Devotion

by Harmony Raines

“I guess you’re right,” Tikki said. “It seems weird that I knew Sienna her whole life. Yet the last few years she led this secret life. I never knew she was pregnant, let alone that she had a child.”

  “We never know anyone in this world, Tikki. Or Okil’s world,” she added. Her words were a warning to Tikki, one she didn’t want to heed.

  “Thanks, Reja. Come on over, maybe, the night of the lottery? I might need a shoulder to cry on.”

  “So you told him, then?”

  “Yes,” Tikki said, taking hold of Charlie’s hand. She didn’t want to talk about it right now—she would probably break down in tears if she did. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

  “Bye, Charlie,” Reja called.

  “Bye, Auntie Reja. Thank you for the chocolate.”

  “You are welcome, sweetie.”

  Tikki left the salon, turning to wave as they crossed the street. She could see the concern on her friend’s face, and that made her uneasy. Before Charlie came into her life, she had been so carefree; now she was having to act like an adult. She missed her big sister and longed to be able to sit down and talk it over with Elissa.

  Looking up at the sky, she saw the flash of light as a space cruiser exited the atmosphere. There went her only hope of escaping Earth and seeing Elissa again. And she wondered what kind of fool she was to be staying here on Earth, all because of a child she hadn’t known existed two weeks ago.

  Chapter Five – Okil

  Usually Okil enjoyed the journey back to Karal, but this time he was not in the mood to look at the colourful stars that leaped out at him as he entered the wormhole. He had hoped to share this with Tikki, to show her the wonders of his world, but now it seemed impossible. All day, despite trying to concentrate on the meeting with the President, his mind had drifted off to think of all the ways he could make this work.

  He had come up blank. If they brought Charlie to Karal, they would most definitely be sentencing him to a life behind walls. There was no way to persuade the Hier Council to let a human male, no matter how young, live on Karal. It went against all of their laws, all of their traditions. They had only ever brought females. He knew that sometimes that had meant leaving the males to certain death on their home planet. Regardless, that rule had never been bent or broken.

  They owed the males nothing; they had no right to come to Karal, and no use.

  Okil reached the space station, docking quickly and exiting the cruiser, he so wanted to reach his home planet and let the clean air clear his head. Passing through decon’ was uneventful and within half an hour of docking, he was back in his cruiser and heading home. He took in the beauty of his planet, and once again his heart lurched at the thought of Tikki. He would never share the wonders of Karal with her.

  Landing on the small runway, he drove the cruiser through the security checkpoint and then turned for the tower. If Tikki wasn’t going to be his woman, he didn’t want one, not yet. But the lottery was in two days and he had to get someone to take his place. He could only think of Darl.

  Parking his cruiser outside the tower, he went straight to the small lab where the doctor spent most of his time examining DNA, particularly of humans, and checking their compatibility with that of the Karal. It was imperative they matched a Karal male to a human female whose genes would create a strong child. The Karal had such a small window of time before their Prime passed that Darl had turned his full attention to this task. The remainder of his time was spent carrying out regular checks on the Earth females. Okil wondered if the doctor ever slept and if he would find the time in his busy schedule to take Okil up on his offer.

  “Darl,” Okil said, walking into his lab.

  “Okil, how are things? Are you ready for your life to change forever?” Darl asked, looking up from a microscope and touching a computer screen to access a new file.

  “My life has already changed, but not for the better,” Okil said as Darl turned away from his work to give his full attention to his friend. Okil did not want to share the details, even with his friend, but he continued, “The woman I chose is no longer able to come to Karal.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. By the look on your face, I take it it’s not merely a postponement.”

  “No. It looks as if it is a permanent issue.”

  “And you don’t want to talk about it.” The doctor nodded as Okil shook his head. “Can I just ask one thing … in the quest for knowledge of the human race. You met this female and had a relationship with her. Yes?”

  “Yes,” Okil said, wondering where Darl was going with this.

  “May I ask if you had a lovers’ tiff?” Darl asked.

  “A what?” Okil had never heard the term.

  “I have watched Earth movies and listened to some of their music. Often males and females have small arguments, a lovers’ tiff, and then they make up. It often includes gift buying and then sex.”

  Okil couldn’t help but smile at Darl. He was addicted to humans, almost as much as Okil was addicted to Tikki. “No. We have not quarrelled. Her life changed and she had new responsibilities she cannot escape.”

  “I am sorry, Okil. I know you have been excited about bringing her here since Lytril offered you the chance to take a female.”

  “Well, my loss is your gain,” Okil said, seeing Darl smile at the use of an Earth phrase. The doctor had many of them stored in his head, for purely scientific reasons, Okil was sure. “I think it would be a good idea if you had a female of your own, Darl. That way you can learn firsthand how they behave.”

  “Me? You are passing your chance of a female over to me? You don’t want to choose another female?”

  “There is no other, Darl. Not now, and I’m not sure if there ever will be.”

  “You are required to mate, Okil.”

  “Then I will leave it to the last possible moment. In the hope that I can be with the woman I love.”

  “I hope that happens, Okil. I really do.” Darl smiled in sympathy.

