs, stuff like that. I found the kid, got him cleaned up and off the dope. He's probably raising hell in some boarding school somewhere as we speak." David dug into his salad. "Anyway, Jeanette was low on funds, so I told her that instead of money, all I asked for was a free meal once a week and an open reservation anytime I wanted. She agreed readily."
"I can tell. You know, David, underneath all that pretense of lowlife-hood, you're actually a decent person."
"Yeah, well, don't tell anyone...it'd ruin my reputation."
Odette was quick in her service and soon, Lara had a bowl of thick brown soup in front of her and David was eating a rice dish loaded with chunks of chicken and sausage slices. Lara looked dubiously down at the concoction in front of her.
David smiled. "Hey, Lara, what's eating you?"


Roger showed up at the airport in a big hurry. Pulling out a battered brown suitcase, he ran for the ticket counter and slid into line right behind a couple about to approach the counter. He bumped into them hard, knocking the man ahead of him down and dropping his suitcase.
David got up and grabbed his brown suitcase, turning to the man behind him. "Hey, pal, watch where you're going!"
Roger considered telling this man off, but he saw the woman's face and recognized her from the hotel. Before she could recognize him, he grabbed his suitcase and turned, heading towards another ticket counter. Lara watched him leave. "David...I've seen that man before...yes, he was the valet who..."
"Forget about him. We've got a plane to catch." He slung the suitcase up to the scale and frowned. I must be getting tired...my suitcase seems heavier.
"Yes, may I help you?"
"Two tickets to Orlando, Florida, on the next flight out. One way." Lara smiled. "By the way, David, you were right. The gumbo was quite delicious."


Roger checked the suitcase, looking around in something of a panic. His girlfriend hadn't shown up yet and he was getting extremely nervous. He checked the bag at the ticket counter and bought a ticket to Orlando, Florida. "The flight will be leaving in twenty minutes...if you hurry, you can catch it."
"Thanks!" Roger turned and hustled towards the gates. He got to his gate, A-7, and sat down in a chair. He looked around for Lorraine, but she wasn't there.
"Looking for your date?"
Roger spun around to see a dapper gentleman sitting next to him, smiling. "What?"
"You must be Roger...Lorraine told us so much about you."
Roger tried to get up, but found the cold steel of a silencer in the back of his neck and sat back down.
"Please don't try to run. I'd hate to have Ricky here blow your head off. It would create such a scene," he tut-tutted.
"Where's Lorraine?"
"I'm sorry, but she's not going to make it. However, she did have us bring you a message." He drew out a Walkman and a pair of headphones and put the earpieces in Roger's ears. He pressed PLAY and Lorraine's dying screams echoed in Roger's ears, bringing a wince of mortal pain to his brain. After forcing Roger to listen until the sounds faded, Leo calmly took the Walkman away and gave it to the other bodyguard, Gerome. "She's going to be spending a great deal of time at the hospital, I'm afraid. But then, you'll be glad to know that she won't be in pain. Anymore."
"YOU BASTARD..." Roger hissed, then felt the silencer push against his head.
"Manny didn't tell you that there were others involved in all this? How naughty of him. But I will leave you in peace if you will give me your ticket. Now."
Roger helplessly handed over the ticket.
"Thank you. Ricky?"
Roger felt a jab in his rump and he opened his mouth to speak, but slumped in his chair before he could utter a sound. Ricky withdrew the needle and Leo sighed. "Heart attack. So tragic in one so young. Well, life goes on, and so must we." They got up as a flight attendant came by on her way to the plane.
"Um, excuse me...but is that man alright?"
"Oh, he's fine. He's just decomposing."
"You mean decompressing, don't you?"
"Right." Leo and his men left Roger's body behind. "Ricky, is the plane ready?"
"Yeah, Mr. Daglione."
"Good...because we have some luggage to retrieve. Let's go."


The flight was rather slow...some of the tourists hated the long ride down the East Coast. Lara and David, however, didn't notice. They had been talking over what they wanted to see at DisneyWorld, and sounded for all the world like a couple of teenagers trying to decide which ride to go on first.
"I dunno...I kinda like Space Mountain. I want to ride on that first; I've heard a great deal about it. Then we go to Universal Studios and..."
"Wait a sec. I want to go to Frontierland first, THEN Space Mountain, THEN the EPCOT Center...and maybe THEN we'll go to Universal Studios."
"You're such a little boy, David." Lara pouted. "What's so great about Frontierland?"
"Well, they've got a great ride there called Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, plus a place called Fort Samuel Clemens, made up like a real log fort, with mock rifles and everything." David was unaware that his voice was getting a little excited. "I've heard a lot about it. There's even a steamboat ride we can go on, not a rail-guided mockup, but a REAL paddleboat."
"Hmmm." Lara considered. *A slow boat ride might be nice...wait a minute.* "David, how many other people go on this boat?"
"As many as it'll safely carry, I guess."
*What's the fun in that??* "Maybe we can check out some of the other rides."
"Well, DisneyWorld's not just an amusement park. There are beaches, restaurants, even golf courses."
"Elitist sport. I've heard that only now are golfers like Tiger Woods are able to play in the pro circuit." Lara sniffed.
"Lara, you're changing the subject."
"Female's Prerogative."
"ANYWAY...we don't have to spend all our time at the rides. We can hang out at the beach, grab some rays...did you bring a swimsuit?"
"Just wait and see, Dave."
David suddenly felt a need to shift in his seat. "Ahem...well...uh, what was I saying before?"
"You were just at 'hang out at the beach,' I believe," Lara said, highly amused.
"Right...they've got some great restaurants, too. There's even a hotel where the monorail goes right through, take you right to the EPCOT Center and DisneyWorld."
"I know. I reserved us a room there."
"Oh."
"Alright, Frontierland first...THEN we go to Universal Studios." Lara went on, noting with a smile that he wasn't going any further into the details of the room she had reserved. *He'd better not make any assumptions...it's got two beds. Should things go well, one of those beds might go unused. We'll see.*


Lara and David got off the plane in Orlando, all smiles. Both were equally excited about their vacation, since it was the first one David had had in years, and Lara was starting to feel enthusiastic about spending some downtime with David. *A little wine, a little excitement, a little dancing...all that and Goofy, too!* Lara was finding it more and more difficult to restrain herself from giggling.
David, himself, was having a good time, the first he'd had since his wife died. At first, he felt guilty when he realized what he was doing...but somehow knew that his wife would've wanted him to get on with his life. It never occurred to him that Kathy would've also forgiven him, and that still lay cold and black deep in his heart.
But for now...he could forget being David Connors for a while.
They got to the baggage carousel and waited for their luggage to arrive. David pulled out Lara's, then saw his coming around the end and started to pull it from the carousel when someone else tried to get it at the same time.
David looked up to see a big bruiser yanking at the handle. "Hey, pal! This is MY bag!"
The suited gorilla tried to get it away,. but David was no lightweight, either. Before something more serious and physical could break out, a man in an expensive suit walked up and looked at the hulk. "For shame, Joseph. Let us identify the luggage, at the very least." He pulled out a ticket and checked the claim stub. "Joseph, that is not ours. Kindly let the man go."
"Yeah, before he does something Joseph wouldn't like at all," David snarled.
Joseph released both the suitcase and David's arm. The man shook his head. "My apologies for my associate's rude behavior."
"Forget it." David grabbed his suitcase. "Come on, Lara, let's go." They walked off and Leo watched them go, then turned to Joseph.
"Let us remember that we're trying to keep a low profile, Joseph. I will be quite cross with you if you embarrass me again." Leo looked and saw another brown suitcase come towards them on the carousel and picked it up, matching the ticket and smiling. "See. HERE is ours. Now let's go."


"Who was that asshole?" David thought aloud.
"Who cares? We've got a mouse to meet." Lara grinned as they grabbed a cab to the DisneyWorld Hotel. "And for once, no death-defying adventures."


"It's NOT HERE." Leo Daglione looked around at his men. "Did any of you open this before I could?"
"No, Mr. Daglione. I had it the whole time and nobody else touched it." Ricky was getting a little nervous.
"Well, Ricky, if you say it, I believe it." *Besides, you're too stupid to come up with this idea on your own.* "The point of the matter, gentlemen, is that the diamond is not here."
"Where'd it go?"
Leo turned to the speaker. "If I knew that, Joseph, I would not be asking any of you, would I? Hmmm..." He looked through the suitcase, finding some clothes, a few magazines and some notes. He held up one of the shirts. "A little large for a little rodent like Roger..." he mused. "In fact...it looks more like the size of the gentleman we met at the baggage claim...and his suitcase looked a great deal like this one." Leo's voice rose a few degrees and Joseph gulped. Though Leo Daglione was not the sort to outwardly show extremes of temper, he could be just as dangerous, since his decisions to kill and destroy were made with cold calculations, not hot rage. "Joseph, I may have been too hasty with you earlier today. That man has OUR suitcase...and it will only be a matter of time before he opens it and finds that my diamond is there. Gentlemen, the time is now 8:20 a.m. We must find this man before he unpacks for the night."
"What do we do, boss?"
Leo took out the notes. "'From the desk of David Connors.' Our first big clue. Contact every hotel in Orlando...find David Connors!"
"Mr. Daglione, there must be over a hundred hotels..."
Leo looked at Joseph and the thug's voice trailed off in fear. "Then you'd better get some help and start NOW, shouldn't you?? Judging from his clothing, he's not too well-off, so start at the low end and work your way up. Don't fail me, Joseph. You know what happens when people fail me...they become useless to me. If you're useless to me..."
Joseph recalled his predecessor. They were still scraping him up off Hollywood Boulevard. "I'll get right on it, Mr. Daglione."
"DO that."


