Return to Dark Earth (29 page)

Nera circled them, her heart pounding.

Suddenly, they both staggered to their feet.
Niklas was holding the knife out, aimed at Gunn’s gut.

“Always hated you,” Gunn spat, backing up.
“And those brothers of yours. The fucking Phoenix brothers.” Gunn
dodged away from the knife. “I’ll kill you, leave you here to rot,
then I’ll go and find your brothers.”

Nera took a step forward.

Niklas didn’t look at her but said, “Stay
back. He’s mine.”

Gritting her teeth, she stepped back. She
knew he could take care of himself, but it went against everything
in her not to protect him.

Niklas made a vicious sound and swung the
knife at Gunn, who leapt backward. “My brothers were threatened
once before and I stayed quiet to protect them. Not this time. This
time I’ll take action to protect them.”

Again Niklas parried with the knife and Gunn
jumped backward again.

Right onto a sharpened stake that formed
part of the Rumin defenses.

The stake burst through Gunn’s chest, the
ugly, black poison visible.

Gunn’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth,
blood dribbling from his lips.

Nera moved forward now. “Niklas just gave
you everything you deserve, Gunn.” Maybe once, he’d been an
innocent, wronged by life. But she knew now they were all the
choices they made, whatever their pasts had thrown at them. Gunn
had made his choices. The wrong ones. Nera bent her head. “Alarah’s
free now.”

Gunn made a gurgling sound, then slumped
forward, his chin hitting his ruined chest.

Niklas stared at the man resolutely then,
then closed his eyes. He fell to his knees.

“You okay?” She skidded to crouch beside
him.

Lines of pain bracketed his mouth. “Fine.
Bleeding like hell and hurts even worse. Can’t use my arm.”

“Hold on.” Nera heard footsteps and spun.
She snatched up Niklas’ laser pistol and took down two agents.
“We’ll get to cover and take a look at it.”

“Nera. You need to take down Avril. If she
gets back to the ship…”

She’d leave them here in a heartbeat.
Stranding them on a planet that would kill them before help
arrived. Nera gripped his uninjured shoulder. “Cover first.” Damn,
he was bleeding badly.

She heaved him up and together they stumbled
toward the thick jungle. She saw an agent appear and before she
could react, Nik grabbed her pistol from the holster on her hip and
fired.

“Nice,” she said.

“Thanks,” he grunted. “Can’t let you do all
the rescuing. You’ll lose interest in me.”

She didn’t think that would ever happen.
“Well, someone once told me that we make a good team.”

He smiled.

She helped him behind a large tree.

“You two just won’t die.” Avril stepped into
view. Her hair was disheveled and her face was streaked with dirt.
She held a pistol on them. “You’ve been a huge annoyance to me, and
I have a deadline to keep.” Her gaze drifted to Niklas. “It really
is a shame it has to end like this.”

A body burst between them. Nera heard the
whine of the laser.

And saw Jonas Solomon slam into the dirt
clutching his stomach.

God save her from heroic men. Nera leapt.
She didn’t care if Avril shot her, as long as she protected Niklas.
And besides, she was so done dealing with this woman.

Nera slammed her arm into Avril’s and drove
it upward. The pistol fired, the laser hitting the canopy. A
well-aimed kick at Avril’s knees, and the woman went down heavily
in the dirt.

Snatching up the pistol, Nera aimed it at
Avril and shot the woman in the shoulder.

The astro-archeologist cried out, clutching
her shoulder and sobbing.

“First,” Nera said. “You don’t stand around
talking to your prey. Just shoot. Or you give them a chance to
fight back or escape.” Nera snatched some wire off her belt. She
yanked Avril’s wrists in front of her and tied them together.
Tight. Nera gave the rope a hard yank and Avril gasped. “And that’s
for your continued slobbering over my man. I don’t appreciate it.”
A punch to Avril’s face had her sprawling in the dirt, dazed.

Nera moved back to Niklas. He was holding
Solomon against him. The young treasure hunter’s face was pale and
he was bleeding heavily.

“Dammit, kid,” Niklas muttered.

Solomon gave a weak grin. “Shit, it
hurts.”

“Serves you right. What was that all about?”
Niklas demanded.

