I had not intended to become, as the papers put it, “one of the lucky, and the brave: the first men to see another solar system.” But then, I had not intended to shoot the girl, either, and my options were starting to look mighty thin. When you shoot the governers daughter in what appears to be cold blood, the death penalty seems assured no matter what your defense; at least this way, I had a chance.

Unfortunately, Space Colinization and Imigration Services had not been informed of my last minute realization of the many marets of getting shoved into a can and put into cold sleep for the next several hundred years, and did not intend to send me to another solar system; they intended to send off the different, the poor, the irritating, and anyone else the powers that be would rather not have around any longer. Unfortunately, this didn’t yet include killers. Especially not killers who kill off children of the powers that be.