Species Traitor: A Science Fiction Dystopian Novel by Kate Mary (universal ebook reader .TXT) 📗

I refuse to give my support to someone who wants to punish a group of people who haven’t done anything wrong.”

“They’re not people,” Mom hissed.

“They are,” I said. “They’re not human, but they are people.”

She took a step toward me, her body visibly shaking. “I’m warning you, Ava. I will kick you out of this house. What will you do then? You don’t qualify for government housing yet. You’ll have nowhere to go.”

It was an idle threat if I’d ever heard one. What would she do for money if she kicked me out? It wasn’t like she was going to go back to work. Still, I chose to address the real issue rather than get into that debate again.

“I’d rather live on the streets than vote for Veronica Waters,” I spit at her.

Mom’s expression hardened, making her look ten years older. “Don’t push me, Ava.”

“I’m done talking about this, and I have to go.” I turned my back on her, heading for the door. “One of us has to work.”

“Ava!” she called after me. “I’m serious! I will not have a species traitor living under my roof!”

I stepped outside, slamming the door and mumbling to myself, “It isn’t even your roof.”

My heart was like a drum, and my entire body shaking with rage. My mother and I hadn’t gotten along in years—before Lena was born, really. I’d only been nine, so my memories of the time before were fuzzy, but only a few consisted of her laughing or smiling. The good ones all included my father.

But he’d left when I was five. I only saw him once or maybe twice after that, and then everything changed. Mom was sullen or sad, crying often and angry when she wasn’t sobbing. Things got a little better shortly after my eighth birthday, then she got pregnant. Lena’s dad split the second he found out, though, knowing if he stayed until the baby was born the government would make him take responsibility for it. After that, Mom seemed to embrace her bitterness. She wore it like a second skin. Like it was an organic part she couldn’t shed.

Then she started drinking. It was probably part of the reason she made me quit school and take her place on the cleaning crew. It was tough for her to keep a normal schedule, and doubly tough to get through the workday without a drink.

Which was why I now had to slave away under the hot sun, cleaning mirrors and sweating and soaking up radiation. She drank away half our money, and I knew it. If it wasn’t for Lena, I wouldn’t put up with it, but I’d spent her entire life trying to protect my sister, and I couldn’t stop now. Once she was older and settled, things would be different. But until then, I was stuck.

After work, I headed to the District rather than go home. A crowd was gathered on the street just like the day before, only they weren’t nearly as rowdy. Mainly because they were too busy listening to Veronica Waters.

She stood on a platform that had to have been built just this morning—it hadn’t been here yesterday—speaking into a voice amplifier as news cameras hovered above the crowd, capturing every word. The onlookers were riveted.

Her speeches were all variations of the same thing, but the group gathered in front of her didn’t seem to mind. In fact, the longer she spoke and the more she repeated everything she’d been saying for the past several weeks, the more the crowd seemed to nod in agreement. The sight of it made me sick to my stomach.

The election was less than three weeks away now, and her lead seemed to increase with each passing hour. There was no way the mayor would win this thing. It was too late. Waters had campaigned too hard and he’d underestimated her for too long. She was going to win.

My body felt weighed down by the reality of the situation as I headed for the gate, but I was fortunate enough that the crowd was too enamored by the mayoral candidate’s hate to notice me.

Dean stood with his pulse rifle in hand, watching me approach. His helmet mostly shielded his eyes, but it didn’t matter. I could feel his annoyance as surely as I could feel the hate radiating off the crowd at my back.

His gaze shifted when I stopped in front of him, focusing on the people listening to Veronica Waters, and he called out, “Open the gate!”

The other guard rushed to follow orders, and the second it was open, I stepped through. Instead of staying at his post, Dean followed me, his pulse rifle at the ready until the gate was securely shut.

Once it was closed, he visibly relaxed. “I thought you would have learned your lesson after that asshole got hold of you the other day.”

I held my hand out automatically so one of the other guards could scan my chip. “I was here yesterday, too, and it was fine.”

My voice came out flat, but Dean didn’t seem to notice.

He sighed, but must have decided it wasn’t worth arguing about because he said, “We’re still going out tonight, right?”

“Yeah. I thought we could leave from here. I had a fight with my mom and didn’t feel like going home.” Thinking about her brought the scene outside the District to mind, and I shook my head. “Can you believe Veronica Waters?”

Dean pressed his lips together but didn’t reply.

“I’m really worried about what will happen to Ione after this election.”

This time, he didn’t stay quiet. “You should be worried. Waters is going to change everything.”

“I know.” I was feeling too dejected to continue the conversation, so I said, “I’m going to see how she’s holding up. What time do you get off?”

“Seven,” Dean replied.

“Meet you back here, then, at a quarter after?”

“Sounds good.”

I left him and headed through the District, noting as I walked how the mood had shifted. Things weren’t nearly as relaxed as