Merit, Part Four: Finale
by T.S. Luikart Cleave Merit reflected that insofar as cages went, he had certainly been in far less comfortable ones in his time than his present iron-barred confines. His chains sure chafed though. His imperial jailors had seen fit to use some sort of new electrical gadget to weld his cuffs shut before bolting his restraints to a plate that had been formed from the undercarriage of the railroad car he was riding in. At least they had given him