“A happy lover is one who gets exactly what she wants,” she informed him sagely.
Tick started to laugh, but cut it short, scratching his head thoughtfully instead.
“We’re still working on the gift-giving list,” Val added, a little ruefully as she smiled toward the comm. “I keep putting frivolous things on it, and he keeps getting me practical things. When I wrote chocolate, he ordered a box of chocolate protein logs from Mandrake’s supplier.” She wrinkled her nose. “When I wrote sexy underwear, he got me thermal longs. I’m learning to be more specific with my request lists.”
“Did you not comment on the usefulness of the heated undergarments just this morning?” Thatcher asked.
“Yes, I did.”
“What kind of gifts do you get him?” Tick asked.
Val smiled. “Ones that are appreciated by all.”
Sedge shook his head in bemusement at the conversation. He wasn’t surprised that Thatcher made lists in his personal life. At work, he was always making them for himself and others and insisting on precise adherence to them. If he had somehow convinced Val to find that trait endearing, then maybe there was hope for Sedge to convince a woman that sneezing was attractive. He kept himself from eyeing Kalish with speculation, since he had already told himself his interest wasn’t professional at this time. Perhaps later, after the mission was over, they might...
What, Sedge? It’s not like she’s going to join Mandrake Company. And you’re not ready to quit flying around the system and pitting your mind against opponents, right?
He was chewing over that last question when Thatcher said, “Seventy-five percent penetration.”
The comm beeped, announcing another caller. Val waved at the sensor, and Captain Mandrake’s head appeared in the air in front of her and Tick.
“Calendula here, sir,” she said. “Thatcher is busy penetrating things.”
Sedge struggled to hold back a choking noise in his throat. He might make jokes with those of his own rank or below, but he would never speak so lightly to the captain or anyone his senior. He wasn’t sure whether to admire Val’s irreverence or be shocked by it. She hadn’t spent as many years in the Fleet as he had, having mandatory military courtesy drilled into him, but she had gone through the flight academy and been an officer for a year or two. Of course, pilots throughout the Fleet often believed their jobs extra important and themselves equally important. Irreverence wasn’t that uncommon.
“Is he,” Mandrake said, his voice flat. “Will you be in the caverns soon?”
“Should be.”
“Good, because Mandrake Company will be sending out search teams to hunt for the wayward crew members who stole two shuttles and who attacked the mining complex down there for their own gain. The miners have agreed that these miscreants must be captured and punished. They’re aware that said miscreants stole data.” Mandrake’s eyes narrowed to slits, and even though he wasn’t looking in his direction, Sedge squirmed, feeling they hadn’t done as well as they could have to salvage that situation and keep everyone’s identity secret. “The miners would be assisting us in our search,” Mandrake went on, “but they’re busy with a new problem of their own, down in the tunnels. A ship drilled into a new area, and they believe that’s what caused a strange gas to seep out of the rocks. It’s corrosive to their drilling equipment and has unpleasant gastrointestinal and neurological effects on humans who breathe the air as well. You’ll want to avoid it, but its influence shouldn’t extend too far past the opening in their compound. I gather you’ll be entering the caverns elsewhere.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Consider the miners distracted, Ms. Blackwell. I can’t promise the gas will keep them out of the mines indefinitely, as they’re already trying to figure out how to move in ventilation equipment without the corrosive element affecting it, but you should have a few days. After that, we’ll see what we can do if you need more time.”
Mandrake lifted a hand to cut the comm, but Sedge spoke before his face disappeared from the display. “Who came up with the biological agent, sir? That sounds like a complicated compound.”
“You can thank Microbacteriotherapy, Inc. for that, specifically their microbiologist. I would thank her myself, but she never comes out of her lab.”
“Ah, Lauren.” Tick smiled as the captain’s face vanished. Wistfully? Odd, there was definitely an atypical dreaminess to his expression.
