The Tracker's Dilemma: (A Mandrake Company Science Fiction Romance) (26 page)

“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.”

Judging by the dubious expression on Lauren’s face, she didn’t believe all of that. All Tick could think about was that
insights
was an entirely inadequate word. He didn’t believe for a second that the boulder on the ramp had simply chosen that moment to tip over. He’d moved it with his mind, and that terrified him. He didn’t want to be a freak. He didn’t want to move his species to a next level. He just wanted to have sex with Lauren, to read with her in bed afterward, and to maybe chomp down on some of that fresh bread for breakfast.

“I can’t have GalCon stalking me and killing the people I need for my experiments,” Hailey continued. “Please tell your captain to report my death, Ms. Markovich.”

“Hailey,” Lauren said, “you haven’t considered this thoroughly. How are you going to survive on your own? You would have to live out on the rim—that’s the only place where GalCon’s eyes don’t reach completely and where you can use gold for money instead of the banking chip embedded in your finger. You’d have to get that chip ripped out so you couldn’t be tracked, and you wouldn’t be able to access your savings, presuming you have any.”

“Afraid your company won’t get paid, dear sister? Don’t worry, the funds were already transferred to an escrow account. On my supposed death, they’ll be delivered.”

“That’s not it. I’m worried about you. That you haven’t considered everything. You could never again—”

“I
have
considered this, Lo. I’ve even considered asking your captain if I can stay on your ship.”

Lauren made a choking sound.

“What, you wouldn’t like to work with your little sister? You couldn’t share your lab?”

“I’d share my bunk with you,” Striker volunteered, his arm draped over the seat beside him. “There aren’t that many extra cabins on the
Albatross
, you know.” He patted the seat with his other hand. “Come over here, and let’s talk about it.”

Ms. Keys curled a lip at him. “Weren’t you the one drawing comics with mad scientists as the villains?”

“Uh, maybe. So?”

The lip curled higher, and she pointedly turned her back to him.

Ankari rubbed her face. “Viktor? We have a lot to discuss when we talk later.”

“I bet,” Mandrake said.

Still on the deck, Tick shifted his back so he could rest against the hull. Lauren and her sister kept talking—mostly Lauren as she tried to urge her not to do this—but he barely heard it. He kept thinking about that boulder and about the asshole that Hemlock had been turning into. Was that to be his fate? To become more and more of a freak? Would Lauren want anything to do with him if he was less than human? Or
more
than human, as the sister argued?

He closed his eyes. All this because he’d wanted a pretty woman to touch his butt.

Chapter 16

Lauren wasn’t sure whether to feel safer or not when the battered pink shuttle finally glided into its berth on the
Albatross
. She could return to her real lab and her work, but once that military ship reported back that Captain Mandrake had attacked it, wouldn’t the mercenaries be a target everywhere they went? Would she truly be safe if she stayed with the company? For that matter, would she be safe if she left? Through her actions, Hailey had brought Lauren’s work to the attention of the government, and it wouldn’t be the kind of attention that Lauren had hoped for. She’d wanted to improve human health, not give people strange mental powers.
That
was probably what the government would be interested in—and she wouldn’t be surprised if people all over the system tried to hunt her down for information on how those powers might be gained.

She sighed and looked over at Heath, tempted to ask his opinion or at least share her concerns. He sat in the seat next to her and had been quiet as the shuttle headed back into space, eventually catching up with the
Albatross
after the military ship had disappeared from the sensors. She remembered the way he had helped her into the shuttle, almost carrying her along with her sister, and how he had held her hand—held
her
—afterward. She didn’t know what the future would hold—probably far more drama and excitement than she wished—but she hated to contemplate leaving the ship if it would mean leaving him. She wasn’t sure she was ready to commit to a forever bond, but she would like to explore more with him.

Besides, did she want to be like Hailey? So obsessed that she brought harm to others and to herself and her career without even realizing what she was doing? Maybe it would be good for Lauren to learn how to step away from the lab now and then, at least long enough to share the good bits with others. And, for reasons she couldn’t quite fathom, Heath seemed interested in listening to her good bits.

Lauren laid her hand on his forearm, looking for a way to tell him that she wanted to spend time with him, and that she might even be interested in having sex with him. Her urges had cooled since their dalliance in the lab, but he had already proven that he had a knack for stirring them to life. Even more than sex, she found herself thinking of coming home to him at the end of their workdays, of snuggling with him in bed while they read, and of having him at her side as her friend and protector as they faced whatever the future brought.

“Heath?” she asked quietly at the same moment as he turned toward her and said, “Lauren?”

He smiled and touched the edge of his fur cap, as if in salute. “You first.”

“No, you go ahead.” Lauren was aware that Ankari, Jamie, Striker, Hailey, and Sparks were all still in the craft with them. They would depart as soon as the shuttle bay pressurized, but for the moment, she and Heath lacked privacy. Her proposition might be better delivered with nobody else around.

“Do you think…” He drummed his fingers on the armrest, then dipped into his pocket and pulled out his tin of gum. He popped a piece into his mouth, then offered her one.

She shook her head, having never been fond of the strong scents and flavors of gum. Another reason to avoid kissing. She smirked, glad that he was good at
other
things.

Heath absently returned the tin to his pocket. Whatever was on his mind, she doubted it was sex. She never would have imagined a scenario in which she was more likely to think of sex than a man.

“You, ah, saw the thing with the boulder, right?” he asked softly, glancing toward the front of the shuttle.

“How it magically fell out of the way when we needed it to?”

He winced. “Magic. Yeah.”

“I saw.” Lauren kept herself from saying it had been an impressive feat, even more impressive than what they had seen Hemlock do, because she sensed his unease. He’d admitted before that he didn’t want this power, that it made him uncomfortable. Like a freak. That’s what he had called himself.

“I can’t deny that there have been times when
seeing
things has come in handy during this mission,” Heath said, touching a finger to his temple, “but I’d be more comfortable than a pig in a wallow if it was someone else who had the power.”

“Striker, perhaps.”

“Dear Buddha, no. He’d spend all his time developing it so he could see through women’s clothes.”

“Yes, I don’t think that’s what Hailey was imagining when she spoke of making human beings better.”

Heath removed his hat and pushed his hand through his hair. He was fidgeting a lot, like he had ants in his pants. She wondered if he knew that those around him were likely relieved that
he
was the one developing these powers. Hemlock had been a disaster, thinking only of his own selfish need for revenge. The best person to wield power was the person who didn’t want it.

But her mission was different from her sister’s. She had never intended to make supermen or for her subjects to develop previously unknown abilities. She’d been thinking only of eliminating as many diseases as possible, improving health, and increasing longevity. The intestinal microbiota could still lead to that end—with time, she ought to be able to figure out which bacteria combined with which gene expressions had led to the Grenavinian… quirks. Perhaps she could eliminate those and refine her strain to something that truly would help humanity as a whole.

Judging by the tortured expression on Heath’s face, he would rather not be a part of those refinements. That was fine with her. Now that she had an emotional interest in him, he was a completely inappropriate test subject for her.

“Heath,” she said, patting the back of his hand. “Come by my lab later, will you? I’ll prepare something for you.”