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

by Ruby Lionsdrake

  “The other one,” Striker said, frowning over at Lauren.

  “Corporal Hemlock’s missing,” Lieutenant Sparks said.

  “Tick just ran outside.”

  After making sure Jamie and Ankari had their eyes open—all of the mercenaries had staggered to their feet, though some looked as pained as Lauren felt—she turned toward the open hatch. The huge trunk of a tree rose up right beyond it. Nobody had extended the ramp yet, so she paused at the edge, peering into the wilds.

  Howls and screeches came from the jungle. Smoke wafted from the bottom of the shuttle, which rested lopsidedly on a rocky shelf at the base of a cliff. From the hatchway, she couldn’t see the extent of the damage, but wagered Jamie and Sparks would have a lot of work to do to get it in the air again, if they could get it in the air at all.

  “Did Hemlock take her?” Ankari asked.

  Lauren blinked. Why would he have done that? She spotted Heath, already crouched several meters away, two fingers to the ground. Tracking.

  “Ankari?” came Mandrake’s voice, barely audible through Ankari’s comm-patch. “We saw the crash. We’re looking for a spot to land. Stay put.”

  “We can’t,” Ankari said. “Your employer is missing, along with one of your men.”

  “Explain,” Mandrake said.

  Lauren sat on the edge of the hatchway, then hopped down, her hip protesting the movement. But if Hailey was missing, she had to do something. How she could help, she had no idea, but she couldn’t idly wait for the other shuttles. Besides, she was the only one who had a clue as to what Hailey was up to, and if her sister had been taken because of her knowledge or because of her project, that could be important.

  “Heath?” she asked, the rest of Ankari and Mandrake’s conversation fading from hearing as she moved away from the shuttle.

  “I’ve got the trail. He’s carrying her, probably over his shoulder.” Heath turned, meeting Lauren’s eyes briefly—he winced, as if he blamed himself for something. “Lieutenant Sparks?” he said up to the hatchway. “I’m going after Hemlock. Tell the captain.” He waved toward Ankari, who wore a distracted expression as she conversed with Mandrake.

  “Sergeant, that’s not quite how it works,” Sparks said. “You’re supposed to ask the lieutenants if you can do things, not tell them to deliver your messages.”

  “You’re only an L.T. because you know how to fix torpedoes and you finished that degree in basket-weaving or whatever it was.”

  “Carpentry.”

  Heath had already turned back to the trail, looking like he intended to run off immediately.

  “Wait for me,” Lauren said. “I’m coming with you.”

  “What?” Heath frowned over his shoulder.

  “Neither of you is going anywhere,” Ankari said from the top of the hatchway. “Viktor said to wait. He’s bringing the other two shuttles down, and everyone will help search.”

  “I can’t delay, or we might lose her.” Heath shifted from foot to foot. “He’s taking her to sell to some bounty hunter. There’s no telling how far away the other ship is. He could already be halfway there.”

  “How can you possibly know that?” Ankari asked.

  “You saw his thoughts,” Lauren said, thinking of his wince, his guilty expression. Had he known what Hemlock intended, but not soon enough to do anything about it? For that matter, had that been Hemlock causing all of the errors in the shuttle?

  “Just a flash,” Heath said. “Enough to know there’s very little time.” He drew a knife from a sheath on his belt and waved it. “Tell the captain, I’ll mark the trail so his team can follow me.”

  By now, Lauren had walked over to him. “I’m going with you. My sister probably knows less about all this than her kidnappers—whoever made a deal with Hemlock—think. My knowledge may be necessary to talk them out of… whatever they plan.” She grimaced, hardly believing she was volunteering to tramp into this damned jungle again. Once she had time to think about this, she would doubtlessly grow aware of her insanity.

  “You’ll just slow him down,” Sergeant Striker told Lauren. He’d hopped out of the shuttle with Lieutenant Sparks and Jamie, the latter two immediately moving around the hull to assess damage. “Better stay here, Doc.”

  Heath looked at Lauren instead of Striker.

