Return to Dark Earth (4 page)

She twisted and he lost his balance. He
landed face-first, Nera riding him to the ground. With one hand on
his neck and a knee in the small of his back, she kept him down.
She always bested him. He wondered why that didn’t bother him
more.

Her mouth was back at his ear. “I like that
about you, Niklas. What you show the world isn’t who you really
are.”

He pondered her words, wondered why he
sensed a deeper meaning to them.

Then sharp teeth nipped at his ear. The
shock of her mouth on him made him jerk and swallow a groan.

Any touch she offered him, whether it was a
stolen dance on a space station, being tied to a chair on a desert
moon, or the sharp bite of her teeth, he drank it all in. Nera Darc
was his addiction and he’d long ago realized he’d take whatever she
gave him.

But it was time for him to admit he wanted
more. Even though he knew deep inside, the slightest wrong move
from him and she’d run. Or kill him.

“What did they want?” she asked again.

It took a second for him to process what she
was talking about. The Institute, right. He sighed. “They’re
mounting an expedition to Earth.”

He felt her still. “And?”

“They know it won’t be a neat and tidy dig.
They decided to hire treasure hunters to help.”

“So, you’re going to Earth?”

“No. I turned them down.”

Silence. “Did they tell you they’d let you
see the Hawass Documents?”

Nik’s chest tightened. “No.” He’d sell one
of his brothers for the chance to see the Hawass Documents.
Maybe.

They were a collection of records of famous
Terran books and documents that a historian on Earth had collected.
The historian had clearly seen that the war was not going to end
and spent several years collecting everything of historical
significance he could before he’d left Earth.

“It’s a pity you aren’t coming, then.” Her
weight lifted off him.

Nik spun and sat up. He tried to see her
face, but all he got was a flash of creamy skin in the darkness.
“You? They asked you to go?”

“They hired me to go.”

“They came to you?” he asked
incredulously.

She straightened. “They wanted the best. And
I want the chance to uncover the rarest old Earth treasures.” Her
helmet slid back into place. “It was nice catching up, Niklas.
Remember, I haven’t forgotten you owe me a few favors. I helped
rescue Dathan on Beta7. I helped Zayn and Ria infiltrate the Tekton
hideout. And I helped your cousin and her cyborg get onto that
rogue planet.”

Yeah. Nik remembered. Each debt was burned
on his brain. Along with the fact she had yet to call them in. He
was still trying to work out why the Institute would hire her, the
least trustworthy and deadliest of the treasure hunters in the
galaxy.

And he liked it even less that she would be
in the middle of an Institute expedition. Nera could be cunning,
but the Institute could not be trusted.

“Sleep well, Niklas. And thanks.”

And like that, she was gone.

He knew her armor had spectrum camouflage
built in, rendering her invisible at the flick of a button. How she
got on and off a starship traveling at interstellar speed—an
impossible feat—was another mystery he had yet to solve.

Then he tensed. What had she just thanked
him for?

He swiveled and strode to his desk. He
tapped the mirror and a backlit display appeared in the shiny
surface. He quickly pressed his palm to it and waited impatiently
for it to read his bioprint.

The door opened with a hiss.

The safe was empty.

The Inca idol was gone.

He thrust his hands on his hips and looked
at the ceiling. Dathan was going to lose his mind. Not only about
the idol, but also about the fact that Niklas was now going to join
the expedition to Earth.

“No way. This is the dumbest idea ever.”
Anger was a hot blaze in Dathan’s voice.

Nik ignored his brother and shoved some
clothes in his bag. “I’m going.”

“The chance to see Earth and what’s left of
Terran history…it’s incredibly tempting.” This from Eos who stood
in the doorway. Despite her words, she looked concerned.

“This isn’t about Earth.” Dathan spun, hands
on his hips. “You’re going because Darc’s going.”

Whatever strange tie they had, Nik knew Nera
didn’t need his protection. And he knew if she got even the
slightest hint he was trying to protect her, she’d cut his knees
out from under him. But he didn’t trust the Institute, and he
wasn’t going to let Nera wade into those dark waters alone.

“I heard chatter on the grapevine that
Solomon and Gunn have been hired as well,” Zayn said.

