Return to Dark Earth (2 page)

When everything went still, he turned his
head and saw a sharpened spear buried in the wall behind him. Damn
thing would have passed right through his gut. He also knew the
natives had been experts at creating poisons. There was a faint,
neon-green glow on the end of the spear tip, which Nik was sure
would have left him writhing in pain and puking his guts up.

Yep, great gig this treasure-hunting
thing.

“Nik? You okay?” Zayn’s voice.

Nik pushed to his feet. “Yeah. Triggered a
booby trap.”

Dathan cursed. “I told you to wait.”

The words didn’t just come through the
earpiece. They echoed through the cavern. A second later, Nik’s
brothers stepped into view.

Nik dusted his hands off on his khaki cargo
pants and studied his brothers for a second. It was clear the three
of them were related. They all had similar, muscular builds,
although Nik had always been a few inches taller and broader than
the other two. Dathan always forgot to cut his hair, and the dark
strands were getting really long, giving him a rakish look. Zayn
kept his hair shorter—a trait left over from years in the
military—and it was a few shades lighter and often turned tawny if
he spent any time in the sun. Nik swallowed. Jesus, he was glad he
had them. Not that he’d ever tell them that.

“Come on. Let’s find this alleged idol.” He
headed deeper into the cave. “And keep your eyes open for more
booby traps. Check the walls, floors and roof.”

“Hell, look at the size of that snake.” Zayn
edged away from the viper. “Can’t stand snakes.”

“Come on, flyboy.” Dathan clapped Zayn on
the back. “We’ll have you back in your cockpit before you know
it.”

They dodged two more traps, and Dathan
accidently set off one that had small darts whizzing out of the
walls. Luckily, he was good at dodging.

The tunnel opened up into a wide cavern. Far
above, a small opening let in a shaft of light.

“Engravings.” Nik’s gaze sharpened on the
worn etchings on the wall. No language, just pictographs of daily
life and rituals. Fascinating stuff. He lifted his Sync and snapped
a few pictures. The geometric style certainly was reminiscent of
some of the ancient Terran cultures.

“More over here. But be careful.” Dathan
pointed to the floor. “There’s a ledge here and a big drop.”

Nik saw a ring of engravings in the floor.
These were more sinister. Images of skeletons and demon-like
creatures. Sure enough, the floor ended and below he saw yawning
shadows.

He picked up a rock and tossed it over. They
waited, and waited. Finally, he heard the distant
thunk
as
the rock found the bottom.

Zayn whistled. “I’m guessing we don’t want
to go that way.”

Nik stared out to where the shaft of light
shone from above. “No. But I think we want to get over there.” The
light illuminated an isolated platform that was covered in more
engravings. It looked like a small island in a black sea of
shadows.

“Fancy a jump?” Dathan was eyeing the
distance across the gap.

“It’s too far,” Nik said.

“Not if we use this.” Dathan pulled a
grappler off his belt and smiled. He aimed it, fired, and the line
released. The pointed head whizzed across the expanse and hit the
side of the platform. Small hooks exploded out of the head,
embedding into the rock. Dathan tested the line, then he set the
end he was holding on the floor. More metal hooks sprang out,
digging into the floor.

“You going to show off your tightrope
skills?” Zayn asked.

“Hell, no.” Dathan grabbed the line, then
swung underneath. He started making his way across, keeping his
gloved hands and crossed ankles on the slim metal line.

Once he was on the platform, he waved them
over. Nik went next. They all kept in good shape. He might like
poring over books and e-records, but he worked out diligently.
Treasure hunting wasn’t for someone who kept in shape with an
annual sculpting appointment at the salon. You needed real muscles
to climb, leap and run.

He reached the platform and grasped Dathan’s
hand to climb up. Zayn started over.

Soon, the three of them stood on the
platform that measured about ten meters by ten meters. Nik
crouched, running his fingers over the engravings. These ones were
much clearer.

“This looks promising.” Dathan stalked to
the middle, his gaze on a circular pedestal set into the center of
the platform.

Nik looked at the images under his
fingertips and saw an engraved square. In a flash, he registered
what the image meant. “Wait, Dath! Don’t touch—”

Dathan had already reached out, his fingers
touching the stone pedestal.

