The Tracker's Dilemma: (A Mandrake Company Science Fiction Romance)

by Ruby Lionsdrake

  “You saw that coming,” Striker whispered as the ground stopped quaking—dirt continued to tumble from the ceiling. “Are you sure you don’t know anything about my underwear?”

  Tick only shook his head, no witty responses coming to mind. He was too worried, worried that the other shuttles would be pulverized by the military vessel, no matter how good Thatcher was, and worried that the destruction of this cavern was inevitable. For whatever reason, that ship was determined to bomb the druids’ home.

  “Uh, maybe we should finish chatting about this inside?” Ankari said to the druids, pointing to the shuttle. “Also, if you have other people here who might want a ride out, we could help with the evacuation.”

  “We will not leave our home,” the female druid said. “And we will not participate in your experiment, Ms. Keys.” Her gaze had grown cool, and her words were equally chilly.

  “Staying here might get you all killed,” Ankari said. “How many of your people live here? If it isn’t that many, we can get them into the shuttle. You have to consider evacuation.”

  “This has been our home for more than ten years. We trust that Willow will protect us. Even if he cannot… we will not leave this place. Thoughts of evacuation would not be necessary if you hadn’t brought this trouble down upon us.”

  “I want to help you,” Ms. Keys said, “to make you more than you ever dreamed of being. More human than human.”

  “Your interest is in helping yourself and proving that your career has not been a waste.”

  Keys opened her mouth, but didn’t seem to have a response to that. Too true to refute? Tick wondered how the druids could have known when they had only just met her.

  “Why did you bring us down here to talk to you if you knew you weren’t interested?” Keys asked.

  “You would not have found us without help, and you would not have left until you found us and received your answer.”

  The man looked over at Tick again. “Take these women and your spaceship and go,” he said, speaking directly to him. “We are always willing to share our knowledge with the system, if it is desired, but we will not be anybody’s experimental laboratory animals.”

  “I—” It was all that Tick got out.

  Another vision washed over him, this time with such power and intensity that it drove him to his knees.

  Chapter 15

  “I think I have control of the ship again,” Jamie said—she had been pushing buttons and waving her fingers through the navigational holodisplays.

  “Good,” Lieutenant Sparks said. “Too bad we can’t leave until they’re done talking out there.”

  He, Jamie, and Lauren were the only ones remaining in the shuttle. The sound of another explosion echoed down to them, and more dirt and foliage tumbled from the ceiling. Something landed on top of the shuttle with a clank and bounced off. Lauren gritted her teeth, wishing Tick was still beside her, both because he might be safer inside and because she wanted a hand to grip.

  “Couldn’t you order everyone to leave, Lieutenant?” Lauren unbuckled her harness and stood up, pointedly not looking toward the gaping chasm that fell away just past the shuttle’s ramp. “You’re the highest-ranking mercenary here, aren’t you?”

  She walked up to sit behind Jamie and to frown at Sparks. He hadn’t been the sort of officer to take charge, as far as she had noticed, letting Striker and Tick make most of the decisions in the instances when Mandrake hadn’t been around. With his gangly build, he definitely looked more like a tech than a fighter, and he had spent far more time back in the tiny engine compartment than giving orders.

  “I am, but our employer is out there, clearly engaged with those people. We yank her away before she finishes, and the company might not get paid. I don’t want to be blamed if the men don’t get their payday.” Sparks pointed at the console. “Try raising the captain again.”

  He tapped his own comm-patch, something he had done several times now without result. Either the cavern ceiling or that strange mist up there was keeping their messages from being heard. This entire moon seemed determined to keep them from communicating with each other. Or maybe it was the military vessel. Someone had suggested that another ship nearby might be responsible for jamming their communications.

  “That payday won’t mean much if we’re all dead,” Lauren said.

  “Captain Mandrake?” Jamie asked. “Commander Thatcher? Can you hear us?”

  “Where are you, Flipkens?” Mandrake growled. “And why haven’t you been responding to your comm?”

