Hunger (11 page)

He moved away from the table and Okil came to stand next to her. “He will numb it. You won’t feel a thing,” he reassured her.

“Thank you, Okil.” Evie would have been terrified if Okil wasn’t here with her.

The doctor carried out the short procedure, and as Okil predicted, she didn’t feel a thing, although when she stood up, she felt slightly woozy. “Ahh, your physiology is slightly different, I will note the effect.”

“Here, have some water, Evie, and rest a moment.” Okil gave her a small cup and she drank gratefully.

“I never usually feel like this.” She put her hand to her mouth, feeling queasy.

“You’ve never been in an alien laboratory before,” Okil laughed.

“I should have eaten before we left, but Ishk left so early and I went back to sleep.”

“I would have waited.” Okil then asked, “Why don’t I go and find you something to eat?”

“No. Stay here with me, please. I like Dr. Darl, but I would rather have a familiar face with me.”

“Then I will stay.” Okil stayed with her, moving to the side when the doctor returned.

“This way. Let’s scan you and then you can go home.” The doctor took her to a separate room; this time she was expected to lie down while a tunnel moved over her. “It scans your body, lets us see right inside you. At the same time, it will analyse your blood and we can store the breakdown on your tag. Helpful when it is time for you to have your baby, just in case there are complications.”

“Complications?” Evie was scared that the whole alien bursting out through her abdomen was how the Karal babies were born.

“Yes, if you bleed. We want to make sure we have some synthetic blood that uniquely matches yours. Don’t worry, it rarely happens, but we want to look after you all as best we can.”

“Darl is an Earth sympathiser at its finest. He has been studying your old movies to model his manner on Earth doctors.” Okil winked at her.

Evie stifled a giggle and then said, “Thank you, Darl, for trying so hard to put me at my ease.”

“My pleasure. I must say, it’s exciting to see our first three guests conceive so quickly. I’m sure it will be the same for you, Evie,” Darl said reassuringly.

She lay down and tried to keep still, and keep breathing while the machine passed over her. It was silent, and a small light shone dimly so she was never in the dark, but she still shut her eyes, pretending she was safe in a closet where no one could hurt her.

“There. All done.” The doctor glanced at Okil.

“What?” she asked.

“Congratulations, Evie, it seems the DNA and ovulation match is more successful than we thought,” Okil said warmly.

“I have never examined a human so soon after landing. There is nothing damaged internally, which is great news, because you are already pregnant.” Darl sounded as excited as if he had made a scientific breakthrough.

“Pregnant?” Had she heard them correctly?

“Yes, Evie, the scanner picked it up, and the blood confirmed it.

“I see.” Yes, she saw it very clearly, she was about to become the first resident of the breeding house. Ishk would be pleased.

“Come on, Evie, let’s go and get you something to eat. You look faint.” Okil looked at the doctor. “Is it normal for Evie to feel faint?”

“Celia showed similar signs in the first few days. I think it can be the human body trying to learn to cope with our DNA. We are compatible, but not an exact match. Then the male DNA learns to mask itself, and things settle down. Might be a week or two though. So don’t worry, Evie.”

“Thank you, Darl.” She stood, a little shakily and then followed Okil from the room.

“Come back in two days.” Darl called.

“Will I be able to leave the breeding house to return here?” she asked Okil, her mind whirling. Evie had not expected to fall pregnant so quickly; she had hardly seen anything of Karal, and now she was about to begin what seemed like, a prison term in a place she had never visited.

“I will collect you. Don’t worry,” Okil assured her.

“And what happens when you are on Earth, or busy somewhere else?” she asked, panic in her voice. Alone on an alien planet, with no Okil for support, frightened her. The other Earth women would help her, but they were far from free to please themselves where they travelled. In no time, she could become very isolated.

“Evie,” he said, holding her hand. She felt warm, comforting sensations filling her body. These sensations were emanating from Okil’s touch. Evie had no idea they could do that. “I will make sure there is always someone available to escort you to see Darl.”

