Release(30)

“Really,” he said, opening the storage closet. “Of course, this does mean that we do have to go to Trioth. Unfortunately.”

* * *

Keirth stood outside of Ariana’s closed bedroom door. They’d just docked the ship on Trioth, and he was feeling apprehensive rumbles in his stomach. “What are you doing in there?”

Ever since he’d told her they were going to Trioth, she’d been asking him tons of annoying questions. If the people of Trioth carried spears and wore loincloths, why did he think they’d be able to fix their hyperdrive?

He’d explained that the Trioth people, while not much for technology themselves, collected spaceships that crashed on their planet. They had huge junkyards full of stuff. And he wasn’t intending on fixing their hyperdrive anyway. He was intending to trade their worthless ship for another ship that actually flew. Keirth guessed he could understand why she was curious about that.

But that didn’t stop her unending flow of questions. She wanted to know what kind of society the people of Trioth had. Did they ever wear anything besides loincloths? What were their marriages like? They had a chief, right? What were their governing bodies like? Was there a hierarchy? What did the women do? Were there servants? She went on and on.

Keirth didn’t know the answers to half of these questions, so finally, he’d pointed her to the onboard encyclopedia of planets and told her to get reading. She’d been busily reading away ever since. And then, right before they arrived, she’d disappeared into her room for hours.

She still wasn’t out.

“We’re here,” he said to the door. “We need to go find the chief and see if he’s going to force me to marry his daughter.”

The door to Ariana’s room slid open. She stepped out. She was wearing a long maroon dress which shimmered when she walked. Her hair was pulled up on top of her head in some kind of elaborate weave of braids. She had dangling earrings that winked and glittered. She looked stunning, but...

“I had an idea about the chief’s daughter thing,” she said.

“And it involves dressing up like you’re going to a ball?” he asked.

She nodded. “Aren’t you going to offer me your arm?”

“What are you playing at?”

But at that moment, there was a loud banging on the hull of the ship. The Triothians had discovered the ship. Keirth didn’t have time to deal with Ariana. “You should change,” he threw over his shoulder and ran outside the ship.

A group of ten men greeted him. Just like last time, they were all carrying spears and wearing loincloths. The chief was with them. Outside the ship, it was quite balmy. The air was warm. The sky shone a purplish color, shrouded with gleaming clouds. A few of Trioth’s moons peeked through. They were visible during the day.

The chief recognized him. He was a tall man with glistening muscles and a long, graying beard. He pointed his spear at Keirth. “You. Keirth Transman. You have returned, dishonorable man.”

Would they stick him with spears right away? “Listen, Mr. Chief,” said Keirth, “I’m really sorry about what happened the last time I was here. It was all a big misunderstanding.”

“You have come to make it right?” asked the chief.

“Actually...” said Keirth. “I was sort of hoping that we could kind of forget the whole thing.”

Suddenly, the men all gasped. They were looking behind Keirth at the loading ramp. Keirth turned. Ariana was gliding out of the ship. In the sunlight, her outfit was even more glittery.

“Who is this?” asked the chief.

Ariana made her way over to Keirth. She wrapped her arm around his. “I’m Keirth’s wife.”

Keirth gave her a startled glance. She was what?

Ariana smiled at the chief. She patted Keirth’s arm with her free hand. “Keirth told me all about what happened the last time he was here. He felt just horrid about it. My husband is a good man, but he’s sometimes a little bewildered about local customs. He had no idea that taking that glass of wine would be taken as betrothal to your daughter. And, as you can see, he’s already married.”

The chief leaned on his spear. “Married?” He touched his beard. “But he is clean-shaven, like an unmarried man.”

“On our planet,” said Ariana, “married men don’t always have beards. But once Keirth told me about all of this, I did some reading on your culture, and I realized what a blunder he’d made. So we’re here to offer our apologies. Both to you and to your daughter. And, of course, we’re prepared to make remonstrations to her, and to free her immediately from any prior bond she may have been held to.”