Devotion (Chosen by the Karal #5)(11)

“What are you doing here, Okil?” she asked, concerned. “Tikki told me she wasn’t going with you to Karal.”

He looked at her while he knocked and called out. “Tikki, are you in there, open up.” No answer, so he said to Reja, “Just because she won’t come with me, doesn’t mean I stop caring for her.”

“She told you about Charlie?” Reja asked, her voice concerned.

“The boy? Yes. She told me he was the son of a close friend.” He knocked again, and then took a small device out of his pocket. “You did not see this.”

“What are you doing?”

Okil held it against the door and pressed a button. With a satisfying click, the lock opened and he turned the handle, opening the door. He put his hand under Reja’s arm and pulled her in. They stood side by side, staring at the apartment.

“Oh my goodness!” Reja exclaimed. “What happened?”

To anyone else the apartment probably looked tidy, but for Reja and Okil, who knew how everything was usually placed, it was just wrong. The furniture had been moved around the floor. A small plastic plant Tikki loved was on the windowsill instead of the coffee table. And when Reja looked in the bedroom, all of Tikki’s things were neatly set out, in the wrong place.

“Someone has been through here,” Reja said quietly, eyeing Okil suspiciously.

“This has nothing to do with me,” he said quickly. “Reja, you have to believe me. I would never hurt her.”

“What about the rest of your species? This is the first time a Karalian and a human who had already formed a relationship were going to win the lottery. Are you sure your people are alright with that?”

“Yes. As I said, this is nothing to do with me.”

“Then who?” she asked, and then her face lit up as she remembered something.

“What? Reja, if there is anything that might help, you have to tell me.”

“Charlie. There was something on the Stream about a man drowning in the canal and Charlie knew him. Tikki said Charlie called him Funny Daddy or something.”

Okil frowned. “So?”

“So? Use your alien mumbo-jumbo to see if there is a link.”

“I’ll contact Darl,” Okil checked his communicator, which also told him the Earth time; his friend would still be at the cruiser. “Reja, see if you can work out if there is anything missing.”

“OK.” She went through Tikki’s stuff, something Okil would have found awkward; he would hate Tikki to come back and think he had been snooping on her.

Meanwhile he contacted Darl on his communicator. “Darl, can you look up a StreamStory on the computer?”

“And how exactly do I do that?” the doctor asked.

“Input the parameters into the database?”

“And how exactly do I do that?” Darl asked again.

“Really? You can find the most compatible DNA subjects from billions of people but you can’t do a simple search?” Okil asked, frustrated at not knowing what had happened to Tikki.

“I’ll figure it out,” Darl said, and then Okil heard a noise coming through the communicator. “There’s someone here.”

“Darl? Be careful. Take one of the stuns. Use it if you have to.”

“What’s going on, Okil?” the doctor asked, and Okil heard him open the door to the weapons box and then shut it, and the lock spinning. “Lock down main system.”

“Lock down,” the ship answered.

“Only open for Okil 2955.”

“Darl, what’s going on?” Okil asked.

“Just a precaution,” Darl said, and then his footsteps went down the exit ramp, and Okil was left with no clue what was happening to his friend.

“Reja, we have to go,” he said, heading for the door. Tikki wasn’t there, which meant he was wasting time and needed to get back to the cruiser to help Darl. The Karal didn’t need another of their species to be murdered on Earth, especially not his good friend the doctor.





Chapter Eight – Tikki


Tikki sat Charlie down next to the fence surrounding the space cruiser, and said, “Stay here, Charlie. Let me see if Okil is here.” And if he wasn’t? She didn’t even want to think about that. The ramp on the cruiser was down; that meant someone was here. It had to be him.

When she was sure Charlie would stay put, she went around the fence, trying to find a way through. It wasn’t going to be easy, and climbing really wasn’t her thing. Still, she had to try. Or maybe she should just call out his name.

Hesitating too long, she was taken by surprise when the bright lighter from the cruiser was switched on, and a big Karalian, definitely not Okil, appeared at the top of the ramp. She took a step back, away from the wire, thinking only of getting hold of Charlie and getting out of there.

Turning to run, she ignored his shout. Only when a bright concentrated flash connected with her arm, did she realise he was armed. She fell, her knees slamming into the hard ground, but the pain was nothing compared to that in her arm. The burning sensation travelled up to her shoulder and then radiated out through the whole of her body, leaving her unable to breathe.

As she lay on the floor, she was aware of Charlie beside her, his little hand on her jacket, trying to drag her to her feet. She reached for him, kissing his hand and then saying, “Run, Charlie. Run. Leave me here.”