“Shall we take a little detour again?” he asked.
“Do we have time?” she asked.
“I think we can spare ten minutes to introduce you to some of the pleasures of Karal,” he said.
Chrissi only hoped the wildlife was the only pleasure he planned to introduce her to. Damn it, she was not going to let herself spoil the day. Just because Mr. Murgrove had tried to force himself on her, it didn’t mean Malik would. But still, his comments about the breeding house were hard to shake off.
“There!” he exclaimed, pointing out across the grassy plain, which was so green and vibrant she wanted to get out of the space cruiser, take off her shoes and run through it, to feel the living grass brush against her hands, and for her feet to feel the prickly blades as she trampled across the ground.
And then she saw what he was pointing at, away to the right of them, a herd of animals were grazing quietly. They were small, almost like sheep, but their fleece, if that’s what it was, stuck up, like prickles all over their backs.
“What are they?” she asked.
“Rototos,” he said.
“Rototos,” she repeated, liking the new word on her tongue. “They are so strange.”
“Why?” he asked.
“All their spikes. They remind me of a porcupine, but they are bigger.”
“Come,” he said, and to her astonishment he stopped the cruiser and got out of his seat, heading out of the control deck. Pausing, he turned back to her. “Don’t you want to see them close up?”
“Yes,” she said excitedly, scrambling after him, nearly slipping over in her eagerness. He had to wait for a moment at the top of the ramp while she rolled the legs of her overalls up again so that she didn’t trip over them, and then he led her down the ramp.
“Come, we must be quiet to start with,” he said. And almost on tiptoe, he walked towards the rototos. One of them looked up, and he froze. Chrissi did the same. The animal went back to eating, and Malik began to move forward again.
Carefully, stopping and starting each time one of the strange animals looked up, they made their way towards the herd. After a few minutes they were so close they could reach out and touch the rototos, but before she did, Malik said, “They will get nervous when you touch one of them. Whatever you do, stay calm.”
“You’re making me nervous. They don’t attack, do they?” she asked quietly.
“No. And I don’t want to spoil the surprise, so I am not going to tell you what happens, but just stay still.”
He forgot to tell her not to scream, but luckily she managed to hold it in, because when she reached out and touched the nearest rototo, he curled up into a tight ball. What’s more, the rototos surrounding him did the same, all curling up until the whole herd looked like small prickly mounds dotted around in the grass.
“That is amazing,” Chrissi said, stroking the spines of the rototo. They were prickly to the touch, all their spines sticking up, giving the animals protection, yet between those spines was a downy wool. “This is so soft.”
“And thick. It is so they don’t hurt each other. I love watching them, there was a herd of them nearby where I grew up. As a child I used to go out and run with them. They got used to me and rarely did this.” He indicated the curled-up animals. “They are very inquisitive once they get over their shyness.”
“I can’t imagine spending my days with animals like this. There are more animals here than I have probably seen my whole life,” she said.
“Then when we get back from our mission, we can spend some time exploring Karal,” he said, his face flushing pink with what she hoped was anticipation. “I will enjoy showing them to you. As a warrior I do not spend much time out in the wilds, but I used to when I was a boy.”
“With your parents … sorry, with your dad?” she asked, forgetting he had grown up with only one parent.
“Yes. He said that if I was to go out into space, as warriors do, then I should have an understanding of my own world so that I could appreciate other worlds,” Malik said, absently touching the prickles of a rototo.
“Was he a warrior?” Chrissi asked.
“Yes. It is the way of the Karal; the majority of sons go on to become the same as their father.”
“So our son will become a warrior too?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, turning to her with a look she couldn’t comprehend. It wasn’t lust, and most definitely not love. And for a moment she wondered if she would ever have to worry about being with him intimately. Maybe he didn’t fancy her. Because he would have to be attracted to her in order for them to have sex, or he might not be able to function.
Her cheeks flamed red, and she turned her attention back to the rototo, who were still curled up, hiding their heads from danger.
As she thought about Malik, she had felt the first small tendrils of … what? Not desire, but wonder. Was it possible that she would end up wanting him and he would deny her? That would be just about right.
Chrissi had come here hoping her luck would change, and when Malik had told her about the deep space mission, she truly believed it had.
But if he didn’t want her, where did that leave her? Lost and alone on a planet filled with men who were all in their prime and needing to breed.
“We should go,” he said, “Let the rototo get on with their feeding.”
“Of course,” she said, and turned to walk back to the space cruiser and her unknown future.
Chapter Ten – Malik
It was time to go to the breeding house, where Okil was no doubt pacing up and down waiting for them. He helped her up the exit ramp, feeling his colours ignite when he touched her for the first time. Her eyes had flickered up to his face in question before being averted, and she awoke something in him that was not just sexual.
He had glimpsed it when they were talking about the rototo, and she had said something about their son. Looking at her, watching her, the realisation that she would give him a daughter too struck him. They would raise two children, and if the girl turned out like her mother, he would be proud, just as proud as he would be of his son.
He wished he could share these thoughts with her. But he couldn’t, not while they were on Karal.
