by Anna Hackett
He smiled. “Touché.”
“I’m a businesswoman. So yes, I agree that verified treasure is best.”
“Is that all it is for you? Business?”
She thought she detected disappointment in his tone. It bothered her. Then she straightened. She didn’t care what Niklas Phoenix thought about her motives. “Yes. The past is gone, thank the stars, so why not profit off it?”
“You hate your past that much?”
Before she could answer, there was a commotion in the hall. A man’s voice raised in anger. A woman’s frightened cry.
Nera shot to her feet, and by the time she reached the door, Niklas was beside her. For a big man, he moved fast.
Gunn was moving through the corridor, tugging a woman behind him. She was dragging her feet, cowering. She was barely dressed, wearing only a flimsy wisp of white fabric that left her too-thin arms and legs bare. She had a beautiful face that was all angles and large gold eyes.
She also had a collar of beaten-gold metal around her neck.
Every muscle in Nera’s body stiffened.
“What the hell is going on here?” Niklas demanded.
“None of your damn business, Phoenix. Go back and bury your face in a book and take your pet dog with you.” His baleful gaze landed on Nera.
“You’re hurting the woman,” Niklas said, his tone turning as dark as space.
Nera’s gut was burning.
“I’ll do as I fucking please.” Gunn drew a hand back and swung at the woman.
Before Nera could leap forward, Niklas caught the man’s hand. He must have exerted some force, despite the lack of expression on his face, because Gunn winced, then jerked away, rubbing his wrist.
The woman’s head was down, staring at the floor.
“Are you okay?” Nera asked.
The woman nodded but stayed silent.
“She doesn’t get a say,” Gunn bit out. “She’s my property to do with as I want.”
Nera quivered, trying to control the impulse to tear him apart with her hands. Slavery happened, not in the central systems, but in the outer reaches of the galaxy where the law keepers were few and overworked.
“A slave?” Niklas shook his head. “I knew you were scum, Gunn, but this…Dr. Luma-Smythe wouldn’t let you have a slave aboard.”
“I never said slave.” Gunn tried for a smile but it looked like a sneer. “This is my cherished companion, Alarah.” He ran his hand down her cheek and the woman flinched.
Nera couldn’t stand to watch any more. She lunged at Gunn.
Strong arms wrapped around her middle, holding her back.
“Let me go.” She said the words with deadly calm.
His lips were hot at her ear. “You kill him here, you’ll be arrested. We’re on an Institute ship, traveling on a wormhole bridge. There’s nowhere to go.”
She jerked against him. “I don’t care.” All she could see was that woman. Helpless and broken.
Niklas shook her a little. “We can’t do anything…now. But we’ll find a way to help her.” He pushed Nera against the wall, his big body caging her in. But Nera kept struggling; all she wanted was to get to Gunn.
“Nera.” Niklas spoke sharply. “Look at me.”
She did. His blue eyes snagged hers and she couldn’t look away. Dimly, she was aware of Gunn dragging the woman away.
“Breathe,” Niklas whispered.
“She’s trapped. Helpless. She has no voice. No hope.”
He watched her steadily. “Maybe. But she has us, now. We’ll help her.”
Nera quivered. “You don’t know what it’s like to be held prisoner. Owned.” That word was like toxic poison on her tongue.
“No. I don’t.” There was something dark in his voice. “But clearly, you do.”
She jolted in his arms and pushed against his chest.
But he held fast. Steady, solid Niklas.
Then he cupped her cheek. She gripped his wrist—to push him away or hold that contact there? She wasn’t sure.
“Nera, when I look at you, I don’t see someone who belongs to anyone but herself. I see strength. Independence.”
She swallowed, the nasty feeling inside her ebbing…just a little.
She looked into blue eyes as deep as forever and realized Niklas Phoenix was far more dangerous to her than any foe she’d ever faced.