  “We haven’t been able to hear you, sir.” She glanced at Sparks and whispered, “Maybe they’re near the crater right now.”

  “Well, get out of that valley. We’re doing our best to keep this ship at bay, but we won’t have enough firepower to hurt him until—” A thunk-ker-hiss noise drowned out the rest of his sentence. His shuttle being hit? “Just get out of there,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over someone’s damage report.

  “We’re not in the valley, sir,” Jamie said.

  “Good.”

  “We’re under it.”

  Mandrake growled.

  “This Charger might have company coming,” he said. “We can’t stick around. Get Keys and our people out of there. I don’t care if you have to carry them over your shoulder.”

  Jamie touched her shoulder, a narrow platform for such an activity, but all she said was, “Yes, sir.”

  “Come on,” Sparks said, waving at Lauren and nodding toward the hatch.

  “What?” Why was he waving at her?

  “In case I need help convincing your sister that it’s time to leave.”

  “I thought that’s what Jamie’s shoulder was for.”

  Sparks grabbed Lauren’s arm, not leaving her much choice. Maybe she would just run out and throw Hailey over her own shoulder.

  “Wait,” she blurted as she passed her lab. “Let me grab my tranquilizer gun.” She would get her sister into this shuttle one way or another.

  • • • • •

  In Tick’s mind, he saw the huge bomb strike, the explosive—and the explosion—ten times greater than the ones before it. Trees flew, torn from their roots, and earth and boulders soared into the air. Rock snapped so loudly that it deafened him, and a crack split the terrain on the surface. Underneath it all, the cavern ceiling collapsed, rubble raining down by the tons. It smashed atop the shuttle—and the people standing around it, people yelling and racing toward the hatchway. They were too late. The ledge collapsed under the weight of the falling roof, and the shuttle and everything inside of it tumbled into a chasm.

  Tick gasped as someone shook his shoulder, the dream—the nightmare—fading from his mind’s eye. It took a confused moment for him to gather his wits, to see that Keys was still talking to the druids, to notice Striker standing above him, gripping his shoulder and snapping his fingers in front of Tick’s eyes.

  “Captain wouldn’t be pleased to see you sitting down and taking a nap.” Striker waved at Tick’s position down on his knees.

  “A nap?” Tick rasped, then swallowed, his throat painfully dry. He staggered to his feet. “We have to go. I saw—the cave is going to collapse.”

  “When?”

  He had no idea. In five minutes? In one? In seconds?

  “Before we’re out of it, if we don’t move now.” Tick didn’t know if he could change what he’d seen even if they did move now. What if that future was impossible to escape? He shook his head. They had to try. “Everyone on the shuttle,” he called. “Now!”

  He ran as he yelled, sprinting toward Keys and the druids. He couldn’t grab all three and drag them to the ramp, but he’d at least snatch up their employer.

  “The captain said to get out of here now,” came Lieutenant Sparks’s voice from behind him.

  Tick didn’t look back, not until he heard Lauren also speak.

  “Hailey, we’re leaving. Now.”

  Tick cursed, almost tripping. “Get back inside,”
he yelled at her. “I’ll get her.”

  “We’re not done,” Hailey said, dodging Tick’s first attempt to grab her. “They don’t understand what they could be. I have to explain. I—”

  The second time, Tick managed to snatch her up. He hoisted her over his shoulder and waved for the druids to follow him. Hailey slammed her fists into his back. The druids stepped away, not toward the shuttle but toward wherever they had come from. If it was another tunnel or cave, they wouldn’t be safe back there, no way.

  “Get them,” Tick ordered Striker and Sparks. “Everyone, get in the shuttle now. The ceiling is going to fall any—”

  The great boom, the one he had been dreading, erupted in the valley above. In the cavern, the noise was deafening, as it had been in his vision. Nobody would have heard him if he’d yelled.

  Tick sprinted for the hatch, following right after Ankari. Sparks and Striker had gone after the druids, but they spun back now, also running for the shuttle. Tick couldn’t blame them.

