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“The abduction had to have been some time ago!”
“About fifty years.”
“Human abductions have been occurring for fifty years?” I had no idea it had been going on that long.
“Maybe longer, but for decades, abductions amounted to little more than random snatch and grabs by individual criminals. Small ships, only a few people taken at a time. Nothing organized. The cartel hadn’t formed yet.”
“Oh, well, as long as it was small scale, no harm done,” I said sarcastically.
“That’s not what I mean,” he said. “The situation was manageable. Most, but not all, of the cases involved sentients other than humans. Then Imana formed the Copan-Cerulean Cartel, and the trafficking situation mushroomed almost overnight.” His expression turned grim.
“How old is Imana?”
“Older than she looks. At least forty, which is probably why she’s getting impatient and decided to push her mother off the throne.”
“You joined the League of Planets because of your mother…”
“Yes. Aware of her past and how much she missed her family, I wanted to help her people. Her father died before she was taken, but her mother is still alive. I grew up hearing stories about her family, her mother in particular. When I can, I drop in.”
“You visit your grandmother? You’ve spoken to her?” That poor woman! Losing her husband, and then her daughter.
I shook my head. “I can’t. It’s not allowed. I’m an LOP agent. But I keep an eye on her—from afar.”
“Aren’t you tempted to speak to her?”
“Of course I am. But after so many years, I figure she has come to terms with her daughter’s disappearance. I feel it would be cruel rather than comforting to reveal her daughter is alive. She can’t see her, so it would be like taunting her with the information.”
“She might find comfort from just knowing she’s alive. That she has a grandson.”
“Contact with humans is forbidden,” he said, but I could see the conflict on his face. The LOP’s desire to keep New Terrans ignorant of life off planet had been unfair to him, too.
“You have contact with me.”
“You inserted yourself into the mission. You are a protectee.”
Despite myself, I felt a surge of sympathy for him. “It couldn’t have been easy being half human.”
“No, it wasn’t always easy being a half-breed. You’ve heard the slur. People call my mother that.”
“Ovwet,” I said, and he flinched. The derogatory, degrading term happened to be the only word for humans in the Ara-Cope language.
“I look more Copan than human so that’s what people assumed I was. It was easier for all concerned—for my father and my mother—that I denied my humanness. It helped that my parents worked and lived on a space station that drew beings from all over the galaxy. Diversity created anonymity. But still, there were sometimes problems. Slurs. Threats. They could never have lived on Nomoru. It would have raised too many questions. Both my parents insisted I never refer to my mother as my mother. She was the human who worked for my father.” His mouth twisted. “I still hate myself for that.”
I could hear and see his pain, his guilt, and it tore at my heart. “What’s your mother’s name?”
“Louise.”
“Louise…”
“Just Louise.”
“Humans have surnames.”
“Just Louise.”
Okay…more secrets. It wasn’t like I’d drop in and visit Louise’s mother for goodness’ sake. Not tonight anyway. It had been a very, very long day, and fatigue had kicked in with a vengeance. I stifled a yawn and rubbed my bleary eyes.
“You can understand why this isn’t just another assignment. It’s personal to me. I, and the rest of the team, will do everything in our power to ensure the abductees aren’t harmed. But the abduction must occur so we can stop the cartel once and for all.”
