Chapter 41

I shuddered and she continued, “The Paterians got competitive about keeping slaves alive. Eventually they figured out the slaves that were given less pain and more pleasure did better. They also learned the better they cared for their slaves the better they did. It became a sign of the men’s training and ability to keep a healthy slave. The end result is you get treated like a prized pet.”

I listened with interest, but was dying to get in the water. Rose shooed me and I ran to the shore, dipping my toes in the ocean. The water was cool, but not bad. Wading out into waist deep water I swam around. The water got deeper toward where the inlet was. I dove down and inspected the rocky shelves.

All of the sudden I came across a barrier. I reached out and touched it. It was a large metal grate that covered the opening to the inlet. It ended right at the water line. The grates weren’t small, but I couldn’t get through them. Little barnacle like creatures covered the metal from t