"That all depends on a few things," Robert said, as he checked the wrists of the former raiders. "On the plus side, no prior marks from previous owners." He then licked the faces of each of them, especially the woman that had shot his son. "Grade C or better." He looked the shooter in the eyes. "This one, oddly enough, is Prime Grade."
The woman shuddered, and looked away.
"I see you know what that means," said Robert. He made her look at him. "I'll spell it out though. You get to live to be bred, in order to improve the quality of my lesser lines." He then glanced at the rest, before looking back at her. "Now, I believe in being fair to the humans I own. So, here's a fair trade - if my son lives, your friends will live, although whether or not I'll make them livestock, or let them go free will depend on if my son will suffer from any long term issues. But, if he dies, so do your friends. Of course, you get to live, and produce plenty of offspring for my farm."
The woman gulped at this. She looked up at John. "Please, let them go. Take me. I'm the one that pulled the trigger. Don't blame them."
"Are you willing to trade your life for theirs?" John asked. "James dies, you die, instead of them?"
The woman nodded. "Yes."
"Master, she's willing to trade life for life," said John. "It's a big trade."
"Very well," said Robert. "She's worth more than the other four combined. I even have some Capture Tags, just in case I found a suitable Feral worth Claiming." He carefully grabbed her shoulder. "Come with me."
"Bella, no, don't do it," said one of the males. He seemed extra nervous, as if something more was at stake.
"I have to Johnny," the woman said. "Better it's just two that dies, instead of four."
"Well, got to admire that," said Robert. "What do you think John? John?" He looked over at his herd's leader.
John was looking at the male that had spoken up, before looking at Bella. He walked over to the young man, and looked him in the eyes. "I'll look after her like she was mine," he said. "I had a Bella once too. Maybe you'll meet mine."
"She's pregnant," Johnny said, softly.
John looked down, before looking back up at him. "You'll see them one day - you have my word on that."
John walked back to Robert. "She's with child," he said, quietly.
"Hmm, that explains her math," said Robert.
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