Return to Dark Earth (28 page)

***

Nera charged down the corridor, her grip
tight on her sword. Niklas was right beside her. Zombies in the
tight confines of a starship was a very bad thing.

They heard noises ahead in the cargo bay.
And worse, she heard the growls and moans of more zombies.

They raced inside and skidded to a halt.

“What the hell?” Niklas muttered.

Galen and his team were there, subduing some
out-of-control zombies they were herding into a containment box—one
of the boxes she and Nik had seen on the very first day of the
voyage. Other crew members wearing exosuits maneuvered the other
heavy boxes into place.

The boxes were filled with moaning
zombies.

Shit
. Everyone had gone insane. She
was trying to work out what the hell the Institute thought they
were doing. On the far side of the bay, some security team members
were using Tase prods to urge some zombies into another containment
box.

Niklas stomped up to Agent Ryant. “Are you
crazy? You’re going to kill us all.”

The agent straightened. “You shouldn’t be in
here.”

Niklas was as angry as Nera had ever seen
him. “One of these got loose and just ate one of the crew. If more
escape—”

“I have my orders.”

“Orders? What orders? To spread this mutated
virus across the galaxy? There is no way the Institute would
approve this.”

The other man’s jaw tightened. “You are not
privy to the Institute’s decisions. Like I said, I have my
orders.”

“What the hell happened to you, Galen? You
were a good man. You would never endanger innocent people like
this.”

Agent Ryant looked away. “I suggest you
leave. Immediately.”

Nera strode over to the nearest containment
box, yanking a grenade off her belt. She wasn’t letting these
zombies stay on this ship. They were a risk to Niklas, a risk to
all of them.

For the first time in her entire life, she
had something to live for. She wasn’t going to miss out because the
Institute was fucking crazy.

She tossed the grenade through the bars. The
zombies inside shifted restlessly, but she was already moving to
the next box, dropping another grenade.

Three, two, one
. The first flame
grenade detonated, fire spewing out of the box. The grenades had a
localized range, so they wouldn’t destroy the tough containment
boxes, but would burn the zombies to a crisp.

The burning zombies made a horrible keening
noise. She tossed another grenade into the third box.

One left. She marched toward it.

“Stop her,” Agent Ryant yelled.

Security team members converged on her. She
was pleased to see they looked wary, clutching their Tase
prods.

“You can try,” she said. “Or you can back
away and save yourself an injury.”

One brave soul came at her. She yanked the
Tase prod from his hands and jammed it into his stomach. He hit the
deck, his body shuddering from the electrical jolt.

The others stepped back.

With one hard, fast lob, she tossed the last
grenade into the final box.

“What are you doing? Get her!” Agent Ryant
was shoving against Niklas, who was holding him in place.

Nera flipped the Tase prod in her hands and
eyed the three security agents in front of her—one woman and two
men. Well,
men
was being generous. The two males weren’t
long out of their teens. In two seconds, she had the boys writhing
on the floor, clutching their midsections.

The woman looked more experienced. She
dropped her Tase prod, going for her laser pistol. Nera knocked her
off-balance with the prod, then tackled her, taking her to the
ground. The woman fought quite well, but Nera shoved her fingers
hard into the woman’s neck, finding the exact spot where certain
pressure receptors were located. The woman made a small noise, then
fell into unconsciousness.

Nera rose and stalked back toward Niklas. He
and Agent Ryant were circling each other.

“I knew you’d sunk low into the Institute’s
dirty work, but I would never have suspected this,” Niklas bit
out.

A muscle in Ryant’s jaw ticked. “Damn you,
Phoenix.” He eyed the burning zombies. “You’re going to ruin
everything.”

Then Nera noted Niklas was developing a
black eye. “Did you hit him?” she said.

Her icy tone got through to Ryant. The man’s
eyes widened. “He hit me first.”

She moved fast, and her hard chop to the
back of his neck drove him to his knees on the floor. He wavered
there for a second, and she punched him in the face, heard him
groan. Then she hit him again, knocking him out cold.

Niklas was staring soberly at his former
friend. The pain on his face made her chest ache.

“We need to get Avril back to the ship,”
Nera said. “I may not like her much, but she would never go for
this.” Nera waved at the zombies.

