"What's this all about?" Lizard asked breathlessly. "What happens next?"

"I don't know," Bell admitted. "Look-our own rooms. They're bigger than the entire apartment back in Sydney. Why are they giving us all this?"

"You're Silent," Pup reminded her. "You outrank everybody except maybe Nater. Even the managers have to be polite."

They spent considerable time exploring their rooms. Lizard flung himself on the bed and found the sheets were fine, heavy linen with a raw silk bedspread woven in a purple pattern. It was the first time he had lain on a real bed in three years. The bathrooms were an equal treat, each with a whirlpool bath and a multi-directional shower that fascinated Pup no end.

A while later, a knock came at the door and a slave Lizard didn't recognize wheeled a large linen-draped cart into Bell's room. The covered dishes on top rattled slightly, and delicious smells filled the air.

"Thank you, Kip," Bell told him. "You can go."

Kip left, and Lizard lifted covers. Although he didn't recognize a lot of the food, he could see at a glance it was infinitely better than anything the muckers got, even on holidays. Bell gave it a critical kitchen eye.

"It's not the best," she said, moving the dishes to a nearby table. "But it's better than what any slave gets."

Pup stood uncertainly by the door.

"Sit down and eat," Lizard said. "That muck about you serving us was just an excuse to keep you here. There's more than enough for all three of us."

Pup's face cleared and they all three sat down. When Tira came to take away the dishes, Lizard told her that Pup would sleep at the foot of his bed in case he or Bell wanted something in the night. Tira accepted this without comment and withdrew again.

"I don't know how long we can keep it up," Lizard said, "but we may as well enjoy it now. Besides, the bed's big enough for five!"

That night, Lizard lay awake in the deliciously comfortable bed. Pup had dropped off almost the moment his head hit the pillow, but Lizard found the silence kept him awake. The windows were shut, and he couldn't hear the frogs, let alone the usual snores and sleepy mutters of the slaves in the barn loft. Soft moonlight slipped around the closed curtains, giving a dim illumination. Lizard turned on his side and watched Pup sleep. His near-white hair looked silver. The sheet had fallen away from his bare chest, revealing flat muscle and supple skin that moved with Pup's steady breathing. He was a good friend, the best Lizard had ever had. And he was d.a.m.ned good-looking.

Lizard blinked. Where did Where did that that come from? come from? he thought. he thought.

He watched the rise and fall of Pup's chest and was seized with the sudden impulse to reach out and touch Pup's hair, caress his forehead. Feelings churned inside Lizard, strange and unexplained. Pup was his best friend. Pup had been there for him from day one, had listened to him cry about his missing family, had conspired to avoid the managers with him. Lizard liked Pup a lot, didn't know what he'd do without him. But what did that mean?

Lizard's hand stole outward and his finger lightly touched Pup's cheek. It was warm. Pup shifted. Lizard s.n.a.t.c.hed his hand back as Pup's eyes abruptly opened.

"What's wrong?" he said in a sleep-blurred voice.

Lizard's wits fled and he couldn't answer. Pup blinked and woke up fully.

"What's going on?" he said.

"I thought ..." Lizard stammered. His heart beat fast. "I mean ...it's nothing."

Pup gave him a long look that Lizard couldn't interpret. "Okay. Good night." He turned over and lay still.

Lizard swallowed hard. What had he been thinking? What had he been doing? There was no answer that made sense to him. Lizard turned his back to Pup and stared at the wall. So much was happening, changing so fast. He'd never get to sleep.

He fell asleep.

The wind was hot and dry, carrying the scent of dry vegetation and sun-baked rock. Overhead, a falcon screamed, a high, free sound. Under his feet, the earth was hot, sandy, and full of sharp stones, but in this place, his soles were hardened and impervious to such problems. He spread his arms to the wind, let it blow over him. This place was solid. This place was real. This place was- Child.

He had never heard human voices in this place. These should have startled him. But he felt no fear. He turned calmly. Half a dozen people, men and women, stood beside him. They were as naked as he was, their dark hair bleached brown by the sun.

"h.e.l.lo," he said.

Our time here is short, they said, and their mouths didn't move when they spoke. The words appeared in his head and in his heart. they said, and their mouths didn't move when they spoke. The words appeared in his head and in his heart. And there are things you must know. And there are things you must know.

"What are they?" he asked.

A collective sense of shaking heads came over him. You must learn them on your own. We can only send you in the direction. You must learn them on your own. We can only send you in the direction.

"What direction is that?"

The one within you. Follow your own self. The mutants are forcing your body down a path strewn with death and pain, but your mind remains your own. Draw strength from us. We are the Real People, and you are part of us. The mutants can take that from you only if you let them.

