Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
As Niklas walked alongside Nera the next morning, he felt sated and relaxed, but he had more than a few aches. The scratches on his back stung, he had a handful of bite marks, and his muscles were aching. None of it had anything to do with escaping from rampaging zombies.
He smiled. He’d never felt better.
He glanced to the right and studied her lean profile. God, he wanted to hold her hand—like a lovestruck teenager. But he knew she’d never allow it, and he’d never do anything to jeopardize the badass reputation she’d worked so hard to build.
Her head turned and when she saw him staring, her lips quirked upward. “The ship’s underway.”
He nodded. “I felt the engines start up a few hours ago.”
“Then let’s get to Avril’s planning meeting and find out where we’re headed next.”
“You snuck out while I was in the shower.”
She nodded and eyed the empty corridor. “I went to see Alarah.”
He tried to read her even tone. “How is she?”
Nera’s face hardened. “Broken.” She dragged in a breath. “No.” One determined word. “She isn’t broken. Not irreparably. I’ll make sure she has a chance to make it.”
Outside the door to the library, he heard the murmur of voices. They paused, and because he couldn’t stop himself, he allowed himself to run his hand down her back. “You aren’t alone. Whatever help you need, you let me know.”
She didn’t look at him this time, but once again, her lips flicked into a small smile.
They walked in side by side.
Avril glanced up, the light from the holo-table illuminating her face. Her gaze flicked between the two of them. “Nice of you to join us.”
Nera stepped forward, a cool smile on her face. “Cheating death leaves you with this intense need to—” she ran a proprietary hand down Nik’s arm “—celebrate still being alive.”
Nik barely controlled his jerk of surprise. He heard Solomon turn a laugh into a cough, and Gunn was looking at Niklas like he was crazy.
Solomon cleared his throat. “Phoenix, you have balls of steel.”
Nera swiveled. “You want to say that again?” Her voice was deadly soft.
“Ah…no.” The young man sank back against the wall. “I really don’t.”
Avril sniffed. “I suggest we all focus on the plan for the remainder of this expedition.”
They all moved around the holo-table. A huge, illuminated map of the region filled the surface, and Nik spotted the blue arrow that indicated the Drake. “Where are we headed?”
“South,” Avril answered. “Agent Ryant and his team worked through the day to load the artifacts from the New Mexico City Museum.”
Gunn started. “They’ve been out there?” He stabbed a finger at the window. “Do they have a death wish? No way, I’m not getting paid enough to tangle with those fucking man-eating freakshows.”
“The team has been taking precautions. Using strong spotlights and snipers. It’s their job.” Her gaze narrowed on Gunn. “Let them do theirs, and you do yours.” She smiled at Niklas. “I’m sure you’ll be thrilled to hear the Sun Stone was loaded and is in pristine condition.”
His heart kicked in his chest. Yeah, he was. He itched to get a good look at it. “That’s good news.”
“I also asked them to gather any data they could get on the…zombies. We might encounter them again, so any information we can compile could give us an advantage.”
“They don’t like high-pitched noises,” Nera added. “We could use that as a deterrent.”
“Noted. I’ll pass the information on.” Avril shook her head, pressing her palms to the edge of the table. “I really hope we won’t see any more of them, or at least not so many.”
Nik thought that was wishful thinking. There had been zombies in New York, in that chasm. He was certain of it. But for whatever reason, they hadn’t attacked. He was worried the creatures, or at least some of them, were far more intelligent than they thought.
“Real lucky you didn’t get eaten by a zombie, Phoenix.”
Gunn’s sarcastic tone pulled Nik from his thoughts and made his jaw tighten. He felt Nera move and put a hand on her arm. “Screw you, Gunn. I know what you did. I won’t forget it.”
Avril frowned. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Nik answered, his gaze boring into Gunn’s muddy eyes. “It’s a very uninteresting story about an unintelligent, little coward. I wouldn’t want to bore you.”
Gunn’s face twisted and he strode forward. “People like you make me sick, Phoenix.” Gunn spat the words. “You think you’re so smart, so much better than everyone else. You’ve had everything given to you on a damn platter.” He shoved Nik in the chest.
Nik tightened his hold on Nera’s arm, very afraid she was going to explode forward and kill Gunn. When she stayed still, he released her. Anger was an ugly ball in his chest. Because of Gunn’s childish antics, Nera had almost died in that damn museum. Nik shoved Gunn back…hard.
