Chapter Nine

Evalee

Lanimer and I had two lovely days to get acquainted and enjoy each other before we had to start working at the clinic in Val’kara. Fortunately, violent demonstrations have not rocked the clinic located in that section. Val’kara was the largest of the Trakellisan settlements and the earliest.

There were still people living in the area around the clinic who remembered the joy and relief of escaping the Tregan tyranny. My father had told me how they had killed many of our people to terrorize them into submission to their rule. His brother had been one of the victims. He just couldn’t understand the growing hatred of the Zevians who initially welcomed our kind to their world.

Zevus Mar was still in the early stages of rebuilding after the Tregan invasion, but they still helped the Trakellisans build prefab houses. They distributed food, medicine, and supplies to the people even though they barely had enough for themselves. It didn’t matter that we didn’t look just like them. We were all humanoid beings. Now, two generations later, young people were spewing hatred and calling for ethnic cleansing of the Trakellisan people.

We arrived at the clinic to find the waiting room already filled with people obviously injured. A nearby demonstration had turned into a violent riot. Rioters burned businesses, and it took the law enforcers all night to get things under control. Lanimer and I did not find out about it until we reached the clinic because we hadn’t bothered to check the info stream on our days off together.

I heard whispers among people waiting to be seen mentioning Lanimer and commenting on his appearance. They were clearly not expecting any Caucasian human alien to be their new Physician.

Most of them knew me. The fact that I seemed comfortable in Lanimer’s presence seemed to put them at ease. Normally, we saw people by appointment and tried to squeeze in urgent cases as soon as possible.

Today, it looked like everyone was urgent with one kind of injury or another. Fortunately, although they required treatment, none of the injuries were very serious. However, the influx of patients kept us busy from the time we arrived until 2 hours after the time to leave.

Lanimer and I had barely had time to speak in passing before we sat together in his flier on our way home. He set it on autopilot so we could relax during the trip.

“Well, that was certainly interesting,” Lanimer muttered wearily. “Many of them were not sure about me, and some only let me care for them because they were in too much pain to refuse. They clearly didn’t like me. Considering what’s going on in the settlement, it wasn’t surprising. The ones who were reluctant were not openly bigoted; they just didn’t know me or what to expect from me. I did my best to put them at ease, and I think it worked for the most part.

“It helped that I had taken the time to learn their language during the trip here. While I am not perfectly fluent in it, I can fill in the blanks with telepathy.”

“Are you going to let them know that you’re a telepath?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I’m afraid that might make things worse, considering they don’t like humans, and I don’t look like most of the other humans they’re used to seeing.”

I looked at him thoughtfully. “You might be right. Today, most of our patients are moderates who believe that the Zevians have treated our people well and just want to live their lives.”

“That was my impression as well. I read a few of them, and they don’t seem to understand the new faction of anti-alien Zevians.” Lanimer shook his head with a puzzled expression.

“I don’t quite understand it either. I am glad I don’t have to live near the clinic anymore, with the way the violence is spreading in the city. And I’m glad my parents live in Shara-gahri. Xenos Free is adamantly against mixed race couples.”

“They are a hate group just like the Zevian purists. What the heck happened? I had no idea the unrest between our cultures would be as widespread as it is.” Lanimer frowned. “I don’t suppose they will look kindly on our relationship. That’s a bit problematic.”

“Does that mean that you want to reconsider our involvement?” I asked painfully. I couldn’t blame him if he did, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I’d finally found a male who felt like my soulmate.

“Oh, sweetheart, that’s not what I meant at all.” He leaned close and kissed my forehead as he sensed my concern. “I worry that some misguided soul will try to harm one or both of us. I just meant to warn you that things could get rough.”

“Well, they don’t get to decide who I love. I knew the moment I saw you that you were my one.”

As I looked into his eyes, he grinned at me. “That settles it. You are my one, too. I love you, Evalee, and they don’t get to decide. We do.

”Our peoples have had thirty years to discover how different our cultures are. Now that the races are interbreeding, the purists on both sides say alien DNA is polluting the gene pool,” Lanimer said gently. ”We were all victims of the same war even though humans perpetrated it. They were as misguided as the purists, but the Zevians are nothing like them.”

Lanimer

I didn’t understand what was happening. Zevus Mar was a freedom-loving world before the Tregans came. No one made it their business to tell other people how to live their lives or whom to love. My father and both mothers were from Aledus, where traditional family units were flexible. My father had two wives. One was my biological mother, and the other was my co-mother. They loved me, and I loved them. The Zevians accepted our family as we were.

I had a Zevian governess, and had he lived, my father might have married her as well. Zevus Mar had plenty of room for everyone. Each faction could have its territory and live according to its customs.

Life was hard after the Tregan invasion decimated the population and destroyed a lot of real estate. But in 30 years, things looked like they had been built back up again with even bigger cities now that the population had doubled with the influx of Trakellisans.

While they didn’t exactly look human, the females were exotically beautiful, and the males exotically handsome with their purple skin, luminous eyes, and beaded brow lines. They had large, pointed ears, much larger than humans. Evalee’s long blue hair parted over each of her beautiful ears.

The sun was a crimson ball low on the horizon when I parked our flyer inside the garage. In no hurry to go inside the home, Evalee and I strolled along the paths between the crop fields. The rolling hills were a desert oasis, and they reminded me a bit of the rolling hills of the high plateau where I’d spent most of my life. The vegetation was different, but most of it was just as green.

I missed my family, and damn it; I missed my horse. It would be months before my horse foals emerged from their nurturing tanks, and then the real work would begin. Despite small ripples of homesickness, I still felt a kinship with my family’s farm and the place where my parents were buried. Yet I would not trade my newfound love with Evalee to go back home again where, even surrounded by family, I still felt profoundly alone. Zevus Mar is where I’m meant to be.

While my adopted family would probably readily accept Evalee, I am not so sure about the mountain clans. In some ways, they were a strange bunch.

After a relaxing stroll with the sun on our faces and the warm breeze drifting over the rolling hills, we felt refreshed after our busy day. We went to the house, ordered food from the processor, and had a peaceful dinner. Afterward, we showered together, making love under a fine mist. We fell into bed together and made love again before drifting to sleep.