  “Well, I have a report to make. The Earth’s President is becoming more demanding for knowledge. He has asked us to furnish them with a fleet of long-range cruisers so they can make their own search for a new planet.”

  “I cannot see the Hier Council agreeing to that.”

  “No. But the report has to be made all the same.” Okil walked to the door. “I told him we were doing our best, that the pilots are nearly ready to choose their females to take with them on the search. But he wanted to be able to operate on his own.”

  “You don’t trust him?” Darl asked, turning briefly.

  “I’m not sure. I did. But … maybe it was just my mood.” He tried to shake it off. “They need us.”

  “And we need them,” Darl reminded him. “A thing I am sure they understand fully now the shock of our alien invasion has worn off.”

  Okil left without answering; there was one human he needed above all else. And she was out of his reach. For now, at least.

  Chapter Six – Tikki

  “Did you have a good day, Charlie?” Tikki asked as they went inside her apartment. She was trying to keep upbeat, but this was the day she was supposed to start the rest of her life with Okil. It was going to be hard to watch another woman win the lottery, and her man.

  Pushing that aside, she went to the stove and put the kettle on to boil. Simcoff would help, and maybe later she might even break out some of the liquor Okil had brought with him as a gift from Elissa. She had been saving it for today anyway. Only it was supposed to be for a celebration, not for drowning her sorrows.

  “Mrs Drummond says I’m a freak,” Charlie said, going over to the table where his toys were. Not that there were many: he hadn’t had much when he was handed over to her, and Tikki had not been able to afford any more.

  “Why did she call you that?” Tikki asked, concerned that a woman who was the mother of children herself would call another child a freak.

  “Because I haven’t got a tag.”

  Tikki came back to stan
d in the small sitting room. “You don’t?”

  “No. We went over to the supermarket and she wanted to enter a competition to win a year’s supply of bread. She wanted to add extra goes by using my tag too.”

  “And they couldn’t find one?” Tikki asked. “Maybe it is just faulty. Might have got damaged, you know.”

  Charlie looked up at her and shook his head. “No. They took it out.”

  Tikki couldn’t answer for a moment. It was illegal to take tags out, not to mention painful. So why take Charlie’s out, unless they really didn’t want him to be found? “Who took it out?” she asked, feeling a chill in the air.

  “Sienna Mommy did. She said it was because I was a secret now.”

  “A secret? I don’t understand. Do you mean because she was hiding you? From your real daddy?” She hated questioning him like this, but the more she found out about Sienna and Charlie, the more she realised how much potential trouble she was in.

  Charlie looked up from where he was playing and shrugged. “My daddy wasn’t allowed to know where I was. It was safer that way. That’s what Sienna Mommy told me. I think that was why I never went outside.”

  Tikki didn’t want to make a big deal of this, but it freaked her out. “Can I look?”

  “Sure,” he said, coming to her and leaning forward to let her see his neck. Sure enough, there was a small scar where an incision had been made. “Did you tell Mrs. Drummond someone had removed your chip?”

  Charlie shook his head vigorously. “No,” he answered solemnly.

  “I think that this might be something we keep to ourselves for now. OK?”

  He nodded. “Sienna Mommy taught me to keep secrets.”

  With that, he went back to playing with his toys, and Tikki let the matter go. She didn’t want to keep bombarding him with questions; it would be best to think the whole thing over, maybe discuss it with Reja, and then decide if there was anything she should do. But skims knew the best solution to most problems was to keep your head down and say nothing. Never draw attention to yourself unless absolutely necessary.

  As she sat and watched him play, she sipped her simcoff and tried not to pull a face in disgust. This had to be the worst batch she had drunk for a while. She went over the events surrounding Charlie coming into her life, wondering what the story was behind his parents, and then a thought struck her.

  “Charlie? Why do you call your mom Sienna Mommy? Isn’t she just Mommy?”

  He looked up, studying her for a moment, and then shook his head. “Nope. She wasn’t Mommy. She was Sienna Mommy, just like you are Tikki Mommy.”

  The mug of simcoff only just stayed upright as Tikki jolted forward in shock. This little boy, who had captured her heart and disrupted all of her plans, was not even Sienna’s child. What the fuck have I got myself into?

  “Do you know who your parents are?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from wobbling, although the lump in her throat made it near impossible.

  “Yes. But it wasn’t safe for me to live with them. Sienna Mommy told me she would care for me. And Funny Daddy helped her.”

  “Do you remember your real parents? Do you know their names?”

  Charlie didn’t have time to answer. Someone was knocking on the door of the apartment. Tikki jumped at the sound. Her nerves were on edge after what she had discovered about Charlie, but she calmed herself down. It must be later than she thought, or Reja had left work early. Good, at least she would have some company, but she chose not to reveal any of this to her. Getting someone else involved in this was dangerous, to her as well as them.

  She placed her cup down on the table and stood up. Another knock on the door; damn, Reja was impatient. As she reached out, her hand curling around the handle, there was a harder bang, and a voice said, “Tikki, are you in there?”

  Harri. What was he doing here? Harri was one of Elissa’s old boyfriends, she didn’t know him too well, and certainly had not seen him since Elissa had won the lottery. Why he would be at her door, she had no idea. Oh well, it would help take her mind off things.