“Agreed.” Niklas sighed. “Guess we won’t get
that hot shower yet.”

They took the cargo lift back to the ground
and stepped off it into something that resembled the depths of
hell.

Smoke poured out of the caves, and Rumin
were running in every direction. Men and women were screaming, some
clutching frightened children, or helping the elderly.

“
Dammit
, what is going on?” Niklas
pulled his laser pistol. “Let’s find Avril.”

Nera pulled out her sword and together, they
rushed through the smoke.

She spotted some security team uniforms.
“There.” Then Nera realized something was very, very wrong. She
frowned. “Wait!” She saw one agent electrocute a female warrior
with a Tase stunner. She sprawled on the ground, twitching.
“They’re fighting the Rumin warriors.”

Nik growled. “Where the hell is Avril? What
the hell is going on?”

Nera and Niklas pushed through the fighting
throng. Nera took down two security team members, knocking them
unconscious before they could attack more Rumin. “You think they’re
trying to take the gold?”

“Avril wouldn’t do that,” Niklas said. “She
wouldn’t do this.”

Finally Avril appeared through the smoke.
“If you can’t subdue them,” she yelled at the agents surrounding
her. “Kill them.”

“Avril?” Niklas strode forward. “What in the
hell is going on?”

When Avril turned, Nera stiffened. The
woman’s face was set in hard lines, her blue eyes flat.

“We are subduing the Rumin and removing the
Inca treasure.”

Niklas looked as though she’d punched him in
the gut. “What? It belongs to these people. It isn’t just some
unclaimed ancient treasure lying around waiting to be
discovered.”

“I’m not leaving it here with these backward
savages.” Avril’s face twisted. “They can’t look after it, and they
certainly can’t appreciate it.”

Niklas’ face hardened. “That’s not your real
reason, is it?”

Nera looked between the two of them.

Avril lifted her chin. “Of course it is. I
care about the artifacts staying in mint condition—”

“No, I don’t think you give a shit about the
artifacts at all.”

“Fine.” A dark smile lifted Avril’s lips. “I
have buyers lined up. They pay well, and I promised them Inca
treasures.”

Nera barely controlled her flinch. Avril?
She was behind all of this? “
You’re
part of the Institute
black market antiquities ring?”

“You don’t have to sound so surprised. And
I’m not just a part of it, I’m the head of it.” She shot Niklas a
smug look. “It was in its infancy when you stumbled across it and
got yourself tossed out of the Institute. I was a fairly new
recruit, and I saw an opportunity to gain power, prestige…”

“And e-creds.”

Avril chopped a hand through the air. “Oh,
enough with the righteous tone. I’m a realist. The Institute needs
funds. Every year, the number of artifacts we house gets larger,
the digs get more numerous, the museums more expensive to run. Who
cares if a few artifacts are sold off to private dealers?”

“I do. Those artifacts are pieces of history
to be studied, researched and admired…by children, scholars, the
general public. And don’t tell me you ‘vet’ your buyers. I know you
sell to scum.”

“Just like she does.” Avril stabbed a finger
at Nera. “That doesn’t stop you from getting into her pants as
often as you can.”

“Burns you, doesn’t it?” Nera said,
silkily.

Avril jerked a shoulder and kept her focus
on Niklas. “I tried to project the exact image of what I thought
you wanted. A smart, fresh astro-archeologist. I was attracted to
you, and I thought we’d make a great team.”

Nera’s stomach turned over.

“You don’t understand me,” Niklas said. “The
Institute never understood me either. And she—” he looked at Nera
“—is nothing like the reputation she’s carefully crafted.” He shot
Avril a contemptuous look. “You made yourself look good, but
beneath the gloss, you’re rotten.”

Avril jerked like she’d been hit by a
prod.

“Nera…she lets everyone think she’s black to
the core, but beneath it all…” Blue eyes met hers. “She’s
everything.”

God. Nera swallowed the lump in her throat.
She couldn’t begin to imagine what he saw when he looked at her. No
one had ever looked at her the way he did.

“Enough,” Avril shouted. “There are hundreds
of thousands of artifacts moldering away in the Institute archives.
I did what I thought was best for the entire organization.”

