Maddison smiled a little. It was nice to know they weren’t the only ones with questions.
Loris answered Vengeance’s question first. “We had engine trouble, fell out of hyperspace, and were immediately attacked. At least, that’s the impression I got when we reached the bridge.”
All three males nodded as if this made sense.
“We were right. The scrawnies have this place well-guarded,” Havoc said in his low voice.
Maddison frowned and spoke up in confusion. “Who are the scrawnies?”
“The verexi,” Havoc said the name with obvious distaste. “We have our own name for the scrawny bastards.”
“They do that? Why?” Loris asked.
Why indeed? It made no sense for that species to guard an uninhabited planet. Though it had turned out to be inhabited after all. And these three spoke verexi. Maddison struggled to put the pieces together.
Havoc looked grim. “I’m certain of it. They don’t want anyone coming here until they eradicate us.”
“Eradicate you? Why?” Loris demanded. She did not look happy at this revelation.
Vengeance scoffed. “Because we’re a mistake they want to erase from existence. This is a prison planet, little warrior. We were sent here to die. We survived, and that’s a problem for the scrawnies—one they want to correct.”
Oh no. They’d crashed onto a prison planet? Was everyone here a criminal? And they were headed toward the crash site… Maddison’s toes curled as fear began to take root. Then she calmed herself with a few deep breaths and some logical thinking. If Havoc and his brothers were felons, their first encounter would have gone differently. No, they might be prisoners of some sort, but they were not criminals.
While she worked her way to that conclusion, Joy continued to press for answers. “The verexi are still trying to kill you even though you can’t leave this place?”
“They are,” Risk stated, his tone dangerously cold. “And if they find out you survived, they’ll kill you, too.”
Her fear escalated into something approaching panic, and Maddison fought to stay in control. She would not freeze up. Not this time. She was too busy dealing with her internal response to make the connection as quickly as the others.
Joy turned to Loris, her voice tight. “We have to shut down the beacon and the radio right now!”
All three males shot to their feet. “You’ve had a beacon going all this time?” Risk demanded.
Things were going south too fast. She had to explain. She could defuse things before they got out of control. She raised her hands. “We didn’t know! Please. We wouldn’t have done it if we had known it would endanger you.”
While she spoke, Loris was already moving. The older woman sprinted back to the ship as Joy scrambled to get out of her way.
Maddison stayed where she was, her eyes on the ground and her heart in her throat as all three males loomed over her.
“Done,” Loris called out what felt like an eternity later.
When she finally looked up again, she saw that Havoc and his brothers had gathered up their gear and now stood back-to-back, their weapons in their hands.They scanned the area, clearly looking for any threat and entirely unaware of the effect they’d had on her.
Thank the stars for that.
“Can this ship fly?” Risk asked again.
“No. The autopilot brought us down on its own. Once we were down, it locked us out of the flight controls,” Joy explained.
“It’s a security feature to prevent theft. Only the command crew knows the codes.” Loris sighed. “And the ones the captain gave me as we left don’t work.”
Risk turned to the others. “I will stay. The shuttle is too valuable to abandon.”
Havoc glanced down at her, and she thought she saw a flicker of concern in his eyes. Had he noticed her fear after all?
“We’ll take the females to safety and be back as soon as we can,” Havoc said.
Risk nodded once. “Bring Strife and Bysshe, if he’s able. If I can’t access the flight systems, maybe one of them can.”