There was a grinding sound—rock on rock.

Then the platform tilted.

“Shit!” Zayn leapt away from the edge. As he
moved, the platform changed direction, tilting to the other side.
Now Dathan cursed, windmilling his arms to keep his balance.

Nik stepped cautiously toward the center,
fighting to keep upright. “We need to balance it. Spread out evenly
and then stand still.”

The other two did as he asked, and soon they
had the platform mostly level. Nik bent his knees, trying to keep
the thing steady. He felt like he was surfing.

“So, now what?” Dathan asked.

It was a good question. As soon as one of
them moved, the platform would tilt. Nik craned his neck and looked
down. Black darkness loomed below them.

Another grinding sound.

Dathan groaned. “What now?”

The stone pedestal in the center sank
downward, then a moment later, it rose up again.

The shaft of light from above glinted off
the gold idol that now sat in the center of the pedestal.

Dathan swore. Zayn whistled. Nik just
stared. The damn thing certainly looked like it was made of
gold.

Nik’s pulse began to race. The idol was the
image of a squat man with an elaborate headdress. His pulse raced.
He’d seen this before. In historical records. “It can’t be.”

“What?” Dathan demanded.

“It looks Incan.” One of Nik’s areas of
expertise. He took a step closer and the platform rocked again. He
stilled. “The Inca were skilled metalworkers, especially in gold.
And see the green-blue inlays? That looks like turquoise. If I’m
not mistaken, this is a statue of the Inca sun god, Inti.”

“Inca,” Dathan said reverently. “Highly
valuable and collectable. Private collectors go nuts for Inca
artifacts.”

“Dathan? I think we have trouble.” The
female voice came through their earpieces.

“Babe, now isn’t a great time,” Dathan
responded to his wife.

“I know you’re in the middle of the hunt,”
Dr. Eos Rai-Phoenix said drily. “But a ship has just entered orbit
around Mazona V. And they’re being stealthy about it.”

“They spot you?”

“No. The
Infinitas
is safely tucked
behind Mazona’s moon.”

“Is it Darc?” Nik asked. But even as he
asked the question, he knew that if their rival, Nera Darc, was
here, they’d never see her coming.

“No,” Eos answered.

“Must be treasure hunters after our find,”
Zayn said with a frown.

“Wrong again,” Eos replied. “I ran a search.
The ship’s coming up as Institute.”

The Institute of Historical Preservation was
here? Nik frowned. Jesus, he would have preferred rival treasure
hunters. They’d be more trustworthy. “What the hell do they
want?”

“I suggest we don’t hang around long enough
to find out,” Dathan said.

“They’ve just launched a shuttle, so be
quick. See you when you get back,” Eos signed off.

Nik studied the idol and the platform.

“Now what?” Zayn asked.

“Let’s all run to the middle at the same
time. That should, hopefully, keep the platform steady,” Nik
said.

“And after that?” Zayn peered over the side.
“It’s a long way down.”

Dathan’s gaze narrowed. “Let’s grab the
idol, then all three of us need to run back to the grappler line at
the same time.”

“The platform will tip,” Nik said.

“Yeah, but if we hold onto the line, we can
use it to swing back to the other side.”

If the damn thing held carrying the weight
of three fully-grown men. Nik took a deep breath. “Not many other
options. Ready?”

His brothers nodded.

“Go!”

They sprinted for the pedestal. The platform
wobbled beneath them, but stayed reasonably stable. Nik lifted the
golden idol off the platform. His heart thudded. It was in
excellent condition. He couldn’t wait to get it under a scanner and
study it. So many old Earth records were lost, but he might be able
to track down something on it.

“All right.” Dathan was looking at the
grappler line. “Ready for phase two?”

“Not really.” Nik tucked the idol into his
backpack.

“I’m ready.” Zayn looked just a little too
excited about this bit. He’d always been the daredevil.

“On three. One.” Dathan tensed. “Two.
Three!”

Together, they raced for the line.

The platform tipped under their combined
weight. As Nik’s boots slid downward, he cursed. Dathan grabbed the
line first, swinging off the platform. Zayn leapt off the platform,
grabbing the line with both hands. Nik slid the last few meters and
with a silent prayer, fell into space. Darkness yawned below like
deepest space. At the last second, he reached out and nabbed the
line with one hand.

