“If there is a resistance group of some kind,” Lon mused, looking thoughtful, “then we need to get to them. We have to try, at least. They could help us rescue Lirana and the others.”

“Agreed,” Andi said slowly. “There are two things standing in our way, though.”

“I think there are more than two things,” Dex interjected, but Andi shot him a look that shut him up.

“Two major things,” she clarified. “One is that we are low on everything, and we can’t actually get to the resistance without getting supplies. Which means we have to leave the nebula.”

“But Nor’s forces are out there,” Lon said, blue eyes full of worry.

He’d expressed many times before that he felt like it was only a matter of time before their theory of being Unaffected was tested on him, if and when Nor’s soldiers found them.

“Which brings me to my second issue,” Andi replied. “Nor has control over the galaxy, and we don’t actually know where the resistance is hiding out. Any attempts to find them will probably be riddled with obstacles, so... We need to be smart about what we do. No acting rashly, no arguing on missions. And nobody gets left behind.”

Both Lon and Dex nodded in agreement. They’d all been affected, in their own ways, by the loss of Andi’s crew.

“We can’t hide in here forever,” Lon admitted. “The last month has already depleted us more than I care to admit.”

“So, Captain, what do you propose we do?” Dex asked, arms crossed, as if the answer were obvious.

Hell if I know, Andi was about to say. But then her eyes fell on the holoscreen before them. She pulled up the map of Mirabel, scanning it for what felt like the thousandth time in the past few weeks.

“We go to Solera,” she answered suddenly, tapping the ringed, frozen planet.

Dex’s brow creased. “Why Solera?”

“It’s the closest planet to us, for one,” Andi said, pointing out where they were on the map. “And it has a fairly small population, but since Solera’s a capital planet, we have a good chance of finding the supplies we need.”

“It’s also the farthest away from Arcardius,” Lon added, moving forward to study the map for himself. “Far from Lirana and the crew.”

“True. But it’s probably the worst possible planet for us to land on with a battered ship and limited food reserves,” Dex pointed out. “We’d have to land pretty damn close to a populated area if we want to survive the tundra long enough to stock the ship and then track down this so-called resistance.”

“Not great odds,” Andi agreed. “Look, I’m not saying it’s going to be easy...but we have a lead now, and we should follow it. Or else we’ll just wind up becoming space junk.”