Return to Dark Earth

by Anna Hackett

  “Phoenix,” Gunn grunted. “Didn’t think you liked getting your soft hands dirty. Thought you left that to your brother.”

  “Gunn.” Nik ignored the rest of the man’s words.

  “Never thought I’d see the day Niklas Phoenix steps out alone without his brothers to hold his hands.”

  Nik took a deep breath. Gunn was scum. It wouldn’t pay to engage him. “How did you like seeing that empty spot on your shelf where that Kavalian Vase should have been?”

  Gunn’s face turned red.

  “And that other spot where you last saw that Terran sword you stole?”

  Gunn made a spluttering sound. “It was you! You and your damn brothers who stole those from me.”

  “Gentlemen,” Dr. Luma-Symthe bustled in. “Please, take a seat.”

  Galen followed her in and stayed by the door. He crossed his arms over his chest.

  A muscle in Gunn’s jaw ticked and he looked like he wanted to explode across the library and attack Nik. Nik had to admit to feeling pretty darn good about it all.

  The astro-archeologist set her Sync down on the large holo-table in the center of the room. “We’re just waiting for our last hunter to arrive.”

  “Who?” Solomon asked as he flopped down into a chair.

  Luma-Symthe crossed her hands together. “Nera Darc.”

  Niklas watched the others. He saw Solomon’s eyes widen, but other than that he controlled his reaction.

  Gunn wasn’t so controlled. He blanched, then covered it by puffing out his chest. “That bitch? I don’t want her anywhere near me.”

  “Yeah, heard she disabled your ship the last time you crossed paths with her,” Solomon said, a smile playing around his lips.

  Gunn’s small eyes narrowed. “That’s not what—”

  “I heard she took your finger,” Niklas said quietly.

  Gunn flexed his left hand. He wore a black glove…with one finger missing. “She’s a galaxy-class bitch. Women shouldn’t be treasure hunters. They’re only good for breeding or fucking.” He looked at Avril. “Employers excluded.”

  Avril shot him a cold look. “And as the employer, I select who goes on this hunt. If you don’t follow my rules, and get along, you’re off.”

  Gunn made a sucking noise and sank back in his chair. “You’re the one with the e-creds.”

  Avril looked at her timepiece. “Now, I asked Darc to be here. I wonder where she is?”

  Nik raised a brow. “Oh, she’s here. Listening to everything you just said, Gunn.”

  Avril blinked. “Um, I don’t—”

  Nera dropped her camouflage and stepped forward. “Gunn, anything you want to say to my face?”

  The man swallowed, his face twisting. Nik recognized a mix of fear and bravado. “Screw you, Darc.”

  Nera turned away from him. “I didn’t think so.”

  “Welcome, Ms. Darc,” Avril said.

  “Just Darc is fine.”

  Avril cleared her throat. “Okay. Well, now that we’re all here. Let’s make a start and talk about Earth. We haven’t yet decided on the exact locations on the planet to search. I’d like all your recommendations.” She grabbed a Sync off a nearby desk. “You’ll have twenty-four hours to send me your ideas. After I review them, I’ll finalize our plan.” She shot them all an excited smile. “The Institute’s number one priority is to secure valuable artifacts and gather intel on the planet. Oh, and that everyone does it as safely as possible. Agent Ryant and his security team are here to ensure we all stay safe.” She nodded at the silent agent near the door.

  Nera leaned closer to Nik. “This one talks a lot.”

  And Nera was a woman comfortable with silences.

  Avril continued. “Tomorrow we stop at Enterprise Station to take on our final supplies. You’ll all be able to go on-station for your own needs before we leave. From Enterprise, there is another day’s journey to the new Sol Bridge. It’ll put us right in Earth’s star system.” The astro-archeologist bounced a little. “And then the fun begins.” She clapped her hands and pressed a button on her Sync. A 3D projection of Earth filled the central space in the library.

  Nik glanced up and saw discreet projectors built into the ceiling. Then he looked back to the land masses and oceans of Earth.

