The only food in the complex was frozen but, thankfully, precooked beef that had been kept by Claudius for his human slaves. It wasn't hard to imagine where it came from; assuming Loren's tale of hidden livestock was true. If Claudius had had slaves, why didn't he have a kitchen somewhere? Someone had cooked the beef, after all. She wondered if it wasn't as much a lack of selection as it was Loren's lack of knowledge about the complex.

They thawed the meat over the heater, and ...