for heating and
beating out shapes on the anvil. The only things that gladdened
Jason's heart were the massive drill press and lathe that worked off
the slave-power drive belts. In the tool holder of the lathe was
clamped a chip of some hard mineral that did a good enough job of
cutting the forged iron and low-carbon steel. Even more cheering was
the screw-thread advance on the cutting head that was used to produce
the massive nuts and bolts that secured the _caroj_ wheels to their
shafts. It could have been worse. Jason sorted out the smallest and
handiest tools and put them aside for his own use in the morning. The
light was almost gone and there would be no more work this day.

* * * * *

They left, in armed procession, as they came, and a brace of brothers
showed him to the kennellike room that was to be his private quarters.
The heavy bolt thudded shut in the door behind him and he winced at
the thick fumes of half-burnt kerosene through which the light of the
single-wick lamp barely penetrated. Ijale crouched over the small oil
stove cooking something in a pottery bowl. She looked up and smiled
hesitatingly at Jason, then turned back to the stove. Jason walked
over, sniffed and shuddered.

"What a feast! _Krenoj_ soup, and I suppose followed by fresh _krenoj_
and _krenoj_ salad. Tomorrow I see about getting a little variety into
the diet."

"Ch'aka is great," she whispered without looking up. "Ch'aka is
powerful...."

"Jason is the name, I lost the Ch'aka job when they took the uniform
away."

"... Jason is powerful to work charms on the D'zertanoj and makes them
do what he will. His slave thanks you."

He lifted her chin and the dumb obedience in her eyes made him wince.
"Can't we forget about the slavery bit? We are in this thing together
and we'll get out of it together."

"We will escape, I knew it. You will kill all the D'zertanoj and
release your slaves and lead us home again where we can march and find
_krenoj_ far from this terrible place."

"Some girls are sure easy to please. That is roughly what I had in
mind, except when we get out of here we are going in the other
direction, as far away from your _krenoj_ crowd as I can get."

Ijale listened attentively, stirring the soup with one hand and
scratching inside her leather wrappings with the other. Jason found
himself scratching as well, and realized from sore spots on his hide
that he had been doing an awful