Page 62 of Meat

Following the nith attack, the ukkur packed up their tents, loaded their goods onto their skriks, and rode out across the red prairie. They rode all day and into the night until they reached an easily defensible box canyon. Lookouts were posted in a perimeter in shifts just to be safe, though a second attack seemed unlikely.

During the journey, Alyx had told Krogg her idea.

Now, at Krogg’s insistence, the largest of the animal skin tents was raised—the one used for tribal meetings. Alyx, her children, and her trio of mates gathered inside, along with as many of the others as could fit.

The space was crowded with stern ukkur faces lit by the central fire. The smell of ukkur musk and woodsmoke filled the air. Shadows danced behind them. Many other younger ukkur crowded around the tent flap and relayed to the ones outside everything that was said.

Krogg, steadfast Krogg, was the one who did most of the talking.

He was explaining everything that Alyx had told him about the human meat trade.

Today, the most important thing in Alyx’s life had been threatened. Her children. Thankfully, all of them were fine. They were all around her now, the littlest, Ulfin, feeding at her breast, while two of his brothers curled in Alyx’s lap, and the other six were sitting in their daddies’ laps—Ravnar and Jale, who were on either side.

Alyx had also seen just how powerful the ukkur could be in battle. Armed with nothing but primitive knives and slings, they had wiped out the nith attackers without suffering a single casualty.

The problem was that they were outnumbered on this planet.

But if there were more ukkur—ten times more, a hundred times more—then…then they would be a force to be reckoned with.

However, their current approach of rescuing other ukkur from the ksh farms wasn’t enough. There was a better way to increase their numbers, and that way lay at the nith slaughterhouses.

Women. Human women like Alyx. Potential mates.

This was the plan that Krogg laid out for his fellow ukkur in the tent.

There were stirrings among the crowd. Sometimes there were questions, which Jale simplified so that Alyx could understand. She didn’t know all the answers, but she replied as best she could.

How many humans were there?

How many women?

How often did the ships come?

Were there other slaughterhouses?

Did the other women all look like her?

The last question brought an embarrassed blush to Alyx’s cheeks and a possessive growl to Ravnar’s mouth.

She had tried to explain it as best she could. The other women would be similar to her in many ways, but they would be different as well. Different hair, different faces, different bodies. But they would all be able to bear young.

Whether they would all want to…well, that was something that Alyx couldn’t say.

When she had explained everything to Krogg earlier in the day, she had tried to get his assurance that the other women would be protected. That none of them would be forced into mating relationships that they didn’t want.

Krogg said he would try. But even his clout only went so far. He was not the leader of the tribe. Nobody was.

They would just have to see what happened.

Alyx told herself that practically anything would be better than getting slaughtered as meat for the nith.

As the meeting continued into the night, the faces around the campfire brightened. The stirrings in the gathered crowd of ukkur transitioned into excited conversation until soon the whole camp was alive with laughter and anticipation of things to come.

So.

It was decided. It had begun. There was no going back now.

Alyx searched inside herself, checking her conscience, wondering if she had done the right thing.