Devotion (Chosen by the Karal #5)(33)

“Yes.”





Chapter Twenty-One – Okil


Tikki sat and thought about he had said, while Charlie ran up and down the beach, carefree and happy. Okil’s thoughts turned to what it would be like to have a son, or a daughter. How strange. It had been so long since a girl had been born on Karal, they would have to change their whole way of life.

What an incredible thought.

And yet he was torn. He had devoted so much of the last few months to trying to get the Hierarchy to plan the deep space missions. Finally the missions were becoming a reality, only for it to be taken away again. The Earth would be left with no hope.

He spoke to Tikki again, needing to share his predicament. “At present the only people who know about this news are you, me, and Darl.”

“He didn’t tell Elissa?” she asked.

“No. I think he was too shocked and he wanted to run through some checks and analyse the data. If he went on just what he saw, he might have it wrong.”

“Surely he can tell a boy from a girl?” Tikki asked. “Elissa is quite far along; shouldn’t he have noticed all this in an early scan?”

“It’s something he never thought to look for. He simply looked at vital organs in the earlier scans. Elissa is the first, remember, and the furthest along. This is all new to him. He never thought to look for whether the child was male or female. Why would he, when all the other children for centuries have been boys?”

“Poor Darl. He is having a hard time. What with me, Charlie, and Reja.”

“This was the biggest shock of all. Now he is excited at the prospect of using our DNA with human females.”

“But what if they aren’t willing? Breeding a child is one thing, being part of an alien experiment is another.”

“Darl thinks he could localise the trigger and inject it into the human egg.”

“Still. It would have to be done with the agreement of the host woman.” She was scared to hear Okil’s answer.

“We don’t always have a good record at treating females with respect.” He looked out across the ocean, remembering the last generation of mothers. “When I was a child, my father was a guard at the breeding house. I was fascinated with the thought that my mom was in there somewhere. I used to dream of meeting her, of having her hold me. So one day I stowed away when he went to work, I somehow got inside, convinced that I would find my mom, that she would see me and instantly recognise me.”

“And did she?” Tikki asked, seeing the reds and blues skimming his skin as the dual suns slowly set in the distance, casting their violet glow across the ocean.

“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head at the memory. “There were so many of them and when they saw me, they all thought I was their child.”

“Oh my goodness,” she said, seeing his distress as colours skimming his skin. They fired like beacons across his cheeks, lighting up his face.

“They all wanted to hold me. To touch me just once. And then they began to wail. This shrill, pitiful sound that filled the breeding centre until I thought the walls would burst with the grief of all those who had given birth and had their child taken from them.”

“That’s so sad,” she whispered.

“It has lived with me every day since. I hear them sometimes when I dream. I see those faces. The hands reaching out to me.” He turned his dark brown eyes on her. “It’s why I have tried so hard for history not to repeat itself. I want your species to be part of this world, for you to be part of our child’s life. But this changes things. We may become self-sufficient, but with that will come your species’ demise. And I fear the Hierarchy will try to accomplish this at all costs.”

“There has to be a way to make it work. Three of the council have children on the way. Women they love. We must persuade the Hier Council to allow the deep space mission to go ahead.”

“Or we could keep the news to ourselves. The child is not due to be born for another three months. That will give us time to launch the missions.”

“And keep this from Elissa too?” Tikki asked, not relishing that thought at all.

“I don’t know. I think that you all have a right to know.” He hesitated and then asked, “Would you consider having a girl?”

“I don’t know. What does it involve? I never liked the idea of anything medical.”

“A small procedure. Risk-free, Darl said.”

The thought made her feel sick. But she would do anything for Okil. “Do you want me to?”

“I don’t know. What I am trying to work out is whether it is something human females would agree to, or if they would have to be forced just as our mothers were forced.” He took Tikki in his arms and kissed her. “I wish we could go back in time to when things were simple. I wanted to bring you here and give you this wonderful life. For the Karal to help humans find a home, to enable your species to live and thrive. For the children of this new generation to be born and know what it is to have two parents. And now. None of it is right.”

“Okil, I am sorry. I know I have made things so much harder for you.”

“No, Tikki, don’t apologise. I have seen how humans behave, how they come together and help each other. This is what I will do for you. I swear. We will make this right. But I can’t see how.”