by Jenn Reese
“Wait,” Aluna said. “I have a plan.”
The rhinebra had clearly been trained to sit and do nothing during battles; it was too valuable a treasure to be harmed by either side. But a motionless rhinebra made a great barrier — not between them and their enemies, but between Aluna, Calli, Hoku, and the rest of Odd’s kludge.
“Vachir!”
Vachir looked up from where she was standing with the other horses. Her tail swished, her front hoof pawed at the earth. She wanted this almost as much as Aluna did. Without another command, she cantered over and stood by the rhinebra’s side, right under Aluna.
Aluna maneuvered herself off the rhinebra’s saddle and slid down its flank. She grabbed Vachir’s saddle and twisted it onto her back. In two flashes Aluna had her tail wrapped around the front saddle horn and the end strapped to Vachir’s side. Vachir’s hair bristled. They were ready.
“What are you doing?” Hoku said. “You can’t go out there! If the attackers don’t kill you, Odd or Mags will when it’s over.”
“Hoku’s right,” Calli said. “But maybe I can fly us away, one at a time. I’ll start with —”
“No,” Aluna said. “We stay here and fight . . . . We just don’t let Odd and Mags know we’re fighting. We can use the rhinebra for cover. Hoku, can you bring them to us?”
It took Hoku a moment to figure out what she was asking. “I’m the bait?”
“If you’re up for it,” Aluna said.
He grinned. “Anything is better than actually fighting!”
“Don’t forget to use your shield,” Calli said. She pulled a retractable spear from Vachir’s saddlebag and expanded it to its full two meters.
Hoku bolted out from behind the rhinebra and yelled, “You Gizmos want a fight? Come and get one!”
Aluna saw him twist his wrist to turn on the force shield. A shimmering wall appeared just in time to deflect one of the Upgrader’s daggers. His bravado wavered slightly, but he recovered. “Nice shield, right? You’ll have to kill me to get it!”
“That’s enough,” Aluna said. “Get back here!”
She maneuvered Vachir to the side, frustrated that they had to stay hidden behind the rhinebra. She could see the three Upgraders charging at Hoku: a large, dark woman wearing scaled armor over most of her body; a lighter-skinned man with an animal’s muzzle jutting out of his face; and a person completely hidden in bulky robes, but wielding huge swords in each hand.
“Faster!” Aluna called to Hoku. She released Spirit and Spite, her newly repaired talon weapons, from their hidden spot in her sleeves and started to swing them. In a flash, the two thin chains were whirring in deadly circles at her sides. Vachir danced beneath her, a storm barely contained.
“If it goes badly, you fly Hoku away,” she said to Calli.
Calli gripped her spear tighter and did a few slow figure eights. The girl had been practicing regularly, but still wasn’t ready for this kind of fight. Aluna preferred to handle the enemy herself and use Calli as backup.
Hoku ran between them and there was no more time for thinking, no more time for wondering if they should have done something else.
Aluna sent her right talon at the large woman’s eyes and sent her left for the woman’s arm, hoping to either blind her, immobilize her weapon hand, or both. The woman yelped and dodged, batting the talon out of the air with her armored limb.
Vachir spun and kicked, landing two powerful hooves in the woman’s chest. She went sprawling backward with a grunt — and hopefully some broken ribs.
“Like a thunderbolt,” Aluna said. Vachir shook her head proudly and spun to face their next victim.
The battle became a blur. The attacker with swords managed to land a cut across her forehead. She blinked the warm blood out of her eyes and managed to wrap a talon around his throat. When his hood fell back, she almost dropped her weapon in surprise. The Human underneath had been burned so badly that she couldn’t even make out his features. All she saw were two bright-orange eyes glaring out from a ravaged landscape of angry flesh.
One of the burned man’s swords burst into flames while the other crackled into blue ice. He plunged them both at Vachir’s flank, thinking she’d be frozen in place by her rider’s shock. But Vachir had a mind of her own and danced easily out of the way.
Aluna yanked the talon she’d wrapped around his neck and he fell face-first to the ground with a strangled cry. Vachir reared, ready to bring her hooves down on the back of his head or his spine.
