“Because I’ve been doing it for a few years now. My friends at the Elran clinic know they can depend on me to do my job.”
“They will see that about me too. I am good at my job, and I am here to serve any patients who need me. I already know there are not enough Trakellisan Physicians to go around. I will treat the ones who accept my service, and the others can go elsewhere.”
Evalee seemed to relax as I said that. In some ways, the situation was not unlike what my father and mothers and Hankura and Chelle had faced on Aledus. I saw no need to worry. Thus far, I haven’t heard that there has been violence between humans and Trakellisans. I was a capable opponent in the martial art ofchakrin, but I would only use it as a last resort. If I could not deter them with my words, I would deter them with my mind.
“I will be right there with you,” said Evalee. “We have been assigned full-time at the Trakellisan clinic.”
“Yes, I saw that on the assignment spreadsheet. In three days, we will find out what we’ve gotten ourselves into.” I smiled at Evalee with what I hoped was a look of encouragement and took another bite of breakfast.
When we finished eating, I took Evalee bythe hand, and we strolled through the house together. I paused here and there to show her specific amenities. She was suitably impressed with a sense of wonder by the size and aesthetic beauty of the house we would share.
For me, it would have been just a place to live without her to share it.
Chapter Eight
Evalee
After we finished eating and put the dishes in the cleaner, Lanimer took my hand for a stroll through his beautiful house. We had been so into each other last night that I had hardly noticed anything else in the dimly lit rooms. But now everything was brightly lit, and the living area was simply furnished and lavishly spacious. I could hardly believe that we were actually underground as it seemed so light and airy.
As I looked up at Lanimer’s smirk, I knew he’d read my mind.
“You thought it would be more cave-like and primitive, didn’t you?”
I giggled. “Yes, I think I did. But I would still want to live here with you.” And then I sighed. It wouldn’t be easy for us to be a mixed couple in the current political climate of Zevus Mar. Lanimer was neither Zevian nor Trakellisan. He was fair-skinned like theTregan race that invaded Zevus Mar thirty years before killing Lanimer’s family.
I am so glad that telling him about the situation didn’t discourage him from coming. Of course, he read my thoughts.
“Don’t worry, Evalee. There are still some people who will remember how my guardian and his wife came back to help after the Federation drove out the Tregans. I hope to find some of them and catch up on how their lives have gone since the war. I promised Hankura and Chelle I would.”
“But you know the information services never tell the whole story. Things just keep getting worse. Chief Yaroman thinks we should close the Trakellisan clinic because of the unrest. In the last month, the demonstrations have become violent.”
“I know. I saw the reports as we got into this sector. Do you know what the problem is?” I wondered.
“There is a separatist faction that does not want Trakellisans to assimilate into Zevian culture. They want us gone, as in wiped off the planet. The government says they will protect us, but they won’t allow us to ban the protesters from our cities.”
“Your people shouldn’t have to suffer their harassment. I don’t understand their problem.The Zevians have equal rights with the Trakellisans.”
I didn’t even try to hide my frustration because the solution seemed simple to me. If those rebels didn’t like the aliens, they didn’t have to associate with them.
“That’s not their only problem. They have different ideas about how resources should be distributed and who should have control of what. Xenos Free believes that Trakellisans shouldn’t serve in the government because they’re not human. They want my father’s people expelled from the planet.”
“How big is this Xenos Free movement?”
“The last estimate was twenty percent, but a smaller portion of them are radicalized. They are causing the trouble.” Evalee mused.
Lanimer
A sinking feeling rippled through me as it became clear what we were up against. I wondered how this could happen. Evalee was right. This wasn’t in the info streams. “Does the Federation know about this?”
“You’d have to ask the council. We’ve been so busy because we were short a physician, and we haven’t had time to keep up with the info stream to know much more about what’shappening than what we’ve seen,” she explained.
It was no wonder she was struggling with her feelings for me and the uncertainty of the current unrest. While I wasn’t exactly regretting my move to Zevus Mar, I could see how it was more problematic than I considered when I made my decision.
But the dreams were relentless. I kept seeing my family’s beautiful agricultural complex filled with green growing things. I also dreamed of the agricomplex where Orin took us after the other Tregans killed my family. Coming back here had become an obsession even before I received Evalee’s video.
Even though she was not a full-on psi path, she was a highly developed empath. With my ability to see into her mind and understand her core values, I quickly fell in love with her. I cannot even imagine the rest of my life without her already.
“I think we should go ahead and work at the clinic… See how it goes. Despite the unrest, you still have plenty of patients.” I took her into my arms and held her, resting my cheek on her head. I knew there weren’t enough Trakellisan physicians and medics to serve their entire population. I hoped that with my telepathic skills, I might be able to discover the true source of the hostility of the Xenos Free movement.