“The suns are setting,” she said, looking out across the distant plains to where the suns were disappearing over the horizon. It was a beautiful sight, bathing the grasslands in a rosy glow.
“It will be dark soon. We will visit Okil quickly and then get some food.” He had closed the ramp and now they were driving back the way they had come, a tall tower rising up in the distance, a silhouette against the deep violet sky.
“Is that where we are heading to?” she asked, pointing to the tower.
“No. That is where the Hier Council who rule Karal is situated, and there are several offices and a medical unit there too. The breeding house, where the deep space missions launch from, is over there to the left.”
They were soon there, the cruiser speeding over the flat grassland and then joining a road, but there was no other traffic around. At this time of night, most of his people would be enjoying an evening meal. Then they liked to sit out in their gardens, reading, or talking with neighbours.
“Wow, this place looks like a prison,” she said as they drove in through the big gates.
“It was once, but now we are using it for the missions. You are lucky. When the missions began, three weeks ago, you would have gone through a trial to see if you were the most suitable candidate.”
“Really? And why not anymore?” she asked while he manoeuvred his cruiser over to the farthest wall in a small courtyard, where it would stay. For their mission, they would be travelling in a bigger cruiser.
“Because Okil got fed up of having to herd a gaggle of you females around,” a voice said over the speaker in the control deck. “Where have you been, Malik?”
“We went to look at a herd of rototo,” Malik said.
“Well, you are here now, and it is late, so come into my office and I can sp
eak to Chrissi. Hello, Chrissi,” the voice said.
Chrissi frowned and said, “Hello.”
“I’m Darl. I would just like to run a few tests before you get settled. I would do them tomorrow, but I may be helping Elissa the first female, to give birth; she is showing signs of labour. Do you mind? I know you are tired.”
“No. Not at all,” Chrissi said.
They went to the hold and collected her belongings. “I will carry these,” he said. “You should bring your wet clothes.”
“Thank you,” she said as she picked up her clothes, which looked to him no more than rags. “We can dry them. And I can arrange to have some clothes brought to my quarters.”
“You don’t have to, I can manage with these,” she said.
“They look as if they are about to fall apart. Do you have anything better in here?” he asked indicating her suitcase.
She shook her head. “These were my best clothes.”
“Then I will make arrangements with Okil, whilst you speak to Darl.”
Entering the building through a narrow door, he led her to where Darl and Okil were waiting. Both greeted her.
“It’s so good to meet you, Chrissi,” Darl said. “I am the doctor, Darl.” He held out his hand in a way Malik had never seen, and then he remembered how she had asked about shaking hands. “An Earth custom.”
“I see,” Malik said, not sure he liked the doctor touching his female. These feelings of possessiveness were new to him. As a warrior he would share anything with his fellow Karalians, from his bed to his last morsel of food. But not Chrissi.
“Don’t worry, I won’t keep her long,” Darl said.
“So you are the doctor who matches the DNA and chooses which Karalian and which human are most suited?” Chrissi asked.
“Yes, and looking at you two, I think I have exceeded even my own expectations,” he said.
“Hello, Chrissi, I am Okil.” Okil shook her hand too, and then said, “If you would go with Darl, while I have a quick word with Malik here?”
“Sure,” she said and then she looked at Malik for reassurance, and he had to smile and let her know it was OK, although he didn’t want her to go out of his sight.
“Malik,” Okil said quietly. “Your colours are showing.”
Malik looked at Okil as if he didn’t have a clue what he had said, and then he woke up, feeling the warmth across his skin where the colours played, showing his apprehension at Chrissi following Darl.
“She’s quite safe. Darl just has some bloods to run, nothing else. She will be back with you soon,” Okil said gently and Malik felt faintly ridiculous.
“Of course she’ll be safe,” Malik said. “I know that, but she seems so vulnerable somehow.”
“Let’s go in here,” Okil said gently and opened the nearest door, which led into a small storage room. “Ahh, I still haven’t worked out my way round here yet. But it will do. This will only take a moment.”
“What is it, Okil? Malik asked wearily. It had been a long day, and he didn’t feel as if he had rested at all since Okil had told him the news about the mission.
“I wanted to check everything was OK. I know this came as a shock to you, and Darl and I wanted to make sure you two will be OK together. It’s a long mission, and the other pilots had several weeks to prepare for it. Whilst you … well, have not.”
“I am a warrior, Okil. The mission is nothing new to me,” Malik said.
“But going with Chrissi, that is new. Having a female with you, that is new. I know you have not had much time with the sim. Not like the others,” Okil said.
“Is that what this is about?” Malik asked, feeling offended. “Do you not think I cannot satisfy her?”
“No. Not at all, I just want to remind you about the prime and to tell you that Darl thinks it is better if you get the mating side of your relationship out of the way before you leave.”
“You mean you want us to mate tonight.”
“Or tomorrow,” Okil said.
Malik shook his head, but said, “Very well.”
“Good, now Darl should have finished taking the blood he needs. The results will be through tomorrow and he will find you both if there is a problem. Not that there ever is, the readings from the tag tell us everything we need to know.”
