Return to Dark Earth (14 page)

“I’ll go first.” Nera knelt and wiggled
through the hole. Rough edges scraped against her light armor.

“Nice view from here,” he said.

“That’s sexual harassment, Phoenix,” she
called back.

He laughed.

Boy, she loved the sound of that. She made
it through the hole and stood. She froze. “Holy hell, Niklas. Get
in here.”

She stood there, dumbfounded, while he
grunted and cursed as he squeezed through the gap. Finally, he
stood beside her. “Oh, my God.”

The room was intact.

The floor was wooden—no longer glossy, but
still quite beautiful. Faint light filtered in through the barred
windows. It looked like the windows were reinforced with something
incredibly strong, because none of them were broken.

And ahead, lights still illuminating it, was
the Sun Stone.

“Incredible,” Nera murmured.

“Mind-blowingly amazing.” He walked up to it
and with his gloved hand, ran a finger over the deep carvings with
a reverence that made her throat tighten.

She wanted that. She wanted him to look at
her the same way he looked at that damn artifact. She pushed the
dangerous thought away.

The engraving was fascinating, consisting of
concentric rings of very intricate design. In the center was a
face, no doubt some god, with his tongue out.

She wandered around the room and saw a large
statue of some scary-looking goddess, a mural that still held most
of its color, and some sort of elaborate feathered headdress. Many
still had lights illuminating them, so she guessed some nuclear
power system was still running somewhere. Almost giddy, but of
course hiding her reaction, she spun. “What do you think of this,
Dr. Phoenix?”

He strode over. “The mural depicts scenes of
everyday life. I think it’s Mayan. God, it’s beautiful. I’ve only
ever seen images of things like this.” His gaze switched to the
headdress and he froze. “The headdress and armband of
Montezuma.”

Montezuma? The name rang a bell. “Aztec
emperor, right?” She studied the headdress again. The bright green
feathers were striking and obviously treated with something to
preserve them. The base consisted of gold and colored stones. She
wouldn’t be caught dead wearing something like this. She also noted
the gold armband beside it.

“Yes,” Niklas answered. “Under his rule, the
empire reached its largest size, and first contact with Europeans
occurred during his reign, too.” Niklas raised his brows. “Needless
to say, Montezuma didn’t survive that encounter.”

“Then he wasn’t smart enough to retreat, for
the sake of his people, against a superior force.”

Niklas stared at her, his gaze narrowing.
She guessed he understood her deeper meaning.

“Maybe.” With another sweeping glance, he
took in all the artifacts. Then, with a wide grin, he grabbed Nera
around the waist and yanked her close for a kiss.

It was supposed to be a celebratory moment.
Instead, the instant his mouth touched hers, it morphed into
something else. He groaned, his tongue sliding against hers. Nera
moaned and wrapped her legs around his waist. He staggered two
steps and pressed her back against something. She thrust her hands
into his hair, pulling his mouth closer, like she could merge the
two of them. Damn, he tasted so good. A taste she could drink in
forever.

A growl echoed around them.

They both stiffened.

It hadn’t come from either of them.

In a second, he released her, and her feet
slid to the floor. She pulled her sword from the scabbard on her
back, shook it to release the blade, and stepped in front of
Niklas.

Nik didn’t know whether to be amused or
pissed that Nera was putting herself between him and whatever the
hell was making that deep growling in the darkness.

He could hold his own in a fight, but
Nera…hell, she was amazing. But he was hardly helpless. He pulled
out his laser pistol and stepped up beside her. “Can you see
it?”

She shook her head, every part of her
focused on the shadows. “It’s coming from over there.” She nodded
with her head.

Suddenly, a huge, black shape leapt out of
the shadows at them.

Fuck
. Nik fired and dodged to the
side. He hit the floor hard, the impact rattling his bones. When he
rolled, he caught a glimpse of the thing. His eyes widened. Holy
hell, it was huge.

Nera was circling the creature, her sword
held in front of her. The beast was almost as tall as her
shoulders, with a powerful body and a long tail that whipped back
and forth. It growled again. It looked almost like…a giant mutant
cat. Maybe that was what it was. At best guess, it was some species
of a former Earth creature, mutated by the radiation and years of
breeding.

