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

had copied, the individual pages connected and arranged in a three-dimensional display. Even now, the computer was working to fill in the details, using satellite data to estimate depths and other elements that wouldn’t have been apparent from the flat pages. He watched for a couple of minutes, wondering if any of those alternative entrances had been found; flying into the hole in the middle of the mining compound might be doable, but then they would have to worry about being shot at along the way and followed on their search.
    Sedge’s stomach grumbled, so he sat up, intending to hunt for a meal. He lifted a window flap above his cot to peek outside. A boulder rose a couple of feet away, limiting the view, but he could tell it was still night outside. That meant he had not been unconscious for too long. Of course, if they had flown back to the far side of the planet, it might just mean that night had barely started over here. He wondered why Kalish had erected a tent instead of simply setting up in her ship.
    “ ...going to comm them now, Mom,” came Kalish’s voice from outside of the tent.
    Sedge had been about to swing his legs off the cot, but he lay back down instead. Kalish pushed the flap open and walked inside, rolling her eyes as she entered. Sedge closed his own eyes most of the way, pretending he hadn’t yet woken up. The subterfuge was out of habit, a thought that he might gather intelligence because Kalish would speak more freely if she thought he was still unconscious. It was always a good idea to gain as much information as possible, whether dealing with enemies or employers. Or attractive women.
    “ ...bad was it? You didn’t explain much before you sent us off,” the person on the other end of the comm asked.
    Her mother? Did Kalish have more people in her “crew,” or was it just the two of them? And perhaps a pilot? When Sedge had researched her company, there had not been much on the network about its members.
    “ Bad.” Kalish walked through the hologram and glanced around like she was looking for a place to sit down.
    Sedge almost got up to offer her the cot, but he wanted to know what would follow “bad.” The infiltration had not gone as smoothly as his team would have hoped, but considering they had received inaccurate intelligence, he thought they had pulled it out well enough. Aside from the blast he had taken, neither Kalish nor the rest of the squad had been injured. But if she had hoped for utter stealth, getting in and out without being seen, then they had failed. Would that change her willingness to hire Mandrake Company for the larger part of her mission?
    “ What do you mean, bad? Your message earlier said everyone was fine. We wouldn’t have taken off if we had known you were in trouble.”
    “ No, no, I’m fine, Mom. The mercenaries are all fine.” Kalish glanced toward Sedge. “One was injured, but he seems to be all right now. But a lot of the miners...” She swallowed and turned her back to him. “There were fatalities,” she said, her voice low. “It was a big screw up in the end, and a lot of people got shot. Or blown up. This was supposed to be—” She cleared her throat, her voice thick with emotion. “I was willing to become a thief to get Dad back, but this? Even if we succeed, we’ve— I’ve —killed people. This is crazy. I’m a criminal now, a murderer.” She gripped the edges of the desk.
    Sedge blinked a few times, her distress making him emotional. He understood the feeling perfectly well. The mercenary company often chose a side in a war, killing for those who employed them. There had been times when he had known that his actions had been in the wrong, legally and morally, but penalties were few and far between. Out here, so far from the system core and the seat of the government, most of the Galactic Conglomeration laws were not enforced, with legislation instead falling under the jurisdictions of individual planetary governments. As far