Devotion (2 page)

“I don’t think I will ever taste anything as sweet as you, Tikki,” Okil said, turning his body so that he lay next to her, his arms circling her protectively.

She didn’t know what to say. Normally she would ask him about his world and tease him that his food, his fruits, must taste better than anything from Earth. But right now her heart was no longer in it. A thing Okil noticed instantly. He was so attuned to her moods, and her body.

Tikki calmed herself, steeling herself for what she had to say; she had to be honest with him. This was the time to tell him her news.

“Do you want some simcoff?” she asked, knowing
she
certainly did. It tasted disgusting, but she needed the caffeine buzz to give her the strength to tell him she could not go to Karal. Ever.

He pulled her close and kissed her. “It can wait. I would like to stay here in bed with you for a little longer. I have a meeting with the President and can’t stay long, but I have enough time to fool around some more.”

She pulled out of his arms, hating herself already for the news she had to tell him. “I could do with a cup.” She pulled on her robe. It was blue, with flowers on it. Okil had given it her as a gift on her birthday, the day she became old enough to enter the lottery. It had always been her dream to go to Karal. So much so, that she had naively entered her sister’s name into the lottery six months ago, in the hope that she would be able to go instead.

Elissa had won the prize, but instead of Tikki taking her place, Elissa had no choice but to go herself. Tikki had overlooked the fact that all humans were tagged with a kind of DNA marker. On their arrival on Earth, the Karalians had updated the system, which had fallen into disuse, so that no one could trick them. Luckily, Tikki had been spared the guilt of making her sister unhappy. Elissa had fallen in love with the Karalian she had to marry and was now pregnant with the first of the new generation of aliens.

Tikki sighed. She had been so looking forward to seeing Elissa again, for them to be together on a new planet, with a new life ahead of them. But Tikki was well and truly stuck in this old life now.

She put the kettle on the stove, happy to see the gas catch the flame when she lit it. Her body really needed the kick-start it only got from simcoff. Behind her, Okil was dressing. She wanted to turn around and watch; this might, after all, be the last time she saw his wonderful body. There was a good chance that when she told him her news, he would never visit her again.

Okil would have to choose another mate. Another human female to win him as a prize, and, knowing Okil, he was too loyal to cheat, to go behind his new love’s back. He would never come here and be intimate with her again. Tikki would simply have to hold on to all the dreams they had and try to make a new life without him.

“Tikki,” he said, coming up behind her and putting his arms around her waist, pulling her back to nestle against him. “Why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind, my love?”

“I’m not sure how,” she said quietly.

“Then don’t. It’s time for you to enter the lottery. I have permission to take a female. You know it is only you I desire. Come and live with me on Karal, and whatever is bothering you here will be gone. It won’t matter.”

“Yes, it will,” Tikki said.

He turned her to face him, despite her resistance. “What happened? Did you find someone else?” He saw her face drop, her bottom lip quivering. “Did you make love to another man?”

It was the one thing that would make him turn away from her, because it was the one thing that the Karal would not accept. To win the lottery you had to be pure, a virgin. Okil had even been worried about them fooling around with oral sex, but he checked the data back on Karal and it had to do with sperm being present in a female’s womb. It kind of freaked her out that the tag in her neck told the Karal so much data about their bodies.

She
should
have told him she had found someone else and that was the reason she was sad. The reason she would
not
be entering the lottery and going with him to Karal. But she couldn’t hurt him like that, and she hated the thought of making him turn away from the human race. If she told him she had cheated, he might learn to hate them, and Okil was the only real hope of the Karal helping save mankind. He loved everything about humans, from their culture to their humour and their ability to feel so many emotions.

“No, Okil, I could never cheat on you.” She touched his cheek, watching in fascination as red raced across his face to disappear where her hand touched him, If she let her senses roam free, she sometimes thought she could feel those colours across her own skin, flooding her body with his emotion. Right now, she swore she could feel his love, but it was tinged with fear of the unknown. Okil knew he wasn’t going to like what she had to say.

