Hunger: BBW Alien Lottery Romance (Chosen by the Karal Book 4)
Author: Raines, Harmony
Date: 2015-08-18
Keywords: General Fiction

Table of Contents

Copyright

Chapter One – Ishk

Chapter Two – Evie

Chapter Three – Ishk

Chapter Four – Evie

Chapter Five – Ishk

Chapter Six – Evie

Chapter Seven – Ishk

Chapter Eight – Evie

Chapter Nine – Ishk

Chapter Ten – Evie

Chapter Eleven – Ishk

Chapter Twelve – Evie

Chapter Thirteen – Ishk

Chapter Fourteen – Evie

Chapter Fifteen – Ishk

Chapter Sixteen – Evie

Chapter Seventeen – Ishk

Chapter Eighteen – Evie

Chapter Nineteen – Ishk

Chapter Twenty – Evie

Chapter Twenty-One – Ishk

Chapter Twenty-Two – Evie

Chapter Twenty-Three – Ishk

Chapter Twenty-Four – Evie

Chapter Twenty-Five – Ishk

Chapter Twenty-Six – Evie

Chapter Twenty-Seven – Ishk

Chapter Twenty-Eight – Evie

Chapter Twenty-Nine – Ishk

Chapter Thirty – Evie

Chapter Thirty-One – Ishk

Chapter Thirty-Two – Evie

The Hierarchy

Other Books By Harmony Raines

Hunger

Chosen by the Karal

(Book Four)

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Note from the author: My books are written, produced and edited in the UK where spellings and word usage can vary from U.S. English. The use of quotes in dialogue and other punctuation can also differ.

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All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.

This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.

© 2015 Harmony Raines

Silver Moon Erotica

Kindle Edition

Chapter One – Ishk

“I don’t know why I had to come here,” Ishk complained, stepping over a dirty puddle of water onto an even dirtier piece of road. “I have no intention of becoming soft on these Earth people like you, Okil.”

“Lytril wanted you to see Earth for yourself. Anyway, your visit is nearly over; the next lottery draw is tonight. You will be expected to receive the winner as your mate and then you can go home to Karal.” Okil paused and then added, “Lytril did you a great honour making you the next Karalian to receive a woman to breed with.”

Ishk snorted. “There is no honour; he did it to keep me occupied. I am no fool.”

Okil’s expression, although quickly hidden, begged to differ. Ishk had to admit he had perhaps overstepped his role on the council when he had Vanessa, the Hier Ruler’s mate, whipped. But the Hier Ruler had spoken of the punishment in front of a guard. And the Hier Ruler had to be obeyed in all things. If that were not true, Ishk would have refused to come to Earth. Instead, he had obeyed orders, and now found himself surrounded by more filth and dirt than he had ever seen on Karal. Even in the animal pens.

What worried Ishk was the way Okil followed him. On the first day here, he had become suspicious of Okil. It might have been paranoia, but Ishk had a feeling Okil had been given orders to kill him. Would they invent an accident, and then use their Earth friends to cover it up?

He must have read Okil wrong, though; they had been on Earth for five days and nothing had happened, no instance where Ishk tripped and fell down one of the incredibly deep mine shafts that peppered the surface of the ruined planet. However, there was still time, and until the lottery was drawn, Ishk could be replaced. Okil could easily step in and take the lottery winner as his mate, and Ishk would never be seen or heard of again.

However, as the day wore on, and Okil had given Ishk a tour of the most terrible places on their Earth, Ishk had instead sensed Okil was getting some perverse kind of pleasure from watching Ishk drown in disgust.

The planet had upset him so much that he had trouble controlling his emotions, and the colours often took on a life of their own, skimming across his skin. For a proud alien, being out of control was unbearable; yet now he had an idea of what the other Karalians had gone through.

Only instead of feeling sympathy towards them, it made him harden his resolve. It was time that the citizens of Karal thought about ousting the Hier Ruler. The idea that humans deserved some special treatment from Karal was false, and his species needed to wake up and see this before it was too late. Someone new should take up the reins.

Someone like Ishk.

“Come, we should go to the space cruiser. Soon they will announce the winner and we should head over to where she is, so that you can meet her properly.”

“I have no wish to meet her. You go, since you love this species so much, Okil. Bring her to the cruiser. I do not want to touch her until she had been through decon’.”

“Ishk. It is your duty. We will fly there in seconds, you meet her, and then tomorrow we go home to Karal.”

“Not a moment too soon.” Ishk imagined the first deep breath of pure, clean air he would inhale when he landed on his beautiful planet. Instead of this overpolluted gas, which threatened to choke him—he hated to think of the permanent damage he had done to his lungs after only three days here. And they were breeding with females who had spent their whole life in this contaminated pit. The Karal must be very desperate indeed. Hungry for the next generation to be born before they were past their prime.

They returned to the cruiser, Ishk trying to ignore the starving people they saw along the roads, huddled together for shelter. If Okil had expected Ishk to extend his sympathy to them, he was wrong. They brought nothing but disgust to Ishk; he could see how allowing these humans onto their home planet would destroy it.

Yes. It was time for Karal to choose a new ruler. It was also time they came here, took the women they needed and shut them away in the breeding house, just as the mothers had been. Ishk held no pity for the human race. To him they were animals and should be treated as such.

If Ishk wasn’t so aware of how much the Karal needed the human race, he would simply walk away from the planet Earth. There had to be a better species to mate with. But he knew only too well that the current generation, his generation, had searched far out into the universe for any suitable breeding females. A fruitless task, for the long range pilots, until they had found Earth and it’s sorry inhabitants.

It had become increasingly clear that they had run out of time. He, and the rest of his generation, were nearing the end of their Prime. The years when they were capable of procreation were diminishing rapidly. He would never admit it to anyone, he tried not to admit it to himself, but these humans were the Karal’s only real hope.

Chapter Two – Evie

Evie wandered through the backstreets knowing she would need to find somewhere safe to sleep soon. The night had already closed in, and as she looked at the lights in the houses all around her, she envied them the small sanctuary of having somewhere to call home.

Home was something alien to her, and had been for the last five years, since her parents were killed. Too young and too poor to take over the small house on her own, she had been evicted. At first, other families in the village had taken her in, but she was a strain on their already limited budgets. They didn’t have to tell her: she had heard the whispered conversations, witnessed the worry in their eyes. She could have waited for them to ask her to leave, but she saved them the heartache of throwing a teenager out on the streets. Instead, Evie had left, saying she was going to live with an old aunt. They had all known it was a lie, but they had all accepted it out of necessity.

The city beckoned. It was supposed to be a new start, not the downward spiral from which she could see no way out.

Down and down her life had slipped, ever more hassled by pimps who wanted to sell her body to the highest bidder. A curvy, voluptuous body was becoming a rare commodity. Now she hid from them, after being caught out one night when she first arrived here. Too trusting, and with nowhere to sleep, a man who she thought was a friend had offered her his sofa.

He had given her a drink. She thought it was simcoff, but it had something else in it. Her inhibitions had gone, replaced by a state that left her open to suggestion. What they made her do that night still made her feel sick. Only the fact they would get more for selling her virginity had stopped them raping her. When her senses returned to normal, she had the hard cock of a man she had never seen before down her throat.