"Just in time." David threw the brown suitcase on the bed and looked out the window. "The park should be opening in a few minutes. Want to grab some Z's before we hit the resort?"
"Are you kidding, Dave?" Lara was grinning widely. "I couldn't sleep if I tried. I feel like a child on Christmas Eve."
David walked over to her and leaned over, kissing her warmly. His arms folded around her and she responded in kind, holding him close. After a few minutes, their lips parted and David looked down at Lara. "I'm glad you're here with me, Lara."
"I'm glad, too...in fact, only one thing would make this perfect."
"What?"
Lara looked down at her foot cast. "I wish my blasted foot would stop bothering me."
"Feel like walking?"
"I don't know if I'm going to be up for jogging, but I can handle walking. ANYTHING to keep from sitting in some bloody wheelchair."
"Ready to go hit DisneyWorld?"
"I've been ready for this for a long time," Lara said, not entirely talking about the vacation. "Let's go."


It was, to say the least, a wonderful time.
Lara and David felt like kids, wandering through the park and going on the attractions. Her foot cast was slim enough to hide under a boot Lara had bought at a store, just for the occasion. "If you think some silly fiberglass is going to keep me in my hotel room, you're mistaken," she told David, who had no choice but to agree.
The rides and other attractions proved wondrous. From 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea to the Mission To Mars ride, and everything in between, they saw it all as a great adventure, putting aside for the moment how their lives made the rides look like card games in comparison. The EPCOT Center was a thrill and a half, with David having fun checking out the gadgets and games in the pavilions and Lara noting some of the more aesthetically-attractive exhibits. She enjoyed the Living Seas and the World Of Motion. David liked the World Showcase and the World Of Imagination pavilion.
At lunch, they went to the American Adventure and grabbed some hamburgers and fries, looking out over the giant lake that separated the World Showcase from the EPCOT Center proper. David looked at Lara. "So, having fun?"


The proprietor of the Contemporary Resort, the hotel overlooking Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake, glanced up from his paperwork at the front desk as the three business-suited men opened the doors. He noticed they had no luggage with them, which seemed odd; very few people checked into a hotel without their baggage, but other than that, they seemed fine.
The men made their way past a rather-surprised porter and stopped at the counter. "Can I help you gentlemen?" the owner asked.
"Man, I hope so," the first man said. "Uh, we're from outta town. We came to see David Connors." The man laughed a small, quick, nervous giggle. "Um, our business meeting we had scheduled just got bumped up a day, and our boss sent us down here to contact him so we could change a few things. Do you know if he's around?"
*Oh, that explained it. Business partners. They were probably put up in another hotel somewhere. Few companies wanted to put their employees up in a hotel so close to Walt Disney World.* The manager smiled. "Gee guys, I wish I could help you. No, I don't think Mr. Connors is around right now." He shuffled through his papers now as he spoke. "Yeah, he and his wife left this morning for Disney World, as I recall. Darla said she saw them leave real early this morning. I imagine he's there right now. I almost hate to tell you where he is though, since I'm sure this meeting is gonna dampen his spirits a bit."
*Buddy, you have no idea what this meeting is gonna do to Mr. Connors,* the first man thought. But he smiled. "Well, shoot. Hey, do you think you could show us to his room so we can leave him a note or something?"
"I'm afraid we only allow registered guests into the actual resort," the manager said. "But if you want to leave him a message here at the desk, I'll make certain that he gets it the moment he walks in the door."
"Nah, that's OK," the second man said. "We'll catch up to him at the park. Have a nice day, now. Sorry to bother you."
The manager waved to them. "You do the same!" he called.
The first man stopped in the doorway and turned. "Oh, one last thing," he asked the owner.
"Yeah?" the manager asked.
"You said his wife was with him, right?"
"Yes. Well, at least, I assume it was his wife. I mean, the reservations were made for a Mr. and Mrs. David Connors..."
The man paused to consider this information. *Probably contemplating whether to pull Mr. Conner's wife away from a vacation,* the manager thought. Then he smiled. "OK. Well hey, thanks for all your help!" He pushed the door open and walked out into the street.
The manager felt sort of sorry for David Connors. "Wouldn't want to be in that man's shoes right now," he murmured out loud. "Poor guy's vacation gets interrupted for a stupid business meeting. Of course," he added as an afterthought, "wouldn't mind having that babe of a wife he's got though." Several minutes later, however, he was buried in his work again, and had forgotten all about the conversation completely.

Chad Parker sat in the small kiosk with a sign reading, "SECURITY" posted above the window. To say that he was bored was an understatement. *This is a joke, really. Whoever heard of EPCOT Center needing a security station? Nobody ever did anything interesting here. Not like King's Island, where somebody held a group of people hostage just to get on the King Cobra, then turned himself in afterwards. Not like Astroworld out in Houston, where that axe-murderer had hidden out for months under the now-nonexistent funhouse to emerge at night and kill a couple of the migrant workers who did clean-up. No, compared to those places, EPCOT was boring.*
*Oh sure, he thought, the first time, you're in awe. Maybe even the second or third time. But after that? EPCOT was a joke. It was a reality that could never happen. Everybody was too damn happy, too damn proud. Those nine cultures they had here? Whoopdee-fucking-do. The tourists came there, and they ooh-ed and ahh-ed over it, then went right back to their own country, mostly America, although there were a fair bit of Japanese tourists nowadays, and promptly forgot all about "brotherly love for the other nations." Even the name EPCOT was a joke. Most people thought EPCOT was simply a nonsense word old Disney had come up with on his deathbed or something. Almost nobody, unless you worked for the park and had to go through the "hype-sessions" as they were called, knew it was an acronym. They ground the damn thing into your brain. You weren't allowed to think of it as EPCOT Center. Oh no. This was the "_E_xperimental _P_rototype _C_ommunity _O_f _T_omorrow." Another stupid legacy, a stupid ideal, that could never be lived up to.*
But it paid the bills. And right now, with a new wife and a baby on the way, Chad Parker needed every cent he could get. And Disney paid pretty well. He wasn't much out of college when they hired him, but several other security personnel had quit their jobs, and Disney was desperate. So they got him.
It was all a joke. All he did was hear complaints, and even those came infrequently. Every so often, maybe once or twice a month, somebody would get a purse snatched or a wallet stolen and report it. Big deal. Nothing exciting about that. *Hell, you could have that happen to you wherever you went.*
He picked up the book he had been reading for the last few hours, but then put it down in annoyance. One thing he had gotten a lot more of done this year was reading. Almost two novels a day, sometimes three if they were particularly short or real page-turners. This particular book happened to be an action and adventure story, and it had just gotten to the point where the John Wayne wannabe got to screw his leading lady because he saved her life. He knew people read books to escape, but how likely was it that a woman, who was about to be raped by a bunch of hoodlums and gets rescued by "Gary Stratmouth" is just gonna look this guy in the eye and say, "Thanks for saving me. Let's go back to my house and fuck, OK?" Fiction, for all it was, could be full of an awful lot of bullshit.
Not to mention the fact that the scene reminded him of the other day when the woman, *well, girl actually,* he told himself, who wore the Minnie Mouse costume had brushed him off. *Ah well, no big deal. Rumor had it that she was banging Donald Duck on the side anyway. And used goods weren't the best goods, that was for sure.*
He turned back to his book and managed to get through the next few sentences when a shadow fell across the text. Chad looked up to see a man standing at the window of his kiosk. A large man.
"Can I help you, sir?" he asked, trying to make it sound like he really wanted to help the man. Then he noticed the gun in the holster at the man's side. "Um, I'm sorry, sir, but no firearms are allowed in the
park. Security regulation, you know, unless you're FBI or-"
There was a crashing, splintering sound from the back door as someone kicked it open, and Chad felt the press of the cold steel barrel of the weapon as it gently touched his back.
The man outside the window didn't seem to show any emotions through the sunglasses he wore. "Well, Chad," he said, reading the man's nametag and tsking, "I'm very sorry, but I have to break your security regulations. You see, you just looked so bored in there that I thought we should break the rules a little bit. Cooperate, and you'll be fine. Screw with us, and well..."
The person with the gun behind him cocked the hammer into place, a sound that was painfully loud in the small kiosk, and especially so close to Chad.
Chad tried to nod, but found he couldn't. He kept praying that someone would come up to the booth who needed help. But as it was, the man's massive frame blocked most of the window. Nobody outside could see him, or the person with the gun against his head. "W-w-what do you w-w-want?" he asked, starting to stutter.
The man reached down, and Chad was certain he was pulling his gun, but instead came out with a passport. He opened it slowly and casually, and Chad thought he was going to burst with fear. Finally, the man placed the passport, open to the picture, on the ledge and slid it into the booth. Chad stared at the picture and the name, not comprehending anything. "What is this?"
"Have you seen this man before?" the man asked.
"Um...well, I dunno. I mean, I see lots of people here in this booth, you know, I mean, he coulda walked by me and I saw him, but I don't-"
"A simple yes or no will suffice," the man interrupted. The tone of his voice was calm, but Chad could tell he was clearly annoyed.
"Well then...no, I...I guess I haven't seen him."
"That's not good, Chad," the man lilted. "Not good at all." He put his face closer to the window. "How many other security stations are there here at EPCOT?"
"Um...twelve total in the park, I think," Chad said, sweat pouring down his back. He had to scratch, it was itching so badly, but he didn't dare move.
"Wrong, Chad," the man said. "There are no other security stations in EPCOT."
"Our friends have taken care of that little problem," the man behind him said.
"This is the last one, Chad. The last station. How does that make you feel, Chad?"
"Ve-very bad," Chad replied. "You can't screw with Disney World, you know. They'll hunt you down for this. They won't like the negative publicity."
"Oh, believe me, Chad. Nobody will ever know about this. My friends are already filling in the jobs. And tomorrow, every security guard in this park will have turned in his or her resignation. Including you, Chad, I'm afraid."
"No, I need the job, I've got a family..." Chad began to blubber, refusing to accept the idea that was slowly creeping into his mind.
"Chad, Chad," the man chided. "Your family will be well off. I know they give you Disney employees excellent insurance coverage."
The silencer-tipped gun fired, and Chad barely felt the bullet pierce his heart as he fell to the floor and felt the darkness engulf him forever.
The man inside the kiosk pulled a radio from the inside of his jacket. "Alright, we just got the last one. Everyone move into positions. No more security, no more hassles. Find David Connors and his wife, then take 'em to Leo. He'll handle things from there. And remember: we need them alive. Leo wants that diamond back."