“Okil,” Malik said. “I want to thank you and Darl. This has been unexpected, but I find myself liking her. So thank you for finding her for me.”
Okil smiled. “That is good to hear. And it is Darl that does all the work, although he has his program perfected now. Soon there will be a large influx of females, all correctly matched, hopefully.”
“The lottery will operate even more?” Malik asked.
“No. I think we are preparing to give up that pretence and simply take all the women we need. Those that have arrived so far have been a test. We, both the Karal and the humans, have passed that test. We seem to be able to integrate, and so phase two will begin.”
“And Elissa Sergeant is about to have her baby?” Malik said. “Is it coincidental?”
“No. We are going to ride the wave of relief that will sweep through Karal when the birth of a baby girl is announced, if she is healthy of course. To bring such hope into our world will set things in motion we could never have forseen.” Okil got up, looking weary.
“Not all good things?” Malik asked.
“That we will wait and see,” Okil said. “Now, go and find your woman, Malik.”
Malik did not need any more encouragement. Maybe tonight he and Chrissie could become more intimate, a celebration of their own. “Thank you, Okil.” And then reached for the door handle, intending to go and find Chrissi.
“One last thing, Malik,” Okil said.
“Yes,” Malik asked, opening the door, ready to leave.
“Please remember: as always, the mission is the most important thing. It must succeed.”
“Of course,” Malik answered and then left, closing the door on an agitated Okil.
Chapter Eleven – Chrissi
Darl was not what she expected. He delighted in making references to the human world.
“I think you know more about humans than I do,” she joked.
“Really?” he asked eagerly. “It helps that I have a wonderful mate of my own. If I were a human, I think I would have got down on one knee and proposed to her by now. A ring on her finger,” he said wistfully.
“But that’s not your custom?” she asked.
“No,” Darl said, and then added, “I’m just going to take your blood. It won’t hurt.” He pressed something that looked like a gun to her arm and pressed the small trigger. He was right; she didn’t feel a thing.
“Why are you checking my blood?” Chrissi asked.
“We do this as a routine. Our technology can read your tag, but we still like to do things the old-fashioned way.” He placed the vial of blood in a small machine. “I will have the results tomorrow. If they match your tag, then there is nothing further we need to do.”
“And if they don’t?” she asked with apprehension.
“They will, I am sure. The tags are almost one hundred percent accurate. They will also tell you when you conceive,” he said conversationally, as if sleeping with an alien was an everyday occurrence. It was to him, she supposed.
“But I’ll be on the cruiser, in space,” she said.
“The computer on board can read your tag too,” Darl said.
“Now I really feel like a test subject in a laboratory,” she said.
“It’s not like that, Chrissi. We just want to keep you healthy.”
“So I can breed your new generation,” she said, trying to think of any way in which this didn’t sound creepy and sinister.
“Yes, that’s what it all comes down to,” Darl smiled at her. “But things change. You and the rest of the females have brought such hope to our planet.”
“I’m glad.”
“OK, I think I can see an eager Malik waiting for you at the door, so
you go have fun and I will speak to you in the morning if I need to,” Darl said.
“Thank you,” Chrissi said.
“No, thank you, Chrissi. If there is anything we can do for you before you leave, let me know,” Darl said.
Malik opened the door and came in. “Are you ready?” he asked Chrissi, eying the doctor suspiciously.
“Yes, Darl just took some blood. Is everything all right?” Chrissi asked, seeing a flash of blue leap across his face.
“Yes, I would like us to go and get some rest now, though. Tomorrow will be a long day of packing the cruiser and making last-minute preparations,” Malik said.
“Ah, yes, of course. You are leaving us again the day after tomorrow. Well, I hope you have a successful mission and we find the new Earth for your people, Chrissi,” Darl said. “And like I said, anything you need.”
“There is, Darl. Chrissi needs new clothes,” Malik said.
“Oh, yes of course. Why don’t I send Reja over tomorrow with some clothes, she has it all organised, and is sure to have something for you to wear. And you need overalls for the journey,” Darl said, looking at the ones she was wearing. “Something a little better-fitting.”
“Her clothes got wet,” Malik blurted out.
“Oh, of course. I thought maybe you two had already… Oh, never mind,” he said, noticing the colours flashing across Malik’s face.
“Shall we go,” Chrissi said, getting up and leading Malik out of the room. There seemed to be an elevated testosterone level in the room.
“Yes, I will show you to my quarters,” Malik said and they left together. Malik walking close to her, their bodies almost touching.
She followed him along a corridor, and then they turned left and right, the smooth stone walls a shade of cream, rough-hewn, not plastered and smooth as they would be on Earth. Everything about Karal was natural, as if they embraced nature, and the world around them.
“So you live here all the time?” she asked needing to break the silence between them.
“No, only when I am on rotation. The rest of the time, I live over by the water, what you call the ocean. I sail sometimes. Do you like to sail, in a boat?” he asked.
Taken (Warriors of Karal Book 3) Page 5