“You’re deluded. I’ve fought for everything I’ve ever wanted. My brothers, too. Life isn’t easy, Gunn. You have to work for what you want, but that doesn’t mean kicking every person around you in the face while you do it.”
Gunn quivered. “You don’t know what it is to fight.
To have no bed to sleep in. To live in the streets and eat garbage.
To be prey for every pervert and killer around.
To have to be meaner than everyone just to survive.
” The man’s chest heaved and he suddenly realized everyone was watching him.
He drew in a ragged breath, then his trademark smirk covered his face.
“You fight for everything you want, huh? Except that plush job you had at the Institute. That slipped through your fingers. Didn’t fight for that, did you? ”
Nik froze, the words punching him low in the gut. With a swagger, Gunn crossed the room and dropped into a chair.
“Okay, I think that’s more than enough.” Avril pressed her hands to the holo-table. “If we can please shelve personal problems and focus on the hunt.”
“You did what you had to do,” Nera murmured for Nik’s ears only.
“I left,” he murmured. “I walked away and did nothing.”
“Niklas—”
He straightened. “But not now.” He looked down at her. “Not one of the artifacts from this trip is getting lost or sold. Everything we find will be seen by the people of the galaxy. I’ll make sure of it.”
She inclined her head.
For now, all he could focus on was the hunt. He headed for the holo-table and raised his voice. “So, we’re headed south. Where?”
“We’re traveling along the west coast of what were the American continents.
” Avril traced her finger across the holo-table and a golden line appeared behind it.
“I believe we are currently over what was once Panama, in Central America. So far, the jungle has taken over.” She frowned.
“The conditions are not…optimal. Extremely dense vegetation and large animal signatures.”
“What are you thinking for the next exploration site?” Solomon asked.
“That’s why you are all here. You’ve all postulated some interesting locations to the south. It’s time to pick one.”
Gunn crossed his beefy arms over his chest. “Rio de Janeiro.”
Solomon snorted. “That was picked clean before the Terrans even left Earth. How about Peru?”
Nik nodded. “It had a rich history and was the center of the ancient Inca culture. But I’ve seen partial e-docs that say it suffered heavy bombing.” He glanced at Nera. She stood by the window, seemingly ignoring them all. Although he guessed differently. “Nera?”
“Lima,” she said. “It had the greatest concentration of museums.”
Avril looked like she wanted to disagree on principle, but she grudgingly gave a nod and tapped the map. “A strong potential. The National Museum was renowned as the best.”
“While that was true,” Nik said, “it was a large public museum. It was much more likely to have had artifacts evacuated and sent off-planet. My research has led me to believe the city also had a large number of well-funded, private museums that housed rich collections.”
Avril’s gaze narrowed. “You have a particular one in mind.”
“Yes. The Larco,” he answered.
She frowned. “The Larco? The name sounds familiar, but I don’t know anything about it.”
“A wealthy private collector started it to house his extensive collection of pre-Columbian artifacts.”
“Pre-Columbian?” Solomon said.
“Artifacts from all the cultures that lived in the region before Europeans arrived. Not just the Inca,” Nik clarified.
“While the state museums were being emptied out, I suspect the Larco was largely ignored, despite its excellent collection of ceramics, and gold and silver. I think it’s worth a look. ”
Avril tapped the holo-table. “Computer, run a search for all relevant data on the Larco. Everything you have, its collections, layout, and coordinates.”
“Searching…” the melodious computer voice responded.
A moment later, the holo-screen changed, the map shrinking into one corner, and images and data records filling the screen.
“It was a beautiful building,” Avril said.
The image was of the museum in its heyday. It had been housed in a historic building with a cream-colored exterior and beautiful wooden double doors at the front. Lush gardens were just visible surrounding it.
“I found references to the building being eighteenth-century,” Nik said.
“And possibly built on an ancient Incan site. It seems a safe bet that the jungle has taken it and the remains of the city back.” He touched the screen.
“Here were the main star attractions of the Larco. The Gold and Silver Gallery.”
“Now, that sounds more like it,” Gunn muttered.
Nik ignored the interruption. “And the pre-Columbian Erotic Ceramics Gallery.”
Solomon snorted. “Come again?”
“Did you say erotic?” Nera asked.
Nik grinned at her. “Yes. Apparently, the ancient Peruvians crafted thousands of ceramic pots depicting different sexual acts.”
She shook her head with a smile.
“The collection was apparently popular—”
“I’ll bet,” Solomon interjected.
“—mainly because the very religious Spanish conquerors who captured the region destroyed any erotic ceramics they discovered.”