Page 32 of Her Lawless Prince

“Long story short,” Payton concluded, “they made it to Torgan, fell in love, and have been together ever since. They are devoted to one another.”

The back of Nyle’s hand brushed against hers. Tingles of awareness erupted where they made contact.

“HailingWorld Traveler, this is Torgan Ground,” a voice boomed from the console.

Payton gave a small jump of surprise.

“World Traveler, this is Torgan Ground. Please answer.”

“I guess that’s us,” Payton said.

Yevgen glanced around at the buttons in front of them.

“World Traveler, this is Torgan Ground.”

Yevgen pressed a button, then another, before making a small noise. Finally, he hit a series of toggles. “Torgan Ground, this isWorld Traveler.”

They didn’t answer.

Yevgen flipped another row of switches. “Torgan Ground, this isWorld Traveler.”

“World Traveler,you are cleared for landing. Proceed directly to docking platform eight-eight-sixteen and report to Dock Master Wye.”

Payton looked at Yevgen and shook her head in denial.

“Torgan Ground, this is a fly by.” Nyle took over the conversation. “We’re looking to drop off a single space pod for retrieval.”

“Understood,World Traveler.” The voice paused. Payton looked at Nyle, who held up his hand for silence. “Pod may proceed directly to docking sandlot two-six-eleven to await manual retrieval.”

“Thank you, Torgan Ground.” Nyle reached to shut off the last switches Yevgen had turned on.

“What does that mean?” Payton asked.

“We aim for a sandlot outside of Madaga, where the main marketplace is located. Since they think we’re having mechanical issues with our pod, they’ll guide us in and give us wide berth to crash land. They’ll send someone to pick us up. Since none of us are pilots, I figured that is our best bet.”

“I can fly the pod,” Yevgen stated.

“Yeah, like you could fly this ship,” Nyle dismissed. “Come on, they’ll be waiting for our launch.”

“Yev, set a time release on the doors for after we leave?” Payton said. “Maybe two days. I don’t want to starve the crew in deep space, but we need time to get away. Keep the autopilot on.”

“Logically, it would be best if—”

“No,” Payton cut the cyborg off. “We’re not killers.”

“Yes, my wife.”

Nyle strode from the cockpit toward the storage closet. He motioned toward the hand scanner, and Payton opened it for him.

“I’m going to grab something to barter.” He took a bag from the wall and began loading it with supplies from the storage shelves. “We can sell the pod too. That should get us enough for a ride.”

“I have the blasters,” Payton said.

“Pod’s ready!” Yevgen yelled, rushing past them. The clank of his footsteps echoed loudly. “All aboard!”

Payton waited until Nyle was ready before hurrying after the cyborg. The circular interior of the escape pod only had two seats facing each other and enough space on the floor to cram in a third. She motioned for Yevgen to take the floor. He obeyed, even though he looked as if he wanted to protest.

Nyle tossed a bag at Yevgen before crawling inside the tight space. As he buckled in, the cyborg pressed the bottom of his foot against the emergency launch button. The door closed, leaving them in darkness. Several clanks sounded, echoing loudly around them. She heard Nyle breathing and focused on it. Her shifter vision cut through the darkness enough so that she could see his face staring blindly in her direction.

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