Da, in the lead, picked up an aluminum tray, and began loading it. The girls followed suit, with Loni taking up the rear.
There was the usual variety of fruits: pears; peaches; apples; oranges; plums; and many Gem had never seen previously. Next there were cakes: the pressed roasted wheat, a rice cake, and maybe...that was oat? Next came beverages: fruit and vegetable; apple, pineapple, grape; carrot, a green kind, and what appeared to be milk.
The new foodstuffs available were fascinating: boiled eggs and fried ham...at least, that was what she thought it was. Next came cut breads, of all shapes, shades, and sizes. They seemed baked in the most primitive manner, as if in an outdoor, sun-powered oven.
Again, there was porridge, but of three separate kinds: wheat, oats...and was that, rice?
Beyond were the heavier dishes: cooked vegetables: carrots and peas; beets; cauliflower and broccoli; and beans of all colors.
Next was some sort of stew.
And then came trays of meat. Gemma couldn't decide what kind it was. In one tray, she thought she saw a finger, another a toe was among a mushy hamburger dish...
Her stomach turned over.
What are we eating here?
Another tray appeared to hold chicken, with feet, beak, and eyes of the bird included.
There were other meats she could not identify, and fish. It seemed most preparations were more raw than cooked. Who knew for how long they had been on display?
****
As they waited behind Da, Loni projected instructions to the women between them:
"Most any vegetable should be okay, but be careful of the meat dishes; if you don't recognize it, don't take it."
"Why?" enquired Gemma. "What are they made of?"
"We recycle everything. When old ones die, they grind them into hamburger...the meat is tough. Oh, and...the milk may also be human..."
He didn't get to complete the thought; both girls were already gagging.
"Cannibals," went through Lydia's mind, and Da laughed outright. He had actually followed their thought conversation.
Loni read the thought that followed:
"The little people...the female babies that are destroyed, are tender."
Disgusted, Loni scolded.
"Don't eat the meat, Da!"
"Okay," he agreed, obediently.
Loni shook his head.
What am I going to do with these guys? And now, I have the two women to look after, too.
****
Having chosen what they wished to eat, the four moved to a corner, where there was a large horseshoe shaped table with a padded bench. Loni directed Gem to go in first. She slid all the way around until she was at the far exit; Da, as always, followed Loni in, with Lydia next to him. So they sat, all four against the wall facing out, in the middle, with a seat free at either end. It wasn't that they wanted company; it just happened...to their later regret.
Normally, such an action would have been safe. No one bothered Loni or Da when alone, but today, with the females with them, all eyes were on them, and curious. Most of the worker males were too shy to approach, but there were two that had no such compunction.
Suddenly, Galar slid in beside Gem, and his twin found a seat next to Lydia, effectively imprisoning everyone else into the bench with no way of escape.
Why did we leave the girls on the outside? How stupid of me!
****
Gemma cringed, and moved closer to Loni, at the sight and feel, of the ugly, smelly man sliding in beside her. He was much like most of the brown-skinned individuals, with his black hair and beard, and soul-less, impenetrable, dark eyes. He was over six feet, with the face of a Neanderthal; huge, unkempt, bushy eyebrows, stooped shoulders, and long, hairy arms; thick chest hair peeking over the top of his coveralls. One other thing was different; he was missing his right leg, and used a crutch, quite deftly, to navigate.
His brother, who moved in beside Lydia, was his spitting image, except he had only a right arm. For the slit second Gemma was connected to their minds, she knew they had once been conjoined twins, separated after birth.
Normally, that would have incited empathy for them in Gem, but they reeked so terrible, their stench took your breath away, and that made it hard to be sympathetic.
Have these guys never bathed?
And then she had the answer: they worked with the cattle.
****
Galar set his crutch under the table, and moved closer to Gem. She cringed in revulsion, and Loni had the great desire to put his arm protectively about her shoulders, but it would only give Galar an excuse to be his usual obnoxious self, and Loni could sense, the man was already perturbed about something.
"You are mine!" Galar declared bluntly, to Gem. "When we picked, I was first. Flaw stole you; tricked them...somehow. When I get the chance, I will steal you back from this moron. Why, he can't even talk to you."
Both Loni and Da knew it was best to disregard these two. The girls picked up on the action, and as Galar was used to such treatment, he soon cooled, and went about devouring the contents on his tray. Neither eating, or being ignored, ever had dampened his desire for conversation, before, and it was no different now; whether he was understood, he did not care; he could as easily talk to himself...or Scar.
"It doesn't matter that the physicians decided to give this woman to you, Flaw. I will win her...and take her, in the end. I doubt you even know what to do with her. Remember... possession is the law..."
Loni felt Gem shiver beside him, and he wanted to slug the crude Galar.
