The Ruins of Karzelek (The Mandrake Company series Book 4) Read online

  “No,” Sedge said. “I mean, I don’t know. Er, it seems like we’ve been too busy to finish it.” He kept his eyes locked to the front of the tent, toward the ceiling actually, as if he worried she would start running naked circles around him, and he risked getting another eyeful.

  She hoped he was simply being polite and that he hadn’t been horrified by the experience of seeing her topless. She doubted that was the case, as she didn’t usually have trouble finding interested male parties, but she did sometimes feel self-conscious about the extra padding around her waist.

  “Yes, and I have more work to keep you busy,” Kalish said. “You can turn around now.”

  He rotated slowly, but even with a long-sleeved shirt covering her torso, he paid assiduous attention to the map and didn’t meet her eyes. Well, the map was what she wanted him to focus on anyway.

  “Val said you were good at puzzles.”

  Sedge lifted his chin, seemingly pleased by this statement. “I enjoy puzzles very much. I—”

  The tent flap was pushed aside and Striker ambled in. He set a small control device on the table. “Tick and I incinerated the corpses and put up a perimeter. An alarm will go off in the shuttle and in here—” he waved to the device, “—if any more animals amble in with dinner thoughts in their heads.”

  “Good,” Kalish said. “Thank you.”

  He gave her a lazy salute, letting his eyes drift downward to her chest for a moment. The man had all the tact of those grenades he liked to hurl. “We’re hitting our racks, if you don’t need anything else. Only a few hours until local sunrise.”

  “That’s fine,” Kalish said, her mind lingering on the memory of Striker’s grenade going off and those boulders flying into the air. Hm, just because there were no natural entrances to the caverns remaining didn’t mean the mercenaries couldn’t make one.

  “Night, Lieutenant Sniffles.” Striker grinned and backed out of the tent.

  Sedge did not answer him, but Kalish didn’t miss the tightening of his jaw. If Striker hadn’t already left, she would have shooed him away. For some reason, she felt the urge to defend Sedge from his bullies, even though he was certainly old enough to defend himself. Probably old enough to decide that it was better to ignore the men who taunted him. But Kalish knew well that jests that might be ignored outwardly could still stick in one’s memory for a long time. She still recalled the taunts of her drill instructor at Fleet boot camp, the one who had assumed that by teasing her about her food choices that she would slim down enough to make the weight requirements. As if she hadn’t already been trying to do that.

  “As I was saying,” Sedge went on, “Commander Thatcher gave us a briefing of what he found—or didn’t. Do you need help identifying a new place where it might be possible to enter the caverns?”

  “Actually, I think I’ve got that taken care of. If I can study the elevations for a few minutes, I might find a place where the caverns are near the surface.”

  “You intend to make a new entrance?” Sedge guessed.

  “I assume your combat shuttles can deliver some powerful explosives.”

  Sedge tilted his head toward her. “A correct assumption. You are fortunate Lieutenant Frog wasn’t flying one of them tonight, or it’s likely that some new craters would have been formed while he was shooting at the predators. Thatcher’s aim is more precise.”

  “So long as he won’t be insulted if I assign him to aiming at rocks instead of enemies.”

  “He’s not easily insulted. Perhaps because he rarely realizes he’s being insulted.” A wistful expression crossed Sedge’s face, as if he wished for some of that obliviousness himself, but he turned back to the map. “What’s the puzzle you need me for?”

  “As everyone seems to have guessed, I’m looking for alien ruins that are purported to be inside.”

  Sedge nodded. “Ruins you believe the miners have noticed but passed by because there wasn’t anything obvious of value?”

  “Ruins the automated mining ships passed by because the specific things they are programmed to look for, the various ores in the mountains, weren’t apparent. A man I talked to, a retired miner, happened to be monitoring the videos before an... incident occurred.”

  “An incident?”