“You’re one of the good guys, Phoenix.
Couldn’t let her kill you.” Solomon sucked in a pained breath.
“Besides, I’ll be known as the man who saved Niklas Phoenix’s
life.”

Niklas shook his head. “Reputation won’t
help you if you’re dead.”

“We need a plan,” Nera said.

But before the men could say anything, more
agents appeared, guns trained on them.
Dammit
. Nera turned,
stepping in front of Niklas and Solomon. Even more agents appeared
out of the smoke.

Niklas moved up beside her. “Not looking
good.”

“No. But whatever happens, we’re together.”
She’d always been alone, and now she wasn’t. She looked into his
blue eyes. Eyes that had haunted her dreams for so long. He was
hers now, something she’d never imagined would happen.

“Always.” His hand reached for hers. “I love
you, Nera.”

Suddenly, laserfire lit up around them. Nera
flinched, pulling Niklas closer.

But nothing hit them. Instead, the laser
shots took down the agents closest to them.

Nera lifted her head and saw Agent Ryant
appear through the smoke.

Niklas saw him and groaned.

Two of the agents shifted, grinning as they
raised their weapons and aimed at Nera and Niklas.

Ryant shot, sending both of the agents
tumbling backward over the rocks.

Nera frowned and watched the man stop in
front of them. He had an ugly bruise forming on his face.

Niklas looked at the downed guards, then at
Ryant. The agent shot a dark glance at Avril.

The astro-archeologist stirred. Spying him,
she blinked, and held up her bound wrists. “Ryant, release me. And
kill those two.”

“Shut up,” Ryant snapped. His gaze moved to
Niklas and Nera. “If you two had just waited a second before
conking me out, I could have explained.”

Niklas frowned. “Explained what? How much
you were planning to sell the zombies and the artifacts for?”

Ryant dragged in a deep breath. “No.”

Niklas’ frown deepened. He stared
unwaveringly at his former friend. “You aren’t working with
her.”

“No, Phoenix. I’ve been working undercover
for several years trying to catch all the people running the black
market ring.”

Nera felt Niklas go stiff.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said.

“You traitor!” Avril screeched.

Ryant pulled a Tase stunner from his armor
and zapped her. She collapsed back onto the ground. He looked
around. “Well, this is a mess.”

“Solomon’s hurt,” Niklas said. “He needs to
be in the medbay.”

Ryant glanced at where Solomon was clutching
his stomach. “Roger that.”

The Sapa appeared through the dissipating
smoke, a group of her blood-stained warriors at her back. Agent
Ryant stiffened and moved closer to Niklas and Nera.

The woman stopped, her gaze taking it all in
before settling on Nera. “Thank you for your help.”

Nera nodded.

“This one.” The Sapa shot Avril an
unfriendly look. “Attacked my people and tried to take the
treasure.”

“We didn’t know—”

The Rumin leader nodded. “You are free to
go. As friends. It is your choice if you take your dead or
not.”

Nera looked at Niklas. “We’ll go now.” Her
gaze dropped to Avril. “She’s all yours.”

Avril blinked, confusion on her face.

“Thank you.” The Sapa inclined her head.
“Before you go, I have something else for you. A token of
friendship.” She waved to some of the warriors behind her.

Two stepped forward, holding more gold
artifacts in their hands. The golden animal and the metal bowl
Niklas had admired.

“Damn,” he muttered reverently.

The Sapa gestured. “For you. For a warrior
like this woman to cherish you, you must be a good man.”

Nera and Niklas took the precious items, and
he grinned. “Thank you. We’ll care for them. And I’ll take care of
her, too…when she lets me.”

“Again, I wish you safe travels Nera Darc
and Niklas Phoenix.”

Nera and Niklas made their way toward the
ship, listening to Ryant gather his loyal agents and give them
instructions on moving Solomon and collecting the other agents who
were still alive.

“We can finally get that hot shower,” Nera
said.

“No!” Avril’s scream echoed through the
trees. “No, no. You can’t leave me!”

Nera didn’t look back. Neither did
Niklas.

Nik stood at the large observation window on
the
Drake
and watched Earth’s surface recede beneath them.
He felt a surprising pang—he wished he could have had more time to
explore it. To uncover more of its secrets.

But a larger part of him was more than happy
to be heading back to the
Magellan
. He ached and he was
tired. He rubbed a hand over his face. Maybe he was getting too old
for this treasure hunting gig.

