To Be Or Not To Be

    There was utter silence.  Thousands in attendance and the scarcity of sound was surreal.

    Beeelonk fiddled with the knobs on his translator helmet to be sure it wasn't a trick of switches or circuitry.  He wished they weren't a necessity, but Yuplings as a species were scattered and diverse, with as many dialects as individuals.

    "Let me get this straight."  Just across the stage, the AAckblah bored holes into Beeelonk with his eyes.  "You are suggesting that we give ourselves to them.  That we go, hat in hand...And in numbers, to our deaths?"

    "In very limited numbers," countered Beeelonk, realizing that his line of thinking might be hard to digest.

    "WHY?!"

    "That is a very good question.  Because by my reckoning, should things continue as they are, we will be extinct within the next fifty years."

    The collective gasp needed no translation.  They all knew they were an intergalactic delicacy.  At first, it had been only humans who ate them.  But humans have their ways of spreading their preferences and soon the demand was insatiable.

    Beeelonk continued.  "The ships come almost weekly and take thousands of us.  We tried to fight them, but they are just too strong.  Our only hope lies in striking an accord.  If we can control the supply, we can stay our demise and...Not devalue ourselves as a commodity."

    He felt nauseous as he spoke, but he had said what needed saying.  If the Yuplings were to be saved, then they must come to terms.  The Aackblah had espoused the need to continue an impossible war.  Beeelonk was simply applying the laws of economics for redemption.  In a few hours, there would be a vote.  Beeelonk hoped they would vote to live.