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

Tick’s hand tightened to the point of being painful. He didn’t move, though he had the urge to dig out his gum and pop a fresh piece into his mouth. Too bad he didn’t carry a flask around with him; alcohol would have been even more bracing.
    “Was that a tree?” Ankari asked.
    “It was a boulder. The sensors aren’t reading the terrain below us very well, and I can’t see much. Frog got ahead of us, and we’re in a narrow canyon. I’m heading toward the landing spot he made. I think he’s already down there in the middle of some freshly made stumps and some boulders.”
    “Hitting boulders sounds even worse than hitting trees,” Hemlock muttered.
    “Maybe you can use your new powers to roll them out of the way,” Tick said, drawing a glance from Lauren.
    Hemlock smirked. “Haven’t tried to roll anything that big yet. Maybe later.” His eyes gleamed, as if that idea excited him.
    A vision sprang into Tick’s mind. He saw a river ahead, filling in a fresh crater in the bank with smoldering stumps sticking out of it. A patch of mostly flat land lay beside it, and two Mandrake shuttles had already settled down onto the charred earth. Then he saw the area from farther away, as if he were a hawk flying above the canyon.
    “Veer right,” Tick said. “There’s a bend ahead before we get to our landing spot.” If that stump field could be called a landing spot.
    “Are you sure?” Jamie asked. “The sensors aren’t showing—well, they’re not working real well in the storm.” She peered at the fog and rain outside, relying on her eyes. Static hissed and popped on the screen, muddling the view.
    “I’m sure,” Tick said.
    Though she shook her head doubtfully, Jamie turned the craft.
    It was only with his mind that Tick could see solid rock towering ahead of them, and then to the side as the craft turned. The fog cleared slightly, and Lauren sucked in an alarmed breath as the cliff briefly grew visible on the screen. Jamie let out a low whistle as she finished the turn, then tilted the nose of the shuttle downward. Lightning flashed again, illuminating the landing spot Tick had seen in his mind. Jamie took them toward it, hovering over the water while she tried to pick out a spot.
    “Frog left a lot of stumps on our runway,” Ankari said.
    “Nobody’s ever accused him of being considerate,” Striker said.
    “Not like you, eh?”
    “Exactly. I still can’t believe you chose the captain over me.” He wriggled his eyebrows at her.
    “Idiot,” Hemlock muttered.
    “You’re not supposed to say that about your section sergeant,” Tick said. “It’s not respectful.”
    “What if I call him Sergeant Idiot?”
    “That might work.”
    Jamie found a place to land the shuttle, nestled between stumps. “I hope the river doesn’t rise much with this rain. We might float away.”
    “Or sink,” Ankari muttered. “Lauren, aren’t you glad you came along?”
    Another vision flashed into Tick’s mind, and he didn’t hear her response. This time, he saw a dark shape flying above the canyon, passing over them briefly before zipping out of sight. Another ship.
    “We only brought three shuttles down from the Albatross , right?” Tick asked.
    Before anyone could answer him, the captain’s voice sounded over the comm. “Cut your engines and lights,” he said. “Thatcher got a glimpse of a larger ship on the sensors. We have company down here.”
    Jamie looked at Ms. Keys. “Were you expecting company?”
    “No.”
    Tick frowned at the back of Keys’ head, glimpsing a man in her thoughts for an instant, a man in a GalCon military uniform.
    “She’s lying,” Tick whispered.
    Hemlock nodded. “I agree.”
    Lauren sighed. “I’m not surprised.”
    She looked down at her hand. Her nails weren’t digging into Tick’s flesh now, but she hadn’t removed it, and she seemed surprised to find it clasping his.
    “Sorry,” she said and withdrew it.
    “I didn’t mind.” Tick smiled.
    Lauren