Devotion (7 page)

“Unless I ask Elissa?”

“I don’t think that is a good idea. I am going to persuade Okil that the secret of the boy stays with us.”

“More secrets, more lies.”

“I’m afraid so. The less people who know, the better. I trust Elissa, I really do. But her child is growing in her, and I don’t want any of this to jeopardise her or the baby. We will work it out. We have access to the data we need; leave it to me and Okil.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you, or Okil. I know you are risking your lives.”

“Not our lives. There has never been an execution on Karal.”

“Not even for treason?”

Darl shook his head. “No. And this is not treason. We are doing this for our planet, for our people.” He smiled at her, and the colour red flew across his skin. “I know how much Okil loves you, Tikki. I am relieved to see you love him in return.”

“Did you think I was playing him to get to Karal?”

“It had crossed my mind. I know how much you wanted to come to our planet, to escape Earth. Once your sister was there, the pull was always going to be stronger.”

She placed her hand on Darl’s, feeling the small static charges across his skin. “I swear I would die for him. I love him more than I can ever say, more than I could ever have imagined.”

“That is all I need to know.” He went to move away. “I understand now why Okil is so fascinated by your species.”

“I hope that is a good thing.”

“Yes. You are so complex, so emotional, and loyal to each other. And now to us.” He smiled at Tikki. “He is lucky to have found you.”

“Thank you, Darl.”

Darl glanced down at his communicator. “He’s back.”

The exit ramp lowered, and Okil came inside, breathless and dirty. “It’s done. Now we need to transmit a message to the lottery saying that we have picked up the winner and will be leaving shortly for Karal.”

“It doesn’t matter about the interview and everything?”

“No, no one cares too much. Those that do tend to be more jealous than anything, and with the new daily lottery about to start, it is about mean even less.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Darl said. “I was not looking forward to it at all.”

“Then I’ll send the message and request clearance.”

He went to the front of the ship, and Reja brought Charlie back to sit beside Tikki.

“How are you feeling?” Reja asked, her eyes constantly wandering back to stare at Darl as he packed everything away ready for their flight.

“Scared,” Tikki answered honestly.

“Hey, come on. We’ll get through this.” Reja sat down next to her and hugged her. “We’re in this together.”

“That’s what worries me, Reja. It’s putting you all in danger.”

“You didn’t do this. You didn’t ask for it. So let us help you. What’s the worst that can happen?” Reja lifted Charlie into his seat. “I have a soft spot for this young man, you know that.”

“That’s just it, we don’t know the worst that can happen, do we?” The realisation hit her: she was about to leave behind everything she had ever known. “We are about to travel to an alien planet. And only you are expected.”

“If you put it like that…” Reja thought for a moment. “Listen, between us we can get through this. Even if they send you back to Earth, at least by then the whole thing may have blown over, and they’ll think you are dead.”

“So, I will have no home and no friends to go back to.” Tikki normally could look on the bright side of anything, but there didn’t seem to be one this time. It seemed impossible that the Karal would welcome her and Charlie once they found out about him.

“We need to depart,” Okil said, coming over to them. “Sit in the seats and buckle up. We have a short window of time.”

“You look worried, Okil?” Tikki watched his face. Something was definitely wrong. “You can leave us here. You don’t have to take us.”

“It’s not that…” He looked down at Charlie and then back to Tikki. “They are questioning our cargo.”

“Cargo?”

“Yes, we have never had a problem before. Never been questioned.”

“You think they know?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. They are waiting for a supervisor. As soon as we get the go-ahead we are leaving. Please be sitting in your seats and ready for take-off. You too, Charlie.” He buckled the young boy’s seat belt, checking it was tight enough.

As he turned to leave, Tikki said, “I love you, Okil and I know you love me. But if anytime this gets too dangerous, let us out elsewhere. I can’t have you risk the future of your people for us.”

He bent down and kissed her cheek. “I would risk it all for you, Tikki.”

Although his words made her feel safer, they also worried her. She was putting an awful lot of strain on him. She only hoped he thought it was worth it and they could get through this whole thing. But right now, it seemed impossible.