That made Nik pause. Jonas Solomon was young
and enthusiastic. Out to make a name for himself. He’d tangled with
their cousin, Justyn Phoenix, and Justyn had only good things to
say about the twenty-something treasure hunter. Alexei Gunn was a
different story. He was harsh, cruel and mean.

And he hated the Phoenix brothers’ guts.

Dathan stomped up to Nik. “Why don’t you
just fuck her, and get this out of your system?”

Nik glared at his brother and kept
packing.

Dathan threw his hands in the air. “Fine.
Get dead, see if I care.” He stormed out of the cabin.

Zayn shot Nik a rueful glance and followed
Dathan.

“He loves you,” Eos said quietly. “He’s
worried.”

“I know.”

She came closer and he smelled her perfume,
something containing jasmina from her homeworld of Vedia. She
pressed a hand to his arm and he saw the delicate, floral
tattoo-like designs that she’d been born with on her skin. “I love
you, too. We don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Nera won’t hurt me.”

“Well, I’m not so sure about that. But it’s
whatever you’re barreling into that might get you killed.” She
tilted her head, intelligence shining in her dark eyes. “I worked
for the Institute, too. I know there are things you haven’t told me
about why you left.”

And he wouldn’t tell her. He touched her
face. “I’ll be fine.”

She nodded. “Take lots of pictures for me.”
Her eyes got a distant look. “Earth. I can only imagine what it’ll
be like to pick through the remnants of her cities. Amazing.” Then
her face turned serious again. “Come back safely to us, okay?”

He nodded, his throat a little tight. “Count
on it.”

Several hours later, Nik stood in the
cockpit of the
Infinitas
watching the large Institute
starship, the
Magellan
, get larger and larger in the
viewscreen. Zayn was at the controls, and in the chair beside him,
staring at the screen with her arms crossed was his wife, Ria.

With her athletic build and blonde hair, she
could have been anything. What most people didn’t guess was that
she was a former assassin, with a past worthy of a
multi-million-e-cred, blockbuster holovid. She was also completely
in love with her husband.

Nik felt his gut tighten. He loved his
brothers, and was happy they’d found amazing women to match them.
Eos had smoothed out Dathan’s more ragged edges, and the two of
them made a good team. It was the same with Zayn and Ria. Sometimes
they loved diving into adventure, and other times Zayn was finally
content to stay in one place and take it easy, as long as Ria was
by his side.

It made Nik feel acutely alone.

“
Infinitas
, please use docking clamp
alpha-seventeen,” said a voice over the comm line.

“Sure thing,
Magellan
. Docking clamp
alpha-seventeen.” Zayn’s hands danced over the controls. The
Infinitas
smoothly changed course. He looked over his
shoulder at Nik. “You sure you want to do this? There’s still time
to turn around and bug out of here.”

“I’m sure.”

Zayn sighed and nodded.

Moments later, they docked with the larger
ship with a muted clang.

“Docking complete.” The female voice came
from the ship’s computer. “Someone tell me why the hell we’re
letting the big guy do this?”

Nik stomped on his irritation. Everyone had
made it clear what they thought about his decision to go on this
expedition. He didn’t need an outspoken biocomp giving him a
mouthful too. “I’m going, BEll, so save the lecture.”

A huffing noise came from the comm. “It is
my job to keep your ass safe. As I have been doing since Dathan
acquired me.”

“Stole you,” Zayn said, leaning back in his
chair.

“He won me in a card game.”

Zayn snorted. “He cheated, so that’s
stealing.”

“Whatever,” BEll said in an irritated voice.
“Niklas, please be careful.”

He hefted his bag up. He had his clothes, a
few other helpful items for a treasure hunt, and his Sync—loaded
with all his notes and records on Earth. “I will.”

“And give that bitch, Nera Darc, a slap from
me.”

Zayn snorted again. “Something tells me he
wouldn’t slap her in the same place you would, BEll.”

Ria came up to Nik and gave him a hug. “Stay
safe and good hunting.”

Zayn pressed a hand to Nik’s shoulder.
“Don’t let those Institute snobs take all the good stuff. Bring us
something home.”

“It’s in my contract. I get two items.” He’d
studied the contract Dr. Luma-Smythe had sent to him in great
detail. There was a generous pay and the addition of two old Earth
items would be extremely valuable. Of course, the Institute would
get the rest. He wondered darkly what the hell they’d do with
them.