And they were gone. No track or broken blade of scrubby gra.s.s showed they had ever been there. The hot, cleansing breeze continued to blow, and the falcon called again. He turned to look up at the sky and saw a white canopy.

Lizard awoke, muddled and confused. He was in the wrong place. There should have been a hot wind, sandy soil. Or a lumpy pallet and frog calls? Either way, it was wrong. Everything was soft and white, and the light was dim. He heard a strange bubbling noise. Then Lizard remembered where he was and sat up. Pup's place in the bed was empty, and the bubbling sound was coming from the bathroom. Lizard got up and stretched. Thin streaks of sunlight striped the floor around the curtains, leaving the room dim. Cool air drifted from one of the vents, and the carpet was soft on Lizard's bare feet. He pulled on a pair of shorts, knocked once on the bathroom door, and pushed it open. Pup was sitting up to his neck in the whirlpool bath, which bubbled with white water. The room was heavy with steam.

"This is great!" Pup said. "You have to try it! Lots of room-come on in."

"Not the shower?" Lizard asked. For the first time in his life, he realized-truly realized-that Pup was naked in the bath. Memories from last night stirred, and Lizard found himself drawing back with uncertainty. Pup gave no sign that he remembered the previous night, but still...

"Already tried that, too," Pup grinned, and he was beautiful. Lizard swallowed. "You coming in or what?"

"I'll wait until you're done," Lizard said, and splashed a handful of warm water at Pup's head to cover his consternation. Pup retaliated with a great gout that soaked Lizard from chin to waist. Laughing, he wiped his face on his arm. "Now I don't need a shower or or a bath." a bath."

A few moments later, they had both finished washing up-Lizard opted for the shower-and had gotten dressed. Lizard actually had to dress twice because Pup found outside the bedroom door another set of clothes in Lizard's size. These were a long tunic and trousers in a pale yellow, with sandals similar to the type the managers wore. Pup watched him put them on in awe.

"Y'see?" he breathed. "Light yellow, and the managers wear dark yellow. You're almost at the same level they are."

"I guess," said Lizard. He held out the wrist with the metal band still encircling it. "But only almost."

"You think they'd a.s.sign you a body slave to, you know, lay out your clothes and stuff?" Pup asked tentatively. "Even someone who was a ...a mucker?"

His eyes were so wide and his voice so hesitant, Lizard felt his throat thicken. His best friend thought it would be a privilege to wait on him? In a fit of emotion, he grabbed Pup in a rough hug. Pup didn't immediately return the gesture and Lizard felt him stiffen for a moment before hugging clumsily back. Lizard let go.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's okay," Pup said in the same tone he had used last night. "Just startled me."

"It's just-I'd rather have a friend than a slave. But if they want me to have a body slave, you know I'd get you out of the muck." Lizard paused thoughtfully. "Unless you'd miss that frog girlfriend you've been seeing."

Pup snorted. "Well, your ma's waiting list is too long."

Lizard aimed a mock punch at Pup's head. Pup ducked, and everything was back to where it had been before.

"Speaking of Mom," Lizard said, and knocked on the door connecting their rooms.

Bell, it turned out, had herself just finished dressing. Her new tunic and trousers were identical to Lizard's. A moment later, breakfast arrived. They wheeled the cart over to a wide window and drew aside the curtains to let in golden sunlight. They ate and talked. It was a happy meal. Lizard saw the lines on his mother's face had smoothed a bit, and she appeared much more cheerful. For a moment, it felt like a Sunday morning back in Sydney, in the days when there had been five of them around the breakfast table. The change had come because they were Silent. Lizard looked at his mother and knew the same thing was on her mind.

"Do you think ...?" Lizard asked.

Bell sighed and set down her coffee mug. "I don't know. We can only hope, I suppose."

"What?" Pup said. "You hope what?"

"That the rest of our family is Silent, too," Lizard said.

"Oh."

"Do you ever think about them, Mom?" Lizard said.

"Every day," she said quietly. "Every night I talk to your father, even though he can't hear me. And then I pray that your brother and sister are all right."

The door opened and Mistress Blanc walked in. All three slaves shot to their feet but kept their eyes on the floor. Lizard caught a glimpse of green robe and thought he recognized it as the one she had been wearing the day she'd bought him and his mother from the slavers.

"I've been thinking about what to do with you," she said. "My interplanetary communication is fairly extensive but it's not enough to justify the cost of training and maintaining my own Silent, and certainly not two of them. Therefore, I've decided to put you both up for sale."

The words slammed into Lizard like bullets. Every drop of blood drained from his face and the room swayed around him. Mistress Blanc's voice seemed to come from a long distance. Then he was sitting on the floor with his head between his knees and no idea how he'd gotten there. His hands shook and his face felt numb. The silver-colored band around his wrist gleamed in the golden sunlight. Gradually he became aware of an arm around his shoulder.

