green indicator comes
out when you have operating pressure or the red one when the water
level is low in the boiler. Very neat. And the whole thing sealed up
in a can and booby-trapped in case you have any ideas of going into
business for yourself.

"The cover sounds like it is double walled, and from your description
I would say that it has one of the vesicant war gases, like mustard
gas, sealed inside there in liquid form. Anyone who tries to cut their
way in will quickly forget their ambitions after a dose of that. Yet
there must be a way to get inside the case and service the engine,
they aren't just going to throw them away after a few months' use. And
considering the level of technology displayed by this monstrosity I
should be able to find the tricks and get around any other built-in
traps. I think I'll take the job."

"Very well, begin."

"Wait a minute, boss, you still have a few things to learn about hired
labor. There are always certain working conditions and agreements
involved, all of which I'll be happy to list for you."

VIII

"What I do not understand is why you must have the other slave?"
Narsisi whined. "To have the woman of course is natural, as well as to
have quarters of your own, my father has given his permission. But he
also said that I and my brothers are to help you, that the secrets of
the engine are to be revealed to no one else."

"Then trot right over to him and get permission for the slave Mikah to
join me in the work. You can explain that he comes from the same land
that I do, and that your secrets are mere children's toys to him. And
if dad wants any other reasons tell him that I need skilled aid,
someone who knows how to handle tools and who can be trusted to follow
directions exactly as given. You and your brothers have entirely too
many ideas of your own about how things should be done, and a tendency
to leave details up to the gods and have a good bash with the hammer
if things don't work the way they should."

Narsisi retired, seething and mumbling to himself while Jason huddled
over the oil stove planning the next step. It had taken most of the
day to lay down logs for rollers and to push the sealed engine out
into the sandy valley, far from the well site; open space was needed
for any experiments where a mistake could release a cloud of war gas.
Even Edipon had finally seen the sense of this, though all of his
tendencies were to conduct the experiments with great secre