“Contact tower, are we cleared for launch?” Okil asked again.

“Hold position.”

“This never happens,” Okil said to Darl. “What the hell is going on here?”

“I think our Earth friends have an agenda,” Darl said bluntly.

“With the boy? Why?” Okil asked, risking a look back behind them at where the woman he loved was sitting with the child next to her.

“I don’t know. But I think it was a mistake for us to believe they would just sit still and not do anything.”

“Do anything?” Okil asked.

“I know you love humans and Earth. But they are not all good people, and I think that we have ended up in the middle of something that will impact our world.”

“I agree. What I am unsure of is what to do when we get to Karal.” Okil had thought of their predicament from every angle. There had to be a way to get Charlie on and off the space station and through decon’ without being seen.

“We have to get there first. Escaping Earth may be our first problem. And I think I should ask if we are planning to blast out of here if they don’t allow us to go.”

“Yes. I think we are,” Okil said, although it risked a diplomatic nightmare for Karal. It also lessened their chances of getting Tikki and Charlie safely to Karal. If Earth made a complaint to Karal, the cruiser would be stopped at the space station, Okil and Darl would be arrested, and Tikki and Charlie returned to Earth.

“Cool. I have not been on an adventure since I was six years old and my dad took me to the vast plains of Scremi. He got us lost and I thought we were going to die of thirst.”

“I’m glad you are enjoying this, Darl,” Okil said testily.

“Sorry, that was insensitive. You have a lot to lose, Okil. I understand that.”

“It’s not just leaving Earth, although that is our first hurdle. However, then we have to go through decon’. Now, I am willing to bend the rules, but I am not breaking them. Decon’ is what keeps Karal safe.”

“I know.” Darl nodded, pondering the same question that had been bugging Okil for hours.

“Although I might have a plan.” It was both simple and terribly risky, but he could see no alternative. “First, we have to get out of here.” He leaned forward and pressed a button, starting up the engines of the cruiser.

“You are making a run for it?” Darl asked, buckling his seat belt.

“No. Hopefully not, anyway. But I am going to call their bluff.” He pressed the communications button on the control panel and spoke. “Control we are powering up. The wormhole will only be stable for another hour and then a turbulent period of two days begins. We are on a tight schedule here.”

“Understand. Please hold.”

“I have had enough holding. This airport is rarely used. There are no planes in our vicinity. I request a detailed answer to why we are not allowed to leave. My leader will be most upset that we have been detained.”

No answer came for a few minutes. Okil began to inch forward, pressing the controls for the gates to open for them to use the runway. Still no answer. Okil pressed the communications button again.

“Are we cleared, tower? If not, you are about to have a diplomatic problem on your hands. I have my orders to leave. This will be classed as your species detaining a Karalian diplomat if we are not immediately cleared.”

“You are cleared to leave.”

Okil didn’t wait for the order to be repeated. He pressed the throttle forward and they took off into the night. For the first time since he had come to Earth all those months ago, he wondered if they were safe, or if they might be shot out of the sky. But they climbed steadily, and then he pushed the throttle forward to give them enough power to exit the atmosphere. The sudden stillness as they entered space was incredible; he turned them towards the moon and headed for the beacons.

Only when they entered the wormhole did he feel truly safe. Earth, the planet he loved, was no longer what it had been to Okil. This whole episode had tarnished his view of it, or at least some parts of it. The normal everyday people still had a special place in his heart. However, the President and people like Harri were nothing to him; and given a choice, he would not save them. A new start for the human race deserved a chance to be free of corruption. Okil made a promise to himself to get to the heart of the corruption and find out what threat there really was to his own species.

However, he reminded himself it was not all bad. He had at least got his wish. Although it was not under the circumstances he had hoped for, he was taking Tikki to Karal.

“I thought I would leave Darl in charge of things and come back here to be with you all when we entered the wormhole.” He sat down in one of the chairs, buckling his seat belt. Then he leaned forward and spoke to Charlie. “In a moment we are going to fly through the middle of space, down a long tube that connects your planet to mine.”