  She lifted her chin. “My sister grates on my nerves, uses methods I find unethical bordering on nefarious, and is the reason we’re all in trouble. But she’s all I have. I have to go after her.”

  Heath gripped her shoulder and nodded back toward the shuttle. “Dr. Keys is coming with me.”

  Ankari opened her mouth, as if to object, but Lauren frowned at her, and she didn’t. She did hold up a finger. “Wait one second.”

  Ankari disappeared inside. Lauren waited. Heath did not. His gaze toward the ground, and whatever signs he saw in the mud and foliage, he started into the jungle. Afraid she would lose him if she hesitated too long, Lauren was on the verge of chasing after him when Ankari reappeared with two packs, the one Lauren had packed earlier for research and Ankari’s field pack. She hopped down and ran to Lauren.

  “Here. My pack has food logs, clean water, and a first-aid kit in it. I’m sure we’ll catch right up with you, but...”

  “I understand,” Lauren said, grabbing both and slinging the larger pack over her shoulders. “Thank you.”

  “Be careful!”

  Lauren waved and ran after Heath, ignoring the pain in her hip. She tripped before she had gone ten steps, nearly pitching to the ground. She caught herself on a tree and hurried on while hoping that hadn’t been a sign, a reminder that she had no business out in the uncivilized wilderness.

  • • • • •

  Tick moved through the jungle as quickly as possible, slowing down only if Lauren fell behind, but that was rare. She pushed herself to keep up. To lighten her load, he’d taken the pack Ankari had given her, slinging it on his back. He should have thought to grab supplies of his own—and his combat armor. All he had was a laser rifle, a pistol, and his knife. They would have to be enough.

  Fortunately, this part of the jungle had not seen many miners, loggers, or other visitors, and the undergrowth lay undisturbed, except by the light feet of animals. And by one set of heavy boot prints. Hemlock was carrying Keys, probably over his left shoulder, judging by the lopsided gait. Tick could follow the disturbed earth, smashed foliage, and broken twigs and branches without slowing down too much. That was good, because he could tell by the distance between Hemlock’s prints that he was running. Though the terrain was rough, he followed a relatively direct line, one that led to some meeting point, Tick was sure. The ship he had seen in Hemlock’s thoughts might already be on the ground and waiting for him.

  Birds screeched in the treetops, disturbed by his and Lauren’s passage. Normally, Tick would worry about his prey hearing the noise and being alerted to his pursuit. This time, he doubted it mattered. For reasons he couldn’t guess at, Hemlock seemed to be getting a much larger dose of these mental powers than Tick. Or maybe he’d just been embracing them more, practicing to see what he could learn to do. That burst of wind he had hurled at Tick had been a hell of a lot more impressive than dice rolling around on the deck.

  A monkey screeched from the vines of a nearby tree, and Lauren cursed.

  Tick looked back in time to see her trip. He paused to see if she needed a hand, but she caught herself. She met his eyes and waved for him to continue on. Mud spattered her clothing, fresh scratches were carved into the back of her hand, and a contusion swelled at her temple. He wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her, but the determination on her face did not suggest that she wanted that now. Perhaps never.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Keep going.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  As Tick continued after his prey, his comm-patch beeped. He grimaced, half-tempted to ignore it. Mandrake might want him to go back or to wait for the company to catch up. He didn’t want to delay.

>   “Tick here,” he answered without slowing his pace. He could watch for tracks and talk at the same time.

  “Thatcher caught sight of another ship landing behind that ridge to the south,” Mandrake said. “He’s going to try to find it. Frog is going to land and bring more troops down to help you.”

  “Understood, Cap’n,” Tick said, relieved there hadn’t been a cease-and-desist order in there. “Same ship that Sparks described?”

  “Yes, the Wrangler’s Wrath, the one spying on our pink shuttle earlier and a different one from the one we chased off. Keys is a popular girl.”

  “I’ll try to get her back before Hemlock gets her to that ship.”

  “You sure he kidnapped her? That he wasn’t taken prisoner himself, by someone else?”

  As if someone else could have known exactly where the shuttle would crash and could have lain in wait. “I’m sure, Cap’n. I saw his thoughts.”

