“Well, that’s just great,” Andi said sarcastically. She wished, desperately, that Breck was here. Her head gunner knew the ins and outs of the Marauder’s mechanical room like the back of her hand, and while she couldn’t always fix the problem, Andi knew she could’ve at least bought them more time.

But she wasn’t here. And any attempts they made to fix whatever was wrong would waste time they didn’t have.

“What the hell is going on?” Dex cursed as he came running through the door, Havoc hot on his heels. The creature leaped for his legs, but Dex kicked it off.

“Easy!” Lon shouted, reaching out his arms as Havoc yowled and barreled into them, horns just visible beneath his layers of fuzzy orange.

“The damned thing is trying to kill me before the ship does!” Dex snapped.

“Took you long enough to get here,” Andi said, sending him an annoyed look.

“I was having a great dream.” He came up next to her and nudged her shoulder. “You were in it, actually—”

Andi cut him off. “Spare me the details.”

Dex glanced at the floating blueprints. “Well, this looks bad,” he said, stating the obvious.

Lon stepped up to the console, Havoc cradled in one arm as he entered in a code that blessedly turned off the alarm. He’d learned a lot in his time on the ship. Lira would have been proud.

He turned back to Andi and Dex. “I know we wanted to have a better plan before jumping to Solera, but I don’t think time is something we have anymore.”

“Do we have enough fuel to make the jump to hyperspace?” Dex shifted his gaze to the fuel gauge, which was running dangerously low. The control panel still blinked a furious red.

Lon scrutinized the fuel level. “Barely.”

If they had enough fuel to make the jump, it would be a miracle. And if they didn’t?

Well, they’d likely burn up in hyperspace.

“It’s a chance we’re going to have to take,” Andi stated, seeing no other viable options. She buried her nerves deep as she typed in the coordinates for Solera, fingertips flying across the dash. “Dex, why is it that ever since you first boarded this ship, we always seem to be crash-landing?” she asked.

“Because our love is impossible to keep afloat?” Dex suggested jokingly.

Andi let out a shaky laugh.

She wanted to be confident, but her hands shook, the traitorous things. She hadn’t known how much strength she’d actually pulled from her crew until they were gone. Lon and Dex were worthy partners, but they weren’t her girls.

You’ll get them back soon, Andi told herself. To Lon and Dex, she said, “Time to make the jump.”

“You sure?” Dex asked, furrowing his brow.