Devotion (6 page)

“No, Charlie was scared to death. And Harri acted so strange. You should have seen him. He was so odd. And he said something.” She closed her eyes, trying to recollect his exact words. “He said about how lucky Elissa was, and that it wasn’t fair that Karalians had everything they need while Earth suffers. I told him it was your planet, not ours, and he said
for now
.”

“For now?” Darl asked. “You mean as a threat?”

“That’s the impression I got,” Tikki nodded, hearing Harri’s words in her head once more.

“But how does that tie in with the child?” Darl asked.

“I have no idea. But there is so much else I have to tell you, Okil.”

“Then I will stay here until we get to the bottom of this.” But behind him, an alarm went off. “Damn it. I forgot about the lottery. It begins in twenty minutes.”

Tikki got up. “We should go. We can’t be here when your lottery winner arrives. The fewer people who know about this, the better.”

“Where are you going to go? There is nowhere safe. Not if they found you once already, and now they will be even more suspicious. You ran, Tikki. An innocent person never runs.” He looked concerned.

“No, but a scared one does.” She thought for a moment. “They can’t know where we are. Maybe I can go home with Reja, they won’t know I am there.”

“They might,” Darl said. “Your tag.”

She put her hand on the back of her neck, as if to stop it transmitting. “Oh, we need to go. We have to keep moving.”

“No. You are coming to Karal with me,” Okil announced.

“We can’t. We talked about this, and you said Charlie would never be allowed to set foot on your planet.”

“We keep him secret. Even if he only stays there long enough for us to understand what is happening.” Okil had that look in his eyes that said there was no point in arguing; the blue flashes across his skin only reinforced that message.

“But how do we get him back to Karal? There is only one cruiser and you will have another woman on board, the woman who is about to win the lottery.”
The woman who is about to become your mate
.

“Wait. Reja, how do you like the idea of coming to Karal too?” Okil asked, his skin turning red, a sign he was excited about something.

“Excuse me?” Reja asked, confused.

“It’s not something you want?” Okil asked.

“Are you joking? I have entered the lottery every months since it started.” Her tone matched Okil’s: two children who had just discovered a stash of candy.

“Great. In that case, meet your prize. Darl, this is Reja.” He left the two of them staring at each other and headed to the console. There he began frantically pressing buttons and the typing in a code. “Reja, I need to scan your tag.”

She leaned down and he scanned it, then went back to the computer screen. All the time he kept looking at his watch, and then at last, he pressed a button and the live lottery transmission appeared in front of them.

They were going through the motions, a StreamStar appearing to press the button, and then they waited. Five long minutes, and then Reja’s face flashed up on the screen.

“Oh my goodness,” was all Reja could say as she stared at herself on the screen.

This is madness
. Okil knew he was placing all four of them in danger if he went ahead with his plan. No, all five of them. He was so unused to dealing with children he had forgotten about Charlie.

“Darl.” He called his friend over, talking to him quietly. “I think you know what I’m planning. And I understand if you turn me in.”

Darl smiled kindly at Okil. “My friend, I am a doctor. My sole purpose is to preserve life, my sole wish,” he said, placing his hand on his heart, “is to leave our world a better place. I think what you are about to do may just accomplish that in some small way. Of course you can count on me.”

“Then we leave now, we all buckle up and get out of here.”

Darl smiled at the term Okil used. “There is one thing you haven’t thought about. Tikki and the boy’s tags. If they are being tracked, and we have no reason to think they are, but no reason to be sure they are not, then we must make sure this cannot lead back to Karal.”

“You mean, remove them?” Okil asked, looking at Tikki and not wishing her any pain.

“Yes. I have something that will numb the pain, do not worry. Then it is a simple incision.” He patted Okil on the back. “I know what I’m doing, I’m a doctor.”

“I hope so, Darl. In the same way I hope I know what I am doing.”

“You are saving a life, Okil. Or two.” He moved away, opening the front of a smooth panel to reveal the emergency first-aid kit. It had everything they might need to treat minor injuries. “I need a knife.”

