People fear Judge Esmé Morell. They call her The Hanging Judge because she actually uses the execution chamber she travels with from colony to colony. She places market value on lives. But she might come to regret that. Because not everyone fears her as much as she thinks. In this insightful story, Hugo Award-winning author Kristine Kathryn Rusch proves that when it comes to space exploration, expect the unexpected. "Rusch has style." —Charles de Lint