With so few women on board the Albatross, the men often speculated about the three women who had their own company and worked out of the ship’s new laboratory, but Dr. Keys wasn’t the one who was usually the recipient of the speculation. She was pretty enough, but older than the other two and, as far as Sedge could tell, utterly oblivious to men, women, and the human need for social interaction and companionship. He had spoken to her a few times, curious to know if the gut treatment they were working on, one that incorporated the microbiota that the extraordinary hale and long-lived ancient aliens had been hosts for, might be of some assistance to him when they finished their research and tests. None of the ruins that had been discovered had ever mentioned allergies in the writing, music, and art samples that had been left behind. At his behest, Ankari had put him on the list for when the company was ready to begin clinical trials.
“We’ve reached the one hundred percent mark of Ms. Blackwell’s estimate,” Thatcher said. “Forty meters. No end to the rock wall yet.”
“No satisfaction even at a hundred percent penetration, eh?” Tick asked. “The list may not be working.”
This time, Val did smack him.
“Continuing to cut into the rock,” Thatcher said, without acknowledging Tick’s humor.
“You’ve been bunking with Striker too often,” Sedge told Tick.
“Probably true. I’ll leave you with him next time, and I’ll go sleep with our employer.”
Kalish had pulled out her tablet to study the maps again, specifically the area they were hovering over. If she had heard any of the penetration conversation, it wasn’t apparent. “He should have broken through by now,” she murmured. “Unless our cartographers weren’t very accurate.” She grimaced. “Given the pencil nature of those maps, that could be a possibility, but you would think they would strive for accuracy. They have to have good maps to program their mining ships to go in there, right? Lazy charts could mean a ship crashing into a wall.”
“A reasonable argument,” Sedge said.
“The laser has broken through,” Thatcher announced. “All of the dust is muting the sensors, but there’s at least an air pocket. Perhaps more.”
Kalish leaned forward, her eyes intent on the view screen, even though the dust still hid everything—they could barely see the back of the other shuttle. She clasped Sedge’s hand. He wasn’t sure she was even aware of doing so, but the simple touch sent a spark of electricity through his body. He returned the handclasp, gently wrapping his fingers around hers. He rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand, enjoying the smooth warmth of her skin.
Val’s fingers danced over her panel, and she eyed the display to the side of her seat. “Our sensors are working, Gregor. Definitely detecting a big empty space in there.”
“Confirmed,” Thatcher said. “The laser caused a few rockfalls that we may have to clear along the way, but with sufficient pilot attentiveness, the hole is large enough for us to fly through.”
“I promise to be attentive and not scrape up the captain’s shuttle,” Val said. “You can even send me a list if you want.”
Tick snorted.
Sedge barely heard the conversation. Oh, he knew they were about to head into the mountain, but he was far too aware of Kalish standing beside him to do more than follow the gist. The warmth of her hand, her shoulder brushing against his upper arm, the way her braids of hair fell over her shoulder and traced the curve of her breasts... It was a good thing Thatcher wasn’t physically present to observe this inappropriateness.
“We’re ready whenever you a
re,” Val said when a couple of minutes passed without a comment from the other shuttle.
“Excellent,” Thatcher said. “I am transmitting the list.”
Val rolled her eyes and mouthed, “I was joking,” to Tick.
“I don’t think that works with him,” Tick said.
“Entering the orifice now.”
A snicker from Striker drifted over the comm as the shuttle floated toward the gaping hole now visible in the side of the cliff.
“I’ll refrain from further penetration jokes and let you concentrate,” Tick said. “Oh, there’s your list.” He poked at the comm panel, and no less than fifteen numbered items floated in the air beside Val.
“Fabulous,” Val muttered, and eased the shuttle forward.
“We’re going in. Finally.” Kalish squeezed Sedge’s hand and beamed up at him.
6
Kalish did not remember grabbing Sedge’s hand, but she grew aware that she was indeed holding it as the shuttle slid into the dark passage, following the sleek, gray craft ahead of it, their landing lights reflecting off walls freshly burned into existence by the laser. She thought about retracting her hand. What must Sedge be thinking? But the discovery of a new place always sent shivers of excitement through her, and she enjoyed having someone to share that with. Since her mother and sister were still flying in from the nebula, it made sense to grab the nearest warm body, right?