“Nice save, bro,” Dathan said. “Ready for a
swing?”

Nik rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure he
wouldn’t be swinging across terrifying abysses on nice, boring,
professional archeological digs. He nodded.

Dathan released the grappler from the
now-vertical platform, and they swung back toward the other
side.

“Woo hoo!” Zayn’s voice echoed in the
cavern.

Behind them, Nik heard a crashing sound.
Ahead, the sheer wall of rock rose up to meet them.

He tensed.
Damn
. This was going to
hurt.

They slammed into the wall. Pain flared in
Nik’s shoulder, and Zayn’s boots slapped him in the face. Below
him, he heard Dathan swearing with his usual impressive vocabulary
of the galaxy’s curse words.

But they were all alive, hanging from the
grappler line. Dathan pressed the retract button and the three of
them whizzed upward.

Nik pulled himself over the edge and sat for
a second, staring back at the pillar of rock that had once held the
platform. The platform was completely gone now—no doubt smashed to
a million pieces below.

Dathan finished retracting the grappler and
slipped it onto his belt. “Come on, boys. Let’s get out of here
before those dickhead Institute grunts show up.”

They jogged back out of the cavern, avoiding
the booby traps. At the cave entrance, they paused, the humidity
smacking them in the face. Even the dappled light was harsh on the
eyes.

Nik glanced around. The insects were making
a huge racket in the trees, but the vegetation looked as it had
before. There was no sign of an Institute team hacking away at
it.

Dathan consulted his Sync, then nodded.
“This way.”

The three of them moved in single file,
following the trail Nik had cut through earlier.

Suddenly, a man clothed in a gray and black
uniform stepped in front of them. And lifted a laser pistol.

“Stay where you are. The Galactic Institute
of Historical Preservation has invoked the right to obtain any
artifacts found on this planet.”

Dathan raised a brow and looked at Nik. “We
got any artifacts?”

“Nope. Just out for a stroll.”

The Institute agent frowned. “Stay where you
are. You will be searched and questioned.”

Dathan snorted. “Not today.” He threw
something.

The small silver ball hit the agent in the
chest and exploded. Pink goo splattered everywhere and the agent
cursed, trying to pull the stuff off with no success.

“Let’s go,” Dathan said with a wave.

The brothers moved into a run.

“Lala gave you some of her goo balls?” Nik
asked.

“Yeah. She said she was trying a new recipe.
Stickier than before.”

Nik shook his head. The young explosives
expert they’d adopted last year was trouble from the top of her
wild pink hair to the bottom of her scuffed, pink combat boots. But
the girl was a genius with explosives. At least, they’d mostly
convinced her to stop blowing stuff up and stick to less lethal
things like the goo balls.

As Nik vaulted over a fallen tree, he
focused on running. They dodged under vines, leapt over fallen logs
and skirted low-hanging branches. They heard voices yelling behind
them.

“They’re coming,” Zayn said.

Damn Institute
. Nik had left them
years ago, and they still managed to bother him, now and then.
Lately, they’d left him all sorts of messages asking for a meeting.
He’d ignored every single one.

They broke into a clearing and ahead of them
stood a line of four gray-and-black-suited agents.

“Fuck,” Dathan bit out. They skidded to a
halt.

“Our boss would like a word with you, Dr.
Phoenix,” a tall agent with dark skin asked, his face set in an
impassive mask.

Nik froze, his gaze going to the man’s face.
A man who’d once been his best friend. Until Nik discovered he was
as rotten as the rest of the Institute. “Galen. So, you’re with
Institute Security, now.”

“Yes.” Galen Ryant looked older, harsher.
“Now, like I said, my boss wants to talk.”

Nik took a deep breath. “Sorry, I’m busy
today. Tell him to call ahead and make an appointment.”

Zayn snorted. “Since when did you find a
sense of humor?”

He speared his youngest brother with a look
he’d reserved for rowdy students back when he’d been with the
Institute.

“I’m sorry.” Galen stepped forward and
raised his hand, holding something. “That wasn’t a question.”