  Avril’s face was illuminated by the mix of dark colors. “Amazing, isn’t it? The planet of our ancestors.”

  Nik looked at the shades of gray and black. He knew that once it had been greens, blues and browns, and bursting with life. Now, it was just a dark shadow of its former self.

  “Now,” Avril said. “How about we brainstorm some options on where to begin our search?”

  Chapter Four

  “The British Museum. London,” Solomon offered.

  Avril shook her head. “All records we have say there is absolutely nothing left of London. It was one city that was bombarded very hard in the last days of the war.”

  “Xi’an Museum in New Beijing in the Northern Federation,” Gunn snarled.

  Avril considered for a second. “We’ll put it on the list, but it’s unlikely to yield anything interesting.” She looked at Nik. “Dr. Phoenix, I’d really appreciate your ideas.” She smiled. “May I call you Niklas?”

  Not many people called him Niklas. Eos and his brothers, sometimes. But Nera always called him Niklas. “Nik’s fine.”

  “Nik.” That earned him another wide smile. “Any ideas?”

  “Most museums supposedly evacuated their prized pieces well before the final destruction of Earth. Anything of value was taken away on ships.” He tried to hide his smile. “And we know the legends and rumors of where those artifacts were stored. In places like Star’s End.”

  “Lucky bastard,” Gunn muttered under his breath.

  “My brothers and my sister-in-law—” he speared Nera with a look “—with some help, found the stash there.”

  “It was a marvelous find,” Avril said. Her gaze turned inward. “Just a shame the final fragment of the Mona Lisa was missing.”

  Nera raised a brow at Nik. “Yes, a shame.”

  Nik knew exactly where the Mona Lisa was.

  “You think all Earth’s treasures were shipped away?” Avril asked.

  Nik shook his head. “Unlikely. My research indicates some countries were holding out, especially with their smaller or less-popular museums. They were hoping the war would end, preferably with a peaceful solution.”

  Gunn snorted. “That didn’t work out so well for them.”

  “No.” Nik was hating Gunn even more. “Billions of people perished. The Northern Federation and the United Countries of the Americas launched terrible attacks. They used new nuclear technology that mixed anti-matter bombs with nanotechnology.” He shook his head, thinking of the wanton destruction. “It rendered most of the planet uninhabitable, and the radiation is still at very high levels, even now. Billions died. Men, women, children, gone.”

  There was an uncomfortable silence.

  Nik cleared his throat. “Those who hadn’t left the planet any way they could, and weren’t annihilated in the bombings, would have survived a little while longer. Suffering from radiation sickness, they had to find a way to survive the shutdown of life as they knew it—no power, no manufacturing, no medical help. And a nuclear winter would have set in. Most people wouldn’t have had the skills to grow their own food…and nothing would have grown, anyway.”

  “Poor souls,” Avril said.

  “The last record of anyone coming near Earth was a ship from the Australia II colony. They detected no signs of human life, but couldn’t land…the radiation was at a level they couldn’t withstand, and they didn’t have the tech back then to survive it. After that—”

  “Humanity looked outward,” Nera said. “To the rest of the galaxy. They colonized new worlds, and over time created new languages, new religions, new ways of life, and carried out new atrocities.”

  Nik studied her impassive face. So damned beautiful, and so hard to read.
<
br />   “So, Nik, what’s your recommendation on where we should look?” Avril asked.

  “New York.”

  “What?” She looked taken aback. “There are solid, confirmed records it was evacuated early. The main museums were emptied out, or artifacts were moved to other museums around the country or shipped off-planet.”

  “The inner city, yes. But not in the suburbs. I’ve found snippets from records that say there were some, certainly smaller, but quality museums in the suburbs that never moved their collections.”

  “Okay.” Avril nodded. “That does sound promising.”

  “Come on.” Gunn shot to his feet. “I want to see a big payday here. I don’t want to dig around in the ruins of some family homes.” He threw his hands up. “I want gold, and silver and gems. I don’t want damn shards of dinner plates or kids’ toys.”