  The ground lurched, and Lauren tripped, going down hard on her knees. Striker, Sparks, and Ankari made it to the ramp. Tick halted so quickly that Keys almost flew over his shoulder. Balancing her, he reached down for Lauren. She was already scrambling to her feet.

  She yelled something he couldn’t hear. “I’m fine,” perhaps and resumed running.

  He wrapped his free arm, the one not holding Keys over his shoulder, around her waist, having no intention of letting her trip again or fall behind.

  When they were three steps from the ramp, the thunderous snapping of stone that he’d been dreading sounded above them. This time, the entire ceiling cracked open. Trees and rocks as big as the Albatross plummeted down from above, slamming onto the ledge.

  Remembering how that ledge had collapsed in his vision, Tick lunged for the ramp, his arm still around Lauren. But a boulder slammed onto it right in front of them. Metal snapped, the ramp sagged, and Tick almost smashed into the giant rock. It completely blocked the hatchway.

  “No,” Lauren cried, looking helplessly down at the tranquilizer gun in her hand.

  Seeing the horrified expression on her face and feeling the entire cavern collapsing around them filled Tick with terror. Terror and anger. How dare those military idiots do this? He glared at the boulder blocking their way and imagined hurling it across the cavern.

  It didn’t do quite what he had in mind, but to his surprise, it rolled to the side, tipping off the damaged ramp.

  Tick propelled Lauren ahead of him and flung himself into the shuttle, diving into the interior and letting go of Keys. They hit the deck hard, limbs in a jumble, taking down Lauren with them. It didn’t matter. They were inside.

  “Go, go!” Tick shouted.

  Striker was gaping at him—he stood next to the button that operated the ramp, his grenade launcher aimed out the hatch, as if he’d been about to blow up that boulder. Instead, he slammed his fist against the button. The shuttle was taking off before the hatch closed, the sound of the damaged ramp trying to squeal its way into its retracted position audible through the hull. Whether it made it, Tick didn’t know.

  Rocks slammed against the roof of the shuttle. From his position on the deck, Tick couldn’t see the view screen or Jamie, who must have been focused on the navigation controls in white-knuckled rapt attention. Maybe he didn’t want to see. More rocks battered them.

  “Shields are up,” Sparks said—he’d managed to get into the seat beside Jamie.

  “Heading for the entrance,” Jamie said. “If it’s still there. Uh.”

  Tick might have gotten up to check on what that “uh” meant, but Lauren leaned against him, sweat gleaming on her forehead. Keys had already crawled away from him, but Lauren did not seem in a hurry to move. She’d latched onto one of the legs of the rearmost seats with one hand. The other gripped Tick’s thigh, digging in with terror. He wrapped his arm around her, trying to exude ease, though he had no idea if they would survive.

  “The ledge just collapsed,” Jamie said.

  “Any way to tell if the druids got off?” Ankari asked.

  “Too busy worrying about if we’re going to get out of here,” Jamie said, thuds punctuating her words as more and more boulders struck the top of the shuttle.

  Even with the shields up, the blows reverberated through the craft. Sometimes, the chunks of earth pummeling them were large enough to knock them off course as the collapsing cavern did its best to bury the shuttle along with everything else.

  “Just… fly faster,” Ankari urged.

  “Trying. Hard to see through this.”

  Clumps of dirt and rocks fell in front of the view screen like rain. Lauren’s sister sat in one of the seats, looking blearily at the mess. She looked stunned. Had she grasped that none of this would have happened if not for her quest?

  “There’s the crater,” Jamie said.

  The mist had faded, and rocks tumbled down through the opening, highlighted by sunshine. The shuttle made it into the daylight and veered upward. The green and brown walls blurred as Jamie accelerated.

  “Careful,” Sparks said. “That military ship is probably still up there.”

  “Actually,” Jamie said slowly, looking over at the sensors, “with that mist gone, I can see what’s going on out here decently. The Albatross is chasing the military ship up into the atmosphere. Our two other shuttles are giving chase too.”