“Because Ishk never will?” It was easier to accept this when Okil was sending her strength through his fingers.

“I doubt it. I’m sorry,” Okil said honestly.

She took a deep breath. Buoyed by his sympathy and mood-altering touch, she felt more positive. “Let’s go and see my new home, then.”

“I will arrange for the others to come and help too. Marin will bring them and I’m sure they can provide you with some linen and towels. The breeding house has been cleaned, but at present they are resisting furnishing it because there is a new colony being built on Grenvet.” He smiled down at her. “You will like Grenvet. It is the most beautiful island.”

“Thank you, Okil.”

“Evie. Okil.” Ishk’s voice came from along the corridor they had just crossed.

“Ishk,” she said, and her insecurity returned as Okil dropped her hand.

“I shall leave you two alone.” Okil moved away from her. “I will wait at the entrance, Evie, just follow this corridor.”

“I did not know you were visiting the tower.” He looked a little flushed and there was the faint trace of blue under his skin.

“Okil brought me here. I needed a new tag. You don’t want me running around your planet with no tracker inserted in my neck, do you?” She tried to make light of it, but it fell flat.

“Are you well? Did the procedure hurt you? You look pale.” He sounded concerned, probably because if she was ill, he might have to care for her. She could ease his concerns there.

“No, Ishk, it’s just the doctor did a scan and gave me some other news.” This must be the most unexpected thing she had ever had to say, considering only days ago, she was alone on Earth, wondering where her next meal was coming from.

“Were you injured by your attackers on Earth?” He had no clue to what she was about to share with him.

“No.” Here it was, time to tell him that he was about to get his wish and be rid of her. She tilted her chin, looking him in the face, although she felt like crying. “I am pregnant. Congratulations, Ishk, you are going to have a son.”

“Pregnant. Already?” he asked. The shock made his colours leap across his face, starting in a small circle and then emanating out to cover his whole face and disappear down his neck. Like blue waves, crashing onto a beach, growing smaller as he regained control.

“Yes. Your system works very well at finding compatible females, and apparently I was at my most fertile,” she said, trying to sound upbeat, whilst hoping she wasn’t going to breakdown in tears.

“I see.” The colour had drained from his face and he looked pale.

“Okil is making arrangements for me to move to the breeding house.” She waited for him to respond, but he simply looked at her. “I will return to your house and collect my things if that’s OK.”

Still nothing, although a crease had appeared on his forehead. What had she expected him to do, go down on his knees and beg her not to leave? What a fool she was, that was exactly the hope she had held on to.
Foolish human female.

“Goodbye, Ishk. Take care of yourself, and of our baby when it is born.” She held out her hand. He glanced down at it, and she knew it was ridiculous, but she wanted to feel his warm skin against hers just one more time.

As though in a daze he took her hand and grasped it firmly, holding it for much longer than she expected, his eyes saying what his mouth wouldn’t. He might want her, but he didn’t need her enough to change his views on human females and where they belonged.

Pulling her hand from his, she turned and walked to where Okil was waiting, knowing Ishk’s eyes were on her every step of the way.

Ishk didn’t know how he felt. Or how he was supposed to feel. She was pregnant. She was no longer his.

Did she care? No, she would be glad to be rid of him surely. After seeing the simulation, he knew he had not pleased her when they mated.

What does it matter?
he thought as he walked back to his office.

Once inside he made himself a cup of strong tole and leaned against the wall, looking out across the vast plains of grassland that surrounded the tower. Here and there, he could see houses dotted around, so low to the ground they could only be seen because of the bright flowers, oases of colour against the green.

Evie had been an oasis of emotion in his life. Over the last few days, since he left Earth, he had learned more about himself than he had about humans. But it had changed his opinions on the best way for his species to prosper; the simulation of data had been very clear. They were better off with these human females living with them, rather than shutting them away.