  “That kind of stuff is just as important historically,” Nik said. “There is still so much we don’t know about the final years on Earth.”

  “Just can it, High-and-Mighty Phoenix. No one gives a fuck about history.” He made a scoffing noise. “The Institute, most of all.”

  “You’re mean, sloppy, and lazy, Gunn. I don’t really care what you have to say.”

  The treasure hunter’s eyes bulged from the insult. He took a menacing step toward Niklas. “Why don’t I—”

  Nera appeared in front of Nik, a tall, straight shadow. Damn, she could move fast.

  Gunn’s gaze went to her, wavered for a second, then he made a phlegmy sound in his throat. “I’m out of here. You astro-snobs can pontificate all you want. Me, I’m going back to my cabin.” His lips stretched across his teeth. “I have a lovely lady waiting for me.” He strode out, casting one more harsh glance at Nik. “Watch your back, Phoenix.”

  “You just made an enemy,” Nera said quietly, so only Nik could hear. “Men like Gunn don’t take kindly to insults.”

  “He’s a rather…unpleasant man.” Avril drew her shoulders up. “Okay, can you spend the next day on your research and recommendations? And regardless of what Mr. Gunn says, the Institute does care about history. All of it.”

  Solomon gave a nod. “Will do.” He exited with long strides.

  Niklas stared at the lovely library shelves. They were glossy, beautiful, and made him want to believe the Institute did only care about the historical value of its finds.

  He knew differently.

  He turned to Avril. “I’d like to see the Hawass Documents.”

  Avril smiled. “Oh, they are simply amazing. Come on.” She cast a quick glance at Nera, then ignored her. “They’re all in protective coverings.” She moved over to one wall that was lined with book shelves at the top and long drawers on the bottom. She pressed a code into one drawer and it slid open.

  Holy stars. Nik controlled his body’s visceral reaction. The papers were all encased in a thin layer of plas. Some of them looked like they were printed, the black ink slightly faded. Others were handwritten.

  “They are gorgeous,” he said.

  “Aren’t they?” Avril stroked a slim hand over the top sheets.

  “And I can study them?”

  “Yes. As long as you do it here in the library. If they leave the room, an alarm will sound.” Her gaze went back to the silent Nera. “They have chips embedded in the plas. I’ll leave you to it.” She touched Nik’s arm lightly. “I’m really glad you changed your mind about this hunt. I look forward to us working together.”

  With a stiff nod at Nera, she left.

  Nik leaned over the documents. He wasn’t sure where he wanted to start.

  He looked up and saw Nera watching him.

  “Why do you care?” she asked. “Why look at those bits of old paper with such reverence?”

  “These are where we come from, Nera.”

  She went very still. “The past is the past.”

  He narrowed his gaze. He detected…something in her voice. Damn, he wanted to know more about her. “The past, for better or worse, has made us who we are.”

  Her nebula eyes skewered him. “So a drunken father, deserter mother, and the crummy planet of Zerzura made you?”

  He wasn’t surprised she knew his history. “Partly. Zerzura’s history inspired me to learn more about it. My parents inspired me to be better, to escape, and do something more with my life. And my brothers…”

  “Yes?”

  “They showed me that we all need someone. Someone who has your back, who loves you…even when you screw up.” He knew she didn’t have that, wondered if she even wanted it.

  She ran a finger along one glossy shelf. “Trust is a risk. People can take what you give them and use it against you.”

  Her words were a punch to his gut. Someone had hurt her…and dammit, he wanted to know who. “When you trust the right person, what you get back is beyond valuable.”

  She eyed him. “Yet, you only let your brothers in.”

  “No. I’ve got two sisters-in-law now. My cousin, Malin. And a certain teenager who somehow wormed her way into our lives.”

  “Lastite Lala,” Nera said, her tone dubious.

  “Yeah.” Bomb maker extraordinaire, opinionated teenager, and often a pain in his ass. But she was theirs now. “She had a messed up childhood.” He met Nera’s gaze. “No one in her past showed her how to feel, how to give affection, yet she does. Generously. I think it’s built into us. Humanity, through all the millennia, has always had a need to belong.”