Gagging, he had grabbed her hair and made her stay in place while he came in her mouth. As she lay retching on the floor, one of them had kicked her and then tried to force her to drink more of the drugged simcoff. Taking the cup, she had flung it in his face and then run. Evie hadn’t stopped until she reached the outskirts of the city. If she had the coin she would have gone back to her hometown right then. But she knew she would never have the option to do that now. With little hope of a regular job, she would never be able to save the money for the return fare, and walking the roads alone left her an easy target to men who would hurt her.

Evie crossed the street. Behind her, she could hear the sound of the Stream. Twenty-four/seven, the big screens flashed up their images, it was one of the hardest things to get used to. At night, one of her main requirements, when finding somewhere to sleep, was to make sure she was out of earshot of them. She liked to sleep where it was quiet, with no one else around, hidden. Then she could close her eyes and dream she was back in her small hometown, safe and comfortable.

Brushing away a sentimental tear, she tried to ignore the nagging hunger which was her constant companion. She hadn’t had a full stomach since she arrived in the city. If she didn’t find a steady supply of coin soon, she would not have to worry about anyone wanting to sell her curvy body. Like the rest of the city’s population she would be thin and of no real value. When she first arrived, her puppy fat had sustained her, but now that had gone and Evie had grown into a young woman. An increasingly desperate young woman. How long would it be until she stopped avoiding the men who would sell her body and instead went to them, willing to do anything for a full stomach?

Going into a warehouse she had used before, she checked to make sure it was empty. Then she made her way upstairs. There had been offices here once, when this was a thriving business. Now it was empty of anything useful or of value; it stank of urine and rot. Heading to the back of the room, she went to a large built-in closet that once would have held stationary. It was half concealed, especially in the dark, the ceiling above it hanging down to hide the door.

Taking out the thin blanket, which was the only thing she had to stave off the cold night, she placed it on the floor of the closet and then lay down. To conceal herself she pulled the door to and closed her eyes, trying to sleep. Today was another day that she could claim to have survived, a thing she no longer celebrated. Tomorrow it would begin again, the desperate search for work and food. While she tried to forget about her hunger, she fought to block out the painful truth of her life. A life where all she had to look forward to was another hard day where she would once again question why she bothered to live.

Sleep came quickly. She was exhausted, lack of food making her energy leak away. Her dreams were her only real escape, and there were times when she thought that if she never woke up she wouldn’t care. Perhaps she would join her parents in some kind of heaven when she passed from this world. Yet as each miserable day went by, she didn’t even care if heaven existed. Even the great nothingness of death would be better than this life.

A noise woke her, dragging her from her dreams. She stirred, but tried not to move. If someone else was in here, she should stay still until they had gone. She didn’t need trouble, and she certainly didn’t want to be evicted by some other homeless person who would force her out into the night. Evie had found that it was easy to become invisible if you stayed quiet and didn’t attract attention.

“She’s not here.” The voice made Evie shudder. She knew it, but couldn’t place it. Yet even with no face to the sound, the voice made her cringe, her hand involuntarily going to her shoulder where three cigarette burns made up some kind of brand on her shoulder. A brand that had appeared after that night.

“I tell you, the homeless guy across the road swears she came in here. And that police tracker pinpointed this area. She’s here close by, she has to be.” A trace of fear laced this second voice.

“The tracker is old, before they updated the system. And those strays will say anything if they think they will get a coin from it,” the first voice, obviously in charge, answered.

“Then I’ll go back out and rip the coin from his hand.”

“He’ll be long gone by now if he has any sense.” A sound of footsteps going out of the door, but not back down the stairs, they were searching the floor. Should she stay put? Of course, they hadn’t checked the closet, probably had not even seen it was there with the falling ceiling concealing it. If they thought this office was empty it was unlikely they would come back in here. Stay still, don’t move, she told herself.

Their footsteps became fainter, and she lay so still she almost thought she had disappeared, her heart hardly beating, her breath shallow. Only her brain raced, moving in circles, trying to figure out why they wanted her. Or were they even looking for her? They might just be looking for some other woman.

Her muscles were beginning to cramp. Straining her ears, she tried to listen for them, but there was nothing, so she risked moving just a fraction to ease the intense pain as it spread up her leg. Shifting position carefully, she settled back down to wait. Yet there was no sound, and she thought they must have gone out another way. Perhaps there was a fire escape. She didn’t care, as long as they had gone.

As the night wore on she found herself dozing, and once more sleep claimed her.

***

“Hello there, Evie.” A voice right by her head made her jump. Was she in some nightmare, because that voice made her want to scream?

Opening her eyes, she was blinded by a bright flashlight being shone in her face. Scrambling to sit up, propelling herself back to press herself against the furthest wall, she covered her face with her hand to try to block out the light.

“No, don’t be shy. You and I have met before. You might not remember, of course, but I am the one who gave you these.” He pulled her sweater down to where the three small scars made up the points of a triangle. Tracing the raised skin, he smiled at her. “You have been a naughty girl, avoiding me for so long. I’ve had to go to a lot of trouble and considerable expense to find you. But you are mine. Do you understand? It will be so much easier if you comply.”

“What do you want?” Evie knew she had outrun luck. He was going to take her somewhere and let men do whatever they wanted to her. Maybe they would kill her.

“You have become a valuable commodity. You are going to fetch a pretty price.”

Evie couldn’t understand why they would go to all this trouble to hunt her down. There was nothing remotely attractive about her, especially with her unwashed hair and dirty body. It had been weeks since she had showered properly.

“No one is going to want me,” she told him, but her words were met with a laugh, hollow and false.

“Oh, but that’s where you are wrong. You see, you thought you could enter into the lottery and be taken away from me without me being paid.”

“You don’t own me,” she said, and then his words registered. “The lottery?”

“First, I do own you.” As if to prove his point, he leaned down and grabbed her by the hair, dragging her out of the closet. “And second, if these aliens plan to take you to their planet, I expect something in exchange.”

She put her hand up to where his fingers so cruelly gripped her hair. “Let go, you’re hurting me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, excuse me. I never meant to pull your hair.” He released her, and instead reached out and grabbed her wrist, twisting the skin cruelly as he yanked her forward.

Crying out, the last thing she saw was his other hand coming around and punching her in the face. The world went black, and the last thing she was aware of was him saying, “Tie her up, Harri, then make the call. If those aliens want her, they can pay. I’m going to see what I can do about her chip. Don’t want them tracking her the same way as we did.”

A sharp pain in the back of her neck, and then the darkness took her completely.

Chapter Three – Ishk

Ishk tried to relax and think of home. The beautiful planet he loved. He wanted to feel the warm soil beneath his feet and feel the heat of the two suns on his face. To walk in the fields and see the golden grasses ready to harvest. The conditions had been perfect when he had been made to come here to claim his mate.

Only thoughts of home made it easier to endure the thought of having to mate with one of these women. It was his duty. To make a son to carry on his family name, a son to teach all that he knew, just as his father had taught him.

