The Tracker's Dilemma: (A Mandrake Company Science Fiction Romance) by Ruby Lionsdrake Page B

“Take some men with you.”
    “‘Course, Cap’n. You don’t think I’m silly enough to wander off alone through a jungle of man-eating bats, do you?”
    “Yes.”
    Tick snorted and chomped on his gum as he headed back outside. He grabbed Striker on the way, who had propped his rifle against one of the grow beds and was collecting strawberries.
    “We’re going to collect reinforcements,” Tick said at his questioning look.
    “The men outside?”
    “Dr. Keys.”
    “That’s not a reinforcement, Tick. That’s a burden. You’ll have to pull her kicking and screaming from her microscope.”
    “She’s not a burden,” Tick said firmly, not arguing Striker’s other point. Lauren had made it clear that she didn’t care for the field. Well, it was less than two miles back to the shuttle. He could carry her out here if he had to—though Ankari would probably be able to talk her into a nature walk, especially if the captain commed ahead and warned her.
    Outside, the rain had slowed to a drizzle, but wind still howled across the canyon, rattling foliage. The bats had fallen silent, but other hoots, growls, and screeches came from the trees.
    Hazel and the rest of the team were alert, patrolling the area around the falls and occasionally looking toward the canopy. Here, over the pool and the waterfall, the sky was visible through the branches in spots. It had grown lighter, albeit not much. The clouds remained, gloomy and oppressive.
    “Anyone seen that other ship?” Tick asked Private Cooper while debating if he should recruit a few more men to go back with him. He hadn’t seen any other exits from that cave and doubted Mandrake would need twenty people to help him watch Keys surf through the computer database.
    “No, Sergeant. You, uhm, can’t sense it?” That wariness lurked beneath the private’s question.
    Tick sighed. On second thought, he and Striker ought to be fine. If there were critters out there, he could recruit Hemlock and Gavrikov to walk back with them.
    “Hazel, Striker and I are taking a walk.” Tick lifted a hand in parting.
    “Seeking time alone together, huh?” she asked.
    Tick snorted. Striker was the last person he longed for time alone with.
    “Don’t tease me, Hazel,” Striker said, “or I won’t share my strawberries with you.”
    “Darn.”
    Tick crossed the stream emptying from the pool and headed back the way they had come, setting a quick pace. Even though the rain had lessened, and day was coming, he shouldn’t dawdle. Who knew what Keys had discovered in that computer? It might be a good idea to have Lauren looking over her shoulder sooner rather than later.
    He tapped his comm-patch. “Ms. Flipkens?” he asked, expecting to be routed to the correct shuttle.
    “Ankari here,” came the answer.
    “This is Tick. The captain wants Laur—Dr. Keys to come take a look at something.”
    “Ah.”
    That ah did not sound promising. He heard Ankari relay the message, but Tick couldn’t quite make out the response. Lauren was probably in her lab.
    “My microbiologist suggests that if the captain wishes her to look at something, he should bring it to the shuttle,” Ankari said.
    “I’m sure he would, ma’am, but it’s a cave. Those can be a challenge to transport.”
    “What does he think I am?” a new voice asked in the distance—Lauren, this time. “A speleologist?”
    “A spew-what?” Striker asked, listening from behind Tick.
    “Someone who studies caves,” Tick told him. “I’ll explain when I get there, ma’am. Just pack whatever you need to walk a couple of miles and investigate a computer system in an underground greenhouse.”
    An argument between Ankari and Lauren started up, but someone cut the comm before he heard all of it.
    “Told you,” Striker said. “Kicking and screaming.”
    Tick sighed, wishing Mandrake had assigned someone else to this task. He and Lauren had been getting along well—she’d even held his hand, sort of—so he hated