“No!” Aluna shouted. “Just an arm. Or a leg.”
Vachir screamed her frustration but shifted her body and landed on the man’s shoulder. The ground muffled his cries.
After the third attacker fell, knocked unconscious by a vicious hit from the butt end of Calli’s spear, Hoku ran off to fetch more of them. Aluna scanned the battle and saw Dash helping Mags and Squirrel, saw Odd fighting three opponents and still holding his own. Zeelo seemed to be cursing more than fighting, but her old bones and incredible skill were keeping her up and alive.
“Last two!” Hoku called, racing toward them with his shield activated.
“Bring ’em in,” she answered.
Aluna could hear her heart beating through her body, could see the glow of her breathing necklace as it pulsed at her neck. Sweat dripped down her forehead and down her back. Vachir’s body was too warm under Aluna’s tail, her gray horse flank slick and darkened with moisture.
Tides’ teeth, she felt alive. Maybe for the first time in weeks. She wanted to whoop and yell, to scream at her enemies and run, fast as sunlight itself and as far as she could go. And maybe a few months ago, she would have. But now she harnessed the battle rush, channeling it into her strikes, her precision, her technique.
She watched Hoku running toward their spot, two Upgraders gaining ground right behind him. One of them shot a gout of sickly green liquid from a weapon in his hand, and Hoku twisted, flicked his wrist, let his force shield take the damage.
But in that moment, in just a flash, his foot hit a rock and he fell. It seemed as if the entire world slowed down as his shoulder crashed into the hard ground and he slid, suddenly obscured by a cloud of dust and grit.
“Hoku!” Calli screamed.
The Upgraders would be on him before he could get back up. One raised her ax above her head, ready to strike. But Hoku hadn’t made it to the rhinebra. If Aluna went for him, everyone would see.
“Go,” Aluna told Vachir. The horse leaped forward eagerly, out into the open.
Even on the ground, Hoku had the brains to activate his shield for the first of the Upgrader’s attacks. The ax bounced off it with a shower of sparks. The Upgrader took the sudden recoil, spun the ax, and went for a second hit.
And then Aluna was there, spinning her talons and wielding Vachir like a weapon.
She heard someone behind her and assumed it was Calli, coming to pull Hoku out of the battle. “Get him out of here,” she said.
“We will,” said a boy’s voice.
Aluna turned and saw Pocket helping Calli drag Hoku back to the rhinebra. There was no time to argue. No time to figure out what this meant for their survival or their hopes of finding Karl Strand. Her enemies were still up, and in this moment, they were all she had time to see.
HOKU WATCHED ALUNA dispatch the two remaining Upgraders with the efficiency of a shark. She used to be angry when she fought, full of a wild rage that drove her strength. Their time with the desert Equians had changed all that. Now Aluna possessed a battle calmness that seemed far more deadly. If her family could see her now, they’d be astonished at the change.
“You okay?” Pocket asked. Calli poked Hoku’s arm, looking for a break.
“I’m fine,” Hoku said, trying to sit up. “Aluna, get back here! Maybe they haven’t seen you yet!”
Vachir whirled and thundered back to their safe spot beside the rhinebra. Aluna unhooked her tail from the saddle and slid down Vachir’s side until she was balanced on her tail sheath.
Pocket tried to scramble away, but Aluna’s grip held him in place.
“Wait,” Hoku said. “Don’t hurt him. He helped us.” He climbed to his feet, ignoring the sharp pain in his shoulder and the warmth soaking through his shirt.
“He knows too much now,” Aluna said. “Calli, what would your mother do?”
“Break his fingers if he talks,” Calli said, far too easily. “Or worse.”
Pocket cringed.
“He won’t say anything,” Hoku said quickly. He didn’t know if Aluna and Calli were pretending to threaten Pocket, or if they were serious about hurting him. He hoped they weren’t, but he couldn’t take the chance. The sounds of battle were dying down and he could hear Odd giving orders to tie up the attackers that were still alive. “Pocket, get these Upgraders secured before they regain consciousness,” Hoku said. “I’ll tie up the prisoners again.”