  Nera pushed off the wall and kept wandering, this time touching the spines of the old books. He let himself drink her in. Her skin wasn’t pale or dark, but some fascinating shade in between. He looked at her long fingers, amazed that such elegant hands could steal, subdue, or kill with such ease.

  “You think emotions for another person is just a biological imperative?” she asked.

  Their eyes met. “I think the biological drive is there, but we don’t feel for everyone we meet. It can be more. Sometimes much more…a meeting of souls.” He’d seen it happen for both his brothers.

  Nera’s lips quirked. Not quite a smile. He’d never seen her smile. “Poetic.”

  “What made you, Nera?”

  She stiffened. “A nightmare.” She strolled across the room with her lethal grace. “And how about your past at the Institute? Did that make you, too?”

  He tensed. “That’s not up for discussion.”

  “So, you just pick and choose which parts matter?”

  His hands curled into fists. “I don’t want to discuss it.”

  She inclined her head. “I’ll leave you to your work.”

  He watched her leave the room, and pondered biological imperatives and the burning need to connect with someone who probably would never feel the same way.

  ***

  With her spectrum camouflage on, Nera walked back into the library. She’d paid a lot of e-creds for the upgraded tech that rendered her virtually invisible. It made her job a lot easier.

  She sank into a chair across the room and just watched Niklas Phoenix.

  He was a man who was easy to watch. Tall, broad across the shoulders, but with a rugged face that had a studious edge to it. His intelligence radiated off him like heat waves.

  What was it about him that kept drawing her to him? Nera fought the unfamiliar urge to fidget. Aside from the good looks and a sharp mind, he had a tendency to brood. And there were billions of men in the galaxy who were more handsome, and easier to deal with.

  She watched him bend his head over the document laid out before him on the desk. A lock of his dark hair fell over his face. Steady and true. That’s what she saw when she looked at Niklas Phoenix. And she hadn’t met many people in her lifetime who she’d describe that way. He had an encyclopedia of a mind, admirable dedication to his brothers, commitment to his craft.

  Nera remembered when she’d first seen him. She’d only just moved into the treasure-hunting game, and had spent a lot of time watching the number one players. And that had been the inf
amous Dathan Phoenix and his brothers. The camaraderie between the men had been apparent…even when they were bitching at each other. It had left her confused. She’d never in all her life had that kind of solidarity with anyone.

  She watched Niklas tap notes into his Sync. His brow was creased, and he rubbed the back of his neck. She’d been trained to interpret the smallest facial expressions and read someone’s needs. He was intrigued but frustrated by what he was reading.

  After a few more minutes, he put a call through to the ship’s galley and ordered tea and a snack.

  She could watch him for hours, she decided. There was something so soothing about this man’s intense concentration. It made her wonder what it would be like if it was focused on her.

  Nera shifted in her seat. Not somewhere she was ever going to go. Niklas was a fascination, but she would never, ever change the strange relationship they had. She couldn’t seem to break off her contact with him, but couldn’t risk anything else.

  Niklas’ Sync chimed.

  “Phoenix.”

  “Nik.” Avril Luma-Smythe’s voice.

  Nera frowned. She did not like the woman. She was too…perky. All earnest enthusiasm and flattery for Niklas. And the way the woman looked at him, and smiled at him. Nera sniffed. No, she did not like the astro-archeologist.

  “I just wanted to check how the work was going,” the woman said. “Maybe you want to bounce some ideas off someone?”

  “No, but thanks for the offer. Nera’s here with me. If I need to bounce anything, I’ll bounce off her.” He politely ended the call.

  Nera sat there, frozen. How had he known she was there?

  He didn’t acknowledge her in any other way, just went back to his work. Soon, a staff member came in. The man wore a crew uniform and kept his head down over the tray he carried. She didn’t pay him much attention, except to note his uniform was pulled too tight across his stocky shoulders. Sloppy of the Institute.

  The man set the tray on a side table with a mumble, and shuffled back toward the door.