Lara and David, holding hands, and looking for all the world like two teenagers having just walked out of their first NC-17 movie, exited the "Universe of Energy" attraction.
"You realize that I cannot take you anywhere," David commented.
"Huh?" Lara asked, not understanding.
"Your behavior in there," David nodded back towards the building. "There is nobody else in this world who points a gun at an animatronic T-Rex," he grinned.
"Well excuse me," Lara replied. "Dinosaurs, however fascinating, happen to make me rather nervous, alright?"
David placed a condescending hand on her shoulder. "Lara...why? They've been dead for over 65 million years. I doubt you have anything to worry about." He chuckled lightly.
The look Lara gave him could have opened a clam shell at fifty feet. "Don't be too sure, David."
*Uh-oh,* David thought. *She used my full name...I guess I'm in trouble.* "Uh...right. Sorry."
"Apology accepted." She turned to the man holding the last exit door for them. "Thank you for coming! Hope you enjoyed the ride," the doorman smiled.
The individual watching the exit snapped his head up and blinked his eyes. *Yup, no doubt about it. Those were the Connors Leo had talked about. The David guy was unmistakable. The woman with him had to be his wife. Nobody else would have fallen for a guy who wore clothes like that.* He grabbed his radio and nonchalantly brought it up to his mouth. "Gidion, this is Laylor. Our pals just left the 'Universe of Energy.'"
"I hear you," the radio crackled back. "Remember, take the man alive. Nobody cares about the woman, just get David Connors."
"Check," Laylor said, turning off the radio. He moved towards the happy couple who had stopped to chat with the man at the exit.
"This is actually the most popular attraction here at EPCOT center," the exit man was saying. "The children love the dinosaurs, so they drag their parents through here two or three times."
The three of them shared a laugh at this. David, still smiling, looked up to see the man walking towards them. Recognition hit like an arrow, and, suddenly completely serious, he grabbed Lara's arm and ran through the still-open door, yanking it out of the man's fingers as he did so.
"David, what the hell are you-?"
"Shut up and just run," David ordered, dragging her behind him. "I just saw something rather unpleasant looking."
The doorman looked up in surprise as the pair dashed back through the exit. "Hey, wait a minute! You can't go in that way! Go back to the front!" He felt the door slip out of his fingers and clicked shut. "Aw, hell. God damn stupid..." He reached into his pocket and removed the keyring.
The gun and arm that stuffed themselves into his nose made him freeze.
"Open the door," Laylor ordered.
The doorman nodded slowly, and shakily resumed pulling out the keys. *Where the hell was security when you needed them? Why was this happening to him?* He tugged at the ring, and had ahold of the proper key when the loop snagged on his pants, causing him to drop it on the ground. A soft tinkling accompanied it.
Reacting on instinct, Laylor fired the gun into the doorman's back, the silencer muffling the muzzle shot, and the bullet split the man's heart, blowing out the front of his chest and imbedding itself in the wall. The doorman stood for a moment, then his eyes glazed over, and he fell to the cement with a sickening plop.
Spying the key the man had been going for, Laylor grabbed the ring up off the ground, stabbing the metal object into the lock. He twisted it, heard and felt the tumblers give way, and hurled the door open before charging into the darkened area.
Huddled down behind a large mechanical sauropod that was currently inactive due to the fact that no visitors were in the area as of yet, Lara and David talked in hushed whispers.
"David, what the hell got into you?" Lara hissed.
"The man who was coming after us," David replied. "I know who he is."
"What man?"
"The large Hawaiian guy with the dark glasses wearing the business suit and carrying the gun on the inside shoulder harness, that's who," David replied. "Johnny Laylor. Full time criminal, and has the brains to make it possible. I took his former boss on a ride down a ski slope in Switzerland one time. I stopped at the edge of the cliff. Pity he didn't." David shrugged, but Lara could hardly see in the dark. "Wonder who he's working for this time, and what this is all about?"
"I don't know," Lara snarled, "but if you don't cut out all this running, my ankle is going to burst!"
"I wouldn't worry. I locked the door behind us."
From down the corridor came the sounds of the track gears starting up. Somebody was taking the next car through the ride.
"Let's go," David suggested. "Before he radios somebody and tells them we're trapped in here."
Lara nodded and slowly got to her feet. She started to pull the pistol back out of her leg holster.
"I assure you, Mrs. Connors, that won't be necessary." The click of the trigger in the large room was almost lost to the space, but the two heard every nuance. They also heard the car approaching. They were probably through the dry ice by now and-
"Lay down on the floor, both of you," Laylor ordered. "The doorman was nice enough to let me in. Pity; the man seemed to have a heart problem shortly after he showed me the proper key."
"Laylor," David hissed. "She's not my wife. Let her go. It's me you want."
"Oh, touching," Laylor crooned. "Quite touching. But sadly, I can't do that. You see, my boss wants you alive, David. And as for her, well..." The gun tilted in Lara's direction. "He wasn't so specific concerning your fate, my little wahine."
David heard the snapping of the dinosaurs as they started moving. The car would be in here any moment. He watched the head of one of the large sauropods as it ducked down towards the fake foliage. "Johnny, you know what I like about you?" David asked.
"No, what?" Laylor asked.
"You're tall," David said.
As the car swung through into the room, one hundred pounds of sauropod head slammed into Laylor's, knocking him to the floor. His gun fell into the patch of foliage that the dinosaur was supposed to eat, and the large robot picked it up in its jaws, chewed lazily to the delight of the vacationers there, and swallowed it.
The car passed through the blanket of dry ice and into the next area. Lara and David got to their feet. "What the hell is making everyone so keen on getting you today?" Lara asked.
"I wish to hell I knew," David muttered. "Come on, let's get out of here before John-boy there starts to be missed by his friends." They jumped down onto the track and made their way to the side exit door they had taken before.


"David...this is not my idea of a vacation." Lara looked around the corner of the World of Motion. "I would enjoy this more if my ankle weren't hurt."
"Nag, nag, nag." He looked down at where her leg holster was hiding just under the hem of her skirt. "Do you bring a gun with you EVERYWHERE?"
"You don't?" Lara asked with equal surprise.
"Alright...Lara, stay here, I'm going to do a little recon. Stay outta sight."
"What if those bruiser's friends come by?"
"You heard Laylor. They're looking for me, not you. You're probably safer not being with me right now."
Before Lara could respond, David had already sprinted off. She sighed in exasperation and limped over to a bench to wait.


David checked out the area carefully and found that EPCOT was under siege.
The security stations, instead of being staffed by friendly, young men and women, were populated by thugs all bearing the same trademarks as Laylor. Big, strong and well-armed. *Walt is NOT going to like this...* David thought as he checked the stations and found every single one manned by a gun-toting psychopath. *Great...just great...Walt Disney World is probably also staffed by these sides of beef. How do we get out of here without becoming a moving target and endangering the other patrons...and, more importantly, why have I suddenly become so damn popular?*
He made his way back to where Lara was waiting. As he did, he passed by the monorail station and looked at it carefully. There was a pretty young thing at the window just before the depot.
David's mind went into overdrive. Thinking furiously, he raced back to where Lara was waiting.


Lara saw David walking back and smiled in relief; worrying about him had kept her on edge the entire time. "What took you so long?"
"We've got to go back to Disney World. I think I know how we can get out of here. What time is it?"
"It's getting late...it's almost eight o'clock."
"Perfect. We may have just enough time."
"Time for what?"
David grinned. "Ever wanted to go into show biz?"


"No. I categorically REFUSE." Lara looked at the costume of Meg for the new Disney movie, HERCULES. "I am not getting into that costume!"
"These are the only two places we could get. They're looking for two tourists, not two attractions. When the Light Parade goes through Disney World, it has to go past one of the exit fences. We go over the fence at the end of the parade and we're out." David looked at himself in the Hercules outfit, looking a little sheepish. "Count your blessings."
"At least you look like you'll fit the role." *Does he EVER,* Lara added mentally, looking at the armor showing off David's build, then killed that thought. *Now is not the time for that...*
"We don't have a choice. If we try to exit any other way, we'll face armed lunatics with machine-guns."
"Happens to me all the time," Lara quipped, moving to another part of the fitting room hidden by some lockers.
"Yeah? Then try it. Where do you want the flowers sent?" David said, irritated.
"Alright, I concede defeat for now." Lara sighed. "That jump isn't going to be easy with this ankle."
"I'll jump first and I'll catch you. Any further questions?"
"Yes." Lara came out in the Grecian gown and smiled. "How do I look?"
David shook his head. "I hope Disney will forgive me if I decide that we should keep the gown."
"In your dreams, Dave."
"Alright...let's bolt."