  Tick waited for a comment of disbelief, knowing how crazy that sounded.

  All Mandrake said was, “If he did kidnap her, you have my permission to shoot his ass.”

  “Was planning to do that, anyway, Cap’n. For Lauren.” He glanced back to check on her again and caught her raising her eyebrows.

  “You’re supposed to get women jewelry, Sergeant. Not mutilated bodies.”

  “Reckon that might be true on the inner core planets, but we’ve always done things a mite different out here. I expect Ankari would agree.”

  “Perhaps so. Mandrake, out.”

  Tick and Lauren headed down a steep slope, damp leaves and vines creeping across the earth, making for treacherous footing. A long flat stretch broken only by trees, extended at the bottom of the hill, and he glimpsed movement, a figure darting into a copse. Hemlock? He hadn’t had a good look, but his senses told him his prey was close—he could see the skid marks where boots had broken the vines and slipped in the mud on the hill.

  He increased his pace, hardly caring if he fell. It was worth it if he caught up with his prey.

  Intent on reaching the spot where he’d seen the movement, Tick almost missed the sound of wings flapping above and to his left.

  “Look out,” Lauren ordered.

  He spun toward the noise, his run turning into a skid that almost took him tumbling down the slope on his ass. He dropped to one knee, managing to catch himself as one of those giant bats swooped toward him. He fired, blasting it between its beady eyes.

  Smoke wafted from its head, and its wings stopped moving, but its momentum took it toward Tick. He dropped and rolled to the side, just avoiding being clipped by the leathery wings. It crashed into a tree with a thud as Tick tried to slow his momentum. He was halfway down the hill, and gravity was determined to send him the rest of the way down.

  A startled shriek came from the top of the slope—Lauren.

  He dug his rifle into the earth, using the butt like a stake, and managed to slow himself. Two big creatures raced along the top of the hill. Raptors. Winged, dinosaur-like creatures that ran on two legs, open jaws displaying mouths full of fangs. They were heading straight toward Lauren.

  Tick cursed, leaping to his feet. He wanted to sprint up the hill, but he feared there wouldn’t be time. He made himself stay calm and lifted his rifle, carefully aiming at one, trying not to be distracted by Lauren’s movements—she’d turned toward the nearest tree and was attempting to climb up.

  He fired. The crimson laser beam streaked up the hill, clipping the foremost creature in the back. It didn’t slow down at all. Worse, it veered away from the edge of the hilltop, so that he couldn’t see it. Even as he shifted his aim toward the second one, it followed the first. Lauren, having failed to find branches she could use to climb, had disappeared from his sight too. Fleeing straight into the jungle? Looking for another tree? There was no way she would be as fast as the raptors.

  Tick sprinted up the hill, his feet slipping on the wet leaves and mud. He barely noticed, just kept going as terror filled his throat like bile. She wasn’t armed. What could she do against such fierce predators? Nothing.

  As he ran toward the crown of the hill, he imagined the raptors in his mind, then shouted, “Go away,” as he’d done with the bats back in the canyon. He tried to sling mental power and not simply holler, but he had no idea how to do such a thing. Before, it had been an accident, nothing more than frustration.

  This time, he sensed the creatures’ minds and thought they hesitated, uncertain. But then they resumed their attack, almost as if something else was guiding them, controlling them.

  Hemlock? Could he have found the raptors and sent them to distract his pursuers? Or even kill his pursuers?

  As Tick charged over the crown of the hill, he pushed the thoughts aside. One of the raptors came into view, leaping toward a tree—a tree that Lauren had climbed up. But she’d only managed to rise six or eight feet off the ground. Tick whipped his rifle up and fired, certain the creature would reach her and tear her from her perch.

  His laser bolt struck the raptor in the shoulder as it slashed at her leg with wicked claws. The crimson beam hit it soundly, and it faltered, its claws gouging into the tree instead of flesh. Lauren yanked her foot up and tried to scramble higher.

  Though injured, the raptor backed up, readying itself to spring toward her again. A second one was doing the same thing on the other side of the tree. They ignored Tick, intent on their prey. On Lauren.

