Page 94 of Feast

“That world is called Earth,” Alyx said. “It is where I come from. It is where all the humans come from Ika, including you.”

A frightening jolt ran through Ika’s body.

What Alyx was telling her seemed impossible, and yet…she could tell that the woman was not lying to her. Her tone of voice was clear and confident.

“Earth?” Ika muttered. “But how can I be from Earth? Rolf said that he found me here when I was little.”

Alyx nodded quietly and thought for a moment.

“Ika, I’m afraid there are parts of your story that we will never know. I can only guess the outlines of it based on what Rolf has told me. But I will do my best.”

Alyx seated herself on a low boulder. She patted the space beside her, inviting Ika to join her, which she did. As they both stared up at the night sky, Alyx spoke.

“That ring that you wear around your neck is inscribed in one of the languages of Earth. It says ‘Mara.’ That must have been your mother’s name.”

“Mother?”

“Yes. The woman whose belly you grew within, just as a little one is now growing inside of you. Back on Earth, your mother had a mate. Perhaps they were mates who were bonded for life, or perhaps not. There is no way for us to know. What we do know is this—Mara’s mate put his seed inside of her, just as your own mates have done with you, and it formed a baby. That baby was you, Ika.”

Ika’s heart raced as she listened to Alyx’s tale. It was so strange, like listening to one of the old stories that Rolf had told to her when she was little. But this story was real, and it was about herself.

“But how did I get here from Earth?” Ika asked.

“The nith,” Alyx answered, and Ika shivered. “A long time ago, before you were made in your mother’s belly, the nith traveled across the stars and found humans living on Earth. The humans were having many problems. There were too many humans, and they were not able to make enough food to feed everyone. But the nith offered to help them by giving them ksh, which contained much more nutrition than anything grown on Earth.”

“But why would the nith help the humans?” Ika asked. “That doesn’t sound like something the nith would do.”

“You’re right. And the nith did not simply give the ksh away for free. They traded. They exchanged the ksh for the one resource that Earth had in great abundance—live humans. The leaders of the Earth gave the nith humans, and in return the nith gave them ksh.”

“And the other humans just allowed that?”

Alyx shrugged.

“Humans can be very cruel, Ika. Very cruel and selfish. The leaders justified it by only giving the nith humans who had broken the laws of Earth. Every human that has been sent here is a lawbreaker.”

Ika chilled slightly. Did that mean Alyx was a lawbreaker too? She wondered what laws this kindhearted woman had broken, but she chose not to ask, feeling it would be rude. So instead she asked the next question that came to her mind.

“Does that mean my mother was a lawbreaker?”

Alyx nodded. “Yes, I suppose so.”

“What law did she break?”

“It’s impossible to say, Ika. We will never know that. But it does not mean your mother was a bad person.

They were both quiet for a moment, while Ika let that information settle in. Then Alyx went on.

“When your mother was traded to the nith, you were already growing in her belly. Maybe the humans who traded her did not realize this. More likely, they simply did not care. As I said, humans are capable of great cruelty. Even worse than the nith, perhaps.

“So, your mother was brought to this planet with you inside of her. Like all humans who come here, she was sent to the slaughterhouse to be butchered as meat for the nith, but somehow she managed to escape. She fled through the forest and finally found Rolf’s den, which is where she took shelter when you came out of her body. We call that being born.”

Ika thought about this for a little while.

“Alyx, when a little ukkur is born, how does it come out?”

“The same way it got in there,” Alyx answered. “Through the hole between your legs.”

Ika’s heart lurched at this news and her throat went dry. Through the hole? Gods, she’d had two thick ukkur cocks in her at the same time, and that had been a challenge, but it sounded like nothing in comparison to what Alyx was talking about. Suddenly, that tiny little ukkur she had seen Alyx nursing before did not seem so tiny anymore.