An old friend (and implicitly more) of Beka Valentine, Abel is on trial on the planet Veras for stealing DNA. Unfortunately, the Verasites have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to untruth, and Beka, who arrives to be a character witness for the defendant, falls foul of their polygraph machine and strict anti-lying statutes. The 2 former con artists almost plunge the Andromeda Ascendant and her crew into the middle of a war they can not win. ("The Right Horse")