“Tell me.”

She let her hand drop to her side and took a shuddering breath. If she didn’t tell him now, she would lose her nerve.

“I had a friend. We were close when we were young, but then we drifted apart. Different lives.” Tikki grasped hold of her courage and continued. “She went off to date a pent. I was so pleased she had a chance to get a better, healthier life. Occasionally she would still visit me, all colourful clothes and a healthy complexion. I guess it’s what originally influenced my need to go to Karal. I knew I would never live like a pent here; no man would ever want me. Whereas Sienna was beautiful, vivacious… She brought life to a world where there was none.”

“I see. And is she offering you a better life? Have you chosen to go and live with a pent rather than come to Karal with me?”

She heard the catch in his voice and saw muted yellows flood his skin, which changed to orange before fading away. Okil was trying to control his emotions. Tikki knew he was hurting, thinking she had maybe used him until something better had come along.

“No, Okil,” she said, standing on tiptoes and kissing his mouth. “No one will ever mean as much to me as you do.”

“But…”

Tikki couldn’t bear to say the words, but she had to, if nothing else than to put Okil out of his misery. “She came to see me two weeks ago, just after your last visit. She asked me for a favour.”

“What kind of favour?” Okil asked, suspicious now.

“She told me she had a son. That she was running from the father and could I look after him for a few days.” Tikki remembered it well, remembered the hunted look on Sienna’s once-beautiful face. She knew she should have said no, but her friend was standing there with a little boy whom she said needed protecting. Events afterward proved she was telling the truth.

“What happened, Tikki?” he asked, seeing the sadness on her face and putting a hand on her to comfort her. She closed her eyes and let the sensations envelope her before she carried on.

“I didn’t hear from her again.” She gave a shuddering sigh, as she fought to hold back her tears. “And then five days ago, her body was found in the canal. They say it was an accident…”

“I’m so sorry,” Okil said. “I should have been here for you.”

“I didn’t know what to do. I still don’t. I promised her I would look after Charlie. Keep him safe.”

“You still have the child?”

“Yes. So you see now why I can’t go to Karal. I can’t let him go back to his father. I promised her … and now she’s dead.”

Okil felt the room spin around him. He clung to her, not wanting to let her go. This couldn’t be happening. Not now.

“How old is he?” Okil asked. He could wait a couple of years, maybe three; he would still be in his prime.

“Five. I never even knew she had a child. It appears there was a lot I didn’t know about her.”

“Can’t you find someone else to look after him?” Okil had to ask, but he knew the answer, and also knew he would not want Tikki to be any other way.

“No. There is no one I trust. And I promised her. I can’t go back on my word. He’s settled here with me. There is no way I can expect him to move again. It’s bad enough that he lost his mom, I can’t let him lose me too.”

“But you didn’t know him before.” Okil hated himself for trying to persuade her to give up the boy.

“No. I didn’t. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t bonded with me. I don’t think he had a good life before.” She looked away from him, not knowing if he would understand what she said next. “I think my friend was a prostitute. She sold her body to pents. In return, she breathed their air and ate their food. Charlie was a dirty secret she wanted to keep hidden, and then the father found out and came after what was his.”

He placed his fingers under her chin, tilting her head up to look at him. Looking into her eyes, he knew he had to find a way to be with this woman. She was everything to him. He leaned forward and kissed her, letting his colours flow over his skin. When he released her, he said, “I have nothing against your friend for selling her body. It is what we ask, and expect, human females to do. Isn’t it?”

“I never thought of it like that,” she said, her eyes searching his. “Probably because I have never thought of us being together in that context. We are lovers, Okil, nothing less.”

He smiled at her, his fingers stroking her cheek. “Nothing less. But so much more.”

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, placing her head on his chest and holding him tight. For Tikki this was goodbye; he could sense that now. She fully expected him to walk out of her life and never come back.

