Then other tarns were brought, one by one, to the

rm. The other baskets were lofted away. Mine only, it ed, remained. o where is Venaticus?" said a man. leeping one off," said another fellow. angled up in the chains of some slave," suggested an- think it will be another warm day," said a fellow. ood," said one of the men. "Then they may have the s down on the slave wagons." hen we dismantle," said a man, "you could always drift in the march and see Lady Slicila. She is a pretty little in her cage." hey are all pretty in chains and behind bars," said an-man.

hate to think of them shoving an impaling spear up her said a man. know an impaling spear I'd like to shove up her ass,' nother man. ere was laughter. n may do with us what they wish, I thought. Our only

e is to turn them against themselves, and use them for purposes. But in this we frustrate nature, that of men and rselves. How can we win, then? Perhaps, I thought, only sing. But these thoughts were more appropriate to Earth Gor. It did not seem possible to turn the men of Gor

st themselves. Perhaps they were less simple than the Earth, or more simple, more basic and natural. They at any rate, never permitted themselves to be tricked out of their natural rights and powers. The conniving woman of Gor, she who would seek to control and manipulate men, likely to soon find herself at the feet of her would-be victim naked, kissing them, locked in his collar.

There seemed suddenly a storm of wings in the air, beard the striking of tarn talons on the platform. Men, a St immediately, began to work about the basket. I felt the basket move as ropes were fastened, on it and jerked tight. There was a tiny space between two folds of the blanket, through Which I could see, looking then through an opening in the weaving of the basket. With two fingers I drew the blank more together.

"Your face is smeared with lipstick," said a man, "and y stink of slaves and paga."

"I cannot explain that," said a fellow, as though puzzle "for all night I have rested comfortably in the tent of cargo riders."

"The company will not be pleased," said a fellow. "if you slept a wink last night I am a purple urt."

"It is lucky for you then," said the newcomer, concerned "that indeed I neglected to slumber."

"Are you in a condition to fly?," asked a man.

"I shall sleep in the saddle," said the man.

"You have a long flight, of several stages," said a man.

"I shall be well rested then by the time of my arrival Ar," said the newcomer. "I am sure the paga slaves will be pleased," said a ra "all several hundred of them."

"Do not neglect to fasten your safety strap," said a man.

"I shall do so, unless perhaps I chance to fall asleep fir the newcomer assured the fellow.

"What is that sound?" asked a man.

"It sounds like an alarm bar, back in the south part of camp," said a man. "I wonder what is wrong," said another.

"Will I see Bemus in Ar, or Torquatus?" asked the new I comer.

"No, luckily for the paga slaves," said a man.

"It is an alarm bar," said a man, "clearly."

"I hear another, too, now," said a man.

"I wonder what is going on," said the newcomer.

"You will rendezvous with us in ten days, on the south bank of the Issus," said a man. "You will be bringing another shipment of Ka-la-na for the officers." "I wonder what is going on," said the newcomer.

"You are late," said a man, with a rustle of papers.

"I am never late," said the newcomer. "It is only that sometimes it takes me longer to be on time than others."

"I bear other alarm bars, too, now," said a man.

"Do you think the camp is under attack?" asked a man.

"No," said a man.

"It is probably a fire," said a man.

"I do not see any smoke," said a man.

"Perhaps Lady Sheila has escaped," suggested a fellow, lightly.

This suggestion was greeted with raucous laughter. The little vulo, doubtless, was still safe in her cage.

It is probably a fight between companies or platoons," said a mJr, "probably over gambling or a slave."

"I think I will go see," said the newcomer.

"Into the saddlel" said a man.

"But a fightl" said the newcomer.

"Venaticus," cautioned the man.

"Very well," he said.

"It must be important," said a man. "Hear the alarm bars low."

"If it were only a fight, there would not be that many alarm bars, said a man. "Indeed, there probably would not be any. It would not be necessary to alarm the whole camp over an incident of that sort."

"It is probably a drill," said a man.

"That is it," said another. "It must be a drill."

Suddenly there was a storm of wings and the basket, a moment later, was jerked forward, slipping along the leather Uds and then, in another instant, taking my breath away for n instant, it was lofted like the others high into the air. through tiny cracks between the woven fibers of the deep, sturdy basket I could see the ground slipping away beneath s. Wind seemed to tear through the fibers of the basket. I clutched the blanket, it being torn in the wind, more closely about me. The ropes and the basket creaked. The rider took the tarn once about the camp, doubtless to satisfy his curiosity. He could make out little, however, I suspected, from the r. I could see men below moving about in the camp, emerging from tents and such, but there seemed to be no clear pattern to their activity. Certainly the camp was not under attack, nor did there seem to be any fire. The absence of a clear pattern to the activity, too, suggested that a drill, or at least a general drill, was not in progress. Perhaps it was merely a testing of the crews of the alarm bars. He then turned the tarn about and began to take his way toward the northwest. I lay in the bottom of the basket. I pulled my legs up, and pulled the blanket about me. I was cold. I hoped that I would not freeze. I was frightened. I saw the camp disappearing in the distance. Only faintly now could I hear the ringing of the alarm bars. The fiber of the basket would be temporarily imprinting its pattern on my skin. I hoped that the ropes would hold.

16 I Am on the Viktel Aria, in the Vicinity of Venna

I felt a hand on my shoulder. It shook me, gently. I could also feel the warm sun on my back. There was grass under my belly. I had been awakened on an incline. There was muddy water about my feet.

I had been three days the unsuspected guest of the tarnsman from the camp of Miles of Argentum. On the first two nights he had camped in the open. On the first night I had crept forth and, from his pack, after he was asleep, stole some meat and Sa-tarna bread. I also took a drink from his canteen. I partook sparingly in these things for fear of being discovered. If he detected any tiny shortages in his supplies perhaps he put them to the accounts of straying vagrants. On the second day I noticed, to my uneasiness, more dwellings below us. Too, I noted more tended fields. On the second night I stole fruit from an orchard and drank from a pool. I decided to risk a third day in the basket, to put even more hundreds of pasangs between me and Argentum and Corcyrus. On this third day, however, to my dismay, I could see roads below, and many dwellings and fields. We passed over, even, two towns. On the third night, frightening me, he landed within the palisade of a fortified inn. The tarn basket was left within the palings of a special enclosure within this general palisade. Now it was time, I knew, to take my leave. Surely I was not interested in being delivered to Ar, the very ally of Argentum, where, presumably, it would be impossible to escape detection. I could not, however, to my consternation, climb the palings of the enclosure or find a space between them to squeeze through. I hid among the tarn baskets, of which there were several there. When a new basket, that of a late arrival, unhitched from its tarn, was being dragged within the palings from the landing area outside, within the larger palisade, while it was being put in its numbered space, I slipped out. I hid among garbage boxes behind the inn. No sleen patrolled the inner yard, probably because of the danger to guests. I fed from the garbage, ravenously. It had rained recently and there was water in various discarded containers and lids. I drank greedily. Muchly did I envy the people in the inn, with their viands and beverages, their clean rooms, their clothing and warm beds. I envied even the slaves that might be within. They, at least, were secure and well fed. What had they to worry about, other than being pleasing to their masters? I cried out, suddenly, softly, as the fur of a scurrying urt brushed my leg. I crawled about the inn, keeping to the brush at its side.