Devotion (Chosen by the Karal #5)(4)
Chapter Three – Okil
Okil felt the room spin around him. He clung to her, not wanting to let her go. This couldn’t be happening. Not now.
“How old is he?” Okil asked. He could wait a couple of years, maybe three; he would still be in his prime.
“Five. I never even knew she had a child. It appears there was a lot I didn’t know about her.”
“Can’t you find someone else to look after him?” Okil had to ask, but he knew the answer, and also knew he would not want Tikki to be any other way.
“No. There is no one I trust. And I promised her. I can’t go back on my word. He’s settled here with me. There is no way I can expect him to move again. It’s bad enough that he lost his mom, I can’t let him lose me too.”
“But you didn’t know him before.” Okil hated himself for trying to persuade her to give up the boy.
“No. I didn’t. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t bonded with me. I don’t think he had a good life before.” She looked away from him, not knowing if he would understand what she said next. “I think my friend was a prostitute. She sold her body to pents. In return, she breathed their air and ate their food. Charlie was a dirty secret she wanted to keep hidden, and then the father found out and came after what was his.”
He placed his fingers under her chin, tilting her head up to look at him. Looking into her eyes, he knew he had to find a way to be with this woman. She was everything to him. He leaned forward and kissed her, letting his colours flow over his skin. When he released her, he said, “I have nothing against your friend for selling her body. It is what we ask, and expect, human females to do. Isn’t it?”
“I never thought of it like that,” she said, her eyes searching his. “Probably because I have never thought of us being together in that context. We are lovers, Okil, nothing less.”
He smiled at her, his fingers stroking her cheek. “Nothing less. But so much more.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, placing her head on his chest and holding him tight. For Tikki this was goodbye; he could sense that now. She fully expected him to walk out of her life and never come back.
“What if I could find a way of smuggling Charlie onto Karal?” It was the most absurd idea he had ever had. However, he was determined they would be together on Karal.
“And then what? He spends his life in hiding? That is no life for a little boy.”
“I know. But I just cannot accept that our dream is over. The Hier Council wants me to work on Karal with the new arrivals. Once the lottery goes to a daily draw, there will be a huge influx of females who will have to be cared for. I have been asked to organise everything, including the choosing of the females who will go on the deep space missions.”
“And that is what you must do, Okil; this is more important than us. The fact that the human race has a chance of survival because of the Karal is one of the most wonderful things imaginable. You have given us hope.” She stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
“And what of my hopes? What of our dreams?”
“There are so many other women on Earth. You will find one that is so much better than me, you will wonder what you ever saw in me.” And then she erupted into tears. “I’m so torn, Okil. But I can’t leave him alone. I just can’t.”
“I will find a solution,” he said, but there was none that he could see. The only way would be to take the child on the cruiser after the draw in two days’ time. That was the last of the monthly draws. One week later, the cruiser would be carrying two or three females at once. There would be no way to stow him away; the cruisers were too small. No, if this was to be done, it had to be now.
“Promise me you will not risk your life for us. We will survive here. I have so far.” He heard her words but knew he couldn’t leave it like that; his life had more meaning when she was in it. And yet his loyalty to Karal forbade him breaking its laws for his own selfish needs.
“I know you will survive. But you were so happy to finally be able to travel to Karal, for us to be together and for you to see your sister again.”
“I am just glad we decided to keep it a secret from Elissa. At least this way she won’t be let down.” Tikki lifted her head. She placed one hand on either side of Okil’s face and kissed him as though she were branding him with her lips.
“I love you, Tikki,” he whispered.
“And I love you, Okil, with all of my heart.”
Pulling away from her, he said, “I should go.” He had to get his emotions under control before he met with the President, and he couldn’t do that here. At that moment his skin lit up like one of those Christmas trees humans used to put up to celebrate the season of giving gifts.
“I will never forget you,” she said.
As he opened the door to leave, he turned to her and said, “This is not the end, Tikki.”
“I hope not,” she said, but the look on her face mirrored the feeling in his soul. There was no solution to this problem, short of getting the Hier Council to change the law on humans living on Karal.
At present they only allowed a small amount of human females. Males were explicitly banned from their world, no allowances were made, and even the Earth’s President had not been allowed to travel to the planet Karal. The furthest he had got was the space station. He had insisted on visiting there to make sure what the Karal had told him about their species was true.