 She drugs them and delivers them to her compatriots, who mutilate and fatten her victims so that they can be turned into meat, as human meat (called "voddissin") is a very expensive delicacy on the aliens' barren homeworld.Humans are referred to as "Vodsels" by the extraterrestrial beings ("voedsel" means "food" in dutch).The novel begins with Isserley picking up hitchhikers.