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of the duke, even though she’d meant the planet. Risciter was a big planet, and the duke was a sorry excuse for a human being. So, there they were again.
    Ariana put down her spoon. “What do you have against him, anyway?”
    “He’s a murderer,” said Keirth.
    Ariana made a face. “He is not .”
    Keirth rolled his eyes. “Maybe this conversation idea wasn’t a great one. Let’s just eat, okay?”
    * * *
    Ariana opened one eye. Her arms were flung over her head. All she could see was Keirth, standing over her in the bridge of the ship.
    “We’re safe on the ground,” he said, glaring at her in disgust.
    She lowered her arms and looked around, taking in the fact that they were indeed safe. Nothing inside the bridge seemed to be damaged. The visual was on, and outside, she could see the trunks of trees. They’d come down right in the middle of a forest, crashing and smashing down branches everywhere. It had been terrifying. “Don’t they have spacedocks in the colonies?”
    “Sure, they do,” said Keirth. “And if you want your ship stolen or raided for parts, you absolutely land it there and leave it.”
    Ariana was shocked. There was this much lawlessness out here? Ships weren’t safe?
    “Maybe,” said Keirth, “if you came with a cadre of armed men to guard your ship, it might be safe in a docking bay, but I don’t have that luxury. So, we’ve landed in the woods. I don’t see why you were so upset anyway. I put the ship down in a nice clearing.”
    Ariana still remembered the sounds of scraping branches and splintering wood. It hadn’t seemed like a clearing to her.
    “Get up,” said Keirth.
    She didn’t move from her seat.
    Keirth reached down and pulled her to her feet. “Come on. We don’t have much time.” He dragged her out of the bridge and out to the loading ramp, which he’d lowered. Pushing her first, they exited the ship. Outside, they stood on the forest floor. The trees looked the same as they did on most planets, but the leaves were an odd shade of green—nearly blue. Now that she was outside, Ariana could see that, in fact, the ship had landed in a clearing of sorts, but it was surrounded on all sides by tall trees with blue-green leaves.
    Keirth took several steps away from the ship and pulled a compass out of his pocket. Consulting it, he pointed deep into the forest. “Walk that way.”
    He meant to set her loose in the woods? “What?”
    Keirth gave her a dark look. He took her by the arm and dragged her to the spot he’d been standing in. He pointed again. “You see this path?”
    “No.” As near as Ariana could tell, there wasn’t a path. Of course, she hadn’t spent much time in the woods—not in the wild woods, anyway. She’d gone on nice nature walks on Wendo occasionally, but they were always on cleared, paved walkways through the trees, with benches set up every ten feet or so for resting and talking. It was possible she didn’t know what a forest path was, she guessed.
    “There’s a walking trail,” said Keirth. “I guarantee it leads to town. We’re on the planet Kush, all right? And according to the coordinates I’ve got, the closest town to here should be called Madua. I’ve never been there, but it should have an inn and a tavern at the very least. And I’m sure they’ll be a public comm in the tavern. You can use it to contact someone to pick you up.”
    “But...” Wandering alone through a forest? Going into a strange town all by herself? For one thing, it was scandalous and improper. For another, it was downright terrifying.
    “You can’t stay here with me,” said Keirth.
    Of course not. And she didn’t want to. He was freeing her. She had to leave. She didn’t want to be near Keirth anyway. He was terrifying as well. More terrifying than the woods. She nodded. “Well, all right, then.” She took a tentative step in the direction Keirth had pointed. She hesitated. “Are there...very fierce wild animals in these