  “He said the automated ship had drilled into a new area, glimpsed some ruins on a raised cliff on one side of the cavern walls, but was destroyed shortly thereafter. The craft disappeared into a chasm and the wreck was never recovered. Based on what the miner saw on the video, it was decided not to attempt to salvage the destroyed ship.”

  Sedge tilted his head, his eyes warm with curiosity, but he didn’t prompt her for more. She debated whether to share what else she knew. If the mission sounded too dangerous, would the mercenaries say forget it and pack up and leave? They didn’t seem the types to shy away from danger—she pictured Striker flinging insults and grenades again—but what that miner had seen had been enough to convince him to retire early and get the hell off the planet before any trouble came.

  “First off,” Kalish said, “there are some predators down there. Those pencil sketch maps didn’t hint of it, but from what I’ve heard and read, there’s a fairly vibrant ecosystem down here, with all niches being filled. There are plants adapted to take energy from the heat that comes up out of the core of the planet and the animals of course subsisted on them. And each other. The miners have caught some giant creatures on video. This isn’t a secret. The images are out there on the network. Some of them are bigger than the mining ships and there are records of humans being caught and killed quickly and violently. There’s a reason why much of the deep mining is done with automation now.”

  Sedge was listening intently. He looked more intrigued than alarmed.

  “The creatures aren’t what happened to that ship though. Again, this is just what I was told, so all I’m doing is relaying that miner’s story, but he said there were some booby traps still in place. The ship stumbled across one of them, and that’s what destroyed it. There was a burst of light, a crash, and that’s all that was captured on the video before the feed disappeared. That and the existence of some ruins, which he suggested weren’t all that ruined. They’ve been preserved well in the caverns.”

  “Ten-thousand-year-old booby traps?” Sedge leaned against the desk and stared thoughtfully at the dusty floor. “It’s impressive that they would still work. To get a glimpse of the technology... That would be intriguing. Perhaps even useful. I know the archaeologists are always curious about where the aliens originally came from, why they left this system, and where they went from here, but our scientists and engineers would love to study more of the technology they left behind. From the way they terraformed the planets, we’ve always believed they were far more advanced than our original settlers, and many believe they were more advanced than we are even today after fifteen hundred years of technological improvements and innovation.”

  “Yes,” Kalish murmured. She found the topic exciting and could have talked about it with him all night, but he was drifting closer to the true purpose of her mission, of what she believed existed down there, based on the ore present in the caverns and the metal alloys that had been discovered nearly a century earlier when the one and only documented alien spaceship wreck had been found. The craft had been pulverized in the asteroid field and so little remained that scientists hadn’t gotten much more than those alloy identifications from it, but it had long been believed that the aliens had possessed something humans never had: faster-than-light-speed engine technology.

  “I’m sorry,” Sedge said. “I was rambling. So the puzzle is to find these ruins, based on the information we have? Information we can’t assume is reliable?”

  “Yes.”

  He dug his tablet out of his pocket, unfolded it, and brought up a list application. “You said creature sightings had been uploaded to the network? I’ll see if I can download some and see if anything unexpected shows up in the backgrounds. The ore deposits themselve
s might be a clue. We know there are certain types of metals the aliens favored, so perhaps they would have built their facility close to large concentrations of tripytarium and titanium.” He had brought up a keyboard as he was speaking and began typing, his fingers moving faster than he could have dictated words to the tablet. He mumbled further, but barely seemed to be aware of the words he uttered—or of her.

  Kalish sat on the cot, focusing on the simpler task of finding a spot where they could break through. They worked at their respective tasks for a half hour or more, but Kalish kept yawning, and her eyes felt tired and gritty. After she had identified three spots, she set her tablet aside, remembering Striker’s warning that daylight wasn’t that far away. She was about to lie back on the cot, leaving Sedge to work however late he wished, but a soft bleep came from his tablet, and he lowered it.

  “I’ve got a program running,” he said, “one I’ve used before to detect patterns and try to find matches or correlations with limited data. We should have an answer one way or another by morning. Of course, it’s most likely that we’ll have multiple answers, or possibilities if you will. But even a dozen possible places to check would be better than flying around at random down there.”

