Devotion (Chosen by the Karal #5)(43)

Okil stepped forward, placing his hands in Lytril’s and making direct eye contact with him.

“I had chosen Tikki as my woman. When I travelled to Earth to meet with the President, I visited her beforehand, and she told me that she could no longer come to Karal because of the child she had been asked to care for.”

“And then you met with the President of Earth?”

“Yes. We discussed the ships he wanted the Karal to give to Earth so that they could explore space and find a new planet. As stated in my report, I told him that our technology is not available to them.”

“You did not conspire with him to bring a virus to Karal? He did not offer you an antidote for the virus, so that you could rule here?”

“No,” Okil said, his voice firm, his tone adamant.

“And the boy?”

“Tikki was visited by Harri. He knew she had the child. At the time we did not know why he wanted Charlie so much.”

“And now you do?”

“His parents were involved in the making of the virus. He was being held as leverage over his parents.”

“And it never occurred to you, Okil, that this boy may be the carrier of such a virus.”

“He went through decon’; it would have been discovered.”

“At least you did not completely lose your loyalty to Karal.”

“My loyalty will always be to Karal.”

“And now the female child.”

“Darl thinks it is to do with our DNA being passed to Elissa during the reconstruction of her skin. He never looked for the gender of the child before because he had no idea something like this is even possible.”

“And he wanted to be sure? It was not because he was scared of the consequences?”

Okil shook his head. “He needed to be sure. But also we were both concerned that to allow the human race to die out because we may no longer need females from another species is wrong.”

“Why? Because you are so fond of them?”

“Because we cannot be sure of our future. What if the daughters born now are not fertile? The prime for our next generation is a hundred Earth years away. What if we have let the human race slip from existence and we find we needed them after all?”

Lytril loosed Okil, who rubbed his hands as if they had been burned. His attention switched back to Vanessa. “And your bargain?”

“Lytril, I love you. You know that. And I hope that you love me.” Her voice wavered as though at this moment she was no longer sure.

“I do, Vanessa. As much as I feel capable of love.”

“Then know that we want the same thing. Please, find a home for humans, another planet. At least send out the deep space missions as planned.” She took a deep breath. “In return, Elissa has suggested that any human female who comes to Karal is asked to have two children. Or more, the choice is yours. But one of those children will be a boy, and the second will be a girl, if you can make it work. I’m no scientist and you have to consider that what happened with Elissa is a pure fluke. That re-creating the same circumstances may be difficult or even impossible.”

“I will assemble the Hier Council and we will discuss this. I make no promises,” Lytril turned to walk away, but Tikki couldn’t let this go, not yet.

“Wait. What about Charlie?”

“The boy?” Lytril turned his full force on her, the colours which he had controlled so well finally coming to the surface of his skin. “I will have him sent back to Earth. Think yourself lucky you are not returning there too.”

“No. I want to go. If he goes, then I will have to go to look after him. He has no one else.”

“Once a female come to Karal, she does not return. You entered that bargain when you came here. Especially when the Earth President made enquiries and was assured you were not on the cruiser.” He saw the shock on her face. “Yes. They are hunting you, Tikki Sergeant.”

“Then they must be hunting Charlie too. They will know he has been here.” Lytril did not answer. “At least find his parents, Return him to them. They must be worried sick.”

“His parents,” Lytril said. “Do you know who they are?”

“No. But surely with your technology you can find out.”

“He has a tag?”

“No.” She shook her head. “It was removed so that he couldn’t be traced.”

“Tell me, boy, do you know anything about your parents? Their names or where they live?”

“My mom is called Sollu and my dad is called Treva. We used to live in a small house in a town called Farrowhampton.”

“Can you remember your surname, Charlie…?” Tikki asked.

“I’m not supposed to say,” Charlie answered. “I shouldn’t have told you anything.” He turned and buried his face into Tikki’s legs.

“It’s OK, we want to get you home to your mom and dad. Isn’t that right?” She looked up at Lytril, but his expression was unreadable, and she was no longer sure that was what the Hier Ruler wanted. For him it might be better if the whole family were dead.

“Charlie Jameson.”

It was too late now. If the Hier Council wanted to get rid of the threat to Karal entirely, then they had all the information they needed to kill that threat.

“Thank you, Charlie,” Tikki said and then stood up.