The parade was something else.
Lara was glad that she had seen the trailers for the movie and managed to get down Meg's trademark "salute" in time for the event. She hoped that the two actors that were originally slated for the roles wouldn't have too much of a headache when they woke up. As she smiled and waved, saluting from time to time, she saw David flexing his muscles and trying to look as heroic as possible. She giggled, watching his posturings for the crowd. *I only WISH I could get pictures of this...*
David, for his part, was feeling as embarrassed as hell. He had never considered how powerful stage fright could be; he wasn't sure if he'd feel better facing down the armed thugs instead. But he knew that if he broke and ran, he'd attract far more attention than he could believe possible. He tried not to look into the sky, to keep the helicopter cams from placing his face on TV, and the lights from the Pegasus float were too bright for him to be recognized from street level.
So all he did was concentrate on playing the part of the big, muscle-bound "farmboy" from an animated movie and hope that he didn't get killed.
Finally, after what seemed like an agonizingly SLOW parade, the floats continued around the side of Main Street USA and David saw their chance getting close. He took off across the right wing of Pegasus, feeling the wing give under his weight, and leaped at the last second over the barbed-wire fence to land heavily on the ground outside, much to the astonishment of a few tourists that were leaving the park on that side. He got to his feet and turned. "Lara!! Down here!!"
Lara Croft/Meg looked over the side of the fence and caught a glimpse of Hercules' copper armor through the foliage that surrounded the park. She braced herself, then took off and leaped from the float, barely missing the metal barbs and fell right into David's/Hercules' arms.
She recovered and looked at David. "Nice catch...Herc."
David's reply was silenced by the applause of the tourists out in the parking lot as they cheered, thinking it was just another bit of Disney magic. David set Lara down carefully and they looked at each other, then both shrugged and bowed for the tourists, who applauded even louder.


"Well, that was fun, wasn't it?" David said brightly as they entered their room, still dressed as Hercules and Meg. They had taken the kitchen entrance, playing the part of surprising a family who had asked to meet Hercules and Meg in their hotel room. The staff had even helped, taking them up in the service elevator and making sure that the halls were clear before Hercules and Meg could safely navigate them.
"Apart from the threat of people trying to kill us?" Lara went to her suitcase and opened it. "God, I can't wait to get out of this get-up."
"I'm with you." Mildly disappointed that Lara wasn't keeping the garment after all, he shed the breastplate and headband and opened up his suitcase, reaching in and pulling out a shirt...only to find that it was far too small. "What the hell??"
"What?" Lara asked from the bathroom.
"Lara, does housekeeping wash clothes as well?"
"I don't think so, why?"
"Because my clothes got way too small or I grew a few sizes when I wasn't looking." Lara came out as he took the shirt off. "Hey, I don't own a shirt like this! 'Chicago Cubs'?? Give me a break."
Lara took a look inside the suitcase. "And I don't think you own these," she said with distaste.
David looked down to see several kiddy porn magazines. He picked them up the same way someone would pick up a dead rat by the tail and brought them over to the paper shredder by the desk., dropping them in. She wiped his hands together as if something from the magazines had crawled onto his hands.
"No, obviously not yours. David, you have someone else's suitcase."
"Someone else....holy hell! That guy in New York, the one who bumped into us! We must've gotten our suitcases mixed up before checking them in! Jeez!!" He looked around in muted rage. "How the hell am I going to get something to wear now?"
"I think you have larger concerns at the moment. Think about it...those men started chasing us at what point?"
David sobered, understanding dawning in his eyes. "At the start of this whole mess, er, vacation. There's something about this suitcase that these guys want to kill for and have already. Lara, check it out. I'm going to see if the store downstairs is open and see if I can't order some clothes sent up." David went to the phone. "Hello, Front Desk?"
As David talked, Lara searched through the clothing. After going through some of the clothes, she picked up a balled-up pair of socks that was unnaturally large...and heavy. "David?"
David put the phone back in its cradle. "I've got some clothes coming up. Anything?"
"You could say that." Lara tossed him the ball of fabric. "What do you think?"
David unwrapped the socks. Something within caught the light from around the room and seemed to absorb it, then throw it out in a dazzling display of prismatic colors. "I think our lives just got a whole lot more complicated...!!!"
"The Eye of Siva!" Lara breathed, looking at in awe.
"The what of what??" David asked.
"The Eye of Siva was a powerful gem, part of a duo that was part of a long-forgotten cult. They believed that the two gems were the original eyes of the god Siva, the god of destruction. According to the legends surrounding them," Lara said, stepping closer, "they had great powers by themselves, but if brought together and placed in a gigantic statue of Siva, the god would be brought back to life. Some say that the god would be under the control of the one who performed the ritual that resurrected him, others say that the god would try to find Kali and resume their ages-long fight. or marry each other. There are so many legends and so many different ideas."
"How can you be sure this is one of those Eyes?"
Lara picked up the gem and closed her eyes, mumbling something in Hindu. A blue fire surrounded her, moving out from the gem and enveloping her. The blue glow turned red once it reached down to her injured ankle, then the angry glow turned to a soft blue in a matter of seconds. When the aura around her was a uniform blue, she opened her eyes and looked down at her ankle. She raised her foot and stomped hard five times, then smiled. "I'd say that's proof enough, wouldn't you?"
David gaped, then heard a knock at the door. He quietly went to the door and asked, "Who is it?"
"Room service! You called about some clothes?" called a young woman's voice from the other side of the door.
David opened it and he smiled, taking the clothes. "Charge it to the room, alright?"
"Certainly, sir. Will there be anything else?"
"No, thanks. Good night." David closed the door and took the clothes into the bathroom, closing the door.
"Need some help, David?" Lara asked mischievously.
"No thanks," he said reluctantly, getting dressed in jeans and a Mickey Mouse T-shirt, putting on Reeboks crosstrainers and a leather belt. He walked out and sat down on the bed with a sigh. "Now what?"
"Now, we need to make a trip to Calcutta."
"Please tell me that you mean Calcutta, Texas," David said hopefully.
"Afraid not, Dave."
"Ah, come ON!" David protested, "we had a deal! No adventures, no tomb raiding, just relaxing!"
"Dave, be sensible. Those people that went to so much trouble to get to us tonight...they were after this." Lara held up the Eye. "Do you really think they'll give up, or even if we did find them again willingly, that they'd just say, 'Sorry for bothering your vacation. We'll just take the gem and say bu-bye, and by the way, here's an additional thousand dollars to use at the souvenir shops'?"
"No, I guess not..." Dave groused. "It's just that..." His voice trailed off and he sighed. "I'll get packed...wait a minute, what am I talking about, none of this is my stuff...!"
"Just that what, Dave?"
David looked at Lara squarely. "It's just that I've been waiting for a long time to have some time alone with you that didn't involve us getting shot at, blown up or fed to something. Now that it happened, for one day, I actually felt like someone normal, someone with..." *with someone he loved,* he finished in his brain. "And now we've got to go into this stuff again. Far off countries, no place to rest and enjoy ourselves and if our luck remains the same, this is NOT going to be a 'walk in the park', not unless the park in question is the Amazon." He got off the bed and grabbed his room key. "I'm heading downstairs, to make sure someone isn't staking out our rental. Back in a few."
Lara watched him try to slam the door closed, but the door was equipped with a hydraulic decelerator, so all he did was jerk the doorknob out of his hand and stomp off as the door gently closed. Lara watched the door a moment longer, then went to pack up, feeling none too enthusiastic herself about having to leave. The thought of finding the other Eye, as well as Shiva's lost temple, excited her on a professional level, but Lara was even less happy about the idea of leaving than David was. She was really starting to enjoy spending time with David, not to mention that she, too, liked the idea of feeling like a normal person.
*Whoever did this is going to pay DEARLY for ruining this vacation....!* she thought as she went down to meet David.


She arrived at the lobby to find that David was in the process of making someone pay.
At this time of night, the lobby was nearly empty, so there was no sign that anything was wrong until she saw the man fly into her elevator car with a CRASH. Lara quickly stepped out, reached around and hit the top floor button before the stunned thug could react. She turned back to find that David was giving another bruiser something to think about.
David moved like a boxer, weaving left and right while the thug was trying to use some sort of kung fu martial art to strike David. He was far too quick, though, and he leaned in and gave the thug a beating like Lara had never seen. David's fists moved lightning-quick, getting past the Bruce-Lee-wannabe's defenses easily. Lara saw David punching with what seemed like quick, short jabs, but each time that David struck, the thug looked like he had been hit by an oncoming truck!
One last right cross and Lara winced just looking at the contact. The thug dropped like a dirty shirt and David looked towards Lara. "We've been made, Lara. We've gotta go now!"
Lara said nothing, running towards the door. David joined her at the door and they stopped as they saw an idling black Lotus Esprit right in front of them. Lara grinned as she went to the driver's side door, opening it and looking inside. "My, with the motor running. These worthies were just inviting theft, weren't they?"
"Toss your bag into the back and let's get going!" David said from the passenger's side. Lara popped the trunk and tossed the bag in, then turned back to see David sliding behind the wheel.
"Da-VID!" Lara barked.
"Just get in!"
"It was my turn to drive!" Lara said indignantly, running around to the shotgun seat.
"Can we discuss it later?" David asked.
"Yes...and I can't WAIT," Lara said dangerously.
David took one look at her face and turned back towards the road. *Maybe I was better off with those thugs trying to kill me...!* he thought as he popped the clutch and burned rubber out of the parking lot.