His father. He wished he had known him for longer. At only seven years old, he had lost him in a freak farming accident. There had been a storm coming and they wanted to get the last of the grain stored. A blockage had caused him to go into the silo. Ishk hated to think of his father suffocating under the harvest he had so lovingly gathered.

He hated thinking of the young boy, who had become one of the few young orphans on Karal, moving away from everything he knew to go and stay in the small home where the other boys with no fathers lived. It had all been so alien to him. He belonged with his own people on the farming belt that stretched for miles across Karal. Lush pastures, ideal soil for crops.

At the first opportunity, he had returned to those fertile lands, taking with him the knowledge his father had passed to him. Ironic, really, that he had now given it all up to go and sit on the Hier Council. He had only done it to ensure the farmers were not abused when the breeding females arrived and they had to work harder to fill so many more stomachs.

Okil’s voice brought him back to the distasteful present. “Yes. I see.” Okil was outside talking to a human on his communicator. More technology they had given these people. Ishk disapproved of sharing any of it with them.

Okil came back into the cruiser, his face worried, the emotion spilling over so that his skin lit up, bright orange skimming his hands. Ishk knew he wasn’t going to like what Okil had to say. Cutting a piece of fruit, he put it in his mouth and chewed, letting the juice wash down his throat. Damn, how he missed Karal.

“The Lottery HQ has been contacted.”

“By the woman who is to be mine? So we are going to collect her and then go home?” At last, he could leave this place and put his plan to take control of the council into action. He would never return here and once they had taken the quota of women his people needed, he would perhaps have the wormhole destroyed or placed under constant guard. Ishk would have to be careful whom he chose for this duty, because there were many Earth sympathisers. Of which Okil had to be the worst.

“No. She has been taken.” Okil looked worried, very worried.

“Taken. Where?” Ishk decided he had time to eat another piece of fruit while Okil gnashed his teeth and pulled his hair in vexation. Ishk smiled to himself. “Can’t we just choose another one?”

“Ishk.” Okil’s tone was unusually harsh. Being his superior, there was a certain amount of respect Ishk expected. Okil was close to insubordination when he said, “Don’t you care? Someone has taken the woman who is to be yours. Evie Miller is her name, if you are interested. The people who have her are asking for coin.”

“Then choose another one. That will prevent these people from thinking they can blackmail the Karal.”

“And what about Evie?”

“What about her? There are countless other females who would be willing to take her place.”

“And if she dies because of this?”

“There are countless females more than willing to breed with us.” Ishk stood now, his temper rising. “Countless. Billions. Why does it matter?”

“She is a person. This is an act against our species. And you just say, take another one?”

“That is the way to deal with these situations. She was worthless before; she will be worthless again if we take another in her place.”

“I am going to find her.” Okil took a reading from the cruiser’s computer display and then stood up. “She is not far from here, although the signal has been tampered with.”

“And if this is a trap? You do not know if they are using her as bait to flush us out.”

“They asked for coin.”

“Knowing perhaps that we would not pay, but would track them down. A Karalian is worth more to them than a human female.”

“You think it is an ambush?” Okil said, looking back down at the computer screen.

“Yes. They are jealous of us. They want what we have.”

“They need us,” Okil said.

Okil was a poor, deluded fool. Maybe the air had got to him and addled his brain.

“Why? You know as well as I there is nothing to be done for this sorry planet. Maybe they hope to trade for a one-way ticket off this place.”

“They do not know we can’t help them save their planet. We have kept that to ourselves. And they would not be stupid enough to think that if they were taken to Karal, we would not hunt them down. They all have tags.” Okil went to the weapons locker and removed a gun.

“Hunting humans. Now, that could become a new sport. Are you authorised to use one of those?” Ishk asked, thinking this had become a little more interesting: the usually mild-mannered Okil would not normally take up arms.

“This is an Earth weapon. I have been trained to use it. Don’t worry, none of our technology will fall into their hands.” Okil checked it was loaded and then made his way down the exit ramp.

“Wait, I will accompany you. Although I do not see why you are so concerned.”

“Because we put Evie in the situation.” He squared his shoulders and turned to Ishk. “It is something you do not understand, Ishk. We need them as much as they need us.”

“We only need to breed from them.”

“There are many of us who see it differently. We came here, we made contact, and then we invited their females to be part of our world. That gives us a certain responsibility. If not to those left behind, then at least to those we take.”

Ishk knew what he was referring to, his behaviour towards Vanessa. Yet he was in no mood to talk about it, especially not to Okil, who was not a member of the council. Ishk did not intend to explain his reasons to a Karalian who was already under the spell of the Earth women. Ishk could see that Okil was going to be a problem.

Eating the last of the fruit, he stood up, jogging down the ramp to catch up with Okil. At least this might hold some amusement. He wondered what type of Earthling thought he could go up against the superior race of Karal and think they could win.

Chapter Four – Evie

Her face hurt, and when she tried to move, her shoulder did too, and her ribs, but this was nothing compared to the throb at the base of her skull; it felt like someone had jabbed a knife into her. The bastard had beaten her while she was unconscious. Opening her eyes, she tried to look around without letting them know she was awake. The last thing she needed was another beating.

Through slitted eyes, she saw them over by the window, talking. Testing her body, she found her hands were bound, but her feet were not. Shifting her field of view, Evie took in her position. She was at the far end of the office, and there was no way she would get to the door before they did.

Swallowing down a sob, she looked back towards the men. They were talking in low voices, and one of them kept glancing at his phone. Had they already called in their ransom demands? There was no way the Karalians would pay a ransom for her, they would almost certainly just choose another woman to take to their planet, and leave Evie here to die at the hands of these thugs. Or worse.

Letting her body relax, she examined her thoughts about dying. And the sad truth was that as long as it was quick, she didn’t much care. Her life was hopeless. Hunger gnawed at her every minute of the day. Added to this was fear and, worst of all, loneliness.

Closing her eyes, she lay still, utterly defeated. All she had to do was wait and all of this would end. She would no longer be this stinking mess of human flesh. She would be free, light, floating above the Earth. Or there would be a deep, dark nothingness. Either way was fine with her.

Movement. She heard someone moving about downstairs. The two men didn’t seem to notice, and she realised it was because she had her ear to the floor. What she heard were the vibrations of a door been shut. Someone else was in the warehouse. Someone who didn’t want to be noticed.

Evie had to make a decision; she could either lie here and wait for whatever was going to happen, to happen. Or she could try to help whoever was downstairs. But she didn’t know if they were coming to help her; for all she knew, whoever had entered the warehouse had nothing to do with this. Or maybe someone from the lottery had come to rescue her. Evie lay rigid, uncertainty flowing through her veins. Did she want to be saved? If whoever was down there was from the lottery, did she really want to go to Karal?

Evie had entered impulsively. She had been in a store, spending the last few coins she had on a bottle of water and a can of beans. When she passed through the checkout, the guy serving her had given her that look she would never get used to seeing. Evie was what was known as a “skim,” a bottom feeder, in this city. And he was right. That was exactly what she was. But it wasn’t who her parents had raised her to be. Entering the lottery seemed like a way to get back some of her dignity. A chance to be someone, someone more than the dirty, empty shell she had become.