  “The captain brought the Albatross down here?” Tick asked, stunned. The combat shuttles didn’t have much in the way of markings or ways for outsiders to identify them as belonging to the company, but the ship? That was a different story. “Any chance of Mandrake Company not being linked to this little squabble is gone now.”

  Lieutenant Sparks let out a low whistle, exchanging looks with Striker. Even Striker didn’t have one of his usual dumb comments. They both knew the ramifications. Going forward, Mandrake Company would likely be hunted by GalCon left and right. Fleet had the power to do much more than interfere with the mercenaries’ ability to get contracts.

  As Jamie flew them away from the destroyed valley, Ankari was the one to open up communications with the other shuttles. Perhaps that was just as well. The captain would be in a foul mood.

  “Viktor?” she asked hesitantly.

  “You got out,” Mandrake said.

  Only someone who had known him a long time would detect the relief in his gruff voice. Tick qualified, though it still surprised him to hear emotion—other than anger or irritation—in his captain’s voice. He tightened his grip around Lauren, wondering if he would get to the point where his own voice would betray his feelings. Or maybe he already had. She looked up at him, some of the fear having faded from her eyes, and laid her hand on his forearm.

  “We got out,” Ankari agreed, “but we left a mess. I’m not sure if the druids...”

  “I’ve been talking to them,” Mandrake said. “They have a protected shuttle bay down there, and they said they’d be able to dig their way out, but it would be better if the military believes they’ve been killed.”

  “They seemed to be pretty certain that you would choose to protect them.”

  Mandrake grunted. “Not very damn effectively. I should have had Calendula and Sequoia bring the Albatross down earlier. As soon as the Charger started dropping explosives. I—never mind. We’ll discuss it later.” His tone turned dry. “While we’re choosing a new hideout on the far rim of the system.”

  Ankari’s lips flattened as she looked back at Keys, who avoided her gaze. Maybe some of her enthusiasm for her research project had finally dimmed, and she realized the ramifications of what she’d done, the trouble she had brought to the druids. Even if they had survived—and Tick didn’t know if all of them had… he couldn’t imagine that the two druids who had been speaking to Keys had found time to get back to their protected area—their home of ten years had been destroyed. All of their work, their experiments. Keys would be lucky if they didn’t take a hit out on her.

 
“Maybe you should reconsider retirement,” Ankari said.

  Tick stared at her, noting the almost wistful expression on her face. Did she want Mandrake to retire? What would become of the outfit if he did? Tick couldn’t imagine Garland taking over. He was a fine mostly-night-shift first officer, but he never talked to clients or went out and dug up missions.

  “Considering how many people want me dead now,” Mandrake said, “I’m better off living on a ship. A fast ship. Besides, now that you have a personal chef, why would you ever want to leave?”

  Ankari snorted, though she also smiled. “Ying is hardly my personal chef.”

  “I heard she was complaining about the combat because it was disturbing the bread she had rising.”

  “Oh, fresh bread? Sourdough?”

  Mandrake’s voice turned even drier as he said, “Let’s worry about the Charger—and making sure it’s not fleeing to collect reinforcements—before talking about dinner.” His humor faded, his tone growing harder as he added, “Is our employer still alive? We’ve taken her to her three destinations, whether things worked out as she wished or not.”

  Ankari looked back at Keys again, but she was staring down at her hands and did not seem to notice.

  “I’m not sure she’s ready to discuss payment,” Ankari said, “but she’s alive.”

  “No.” Keys finally met her eyes. “Have your captain report that I didn’t survive. Like with the druids.”

  “What are you talking about, Hailey?” For the first time, Lauren tried to get up.

  Tick lowered his arm and helped her to rise. On shaky legs, Lauren made her way to the seat next to her sister.

  “I’m not going to give up,” Hailey said. “If I have to eventually publish my experiments under a pseudonym, I will, but I will find Grenavinians who will work with me, and I’ll figure out how to bring these insights to all humans, to take our species to the next level. Don’t you understand how important this is, Lauren? It’s the first step toward possibly moving beyond the physical and developing a consciousness that could survive longer than our flesh and bone bodies.”