Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The back door of the Centurion lowered. Nera hurried out to stand beside Niklas and took stock of their surroundings. Nothing was moving, but it was dim under the dense vegetation, and there were plenty of hiding spots.
It didn’t look like much of the Larco was left. A crumbling section of wall hinted at the pretty building it had once been, but behind that lay rubble, most of it reclaimed by the mutant jungle.
Avril hurried forward. “We’re going to head around the back and come in from the rear. Your team okay to handle going in the front?” She only looked at Niklas.
He nodded, then he looked at Nera and the others. “Let’s go.”
They walked through what she guessed would have been the main entrance.
Not much was left of what had probably been an entryway and foyer.
A mix of rubble covered the ground. As she followed behind Niklas, something caught her eye, and she paused.
One square of tile sat on the ground, looking strange and out of place, because it was almost pristine amongst the decay.
She wondered at the humans who’d once stepped foot on it. Their hopes, their dreams, their fears.
“Not much left,” Solomon said.
“Come on,” Niklas said. “This way.”
They wandered deeper. While the main area had been reduced to rubble, ahead some partial walls still stood. Although they appeared badly damaged and unstable.
“Check under the rubble.” Niklas had his hands on his hips, studying the surroundings with an intense look. “There could be artifacts. Collect anything, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. And watch where you step. I don’t want any artifacts ruined under careless boots.”
The security agents nodded and they all fanned out.
Nera thought that the Institute was crazy to have lost him. He would have been an excellent leader. She was always amazed at people’s shortsightedness in the face of their own greed and hunger for power.
Something caught her gaze near the base of a wall. She wandered over and crouched. She brushed off the rubble and pulled out a ceramic pot. It was broken, but the large shard was still covered in colorful decoration.
“What’ve you got?” Niklas knelt behind her, so close his knees brushed her side.
A flare of desire washed over her. Her eyelids fluttered. The man had eroded her famous control to almost nothing. She held up her find.
“Nice.” He gripped her wrist, turning the fragment. “It looks like Huaco.”
“Huaco?”
“The Inca had two types of pottery. The practical stuff they would have used as part of everyday life. And then Huaco—ceremonial and ritual pottery.” His gaze was on her face. “This is nice, but I like the treasure hunter who found it more.” He lowered his voice, leaning in, crowding her space.
With any other person, she would have jabbed an elbow in their gut and one in their throat and told them to back off.
With him, she wanted him closer, wanted skin-to-skin contact.
It left her a little shaky. It brought back memories of what it was like to be addicted, to crave a substance so much it left you weak.
Only now instead of a drug, she craved a man.
“I wish we were back on the ship.” She shook her head. “No, I wish we were on our own ship, somewhere private, with no other people.”
His teeth flashed. “As soon as this hunt is over, we’ll make that happen.” He brushed a thumb over her lips. Across the room, one of the security team called him over. He stood, watched her for a second, then strode away.
Nera stayed crouched for a moment, before she carefully placed the Huaco shard in her backpack.
After this hunt… She had to stop herself thinking beyond having Niklas in her bed, and enjoying his body.
But afterward, what would happen? This couldn’t be more than a moment’s pleasure for them both.
They were too different, and she was incapable of more.
She let herself imagine them playing “happy couple” back on the Phoenix moon, then snorted.
Oh, his brothers would just love that. And Nera would feel hemmed in, and wind up going crazy.
She stood, pushing down the unfamiliar, spiky emotions pricking at her. She needed to have her head here, on this hunt—the very dangerous hunt—not on anything else.
They moved through several more rooms, not finding anything too valuable or interesting. There was too much damage, and too many vines and plants growing through the cracks, trying to take back every last inch of the place.
But the next room they walked into was partially intact. Nera spotted some shelves on a wall at the back. They still had artifacts on them. “Niklas.”
She jogged over and was studying the pots as he joined her. Her eyes widened as her brain realized just what she was seeing. “Holy stars.”
Niklas laughed. “I told you the Larco was well-known for this stuff.”
Yes, but she hadn’t imagined the ancient pottery would be so…explicit.
He smiled at her. “You aren’t a prude, Nera.” His eyes glowed, and she knew he was thinking of some of the things they’d done to each other in his cabin.