"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. All life, everything's okay. It's okay."

The voice was his mother's. There was an edge to it, as if one wrong word might send her falling into hysteria. Lizard forced himself to breathe evenly. The room stopped spinning. Eventually he looked up. Mistress Blanc was gone. Pup and his mother were kneeling beside him. Her arm was around him. Lizard stared at the band on Bell's wrist. Bell, not Rebecca. Lizard, not Evan.

"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay," Bell repeated.

Lizard slowly got to his feet, a.s.sisted by Bell and Pup, who hadn't spoken. The three of them stood in silence. After a while, Pup cleared his throat.

"Mistress Blanc said you need to go downstairs soon so you can leave," he said. His eyes, blue as the sky, were bright with unshed tears, and Lizard knew he didn't want to shed them where people could see.

"She bought us together," Bell said, edge still in her voice. "She bought us together. Someone will buy us together. They'll have to. They'll have to."

Tira appeared at the door, her steely eyes hard. "Mistress Blanc is waiting downstairs." Her tone, while polite, made it clear that even Silent slaves were still slaves who needed to obey the mistress.

"We're going, aren't we?" Bell said. "All life, we're going."

She moved toward the door in a daze. Lizard's mouth was dry and his hands were still shaking. He turned and looked at Pup, and suddenly the thought of leaving him was more than he could bear. All of a sudden there was so much to say. He grabbed Pup's shoulders.

"Pup," he said, "Pup, I-"

Pup's body went stiff and a guarded look came into his eyes. "You what?" he said. His voice was wary. Something twisted inside Lizard and the words changed on his tongue.

"I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to ...to be a body slave," Lizard said. He backed up a step and shook Pup's hand.

"Yeah. I'm sorry too," Pup said. "Really, I am."

Lizard nodded once, then turned and followed his mother out the door.

CHAPTER FOUR.

Freedom is the ultimate drug.

-Daniel Vik, Co-Founder of Othertown Colony

The room was exactly the same as before. Yellow pathways lead between red platforms and green squares, and voices echoed off the hard walls. The only difference was that this time, Lizard had a chair to sit in.

His mother was already gone.

Lizard had gone berserk when her new owner lead her away. He jumped screaming off his platform, and the pain had blacked him out. When he awoke, she was gone, and he was back on his platform. That had been-what? Two hours ago? Three? It was hard to tell. Now he sat on the chair, dull and listless, as humans and aliens asked him questions. A small part of him wondered if his slow, stupid answers lowered his price, and he took some satisfaction in the possibility.

A jolt banged up his spine, making him gasp and rousing him from lethargy. A short, round woman with short black hair and coffee eyes removed a gentle hand from his ankle. She smiled at him as he blinked down at her.

"I just had to be sure," she said, tapping the little data pad she carried. "Don't worry-I'll be back. And you'll be free."

Lizard watched her go, not quite sure what she meant. He wasn't free. He was pretty expensive, by all accounts. All around him, almost a hundred slaves of varying species sat or squatted in their squares. Only three others had chairs to sit in. Another half dozen platforms, including the one Bell had been confined on, held empty chairs. Lizard wondered if his mother had been placed in a different lot, which was why her silent (Silent?) auction ended before his did. Or maybe there was some other reason she had been taken earlier. He really had no way to know for sure.

...you'll be free.

The phrase echoed around Lizard's mind, but he didn't dwell on it. He was a slave, had been for three years and would be for the rest of his life. It didn't matter what that woman said or did.

After a while, however, the round woman came back, data pad still clutched in one hand. She was smiling.

"It's all arranged." She touched Lizard's platform. It blinked from red to green and sank to floor level. "Let's go before they find a way to change their minds, all right?"

"Are you my new owner?" Lizard asked uncertainly.

"Yes and no," she said. "I know that's not a very good answer, but trust me for the moment. I don't want to talk here. Come on. Walk behind me and keep your eyes down. Quickly!"

"Yes, Mistress."

She pursed her lips. Lizard tried not to flinch. "Never that," she said. "You may call me 'Mother Ara' or just 'Mother,' all right?"

Mother? What was she, a nun? A nun who bought slaves? "Yes, Mist-Mother Ara."

Mother Ara turned and strode away. Lizard hurried to follow, mystified. She went around to each of the other Silent slaves up for sale, her manner brisk yet furtive. Lizard exchanged glances with them but didn't speak. As the entourage grew, Lizard began to wonder if this was an escape. It would explain why they were hurrying and why Mother Ara didn't want to talk and why she had said Lizard would be free. A tiny spark of hope flared, and he let it remain. Something was going on here, and he had the distinct feeling that he and the other Silent slaves were going to benefit from it.