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remarks about his new name, found himself the center of a flurry of friendly greetings instead. Evan gave a small smile, feeling suddenly shy. He made short, quiet answers to the questions that came his way but initiated no conversation himself. Everything was completely foreign here. The food tasted strange, there were strange noises, strange animals, strange customs. Even the weather was strange. Suddenly he found himself longing for the quiet, dry Outback. His throat tightened. How long was he going to live here in this strange place with these strange people? He wanted to go home, home with his father and mother and brother and sister. But home was trillions of kilometers and nine hundred years away.
      Another chime sounded from everyone’s wristbands. With a groan, the slaves slowly got to their feet.
      "Now what?" Evan asked hoarsely.
      "There’s another hour of work after supper," Pup said. "But we can probably—"
      "Pup! Lizard!" called Grace. "Don’t you think of going anywhere. You’ve had enough of a slack day. We’re adding another bullfrog pond, and you two can help with the landscaping."
      Pup sighed and picked up his bowl. "So much for that, then. Come on."

      Grace was as good as her word. She set the boys to work with trowels, making the extended fingers of shoreline required by the massive, territorial bullfrogs. The dark earth was wet and heavy, not quite mud, and Evan, who was forced to kneel in it, was soon covered with the stuff. His back and legs quickly became sore, and sweat ran steadily down his back and sides as he piled up long mounds of earth. Even his silvery bands turned black with dirt. Pup and three of the other younger slaves worked in silence next to him. The ever-present frog noises continued.
      "You’re one of the new ones, is that right?"
      Evan looked up. An older man, perhaps in his late forties, with silvering hair and a fleshy face, stood next to the mud pit.
    "Master Varl," Pup murmured.
      "Stand up when a manager addresses you," Varl snapped.
      Evan got to his feet. The other children continued to work diligently.
      "What’s your name, kid?" Varl demanded. Like Ting, Varl wore yellow. His clothes were clean, though his feet were as bare and mud-covered as everyone else’s.
      "Ev—Lizard," Evan said, keeping his face stoic.
      A shock traveled up Evan’s arm and he dropped his trowel with a cry.
      "Lizard what?" Varl said.
      "Call him master ," Pup hissed.
      "Lizard, Master Varl," Evan said, hating the word.
      "You had an easy day today, Lizard," Varl said. "Hope you enjoyed it. Tomorrow you’re working your ass off." And he strode away. Evan watched him go. Then, not knowing what else to do, he returned to work.
      A long time later, the wristband chime sounded again. Everyone immediately stopped digging and trouped back to the barn area where they rinsed their feet and hands. By now, the sun was coasting toward the horizon. Pup took Evan into the barn to a tiled room full of showers. Water hissed, and several tired-looking men were already washing off their daily quota of dirt and sweat. A changing area was lined with shelves of clothes and rough-looking towels.
      "Throw your dirty clothes in that basket," Pup instructed. "Take a shower and get another set of clothes from the shelves. They’re sorted by size. This is the men’s shower, so you don’t have to worry about the girls coming in."
      After showering and dressing—Evan still went barefoot—Pup lead Evan back outside toward the ponds. They sat down under one of the trees amid gathering darkness.
      "You’ll want to see this," was all Pup said.
      They sat in companionable silence for a while. The darkness continued in its intensity, completely unlike the streets of light-polluted Sydney. Unfamiliar stars came out, dazzling in their brightness, and again Evan felt homesick for the Outback he had so hated. On Outback walkabout, his family had been with him. He wondered