Chapter Six
Niklas stood on the bridge, tuning out the excited murmurs of the crew. They’d come off the Sol Bridge several hours before. They’d passed a huge red gas giant that he knew had been called Jupiter in Terran times, and then an asteroid belt, and a small red planet. Mars had once been home to a thriving Earth colony. He would have loved to have seen it. One day.
Their destination would be coming into view shortly.
And seeing the Earth was a far greater prize.
He didn’t hear her approach, but he suddenly knew Nera was behind him. After the altercation with Gunn and his slave, Nera had been absent, staying in her cabin for the remainder of the trip.
One of Nik’s hands curled into a fist. His knuckles were raw. He’d spent the last day in the ship’s gym, beating on a spar-droid. The idea that Nera had been someone’s slave…it left an acid fire in his gut that needed to burn, roar, and consume.
But he’d known that wasn’t what she needed when she’d been lost in that darkness in the corridor. She needed his strength, his understanding, that he saw she’d escaped whatever hell she’d been trapped in.
“Sleep well?” he asked.
“Not really.” She moved up beside him. “We’ll be at Earth soon?”
He allowed the change of subject. “Yes.”
“Visual range,” one of the crew called out.
Nik tensed, excitement a zing through his blood.
The small orb grew in size, filling the viewscreen. He sucked in a breath. Earth.
The old records had spoken of a blue-and-green planet. Vast oceans, and continents of brown and green. All teeming with life.
That wasn’t what was left.
It was truly now a dark Earth.
The oceans and land were now shades of black and gray.
Humanity had fought over power, money, and just about anything they could until they’d deployed experimental nuclear weapons the world had never seen before against each other. They had obliterated cities and killed billions. They had destroyed forests and farmland, and ended families. Some people had escaped, moved to distant colonies, gone on ships headed for a new life. And some of those ships had been packed with ancient treasures and art in an effort to preserve history.
But so much history had been left behind. And now it was gone.
If there was anything at all left, he vowed to find it. And let the rest of the galaxy see it.
“Heading into orbit now.” The crew worked like a streamlined team, obeying their captain’s orders, and soon the Magellan was in orbit, everyone staring in awe at the planet below.
Avril’s face was filled with excitement. “Okay, we’ll be taking one of the shuttles down. Don’t worry, it’s a large expedition ship and has everything we’ll need. Bring all your belongings with you to the shuttle bay. The ship’s called the Drake.”
“After a duck?” Gunn asked incredulously.
Avril huffed out a breath. “No, after the famous Terran explorer, Mr. Gunn. See everyone at the Drake in twenty minutes.”
Nik wasted no time grabbing his things from his cabin. Soon, he was strapped in, bouncing with the turbulence as the Drake descended to the planet’s surface. Nera, Solomon and Gunn were also all seated in the smaller cockpit. This ship’s flight crew consisted of a pilot, co-pilot, and comms officer. It reminded Nik a little of the Infinitas, although it was still much larger than Zayn’s baby.
“Clearing the clouds now,” the pilot said.
Nik stared out the window. A second later, the turbulent gray masses obscuring their vision were suddenly gone. He blinked. A vast ocean appeared beneath them.
The water below was black, the dark waves heaving and churning. Wind whipped the tips of them white.
“We’ll be over land shortly.” The co-pilot tapped her screen. “I’m detecting bio signatures in the water. They aren’t clear, though. The radiation is causing problems.”
“There’s life?” Nik asked.
“Yes. Large kinds of life. These signatures are huge.” The co-pilot shuddered.
Nik speculated that if anything had survived the nuclear fallout, it most likely would have…mutated into something else.
“How are the radiation levels?” Avril asked.
The comms officer swiveled his chair to face them. “High. Really high. Here in what was New York, you’ll be able to stay dirtside for sixty minutes, tops.”
Avril frowned. “That’s not long.”
“Land ahead,” the pilot said.