Mentally she repeated that last part back to herself. The lottery was the exact reason she was lying here now with bruises over her body and her hands tied behind her back. This was not exactly the someone she had wanted to be.

A noise again, Right below her. Damn, she hoped they didn’t have guns. What if they were after the two guys in front of her and she got hit by a stray bullet?

Then I guess we’ll all be dead.

Summoning her courage, she moved. It certainly was a good job she hadn’t intended to run for it, because her legs were stiff, she had been lying here for a long time. Flexing her aching muscles she sat up, the attention of the two men now on her. A tremor of fear passed through her. The guy who had hit her was advancing, and his face was contorted in anger.

“I told you to lie still. Keep your head down and your mouth shut.” He raised his hand and slapped her across the face. She spat at him, a mixture of blood and saliva. “You little bitch, do you know how much these shoes cost?”

“Harley.” The other guy tried to calm him down. “If you hit her much more they won’t be able to recognise her face.”

“Idiot,” Harley hissed. “You can still see her lovely, big blue eyes, and if nothing else they can DNA-test her.” He held something up in front of her eyes. “Only they can’t use this, I cut it out of you so they couldn’t track you.”

She sobbed, trying not to picture the wound in her neck. No wonder it hurt so much; he had gouged the tag out of her flesh. As though she were a piece of trash, he placed his foot on her shoulder and pushed her back to the floor, and then he went back to the window.

“I hope you’re sure. I want payment.” The other guy sounded scared. Going up against the aliens was a dangerous game. But if the tag was damaged and the aliens couldn’t track her, who was downstairs? Humans? Someone from the lottery?

Words formed in her head, and it took a moment for her to realise she was saying them out loud. “Too much of a coward to let me take you on fairly.” What the hell was she doing? Giving the person who was now coming up the stairs time to deal with her assailants before they knew what had hit them.

Harley turned back towards her, his fists clenched, and she knew this one was going to hurt. But just as he raised his hand, a voice said, “Touch her and you die.”

So many things happened at once. Harley spun round, disbelief in his face. His accomplice took off across the room, heading back out through the door, which led to the rest of the top floor. One man, or was he an alien, came into the room. In his hand was a gun.

Evie had never seen a real gun. They were classed as antiques now; well, the one he held, anyway. But he looked as though he knew how to use it, which is exactly what Harley was trying to evaluate at the same time.

Did he try to fight his way out of it, or did he give up? Harley did the simplest, if most cowardly thing. He held his hands up and then said, “Thank goodness you’re here. That other guy was trying to kill her.”

“Shut up.” The voice was cold, emotionless, but the colours skimming across his skin told her how mad he was. It also confirmed he was an alien.

“Come on now, just let me walk out of here and you can take the woman and no police will have to be involved. I mean, do you really want to be delayed by lots of questions and statements? Not when you can take her back to your planet and fuck her until she screams. That is what you do, isn’t it?”

The alien moved so fast that Harley never had a chance to speak again before the gun cracked across his face and he collapsed to the floor.

Evie looked stunned, her eyes staring at the man lying in front of her, wondering if he was ever going to get up from that blow. The bruise had already begun to appear on his cheekbone and a dribble of blood escaped his mouth.

“Thank you,” she said, hoping she had it right and he had come to save her, not hurt her in any way. Maybe she was too beat up to go with them to Karal and they would just shoot her and dump her body. Tell everyone she had not turned up to claim her prize of a new life on another planet.

“Are you alright?” he asked, coming towards her. Kneeling down, he looked at her face, his expression telling her how bad she looked. Then he began to untie her hands. “Were there just the two of them?”

“Yes. I think so, I was unconscious for a while, but I only saw two men.”

“We need to get you out of here. We’ve arranged to leave Earth now.”

“Now,” she repeated. What did it matter? She had nothing left here, only heartache and pain, yet still she felt as though she should say goodbye to someone. Then she realised there was no one left in her life to say goodbye to. “Can I collect my things?”

“Where are they?” he asked, helping her up.

She looked into his face, seeing kind eyes, and thought it would not be so bad to go with him to be the mother of his child. “In the closet. That’s where I was hiding when they found me.”

“Be quick.”

Standing wasn’t as easy as she thought. Her legs wouldn’t take her weight, and when she put her hands out to stop herself falling, she found them numb from being tied behind her back so long. Evie felt a strong hand reach around her waist and stop her from falling.

“Careful,” he said, and then released her.

Staying on her hands and knees, she crawled to the closet and carefully packed her bag, which had been ransacked while she was unconscious. Luckily, there was nothing worth stealing and everything seemed to be there. Shoving it back in quickly, not wanting to stay in the building any longer than she had to, she pulled the straps tight to secure it and hooked it on her shoulder, wincing with pain.

The alien helped her to her feet, and she watched the colours skim across his skin. Where he touched her, the colours were converted into some kind of electric charge, and she could sense his powerful emotions, although she could not read them. It wasn’t helped by the impassive expression on his face.

They went downstairs where he loosed her arm. Evie was thankful that her feet remained steady and her legs now worked, so she could walk across the warehouse unaided. By the time they reached the outside door, the colours had gone from his skin and he looked almost human. His skin tone now matched that of a healthy man, not that there were many of those left on Earth anymore.

“Thank you again. I thought they were going to kill me.”

“Then you should have been more careful and not let them catch you in the first place.” Another alien appeared from outside, watching her critically as she walked towards him. She wanted to hide from his gaze; it contained the same dislike that Harley’s had. Evie felt vulnerable and afraid. She wanted to shrink back against the first alien and feel safe and protected again.

“Ishk, meet Evie. Evie, meet your prize.”

Evie’s world swam once more, but she held onto it. So this was the alien who would be her … what? Boyfriend, not husband, Karalians didn’t do weddings, as far as she knew. Whatever he was, he looked bad tempered.

But when Okil pulled out a gun and pointed it at him, it seemed his bad mood wouldn’t be a problem for much longer.

Chapter Five – Ishk

He was right, Okil had been sent here to kill him for what he had done to the Hier Ruler’s female. Slowly he raised his hands, but before they were above his head there was a loud bang; the female covered her ears and screamed. But he felt no pain. Maybe that was what happened when you died. Okil must have aimed at Ishk’s heart.

Then something hit the back of his neck, something warm and sticky. Turning quickly, he witnessed a would-be assassin falling towards him, his face a mess where the bullet had exploded on impact.

Surprise was the predominant emotion to hit him. Not because the man had been behind him, his senses should have told him that, it was more because the man with his face blown off had a knife in his hand. He would have killed Ishk if Okil had delayed, and therein lay the puzzle.

“I would have thought you would have let him kill me,” Ishk said, his voice curious.

Okil lowered the weapon to his side. “I thought so too.”

“Then why save me?” Ishk asked.

“Because if I did, Evie would have no prize and she would have to stay here. I don’t think that would be good for her health.”

Ishk laughed. “So you saved me, to save her. I’m surprised you don’t think she would be better off with those of her own species than with me. You know I don’t want her.”