Its muscles bunched again and it bounded at
Nera. Nik’s heart beat double-time. He couldn’t get a clear
shot.

But Nera was fast, too. She ducked, and
slashed at the creature’s black hide.

Her sword didn’t penetrate.

Nera jumped back, and he saw the flash of
large claws.

Its hide was tough, thick and gnarled,
almost reptilian. He aimed his laser pistol and fired.

The beast spun around, and glowing, green
eyes leveled on him. Its head was huge, with large jaws that were
filled with giant teeth. Nice.

“Distract it.” Nera yelled.

Right. Nik saw her move, but kept his gaze
on the beast. It took a step toward him.

He fired, aiming for its eyes. It shook its
head, then swiped out with one giant paw. Nik dived and rolled.

The creature swiped at him again, and this
time, Nera appeared from the darkness and a barrage of throwing
stars slammed into the creature. Paw, arm, cheek, three across its
side—they clung to it like burrs. And thick, black blood oozed from
the wounds.

The creature screeched, an ear-splitting
sound that made Nik wince. The cat spun again, and unable to find
Nera, settled on Nik.

“Come on, kitty.” He lifted his laser pistol
again. The beast started stalking him, its belly low to the ground.
“Nera, whatever you have planned, do it fast.”

Suddenly, she leapt into the air. And onto
the creature’s back.

Nik fired at its head. The creature reared,
trying to dislodge Nera. She raised her sword up, and with a
lightning-fast move, slammed it down into the back of its neck.

Nik kept firing until the charge ran out on
his pistol. As it recharged, he staggered backward. The creature
kept coming, snarling and hissing. Nera’s sword hadn’t penetrated
far and she was working it in with heavy thrusts.

The creature was so close now that Nik
smelled its rank, rotten breath. It smelled of blood and dead
things. His back hit the wall.
Shit
.

He lifted the pistol again. But just as the
beast raised its giant paw once more, it let out a bloodcurdling
scream.

Then it collapsed to the floor, its long
claws brushing the tips of Nik’s boots.

He let out a huge breath. Nera jumped off
the monster and landed in a crouch beside Nik.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He leaned over, hands on his knees, and drew
in some deep breaths. “Never better.”

“You make an excellent distraction.
Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

Running footsteps sounded out in the
corridor outside.

“Nik? Dr. Phoenix?” Avril’s concerned voice
in his earpiece.

“Yeah. We’re in here. It’s clear.”

Soon Avril, Galen, and the others crawled
through the opening in the door. Avril stood just inside the
entryway, her jaw falling open. “Oh, my stars.”

The others had equally gobsmacked looks on
their faces, their gazes moving between the artifacts and the body
of the creature. Except for Gunn, who looked like he’d sucked on
something acidic.

“That dead?” Solomon nodded toward the
mutant cat.

“Yes,” Nik said. “But it wasn’t a minute
ago.”

Galen moved closer, snapping images. “Some
sort of mutated creature. We need to stay on the lookout for
more.”

“I’ll arrange for a second team from the
Drake
,” Avril said. “I want a team in here to prepare for
loading the artifacts. And more security.” She beamed. “Well done,
Nik.” Her gaze shifted to the Sun Stone. “I’d hoped we’d find the
Sun Stone, but I guess I never really believed we would. These
finds are simply—” her voice cracked and she cleared her throat.
“You’ll go down in history as the discoverer of some of the most
important Terran artifacts in the galaxy.”

“And Nera too,” he said drily.

Avril’s eyes flickered. “Of course.”

“I’m sure you’d like to see what Gunn and
Solomon found.” She glanced at her timepiece. “We still have time.
We can check on the team loading up their find on the way out.
Agent Ryant, please have some of your team secure this room until
the secondary extraction team arrives from the ship.”

“Sure,” Galen answered.

The rest of them headed out into the
corridor.

“You are going to be amazed by the artifacts
we found.” Avril’s boots echoed on the floor. “There’s an Olmec
head, a crystal skull of some kind, and a collection of Aztec
jewelry—armbands, ear plugs, and rings.” Her cheeks were
flushed.

