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

Rye moved, though, going across the room to speak to their parents. As expected, no one joined Finn and his mother, but a woman with dark hair joined Rye and his father as they talked.

“Indrina,” Ione whispered. “My mother-in-law.”

I nodded, but only half my attention was on my cousin. The rest was on Anara, who stood alone in the center of the room, watching as everyone filed out.

When no one was left but Finn and Rye’s families, she turned to me. “Ava.”

As if summoned by a force I couldn’t resist, I stepped forward, my hand slipping from Ione’s.

“You must have so many questions for me,” the council leader said in a soft voice.

“What happened to my father?”

Anara motioned to the couch. “Sit. It is a long story. One that will be painful to hear.” Her gaze moved behind her to where Finn stood. “And not just for you.”

Finn looked at his mother, an expression of confusion on his face, but moved to the couch with me when she motioned for him to do it. Ione took a seat in one of the few chairs, easing her round body into it with a groan, while Anara lowered herself to the coffee table in front of Finn and me. Everyone else remained standing, the parents quiet but almost anxious, while Rye, like his cousin, seemed on edge.

“Everyone knows the story of how we came to be here,” Anara began once she was situated. “Our planet, Veil, was dying thanks to a burst of solar flares from our multiple suns, so those of us still alive boarded a ship and set out in search of a new home. We slept while the craft explored galaxy after galaxy for a planet that would meet our needs, finally finding Earth after nearly two centuries in stasis.

“Humans were understandably reluctant when we arrived, but we did what we could to assure them we only wanted a peaceful existence. Like our own planet, we could see that Earth was dying, but unlike our home, the damage was not irreversible, so we offered a seed of hope, telling those in charge we could help save their world.”

Shock made me sit up straighter. “I’ve never heard this.”

“No one has,” Anara said, her voice sad, “because only six months after we landed, the mayor died, and his replacement wasn’t willing to listen to anything we had to say.

“Still, integration had begun,” she continued. “We were living on the ship, leaving during the day so we could meet with city officials in hopes of creating a more long-term place in your society. Housing was being built, and many of us were putting our skills to use, helping in hospitals, working to further your technology, and even taking part in celebrations throughout the city.

“That was how I met your parents,” Anara said, looking at me. “It was at a community gathering—a picnic, they called it. Your parents came, bringing you with them, and I went with a group of Veilorians, hoping more humans would be able to see us for what we were. We’d been on the planet for nearly a year by then, and during that time hostilities had risen. As had crime. More than one of my people had been attacked. Beaten, sometimes, taken advantage of other times.”

Next to me, Finn flinched, and Anara’s gaze darted his way. She studied him for a moment before looking behind her to where his mother stood. Melora’s expression was calm. Neutral. Unaffected. So opposite of her son’s.

“I liked your father right away,” Anara continued a moment later, acting as if the interruption hadn’t occurred. “He was friendly and curious. Very interested in our people. He stood with you and spoke to me for hours, asking about our planet and culture, about the family I’d lost during the solar flares. He was the first genuinely open human I’d met since coming here, and he gave me hope that our two species might one day be able to live together in peace.

“Eventually, as relations between humans and Veilorians grew worse, he and I began meeting. His position in the government was high, and he’d been put in charge of human-Veilorian relations when we arrived. As part of the job, he’d established a task force that was supposed to come up with ways to help our people integrate, and our early meetings were always with this group. But as time went by and relations between our species grew worse, the task force got smaller and smaller, until eventually it was only your father and me. By that point, I’d developed feelings for him, but he had you and your mother, so I kept it to myself. It was not an easy thing to do, but it was necessary. It was right.”

She paused as if thinking it through, nodding once when she did. I was mesmerized by what she was saying but unable to utter even a word. Deep down, I knew where this story was going, but it made no sense and didn’t mesh with everything I thought I’d known about my father. He’d left me, or that was what I’d always believed. Could it be a lie? Could my mother have really been that cruel?

“Despite my determination to keep my relationship with your father professional,” Anara said, dragging me back to the conversation, “your mother refused to believe nothing was happening between us. She was jealous. Angry. Every time he came home from one of our meetings, she would demand he never see me again, but he refused. He wanted to help us. He wanted to be part of something big.” A sad but genuine smile pulled up her lips. “He was a very special man.”

After all the horrible things I’d said and thought about my father, the statement felt like a knife twisting in my heart, causing a pang to vibrate through me.

“Months passed, and eventually your mother grew tired of sharing him—that was what she told your father when she kicked him out.”