  Kalish tried to say that she agreed, but a yawn came out instead.

  “Ah, my apologies. You need to go to bed. I’ll leave.”

  Kalish almost told him that there was another cot that hadn’t been unfolded yet, and that he could stay in the tent, if he wished, but he must have comfortable lodgings with the rest of his team. And the shuttles were more easily climate controlled than her drafty tent.

  “Good night,” she said, “and thank you for your help.”

  He smiled at her, then walked out. The memory of his smile lingered. He was a handsome man, even if she thought it amusing that his shirt and trousers still appeared clean and pressed after he had been tussling in the dirt with animals.

  “No, that was you, girl.” She snorted at herself. Sedge had remained upright.

  She lay back on the cot and ordered the camp light out. She expected to fall asleep promptly, especially now that the mercenaries had installed that proximity detector, but only a few minutes passed before a tapping came at the tent flap, along with an apologetic clearing of a throat.

  “Ms. Blackwell? Kalish?” Sedge asked.

  “Yes?” She hadn’t taken any clothes off, so there wasn’t any chance of him walking in on something interesting, but from the hesitant way he said her name, he must think there was.

  “Would it be possible for me to sleep on the floor in your tent? My usual accommodations are... unavailable.”

  Kalish sat up in the dark. By now, she didn’t suspect Sedge would engage in games to try and get into bed with her—or get into a tent with her—but it seemed like an odd statement from a man who had access to two shuttles.

  “What do you mean?” she asked. Remembering how cold it was out there, she added, “You can come in.”

  The tent flap stirred, and some of that cold air whispered in along with Sedge. She shivered and rubbed her arms. It must have dropped another twenty degrees since the animal attack.

  “I usually bunk with Commander Thatcher on away missions,” Sedge explained, a strange note to his voice. He sounded... embarrassed? Was that the emotion? “We are similarly, uhm, have similar... well, we don’t irritate each other. But lately, well, he and Lieutenant Calendula, you see, are...”

  “Bumping bellies?” Kalish suggested, waving for the light to come up to a low level.

  Sedge stood a step inside the entrance, his pack slung over his shoulder. Had the men tossed it out before locking the shuttle? “I... yes. That’s one way to say it. Even though I question whether that is appropriate while on a mission, but it’s not my place to comment.”

  Kalish rubbed her eyes and smiled. It was probably only inappropriate to those who didn’t have the option.

  “Needless to say, they have locked the shuttle,” Sedge said. “Thatcher suggested I bunk with Tick and Striker. This would be tolerable if not ideal, but when I attempted to contact them, they told me they were asleep and kept their hatch locked as well.”

  “They told you they were asleep?”

  “Yes, the lack of logic did not escape me.”

  “Maybe they were also bumping bellies,” Kalish suggested.

  Sedge snorted. “Given the preferences I’ve seen them display in the past, I deem that unlikely. I’m assuming they just don’t want...”

  He shrugged, but she filled in the rest. They didn’t want Sniffles for a roommate. Some of the protectiveness she had felt earlier returned, and she wondered why he put up with the mercenaries. He certainly seemed intelligent enough to qualify for numerous other jobs.

  “I could have forced the issue, but I thought that if you did not mind sharing your tent, I might sleep here easily enough.” He made a face at the dirt floor, but didn’t amend his statement.

  “Yes, you can. There’s another cot folded up in the corner there. Help yourself.”

  “Thank you.”

  Kalish lay back down as he found the cot, shifted the desk over, and set his bed up on the other side of the tent from hers. Assuming he would need the light for a while, she pulled her blanket over her head, intending to get some sleep. She didn’t expect anything untoward from him, but she turned on her side so she could watch him from underneath the covers. He set up the cot, then poked into his bag. For pajamas? Did mercenaries change into such things when they were in the field? Probably not. They probably slept in their boots while hugging their guns, in case any trouble showed up. For some reason, she found herself slightly disappointed at the idea that he would lie down without changing. Maybe she was just wondering if he truly did have the physique of someone who was... what had he said? In the top ten percent of the company for physical aptitude tests? It seemed unlikely for such a mild fellow, but she supposed displaying manners didn’t have to preclude having athleticism. He had certainly displayed agility and a quick hand in saving her life. Twice.

