HiveComb

It was the summer harvest on a massive planet. The human colony was very small, but they had several Gyiik friends who were more than happy to help. After all, while some can be left to go to seed for the next year, it's all but a crime to let all that abundant good food go to waste. -- Anon Guest

What to do when the farm machines that had made everything easier were out of commission thanks to a rogue solar flare? Well... in the case of the farming colony, "Bread Basket", they sent out a message asking for help. They expected expert mechanics.

They got a host of Gyiiks bearing sickles.

Not just a cruiser, but a host of what could pass as troop ships. They came en masse with little but muscle and tools that would work regardless of what the local star was doing. When it comes to a workforce, you really can't beat a pack of people with four arms each.

All they asked for was a small percentage of the harvest, "to feed the needy."

Which was, when the citizens of "Bread Basket" looked at it, a bargain worth the making.

The Humans employed scythes, and were happy to race the Gyiik one furrow over. This, for both peoples, was enrichment to make the activity more fun. Humanity had a point in the saying, "Work isn't really work when it's fun."

"Bread Basket" had expected losses from the literal disaster, between thirty and fifty percent left in the fields to become fallow. Once again, their expectations were upturned.

They had zero losses.

One of the many blessings that came from interspecies friendships.

[Photo by Polina Rytova on Unsplash]

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