Okil put himself between Ishk and the human, his face close to Ishk’s. “Do you have no decency, Ishk? You are being offered the chance to breed a son of your own. She is the willing vessel. Why can’t you be civil?”

“Because they are not a civilised species, Okil. It seems you are too blinded by them to see it. But I will save us from the blight of humans.” He looked at the pitiful creature standing behind Okil, her face dazed. “What did you do, choose the most pathetic of all humans for me? So that I would feel what? Sympathy?”

Okil could not control the colours; they skimmed across his face and Ishk knew he had hit on the answer. He looked once more at the woman, saw her dirty face, bruised and swollen. Then he wrinkled his nose.

“Damn it, she stinks. You might find it amusing to give me something so degrading to breed with. But it only hardens my resolve. I will put a child in her belly and then she will go to the breeding house. I am not weak like the others, Okil. And she will know that. I am strong, and she will obey me, although it seems she has no fight in her anyway.”

With that, he turned and left the building, kicking the dead man with his foot. He wanted to spit on him, but he didn’t want to leave a biological trace of them being there. Behind him, Okil went upstairs and placed the gun in the hand of the other man. Then he came back, wrapped his arm around Evie and guided her out. He didn’t speak to Ishk, and the woman did not make eye contact. His authority was intact and he still believed he would return to Karal and take over as leader.

The woman evoked no feelings, no emotions, in him other than disgust. He would breed with her, think of her as a creature whose only use was to conceive his child. There was no way she could make him feel anything but loathing.

Chapter Six – Evie

Her ears still rang from the close proximity to the gunshot as they walked through the quiet streets. Night covered them, cloaking them as they headed away from the warehouse, back past the houses with their lights now dimmed and across town to the airfield.

With legs that became heavier with each step, she let her brain shut down and her body act on autopilot. This had to be the worst day of her life. No, this did not beat the day her parents were killed by three trespassers for the food in their garden. But it was close, and her mind didn’t want to cope with it anymore; it just wanted to sleep and wake up and have this be her past.

There was always tomorrow, but she had long since lost the hope that tomorrow would be better. And the alien who walked in front of her, so aloof, gave her no reason to expect her hope to be restored once she left Earth.

“Can we slow down?” She had to ask. They had been walking for ten minutes; the aliens had much longer legs and were not half starved, as she was. Her energy was gone and her side hurt where she had been kicked. Blood had soaked through her sweater and trickled down her back from the wound in her neck.

“We are in a hurry. I want to get off this planet as soon as we can,” the alien who was to be her prize said aggressively.

“We can go a little slower,” the one called Okil said. “Are you hurt?”

“Just bruises. I don’t think they broke my ribs.” She didn’t want to look at the bruises covering her body, but she knew they were bad and every footstep now made her wince. Her breathing was becoming more laboured.

“You forget you left a gun in the hand of those animals. We need to hurry in case they come after us.”

“The police have been alerted, Ishk. He will not leave that building alive.” As if on cue, a police vehicle could be heard in the distance.

“They will kill him?” Evie wasn’t sure how she thought about that. Life was so precious to her, even in these times.

“I hope so. He has a gun and there is a dead body. We cannot risk this happening again. They would have killed you, and possibly us if they were forced to.” Okil smiled gently. “You are safe though, Evie.”

She looked up at Ishk, his back so straight, so hard and cold. “Am I?”

Talking became harder, and she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Although that became more of a skipping action as her left ankle became painful. By the time she looked up and saw the antennae of the airport, there was not a single part of her that didn’t hurt. She wished now that they had killed her. At least this would be over.

Fighting tears, she waited, shivering, although a fine sheen of sweat covered her. There was not much of herself left to give as she walked, one small step at a time, up the ramp into the spaceship. None of it registered with her anymore. All she saw were lights which hurt her eyes and an array of instruments. What they were for, she had no idea.

Okil guided her to a seat and she slumped down, ignoring the concerned look on his face. If she looked half as bad as she felt, she was surprised they didn’t throw her back out. Who would want to create a child with her?

That just about summed up the expression on Ishk’s face. His lip curled in disgust as he made his way into another part of the small ship. There he sat down and began flicking switches, making the spaceship vibrate.

Okil moved to another set of instruments, one that displayed images. What she saw shocked her. It was a replay of what happened in the warehouse. He played it through and then changed it, so that instead of Okil firing the gun, it was Harley.

He turned and saw her watching but didn’t seem concerned. “We must protect ourselves. No news of this can reach the people of Earth.”

“You are not above the law. Or do you have some kind of diplomatic immunity?”

Okil came and sat in the seat beside her, and she thought he was going to threaten her, maybe even give her a few more bruises. But apart from the slight wrinkle of his nose, he spoke to her kindly. “It is not to protect me. It is to protect the Earth and all of your people. My species are on a knife-edge. A revolt may take place at any time, and instead of females being chosen by the lottery, they will be taken by force. Then the ties between our worlds will be severed. I am trying to stop that from happening.”

She thought about what he said, trying to figure out how trustworthy he was. “I understand, Okil.”

And she did, because she could see the differences between the two Karalians. Okil was calm and kind, while Ishk had an undercurrent of what she could only call hatred, hatred that was directed towards Evie.

“Are you ready to leave Earth?” Okil leaned across and added, “We need to put your seatbelt on.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Okil.”

“When we get to the space station we can get you cleaned up. And once we arrive on Karal, I will make sure your wounds are properly treated.”

“They are only bruises, they will fade.” Evie only wished her memories would fade too, that her life on Earth would be swept from her memory. But as they lifted off from Earth she wasn’t sure if her new memories would be any better. She was about to be thrust into a world she had no idea about. A pawn between two fighting factions. Ishk did not like her, did not want her, and looked as though he might be just as cruel as any human she had ever met. Or worse.

Yes, she had learned that each day could be worse than the last. Looking back on her life, each new chapter had started off as hopeful, only to turn out worse than the last too. So Karal might very well be nothing like the haven everyone thought it was.

As the Earth dropped far below them, she tried to take in the beauty of it. From this distance it still looked like the blue planet, only now the blue was muted. The vibrancy once captured in old photographs, gone. After clearing the atmosphere, they headed towards the moon, and she thought they were going to land there, but they flew past it. Ahead were some flashing beacons, simply hanging in space, guiding them forward, but into what?

The spaceship suddenly slipped into something else, full of colour, full of light. A wormhole: she had heard this was how they travelled, but nothing could have prepared her for the beauty of it all. It gave her hope; this could be a new beginning, a new birth for her. She would try her hardest to please Ishk; surely he couldn’t hate her just for being human?

Letting her mind clear, she watched the scene before her, the wonders of the universe unfolding before her eyes. How could this much beauty exist? Spiralling stars, clouds of colourful gases, banked up as high as she could see. Then they were spinning around and around, her stomach churning and she was glad she hadn’t eaten, or else she might have been sick.

“Do you like it?” Okil asked.

“It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Do you ever get tired of this journey? Or is this the first time you have been through here too? I mean, apart from travelling to Earth.”

“I have been to Earth so many times I have lost count, but I never tire of the journey. Look ahead now, we are about to exit the wormhole and you will be able to see Karal beneath us.”

