Toba looked uncomfortable. "It's hard. I'll not try to hide that. They'll put him in the Bells... But he's strong, and he'll survive it."

"And after he's too weak to work?"

He pursed his lips. "He won't be in the Bells forever. He could become a Supervisor, maybe; or some kind of specialist. Look, Dura, I know this must seem strange to you, but this is our way, here in Parz. It's a system that's endured for generations... And it's a system you accepted, implicitly, when you agreed to come here in the car, to find a way to pay for Adda's treatment. I did try to warn you." His round, dull face became defiant. "You understood that, didn't you?"

She sighed. "Yes. Of course I did. Not in every detail, but... I couldn't see any choice."

"No," he said, his voice hard. "Well, you don't have any choice, now."

She hesitated before going on. She hated to beg. But at least Toba and his home were fixed points in this new world, nodes of comparative familiarity. "Toba Mixxax. Couldn't you buy us... our labor? You have a ceiling-farm at the Crust. And..."

"No," he said sharply. Then, more sympathetically, he went on, "I'm sorry, Dura, but I'm not a prosperous man. I simply couldn't afford you... Or rather, I couldn't afford a fair price for you. You wouldn't be able to pay off Adda's bills. Do you understand? Listen, forty-five skins for ten prime years of Farr, unskilled as he is, may seem a fortune to you; but believe me, that woman got a bargain, and she knew it. And..."

His voice was drowned by a sudden roar from the crowd around the huge Wheel. People jostled and barged each other as they swarmed along guide ropes and rails. Dura — listless, barely interested — looked through the crowd, seeking the focus of excitement.

A man was being hauled through the crowd. His two escorts, Waving strongly, were dressed in a uniform similar to the guards at Muub's Hospital, with their faces made supernaturally menacing by heavy leather masks. Their captive was a good ten years older than Dura, with a thick mane of yellowing hair and a gaunt, patient face. He was stripped to the waist and seemed to have his hands tied behind his back.

The crowds flinched as he passed, even as they roared encouragement to his captors.

Dura rubbed her nose, depressed and confused. "I don't know what you're talking about. How are forty-five skins a fortune? Skins of what?"

He had to shout to make himself heard. "It means, ah, forty-five Air-pig skins."

That seemed clearer. "So you're saying Farr's labor is worth as much as forty-five Air-pigs?"

"No, of course not."

A new buyer came by the booth, a man who briefly asked about Farr. Toba had to turn him away but indicated Dura was available. The buyer — a coarse, heavy-set man dressed in a close-clinging robe — glanced over Dura cursorily before moving on.