Except that for whatever reason, Sedge was a little more than that. She wouldn’t have grabbed Tick. Or Val. His hand was warm and dry, his fingers loosely wrapped around hers, and she found herself aware of his presence beside her. The memory of him in his cot came to mind, the way she had wanted to slide her hand along his bare torso. She kept her face toward the view screen, but eyed his chest out of the corner of her eye, the swell of pectoral muscles visible beneath his shirt. His clean, wrinkle-free shirt that was tucked neatly into his waistband. He looked like he had just showered and dressed for an interview, rather than that he had been sleeping in the wilderness and fighting off predators. Maybe he had a miniature iron in his pack, along with all of those other silly devices. What would it be like to sleep with him? Would he even wrinkle the sheets in bed?
Sedge looked down at her, and she started, embarrassed for having been caught staring at his chest and thinking silly thoughts. Her first instinct was to look away and reclaim her hand, but he smiled warmly at her, not a hint of judgment in his eyes.
“I hope you find what you’re looking for,” he whispered.
There didn’t seem to be any artifice or secondary meaning to his words, an implication that he hoped she found what she sought so the mercenaries could profit too. He simply seemed to care. Why he would after only a couple of days together, she didn’t know, but she admitted that she liked that he did.
Val and Thatcher were talking back and forth over the comm, exchanging warnings and affirming that lists were being followed, and Tick was watching the way ahead, but Kalish struggled to look away from Sedge, from the sweet earnestness in his eyes.
“Thank you,” she murmured back. She wondered what he would do if she leaned against him and brought her other hand over to rest on his waist, to press her face against his chest, to learn what he smelled like, to feel the hard sinews of his muscles beneath his shirt.
“Why is it cloudy?” Tick asked. “Shit, that isn’t that biological gunk the captain was talking about, is it?”
The concern in his voice pulled Kalish away from her musings.
It must have done the same for Sedge, assuming he had been having any musings of his own, because he let go of her hand and stepped forward, leaning over Tick’s chair. “What?”
The lead shuttle had eased out of the tunnel it had burned and into a dark underground chamber every bit as vast as Kalish had imagined. A shaft of sunlight drifted in from a jagged hole far overhead, revealing a surprising amount of low, green foliage on the horizontal surfaces, ledges and rounded humps that thrust out from the walls here and there. The bottom of the chamber wasn’t visible yet, even with the shuttle lights angled downward. A hazy cloud hung in the air above them, stretching along the lumpy contours of the ceiling, hugging stalactites that hung down in varying lengths, some like swords and others like upside-down towers.
“Sensor analysis shows the clouds to be pure water,” Thatcher said.
Kalish relaxed. She didn’t know how Mandrake Company had secretly delivered its biological agent, but she would have had a hard time imagining it drifting this far from the mine entrance. There were enough things to worry about down here without adding elements.
“How would clouds get inside a mountain?” Striker asked.
“There must be water sources throughout the cavern system,” Kalish said and waved toward the ledge of greenery in view ahead of them.
“There’s a slight wind too,” Thatcher said. “This complex must be large enough to have its own weather.”
“It’s prettier than the outside of the planet, that’s for sure,” Tick said, leaning forward to admire the colorful bands of red, brown, and yellow running along the rocks. Water trickled down one striated wall to feed the growth on the ledge. “Who knew Karzelek had something greener than a pale thorny cactus?”
“Just don’t make Thomlin go out there,” Striker said. “His nose will explode next to all that alien plant life.”
Sedge sighed.
Kalish nudged him with her elbow. “You should torment him back. He deserves it.”
“Oh? I thought it was nobler to ignore him. Or maybe it’s just that I have a delusion that he’ll get bored of interacting with me if I don’t respond.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen, LT,” Tick said. “He uses you for creative fodder. He has a comic strip character based on you. Ned the Nose. His secret power is shooting poisonous darts out of his nostrils.”