“Your skin is lots of colours,” Charlie said, touching Okil’s skin.

“Yes, and there will be loads of colours outside. Look.”

He pointed to three beacons; they were heading straight for them. It seemed as if there was nothing on the other side other than space, but as soon as they crossed the threshold, the wormhole opened. It looked like a huge vortex about to suck them in; it reminded Tikki of a tornado.

“Is it safe?” she asked.

“Yes, I’ve travelled this way lots of times. It’s very safe and very stable.”

“So that line you told the control tower was a lie?” Tikki asked, her nerves disappearing. “I thought for a moment we really were in trouble and were going to get stuck on Earth.”

“No. I made it up. Our technology makes the wormholes very stable. Although it is stretched almost to its limit to connect our planets.”

She looked out of the window, seeing the stars in the distance and great towering clouds of gasses. Charlie was mesmerised, his eyes big saucers of wonder. “I bet you are the youngest human to ever travel through here, Charlie.”

“Big clouds and bright stars,” he murmured.

“Wow, I wish I had a camera to take pictures of it all.” Reja was just as awestruck as Charlie.

“This is not how we thought we would be spending our evening, was it, Reja?”

“No way. I thought we were going to sit around while you cried your heart out at letting this alien slip through your fingers.” Trust Reja to tell all her secrets.

“I’m glad you are here, Tikki,” Okil said, reading her mind. And when he placed his hand on her cheek and she felt the colours crossing from his skin to hers, she was glad too. More than glad: she was happy and excited, although extremely afraid of what the outcome would be.

However, when they crossed a star nursery, which Okil pointed out to them, she knew that this was an experience she would never forget, or regret, even if she was about to get sent straight back to Earth. Tension filled her body, as up ahead the wormhole opened up into normal space.

“The space station,” Okil said. “We have a plan. Reja you will go with Darl on to the station. He will take you to decon’. Once you are in there, he will distract the guards. At that point I will escort Tikki to a decon’ room and hopefully get you in there without anyone seeing Charlie.”

“And then?” Tikki asked.

“Then Darl and I will go through decon’. Afterwards, I will ask the guards to check something on the controls. Darl will get you back on the cruiser.”

“Sounds so simple. So they will know we are both there, but not Charlie.”

“Yes. Don’t worry, there are only ever two, maybe three, Karalians stationed there. We should only be docked for an hour.” Okil smiled reassuringly. “Charlie, I will need you to be very quiet.”

“He’s good at that, aren’t you, Charlie?” Tikki asked.

He nodded, not taking his eyes off the stars. In one hand, he held his teddy bear, in the other a fistful of toys. Sadly, these were his only worldly possessions, but as Tikki watched him, she was just happy they were no longer on Earth. No longer in imminent danger. Although when the space station loomed closer, she realised that was not exactly true.

Okil kissed her on the lips and then pressed his head against hers. Forehead to forehead, she could almost feel his thoughts. “I love you and no matter what, even if it means taking a cruiser and going to find a new life somewhere else, we will get through this.”

“I love you, Okil,” she said, kissing him lightly, oblivious to Reja beside her with tears streaming down her cheeks. “But I know how much you love Karal. I would never ask you to leave.”

“My home is where you are now, Tikki.” Then he added, “You and Charlie.”

Tikki turned and the little boy smiled and said, “Look after Tikki Mommy.”

“Yes, Charlie. We will.” He stood up. “Now we dock and we hope no one sees Charlie. Do you understand what you have to do, Charlie?”

Charlie put his fingers to his lips. “Shh. Be very quiet, Charlie, so they don’t see you.” The words were so sad when his young voice said them. To Tikki it was obvious that in his short life, he had been told to be quiet more times than any child should have to.

The cruiser banged against the space station, and Okil went to lock it into place and then pull the door open. Charlie hid behind the seat and Tikki placed her purse on it, trying to make a barricade to hide the little boy. But the cruiser had no real hiding places: if anyone came on board, they would undoubtedly see him. They just had to hope.