He smiled. No. He didn’t think so. He kept
staring at the black ocean below until the clouds finally obscured
it from view.

He heard the whisper of the door sliding
open. He was hoping it was Nera, but instead, Jonas stepped up
beside him.

“Shame to be leaving so soon,” Solomon
said.

Nik glanced his way. “We’ll be back. How are
you feeling?”

The younger man spread his arms. “All
healed.”

“Thanks for diving in front of me.”

“Saving your life.”

Nik fought a smile. “Possibly.”

Jonas grinned. “I owed you. Now we’re
even.”

“You still owe Nera.”

The young treasure hunter winced. “Don’t
remind me.”

Nik laughed. “You did good work on this
hunt. I think you’re well on your way to that reputation you’re so
hungry for.”

Another grin. “I still have to knock your
brother off his perch as the best treasure hunter in the
galaxy.”

“Good luck with that.” Nik held out a hand
and they shook.

Jonas winked. “I like a challenge.”

As the treasure hunter left, Galen walked
into the room and Nik’s mellow feeling evaporated. He turned back
to the window and Galen joined him.

After a long moment, Nik sighed. “I owe you
an apology.”

“No, you don’t.” The other man crossed his
hands at the small of his back. “When I accepted the job, I knew I
had to alienate everyone.” He glanced at Niklas. “Even my best
friend. When I saw what they did to you…I wanted to catch
them.”

“Dammit. You are making me feel even
guiltier, Galen. I hated you. I hated what you’d become.”

“Good. Because I was playing the part of a
pretty bad dude.” A small smile. “Your reaction told me I was doing
a believable job, and it helped solidify my cover.”

k rubbed his forehead. “I need a drink.”

“There happens to be a mighty fine Jaarlan
whiskey in the cabinet over here.” Galen walked over to a small,
in-built bar. He pulled out two glasses and a bottle of amber
liquid. He set the glasses on the food printer. “Computer, ice.”
After several cubes tinkled into the glasses, he splashed a
generous portion of whiskey into them and held one out to Niklas.
“I did what I had to do to bring down the bastards in the
Institute. They were breaking the law and getting worse as each
year went by. Avril wasn’t just planning to sell the artifacts she
found here. She’d already made deals to sell off any viable
biological samples that could be used for weapons’ creation.”

“The zombies.” God, the woman was worse than
Nik had thought.

“Yes.” Galen swirled his whiskey then lifted
his glass. “To better days for the Institute.”

“Yeah.” Niklas took a large sip. The whiskey
was good. “I’ll drink to that.”

“After I get back, the evidence I’ve
collected on this trip will finally be everything I need to send a
lot of the higher-ups at the Institute to prison.”

Nik wouldn’t lie. He felt a savage sense of
satisfaction. “Good.”

“It will create a lot of openings. The
Institute will need people like you, Nik.”

He froze. “What?”

“People who care about history,
preservation, about safeguarding the pieces of our past for those
in the future to admire.”

Nik took another sip and this time the fine
whiskey burned a little. He thought about sitting at a desk in a
fancy corner office in one of the grand museums in the central
systems. Or of hours studying artifacts in the research labs. But
one thing was wrong.

He just couldn’t make Nera fit into the
picture.

A short laugh escaped him. “I have the
treasure-hunting bug now, Galen. I enjoy exploring.”

The ice in Galen’s glass tinkled. “Then
become Director of Acquisitions. It would come with the
Magellan
and the
Drake
. You could travel the galaxy,
searching for artifacts.”

Nik’s heartbeat was a loud pounding in his
ears. He looked at the door. “I’m not sure.” Jesus, he should be
jumping at the chance…but again, there was one big piece of his
heart that was just more important to him now.

If she chose to stay with him.

Fear was a quick slash of pain.
Hell,
no
. If she left him, he’d follow her.

Galen smiled. “As Director, you’d need
personal security. I think you’ve got that covered.” He set his
glass down. “Think about it on the trip back, and let me know.”

Nik grabbed his friend’s arm. “I…I’m really
glad you’re back.”

Galen clasped his hand over Nik’s. “Me, too.
I plan to whip your butt at crossfire again soon. You always sucked
at that game.”