Sedge blinked a few times. The comics had been mentioned before, but Kalish couldn’t imagine the brutish Striker picking up a pen and drawing something, much less thinking up characters and plots for a story.
“I’m not sure whether to be more alarmed by the fact that I’ve been immortalized in his dubious publication,” Sedge said, “or that you’ve read it.”
“They’re better than you would reckon. Lots of women, sex, explosions, and sex during explosions.”
“Cerebral offerings, to be sure.”
“I’m detecting some lifeforms in here,” Val said. “Something about the size of a small deer down on that ledge, and—” A small dark figure banged into the front of the shuttle, and she jerked in surprise. Kalish did too, especially when a dozen more creatures showed up on the view screen, wings flapping.
The shuttle shuddered, hitting something.
Val cursed and steered away from the stalactites. “Stupid bats.”
If those were bats, they were the largest ones Kalish had ever seen. They did have dark bodies and wings, though, and must have been residing up on the ceiling before the shuttle had disturbed them.
“You have your shields up, don’t you?” Thatcher asked.
“Yes, yes,” Val said. “Don’t worry. No scratches to the shuttle.” She lowered her voice. “I wasn’t expecting bats.”
“Shall I amend the list?” Thatcher sounded utterly serious.
“No need. I’ll do it.” Val made a rude gesture at the list, then waved a finger through it, so it disappeared.
“Commander Thatcher?” Kalish asked. “Can we find a spot to wait? I’m going to send the coordinates to my crew so our ship can join us in here too. I wasn’t sure if there would be room for the Divining Rod to navigate down here, but this place is immense. It looks like she ought to be able to go at least partway with us, if we can widen the entry tunnel so she can get in. I have a lot of tools on there that should be useful, and we have several months’ worth of food and water on board.” She decided not to mention that the converted freighter had been retrofitted with powerful engines and the strongest tractor beam av
ailable on the market, so that if the ruins proved as lucrative as they hoped, the Divining Rod could haul out a huge find.
“Months?” Tick frowned out at the dark passages all around them. “You didn’t retain our service for that long, did you?”
“No, but it’s good to be prepared if anything happens.”
“Lieutenant, please head for that ledge,” Thatcher said. “I will open the entrance farther, but I should note that the shuttle was not crafted for such work, and it is draining on the lasers.”
“I can do it if you want to split the drain between the two shuttles,” Val said.
Thatcher hesitated. “No, I will handle it. Thank you.”
“He’s too polite to make jokes about my aim,” Val told Tick. “But I suspect I’ll hear about those bats later.”
She veered for one of the ledges. Natural trails and ramps ran along some of the walls, allowing wildlife access to lower levels of the caverns. When the shuttle dipped, its lights shining into the depths, a stream came into view, far below, meandering at the bottom of a chasm at least a mile deep.
Kalish took out her comm unit and called the ship. “Have you made it back into the atmosphere?” she asked.
“Almost,” her sister responded. “We’re coming in on the far side of the planet, so the miners won’t notice us. I hope.”
“Good. I’m sending you some coordinates. We’ll wait for you.”
“In the caverns? Did you find them? Do you see any ruins yet?” Tia sounded like she was bouncing up and down with excitement. Even if she had never studied history, beyond the cursory school requirements, she was always enthused at exploring new places. And blabbing what they were looking for to strangers. Oh, well. At this point, the mercenaries all knew about the ruin hunt.
“We’re inside an entrance we made. So far, only bats. We’ll wait for you to explore further.”
“Yes, I wasn’t going to talk to you for weeks if you went in with those mercs and didn’t take us. We’re much more fun.”
Sedge was still standing near Kalish, and he raised his eyebrows at this proclamation. Some of her earlier thoughts came back to her, and she blushed. Whatever she had been thinking was silly. This wasn’t the time for dalliances. Where would a person find privacy even if she wanted dalliances?
Mandrake Company- The Complete Series Page 88