And that made her mad.
“What do you think of them?”
She focused on what Niklas was saying. “Well, they aren’t gold, but they are shiny.” She studied the lines of the cars. “I appreciate their design. There’s something stylish about them. I imagine driving them fast would have been a pleasure.”
“Yeah, I can see you driving the Cobra. It suits you.”
His blue eyes caught her, pulled her in.
Avril rushed over. “Well done, Nik. They arefabulous.”
He looked over his shoulder at the archeologist. “Nera deserves half the credit. Maybe more, because without her, we would have died out there.”
Avril’s smile slipped. “Yes, it was a close call. Well…good work, both of you.”
Yeah, Nera was really feeling the love from Luma-Symthe.
“This is exactly the kind of find we’re after,” Avril continued. “My team will decontaminate them shortly. It’s standard procedure for all artifacts we bring aboard. We clear the cargo area and let off a decon light bomb to reduce the radiation to safe levels and kill any stowaway bugs.”
“Someone trapped us in that car showroom.” Nera knew the hard edge in her voice was obvious.
Avril blinked. “But no one was near you. The other teams were already back at the ship.”
“Something was near us,” Nera insisted.
Avril lifted her Sync, her brow furrowed. “I’ll have the science team on theMagellanrun more detailed scans. Perhaps some wildlife has survived in this area? However, most of the mutated animals are difficult to spot on the scans. They are so irradiated, they blend into the background.”
“When can we head back out?” Niklas asked.
Nera straightened. She was eager to get back out there, too…with Niklas. Like he’d said, they made a surprisingly good team. She appreciated his steadier approach, the way he evaluated and assessed everything.
“The med techs have given everyone the all-clear.”
“Excellent.” He looked at Nera. “Ready?”
She nodded. “Ready.”
They didn’t waste any time. After suiting up again, they headed down to the surface and were soon wandering through a new part of the ruins. Steel framework protruded from the sand, spearing into the air.
Nera touched the metal, wondering at the people who’d made it, built the structure, and called it home.
“Makes you wonder what life was like here, doesn’t it?” Niklas was staring down the dune. More of the structure was visible above the sand. It formed a giant metal framework.
“Whatever it was like, they destroyed it.” She climbed up a steel truss. “I might get a better view from up here.”
“You climb like a Zamorian leopard. It’s extremely sexy to watch.”
She almost lost her footing. She leaped up onto a flat part of the structure and looked down at him. “Are you flirting with me?”
“I don’t flirt.”
She was pretty sure he was flirting. She tilted her head, considering him. She didn’t think anyone had ever flirted with her. Most people were too afraid of her. Although, she guessed the little cat-and-mouse game she and Niklas had been playing the last few years might qualify. “Sexy is you without a shirt on.”
He went very still.
“Your muscle tone is unexpected in a man who enjoys books and e-records as much as you?—”
“Nera—” His voice sounded a little choked.