As he headed for the docking door, Eos and
Dathan appeared. She gave a small smile. “Good luck, Niklas.”

Dathan let out a huff. “All I’m going to say
is, stay alive. And if it comes down to you or any of the assholes
on that ship—” he stabbed a finger toward the docking door “—it’s
you, okay?”

Nik crossed the distance between them and
pulled Dathan in for a quick hug. He slapped his brother on the
back. “I’ll be back.”

Nik hefted his bag onto his shoulder and
waited at the door while it cycled through its unlocking sequence.
Finally, it opened with a quiet hiss. Avril Luma-Smythe stood on
the other side. “Dr. Phoenix, I am
so
glad you changed your
mind.” She waved him in. “Welcome aboard the
Magellan
.”

“Thanks.” They started down a corridor. Its
silver walls gleamed. “It’s a great ship.”

“Brand-spanking new, and named for a famous
old Earth explorer.” She smiled up at him. “Of course, I don’t need
to tell you that.”

“Ferdinand Magellan.”

She nodded. “I had to pull a few strings to
get her for this expedition. We have two state-of-the-art shuttles,
fully equipped research labs, excellent crew quarters and plenty of
storage in the cargo bays.” She beamed up at him. “And wait until
you see the library. I had it specially upgraded for the
voyage.”

“With the Hawass Documents.”

She blinked. “How did you hear that? I was
planning to call you again and tell you about them, but then I got
your call telling me you’d changed your mind.”

“You were going to dangle them in front of
me like a carrot?”

She ran her tongue over her teeth. “Maybe.”
A smile. “Would they have worked?”

He realized she really was cute. “Maybe.”
But that carrot couldn’t remotely compare to Nera Darc’s long, lean
body. “Are the other treasure hunters on board?”

“Yes.” She wrinkled her nose like she wasn’t
as happy about that decision as she’d made out. “I’ve asked
everyone to meet in the library shortly.”

They rounded a corridor, and he spotted
Galen. The Institute agent was waiting outside a doorway, standing
ramrod-straight in his gray-and-black uniform. His gray gaze met
Nik’s.

Nik didn’t look away.

“Ah, Agent Ryant, I don’t think you’ve
officially met Dr. Niklas Phoenix—”

Galen nodded. “We’ve met.”

“Oh.” The astro-archeologist blinked.
“Right, when Dr. Phoenix was at the Institute. Agent Ryant is in
charge of security for the expedition.”

Great
. Nik nodded.

“For the record,” Galen said. “I don’t think
hiring treasure hunters was the right option for this expedition.”
He said
treasure hunters
the same way most people would
mention the Tavalian pox. “We have the capability and skills
ourselves to carry out this expedition to Earth.”

Avril waved a hand. “Yes, yes, you’ve told
me. Your objection is noted. I don’t agree. We’ll need all the help
we can get to find what we’re looking for on Earth.”

Nik’s interest sharpened. “And what
are
we looking for?”

“I’ll save that until we’re all together
with the others.” She stopped at a door. “Here’s the library.” She
pressed a button beside the door and it slid open.

Nik’s chest went tight. Holy stars. It was
gorgeous. The modern, almost-clinical feel of the ship ended at the
doorway. Inside, it looked like an Old World library. Lots of
glowing, warm wood, shelves upon shelves of old paper books, sleek
comp screens sitting on wooden desks in front of large, leather
chairs.

And somewhere in here were the Hawass
Documents, rumored to have detailed historical information on
Earth. Documents the Institute kept tightly locked up.

“If you’d like to wait here,” Dr.
Luma-Smythe said. “Agent Ryant and I will return when the other
hunters arrive.”

Nik gave her a distracted nod.

He did a circle of the room. There were so
many valuable books here. Every astro-archeologist’s idea of
heaven. Eos would love it. He paused by a large, curved window
showing space beyond.

It was then he sensed he wasn’t alone.

He turned and scanned the room. Saw nothing
out of the ordinary.

“Nera,” he said.

There was a shimmer to Nik’s left and Nera’s
form appeared. Her helmet retracted. She eyed the room before her
nebula gaze came back to him. “I was worried I was becoming
predictable, but it seems you’re the only one I have to worry about
guessing my moves.”