Dragon and Slave

She led him into one of the long buildings. Just as the outside had looked like a broken-down version of a Whinyard's Edge barracks, so too did the inside.

Most of the space was taken up by a single room, with rows of narrow cots lining the walls on both sides. At one end, in the direction Maerly

And packed into the room were slaves.

Jack found himself staring as Maerly

There were at least a dozen different species represented, he saw, from thick-scaled Doloms to feather-covered Jantris to even a handful of humans.

Most of them were on their beds. Some were sitting on the edges of the cots, talking quietly with their neighbors or fiddling with cards or small trinkets.

A

couple were whittling with what seemed to be homemade knives.

But the majority of the slaves were lying down. Lying stretched out on backs or sides, or lying curled around themselves in postures of fatigue or hopelessness.

A few of them looked up as he and Maerly

"I've made you up a bed with my other children," Maerly

"This him?" an eager young voice asked from Maerly

Jack tilted his head to look past the Ysanhar as the newcomer came into view around her. It was a human boy, maybe six or seven, short and thin. His hair was carrot-colored, with a faceful of freckles behind the deep tan.

"This is him," Maerly

heard the guard call you Jack when he let you out?"

"That's right," Jack said, frowning. A human boy was one of an Ysanhar's children? "Jack McCoy."

"Nice to meet you, Jack," Maerly

"We've got it," another voice said.

Jack turned his head, fighting a fresh wave of dizziness as he did so. Coming toward them from the other end of the room were two Jantris, their greenish-purple feathers glistening in the low glow of the overhead lights.

One of them was carrying a battered metal pitcher carefully in front of him, while the other held an equally battered metal cup.

"Thank you," Maerly

told you about, who was watching out the window when the Brummgas brought you in. Be careful with that, Greb." "I am," the Jantri with the pitcher said as he set it down in front of Jack.

As he did, a few drops of water sloshed out onto the table.

"They're twins, by the way," Maerly

The water seemed a little oily, with a variety of mineral and chemical flavors and odors. Jack had never tasted anything so good in his entire life. He gulped it down, spilling some of it over the edge of the cup and down his cheeks in his haste.

He set the cup down, panting slightly. "Can I—?"

"Of course," Maerly

He drained three more cups before Maerly

She beckoned. "In the meantime, you're probably pretty hungry."

Noy popped into view at Jack's elbow, holding a rectangular piece of wood with a

fat, folded green leaf on it. "It's stuffed cabbage," the boy told him as he set down the board. "We saved it for you from di

"For me?" Jack asked, his stomach growling. Between the fatigue and thirst, he hadn't realized just how hungry he really was. His mouth would probably be watering if he'd had any liquid in his body to spare. "How did you know I was going to be let out tonight?"

"We didn't," Noy said. "But if you were, Maerly

"We don't have any flatware or plates, I'm afraid," Maerly

Cautiously, Jack tried a bite. The cabbage leaf was a little soggy, and the rice and diced vegetables inside were of course stone cold. And like the water, it tasted better than anything he'd ever eaten in his life.

Also like the water, it vanished quickly. "Thanks," he said. "I needed that."

"I knew you would," Maerly

"Of course not," Jack said with a snort, retrieving the three grains of rice that had escaped onto the table and licking them off his fingers. "What's the point of punishing someone if you're going to pick them up and dust them off afterwards. I'm surprised they even let you save me some food."

The twin Jantris exchanged glances. "Well, they didn't exactly let us," Noy said. "We sort of sneaked it out."

Jack blinked. "How?"

"That's enough talking for now," Maerly

"Out on what line?" Jack asked, pouring himself another cup of water.

"Picking rainbow berries with us," Maerly

Jack grunted as he drank. Probably the bushes he and Uncle Virge had seen on the flight in. "Sure, why not? They've got all these slaves anyway. Might as well give us something to do."

Below the mop of white featherines, Maerly

"You have to look at the colors to see if the berries are ripe," Greb explained.

"Machines can't read it good enough."

"Well enough," Maerly

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 Maerly

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," Maerly

"Are they still here?" Jack asked, glancing over his shoulder at the other slaves.

"No," Maerly

"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."