Gavin, peering over the edge, saw that the giants were following a paved road. After a moment they began to pass an endless procession of dawn men, chained ankle to ankle and moving sluggishly toward the Nova.
Already the loading had started.
Gavin stared at the half-men curiously. They crept along, features drawn, their yellow manes matted with dirt. There was a haunted look in their eyes like caged animals.
Thirty percent would die in the crossing, he knew. Within a year ninety percent of the rest would be dead, victims of home-sickness, of pneumonia and measles and Venusian lung rot, not to mention a score of other diseases. The terrible rate of fatality was good business for the slavers. It held up the demand.
"They aren't really human," said Nadia in a faint voice as if reading his thoughts. "They're sub-men."
Gavin nodded. Some place along the evolutionary scale the Jovians had taken a wrong turning. They would never evolve into true homo sapiens. But even cattle weren't treated as they were.
The walls of the cantonment hove suddenly in view through the murky atmosphere. The giants paused before a massive entrance like the gate of a feudal castle.
Gavin climbed out of the litter and started to help Nadia down. Somewhere off in the distance he heard a faint popping.
"What is it?" cried the girl, struck by his strained air of attention.
"It sounds like the dum-dum fire. Listen!"