On the northern continent of Lotak, in the wilderness of the planet Lotak, capital of the Losa Star Sector in the Free Stellar River Alliance, Baka, a former sergeant in the Security Corps, rode a large-powered motorcycle and herded the last mischievous little black calf into the pen. Only after the robot beside him announced, "Healthy, with no obvious injuries," did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The thirty-odd young Andean black cattle in the pen were his most valuable assets, worth more than the other five or six hundred head of livestock on the ranch combined. Naturally, he had to be careful with them.
After all, whether these black cattle grew up healthy and beefy would determine if he could double the size of his ranch the year after next, bring in the young Bien grass bears he'd been dreaming of, and buy the little house with a garden that he and his daughter both liked, in the city a hundred kilometers from the ranch.
This should have been the last job of the day. The burly bear-man leisurely lit his pipe to unwind, then gazed out over the seemingly endless wilderness: lush pastures and orchards, orderly pens and storehouses. A sense of accomplishment at having made something of himself in middle age filled his heart.
Just then, two Losa cowboys, with help from the robots, finished baling the freshly harvested hay and loaded the bales onto a truck.
They were locals, hired as ranch hands by Baka after he bought the ranch. They got room and board, too.
"Take the hay bales back to the storehouse, and you can call it a day. Come eat in a bit. Sonia promised she'd cook beef for us tonight."
"Sure thing! Long live the boss!"
"Are we slaughtering a black