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“If I’d been born out here, maybe I’d want someone to bring order, too. Maybe I’d be fighting
for
Karl Strand, instead of against him.”

H OKU HELPED THE UPGRADERS break camp. Odd’s face held no humor this morning, Pocket seemed focused on his duties, and Zeelo had stopped telling horrible jokes and belching. He didn’t mind that last one so much. What he did mind was the idea that they were apparently being stalked by another kludge.
    Only a few minutes after they’d eaten breakfast, they were packed up and heading north in a tight cluster. Hoku walked his horse next to Odd and Dash. He kept lifting his fingertips to the metal plate attached to his face and tracing the sleek curve over his cheekbone. It stayed cool and smooth no matter how much grit and grime covered the rest of his face.
    “Stupid rhinebra,” Odd grumbled. “Could make twice the distance if that dumb animal wasn’t so blasted lazy.”
    “I can talk with the creature, if you like,” Dash said. “I have a way with . . . dumb animals.”
    Odd raised an eyebrow. “Do you, now? Well, give it a go, boy. Beat the idiot beast, if you want. Makes no difference to me, as long as it puts one foot in front of the other with more speed than a sun-blasted turtle.”
    “Yeah, go take care of it,” Hoku said, trying to sound as impressive as Odd. Another ninety kilos of fat and muscle would have helped.
    Dash nodded and just barely stopped himself from bowing like an Equian before turning his horse to tend to the animal.
    “He’s a strange one,” Odd said. “Talks strange, too.”
    “Can’t argue with you about that,” Hoku said. He glanced back at Mags, Pocket, and Zeelo. The Upgraders were watching the road behind them and whispering. At least Aluna and Calli were in the middle of the kludge, safe on Vachir and Nightshade and ready to run if they needed to. Although, getting Vachir and Aluna to run
from
a fight instead of
toward
it would probably require a miracle.
    “Strand is good for us,” Odd said suddenly, as if he were answering a question. “People should be able to muck about their lives however they want. Shouldn’t need to pay slayers to keep you from getting sliced in half every day. Shouldn’t need to glue swords to your arm or turn your skin to stone, neither. Karl Strand will beat some order into the world. Set some rules. Then maybe a person can walk from one place to another without getting killed or stole from or beaten into pulp and bits.”
    “I hear you,” Hoku said. “I think —”
    But Odd wasn’t done. “Young ones like Pocket and Squirrel should be allowed to grow up with enough food to eat and a medtek when they need one, and other people to count on when they’re sick or tired or feeling broken.” He shook his large head. “Most days all we can do is wait for the fist to fall and hope we survive the hit.”
    So Odd was conflicted about aligning with Karl Strand, too — maybe even as much as Mags was. But Odd was responsible for the whole kludge, and he clearly saw Strand as a path to a safer world. Not necessarily a happier world, but one where the kludge had to worry a little less about surviving each day.
    Hoku’s mind spun like gears. If they stopped Karl Strand, nothing would change for the Upgraders. And clearly something
needed
to change, or Strand wouldn’t have found so many followers, so many people willing to risk their lives for the hope of a brighter future.
    Aluna wanted to rid the world of Strand, and Hoku agreed with her. But maybe they had to do more than that. Maybe instead of just removing Strand, they needed to give the Upgraders another choice. A
better
choice.
    “I had a family and a safe home once,” Hoku said, surprising himself. But it was true, he had. Back in the City of Shifting Tides, his mother and father had worked hard every day of their lives to give him those things.
    “What happened?” Odd asked.
    Hoku shrugged. What happened? The Kampii necklaces started