Uncharted: The Lone Survivor

Chapter 1: Leads & Lies

But Leon knew Dorthey wasn't kidding around. Few people in the line of treasure hunting had the technological skills she had. If you needed a hacker, Dorthey Zara was the best of the best.

"We have it, the tiara." Leon said, keeping his voice calm, collected.

Dorthey's smile fell from her face, "Where is it?"

Leon laughed, "Well, that's just it. We had the tiara, until these bastards stole it from us."

"So, you don't know where it is?" Dorthey questioned, a golden brow raised.

"You think the only people looking for the tiara of Anastasia Romanov are in this room?" Leon fired back, "There's more of us than you think, Ms. Zara."

Dorthey let that information sink in. She wasn't an idiot, she knew there would surely be others who too caught a whiff of the mysterious tiara of the long lost Grand Duchess Anastasia. But the fact that it was now in the hands of someone she didn't know of, that was a problem.

"Who took it from you?"

Mitch look up at her, "You think if we knew that we be sitting here?"

Done with Mitch's bull, Dorthey walked up to him, slamming her gun into the side of his head before kicking him in the stomach. It was only once he was in the fetal position, did Dorthey speak again.

"You're here, because I caught you, or did you forget that little detail?" Dorthey taunted.

"Look, Ms. Zara," Leon spoke, bring Dorthey's attention to him instead, "The man your looking for is Nikolai Petrov. Ever heard of him?"

"Yes," Dorthey said quietly, "I do."

"Then you know that he's not exactly a man to cross paths with." Leon continued further.

"Nikolai" The voice inside Dorthey's head rang, "Nikolai Petrov."

Dorthey force her mind to clamp down on those thoughts, "I wouldn't be too worried about me Leon, I'm a Zara."

"So, the daughter of one of the oldest, most noble families in Russia is going to go up against the powerful Nikolai Petrov?"

Dorthey's lip twitched slightly, "Yeah, that's right."

Turning away, Dorthey shoved her laptop into her back, throwing it over her shoulder. "Nikolai Petrov...." Dorthey though to herself, "It will be good to see you again."

"Well then fellas," Dorthey said, "This was fun and all, but I'm afraid I have a plane to catch."

"So," Mitch grumbled, clearly still in pain, "Does this mean we can forget about the whole 'sending our files to the feds' thing?"

Dorthey stopped at the door, craning her neck to look at the two men, "As long as you don't follow the tiara, yeah, consider it forgotten. But if you even try to even google the word tiara, you can expect a warrant out for your arrest in twenty-one countries. Understood?"

The two men nodded silently, causing Dorthey to smile.

"Well then, till next time gentlemen."

And with that, Dorthey Zara was ready to head out on her next journey. But first, she had a very important phone call to make.

It only took a few dial tones before, "Hello?"

"Sully, its me."

She could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke, "Hey kid, how'd that lead of yours go?"

Dorthey sighed, "Turns out those idiots did have the tiara.... but......"

"Let me guess, they don't anymore?"

"Yeah, but lucky for me, I know exactly who took it. And it just so happens this person is an old family friend."

"With your family, I can't tell if that's good or bad news." Sully said, chuckling to himself.

"True be told, I'm not sure either. It's been years since I spoke to him, but he was close to my grandfather and-"

"You were close to your grandfather so perhaps this 'friend' will have sympathy for you?"

"Yeah," Dorthey answered, "Well maybe, like I said it's been a while."

"Well kid, I'm guessing you didn't just to catch up."

Now it was Dorthey's turn to smile, "Not exactly."

"What do you need?"

"I need help. If I'm going to find the Romanov treasure, I need that tiara. And if I'm going to even attempt to try and get it from this individual, I'm going to need a lot more than my relationship with my grandfather."

"So, you need my help?"

"Yes," Dorthey confirmed, "But I was also hoping if you knew anyone else who was available to help. What about that Drake guy? What's he up to?"

"Nate?" Sully replied, "He's out of the game, retired. But there is someone else who could fill his shoes, but I must warn you, he's a little rough around the edges, and a bigger smart ass than Nate ever was."

"Smart-ass I can handle, but is he good at what he does?"

"No doubt about it."

"Who is it?" Dorthey asked.

"His brother, Sam Drake."