“We need to fix the ship,” she said. “That’s our top priority right now. Without the Marauder, we can’t do anything.”

“But how will we get the parts we need when we don’t look like Nor’s followers? You know, those silver veins?” Lon wondered.

They were going to have to improvise. Andi had done it before—with Dex, actually.

She turned to him. “Do you remember Ricar?”

Dex smiled wide. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“What’s Ricar?” Lon asked nervously.

“It’s a small planet in one of the rogue systems. Dex and I had to stop there once for fuel, and it didn’t work out too well.”

“You see,” Dex continued, “Ricar is essentially a terraformed planet made of metal. Most of the people who live there fancy being more machine than human. We didn’t think stopping there would cause any issues, but apparently the locals aren’t too fond of outsiders.”

“So what happened?” Lon pushed.

Even in their current situation, Andi had to laugh as she glanced back at him. “We had to become one of them. So we took wires, metal plates...really anything that might seem mechanical, and we dressed ourselves up.”

Andi could still remember how Dex had wound a metal coil around her neck and arms to hide her skin. He, on the other hand, had glued small aluminum sheets to his face for his disguise. Surprisingly, it had worked. No one batted an eye at them as they refueled. Everything went smoothly, at least until they were back on the ship.

She took off her disguise easily, but Dex... Well, he hadn’t really chosen wisely when he’d adhered the metal to his skin. The glue turned out to be rather permanent, and the tiny sheets of metal were stuck to his face for a full week before they finally managed to pull them off.

“Let’s just say we got the fuel, but it wound up causing more problems in the long run.” Dex rubbed a bare spot on his stubbly cheek.

“Still can’t grow hair there, I see.” Andi smirked.

“Shut up,” Dex mumbled.

“It’s time,” Lon said, pulling them back to the present.

The radar flashed, marking the Tavina System up ahead.

Dex placed his hand on the throttle and eased it back, exiting hyperspace as they approached Solera. The ship shook around them, far too aggressively as it entered the planet’s atmosphere.

They’d made it. The ship was breaking apart around them, but against all odds, they’d made it.

Andi let out a sigh of relief. The Godstars must be liking her today.