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

whoever was around so they could work together to survive. Unfortunately, we lost radio contact before they could tell us if they found the people and how many there were.”

“So, they died?” I asked, feeling oddly let down by the news.

It was stupid, because it wasn’t like it mattered. If what he was saying was true, this group was hundreds of miles away, and no matter how desperate the situation became, I couldn’t imagine a scenario where crossing the wastelands would sound like the better option to living in the District. The radiation alone was enough to give me pause. While it wouldn’t kill you immediately—the cleaning crew wore protective suits to limit the effects of long-term exposure—it was still a huge risk, considering we had no way of knowing what was on the other side of the wastelands. Then there were the creatures and lack of food and water, as well as the heat. It seemed like a death sentence.

“No, they didn’t die,” Finn replied. “While communication was cut off, the instruments we’d taken from the ship indicated they were still alive. In fact, we tracked them for years before our own instruments sustained damage during a sandstorm and stopped working.

“More than ten years have passed since we were able to detect any signs of life, but many older Veilorians believe the other group is still alive. All throughout my childhood, I heard stories about how one day we’d cross the Wastelands and rejoin our people in a land that was green and inviting. A land where we would be free to live the kind of life we came here searching for.” A sad but whimsical smile lit up his face. “For us, it’s kind of like your human story about heaven.”

Since the practice of any kind of real religion died off years before I was born, I knew very little about the concept of heaven, but I could picture the place Veilorian children had been told about. A place similar to the little park where I’d met Dean, where everything was green and children were able to play. I could imagine people, human and Veilorian, living together. Working together. Building a life that was so different from the one I’d always known.

It made hope well up inside me.

“So, the people who left the District,” I murmured, my mind still on this make-believe world where Veilorians didn’t have to live caged in like animals, “they were trying to get to the other group?”

“Yes,” Finn said. “And you know what the wastelands are like, so you can imagine the fear and desperation these people must have felt if they were willing to risk it.”

I did, and I could. There was little water in the wastelands, which wasn’t much of an issue for Veilorians who needed less hydration to live, but any humans in the party would have probably suffered from dehydration. And that was only one of many issues they would have faced. It would have been a long, hard trip that most likely would have proven fatal for a few, if not all. Yet they’d tried.

“All these years of clinging to the idea of a better place,” Finn said, “but nothing has ever happened that was bad enough to push anyone living in the District to attempt the journey.”

“Until now,” I said.

“Until now,” he agreed.

We lapsed into silence, both of us thinking about the same thing. Not the promised land or the possibility that life did exist somewhere else, but the people who were now being held captive by the humans. What would Mayor Waters do to them? Would she execute them the way she had Arch?

I was still mulling those questions over when another, much more important one hit me.

“How did they get out?” I looked up and focused on Finn. “They couldn’t have gone out the front gate. The guards wouldn’t have let them.”

Finn’s mouth turned down, and he pressed his lips together. Although we’d just started getting to know one another, I recognized the expression. He was trying to decide what to say.

“Finn,” I prompted, “is there another way out?”

Finally, he nodded. “There is.”

“What? Where?”

Excitement buzzed through me as I thought about my sister and how I hadn’t gotten the chance to say goodbye. Who knew what our mother had told her about me? Nothing good, I was sure, and the idea that she might spend her life believing a lie made the pain of our separation twice as intense.

But if there was a way out, I could go see her. It would give me a chance to explain what had happened, to tell her I hadn’t abandoned her. To make things right.

“The west side of the District, behind the bar we went to after we first met,” Finn was saying. “There’s a spot in the fence where a metal sheet conceals an opening. It’s probably how Arch got out, too, although I can’t imagine who told him about it. Not everyone knows. Anyway, Veilorians don’t go out. Ever. Even those of us who know about the secret exit would never risk it. As we all know, there’s no way we can conceal ourselves out there.

“Some of the humans use it, though. Mostly to sneak things into the District we’d never be able to get otherwise. Medicine, but occasionally luxury items as well. Sugar. Wine. Things like that. We also have a few connections in the city. Humans who don’t necessarily like us but who will trade for our rum or even our technological expertise. Since Veronica Waters was elected, however, a lot of those people have stopped coming around. It’s been difficult to get the things we used to be able to trade for. Not impossible, but harder.”

“I had no idea,” I said, almost in awe.

“A lot of the technology the humans have developed over the last twenty-two years is actually from us, only most people don’t realize it. The chips in your hand, for one. The pulse rifles, too.”

I blinked, too stunned to respond,