Nida's been training me on the workings of the stryders wandering the gardens above us.
She says they follow their own will but we can break them like gigantic wild mules, and use them to storm the other wheel.
I try to remind myself she's a clever girl from a time long after my own, but still it irritates me when she talks down to me as if I’m some niño tonto.
Maybe that's why I'm not convinced that I need to help fight her invader.
On the other hand, I sat out the war to defend the ranchos of Alta California from Anglo invaders, and those malparidos ended up killing me for my property.
I have here a rare chance to revenge myself on an occupying force, even if I have no claim to these gardens or their mineral wealth.
Maybe I can earn a larger plot of land on whatever world we eventually settle...