He pointed, and she followed his gaze to catch a glimpse of a small planet below them, not so unlike earth, only its atmosphere was tinged with purple. “That is Karal? It is amazing.” She looked at Okil. “You are very lucky to have a home like that, Okil.”

“We know, it’s why some of our people fight so hard against the change that is coming. But we have to change to survive; it is a hard fact for some of my people to comprehend. Ah, here is the space station, we have to dock here and go through decon’ before we go down to the planet.”

“Oh.” She had no idea what decon’ was.

“We all have to,” Okil reassured her. “To protect Karal. I will see if I can find you some clean clothes too. I think that yours might be too much even for our technology.”

She looked down at her clothes. They looked more like rags, they were so threadbare. “I’m sorry. They are all I have.”

“It’s all right, Evie. Once we are on Karal I’ll get some more organised for you.”

“Is that your job? Looking after the lottery winners?”

“No. Ishk should look after you, but just in case he doesn’t get round to it, I’ll do it for you.”

“He doesn’t like me, does he?” she asked, looking over to Ishk, who was using the controls to dock the ship.

“He doesn’t know you, Evie. He hasn’t taken the time to learn anything about humans. And yet he has already labelled them as not worth saving.” He frowned. “I shouldn’t have said that. But just be patient with him. Our Hier Ruler, Lytril, who is our leader, thought he should be given a female in the hope that you may change his mind. Especially when you conceive his child.”

“No pressure, then?” Although they could all tell the Karalians had made a mistake, thinking she could change Ishk’s mind. She repelled him, that much was obvious.

“None. Be yourself, let him breed with you and then … well, you can always go and live away from him in the breeding house. I will make sure it is prepared.”

She smiled. “You’re saying he is a hopeless case.”

“Unfortunately I think he may be.”

Chapter Seven – Ishk

The docking went smoothly and as soon as the doors opened, he was out of the space cruiser. The smell of the human was almost too much to bear. He would order his space cruiser to go through a thorough decon’ too.

Behind him, Okil was helping the female out of her seat. She was not in good shape and once more he thought that Lytril, Hier Ruler, must have picked her in order to disgrace him. Her face was swollen, and she had dried blood on her chin. When she moved towards him, he could see her fingernails were filled with dirt and her clothes were in tatters.

Surely a member of the Hier Council should have been awarded a human those on Earth called a pent, not this skim. Damn, she couldn’t even be described as a skim. She was not a bottom feeder, she was even beneath that. His lips curled in disgust, a reaction that seemed to occur every time he saw her. And he had to fight to keep the colours from appearing over his skin, his revulsion was so strong.

“This way. I hope our decontamination rooms can get rid of all that dirt.” He led the way, pressing a button to open a door, while Okil disappeared to another part of the space station. Left alone with her, he realised it would be up to him to tell her what to do. “Take off your clothes.”

“Here?” She looked around, taking in the different instruments and the open clear glass in the door. “But you can see me?”

“So? You are going to be in my bed tonight. What difference is there if I see you now?” His voice carried its usual impatience.

“It’s not the same,” she said weakly, her eyes filling with tears.

He sighed. “Do you wish me to tear them from your body?”

She looked at him, and whatever she saw registered in her mind and she understood that he was the superior creature here. Slowly she began to remove her sweater, clutching it to her as she looked for somewhere to put it.

“Drop it to the floor. They will have to be incinerated. We cannot risk you wearing them on Karal. I cannot begin to think of what disease they would carry.”

She dropped them to the floor, and then proceeded to undo her pants; they fell to the floor, too. Now he could see the full extent of the bruises down her thighs. A part of him awoke. The part that told him this was a female and she should be protected. But he didn’t want to be the one to protect her. He wanted nothing to do with her.

“And the rest. Hurry. I need to get back to Karal.”

She turned her back to him and undid her shirt, leaving her standing in only a bra and panties. Bruises vividly covered her skin, if he hadn’t known she was a human, he might have mistaken her for a Karalian whose emotions were stuck, leaving the colours permanently visible.

Going forward, he went to her, examining the full extent of the damage. “Turn around.”

Hesitating, she did as he asked, keeping her eyes down. On her left shoulder were three round marks. “What are these? Birth defects?”

She shook her head. “Burns.”

“You did these to yourself?”

“No. The man in the warehouse did them to me. At least I think it was him.”

“Who was he to you? A family member, boyfriend?”

“He was no one. Just some jerk who thought he was better than me, and had more right to my body than I did.”

Ishk studied her. Was she implying that was what he was about to do when they mated? But she had entered the lottery; she had agreed to be his.

“Take off the rest of your clothes.” He had a sudden compulsion to see her naked. Even though it was a requirement for being given a female, he had chosen not to undergo the simulation. He had no real idea what a naked female human really looked like.

The female tilted her chin upwards, and he thought he saw defiance there, but then she reached up and unclasped her bra. Without breaking eye contact with him, she let it drop to the floor. Ishk wanted to hold her gaze, but a deep desire to see her body wormed its way into his head. He could feel it, and he began to understand that these females were dangerous. They had a control over the Karal, like a drug that was emitted from their skin.

But he resisted in the only way he knew how. Instead of looking at her, he turned and walked away. “I will send someone to deal with you.” But the thought of another man seeing her naked body made him feel a rush of jealousy.

Shaken, Ishk went to another decon’ room, wanting the process to strip every reminder of her from his body. But it would never erase the picture of her from his mind, or the need for her from his body. His cock was hard, another sign of her effect on him. But Ishk had self-control. He would overcome.

Chapter Eight – Evie

“Thank you, Okil,” Evie said, trying not to let him see how shaken she was.

“I’ll place the clean clothes on here.” He moved to put some new clothes on a counter, keeping his eyes averted from her naked body. “If you place your old clothes in here. I will take them to the incinerator.”

“Sure.” She took the box from his outstretched hand, finding it sweet that he tried to respect her privacy. “Done. Now what?”

“Sit in the chair. I’ll go outside and close the door, the process will start. It might take a while; don’t panic. And I’ll be back when I’m done. Once the green light comes on over there, you can dress, but the door won’t open. So don’t panic,” he repeated.

“OK. I will try not to panic.” She still felt nervous, but Okil put her at ease and she wished he was her mate rather than Ishk. But she was beginning to realise that she no longer had much choice in what happened in her life.

Nothing new there, then, she thought as she sat back and closed her eyes.

***

An alarm made her jump. She must have fallen asleep. Lifting her head, she looked around. The green light was flashing, just as Okil had said. She got up and went to the counter where he had placed the clothes. Picking them up, she could see they would probably drown her; Karalians were all at least six foot, with big, toned muscles.

The shirt, or maybe it was more of a tunic, wasn’t so bad. But it came down to her knees. The pants were just not going to work. There was no way she could walk in them, they were simply too long. Hoping there was no rule about bare legs on Karal, she opted to wear the tunic as a dress. Going back to her seat, she sat down and waited, the time stretching out as she inspected her new, clean body.

