Page 71 of On a Rogue Planet
“Nope. To my ever-living regret.” Dathan shot a quick glance at his brother. “Then she started targeting our hunts. Not every one, just the really valuable ones. And started taking an unhealthy interest in all things Phoenix.”
Niklas stayed quiet.
“Centax Security has records on her,” Xander said.
Nik’s head shot up. “What?”
“She’s brushed up against us a few times, and stolen some artifacts from a neighboring allied planet. We took an interest.”
Nik’s jaw worked and finally he said, “What do you know about her?”
“Not much,” Xander admitted. “I suspect she created the identity of Nera Darc.”
Nik’s shoulders slumped.
“And I don’t blame her.”
Malin leaned forward, brow creased. “What do you mean?”
“The only thing we could find was a minor reference linking her to two planets.”
“What planets?” Nik asked.
“Novalia and Klavinoi.”
“No,” Malin breathed.
“Never heard of them,” Dathan said.
“Novalia is a military world. Children are bred and raised to be soldiers,” Xander told them.
Dathan tapped his fingers against his knee. “Darc is deadly and well-trained, but I can’t see her following orders.”
“And Klavinoi is?—”
Niklas leaped to his feet, his body singing with tension. “It’s a fucking slaver world in the Byzantium quadrant.” He slammed a fist into the back of his chair, then stalked off.
“What am I missing?” Dathan asked quietly, staring at the doorway where his brother had disappeared.
Xander sighed. “The ruling aristocracy of Klavinoi buy slaves for everything. Household work, farming, industry.”
“Okay.” Dathan watched him intently.
Malin shifted in her seat. “I’ve heard of Klavinoi. Dad had the opportunity to visit the salvage yard there. He turned it down. They collect the most beautiful girls in the galaxy and…train them in all the sensual arts. They’re renowned for their sex slaves.”
Zayn turned around. “Shit. Black heart aside, they don’t come more beautiful than Darc.”
Dathan rubbed a hand over his face. “Well, I can’t see Darc as a slave either.”
“We could find no definitive record that she was ever on either planet. But without knowing what her real name is…” Nera Darc would remain a mystery.
Conversation moved onto other topics. Niklas never returned to the cockpit.
Then BEll’s voice interrupted. “The bridge portal is coming into view.”
They all leaned forward. Xander was the first to see it. A small smudge of silver light straight ahead.
It looked like a funnel made of shimmering silver. Similar to a huma-field, but wilder, more energetic. The large mouth of the portal was a huge circle and the tail of it seemed to disappear into nothing.