The Eyes Of Shiva, Part II:
Planes, Pains and Automobiles

By C. Mage and Sarah


Lara felt much better once they got out on the open road. As she watched the night sky through the window, she asked no one at all, "How do we get into these messes?"
"Beats me, Lara. I'm beginning to think we violated the laws of circumstance somehow when we got together." David checked the rearview mirror again, but there were no cars behind them with any particularly suspicious quirks...like, for instance, driving at fifty mph over the speed limit. "But you'll have to admit, Lara...you wouldn't like it if life we're so boring."
Lara's eyes moved up slightly. "I certainly hope you enjoy that sort of thing as well, Dave."
"Well..." He stopped. "Why do you say that?"
"Because unless I miss my guess, any chances of the two of us having a boring trip to the airport just took flight." She pointed and David looked up to see a Bell 500 helicopter coming towards them.
"Please tell me that's a traffic report chopper," David said in a glum voice.
Lara looked closer. "Not unless competition for the news has gotten more blatant. That helicopter has a pair of machine-guns mounted on its sides." She reached into the back seat and came out with her trademark .45s. "I don't suppose you have a plan?"
"Yeah."
"Well?"
"We're going to go REALLY fast!" he yelped as he saw the helicopter open fire.


"There they are!" Durant lowered the Starlight scope and turned to the pilot. "Mr. Daglione wants those two stopped, no matter what."
"They're gonna be police all over us if we start shooting now," the pilot warned.
Durant drew a pistol and shoved it into the pilot's neck. "Mr. Daglione's orders. Start the shooting out there, or there's gonna be some shooting in here."
The pilot nodded, then dove, closing in on the car. He squeezed off a long round and the twin .50 caliber machine-guns made the helicopter shudder.


David slammed on the gas and the car went under the sprays of lead. Lara pulled back the hammers of the .45s and rolled down the passenger window. She popped off a series of rounds and was rewarded with flashes of contact off the helicopter's chassis. "Damn! Our adversary's moving too fast and it's too dark! I can't get a fix on him!"
David saw a lighted sign and smiled. "Lara, can you keep them busy for a while?"
"Can do! Why??" she yelled back over the roar of the car's engine.
"I've got a plan!" David yelled in return. "Get in here!"
Lara faced forward and her eyes widened as she saw a series of signs coming up. She pulled herself back inside as the temporary signs whipped along side both sides of the car, causing sparks to fly as the edges scraped along the car's finish. David turned to his left.
The sideview mirror showed the helicopter closing in on him, guns blazing away, just over the etched legend, "OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR." He swerved as best he could, feeling loud THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPs as the bullets connected. "Lara!"
"I'm alright, none of the bullets came through." She looked at the windows, searching along the bottom until she found the words she was looking for. "According to this, the car's chassis and windows are bullet-resistant."
"Bullet-RESISTANT? Whatever happened to bullet-PROOF?"
Lara looked ahead as he saw the DETOUR sign and the TUNNEL UNDER CONSTRUCTION sign. "Hard right coming up, David!"
"I know."
Lara's eyes turned to focus on him. The look on his face brought a tinge of fear to Lara's mind. "David...please, in God's name, TELL me you're not thinking what I hope you're not thinking!"
"Hang on to your lunchpails, Lara, this is going to get a little risky." David started to take the offramp...


"What are you waiting for?? KILL this asshole!"
"Hey, hey!" the pilot retorted, too angry to consider Durant's threat. "You wanna drive? I'll get him just as soon as he hits the traffic at the end of the offramp. He's got nowhere to go!"
Durant looked and swore as the car drove THROUGH the sawhorses blocking the entrance to the tunnel. "SONUVA...!!"
"Now what?"
"WHAT DO YOU THINK?!" Durant yelled back. "AFTER HIM!"
"The helicopter won't fit in there!!!"
Durant pulled the hammer back on his pistol. *I am NOT going to go back to Mr. Daglione empty-handed!!* "MAKE it fit!!"
The pilot started to sweat as he dove for the opening, fighting the crosswinds at low altitude and barreled through the mouth of the tunnel.


Lara hung on as the car roared through the tunnel, the echoes coming off the concrete walls threatening to deafen her. She looked behind her. "I don't believe it! He's following us into the tunnel!"
"Good."
Lara felt the car shudder again under the machine-gun fire and ignored the sight of the small bulges in the ceiling. "Say that again?!"
"He doesn't have as much room to maneuver now. I was hoping that they'd be driven enough to follow us in."
"Aren't you forgetting that WE don't have much more room than they...." Her voice trailed off as she saw the other end of the tunnel, wide open...except for the construction vehicle passing in front of it. Her heart flew up into her throat. "David...!"
"Come on, come on....!!" David said in a low voice. "Show me how desperate you are..."


"SHOOT HIM!! SHOOT HIM!!" Durant yelled in the pilot's ear, an almost hysterical joy audible as the pilot scanned from side to side, fighting to keep himself from scraping the sides while going even faster than before. His finger was white as it held the trigger down, the guns starting to overheat from the overuse. The pilot edged the throttle forward a hair...


"David! You'll never make it!" Lara screeched.
"Too late now!!" he answered, sweat beading on his forehead. He felt the hammering of the bullets again, then felt a bright flare in his back. His teeth clenched as he fought back the pain. *Don't you fucking pass...out NOW, Dave...!!*
Lara turned and her eyes got even wider as she saw the spread of red on his shirt. "DAVID!!" she yelled, but there was no time. The end of the tunnel was only sixty feet away now.
David's mind began to swim. He saw the yellow of the vehicles blur as he got closer, time slowing...slowing... *Lara...* he thought, wishing he could turn his head to look at her. *...die by fire...*
Ten feet away.
*...if I am weak...*


The car shot through the tunnel , missing the edge of the caterpillar by only four inches. The helicopter pilot looked up just in time to see the driver leap clear of the vehicle and think, *Lucky bastard...that fucker is SAFE...*
Then everything went white...then dark.


The construction crew dove for cover as the helicopter blew into a million shards, the caterpillar suddenly on fire. The car SCREEEEEEEEEECCCCHHHH!!!!ed to a stop as Lara jammed her foot on David's own foot and hauled up on the emergency brake. When the car came to a final stop, she leaned back, sighed in relief, then turned to David.
One of the bullets had chewed through the overtaxed roof, entering the back of David's seat and ripping a hole in his abdomen. Lara felt lightheaded as she saw the extent of the damage. "David...?" she asked haltingly. "Da...?"
David coughed spasmodically, inhaling in a deep rasp. His eyes flew open in pain and Lara winced. "Lara?"
"David!" she said, overwhelmed, then remembered the Eye. She pulled it out and shoved it into David's hands. "Dave, listen to me. You must repeat the words I say. You must!"
"Lara...just let it...go..." His hands relaxed on the Eye.
"No! No, NO!" Lara took David's face in her hands. "You listen to me, you disagreeable, obnoxious Yank! Don't you DARE die on me!" She blinked the tears from her eyes. "Not again, I swear it, NOT AGAIN! Take the Eye and say the words!!"
"...Lara...I'm..."
"David!" She closed his hands around the Eye and her heart missed a beat as she felt how cold his hands were. "PLEASE!!!!!" His eyes opened and he turned to look at her. Lara saw something in David's eyes that chilled her. "NO! God-DAMN you, David, FIGHT!! FIGHT!!!"


David floated there, alone in the dark...the pain was gone. Everything was gone. Wait...not everything. He could still hear Lara's voice. She was begging him, pleading with him not to go. *Let me go,* he wanted to say, *can't I just go and stop the pain? I'm too tired...too tired...*
Then he saw her. Far away, as if she was at the end of the tunnel he had raced through. She was crying, her soul laid bare...the same way David's wife had before he'd left her deathbed. Pleading with her not to go...
Then something in his dying mind clicked. It was different, now...
He turned and saw his wife and son. They were smiling at him. He wanted to ask them not to despise him anymore, but he couldn't make himself speak. Then David felt them and he heard them telling him that no, he was not to blame, that it wasn't his fault...and that it wasn't David's time. Not yet. His family reached out to him, and David heard them say, *We have a gift for you...*
Then he remembered, with crystal clarity, the words...and though he had no voice, he spoke them aloud.


Lara felt him twitch and looked down at the Eye. It was glowing faintly, not as strong as it had in the hotel room, but strong enough. Daring to hope, she ripped open his mangled shirt to watch as the flesh and bone reknitted and regenerated, the damage disappearing before her eyes. The effect was much slower, though, and Lara guessed that the Eye would need considerable time to recharge its mystical energies.
But it had enough to help David.
David's eyes focused and he sat up slowly. Lara flung her arms around him and held him close. "I thought I'd lost you....!!!" she whispered hoarsely into his ear.
David embraced her, smiling slightly. "Lara...I'll never leave you."
It was a special, wonderful moment...until the knock on the window shattered both the moment and the window. Lara and David looked out to see a construction worker with a look of utter disbelief. David tried to roll down the window. It wouldn't budge. He tried again and the window shattered, overstressed by the punishment it had endured. He shrugged and looked up at the worker as Lara settled back into her seat, extremely thankful for the second chance.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" asked the stunned worker.
David tried the motor. Amazingly, it still worked, turning over roughly. He turned to his left and said blandly, "I guess he was in the wrong lane." With that said, David limped the car away.