Nik craned his neck a little for a better view out the window. There it was. It spread ahead, like a dark shadow. As they sped closer, he saw dark waves crashing on a beach of black rock and sand. Beyond the water, the black sand continued. A dark desert with giant dunes and rocky outcrops of twisted shapes.
Not a single instance of vegetation. No movement, and definitely no lifeforms.
“Coming up on the coordinates for New York City,” the comms officer said.
Everyone pressed their noses closer to the windows. Nik frowned. He didn’t see anything but black sand.
“There.” Nera reached over his shoulder, pointing.
For a second, he was distracted by her body pressed against his. Then he blinked and saw what she was pointing at.
The shapes looked like rocks, but he realized they were shards of broken buildings. The remnants of skyscrapers pointing toward the gray clouds.
“That must be the city center.” He wanted to see it. He wanted to go down there and explore what had once been a great city of Earth.
But they had a mission, and he was the one who’d suggested the suburbs.
“We’re heading west of the city,” Avril said, her gaze glued to the scene outside. “It looks like this black sand covers everything.”
“It was formed from the nuclear bombings,” the comms officer said.
And over the thousands of years, it had obviously overtaken the city. Moments later, the ship stopped.
“We aren’t going to land,” the pilot said, his hands on the controls. “The scans are showing the sand may not be stable for the ship’s weight. You’ll have to rappel down.”
“Okay. Solomon and Gunn, you’re Team One. Team Two will be Nik and—”
“I’ll go with Nera,” he said.
Avril frowned. “Fine. Team Three will be myself and Agent Ryant. Get suited up. There’s light body armor for everyone. Scans have assured us the air is breathable.”
Soon Nik was standing at a side door of the Drake, watching Nera hook up to a line. Beside them, Solomon and Gunn edged over the side and zoomed to the ground.
“Ready?” Nera asked.
“Yeah.” Nik closed his safety clip. “Let’s go find some treasure.”
“See if you can keep up with me, Phoenix.” Without warning, Nera leapt out of the ship.
Nik’s heart kicked his ribs. He gripped the doorframe and watched her. Her body fell gracefully, in a perfect arch. She flew past Solomon and Gunn. As she neared the ground, she straightened, and as her rappelling device locked, she spun to deflect the jerk and set down on the sand in a crouch.
God, she was gorgeous. Nik shook his head and stepped out of the ship. He whizzed downward on his line, and a minute later was standing beside her. “Show-off.”
He saw a brief flash of white teeth.
Nik’s chest tightened. That was his first smile from Nera Darc. And he wanted more.
“We’re heading to the east,” Solomon called out. “Good luck.” He turned to follow Gunn who was already striding away.
“We’ve got north,” Nera said.
As they walked, the coarse black sand crunched under their feet. Here and there, Nik saw structures, worn by time, poking through the sand. He stopped and ran the scanner on his Sync. He cursed. “The radiation is interfering with the readings. There are definitely structures under the sand but I can’t tell the size, or what they even are.” And they weren’t here to do a full scale excavation.
Nera was watching Solomon and Gunn disappearing over a large dune. “Hope the kid doesn’t turn his back on Gunn. I wouldn’t put it past the snake to make his share more lucrative by eliminating a few of us.”
Nik grunted. “Jonas might be young, but he seems switched on. And he’s survived tougher situations before.”
She nodded. “Let’s get moving.”
As they walked, Nik stopped every now and then to poke at things in the sand. He collected what looked like a shard of a broken plate and a bottle of some description. Not valuable, but interesting nonetheless.
Ahead, Nera crested the next black dune and paused at the top. “Niklas, you want to get up here and see this.”
He jogged the last few steps, sand slipping under his boots. Then he saw what lay below and hissed in a breath. “Holy stars.”
A portion of the city lay devoid of sand. Some sort of structures, walls maybe, had kept most of the sand at bay. What looked like the shells of a few houses and small shops were visible.
“Come on,” he said.