How exactly the decon’ worked she wasn’t sure, but the dirt was gone from her skin, her fingernails looked clean, the muck seemed to have vanished. When she ran her fingers through her hair, it too felt clean, but it also felt dry, as if it needed a wash and some conditioner. She wondered if such things existed on the all-male world of Karal. Maybe she would find out from the other human women who had won the lottery previously, or were they scattered so far apart across the planet she would never see another human again?

A sound alerted her to the presence of someone outside the door. Sitting up, she saw it was Okil, now dressed in similar clothes to those he had brought her. Soft cotton tunic and pants, they fitted him perfectly, emphasising his muscles in just the right places. She was relieved when he opened the door and let her out, yet also worried. What was going to happen when they landed on the planet and she was left alone with the other one, Ishk?

“Ready to see your new home?” Okil asked.

“Yes. Is this OK?” she asked, turning slowly around, her body still incredibly stiff and sore.

“Perfect,” Okil said smiling.

Behind him another voice could be heard. “It is time, Okil. Bring her.”

She followed Okil to where Ishk was waiting. He too was dressed in a tunic and pants, the fabric enhancing his muscles, the light colour enhancing his brooding dark looks. Dark brown hair, flecked with golden tones, while his eyes were a deep hazel, but they were not soft, they only relayed his impatience.

Evie tried to hide behind the big friendly Karalian. She wasn’t exactly scared of Ishk, but he did make her feel uneasy, and she had to carefully control her thoughts or they kept slipping into imagining just how bad it was going to be later, when she was in his bed, alone and with no one to help her if her hurt her.

But she couldn’t hide forever, and as the door slid open and they went back onto the space ship, she felt his eyes on her. Unable to resist, she looked at him, trying to look defiant, but once more quaking under his glare.

“You are only half dressed,” he stated.

“The pants didn’t fit me.”

“You will not leave the space cruiser until we reach my home. You should be covered up.”

“Ishk, she is covered up, down to her knees. Many Earth women wear more revealing clothes.” Okil smiled reassuringly at Evie as he spoke.

“I do not care what other Earth women wear. She is mine and I do not want every other Karalian to be looking at her.” As if that settled the matter, Ishk went to the control deck and Evie took her place next to Okil.

“I guess at least he cares,” she joked, but she felt uneasy.

“He’ll come around. We have not had females on our planet since our mothers died. Most don’t know how to react.”

“He is ashamed of me, isn’t he?” she asked frankly.

“He has no reason to be. You are beautiful, Evie, now all that dirt is off. And you smell better too.”

“I keep telling myself if I survived Earth, I can survive Karal. But now I’m not so sure.”

“It will all turn out alright. Trust me.”

And then Evie turned away from him and looked out of the window, because his mouth might have said one thing but his eyes said another. She might just regret not being killed by the men in the warehouse, even before the day was over.

Karal grew bigger and bigger as they descended towards the planet. She could see trees in the distance and signs of life all around them. The colour of the grass was vibrant, and she saw animals moving across what looked like a savannah. Her parents had kept a few hens in the back garden for eggs, and once, when she was young, they had a kitten. It was one thing she missed above all else when she moved to the city, that there was only enough food for humans, no one had pets anymore, and even the rats had to compete with humans for scraps.

Ishk steered them down to what looked like a runway. It was a smooth landing. She wouldn’t have expected anything else from the alien; she had a feeling he was more than a little conceited and wanted to be seen as the best at everything. That was the undertone of his comments about Evie: she wasn’t good enough.

Once they were firmly on the ground, she was surprised when the spaceship was steered out of the complex, instead of them disembarking. “Don’t we have to switch to another vehicle?” she asked Okil.

“No, these space cruisers are able to cope with all altitudes and terrain. One vehicle for everything—space travel, crossing water, and driving on the land. As they’re solar powered, they go for miles on the sun’s rays.”

“I see. That is clever. Your species must be very good at invention.”

Okil laughed. “Not really. We learn from other species we encounter and use their technology where we can. Sometimes we refine it.”

“I see. So what happens now?” Her eyes returned to the view out of the window.

“We go to the tower.” He pointed towards a large building in the distance; a spire, similar to a cathedral, rose above it. “I will leave the cruiser and then Ishk will take you to his house.”

“I see.” She didn’t ask any more, trying to watch the new world as it was unveiled to her. However, it was hard to get excited about it when her only companion was going to be the sullen alien who hated her.

The great tower came into view, tall and impressive, and she wondered if it had been built by one of Ishk’s ancestors to spread fear into his fellow men. Around the base of the tower was a large collection of buildings, with other cruisers parked outside. Karalians commuted too, she smiled, not so different to humans of the past.

Okil rose from his seat. “I hope you enjoy our planet, Evie. I won’t forget the clothes I promised.” Then he left. As the door slid shut behind him, she had never felt more alone. The Karalian, Ishk, did not turn around, and did not even acknowledge her existence. Instead, he headed away from the tower, speeding over empty roads, taking her away from Okil.

Whatever happened now, she was entirely in his hands. A thought that gave her no thrill. All she could hope was that he would give her some understanding and patience while she tried to get used to these abrupt changes, but she doubted his answer would be anything less than, you entered the lottery, what did you expect? As he held her down on the bed and forced her to have sex with him.

Chapter Nine – Ishk

What was he supposed to do with her now they were alone? He accelerated, taking them as fast as he could to his house where he would not have to be in such close proximity to her. His body seemed to be acutely aware of hers, his erection still uncomfortable at the thought of seeing her naked again.

I will prevail, he thought, grateful when he saw his house appear in the distance.

Although part of the Hier Council, he was expected to live in a small house, they all were. Resources were precious, not something to be wasted on big houses, not when they spent so many years living alone. Although, that would soon change when she gave him a child. All he had to do was put one inside her womb.

Now he did wish he had gone through the human reproduction simulation. But he had watched enough animals mate, he was sure he could stick his cock inside her and fill her with his seed. Certainly, he was hard enough, and when they pulled up outside his house, he thought that it might be best to take her to his bed now, make her kneel before him and fuck her.

Get her out of his system so that she didn’t consume his thoughts, which was what she was doing right now.

Turning to face her, he took in the fear that flickered across her face, only to be hidden behind a soft smile. She was trying to charm him, to ensnare him with her feminine wiles. This female was going to be sorely mistaken if she thought he was going to be that much of a pushover.

“This way,” he said, opening the door, waiting for the ramp to go down, while watching her pick up the bag with her belongings in it and then come to stand beside him.

Unable to bear being so close to her, he went down the ramp before it touched the ground, jumping the last two feet to land easily on the ground. The female waited, and then walked awkwardly towards him. She was in some discomfort, but he could not let himself soften. For all he knew she might be putting it on for his benefit. She had already wrapped Okil around her finger; he would not be her next victim. He had watched them, seeing them flirt with each other. Well she would learn that Ishk was the only one who would take her to bed. Faithfulness was mandatory.

Until Ishk tired of her and she conceived his child, then she would be sent to the breeding house. If Okil still wanted her, he would be welcome to his turn. It would show Okil that his place was always behind a member of the Hier Council. Maybe by then Ishk would be the Hier Ruler. Yes, that had a good ring to it. Ishk, Hier Ruler of Karal.

