Species Traitor

2021 RONE Awards Nominee for Time Travel/Science Fiction

My name is Ava Mendoza, and I am a species traitor.

They came hoping to find a new home after their own planet was destroyed, but Earth was dying as well, and most humans saw their arrival as an invasion. Now, two decades later, the Veilorians have been banished to the District, a fenced-in area on the outskirts of the last known livable land on Earth. Most people do their best to pretend they don’t exist, but not everyone. There are humans, like my cousin, who see them for what they are. Despite the threat of disownment, she married a Veilorian, and now she, too, lives in the District.

Even before I met Finn, I was determined to stand up for what was right, but from the moment I laid eyes on him, we had a connection I’ve never experienced before. But with the election of a new and radical mayor on the horizon, tensions are high, and people are calling for change. They want to make my cousin’s marriage illegal and punish any human who goes into the District, but I refuse to back down from this fight. No matter the cost.