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The boy is taken away, a price is negotiated, and, as is his custom, Divan pays Nelson in cash from a money clip filled with countless bills Then he claps Nelson on the back jovially Nelson gets more respect as a parts pirate than he ever did from his superiors as a juvenile enforce me what I need Not all my associates are so consistent Now that the Juvenile Authority is offering rewards for AWOL Unwinds, I find fewer come my way"

"Goddamn Cap-17 law," Nelson says

"Yes Let’s hope it’s not a sign that society is slipping back to its old, less civilized ways"

"Not a chance," Nelson tells hio back there"

He was just a child when the Unwind Accord was passed and the war ended--but it’s not the war that sticks in his mind from those days It’s the fear of the ferals With the failure of the public school systeers out of work, out of school, and with nothing to do even before the war In fact, that fear triggered the warelse One side claimed the ferals were created by the collapse of family values, while the other side claier ht Both sides rong--but it didn’t o into the streets at night fro didn’t just end the war," Nelson points out to Divan "It ripped out the weeds Kept the the rest of us out Fear of the AWOLs will keep both of us in business"

"I sincerely hope you’re right" Divan opens his mouth as if to sayyou’re not tellingto trouble yourself with Just rumors We’ll talk more upon your next visit And if you could, please keep in irls Ones with red hair in particular Also uh price for ‘People of Chance’ "

"I’ll keep it inDivan’s request He’d yet to capture a Native American kid, but one of these days those so-called "People of Chance" would bust and leave Nelson with not just a winning hand, but an entire winning body

As he drives back across the bridge and onto Ah If Divan has worries, they’re unfounded Although Nelson has, in recent days, chosen the life of an outsider, he still feels he has a finger on the pulse of the ti the practice of unwinding, how could anyone deny that it is a viable alternative for the troubled, the useless, and the unwanted? Like the ads say, "Unwinding isn’t just good ht idea"

It was the very rightness of the idea that e that he would leave the world a cleaner, brighter place by dredging the dregs from the streets hat propelled hih, his ideals were replaced by an abiding hatred for thoseThey were all alike, these Unwinds; sucking valuable resources fro to their pathetic individuality, rather than accepting peaceful division They insisted on living lives no one else felt orth the effort As an officer of the law, the rules of conduct held him back--but as a parts pirate, he could take care of business much more effectively So, ashis life, perhaps the boy had done hi to know that the Akron AWOL died an ignoble death at Happy Jack Harvest Caives Nelson hope that maybe there truly is justice in the universe

13 - Connor

A retired 787 arrives with only fourteen Whollies packed in empty beer barrels in the hold Connor wonders if so bored, or if the barrels were really the most inconspicuous way to ship them The kids all exit the hold cramped and hunched fro speech, troubled by the di plane

Then, after they’ve been brought to the IHOP jet for assesset them ready for life in the Graveyard, Connor returns with Trace to the 787 It’s the old Boeing Dreamliner, the first one of its kind to arrive at the Graveyard It was once heralded as the salvation of the aviation industry, and it certainly served its purpose, but there’s always so newer, faster, and more fuel-efficient ready to take any jet’s place

"She’s still ier co in the Arizona sun "A classical beauty"

"You think you could fly this plane if you had to?" Connor asks hirins "I’ve been flying Cessnas since I was sixteen, and military aircraft for a year before I joined the ADR, so yes, I could fly a commercial airliner Hell, I could make it do loop-the-loops"

"Good You eted"

Trace puzzles over this for a second, then grins "Escape jet?"

"If we gut it, we can fit everyone in Won’t be comfortable, but it’ll work"

"I’ll research the specs and see if it can handle the weight"

"We’ll gut the cabin, then have the front-office guys post it all for sale," Connor tells hiine parts and the cockpit console on the sale list, but on’t really dis parts"

Trace gets it without having to be told "So, to anyone keeping tabs on us, it’ll appear that the jet has totally gone to salvage, but we’ll know it’s still operational"

"Exactly Then we’ll tow it to theit as a dormitory jet"

"Brilliant"

"No," says Connor, "desperate Now, let’s get out of this thing before we fry"

- - -

Trace drives Connor back to thehead of security in the Graveyard, he’s Connor’s acting bodyguard and chauffeur Not Connor’s idea, any more than the private jet and the blue camo, but it helped create that illusory leadership pedestal Fro set apart