“What if I could find a way of smuggling Charlie onto Karal?” It was the most absurd idea he had ever had. However, he was determined they would be together on Karal.

“And then what? He spends his life in hiding? That is no life for a little boy.”

“I know. But I just cannot accept that our dream is over. The Hier Council wants me to work on Karal with the new arrivals. Once the lottery goes to a daily draw, there will be a huge influx of females who will have to be cared for. I have been asked to organise everything, including the choosing of the females who will go on the deep space missions.”

“And that is what you must do, Okil; this is more important than us. The fact that the human race has a chance of survival because of the Karal is one of the most wonderful things imaginable. You have given us hope.” She stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

“And what of my hopes? What of our dreams?”

“There are so many other women on Earth. You will find one that is so much better than me, you will wonder what you ever saw in me.” And then she erupted into tears. “I’m so torn, Okil. But I can’t leave him alone. I just can’t.”

“I will find a solution,” he said, but there was none that he could see. The only way would be to take the child on the cruiser after the draw in two days’ time. That was the last of the monthly draws. One week later, the cruiser would be carrying two or three females at once. There would be no way to stow him away; the cruisers were too small. No, if this was to be done, it had to be now.

“Promise me you will not risk your life for us. We will survive here. I have so far.” He heard her words but knew he couldn’t leave it like that; his life had more meaning when she was in it. And yet his loyalty to Karal forbade him breaking its laws for his own selfish needs.

“I know you will survive. But you were so happy to finally be able to travel to Karal, for us to be together and for you to see your sister again.”

“I am just glad we decided to keep it a secret from Elissa. At least this way she won’t be let down.” Tikki lifted her head. She placed one hand on either side of Okil’s face and kissed him as though she were branding him with her lips.

“I love you, Tikki,” he whispered.

“And I love you, Okil, with all of my heart.”

Pulling away from her, he said, “I should go.” He had to get his emotions under control before he met with the President, and he couldn’t do that here. At that moment his skin lit up like one of those Christmas trees humans used to put up to celebrate the season of giving gifts.

“I will never forget you,” she said.

As he opened the door to leave, he turned to her and said, “This is not the end, Tikki.”

“I hope not,” she said, but the look on her face mirrored the feeling in his soul. There was no solution to this problem, short of getting the Hier Council to change the law on humans living on Karal.

At present they only allowed a small amount of human females. Males were explicitly banned from their world, no allowances were made, and even the Earth’s President had not been allowed to travel to the planet Karal. The furthest he had got was the space station. He had insisted on visiting there to make sure what the Karal had told him about their species was true.

He had been somewhat disgruntled at not being able to make a short visit to the planet itself. But Lytril was adamant that no human male would ever be welcome on Karal. The President had to be content with a gift of food: fresh fruit was delivered to his house each time a lottery draw took place.

Okil was sure the food was never distributed amongst the people, not even his staff. Humans could be selfish in so many ways. And then he thought of Tikki, and his love for humans returned. The ordinary people of Earth were the reason he worked tirelessly to help the human race survive.

Tikki walked to fetch Charlie from the family who had agreed to look after him while she worked. It cost a third of her small wage, making things even tighter for her budget, but there was no alternative. She couldn’t carry on like this, though; in two months time she wouldn’t be able to make her rent, and she couldn’t afford to be evicted.

Her mind wandered off to Okil and everything they had planned, the places he had told her about on Karal, places he intended to take her. They had dreamed of sharing a life together on his planet for months. Ever since he had visited her after Elissa had won the lottery, when he brought her some fresh food and had given her news of her sister’s happiness.

He had been so warm, so intrigued by her humanness, and she had fallen for him. His soft eyes, the way a burst of blue shot across his face when he laughed. Her throat contracted as tears welled in her eyes. There was no point dwelling on the past. And right now, Okil belonged firmly in the past.