Reja reached into her purse and pulled out her hairdressing kit. “I have sharp scissors.”

“I am going to have to break them,” Darl said, taking them from her.

“I am not going back to cutting off people’s hair for money. So do what you like with them.” She watched Darl with some fascination as he broke the scissors to create a makeshift knife.

“I have to remove your tag, Tikki.” He looked down at Charlie and Tikki read his mind.

“He doesn’t have one,” Tikki said quickly.

“He doesn’t? I thought all humans had them implanted on birth,” Darl said.

“They do. But Charlie has already had his removed,” Tikki replied.

“Do you know why?” Okil asked. This mystery was deeper than he thought.

“So that he couldn’t be tracked, or found. It has to do with his parents. They are key to why Harri wants him.” She saw Charlie look up at her, read his thought, and said, “It’s all right, Charlie. Okil and Darl only want to help us.”

“We can deal with that when we get to Karal. I can gather the information we need. Right now, we have to get to you to safety. I think Darl is ready to remove your chip.” He hated the thought of Tikki experiencing pain.

“And then what?” she asked, her face pale when she saw the scissor blade.

“I am going to take it away from Earth, and your pursuers.” Then he shared his plan with her, a plan that would buy them time and throw anyone off her trail. “I think it would be best if these people who are looking for you think you are dead.”

“Dead?” she breathed.

“Yes. If they have a tracker, they will know you are here. So we need them to think you left. And then something happened and you died.” He hated even thinking of her death; she meant too much to him.

“The canal,” she suggested. “It’s where Sienna and the other guy ended up. It might be enough for them to think I jumped in. I don’t know.” She shook her head, looking confused. “Forget it, it’s a stupid idea. No one would choose to jump in there.”

“It’s a brilliant idea,” Okil said, kneeling down in front of her and lifting her hand to his lips. Charlie lifted his head and looked up at him suspiciously. Okil smiled at the little boy. In his face, he saw all the boys that would be born on Karal—born in peace, with no uncertainty about their future—and he resolved to give this child that kind of life.

“Are you ready, Tikki? We need to get this done quickly.” Darl stood with the sharp scissors in one hand and a small spray bottle in another.

“Ready,” she said, and Okil helped to part her hair to reveal her neck. Tikki rested her head on his shoulder while Darl used a scanner to locate exactly where the chip was. Then he sprayed the area, letting it dry on her skin. “Reja, why don’t you go and show Charlie the front of the ship. If that’s OK?”

“Is it safe?” Reja asked. “I don’t want to be responsible for starting an interplanetary war by firing a laser or something.”

“Yes. Nothing on this cruiser works for anyone but the Karal. Please, Reja; it’s best Charlie doesn’t see this.”

“Come on, then, young man. Shall we go and look at the controls?” She held her hand out to the boy, who seemed reluctant to leave Tikki. “I have another of those chocolates in my purse.”

Charlie moved away from Tikki and took Reja’s hand. Darl checked the position of the chip once more and then cut Tikki’s skin. She didn’t cry out, but her hand gripped his so tightly he knew the pain she was experiencing. In the place where they touched, he sent her warm, soothing sensations, giving her his strength, breathing his love into her. She relaxed a little, and thankfully, Darl’s incision was quick and precise.

“There,” he said holding it up. “Now, Okil, you take this while I seal the wound.”

Okil kissed Tikki briefly on the cheek. He then rose, heading swiftly out of the cruiser. The cool night air hit him, and he picked up the pace until he was jogging across the airport and heading for the city. As he ran, he was sure he saw movement in the shadows, but he couldn’t be certain. Maybe it was just his imagination—whatever it was, he couldn’t stop—but he could warn Darl.

“Darl,” he said into his communicator. “Close the ramp.”

“Is everything OK?” Darl asked worriedly.

“Just a precaution.”

And then he ran through the night, slowing when he reached the crowded streets so that he didn’t draw too much attention to himself. He had an idea, not a very pleasant one. But it might buy them some time.

