Devotion (Chosen by the Karal #5)(41)

“Concerned?” Okil asked warily.

“Yes. I mean more than usual. You have always had a softness for the humans of Earth, and of course after taking mates ourselves, we can appreciate some of their appeal. However, bringing an extra female to Karal was out of character. You have always gone out of your way to obey our rules.”

Now he understood. Earth must have asked for Tikki back, and the council now knew there was a reason he had taken her and not told the authorities on Earth. “I can explain,” he said.

“I expect you can give us an explanation. Whether it is the truth or not remains to be seen.” The Hier Ruler approached him.

“This female of yours, Tikki Sergeant,” Lytril continued. “We have investigated her background and found she has had dealings with a person whom we were already monitoring.”

“As I said, I can explain.”

“Can you?” The Hier Ruler paced back and forth. “We are led, by the Earth authorities, to believe that Tikki Sergeant is dead. Found in the bottom of a canal.”

So their plan had worked. “Yes. That was my doing. I removed her tag and planted it on another human body to deceive them.”

Torac, Hier Commander, spoke into his communicator and then said to Okil, “Is she at your home?” The Council were going to send guards to arrest her.

“Yes. Yes, she is. But there is something else you need to know first.” He had to explain about Charlie’s presence in his house now before it was too late.

“Before you try to explain what is going on, I wish to present the facts as we see them.” The Hier Ruler began. “A man, Harri, was a known associate of Elissa Sergeant. He was responsible for the death of two of our own. Elissa Sergeant claims to have no prior knowledge of the bomb that exploded at a rally she organised. A rally protesting our presence on Earth.”

“Yes. I am aware of those facts.”

“We have been monitoring this man, Harri. And have grave concerns about his associates. One of those associates is your female, Tikki Sergeant. We believe you tried to destroy some of the surveillance footage from his visit to her apartment the day before she came with you to Karal.”

“No. I viewed the footage, but never tried to destroy it.”

“So, you bought her here, after this Harri had been to see her. I believe he gave her something. A weapon, perhaps?”

“No. He was looking for something.”

“Something Tikki had in her possession?”

Okil stood silent. He was about to share the secret of Charlie with the council. He was about to betray Tikki’s trust. He had no choice: if the Hier Ruler wanted to, he could touch Okil and make him speak the truth. This way was much less painful and much more honest, and honesty was now their only defence.

“Yes.”

“So you admit to treason.”

“No.”

“But you brought a woman here who has plans to wipe out the whole of the Karalian species.”

“No.”

“We accessed the data you were viewing on the sim. We saw you looking at where the President of Earth met with Harri to congratulate him on his successful mission.”

“That is not what happened.” Okil raised his voice. “This Harri threatened Tikki. She was given a child to look after, and the child had the information this man was looking for. It was hidden on a chip. A data chip. I needed to look at it, to see what it was. They were using his parents to create a virus to destroy us.”

“And you had no prior knowledge of this virus? You did not purposely bring it to our planet in order to make way for the people of Earth to move here?” The Hier Ruler stepped in front of him. Holding out his hands. Okil had no choice but to place his hands in those of his leader. The Hier Ruler had the power to read his emotions; it worked like a lie detector test, only this one was one hundred percent foolproof. “They did not offer you an antidote in return for living amongst them here on our planet?”

“No. I had no prior knowledge of the data chip, or the virus,” Okil swore.

“But you are keeping information from us?” the Hier Ruler accused.

“Yes.” Okil gasped. The Hier Ruler was sending waves of unpleasant thoughts through his hands. In his head, Okil could hear the sound of the mothers, their wailing too much for his conscious mind. He had to tell the truth so that it would end. “When I brought Tikki here, I also brought the child that Harri was seeking. It was only this morning that Tikki found the chip.”

“So the child has been in your home all this time despite you knowing the law of Karal?”

More pain; his head would explode from all the pent-up misery it now contained. Okil managed to speak, although his voice was a whisper. “Yes. I hoped to save him. I had no idea why Harri was after him. Tikki asked me to help them and I had to.”

“Because she means more to you than the Karal?”

“I love her,” he sobbed. “But Karal is my home, and I would never hurt my people or my planet.”

“Was your home.” The Hier Ruler abruptly dropped Okil’s hands, turning form him in distaste. “Okil, I will consider what you have told us. And chose your punishment.”

Torac’s communicator beeped and he pressed a button, holding it to his ear to listen. “I see. Thank you.” He looked at Lytril. Okil turned to see the exchange; they both looked worried, a flash of red sparking across Torac’s usually calm exterior.