He picked a long bone up, turning it over. He caught her gaze with a frown. “Definitely human.”
“Let’s hope that whatever did this lived in here a long time ago.”
“Well, it doesn’t look fresh.”
They kept moving. Niklas was studying his wrist Sync. “Not much farther. Ahead should be the doorway to the Special Exhibitions Hall.”
Nera really wished she could explore some of the side rooms. They all appeared damaged and empty, but her treasure radar was going off, and she’d bet her bank balance of e-creds there were still small valuables in there to find.
Her boot struck a rock. She almost ignored it, but she quickly glanced down and paused. “Look at this.”
It was the top half of a small statue. She picked it up, turned it over. Terribly damaged, but still valuable. The woman’s face was serene, her arms by her side in a rigid pose. A long, elegant headdress sat on her head, accenting her long neck. “Egyptian, right?”
“Yes. I might make an astro-archeologist out of you yet,” he said, grinning in the gloom.
“I don’t think so.”
He touched the statue. “It’s excellent quality. Such a shame it’s broken. She’s?—”
When he broke off, she looked up at him. “She’s?”
“She was ushabti. A servant for the afterlife.”
Nera stared at the woman’s face. “You mean a slave.”
He didn’t say anything, but she smiled. God, he was cute…trying to protect her from a past long dead. For some reason, that tight, hot pain she often felt didn’t feel so poisonous right now. “I’m taking her. I like her.” Nera opened her backpack and carefully slipped the statue inside.
Shouts came through their nano-earpieces. They were cut with static, making it hard to make out what was going on. Nera tensed, ready for anything. Niklas pressed a finger to his ear and he smiled. “Gunn and Solomon found something.” He paused again. “A giant Olmec head. Avril’s organizing the security team to secure it and ready it for transport.”
“Come on, then,” Nera said. “We can’t let Gunn outdo us.”
They reached a wide-arched doorway at the end of the corridor. It was partially blocked by rubble.
“This it?” she asked.
He nodded, and started pushing at the rubble to make an opening wide enough for them to fit through. She helped.
But after they’d moved several chunks of debris, they found a solid-metal door blocking their way. “Damn,” he muttered. “Security door.”
“Maybe it kept looters out.”
“But now it’s keeping us out. We’ll have to ask Avril for that laser cutter.”
Nera raised a brow. “Hardly.” She opened her backpack and pulled out what she wanted.
Niklas frowned at the small metal ball. “Ah…what is that? Not explosive, right? Because I don’t want to bring the entire place down on us…and living with Lala’s made me a bit twitchy.”
Nera shook her head. “Don’t worry, Phoenix. I’ll protect you.” She hit the button on the side of the ball. “This is called a shredder.” She pressed it to the door.
For a second, nothing happened. Then it started moving in a large circle, leaving a line behind in the metal.
He crouched to look at it. “It’s not a laser cutter. There’s no heat.”
“Nope. It’s Rendarian tech. It’s filled with a corrosive chemical that’s delivered to cut into metal. You can use it when a laser cutter or explosive is too dangerous to use.”
“Nice.”
The shredder finished with a beep. She pulled it off and packed it away. Then she gave the circle it had cut a kick. The piece of metal fell through to the other side with a dull clang.