Aluna stared at Hoku, her dark eyes searching his. He kept his own gaze even and calm. He didn’t look away. Finally, she released Pocket. The boy scrambled backward like a crab, his eyes wide.
Hoku bound Aluna’s and Calli’s wrists, wiped the blood from their wounds, and stored their weapons. Pocket did as he was told — all five of the enemy Upgraders were bound and groaning by the time Hoku was done.
“You another kludge, or you something else?” Pocket asked Hoku quietly. He cast a fearful glance at Aluna.
Hoku wanted to lie, to stick to their story about prisoners and rewards and his life as an Upgrader. But his shoulder ached, his body was covered in sweat and grime, and instead he said, “Something else.”
The energy of the fight started seeping out of Hoku’s body, leaving him tired and shaky. But if he’d learned one thing in all these months, it was that the work wasn’t over when the fighting stopped. He and Pocket dragged the bound Upgraders into the center of camp where Odd and Squirrel had brought the others. Dash and Mags were still off to the side, crouched over what looked to be a bundle of rags on the ground.
“Zeelo,” Pocket said. “Zeelo!” He dropped the last Upgrader and raced over. Hoku followed more slowly, a deep chill creeping over his skin.
Zeelo lay on the ground, panting like an animal. Dash held her head in his lap and smoothed the hair out of her eyes. She snapped at him like a wild thing, but he simply removed his hands and tried again after she had calmed.
“Give me something to sop blood,” Mags said.
Dash ripped off his leather vest and pulled his shirt over his head.
“Press it there,” Mags said, pointing. Dash gently lowered Zeelo’s head to the ground and shifted closer to her gut. Hoku couldn’t see the wound because of Mags’s puffy hair. He made no effort to move.
Dash bunched his shirt into a ball and shoved it against Zeelo’s skin. The old woman hissed and let out a stream of curses.
“Good,” Mags said. “That means you still have some spit inside. You haven’t let all of it leak out on the dirt.”
“What can I do?” Hoku asked. “Give me something to do.”
“Water,” Mags said. “Make a fire. Get it hot. Pocket, you help him.”
Hoku left without a word, eager to be away from the stench of guts. How could Dash sit there and watch it all?
While Pocket gathered wood, Hoku went through the packs until he found a basin and enough water to fill it halfway. He piled the wood, then watched as Pocket opened a compartment on his calf and pulled out a tiny firestick. So that’s what “pocket” meant. What else did the boy have hidden?
They got the fire blazing and set the water heating.
Instead of bringing the water to Zeelo, they helped Mags bring Zeelo to the fire. For the warmth, Mags said. Zeelo cursed the whole time, which Mags took to be a good sign. Then Mags got to work. She demanded tools, and each one had to be cleaned in the hot water, dried, and handed to her before she lost her temper. Luckily, Dash was fast and good with his hands, and Mags got what she needed.
Odd sat by Zeelo’s head and berated her. Hoku would have been appalled, except he was friends with Rollin and had seen her behave the same way. Insults and projectiles were apparently signs of affection in some Upgrader cultures.
Hoku, Pocket, and Squirrel did everything else. They tended to one another’s wounds, built another fire to cook dinner, and kept an eye on their prisoners. Five of the attackers were dead, three felled by Odd, one by Mags, and one by Dash. Hoku wanted to bury them, but Pocket shook his head.
“Not until we divvy up their shinies,” he said.
Parts, Hoku thought, his mouth dry. Of course. Maybe he could pretend to be generous and give his share to the others. Would that look suspicious?
“No!” Mags yelled.
Hoku looked over and saw the medtek hunched over Zeelo’s body. Odd had been talking to Zeelo, trying to keep her mind distracted from the pain, but now he fell silent, the flickering fire reflecting in the lenses of his goggles. Hoku walked toward them slowly, not quite wanting to get there but not quite able to stop himself, either.
“She has entered eternal night,” Dash said. “She is gone.” He wiped his crimson-stained hands on the ground.