Lara and David sat back in their seats, airborne and on a transatlantic flight towards Nepal. Lara had managed to procure a new set of clothes for David from a gift shop in the airport, tossing the bloody clothes David wore before into a trashcan. After coming out from his hiding place in the car, they had bought two tickets to Nepal, with connecting flights in Madrid, Spain and Athens, Greece.
Now they were in first class, none the worse for their escape from Walt Disney World, except for their general appearances. Thanks to their tousled appearances, a steward had been on the verge of trying to move them bodily to the coach section before Lara produced the tickets as proof that they were, in fact, supposed to be there.
Lara ran her hands through her hair. "Goodness...I must look like Elsa Lanchester."
"Yeah, but you can pull that look off." David sighed. "Lara...we've gotta talk."
She laid back in the seat. "What's on your mind, Dave?"
"Well...I want to tell you something. It's been something that I've been holding on to for years, something I've kept to myself for a very long time. And now...well, I have to tell you something about me."
Lara turned her head to look at him. "I'm listening."
"Lara, I was once married to a wonderful woman named Kathy. This was way back when I was still on the force. I was trying to nail a piece of pond scum named...well, his name's not important. The point was, he was a very powerful person and he didn't like the way I was interrupting his enterprises. One day, I come home to find that Kathy went out to get some milk. She was pregnant at the time and I was a little worried, but not too much so. But the day got late and hours passed, and she didn't show up. Five hours later, I got the call from my precinct. They wanted me to come down and identify my wife's body." David looked down. "Somebody had come along and ran her down in the parking lot. Whoever it was not only knocked her down, but backed up to roll over her to finish the job."
"Good Lord....!" Lara reached out and touched his arm.
"It was a message, to tell me that as long as I was a witness against this piece of crap, I was in danger and so was everyone connected to me. I still kept after him, but by the end of the trial, I was the only one who wanted to prosecute. Everyone else had either been bought off or scared off. In the end, he walked away and I was kicked off the force. You know what hurt the most, Lara? Not my job and not this guy getting off scot-free...my wife and unborn son were dead and I let them die because I wasn't there to protect them."
"David...how could you have known?" Lara said gently.
"I couldn't have...but I couldn't get away from it and I thought that they had died because of me and they wouldn't forgive me for letting them down. But tonight..." He turned to look at Lara. "This is going to seem wild and incredible, but...I saw them. When everything was so dark and cold, I felt them close to me...and I realized that they didn't hate me. They still loved me and told me that it wasn't my fault." He shook his head. "The memory is fading...I don't even know if I'll remember it tomorrow. All I know is that, now...now maybe I can let them go. The important thing is, I discovered something else." He took Lara's hand and looked into her eyes unwaveringly. "I love you, Lara. I think maybe I always have. I've never felt this way about anyone since Kathy died...and I don't think I ever will. I know I'm not exactly the best catch, but...I can't hide how I feel anymore. I learned that tonight as I lay dying. I would've died if it wasn't for you, Lara...and I would've died with a greater pain in my heart than the pain I felt when I lost Kathy. I don't know what our future holds, if we'll live to a ripe old age or die tomorrow." His voice was solemn. "But I couldn't go another hour without telling you how I felt. Even if you don't feel the same way..."
Lara took his hand. "David...I have a small confession to make. I used to know a wonderful young man named Michael. David, wait, hear me out." She took a deep breath. "I loved him very much. He wasn't like you, David, but he had his own strengths, his own principles...and once he made a promise, he stuck by his word. He remained true to himself, unlike so many others, and I loved him for it. Even though he was not a physical type like you, he was the strongest man I'd ever met. He never failed me." Lara sighed. "But it wasn't meant to be...Michael and I parted ways and I felt the first real hurt of my life. It hurt worse than any gunshot wound or knife slash I'd ever felt. I made my peace with Michael and myself, and..."
"Whatever happened to him? Did he die?"
Lara smiled. "Someday, when I feel the time's right, I'll tell you all about it. But suffice it to say that I never made my peace, not really. I was always afraid that I might fall in love again...and then I'd lose that love again. I was really afraid...especially when you came into my life, David. You were impressive, strong, capable, but you never let that give you an ego problem. The more I came to know you, the more I loved you for your heart and your dedication to help people, even at your own expense. I don't love you the same way I loved Michael, but in its own way, what I feel for you is just as strong...maybe stronger." Lara took both his hands in hers. "I almost lost you, David. I don't want to lose you."
Lara leaned forward and buried her face in David's chest as he embraced her, bowing his head on hers. They stayed like that for a long time, neither speaking. Then, as the silence threatened to envelop all, David opened his mouth. "You're not going to lose me, Lara. I'm not going anywhere and I won't leave you. I swear that I won't leave you."
"But how do I know that, David? I almost lost you already! I never want to feel like that again. How can you say for sure what will happen tomorrow?"
"I...I can't." David held Lara close. "You'll just have to have faith."
"Faith...I don't know if I've got that much faith in anything anymore. I've always relied upon myself, for a long time. I just don't know, David. I just don't know."
David and Lara held each other in silence all the way to Athens.


Sobered by the events of the night before, David and Lara didn't talk much on the way to the hotel. Finally, in an attempt to break the tension, he asked, "So, Lara...what are we going to have to do once we get to Nepal."
That broke Lara out of her trance. "Well..." she said as she scanned through her notes, "...ah, here we are. We get to Nepal and meet up with a guide who'll take us into the Himalayas...up to a certain point. From there, we have to navigate through the ice and rock until we find a temple...the Temple of the Destroyer."
"Sounds like a party place, all right. Do you wanna bring the chips and dip, or would you like me to bring them?"
Lara quirked a smile. "You bring the chips, David."
"And you'll bring the dip?"
"Certainly. You'll be coming along, of course..." Lara grinned.
"All right, all right, I get the joke, hardee-har-har." He didn't lay the sarcasm on TOO thick; it was worth it to see a smile on Lara's face again. "How long until we get there?"
"Just another day...we'll only be stopping in Athens long enough to get a night's sleep and contact our guide in Nepal. After that, it'll be a quick plane ride to the Himalayas and then we'll be on our way to the Temple."
"Good. I wouldn't mind getting a little peace and quiet and some sleep in a soft bed."
"Speak of the devil." Lara saw their hotel come into view, a small, quaint place loaded with local flavor. "After we settle in, how about we go to this nice Greek place I know? It's got some GREAT dishes."
"How many times have you been to Athens?" David asked curiously.
"Enough to know a few things about some cuscus dishes and some REAL gyros, not that wretched stuff they sell back in the States. Come on." The carriage stopped and the two adventurers unloaded their gear.
Once inside, David was overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the place. Years of spending time in fast-food joints and greasy diners had ill-prepared him for the subtle charm of a meal cooked without the benefit of electricity. The only electrical power in the place took care of the lights and climate control... the food was prepared in stoves and ovens that had been made generations ago, as well as the recipes. Sharp, spicy smells came from the kitchen and David found his mouth watering. Lara ordered a pair of simple dishes, vegetable gyros and some lamb meat on the side, with hot cider to wash it all down. The meal went slowly as Lara and David savored the taste of the food.
"Now THIS...is what I call...a MEAL," David said between bites.
"That's good. That what I call it, too." Lara leaned back in her chair. "So what do you think, Dave? What do you think of the life of an archaeologist?"
"Pretty good." He smiled. "A change of scenery isn't too bad, after all. I still have trouble getting past the fact that there are no skyscrapers around here. I think I may have a slight phobia about wide-open spaces."
"Don't worry...we'll be checking out caves soon enough," Lara chuckled. "Ready to get back to our rooms?"
"Yeah."
"Good. I've got to make some calls before I go to bed tonight." Lara raised her hand and called the waiter over. "Check, please."


Lara and David enjoyed a quiet moonlit ride home. David put his arm around Lara and she smiled slightly, closing her eyes and snuggling into him. He sighed. "Now THIS I can handle. No..."
"Hush, Dave. Wouldn't want to tempt Fate now, would we?"
"No, I guess not." David tightened his embrace ever so slightly. "What do you want to do tonight?"
"Go to bed."
"Oh." David wasn't quite sure how to proceed from there; Lara's comment hadn't left any room for elaboration. "Well...I think I'll go to bed, too."
"Good idea," Lara said contentedly. *I can't wait to see what happens when he finds out that there's only one bed...*
David looked up as the cab stopped in front of the hotel. "We're here."
"So soon?" Lara looked up lazily and smiled. "I guess so."
"Come on, sleepyhead, let's go." David eased Lara up the stairs and opened the door, bringing her to the bed and letting her fall onto the mattress.
"Oooh, this feels nice," Lara purred. "I don't want to move."
"You'll have to, unless you want to sleep in your clothes."
"I'll sleep in my clothes, then," Lara said stubbornly.
"So, uh, Lara..."
"Yes?"
"Where do I sleep?"
"Where do you think, silly?" She gave him an impish grin. "Right here."
"Uh, Lara..."
"Don't be that way, Dave, I'm too tired to try and molest you tonight anyways," said Lara playfully. "Besides, all I'd like tonight is to feel you next to me. That's all."
"That's it?"
"That's it." *For now,* she added mentally.
"Okay..." David removed his shoes and socks, then started to remove Lara's.
"Oooooh...thank you, David. Now, be a good lad and make sure they're shined for tomorrow."
"Bite me."
"Is that an invitation?"
"No. One more word, young lady, and I'll wake up in the middle of the night just to make sure that your shoelaces are a Boy Scout's nightmare in the morning."
"You are no fun, David Connors."
"Thank you." He removed the other shoe and sock, then scooted back on the bed to lie down next to Lara. "Anything else you'd like me to do, Ms. Croft? Reload your pistols? Clean and press your shorts?"
"Just come over here, you troublesome man, you." Lara snuggled into David and closed her eyes, feeling his broad chest under her arm. "Now, go to sleep."
"Yes, sir," David said sardonically.
"You must need the sleep more than I do if you have trouble identifying my gender," she yawned.
"Ha ha ha ha," he answered with a yawn of his own punctuating the last "ha". By that time, Lara was already asleep. Satisfied that he'd gotten the last word, David went to sleep as well.