He headed towards the railway arches. It was a place where the old and the infirm gathered, usually to take their last breath. Every couple of days a body truck would arrive and search the darkness for those who had given up on this life. As he entered the miserable place, the smell became almost unbearable. However, for Okil, out of the death and decay spawned hope.

There, sure enough, was the body of a woman and a man. They held hands in death, and he hated parting them, but their spirits had gone to a better place. He worked quickly to gouge out the dead woman’s chip, his fingers easily digging into the papery skin of her neck. Then he slipped Tikki’s chip inside the wound, sliding it as far as he could under her skin, hoping it would stay there.

Crushing the other chip with his boot, he then lifted the woman and carried her to the entrance. It would look too suspicious for him to carry her and then throw her into the canal, so instead he held her upright, his strong arms supporting her. Then he made his way through the streets, keeping to the back alleys as much as possible as he headed to the cesspit they still called a canal.

Making sure there was no one else around, he let the body slip into the water, watching to make sure she sank to the bottom. It took a few minutes, the thickness of the dirty, diseased water helping to keep her afloat. Then she was gone.

Sickened by what he had done, he turned towards the airport and tried to work out exactly how they were going to complete the next stage of his plan.

“There, all sealed.” Darl’s voice held a hint of pride.

Her neck throbbed, but she knew they had to take precautions and removing the tag was a necessity. That didn’t take away the pain and she buried her face in her hands, trying not to cry. Only two weeks ago she had been planning to go to another planet to be with the man she loved, and see her sister again. It was all so perfect, so simple. Once she became old enough to enter the lottery it had seemed as if her life had come together in such a perfect way. Now it lay in tatters. Worse, other people’s lives were about to be put in jeopardy too. Including Okil’s.

“Darl, what will happen if your people find out about Charlie?”

His face was hard to read. The colours skimming his skin, out of control, were not.
That bad
. Maybe she should put an end to this; with no tag she would be hard to track. Perhaps she should take Charlie and run for it, and allow Okil and Darl to go back to their planet with Reja. She wanted her friend to be safe, which she might no longer be on Earth, because it was very likely that she had become involved in this too. If anyone had been watching her apartment, when they couldn’t locate Tikki, they might question, or torture, Reja for information.

Darl spoke quietly, his voice as reassuring as any good doctor’s should be. “Tikki, the best thing is if we go to Karal and then try to work out what is happening. It may be that you have to return here, although the Karal don’t usually let people leave once they have touched down on the planet. And I know you may think I am being entirely selfless, but that is not true. From what you have said, my people may be in danger.”

“You believe what Harri said? You really think they may try to start a war with Karal.”

He laughed. “Not a war. No. But let’s just say that there are ways they could try to control us. The fact your President is asking for space cruisers, for one. I don’t believe he intends to simply search for new planets. And if he does, he will also need our wormhole technology, which the Hier Council will never share. We cannot let ourselves be exposed to your species.”

“I never thought I would ever be caught up in something like this.”

“No? Even though your sister was?”

“My sister? Elissa?”

“I wondered if you knew. Now this must stay between us. She doesn’t know what we know. I think for her peace of mind it should stay that way, unless she chooses to tell you. But I think that you need to know all the facts to be able to put the pieces all together.”

“Know what?”

“Elissa worked for the resistance. She was in fact responsible for the deaths of two Karalians. Well, that is a little strong. She organised the demonstration against Karalians, but Harri, the man who was at your apartment, used her and planted a bomb.”

“Oh my goodness,” she whispered. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“Because she was scared, ashamed. Guilty. It was why she was brought to Karal.”

“All this time I never knew.” Tikki shook her head. Did she really know anything, or anyone? All of this stuff had been happening right under her nose, and yet she hadn’t seen it. Her sister, and then Sienna. Secret lives, double lives, and she had been completely in the dark.

“Do you think that is the reason Charlie was given to me to be looked after? It was not only my friendship with Sienna, but because of Elissa too. Because she walked away from the resistance once she saw who they really were.”

“There may be some connection. But we may never know.”