The Ruins of Karzelek (The Mandrake Company series Book 4) by Ruby Lionsdrake Page A

direction, and Kalish could now see that one of the Mandrake Company shuttles hovered over the tent. She lowered the hand she hadn’t realized she had been clutching to her chest. The second shuttle flew into view beside the first and hovered, its lights sweeping the dusty ground.
    “ Area’s clear, Thatcher,” Striker said. “Except for these carcasses, and I figure they weigh about five hundred pounds, so I’m not looking to push them around. You’ll just have to squish them when you land.”
    “ Five hundred pounds?” came Val’s voice over the comm. “I thought you did biceps curls with that much weight in the ship’s gym.”
    “ Nah, you’re thinking of squats. If you all want to load one of these lizard-cat-whatever things onto my shoulders, I suppose I could bounce up and down with it.”
    “ Nobody wants to see you bounce with lizards,” Tick grumbled. “Or anything else.”
    Sedge touched Kalish’s shoulder. “I believe it’s safe to go inside and clean your wound. I—” His nose wrinkled, and he sneezed.
    “ Need another pill,” Striker chortled, thumping Sedge on the shoulder as he headed over to where the shuttles were landing.
    Sedge sighed.
    Even though Kalish could see that the mercenaries teased each other ruthlessly and constantly, she gave him a sympathetic smile anyway. She was starting to get the feeling that he got more of it than the others, or perhaps that it was less deserved.
    Sedge picked up the camp lantern and headed for the tent. With the heat of the moment past, Kalish’s side was starting to throb with pain, so she ought to follow him, but she looked toward the shuttles, curious if either of the pilots had found an entrance to the caverns.
    “ Ms. Blackwell?” Sedge prompted, holding the flap open for her.
    It was his use of her last name that made her move in his direction, a reminder that she had denied him the use of her first and that she should apologize for that. “Kalish,” she said as she passed him, ducking through the tent flap and wincing again because the slight bending of her torso brought pain from her side. Yes, she was definitely feeling that more now. She sat on the edge of the cot. “You’ve saved my life twice now. That’s almost as good as beating me at Crucible.”
    “ Oh?” Sedge gave her a tentative smile. He probably wasn’t sure if she would snap at him again for relaying information to his captain.
    No, she would be more careful in the future. She had to remember that his loyalty would be to his company, not her. That went for all of the mercenaries. She would be wise to keep her mother’s words in mind, to remember that these people risked their lives and killed for money. Getting attached would be unwise, given that they might turn on her if she found the ruins and anything valuable remained after all this time.
    “ Stay here, please,” Sedge said. “I’ll retrieve a first-aid kit.” He jogged for the tent flap, then paused. “You’ll need to remove your shirt. Would you be more comfortable if Lieutenant Calendula came and attended you? Yes, that would be more appropriate, wouldn’t it? I’ll bring her.”
    He left before Kalish could comment, but since she would have only agreed, there was no harm. Though she supposed if she had to have one of the men seeing her shirtless, Sedge wouldn’t be a bad choice. He was polite for a mercenary. For anyone, really. Tick wasn’t bad either, if rougher around the edges. She shuddered at the idea of Striker coming anywhere near her naked flesh.
    The three-dimensional map still hung in the air, the cartography analysis program she had purchased having completed its data crunching during the attack. Unfortunately, the readout at the bottom gave a long list of ore deposits of all kinds and exactly zero results in the case of alien ruins. It had identified a couple of structures and landing platforms that had been built by the miners but nothing more interesting. While she waited, Kalish