  A soft hum sounded, and Kalish lifted her blanket higher, trying to tell what he was doing. He had set up the cot and was now bending over it with something in his hand. A... vacuum?

  She was certain she must be wrong, but no, he was definitely working that cot over with a compact hand vacuum. He sneezed twice, shook his head, and ran over it again. Next he pulled out a blanket roll, unfolded it, smoothed it over the cot, then proceeded to vacuum it as well. Kalish bit her lip to keep from laughing. Hadn’t she just been lamenting that the men teased him? It wouldn’t do to giggle at him.

  Once he had smoothed his bedding a couple more times, he eyed the dirt floor and sneered distastefully at it. He wasn’t going to vacuum that, was he?

  No, he tucked the vacuum into his pack, then removed a small white device. Kalish tried to puzzle out what it was without lifting her blanket any further. His back was to her, but she wanted to spy unnoticed. Even if she should be sleeping. This was too interesting. A second device, this one gray with venting on the side, came out after the first. Then a third. She gawked. What exactly was he setting up over there?

  He tapped a power button on the first device, and a soft, fan-like noise filled the tent. Air purifier? That was all she could think of that it might be. He poured water from his canteen into one of the other devices, then turned that one on as well. Humidifier? He touched a third button. She couldn’t tell what that one did. Then he laid his tablet on the desk with everything else, thumbed something on, and the sound of rain started up. She bit her lip again. Maybe the reason Tick and Striker didn’t want him as a roommate had nothing to do with deliberately tormenting him. Well, so long as they could still hear the proximity alarm if more predators closed in on the camp.

  Sedge removed his boots and his weapons belt, placing both next to the head of the cot. He rolled the belt into a tight spiral before tucking it into one of the boots. His shirt came off next, and Kalish felt her eyes widen. Maybe he was
going to change in front of her.

  But he stopped with the shirt. After folding it neatly and laying it on the desk next to his armada of electronics, he folded back the blanket and slipped onto the cot, his muscles flexing as he briefly supported his weight with his arms. Her questions about his physique had been suitably answered. He wasn’t as broad and bulky as Striker, but he had plenty of hard, ropy muscle. She glimpsed a couple of scars on his torso before he lay back. The battle at the mining complex had not been his first time being shot. He might be the intelligence officer, but those scars and his presence here assured her that he went out on missions at times and was in danger.

  Kalish wouldn’t have thought him someone she would ever be attracted to, but she caught herself imagining running her hand along the muscles of his shoulder, over his chest, and down to the ridged contours of his abdomen. Warmth spread through her body, her primitive self apparently finding the thought appealing. She reminded herself that he was a temporary ally, nothing more.

  She closed her eyes, resolving to get some sleep, but opened them again when he inhaled deeply through his nose. His arms came up as well, hands to his chest, then back down again as he exhaled. He repeated the routine a few times, then shifted to another breathing exercise that involved flexing his muscles, then relaxing them. She didn’t mind the view of those flexing muscles, but she was becoming more and more certain that there was a reason the others had kicked him out of the shuttle. Who could sleep with that show going on in the next cot over?

  Of course, there were other things a man and a woman could do besides sleep. Her gaze drifted down his form. What would he think if she proposed exercise that involved more than breathing? Would he be a good kisser? Or would he sneeze in the middle of a romantic moment? Perhaps not after he had so thoroughly vacuumed his area. She grinned and dropped the blanket lower over her eyes. No, she didn’t need to speculate about some mercenary lieutenant. Manners or not, she couldn’t trust him, so there was little point in engaging in a physical relationship, however temporary it might be.