“And none goes in your pockets?” Nera
asked.

Avril’s chin lifted. “A reasonable and
perfectly fair percentage. For my hard work. The Institute pay is
ridiculous.” She looked at Niklas again. “You could still join me,
be a part of it. Help me manage this and you could fund whatever
digs and research you wanted.”

Nera’s heart hit her ribs, then her pulse
evened out. Avril really didn’t know Niklas at all.

“I’ll never help sell off history to the
scum of the galaxy, or help people like you line your pockets. I
may be a treasure hunter, but I have my standards.”

Nera stepped up beside him. “The Inca gold
belongs to the Rumin.”

“Mutated freaks.” Avril shook her head.
“They’re a step backward in evolution. They don’t deserve it.”

“That’s not for you to decide,” Nera said.
“It’s theirs. It’s always been theirs.”

“Look, last chance, Niklas. Join me. Forget
your…involvement with Darc. Take your rightful role at the
Institute. A man of your dedication and intellect could go so far.
You deserve so much more than being a treasure hunter.”

Nera raised her brows.

Niklas stepped closer to her, that infinite
blue gaze meeting her own. “I love you.”

God. Her throat tightened. “Not going to
toss me over for the Institute and a smart, fresh bitch of an
astro-archeologist?”

“I’d have you by my side any day.” He
flicked at her hair. “Ready?”

She nodded. As they turned away from each
other, he was drawing his laser pistol and she yanked her sword
from its scabbard.

“Get them,” Avril yelled.

Her agents moved forward.

Nera dived, rolled, and came up in the
middle of the group. She slashed out, cutting two Tase prods in
half, before attacking the security agent that jumped at her.

She rolled the man beneath her and slammed a
fist into his face. He flopped down on the ground. Nera turned her
head and saw Niklas firing at Avril. The astro-archeologist ducked
behind some rocks.

Rumin were fighting against some agents.
Nera yelled at those closest to her. “Aim for their weapons.”

A few warriors nodded and followed her
instructions.

Nera reached to her belt and pulled out
three throwing stars. She threw them with practiced precision and
even over the commotion, heard the agents she’d targeted cry out.
She saw laserfire coming and dropped, sliding along the ground. She
bent backward, circling her sword and came up, slicing into an
agent’s arm. The woman screamed, dropping her pistol and clutching
her bleeding wrist.

Nera spun, saw three more agents converging
on her. Out of the smoke, a figure appeared before her. The Sapa.
She held a spear tipped in poison and looked very comfortable
holding the weapon. She caught Nera’s gaze and they nodded.
Together, they attacked.

The agents went down and Nera turned,
searching for Niklas. She spotted him, the ground littered with
agents clutching laser burns. He was still trying to get at Avril.
She was firing back with her own pistol from her cover in the
rocks. Nera wrinkled her nose. The woman wasn’t a bad shot.

Then, as she watched, she saw a stocky
figure in the smoke. Sneaking up behind Niklas.

Gunn.

“Niklas!” Nera didn’t remember moving. She
sprinted, not thinking, not planning.

Just then, laser fire hit Niklas’ shoulder.
He jerked and dropped his weapon.

Nera tossed her last grenade, a smoke one,
in Avril’s direction. It exploded, filling the air with more
smoke.

Gunn raised an arm, a large thermo knife in
his hand.

Niklas spun. “Should have known you were
working with Avril all this time.”

“Yep. She’s paying me a juicy little bonus
to keep you distracted and to kill you.” Gunn sneered. “I’m going
to enjoy shoving this in your gut, Phoenix.”

“Come on, Gunn. This has been a long time
coming.”

The men rushed at each other.

Nera reached them and skidded to a stop.
God, Niklas was injured and Gunn, for all his failings, was
strong.

The men twisted and turned, trying to
overpower each other. Gunn’s knife was still held above their
heads, Niklas’ hand wrapped around his wrist.

Nera raised her sword, searching for an
opening where she could safely take down the stocky treasure
hunter.

Then the men tripped and rolled across the
ground. For a heart-stopping second, Gunn was on top. He shoved a
hand at Niklas’ wound, and Niklas’ face contorted with pain. But
then he heaved and the two rolled again.