She ran her tongue over her teeth. “No. But…” There were sculptures and pots showing men with…
impressive and impossible appendages. Couples caught in various positions.
She eyed one of a man taking a woman from behind.
At least Nera thought it was a woman; it was hard to tell with the stylized images.
Niklas picked one up. A man with a woman on her knees in front of him. “It’s not damaged at all. The ancient Terrans of this region seemed very interested in celebrating acts of love.”
Nera picked up one of a woman on top of a man. “This is not love. This is lust.”
His face turned serious. “It can be both.”
She stared at him, but was interrupted when Solomon appeared.
“Jesus, sex statues.” He whistled. “Points for creativity. These little beauties would grab a ripe little profit on the open market.” When Niklas speared the younger man with a look, the treasure hunter rolled his eyes.
“Or be a fascinating, if slightly naughty, exhibit in some drafty Institute museum somewhere.”
“Get one of the agents to bring one of the anti-grav carriers in,” Niklas ordered. “We’ll load up everything we can take.”
Solomon nodded, and soon he was back with the others. The anti-grav carrier was brought in, floating off the ground, and they carefully began loading the artifacts.
“Nera, let’s check the next room,” Niklas said.
She nodded. They moved down a long corridor that for the most part, had no roof. When they entered the next room, she gasped. The space gleamed with gold and silver.
Niklas was smiling. “Damn. I was hoping some of this had survived.”
The room was chaotic. The gold and silver artifacts littered the floor amongst the rubble. Someone had pilfered the room’s contents, but they hadn’t had the time to take everything.
“Look at this.” He held up a damaged, flat sheet of gold. It had what looked like a monster’s face carved into it. “This is a headdress.”
Nera picked up a tiny gold object and turned it over. She gasped. It was inlaid with brilliant turquoise, and had probably been some kind of jewelry. They grinned at each other.
“We’re going to need another anti-grav carrier,” she murmured.
Not long after, they were packing the last of the artifacts onto the carrier. She watched Niklas cradling the magnificent remains of a gold-and-silver necklace. His face was reverent.
“Simply beautiful.” He glanced at her on the other side of the carrier. “If I’m correct, this is the necklace of the Lord of Sipán.”
She saw the necklace was made of strange-shaped beads. Each was like a little textured wave.
“The Lord of Sipán was a mummy found in the north of Peru with several others in an elaborate burial. They were from some pre-Inca culture.” Niklas’ voice deepened into what she thought of as his teacher voice.
“These beads are shaped like a nut that grew here and they represented the earth.” He fingered the gold half of the necklace.
“The beads of gold represent masculinity and the sun god. And the silver.” He touched the other half of the necklace.
“Femininity and the moon god. This necklace signified that man came from the earth and would return to it when they died.”
She loved hearing him tell her these little pieces of history. “Let’s not return to the earth today, okay? And who would want a necklace made of nuts?”
He smiled. “There was another necklace found in the tomb. No images survived, but it was called the golden spider necklace. Each medallion apparently featured a web with a spider and a human head. Would you have liked that one better?”
She sniffed. “I’m not very fond of spiders.
He laughed. “Funny how having you here has made this experience so much better.”
Her hands tightened on the beaten piece of silver in her hands. “Niklas—”
Suddenly, Solomon burst into the room. “Zombies. A mob of them heading this way, out of the jungle.”
Niklas cursed and set the necklace on the carrier. “All right. Get this back to the Centurion and get it loaded. Time for us to go.”
Nera was surprised they’d been uninterrupted this long.
He touched his ear. “Avril? Galen? Zombies headed this way.”
No response.
He frowned and tried again. “Dammit.”
She looked at the security agents. “You know where they are?”
They shook their heads, but their faces seemed purposely blank.
Niklas’ jaw tightened. “Nera, let’s go find Avril and then get the hell out of here. The rest of you get back to the vehicle and get these artifacts loaded.” He pulled out his laser pistol and charged out the door.
Nera followed one step behind him. “They were coming in from the back of the site. You think they were after something specific?”
“Yes.” His face was hard. “Yes, I think they were.”
Nik and Nera jogged through empty rooms. He could hear the moans and grunts of the zombies now. They were close.
“Solomon?” Nik said into his earpiece.