We need a better slogan,” Mick said as he threw a ball against the wall and caught it. He stopped and then held up his hands like a magician. “The Truth Crusader. No, that’s not right. Hmm… Let’s see… Truth and Justice. Truth and… something. Definitely need to have truth in there somewhere.”

Sarah wondered for the seven hundredth time what she was doing riding around on a Mick Cracken–designed spaceship campaigning to elect him president of the universe. The food was terrible (Mick considered an Astral version of Sloppy Joes one of the five food groups), the company was insufferable, and she had heard enough lounge music to last her several lifetimes. Given how poorly Jacob had run his campaign so far, she had no doubt she and Mick would win, but that didn’t make his constant antics any easier to deal with.

They were headed for Planet Veritas, the place where Astrals had their court system and where it was strictly forbidden to tell a single lie, no matter how large or small. Sarah couldn’t begin to fathom why Mick Cracken of all people had agreed to debate Jacob on a planet where he was legally bound to tell the entire truth, but he’d insisted that it would be good for the campaign.

She stared at Mick and wondered how many brain cells he really had left. “I thought you promised everyone you were going to lie all the time,” she said. “Why are we doing this?”

Sarah knew that Mick would bestow on her a smug grin in response, his expression of choice whenever she questioned one of his devious schemes. Sure enough, he smiled exactly like she thought he would. Somehow the fact that she knew in advance that he would smile like that made her even angrier.

“Oh Sarah, so much to learn, so much to learn,” Mick said. “Slogans aren’t about lying. Here’s what you do. You take one of your weaknesses and say the exact opposite, but in a way that’s not technically lying. Watch. If you were very short, you’d say, ‘Standing Tall for Astrals!’ You’re not saying you are tall, just that you’re standing as tall as you can even though you’re tiny. If you were the head of an Earther company that accidentally turned a river purple, you’d say, ‘Protecting the Environment One River at a Time!’ That line is genius because the one river you were protecting at that time wasn’t the one you turned purple.”

“And what should my slogan be?”

Mick caught the ball he had been bouncing and thought silently for a second. Sarah hoped his brain didn’t blow a fuse. Then he grinned and said, “Sarah Daisy: She’ll Grow on You if You Get to Know Her Better.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Genius, sir,” Mick Jr. chimed in.

“Oh, well of course you’d agree with him,” Sarah spat.

Mick adopted a concerned expression, and Sarah braced herself for some flattery. “You know you’re an Earther, right? Astrals are a little suspicious of people from your planet, in case you haven’t noticed. But they’ll love you once they look past all that.”

Sarah tried to decide if he was being sincere or was still making fun of her. “I guess I can see that.”

“Trust me, I know what it feels like when people underestimate you.” He stared into the distance and Sarah thought she saw a hint of sadness in Mick’s face. “My own dad nominated someone else for president. How do you think that felt?”

It had never even occurred to her that when the king threw his weight behind Jacob’s candidacy, he was undermining his own son’s dreams. It was Mick’s idea to have a president in the first place, and yet his own dad didn’t think he was capable of it. She felt a pang of sympathy. Sarah’s parents thought she was capable of anything.

“Sir,” Mick Jr. said. “We’ve arrived on Planet Veritas.”

“About time too,” Mick said, smiling again at Sarah. He gave her a wave as if what they had been talking about was nothing to worry about. “The perfect place for my new campaign slogan. ‘Striving for Truth, and a Running Mate Who Is Really Kind of Nice, No Really, You Should Go Bowling with Her Sometime.’”

“You’re impossible,” Sarah said as she walked with Mick toward the rear of the ship.

They were met by a very stern old man in bright red robes, along with a rotund space officer who fiddled with his handcuffs like he was itching to arrest someone. The man in red robes promptly held up his right hand and said, “Do you swear to tell the whole truth the entire time you are on Planet Veritas and agree that any lie will be met with immediate imprisonment?”

“Yes,” Sarah said, glancing in fear at the space officer.

“Absolutely,” Mick said.

“In order to enter our planet, your commitment to the sanctity of truth must be tested. What is the ugliest part of my face?” the man asked. He pointed at Sarah. “You first.”

Sarah’s eyes went wide. Was she really supposed to tell this man a part of his face was ugly? She didn’t want to hurt his feelings or make him mad. But she didn’t want to go to prison for lying either. Her heart raced and she said very carefully, “Well, I mean, you’re a very, um…” She was about to say handsome, but she realized it wasn’t true. “Distinguished-looking person, and while I’d hate to say anything bad about your face… Which is true! Um, since I have to pick something out…” Sarah closed her eyes. “Your hairy mole. I’m so sorry!”

She opened her eyes and the man nodded. He didn’t seem to be offended.

He turned to Mick and said, “And what’s the most unpleasant part of being around—”

“Bad breath,” Mick said immediately. “Like, really, insanely bad. You should get that checked out.”

The man nodded again. “Quite right. You may enter our planet.” He bowed politely and walked away. Sarah wasn’t so sure she wanted to step off the ship.

Mick, on the other hand, jumped in the air and pumped his fist. “I love it here!”