ngine, apparently knew
enough from observing Jason fueling the thing that it could not move
without the vital liquid. An empty feeling of resignation had replaced
Jason's first rage: he should have known better than to trust Mikah
with anything, particularly when it involved an ethical point. He
stared at the man, now calmly eating a bit of cold roast and marveled
at the unruffled calm. "This doesn't bother you, the fact that you
have condemned us all to slavery again?"

"I did what was right, I had no other choice. We must live as moral
creatures or sink to the level of the animals."

"But when you live with people who behave like animals--how do you
survive?

"You live as they do--as you do, Jason," he said with majestic
judgment, "twisting and turning with fear and unable to avoid your
fate no matter how you squirm. Or you live as I have done, as a man of
conviction, knowing what is right and not letting your head be turned
by the petty needs of the day. And if one lives this way one can die
happy."

"Then die happy!" Jason snarled and reached for his sword, but settled
back again glumly before he picked it up. "To think that I ever
thought I could teach you anything about the reality of existence here
when you have never experienced reality before nor ever will until the
day you die. You carry your own attitudes, which are your reality,
around with you all the time, and they are more solid to you than this
ground we are sitting upon."

"For once we are in agreement, Jason. I have tried to open your eyes
to the true light, but you turn away and will not see. You ignore the
Eternal Law for the exigencies of the moment and are, therefore,
damned."

The pressure indicator on the boiler hissed and popped out, but the
fuel level was at the absolute bottom.

"Grab some food for breakfast, Ijale," Jason said, "and get away from
this machine. The fuel is gone and it's finished."

"I shall make a bundle to carry, we will escape on foot."

"No, that's out of the question. Snarbi knows this country and he knew
we would find out that he was missing at dawn. Whatever kind of
trouble he is bringing is already on the way and we wouldn't be able
to escape on foot. So we might as well save our energy. But they
aren't getting my handmade, super-charged steamobile!" he added with
sudden vehemence, grabbing up the crossbow. "Back both of you, far
back. They'll make a slave of me for my talents, but no free samples
go with i