Page 14 of Rebel
“What?” Tide asked.
“Cats? You know, furry little critters that go meow?”
“No, but I know what they are. We’ve studied enough about Earth to know what a cat is. You keep them as pets. Smaller versions of the larger predators.”
“It never fails to fascinate me how humans have managed to take the wild creatures of their planet and tame them,” Lore said. “Wolves to dogs and prairie cats to house cats. You even get dolphins to do tricks in special aquatic zoos called aquariums.”
Wait a second … “You don’t have aquariums?”
“We don’t have any kind of zoo,” Lore said softly. “There aren’t a huge variety of animals on Athion, and the ones we do have, we leave be. We respect the natural order of things and the cycle of life. An animal’s habitat is sacred. We take only what we need to survive, which is why Athion is lush and green. There is a balance to Athion.”
Except for the fact that their women were dead.
But saying that would be mean, so I bit it back. “We’re doing the best we can to conserve what’s left of the animals on our planet. Yes, we’ve made mistakes, but we’re working hard to make up for them.”
“Please, don’t be offended,” Lore said. “Of course, there is a lot we can learn from humans, one of which is farming. The Athion government is implementing a farming system similar to the ones you have on Earth.”
“Our worlds have a lot to offer each other,” Tide said.
I gave him a skeptical look. “More than human females and Athion protection?”
“Much more,” Tide said. “Even if the Tradacyh threat is diverted for good, our world has much to offer Earth.”
“Like what?”
“Like an extra home,” Lore said. “Your planet has become overcrowded, and years of abuse will require years of nurture to heal it. By offering a percentage of your population asylum, we could alleviate the stress on your planet.”
“You mean the women.”
“For now,” Lore said.
Would they give humanity a home if needed? If our planet fell prey to global warming? Would they save us then? But would humanity learn from its mistakes, or would we visit the same fate on Athion?
I needed to stop worrying about that. It wasn’t going to be my problem because I was going to be getting in a ship and leaving with Vex and Xavier, and we’d find a corner of the galaxy we could call our own.
“Doyouhave a cat?” Lore asked after a beat of silence.
So, we’d gone full circle back to the original conversation. “I did. His name was Milo.”
“I’m sorry for everything that you went through,” Lore said after a moment.
“Yeah, me too. But I’m not a quitter. I’m a survivor, always have been. That helped a lot.”
“Xavier told us what it was like on Vesper,” Tide said. He sounded reflective. “He told us about Marick and the brutality.”
My body tensed. What Marick had done to me had been common knowledge in House Ryker, but still, to have it brought up now, here in this far-off place, tugged the memories to the surface of my mind in a fresh wave.
“Did he tell you what I did to Marick in return?”
Tide smiled. “Oh, yes.”
“Good.” They needed to know that I’d made him pay for what he’d done. “There was a lot of brutality on Vesper. But you find your tribe, and if you stick with them, you survive. It was the way. We had each other’s back: Marlon, Killion, and Anton. They were my tribe.” My eyes filled with tears. “I’ll never forget them, and what they sacrificed for me. They’re etched into my heart.”
Fuck, I was not going to cry.
Lore’s palm covered the back of my hand, and his fingers closed around mine. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“But you’re safe now,” Tide said.
