第75节

Ingredients, proportions, mixing procedures, binding agents... ' He

paused as he saw Cadillac's expression.

'I'll need your help, of course."

The Mute responded with a hurry laugh. 'Looks like you've got it all

worked out." He clearly didn't like being upstaged.

Steve threw in a large dollop of soft-soap. 'Sure. I know what needs

to be done. But at the moment, it's just words.

Hot air. Nothing can happen unless Min-Orota agrees to provide us with

the materials we need. And you are the only one who can arrange

that."

'Yes,' said Cadillac. 'And I can also arrange to have you shipped out

of here. So watch your step."

Steve acknowledged this with a mocking bow and went back to sweeping

the floor.

As Steve had anticipated, Cadillac had been unable to resist this

opportunity to cut him down to size. Now that he was clear-skinned he

had the upper hand, and he was not going to let Steve forget it. But

in any case, the rules concerning the treatment of Mutes were already

well established. Steve was obliged to sleep outside the house in a

small, low wooden shack and, since he had no means with which to

prepare his own food, his meals were placed outside the kitchen door by

Cadillac's Thai domestic staff.

Thais, who ranked below Vietnamese and just above the slave population,

came perilously close in the eyes of their Japanese overlords to being

non-persons themselves.

They were, nevertheless, notionally superior to captive Trackers, but,

for the eight working in the house, they were at Cadillac's beck and

call just as Steve was.

The Thais were able to cope with this because, first, they did not have

a lot of 'face' to lose and, second, they were not really serving

Cadillac but Lord Min-Orota. And-Steve didn't mind being treated like

dirt, because things were working out just fine. Cadillac had a long

way to fall. Oh, yes. When he hit the ground, they'd hear the thud in

Houston/GC...

Rising at cock-crow - a feathered alarm-system widely used in Ne-Issan

to rouse the lower orders - Steve was required to perform several

menial tasks before being given breakfast. The list of chores included

splitting a set quantity of kindling wood and stacking it neatly by the

bath-house, carrying away the previous day's ashes, and disposing of

what was politely known as 'night-soil' buckets containing urine and

assorted faeces.

In Ne-Issan, nothing .was wasted. All the kitchen refuse went on to

the dung heap along with the crap, to rot down before being dug back

into the soil -just as the effluent produced by the Federation was

processed and fed into the acres of shallow tanks that the Trackers

used to grow soya beans and other vegetables.

After breakfast, and for the rest of the day, Steve became Cadillac's

'go-fer'. Bathed and wearing a clean set of brown clothes, he was

obliged to follow the Mute everywhere he went like a dog on a short

lead. When they were alone, working together in the study, Cadillac

treated Steve as an equal. He was polite, friendly, willing to listen

and eager to learn. But when they were with Jodi, Kelso and the other

Trackers, or in the presence of ffon Masters, he became haughty and

dismissive.

On these occasions, Steve stayed in the background and kept his mouth

firmly shut. He knew Cadillac was enjoying every minute of it, but it

was also necessary for him to act that way to avoid arousing the

suspicions of the thirty-odd dinks who acted as overseers. They did

not participate in the production process, they just looked over

people's shoulders and generally kept a beady eye on what was going

on.

A group of clerks took care of the paperwork involved in the procuring

of the raw materials - timber, mild steel and woven silk needed to

construct the flying-horses. Some of the accessories, such as trolley

wheels and axles and woven cane seats, were built by local craftsmen

and delivered complete.

After a week of running errands for Cadillac, Steve became a familiar

figure around the Heron Pool. The area in which the Iron Masters were

housed was off-limits, but apart from that he was able to move around

with almost total freedom. Within days of his arrival he was able to

build up a detailed picture of the operation and the overall layout of

the site - knowledge that would come in handy when the time came to

make their escape.

He also contrived to meet up with Jodi. There was no danger in being

seen together in off-duty hours, provided it didn't happen too often

and they kept their conversations short and sweet. Steve also had to

be careful to keep his distance. Kelso was the only other person who

had seen him coloured up as a Mute. As far as the rest of Jodi's male

colleagues were c