David woke up alone in bed with the barrel of a gun up against his nose. *Gee...THIS looks familiar...* he thought calmly. He'd woken up the same way too many times to be shocked by it anymore. "What is it this time? Did I forget to eat the mint on my pillow or something?"
"Shut up, asshole. Where's the bitch?" said a coarse voice at the other end of the arm with the gun in its hand.
"Sorry, pal...if you're talking about Lara, she's in the room next door."
"Bullshit, pal. This room is registered to 'Mr. and Mrs. Connors,' so she's got to be here."
"Are you kidding? Do you know how many times this past year I've woken up with a gun barrel up against this part of my anatomy? She got tired of it and decided to sleep in another room because she knew it would happen again sooner or later." *Keep these guys stalled...Lara must've heard they were coming, or else had an errand to run or something.* "She registered under another name."
"What name?" asked the thug.
"Smith."
"Oh, you're REALLY funny."
"Okay, pal, the name is Jones. She likes that name, go figure." David's eyes flicked over to the left. "Why DO you like that name, Lara?"
The thug turned his head to the right and saw no one there. Then he felt a dull pain in his arm, a sharp pain in his jaw and then saw nothing at all.


The thug woke up blind and hearing voices. Something wasn't right; his head felt funny and he couldn't move.
"You picked a FINE time to go out and grab some supplies. I woke up and this guy had a gun to my nose!"
"I had to pick up some special supplies, David...the kind you find on the black market. They don't keep banker's hours, you know."
"What kind of supplies?"
"I'll tell you later. Let's deal with our mystery guest first. By the way, nice job."
"Thanks. Wish I could say it was original, but I got the idea from a movie."
"I'll have to see that movie." Lara's voice walked over and pulled something off his face.
The thug's mouth was uncovered and he let out with an "OUCH!!" when the duct tape was removed. "You BITCH!!!"
"Believe me, I bear no resemblance at all to a female dog. YOU, however, look remarkably like a silver mummy. The same sticky stuff I ripped from your face, sorry about your mustache, by the by, is now covering your entire body...including your eyes."
"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!"
"Not quite the answer I was looking for...David, would you care to take over?"
"GLADLY. Alright, meat puppet, here's the Law of the Jungle. You start talking to me about the person you work for, or you're going to be the star of your very own Greek tragedy. A name would do for starters."
"PISS OFF! I AIN'T SAYING SHIT!!"
"My, what a mouth he has on him," Lara said disapprovingly, "Excuse me, sir, but do you actually put food in the same vicinity?"
"Lady, when I get through with you, you're gonna beg me to kill you!"
"Don't start giving me clichés, butt-boy," David warned, "I can't STAND anyone who uses clichés all the time."
"You're DEAD MEAT!!"
"Another cliché," Lara tsked.
"I haven't heard a name yet, so it's obvious that you aren't completely able to comprehend your current situation. Let me help."
The thug felt another ripping sensation and yelled even louder, then looked around. Comprehension dawned as he found himself bound by several yards of duct tape, hanging upside down from the roof of the Parthenon.
As the thug responded to the realization, David remarked, "Now, Lara, didn't I tell you that the scream alone would be worth the trouble of carrying his fat carcass up here and bribing the guards?"
"I must agree with you on that, David."
After the thug's scream died down to a whimper, David walked to the edge of the roof, where a rope suspended the thug by his ankles. "NOW, then...are you going to give me a name?"
"I can't! He'll kill me!"
David took out a knife and started drawing it across the rope. Fibers parted. "You tried to open another nostril in my head, pal. I don't like that very much. In fact, when people try to do that, I get downright..." More fibers parted and the thug felt himself drop an inch. "...SADISTIC."
"Now, David...I agreed to letting you get him up here, but is this really necessary?? I mean, we ARE talking cold-blooded murder, here!"
"Back off, Lara. You DON'T want to go there." David turned his head back to the thug. "Now, start talking...and maybe, just MAYBE, I'll let you live."
"Now SEE HERE, David!" Lara strode forward. "You can't do this! This is inhuman!"
"What's your point?"
"I'm not going to be a party to this, David! I won't let you kill him!!!" Lara strode forward and came face-to-barrel with the thug's gun in David's hand.
"Don't you push me, Lara," David said in a cold voice.
Lara stared at David and slowly backed away. "You're utterly insane, David...I swear it, you've gone too far this time!! I'm leaving. I don't care what you do from here on out, you sick bastard, but you're doing it alone!!"
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," David said warningly, watching Lara go to the ladder and climb down, shock, anger and sorrow on her face. He turned back to the sweating thug. "Now, then...where were we?"
"Look...if I tell ya....will you let me go?"
"If you give me what I want to know, I'll let you live. If not...well, we'll find out whether all that duct tape will hold your insides inside when you hit the stone..."
"ALRIGHT!!!" the thug shrieked. "I'll tell you. His name's Leo Daglione."
"The gangster from Detroit??"
"He's a don, now..."
"I'm not surprised. He always WAS good with the shoe polish and tommygun. What's he want from me?"
"He wants the gem back."
"The Eye of Shiva. Figures. Does he want to awaken Shiva, too?"
"That's all I know!"
"Really?" David stood up and ran the knife blade over the rope.
"Alright, alright!! He's got this guy, says he knows where you two are going and he plans to try and follow you from there. That's all I know, I swear!"
"You know something? I believe you."
"Now cut me down, okay, man?"
"Sure." David raised the blade high and the thug's eyes widened as he saw it slash down towards the rope, parting it.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the thug screamed as he fell towards the stone, then felt a yank around his stomach and he slowed, then rose up again for a few feet, then dropped again. David climbed down the ladder, meeting Lara outside where she was watching the thug bouncing up and down at the end of the bungee cord secured around his waist.
"Now THAT'S comedy," David quipped as he walked over to Lara. "By the way, if you ever decide to quit tomb raiding, Lara, I highly recommend show biz. That was a helluva performance...I was in on it and you almost had ME going."
"Well, I don't know...did you really think I was that good?"
The thug watched them go with murder in his heart as the duo drove away in their car and the armed guards came over to him to cut him loose.


"So who is Leo Daglione?" Lara asked as they drove to the airport.
"One connected, megalomaniacal, thoroughgoing bastard. He's known for being extremely calm, but he can be equally ruthless and murderous. There's a rumor that when he first started out, he murdered his entire family to prove his devotion to the mob. Wife, daughters, father, mother. Dead."
"The mob asked him to do that?"
"No...he VOLUNTEERED."
"My God..."
"Guess again. The mob was so impressed that they made him a 'made man' for what he did. It used to be that the mob frowned upon killing family, but nowadays..." David shook his head. "Nobody respects the important traditions anymore."
"I'll take your word for it. I know as much about the Mafia as you do about 4th Century China."
"Thanks...I think. In any case, he's obsessed with power. One or two of his men were associated with Jacqueline Natla for a while, before she found them out and used them to feed the fish in the Hudson River. I think Daglione believes that he can get even more power from Shiva."
"That's crazy."
"You got it." David shook his head. "But he's got a LOT of muscle working for him. We've got to come up with a way to shake him."
"Well, David, taking the earlier flight to Nepal may throw him off the track for a while. After that...we'll just have to take it as we go."
"Speak of the devil...we're here." David looked around the airfield as the cab drove to the depot. "I guess I'm still used to busy city airports...considering how many planes are out there on the field, if I needed to guess which one we'd be taking, I could flip a coin."
"Not every airport is Heathrow or O'Hare. Besides, Athens airport is probably being watched, so a small airport like this won't be noticed." Lara went up to the main desk and spoke to the officer there while David looked around. It was a sunny day, with clouds to the east.
"Figures...and I left Disney World for this. I GOT to get a better travel agent," he joked.
"Dave, come on! The plane's leaving in seven minutes!!" Lara yelled as she hotfooted it to the cargo plane on her left. David grabbed his gear and ran for the plane, catching up to Lara as she got to the door.
"THIS is our ride?"
"Only one I could get on short notice," Lara said as she and Dave walked up the stairs. "Don't worry, the officer said that the plane would be empty except for some freight."
"Freight??"
"Don't worry, there are jump seats inside...hope you don't mind the noise," Lara said cheerfully as she walked inside and stowed her gear under a fold-down seat.
Dave walked in, felt the plane start to move and was about to put his gear away when he saw something that made him drop his pack where it was. "Uh, Lara?"
"Yes?" Lara yelled back.
"It's not the noise that bothers me...it's the company."
"What?" Lara asked, then saw the gunmen stepping out from behind the boxes.
One of them, a tall, familiar lug, grinned when he saw Lara and David. "Hi there...remember me? Don't even THINK about it," he added as Lara moved a hand down to her pack.
David turned around, feeling the plane leave the ground, and saw a well-dressed gentleman step out from the pilot's compartment. "Son of a BITCH..."
"I can prove my lineage beyond a shadow of a doubt," Leo Daglione said blithely, "which is more than I can say for you, David Connors. I'm starting to lose faith in you, Lara Croft," he said as the plane's engines cycled down to a lower decibel level. "I knew you'd try to leave early when I sent Bruce over to chat with David."
"HOW?" David asked. "He couldn't have told you that he had failed in time for you to arrange this. NOBODY'S that powerful."
"Where power fails, intelligence prevails. I never expected Bruce to succeed in getting you to talk...he's far too brutish and stupid for that. So I sent him to flush you out, providing you with just enough knowledge to scare you into taking an earlier flight, then deducing that you'd avoid public transportation in order to save time. And I was right." He smiled in a fashion that made Lara want to punch that smile right off his face. "You know, David, Lara Croft is quite predictable, once one takes the time to observe her carefully. Of all people, I expected you to catch a clue or two on what I was planning...but I suppose that your reputation is less substance and more PR than anything else. A pity. I was looking forward to pitting my superior intelligence against two such worthy adversaries, but it seems that my wishes came up one mind short in that department."
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Daglione," Lara said hotly.
"Well, I suppose it's only right, then, that I only get rid of one of you. After all, I only need Lara Croft to get me to Shiva's temple. As for you, David...I can only say that you have been riding on luck for far too long. Today, your supply of luck runs out. Now take a seat, both of you." Leo smiled. "The 'FASTEN SEAT BELTS' light is on. and please, no heroics. I may not want to kill you yet, Ms. Croft, but I have no compunctions about making the rest of your life quite painful. Besides, I'd hate for you to have David leave you without saying your good-byes."
David and Lara sat down next to each other. "Lara..."
"No good-byes, Dave," she said softly, "not now. I don't know about you, but I do know that I'm not ready to say good-bye to you yet."
David looked around. "We may not be getting a choice."
"Calm down, Dave...we've been in worse spots."
"When?"
"Come on, Dave...remember that situation with Natla? Things were kind of tight then, weren't they? And we got out all right." Lara, to her credit, managed to keep her voice steady and her tears inside.
"Yeah..." David looked at Daglione. The gangster looked completely cool, as if he was attending a piano recital. "...maybe."


