Jack nodded as he poured himself more water. 'In other words, if slaves can do it, why bother trying to come up with a machine?'
Grib made a sniffing sound. 'One of those,' he muttered to his brother.
Greb nodded. 'See you tomorrow, Jack,' he said, taking Grib's arm. Circling the table, they headed to a pair of empty cots that had been pushed together and lay down on them. Jack frowned toward Maerlynn. 'One of those what?'
She shrugged, looking uncomfortable. 'They were born here,' she said.
'Slavery is the only life they've ever known.'
'So was I,' Noy spoke up.
'That's different,' Maerlynn said. 'Your folks never accepted this life the way Greb and Grib and their parents did. Yours never gave up hoping for freedom.'
'Are they still here?' Jack asked, glancing over his shoulder at the other slaves.
'No,' Maerlynn said gently. 'They're...'
'They're dead,' Noy said, an odd note of defiance in his voice. 'My dad was beaten to death after he tried to escape. After that, my mom got a fever and she died, too.'
Jack grimaced. 'I'm sorry,' he said, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut. 'I didn't know.'
'Of course you didn't,' Maerlynn said. 'No need to apologize. Would you like to clean up any before you go to bed? I'm afraid the only showers in here are cold water.'
Jack shivered. 'Thanks, but I'll pass. I think I'd rather sleep anyway.'
'I understand,' Maerlynn said. 'Noy, would you show Jack to his bed?'
'Sure,' Noy said. 'What about his clothes?'
'There's a sackshirt on his bed,' she said, getting to her feet. 'He can sleep in that.'
'Okay,' Noy said. 'Come on, Jack.'
He led the way down the line of cots to an empty one beside the two where Greb and Grib were lying, talking quietly to each other. 'This one's yours,' Noy said.
'Thanks,' Jack said, nodding to the two Jantris as they looked up at him.
They nodded back and returned to their conversation.
'Oh, and this is Lisssa,' Noy said, pointing to the cot on the other side of Jack's.
A Dolom girl lay there, her thick, tile-like scales looking dull and dingy in the dim light. She was curled up on her side, her back to Jack and the Jantris, her attention on a crudely carved stick she was turning around in her hand.
'She's a Dolom,' Noy added.
'Yes, I know,' Jack said. 'Hello, Lisssa. My name's Jack.'
Lisssa turned her head halfway around. 'Hello, Jack,' she said, and turned back to her stick.
'She's kind of quiet,' Noy explained. 'Sorry.'
'That's okay,' Jack said. 'Quiet is good. Where's this sackshirt Maerlynn mentioned?'
'Right here,' Noy said, pulling a wad of cloth from under the pillow. 'Go ahead and get undressed.'
Jack glanced back at Lisssa. He hadn't had much privacy back in the Whinyard's Edge, either. But at least there he hadn't had any girls in the barracks.
Even if most of the girls here were aliens, the whole thing felt a little uncomfortable.
Noy must have seen something in his face. 'Don't worry about it,' he said, very quietly. 'No one looks at anyone else here. You learn not to.'
'Yeah,' Jack said. On the other hand, he doubted anyone here had a full-body tattoo of a dragon plastered across his back.
Still, there was nothing for it but to go ahead. He shook out the sackshirt and laid it out on. the bed. It was exactly what he would have expected from the name: a sack, open at the bottom, with arm and head holes cut out at the top.
Noy seemed to be studying a section of floor near the head of Jack's bed.
Bracing himself for the inevitable reaction, Jack pulled off his soggy shirt.
The boy didn't even look up. Jack glanced around the room, frowning, as he picked up the sackshirt.
Nothing. No one jumped to their feet, no one stared and pointed, no one gasped or whistled or snorted or even breathed extra hard. As far as he could tell, no one even saw him.
He slid the sackshirt over his head, covering Draycos up again. So they really didn't look at each other. He pulled off his shoes and socks, and was working off his jeans when Maerlynn arrived with a basket. 'Put your clothes in here,' she instructed, holding it out. 'I'll have them ready—'
'Five minutes!' a loud voice called from the doorway, cutting her off.
Jack looked that direction. A large, ugly, deeply tanned man with a thick gray-black beard was standing just inside the room. He was wearing the same slightly shabby clothing as everyone else, but with a bright red sash running from shoulder to waist.
The man glanced around the room, and his eyes fell on Jack. For a couple of seconds his gaze lingered, as if he was sizing up the newcomer. Then, without another word, he turned and left.
'That's Fleck,' Maerlynn said. 'He's what we call a trustee.'
'He helps the Brummgas keep us in line,' Noy added contemptuously.
'Now, now,' Maerlynn said soothingly. 'He's a slave just like we are. We all have different jobs and duties, and that one's his. I was starting to say, Jack, that I'll have your clothes ready by morning.'
'What, in five minutes?' Jack asked.
'That just means lights off,' Maerlynn said. 'I've been here long enough to know my way around in the dark. Now, you get yourself some sleep. You too, Noy.'
'Okay,' Noy said, moving toward a cot on the far side of the Jantris.
'G'night.
G'night, Jack.'
' 'Night,' Jack said. 'And thanks.'
He pulled down the thin blanket and got into bed. The mattress and pillow were lumpy, like they'd been stuffed with wood shavings or irregularly shaped beans.
Still, the cot was long enough for him to stretch all the way out. That already put it two steps above the hotbox.
He was still trying to hammer out the major lumps when the overhead lights went out.
The sounds of activity stopped at the same time. Clearly, the rest of the slaves knew the routine well enough to be ready when bedtime came.
Ready, and probably eager. After a few days laboring out in the fields, Jack thought glumly, he would probably be the same way.
Jack had planned to stay awake long enough for the rest of the slaves to get to sleep, and then discuss the situation with Draycos. But the hotbox had drained him more than he'd realized, and he found he simply could not keep his eyes open.
Within seconds, he was fast asleep.
CHAPTER 7
Draycos waited until everyone in the long hut was asleep. Then, sliding off Jack's arm, he dropped to the rough wood of the floor. Senses alert, he padded silently between the rows of cots to the door.
The door had been left open a few inches for ventilation. He looked carefully at the door jamb, mindful of the sorts of alarms and tripwires he and Jack had found in the gatekeeper's house. But there was nothing like that here.
He poked his head halfway through the gap and stood motionless for a minute, watching and listening and tasting the outside air. There were no guards or patrols nearby, at least none he could detect. Shouldering the door open, he slipped down the steps and out into the night.
There were no outside lights, either. But between the starlight and the glow in the sky from the city to their west, there was enough light for K'da eyes to see by.
