Page 95 of Feast

“Doesn’t it…doesn’t it hurt?” Ika asked.

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Alyx said. “I’m not going to lie to you, Ika. Giving birth is a very painful experience. Back on Earth there were drugs that a woman could take to ease the pain a little, but we do not have those drugs here. You will have to endure it all. But I sense that you are strong.”

Ika swallowed past her dry throat. She appreciated Alyx’s vote of confidence, but she was still very nervous.

“And you said it will happen tomorrow?” Ika asked.

Alyx nodded. “Most likely. Back on Earth, it used to take nine months for the baby to grow in the woman’s belly before coming out. But when ukkur are involved, things are different. Their sap is stronger than a human man’s, and it makes babies who grow very fast.”

Ika took a minute to let that sink in. She thought about Rolf and the mate that he had found. Kate. Ika wondered if they would make babies too. Then an idea came to her.

“Alyx, why are there no ukkur women?”

“The ukkur are the original inhabitants of this world. The nith only came here after they had ruined their own homeworld through wastefulness and war. But the nith had better technology than the primitive ukkur, and they were able to enslave them. They got rid of all the females because they only wanted the physically stronger males. They used their nith technology to grow them in tanks instead of letting them reproduce the natural way. Later, after the nith encountered humans, they started combining human genes with the ukkur to make hybrids that were more intelligent. But this plan backfired, and some of these new ukkur figured out how to escape their bondage.”

“Genes?” Ika asked.

“That’s a complicated topic. Let’s save that one for later, okay? There will be plenty of time to talk about this more.”

Ika agreed. But already her mind was abuzz with dozens of new thoughts. Alyx had answered so many questions about the world and about Ika herself, but each answer led to even more questions.

Ika decided to stick with something close at hand.

“Alyx, why do they call you the First Woman?”

“I was the first human woman to escape from a nith slaughterhouse. Well, actually, I thought that I was until I heard Rolf’s story about your mother.” Alyx chuckled. “Maybe you should take on the title of First Woman, Ika. After all, I believe you are the first human to be born on this planet.”

“Oh, I couldn’t take that title from you,” Ika said.

Alyx scoffed, “I hate that dumb title, actually. But…it doesn’t matter. What really matters is the work we are doing here.”

She looked at Ika very intensely.

“Ika, you should understand what you and your mates are becoming a part of. There is a war going on. We are growing our numbers so that we can someday reclaim this planet from the nith. It will not be an easy life, Ika. Your male offspring will grow up to be warriors, and the females will have the difficult task of raising another generation, just as you will do. It will not be an easy life, but it will be for a good cause.”

Ika thought about this for a moment. She thought about her mother, Mara, alone and pregnant like she was now, fleeing for her life in the wilderness.

“I can handle it,” Ika said bravely.

Alyx touched her shoulder and smiled.

“Yes…yes, I’m sure you can.” She glanced back toward the canyon and the campfires glowing within. “Come on. We had better go back. Are mates are probably getting worried about us.”

EPILOGUE 1

Just as Alyx predicted, Ika went into labor the following day. It was late in the morning when her water broke, and in short order Ika was whisked off to a tent that was set up especially for the purpose of bringing little ukkur into the world.

Alyx was in charge of the procedure, but all of Ika’s companions were there to support her. Thusar took up position behind, cradling Ika’s reclining body against his muscles and whispering his encouragement in her ear. Gunnar and Slaine knelt on either side of her, and they offered their strong hands for Ika to squeeze whenever the contractions wracked her body.

Muk was a ball of anxious energy, so Alyx tasked him with being her assistant, which involved retrieving some clean rags and boiling some water to make it sterile for use later.

As for Rolf, he was a nervous wreck, so Alyx gave him the duty of standing outside and guarding the tent so that no one would try to disturb them during the birth.

Ika was scared, but the fact that she was surrounded by her steadfast ukkur mates helped to soothe her somewhat, and so did the cool, confident way that Alyx dealt with the situation. She had clearly done this before, and she knew what to do.

Soon the contractions sped up, coming faster and harder. Whenever that painful, squeezing sensation clutched Ika’s insides, she could not speak or move, sometimes for a full minute until the feeling passed.

“You are doing amazing,” Thusar whispered. “Stay strong, Ika. It will be over soon.”