  As she pulled the handle down, the door beginning to open, she turned to look at Charlie. His face showed a look of horror. Scooping up his small collection of toys, he ran, going to her bedroom and shutting the door. Too late, she couldn’t ask him what was wrong—the door was already opening wider, helped by Harri’s hand.

  “Hello, Harri. This is a surprise.” She tried to look normal, to act normal, but she felt so guilty, so false under Harri’s penetrating stare.

  “I thought I would come and pay you a visit, it’s been a while.” He kissed her cheek, but in reality he was looking around the room, for what, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she had to get him out of here fast. “You all alone?”

  “Yes,” she blurted out and then hastily added, “I’m waiting for my friends to come over, they’ll be here any moment. We plan to watch the lottery.”

  “Really? You don’t still harbour affection for those creatures from Karal,” he sneered, her fear kicking up a notch.

  “Oh, you know, what girl wouldn’t want to be swept off her feet and carried off to another planet,” she said lightly. “I hear the food is good and the air is clear.”

  “And that is enough for you to sell yourself to a disgusting Karalian.” His hatred was evident.

  “Now, I am not going to talk politics with you, Harri. That was my sister’s thing.” She tried to evade a straight-out argument with him; she just wanted him gone.

  However, his eyes narrowed and he turned his full attention to her. “Did Elissa say anything to you? About me.”

  She felt as though she was simply digging herself a deeper hole. “Nothing. Only that you had broken up.”

  “We did. And then she went to Karal. I bet she’s happy there now, eating their food and drinking their water. While we on Earth suffer.”

  “It is their planet,” Tikki reminded him.

  “For now,” he said quietly, looking her up and down. Then he changed the subject so quickly he caught her off guard. “I heard you had a child?”

  “Excuse me?” she said, shocked that he would come out and ask her. But she had to do better than that, had to act like the old Tikki would have. “Does this body look as if it’s had a baby?” She took on the tone of the stupid airhead she had been only months ago before she met Okil.

  He looked her up and down, and then moved towards the bedroom. “Do you mind if I look in here?”

  She placed her hands on his chest and shoved him back. “Now, Harri, if you want a girl to go to bed with you, you have to do a little better than that. I know you had a thing for my sister, but this is just too much.”

  “I don’t want to take you to bed,” he said in a derisive tone.

  “Then what exactly do you want?” For a moment, she wondered if he was going to come right out and tell her he was looking for Charlie. But he didn’t. Instead, he eased off, walking back towards the door of her apartment.

  It still stood open from where he had burst in, and she was glad he was about to leave. But he placed his hand on it, and she suddenly realised he was about to shut it, with him on the inside. With no chance to think of the consequences, she shoved him out of her apartment, taking him off guard, and then slammed the door shut in his face.

  Immediately he was at the door, banging on it and yelling at her, “Open the door, Tikki. I know what you have in there.”

  “I don’t have anything, and I am not opening the door to a rapist!” It was the best she could do.

  “I am not a rapist,” he yelled.

  “Then what do you want?”

  “You know, and it will be so much easier if you just hand it over.”

  She hesitated, not knowing what to do. She was trapped in here with a madman blocking her only escape route. Nice move, Tikki.

  “What is all this noise about?” She heard Mr. Carlisle from two doors down come out of his apartment; then there were other voices too, telling them to keep it
down.

  “He attacked me, Mr Carlisle,” she shouted through the door, too scared to open it and confront Harri.

  “Come on, son, leave the young lady alone.”

  Harri said something to him. She couldn’t catch the words, but the inflection was insulting, but then another voice called out, saying that she had called the police. A small scuffle broke out, and then Mr Carlisle shouted, “And don’t come back.”

  Then he knocked on the door. Tikki opened it a little, making sure the chain was on; her heart was beating so fast she wasn’t sure she would be able to speak. “Has he gone?” she whispered.

  “He has, Tikki.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “You should be careful who you mix with. Don’t bring a man back here if you aren’t willing to give him what he wants. There is only one thing a man like him would want with your kind,” he said and then walked back to his room.

  Tikki closed the door, trying to think, but her legs were shaking so much she had to go and sit down for a moment and let the nausea wash over her. Taking a sip of cold simcoff, she tried to summon her wits.

  The one thought that kept going around and around in her head was that they could not stay here. The apartment, her home, was no longer safe. She wished Okil was here, that he would lay his hand on hers and send her comforting sensations. Instead, she was left with a cold feeling of dread. She was mixed up with something that was bigger than she could ever imagined, and the problem was, she had no idea if she was the good guy, or the bad.

  Chapter Seven – Okil

  “The lottery draw is in three hours, we have a little time,” Okil said as they landed in the mostly disused airport where the Karal had been given a coded compound. Not that they needed it: the space cruiser only operated for the Karal, and there was nothing external that could be tampered with. Short of putting a bomb under it, which had been tried once before, but was caught by the system computer, there was little damage any human could do to the craft.

  “What do you plan on doing with that time?” Darl asked, watching as Okil opened the exit ramp and almost ran down it.