However, that was what he was doing: shutting her away in the breeding house. If he carried on with his plan, that would be her fate. He wished he had more time to get to know her, to see if they were compatible. He shook his head. Perhaps instead he needed some time away from her; the drug she must secrete from her skin would wear off and he would become sane again.

He should focus on getting his house ready for a child, their child; soon the daycare centers would be updated, to take in the children while their father’s worked. The planet would be filled with the laughter of children.

Wait, no, his child would be the only one in the daycare, unless others changed their mind. His child would be the odd one out, the only boy with no mother, just as Ishk had been one of the few with no father. In his conversations with the council and with Evie, it had become clear that his motivation had been strongly influenced by wanting to save the next generation from the heartache of losing both parents. The memories of losing one parent, his father, had stayed with him and influenced his whole life.

Yet Evie had gone through the loss of both her parents and survived. Probably because she was older. But if Ishk had been able to have his mother with him, he would not have been orphaned; he would still have had one parent.

His generation had never had that luxury, nor the ones before that. But now his child and the children of his fellow Karalians had a unique opportunity. But could he, Ishk, member of the Hier Council and one so vocal on the subject of sending the females to the breeding house and cutting off ties from the rest of the people on Earth, find the courage to change? Could he swallow his pride and reclaim Evie?

“I never expected it to be so … big.” Evie looked down as they flew over the buildings below. It was as big as a small town. She didn’t know what she had expected but this wasn’t it.

“We had to house a lot of females, and they liked to live together, in tight-knit groups.” Okil turned the cruiser and came in to land, heading for a small courtyard. “You get first pick of where you want to live.”

She smiled at him, but a lump formed in her throat. “I might have the whole place to myself for a long time.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll all keep you company.”

“You are a good man. Or whatever it is I should call you, Okil.”

“I am getting used to being called a man.” His smile held a secret and she wanted to ask him who it was that had touched this handsome, kind Karalian’s heart.

“Tell me, Okil, will you be a lottery prize soon? You do such a lot for humans; I would have thought it was time you got some kind of reward.”

“I don’t think so.” There was a wistful look in his eyes.

“What, Okil, tell me? I will keep it a secret, I won’t tell another soul.”

He landed smoothly and they sat for a moment while he looked out of the window. She didn’t press him; they had all the time in the world. She had nowhere else to be, possibly for the rest of her life.

“There is someone I have met, on Earth. We have never … you know, mated, it is forbidden, but I have fallen in love with her.”

“Won’t she enter the lottery? I know it’s rigged in some way, that they choose us because of our what? Compatibility?” He nodded. “So surely they can rig it for when she would be most … compatible.”

“It’s more complicated than that.” He looked up, and in front of them the gates opened and another cruiser drove in. “The others are here.”

He got out, came around to her side of the small cruiser, and helped her out. Okil grinned at her. “Between us, we can make this place habitable enough for you.”

“Thank you, Okil. That wouldn’t be hard. I’m from Earth, remember, give me somewhere comfortable to sleep and enough food and I’ll be happy.” But would she? Evie remembered the last few years and the hardships she had endured. At least here, she didn’t have to worry about anyone wanting to hurt her. If she ignored the high wall surrounding the buildings, she could almost imagine she was free.

“Evie, hello, we didn’t meet before. I’m Vanessa.” A pretty young woman came over to her and hugged her. “We have brought everything you need for tonight. Let’s go look inside some of the houses and then you can choose one of your own.”

“I’m so pleased to finally meet you, Vanessa. And thank you all for your kindness. It’s going to a little strange living here alone.”

“We will all visit, often. And Lytril has agreed for you to be allowed to leave if you are under the supervision of one of the men. I don’t know what the big issue is. After all, you are tagged; it’s not as if you can run away and never be found.”

“You are the Hier Ruler’s … partner.”

She laughed. “Yes, I am. He would allow you to leave, but well, politics.”

“I understand,” Evie said.

“I suppose you would. You might only have known Ishk for a couple of days, but I figured you had worked out he is opposed to us being free.”