Page 22 of Chosen By Swift

Alys shrugged. “What is electrolyte fluid replacement?”

Zadie grimaced. “Do you think all their food is like this?”

“Surely not! The agricultural report in the paper has a breakdown of all the tons of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy and grain that are sent to them per the quotas.”

“What if it gets shipped somewhere else? Their home planet, maybe?” Zadie turned one of the boxes over and frowned. “What is a calorie?”

“Something they’re very serious about,” she said as she read the information on the back of the box of fluid she held. “This whole box is a single serving!”

“That box is big enough for four people!”

“Well, they are really big men,” Alys reasoned. “They probably require outrageous amounts of food to stay healthy.”

“Can you imagine trying to stock a larder for the winter for one of them?”

Alys did some quick mental calculations. “We would use our entire cellar just for Swift. He could probably put away two hundred pounds of potatoes in a year.”

“Easily,” Zadie agreed. “Corn, tomatoes, flour, oats, butter, milk....” She shook her head. “It would cost a fortune to feed them.”

“Which explains why their quotas of food from our planet are so high.” Alys started to put the box back on the shelf but decided to keep it. Swift and Tirade had told them to find something to eat and drink for their trip back to theValiant. “Do you want to try this one with me?”

“I suppose we should know what we’re getting ourselves into,” Zadie agreed and took one of the boxes of nutritional bars.

They took seats in the front row and followed the diagram on the side of the box to figure out how to open the beverage. She pressed in along the dotted white line and discovered the hidden spout. She tugged it into place and hesitantly lifted the box to her mouth. She sipped the smallest bit and let it wash over her tongue.

“It’s good!” She took another drink, this one longer. “It’s juice. Some kind of berry?”

“Your lips and teeth are blue!” Zadie laughed and pointed. “You look like you’ve gotten into a blueberry bush.”

Alys laughed and touched her mouth. She looked at the spout on the box and saw droplets of bright blue juice clinging to it. “Here. You try it.”

Zadie gave her the box of nutritional bars and took the juice. While Zadie quenched her thirst, Alys opened one of the bars and examined it. Zadie poked the unappetizing beige rectangle. “Looks worse than my first attempt at making oat bars.”

Alys brought it close to her nose and sniffed. “It smells similar to an oat bar, but it’s so dense and flat. No oats. No dried fruit. No honey.”

“Taste it,” Zadie urged.

“Why do I have to go first? I tried the juice!”

“Fine!” Zadie snatched it from her hand and took a big bite. Almost immediately, she seemed to regret it. She grabbed the box of juice and quickly gulped, washing down the horrible bar. “I wouldn’t feed that to the hogs!”

“That bad?”

Zadie nodded. “It’s salty and has a strange taste.”

Alys decided she had to see how bad it truly was. She allowed herself a small nibble. Instantly, she understood what Zadie meant. She chewed it thoroughly and swallowed it. Eventually, she remarked, “I think it’s beans? Maybe lentils?”

“I can’t survive on this.” Zadie looked panicked. “I’ll starve to death.”

“I’m sure there is real food on the main ship.” Alys wasn’t actually sure of that, but she hoped it was true. Mostly, she didn’t want Zadie to start crying or panic. Theyarehere now. They had been claimed and collared. There was nothing to do but move forward and try to make the best of it.

Zadie wrapped up the remainder of the bar that neither of them wanted to eat. She tucked it back into the box and set the box on the empty seat next to her. She glanced around as if trying to make sure they were truly alone. Reassured that she could speak freely, she leaned closer and said, “I know what happens on a wedding night.”

“As do I,” Alys said, wondering where Zadie was going with this.

“Have you...?” She stopped abruptly and glanced around again. “Have you heard about their peculiar tastes?”

“What do you mean? Peculiar how? These collars?” She touched the leather around her neck.

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