They skidded down the dune and stepped foot onto ancient pavement that was warped, twisted, and cracked. They walked toward the nearest structure. Half of it had fallen down, and what was left was the steel frame, rusted by the years.
Nik stepped through what would have been a doorway. “You can see the rooms delineated.”
“Be careful,” Nera warned. “It may not be stable.”
“Scans say it isn’t going to fall down on our heads.” He wandered through to the next room. “This would have been a living area, this possibly a dining area.” He stopped, staring at a melted lump of metal. “I think this was a refrigerator.” He turned in a circle, excitement in his blood. “That would have made this the kitchen.”
Nera crouched and picked something up. “Look.”
“A spoon.” He took the metallic object from her. “Not bad condition.” He gestured for her to spin so he could put it in her backpack. “Nice work, Nera.”
“I am the best treasure hunter in the galaxy.”
Nik smiled. “Dathan might argue with you.”
She sniffed. “Your brother has delusions of grandeur. And he’s lost his edge since he got married to an astro-archeologist. Now he’s donating a good portion of his finds to museums.”
“Right. And you only sell your items to the scummiest black-market dealers or private collectors you can find.”
She turned back and raised a brow. “That’s right.”
He studied her face. “You know, I dug around after you stole that Terran necklace out from under us. I couldn’t find a record of a sale.”
“Doesn’t mean I didn’t sell it.”
“What about the Haladian gems you found on Halad III?”
She looked over his shoulder. “What about them?”
“The transaction was really well hidden, but I discovered that they are sitting in a pretty little private museum on Zeta Volantis.”
She turned her back on him. “We need to keep moving or we’ll run out of time before our radiation exposure is up.”
He watched her as she wandered into the next room. Nothing was ever as it seemed with Nera Darc.
“Sleep quarters?” she said, looking out the waist-high gap that would have been a window.
“Bedroom, yes.” Nik ran a finger over the reinforced wall structure. Who had lived here? What had their life been like? Had they made it off the planet before it was destroyed?
A glint of something buried in the layer of black sand on the floor caught his eye. He grabbed it and gasped, holding the item up.
Nera stepped closer. “Pretty.”
It was a necklace. The chain was broken but the pendant was still shiny. It was a purple color that reminded him of one of the colors in Nera’s eyes.
“It’s small,” he said. “Probably belonged to a child.”
Nera studied him. “It saddens you?”
“Sure. To think of a child caught in the machinations of governments who were more concerned with power and pride, rather than with the survival of the young and innocent.”
“You think because the child was young, she was innocent?”
He regarded her carefully. “Yes. Children are innocent, regardless of what they are forced to do or see. Regardless of what others make them do.”
“There are so many more shades of gray than you see, Niklas.” She turned away. “Let’s move on.”
They scoured the next few buildings. More homes with few artifacts remaining. Nik guessed most things had either been destroyed in the intense blasts that had taken out the city center, or had just deteriorated over time.
In the first shop, they had more luck.
“I think this was a music shop,” Nik said. He touched the remains of what he guessed was a Terran guitar.
“I think you’re right.” Nera turned, cradling a metal object.
In perfect condition.
“God, it’s beautiful.” He touched the metal, his fingers bumping hers. “A flute, I think.”
They checked the next few shops, most of which were disappointingly bare. Nik found a few general items—a cup, the twisted remains of a precursor to the Sync communicator, and a shoe—but nothing that would get Avril excited.
They walked out onto the street. Nera consulted the mini-Sync attached to her wrist. “Only twenty more minutes of exposure time left. We need to start heading back.”
He nodded, eyeing a lump of twisted metal on the street.
She followed his gaze. “A transport?”
He nodded. “I think so. A car.”
They moved closer.
“Terran cars are worth a lot of money…but this is barely recognizable as a car. It wouldn’t be worth moving it.”
“Yeah.” He knew a few rusted chassis of old Earth cars had gone for millions of e-creds. No one had ever found a Terran car in pristine condition. If they did, it would be worth a small fortune.
