Free Abducted by Aliens (Tales From Angondra Book 1) by Ruth Anne Scott

idea, but they agreed to do it anyway.”
    Carmen looked around. “But I saw lots of females here last night, and Renier said you have enough to regenerate your population without getting females from the Romarie.”
    “We have females.” Leroni's light laugh rang off the city walls. “After all, I am a female. But Renier couldn't exactly mate with me, could he? I'm his sister. Most of the Alphas are in a similar position. The only females left of breeding age are too closely related to them. They have to look elsewhere. The Alphas of the other factions are in the same perdicament.”
    Carmen shook her head and turned away. “I have a lot to learn about this place.”
    Leroni laughed. “Take it one step at a time. You have all the time in the world to learn our twisted politics. There must be something much more interesting you want to learn.”
    “As a matter of fact,” Carmen replied, “my friend and I need to learn about your food. Renier gave us a big steaming piece of raw meat to eat last night, but our species doesn’t eat that sort of food. We cooked it on the lamp, but I don’t suppose we can do that every day. This morning we found some fruit and something that looked like milk in a bowl. We need to find out about the food you have here so we have something to eat.”
    Leroni laughed again. “All right. I never thought food could be such an issue, but then again, no one but Felsite has ever been here before. Come with me, and I’ll show you where to get that food.”
    She led Carmen across the stretch of flat rolling countryside in front of the city to a river at the bottom. Rustling trees lined the banks, and grassy knolls ran down to the water. She showed Carmen all the trees bearing the fruit Renier left them, and she pointed out the plants with tuberous roots. Last of all, she stopped in front of big tree with rough bark.
    Leroni raised her hand and flexed her fingers, and claws sprang out from the end of each finger. In front of Carmen’s eyes, she scratched the bark with her claws, and the tough wood parted into long slits. The white liquid Carmen found in the bowl in the apartment oozed out in beads, and Carmen touched her finger to it. She stuck her finger in her mouth. “Thanks. This is a big help.”
    Leroni burst out laughing. “You’re a strange creature, aren’t you?”
    Carmen had to laugh along with her. “This situation must seem silly to you.”
    Leroni stopped laughing. “Not really. I don’t know how you’re coping with it the way you are. I can’t imagine how awful it must be for you and your friends.”
    Carmen turned away. “Let’s not talk about that. I’m having too nice a time with you as it is. Tell me about Angondra. Tell me about the factions.”
    “What would you like to know?” Leroni asked. “There’s the Felsite, the Ursidreans, the Avitras, the Aqinas, and the Lycaon. You know that.”
    “I know,” Carmen replied. “Tell me more about them.”
    “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Leroni replied. “The truth is the factions don’t know very much about each other. Most of us stay in our own territory. Only the Alphas travel to the other territories when they have to. Most Felsite have never even seen another Angondran.”
    “But there were hundreds of different people at that gathering yesterday,” Carmen replied.
    “They were Alphas,” Leroni replied. “They wouldn’t have been there otherwise. The only time the factions meet is to fight with each other or to negotiate a truce. If the factions hadn’t started fighting the Romarie, they would have started fighting each other.”
    “Do they really fight?” Carmen asked. “I thought they were peaceful.”
    Leroni shrugged. “Sometimes they’re peaceful and sometimes they’re not. The factions are too different from each other to get along very well. The Aqinas will tell the Ursidreans the Felsite said such and such about them, and the next thing you know, everybody’s marching out to war.