They had only been in the air a few hours when Leo came back down from the pilot's compartment. "Alright, everyone, suit up. The plane will be landing in a few hours, after all. I'll keep them covered," he said while pulling out a Walther PPK and holding it on David and Lara. The thugs nodded and opened up one of the crates, revealing nine backpacks. As the thugs put them on, David and Lara recognized them to be parachutes. "Make sure they're nice and snug, boys. After all, all there needs to be is one mistake and you're a mess on some mountain goat's woolen hide." He turned to Lara Croft. "You, too, Lara. I suppose you already know how to use one of those. Get up and put one on."
Lara slowly got up and walked to the crate.
"And if you've got any ideas in your head about trying to jump me, Lara, I've got your lover still covered...and I'm a good shot." He smiled. "Just ask my wife and kids. Oh wait, that's right, you can't."
"You're a sick man, do you realize that?" Lara put on the parachute.
"So I've heard." He smiled wider. "But David is sane, isn't he? He's going to hold onto that sanity for the rest of his life...every last minute of it. Now then, I do believe you know what to do, gentlemen. Lara and I are going to have a little talk up front. Are you all going to have trouble with him?"
"Not a bit, boss." Johnny Laylor cracked his knuckles. "You embarrassed me back at the dino building, Connors. NOT smart." He reached up and slammed his fist against a large button. At the rear of the plane, the loading ramp opened up and the air rushed in, replacing the stale air inside the cargo area with fresh air from 14,000 feet. "Now you're gonna take the long fall," Laylor said as he walked towards David, drawing his pistol.
"Oh yeah, asshole. That's SO easy. Go ahead, shoot. I know what you REALLY want to do, Johnny. But you and I both know that you're nothing but a two-bit, monkey-suited LOSER and you don't have the balls to try and take me on man-to-man! Go ahead," David yelled, "pull the trigger! It's the only safe way you can take me out and you know it!!"
As David taunted the man, Laylor's face began to twist in rage. He also knew that the others were watching him carefully and he'd already taken enough heat from them thanks to what happened the LAST time he tried to get David. He tossed the gun to one side and walked towards David, fingers curling into fists. "Buddy, when I get through with you, you're gonna WISH that I'd shot you!"


Up in the pilot's compartment, Leo and Lara were having a chat. Well, not really, unless "having a chat" involved interrogation.
"I went through your pack and found the map, Lara. Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, Ms. Croft. Now, the easy way involves you getting out of this alive and unhurt. Who knows? You may even profit from what you've learned, write it up in some paper."
"Get stuffed," Lara said coldly.
"Which brings us to the HARD way." He pulled out a slim dagger. "I know some rather rough types in Nepal, young lady. They would pay a high price for you, even if you were somewhat damaged at the time. Of course, I don't think they'll MIND that your eyes and tongue were cut out of your head; they won't want you for small talk and they aren't very nice to look at, either. You might even live long enough to get used to the idea of being their slave. But be sure of one thing, Lara...I do not make threats. I make promises. And I will do my best to keep this promise."
Lara glared at him.
"Now, of course, if you're cooperative, we won't have a problem. That, too, I can promise you. You can either be someone else's slave or a full partner in this. Your choice."


David fell back against the side of the plane, blood spurting from his nose. *DON'T...BLACK OUT...* he thought as he got to his feet just before Laylor hit him in the gut, doubling him over. Laylor stepped back.
"I thought you were tough, Connors. Guess you can't believe everything you WHOOF!!!" he said as David sprang forward and shoved a fist into his stomach. Laylor tried to back away, but David was recovering far too fast, delivering a fast one-two punch that snapped Laylor's face back and up. Laylor grinned through his smashed nose. "Good one, David...this might be fun after all." He jabbed left and right, David blocking and moving to keep from getting punched again. "Come on, Davey...show just how much you can take."
The two men pounded each other, David sending short, hard jabs into Laylor's body and Laylor returning with powerful, full rights and lefts. David was enduring it well, but he knew that he was on borrowed time, now. If he won, the others would shoot him. If he lost...
David bore another hit to the side of his head and his world went black for a moment. He stumbled back towards the open door...
Laylor grabbed him and pulled him back from the edge. "I ain't through with you yet, asshole." He threw David over his head onto his back. That woke David up and he crawled a few paces away before Laylor picked him up, pulling him to his feet. "You're a mess, David. You were a worthless mess long before I came along and finished the job. And now you're going to be a mess all over the Himalayas." Laylor grinned. "Any last words?"
"Yeah...you talk too damn much."
Laylor frowned right before David's knee came up between the leg straps of his parachute. His eyes rolled up in his head and he staggered back, David coming after him with both fists flying. David hit him as fast and as hard as he could and Laylor was tossed about, lefts and rights coming at him too fast for him to block, much less get away.


Leo turned back to look through the pilot's door and saw what was going on. He frowned and opened the door. "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE??" he yelled and everything stopped. David looked up to see Leo holding a gun on him and he backed off warily.
Laylor looked up at his employer. "Boss...!"
"I TOLD you to KILL him! Not fight, kill!"
"But, Boss...I thought...!"
"You THOUGHT? I don't pay you to THINK, Laylor, I pay you to follow orders! Boys, I want you to watch this carefully," he yelled and fired into Laylor's head, sending the chunk of lead ricocheting around inside Laylor's skull. As Laylor fell, Leo said in a strong voice, "You follow orders, you get to profit from them. If you follow orders, you end up like that sorry piece of..."
Then the plane pitched skywards.
The thugs dropped their guns and flailed to grab at supports or the floor as the plane's nose rose. Leo nearly fell out of the cockpit. David grabbed hold of one of the secured crates and watched as Laylor's body slid out the back of the plane.
Leo turned back to see Lara wrestling with the pilots, one hand firm on the control stick and pulling back. Leo reached up and yanked Lara free from the stick, shoving her into a seat and putting the barrel of his gun under her chin. "Very noble, Ms. Croft. Stupid, but noble."
Lara spit into his face.
Leo calmly pulled out a handkerchief, wiped his face, then backhanded her with the pistol, sending her into unconsciousness. He turned back, a touch of true anger on his face. "As for YOU, Mr. Connors...as they say, it isn't the FALL..." Leo fired and David spun backwards towards the edge of the abyss...and fell out of the plane. "...it's the sudden stop at the bottom," Leo finished with a satisfied smile. "Now get this plane back on course, and this time, TRY and keep the plane level."

THE EYES OF SHIVA, PART III:
GODS OF DESTRUCTION

BY C. MAGE


David felt the pain in his shoulder first, then the dizzying sensation of freefall. The wind whipped at his clothes and stung his eyes, forcing him to squint. He dimly saw the plane leaving him behind and realized that things had gone from bad to infinitely worse. David looked around and saw the mountains coming up at him much too fast for his own good and thought, *This is it...I'm going to buy in the Himalayas, fer chrissakes...!!*
Then he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He looked through watering eyes to see the body of Johnny Laylor drifting through space. Then he realized why Laylor looked so strange.
There was a bulge on his back.
*THE PARACHUTE!!!* David fought to remember everything he'd seen on those TV specials involving stunt parachuting. After tumbling twice, he closed his arms to his body and closed his legs, diving towards Laylor's corpse. It was difficult at best; no amount of TV watching was a comparable substitute for real, practiced skill, but David had only two options left: grab the chute and figure out how to work it in time, or learn how to fly.
He was about seven thousand feet above the mountains when he caught up with Laylor. *Sorry, Johnny, but I need this more than you do!!* he thought, pulling on the buckles and straps, trying to get the limp cadaver out of the rig. The two tumbled end over end as each pull and tug translated into left and right somersaults.
Finally, David pulled the parachute off and climbed into it, praying that