Nik couldn’t fault her for her love of
history and artifacts. In fact, she was starting to make Nik
believe that not everyone in the Institute was rotten. They stepped
back into the domed entry and she waved them toward the wing where
Gunn and Solomon had searched. The doorway to the hall was ahead,
wedged open by a rock.

Suddenly Nera reached back and pulled her
sword out of its scabbard. It made a distinctive sound as the metal
slid against leather.

Avril’s eyes went wild. “Darc, I don’t
think—”

Nik waved a hand to silence her and focused
on Nera. “What is it?”

“I smell blood.”

Blood? Nik swiveled and eyed the doorway. He
didn’t smell anything. He strode forward, heard Nera curse and jog
a few steps to keep up with him.

The stench hit him at the doorway.

“Damn.” He took the room in with a single
glance and his stomach hardened.

Beside him, Nera stared impassively, but her
gaze swept the room.

“By the gods.” Avril pressed a hand to her
mouth, her face pale.

The team she’d left behind to start
preparing the artifacts had been slaughtered.

“They’re all dead,” she whispered.

Nik and Nera moved inside, cautiously.

“I don’t sense anyone,” she said
quietly.

Nor did he. His grip tightened on his laser
pistol and he knelt beside the first body. The kid was young, maybe
twenty-one. His throat had been practically torn out and blood had
soaked into his uniform.

Nera checked the next one. “Slashes. Looks
like claw marks. Whatever it was, it went for the throat.”

Five of them. Dead. Nik stood. “The creature
that attacked us?”

Nera shook her head. “I don’t think so. It
was huge, it would have made more of a mess and left larger wounds.
These wounds are smaller, more precise.”

Avril moved forward with shaky steps, but
her chin was up. She touched her ear. “Agent Ryant. Recovery Team
One is dead. I repeat, Team One is dead. I need you back here.” She
took a deep breath and looked at the two agents who’d accompanied
them. “Cover the room. No one in or out until we know what the hell
did this.”

The two grim-faced agents nodded and moved
to the door.

“They left the artifacts,” Avril noted.

Nik looked, and took a second to admire the
amazing clear crystal skull and the gold jewelry partly nestled
into boxes. “I don’t think they were after the artifacts.”

Avril frowned. “No?”

Nera turned. “Whatever killed them, it fed
on the bodies. It drank their blood and ate some of their
flesh.”

If it was possible, Avril’s already-pale
face turned a shade whiter and she pressed a fist to her mouth. She
looked at the closest body briefly before glancing away. “How do
you know it drank their blood?”

“Because there isn’t a huge pool on the
floor, despite the massive wounds,” Nera answered.

Avril gave a jerky nod. “Right. What would
do that?”

“I’m sure we’ll be lucky enough to find
out.”

Nik knew Nera was right. Whatever had
attacked these people, it would be back. Hungry for more.

Suddenly one of the security agents shouted.
They all spun.

The man was standing beside one of the
bodies. He was kicking his leg, trying to get free…of the hand of
the dead body grasping at his ankle.

What the hell? Nik took a second to process.
As he watched, the dead body—this one a woman—rolled onto its
stomach, hands grasping at the security agent. She let out a low,
drawn-out wail.

“Jesus.” Nik lifted his pistol and started
forward.

The security agent aimed his own shaking
laser pistol at the woman. The skin on her face had changed; it was
now covered in mottled shades of brown, like she was badly bruised.
She made another sound, this one more like a growl. The agent shot
her in the face.

Even as a wound opened up on her face, the
woman didn’t stop. She didn’t even flinch. She was tearing at the
man’s boots, her nails ripping until his boot came loose. She sank
her nails into the man’s ankle. He yelled and shot her again.

Nik quickened his pace. He fired at the
woman, and kept firing until she let the guard go. She dragged
herself along the floor, leaving a smear of blood, and hissed at
Nik. Her eyes were entirely black, with no white visible. Nik fired
again, and finally the woman’s body slumped to the floor.

The security agent, his chest heaving,
staggered away from the woman. Frantically, he eyed the other
bodies, but they were all still. Their small group converged,
pulling in close together.

“We need assistance,” Avril called into her
earpiece. “And Agent Datarr needs a medic. Hurry!” Avril urged
Datarr to sit down. “Just take it easy. Agent Ryant and the others
are coming.”