“No,” Mags repeated. “She hasn’t gone anywhere yet.” She leaned over and slapped Zeelo in the face. The old woman’s head fell to the side.
“Stop it,” Odd said. “Don’t need her ghost coming back for revenge.”
Mags sat back on her haunches. Her hands hung at her sides. A moment ago they’d been useful — sewing rips and cleaning out muck. Now she didn’t seem to know what to do with them.
“You did good,” Odd said. “You gave her a chance. She chose not to take it. Always was a stubborn Gizmo.”
Hoku looked back to where Aluna and Calli were waiting by the rhinebra. Calli’s brow was furrowed, her lips compressed with worry. Aluna’s face was blank. Unreadable. Calculating. Maybe she was thinking Zeelo’s death meant one less Upgrader she’d have to take out later.
Odd stood slowly, a hand pressed against his chest where he’d taken a bad hit in the fight. “Bring the dead near the fire and make sure those prisoners are tied tight. Maim ’em some more if you have to. Then take your naps, find your wind, and get cleaned up. Tonight we see to Zeelo’s ’cycling.”
’Cycling? Hoku had no idea what that meant. He didn’t know the Upgraders even had rituals. He couldn’t risk asking Pocket about it, not if he was supposed to know already.
At least they had time to rest before the event. He watched Mags treat a growing bruise on Dash’s face. One of his enemies had landed a heavy punch and broken his nose. Mags pressed the bones back in place without a word of kindness. Dash gritted his teeth and let the tears fall from his eyes, but stayed still while she worked.
“Walking twig, you’re next,” Mags called.
It took Hoku two flashes to realize she was talking to him. He took Dash’s spot on a low, flat rock and prepared for pain.
“Took a dive into the ground, did you?” Mags said as she prodded his shoulder. “Can you lift it?”
He raised his arm, winced, and let it drop again.
“Messed up your joint, I’d say,” Mags said. “No more rough and tumble while it heals.”
Hoku tried to look disappointed while Mags immobilized his shoulder with cloth strips. She’d looked so upset when Zeelo died, but here she was, back to her normal get-it-done expression. Maybe her eyes seemed a little more red and puffy, but nothing else was different. Her hands moved with speed and confidence and he tried not to think of the deadly needles she had hidden in her coat.
After Mags finished tying the ends off, she started poking around for other injuries. “What else hurts?” she said. “No way you could take out five Gizmos with no more than a bum shoulder as your prize.”
Hoku started to pull away, but forced himself to stop. “I, uh, got lucky,” he said. “Th
ey must have sent the weakest ones to me.”
Mags snorted and started prodding his jaw and nose. “A Gizmo who doesn’t puff up when he has the chance? Next you’re going to tell me that rhinebras can fly.” She got to his faceplate and stopped, her fingers poised near the edge.
“I’m fine,” Hoku said. This time he did pull away, but not far. He could feel his breathing necklace pulsing fast under his metal collar. His disguise could never fool a medtek. He should have known that. After the whole battle, he’d managed to ruin their plan after all.
But Mags just started rolling up her extra cloth strips and storing them in her bag. When her head was turned, all he could see was her mass of black hair.
“You aren’t the first I’ve seen,” she said quietly.
“First of what?” he said. It came out with a croak.
“The first one trying to look like he’s got more whiz-bang than he actually has,” she said. She wiped off her tools next, although they already looked clean. “No one takes a basic seriously, but not everyone can pay for more.”
“I . . . I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hoku said. His fingers were on his face, feeling along his metal cheekbone, before he could stop them.
Mags chuckled. “Sure you don’t.”
“You going to tell the others?” he asked.
She cinched her bag and tied it closed. “Don’t see the point,” she said brusquely. “But if you ever want to trade that bit of pretty for something that actually does something, you come to me. Got it?”
He nodded once, and she smiled. He hadn’t seen her do that before.
“Good,” she said. “And who knows? You took out five of them today. Might win yourself a little whir and fizz tonight. We could turn you into a real Gizmo before we even make it to Karl Strand.”
Hoku didn’t respond. He couldn’t. His brain was too busy whirring and fizzing, too full of hum and shine.