Cameron Stracher

“It made me angry that people could simply kill other people, take what they wanted, and ignore the cries of the sick and hungry. The world wasn’t like that— or it shouldn’t be like that—even though I hadn’t seen enough of the world to know what it was really like.”

“The rules only applied topeople who couldn’t afford different rules.”

“I touched my scalp where Sula had wrapped the cloth. It still burned, but it made me feel important. I'd been wounded in combat. Anyone could break a leg or dislocate a sholder, but how many people get shot? I could tell by the way Will was looking at me that he was impressed too and not a little bit jealous. I would have quickly traded the head wound, however, for a glass of clean water.”

“I tried to smile but feared I would cry. 'I always wondered what it was like to be shot.''Now you've lived to tell the tale.”

“Will knelt beside me. I wished I could have taken a holo of him at that moment and played it for him the next time he kicked me out of his room. He never would believe he was the same brother who had once tried to knock me out with a pillow.”

“You can't just fly into the Great Coat, shoot your way into Bluewater, and take Kai and his father,' I told him.'Why not?''Cause you can't. They'll killl you, for one thing.'Ulysses scratched his beard. 'Hmm. Need a better plan.”

“What happend to her? To Miranda?'Ulysses shrugged. 'What happens to most children. She got sick, and never got better.''And your wife?''The same.''But you said you were married,' said Will, glancing down at Ulysses's ring, smooth and lustrous in the half-light.'I'll always be married. But it'll be the next world when I see her again.”

“Of course Will was right again. But I realized clearly for the first time how desperate our plight was. It has been foolish to think we could rescue Kai. Now, wherever he is, it couldn't be worse than being held captive by pirates. Even cannibals were more trustworthy.”