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woods?”
    Keirth pulled aside the jacket he was wearing so that she could see the blaster strapped in his holster. “I have no idea. But you can’t stay here with me.”
    “Well, you did promise not to kill me.”
    “I didn’t promise,” Keirth said. “I don’t want to kill you, but keep pushing me and maybe I’ll change my mind.”
    She bit her lip. Okay. Okay. Woods it was. She took one last look at Keirth and her ship, and then she scampered off down the very tiny path Keirth had pointed out. It didn’t look like a path to her at all, really. It was just a tiny trampled space between the trees.
    She forced herself to walk with her head held high. She was a member of the nobility, after all, and she couldn’t be kept down by something as ridiculous as this. If there were large animals in the woods, she’d simply be quiet and still. They’d leave her alone. And it couldn’t be that far to the town that Keirth had spoken about. She’d just keep walking.
    What had she been thinking, anyway? She’d almost wanted to stay with Keirth. And he was a thief and murderer. He wasn’t safe. The experience must have turned her head. She’d heard that trauma could do that occasionally. Make it so that you couldn’t assess danger properly. Keirth was certainly dangerous, and she was glad to be away from him. The sooner she made it to town, the sooner she could contact someone to save her and to stop Keirth from killing Risciter. She couldn’t let him do that. She’d contact the authorities. She knew where the ship was. They’d follow her instructions, sail in, and arrest Keirth.
    Everything would be okay. She simply had to keep walking.
    * * *
    Keirth was glad to see her go. He wouldn’t have killed her, of course. He was sure that he didn’t have it in him to shoot a defenseless woman in cold blood. She didn’t know that, though, and he was glad. It had been useful.
    Keirth began gathering branches and foliage and draping them over the ship. He needed to camouflage it from any raiders that might find it if he had to leave it, but he also didn’t want Risciter to know he was there when Risciter arrived. Keirth had intercepted Risciter’s exact coordinates, and that meant he’d be landing here, within yards of Keirth’s ship, within the next half an hour. Risciter would have taken a direct route. Keirth was certain he didn’t know the ins and outs of traveling in hyperspace. Keirth had only learned them himself while working with smugglers several years ago. The shortcuts weren’t common knowledge. When Risciter arrived, Keirth would hear his ship and probably see it. He wanted to be hidden so that he could observe Risciter and then take him by surprise. This time, he wouldn’t fail.
    Once Risciter was dead, he’d need to get off world as soon as he could. He’d probably trade Ariana’s ship for something a little less conspicuous. But Keirth didn’t think he’d be able to run forever. They’d track him down. But as long as Risciter was dead, it wouldn’t matter.
    He busied himself by wandering around the forest, gathering whatever camouflage he could find and coming back to do his best to hide the space ship.
    Ahead, he spied a large vine-covered rock. The vines would be good to cover his ship. He went over to gather as many as he could.
    He pulled at one of the vines, expecting it to be tightly attached, but it came off easily. As the vine came away from the rock, he realized it wasn’t a rock underneath the vines at all. It was a ship.
    A familiar ship. Hastily, he tore the vines away until he was sure. Damn. Risciter’s ship. Already here. Clearly Risciter knew more hyperspace secrets than Keirth gave him credit for. He was already on the planet. Risciter’d had time to cover his space ship entirely. And he was gone.
    Keirth surveyed the ship for several minutes, shaking his head. He couldn’t catch a break, could he? All of his plans had gone wrong. It should have been simple. But then every