Devotion (Chosen by the Karal #5)(8)

Okil couldn’t help but smile at Darl. He was addicted to humans, almost as much as Okil was addicted to Tikki. “No. We have not quarrelled. Her life changed and she had new responsibilities she cannot escape.”

“I am sorry, Okil. I know you have been excited about bringing her here since Lytril offered you the chance to take a female.”

“Well, my loss is your gain,” Okil said, seeing Darl smile at the use of an Earth phrase. The doctor had many of them stored in his head, for purely scientific reasons, Okil was sure. “I think it would be a good idea if you had a female of your own, Darl. That way you can learn firsthand how they behave.”

“Me? You are passing your chance of a female over to me? You don’t want to choose another female?”

“There is no other, Darl. Not now, and I’m not sure if there ever will be.”

“You are required to mate, Okil.”

“Then I will leave it to the last possible moment. In the hope that I can be with the woman I love.”

“I hope that happens, Okil. I really do.” Darl smiled in sympathy.

“Well, I have a report to make. The Earth’s President is becoming more demanding for knowledge. He has asked us to furnish them with a fleet of long-range cruisers so they can make their own search for a new planet.”

“I cannot see the Hier Council agreeing to that.”

“No. But the report has to be made all the same.” Okil walked to the door. “I told him we were doing our best, that the pilots are nearly ready to choose their females to take with them on the search. But he wanted to be able to operate on his own.”

“You don’t trust him?” Darl asked, turning briefly.

“I’m not sure. I did. But … maybe it was just my mood.” He tried to shake it off. “They need us.”

“And we need them,” Darl reminded him. “A thing I am sure they understand fully now the shock of our alien invasion has worn off.”

Okil left without answering; there was one human he needed above all else. And she was out of his reach. For now, at least.





Chapter Six – Tikki


“Did you have a good day, Charlie?” Tikki asked as they went inside her apartment. She was trying to keep upbeat, but this was the day she was supposed to start the rest of her life with Okil. It was going to be hard to watch another woman win the lottery, and her man.

Pushing that aside, she went to the stove and put the kettle on to boil. Simcoff would help, and maybe later she might even break out some of the liquor Okil had brought with him as a gift from Elissa. She had been saving it for today anyway. Only it was supposed to be for a celebration, not for drowning her sorrows.

“Mrs Drummond says I’m a freak,” Charlie said, going over to the table where his toys were. Not that there were many: he hadn’t had much when he was handed over to her, and Tikki had not been able to afford any more.

“Why did she call you that?” Tikki asked, concerned that a woman who was the mother of children herself would call another child a freak.

“Because I haven’t got a tag.”

Tikki came back to stand in the small sitting room. “You don’t?”

“No. We went over to the supermarket and she wanted to enter a competition to win a year’s supply of bread. She wanted to add extra goes by using my tag too.”

“And they couldn’t find one?” Tikki asked. “Maybe it is just faulty. Might have got damaged, you know.”

Charlie looked up at her and shook his head. “No. They took it out.”

Tikki couldn’t answer for a moment. It was illegal to take tags out, not to mention painful. So why take Charlie’s out, unless they really didn’t want him to be found? “Who took it out?” she asked, feeling a chill in the air.

“Sienna Mommy did. She said it was because I was a secret now.”

“A secret? I don’t understand. Do you mean because she was hiding you? From your real daddy?” She hated questioning him like this, but the more she found out about Sienna and Charlie, the more she realised how much potential trouble she was in.

Charlie looked up from where he was playing and shrugged. “My daddy wasn’t allowed to know where I was. It was safer that way. That’s what Sienna Mommy told me. I think that was why I never went outside.”

Tikki didn’t want to make a big deal of this, but it freaked her out. “Can I look?”

“Sure,” he said, coming to her and leaning forward to let her see his neck. Sure enough, there was a small scar where an incision had been made. “Did you tell Mrs. Drummond someone had removed your chip?”

Charlie shook his head vigorously. “No,” he answered solemnly.

“I think that this might be something we keep to ourselves for now. OK?”

He nodded. “Sienna Mommy taught me to keep secrets.”

With that, he went back to playing with his toys, and Tikki let the matter go. She didn’t want to keep bombarding him with questions; it would be best to think the whole thing over, maybe discuss it with Reja, and then decide if there was anything she should do. But skims knew the best solution to most problems was to keep your head down and say nothing. Never draw attention to yourself unless absolutely necessary.

As she sat and watched him play, she sipped her simcoff and tried not to pull a face in disgust. This had to be the worst batch she had drunk for a while. She went over the events surrounding Charlie coming into her life, wondering what the story was behind his parents, and then a thought struck her.