  Tick fired at the first again, then veered to the left, shooting the second and charging in after the laser bolt. His rifle wasn’t bothering the creatures nearly enough. He turned it into a club and waded in, determined to beat the creature to death if he had to.

  It was as large as he, and it only suffered two blows before turning its attention from Lauren to him. Its forearms were short, and he could keep away from them easily, but the wings came at him from both sides, battering at him. Refusing to be scared back, he clubbed the creature in its massive jaw, knocking its head back. He flipped his rifle around and fired, striking it square in the chest as one of those wings got past his defenses, clipping him in the head.

  The blow landed much harder than he expected and knocked him to the side. He stumbled but did not go down. He whirled back as the creature recovered and sprang toward him. Jerking his rifle up in time, he fired, this time striking it right in the eye. The dark orb burst open, green ichor spraying everywhere. Tick jumped to the side just before the raptor landed on him. He pointed his rifle at it, expecting it to continue fighting, but it tumbled to the ground, its head not rising again.

  Tick whirled back toward the tree, expecting the second raptor to have recovered from his first shots and for it to be leaping for his throat, fangs glistening, ready to chomp into his flesh. To his surprise, it lay among the leaves, its small forelegs curled into its body and its thick tail limp. A feathered dart stuck out of its neck.

  In the tree above, Lauren clung to the trunk with one arm, her boots balanced on a knot, and her free hand gripped a small tranquilizer gun. Her knuckles were wrapped so tightly about it that he feared she would break it, but despite her terror, she had clearly kept enough wherewithal about her to get off the shot. Accurately too.

  Pleased, Tick smiled up at her. “I didn’t know you brought a tranquilizer gun with you on missions.” He made his voice an easy drawl, trying to ease her fear, to let her know they didn’t need to worry now, even if that wasn’t exactly true. He waved for her to climb down. They needed to get back on the trail. Unfortunately, this encounter had delayed them, and Hemlock would be ahead again.

  She took a deep breath, the gun loosening an iota in her grasp. “You never know when you’ll have to fend off Striker’s advances.”

  “I’ve rarely had that problem. Except when he’s extremely drunk.”

  “It’s more of a problem for those with breasts.”

  “Is it?” Tick said, his drawl disappearing as the urge to punch Striker swamped him.

  “Hold this, please.”

&
nbsp; Lauren tossed him the gun and scrambled down the tree. Her feet slipped at the bottom, and the piece of bark she had gripped tore away. She would have fallen the last couple of feet, but Tick caught her and set her down gently.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He would have liked to continue to hold her, at least for a few seconds, but he couldn’t forget the urgency of the mission. He returned her weapon. “We need to get back on the trail.”

  Lauren grabbed her pack. “I’m ready.” She nodded firmly, that determination blazing on her face again.

  Tick swallowed, admiration welling up within him. She had been very vocal about how much she deplored being out in the wilderness and away from the safety of her lab, but here she was, willing to risk her life for a sister she didn’t even seem to like much. He could understand that. His brothers had been assholes, but family was family, and you didn’t leave them to get themselves killed. Not if you could help it.

  Tick returned her nod solemnly. When he’d first developed an interest in Lauren, it had mostly been because she was single and the only one of the three civilian women on the ship who was available—or had seemed available—but he was definitely coming to appreciate her in her own right. All right, more than appreciate her.

  Not trusting his voice, he rested his hand on her shoulder briefly, then started off down the slope again. He didn’t know how much time they had. He could only hope that it was enough.

  Chapter 11

  A rocky ridge grew visible through the trees, and Lauren remembered that Captain Mandrake had said another ship had been flying behind that ridge, perhaps landing there. If the mercenaries did not find it, and if Hemlock made it there with Hailey, the bounty hunter or whoever had arranged this might get off world before Heath and Lauren caught up. Then what? They might never track Hailey down once she left the moon. Would the mercenaries even try? If Hailey wasn’t here, she couldn’t authorize their payment to incentivize them. Besides, Hailey’s funding had surely been for research-related expenses, not to cover bounties.