Once he got the female settled, he would go to the tower and begin to spread discontent. Then he would come back and use this female’s body for his own gratification. That was what she was here for, to please him.

Chapter Ten – Evie

Evie had seen pictures of lions and tigers, predators long since extinct from Earth. The look in Ishk’s eyes reminded her of them. And she was his prey. She should be pleased. That was the sole reason for her being here; if he didn’t have sex with her, then presumably she would be shipped back to earth.

As she followed him to his house, taking in big lungfuls of clean air, she knew she didn’t want that. Karal was where she wanted to live; there was beauty and life here. Even if it meant being degraded by Ishk?

That was something she couldn’t answer. Having avoided becoming a prostitute on Earth, it did seem hypocritical to be about to become one on Karal for the price of clean air and food. Food. Her stomach rumbled audibly, and she felt faint with hunger. It had been so long since she had eaten a proper meal. She had lost all track of time, but she imagined they had been travelling for at least half a day. She needed to eat.

Ishk opened the door and went inside, leaving her standing like a fool. She felt as though she should be invited in, or maybe he had a kennel or outhouse he planned to make her sleep in. Whichever it was, she felt uneasy.

“What are you doing?” he asked suspiciously, coming back to the door.

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted me in your house.”

“Where else are you doing to go?” he asked crossly. “I don’t have time for games.”

“I know you don’t like me, Ishk, and I know you probably wish I was more to your taste, whatever that is. But do you have to be so rude?” She knew she would be better to keep her mouth shut, but she hadn’t done anything wrong. He really was a jerk.

Reeling from her words, he took a step towards her. Evie cringed, she knew she did, ever so slightly, because unlike the men from Earth, he was big, and if he hit her, it would most likely break her nose. Colours skimmed across his face and she longed to be able to reach out and touch them, to see if they she could feel the current of electricity that carried them, under his skin.

“Please, come inside.”

At that moment, she wanted to be the person doing the hitting, but he wasn’t worth it. Ishk was a bully and the more time she spent with him, the more she just didn’t like him. Perhaps all Karalians were like Ishk. Okil might be the only decent Karalian on the whole planet—no wonder he was sent back to Earth so often. He was a good ambassador, whereas Ishk totalled every reason to not enter the lottery.

“Thank you,” she said evenly, stepping over the threshold into a cool hallway. From there he led her into a small sitting room, which overlooked a beautiful garden. So full of life, so full of colour. “I love your garden. Do you tend it yourself?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know. You don’t seem the type?”

He looked bemused. “The type? Pleases explain what type you think I am.”

“Well…” She knew she had dug herself a nice hole. Smiling at her own joke, she said, “Gardening usually requires patience.”

“I am a patient man. The Phellus, for example,” he said, pointing out of the window to a tall plant that had new leaves on. “Takes five years until the first bloom. I was worried I would miss it while I was away on Earth. See the bud on top of the stem?”

“Yes.”

“That will be opening any day now. I would call that patience.”

“Perhaps. A gardener also has to accept that not all plants grow perfectly, that sometimes it is those imperfection that make a garden.”

“Imperfections? I see what you are trying to do. You are trying to persuade me that your … imperfections are charming, that I should learn to love them.”

She smiled widely now. “No, Ishk, if I may call you Ishk, or do you have a title you would prefer such a lowly animal such as me to call you?” He shook his head and a hint of her humour was mirrored in his eyes. “So, Ishk, I realised when I first met you that there was never going to be anything I could do to make you like me.”

“Perceptive.”

“Not really, you don’t hide your disgust of me. I am sorry I don’t please you. But I believe once I conceive your child I will be taken somewhere else.”

His eyes narrowed. “Yes, the breeding house.”

“Then if we both try to get through the unpleasant act of making a child, we can then live our lives apart. You will probably never see me again.”

He laughed. “You are different from the others. Or is this some kind of game that Earth women play? Push me away, tell me you don’t want me and then hope I beg like a dog for you to stay?”

Evie sighed. “I think we should both be honest. I entered the lottery to escape life on Earth. Look at me, Ishk. What do you see?”

He didn’t answer.

“I understand why you don’t want me. I know what I am to you. In the same way that I understand why I don’t want to be with a man like you. But we are supposed to make this child, that is the deal. So let’s do it. I just want some peace and to be safe.” She felt her tears welling in her eyes and tried to brush them away.

“You are lying,” he said.

“No, Ishk, I am not. You can think what you want of me. I don’t care. I am not here to tell you that humans are worth saving, because you seem to have already made your mind up. I have no idea of the politics of your planet, and I don’t care. I’m too tired to care.” More tears. “Damn it.” She turned away from him and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of the tunic.

“You are right. I do not want you. I want a child because it is my duty. For that purpose I was matched with you.” He moved into the next room, a small kitchen and opened cupboards getting food out and beginning to prepare it. “You will eat and then rest. I have work to do and will return later. Then we will … make a child. All I ask, is your word that you will not leave the house while I am out. If you do you will be punished.”

The way he looked at her told her he might just enjoy seeing her punished.

“I give you my word.”

Evie watched him work, her mouth watering as he took strange foods, chopped them up and then expertly turned them into a dish that smelled so delicious, she found herself clutching the side of the counter to stop herself from grabbing the spoon from him.

When it was ready, he instructed her to take the plates and cutlery outside and place them on a table facing the garden. Then he brought the food out and they ate together, although he didn’t say a word to her, and apart from thanking him for the food, which she tried not to shovel into her mouth too quickly, she didn’t speak to him.

When they were finished, she tiredly got up and helped him clear the table. He washed the dishes and she dried them, leaving them on the counter so that he could put them away. Once the kitchen was clean, he took her to the bedroom.

The enormity of the situation hit her as she looked at the bed. Although all she wanted to do was lie down and sleep, she knew that soon, he would return and expect her to have sex with him.

“Bathroom is here.” He opened a door off the bedroom and showed her a bathroom, which kind of looked self-explanatory, and then he turned to face her. “Remember, do not leave the house.”

“Don’t worry. I think I only have enough strength in me to get to the bed.”

“Then rest until I return.”

He left her alone. She stood waiting for him to leave the house, feeling awkward to be in his bedroom. However, as soon as the door closed and she heard the cruiser start up, she limped to the bed, lay down, still fully clothed, and although she needed the bathroom, she couldn’t face getting up and walking the short distance. Her hunger satisfied, warm and safe, her eyes closed and she slept properly for the first time in five years.

Chapter Eleven – Ishk

Thoughts of her were still in his head as he drove back to the tower. He planned to speak to one of the other council members and find out what news there was for support to have the human females all sent to the breeding house. Before he left for Earth there had been a small but strong following who did not want the females from Earth to pollute Karal.

In their minds, the females should be shut away and only used for mating purposes. Which was still his intention towards Evie. He sighed. He must not think of her by name. She was no more than a vessel for breeding the next generation of Karalians. He must never forget that.

Parking his cruiser, he went in to the tower, passing the guards who knew better than to challenge him. He was heading to the lower chambers when a voice called his name.

“Hier Ruler. I did not expect to see you here so late.” Ishk turned back to greet his superior.

“I could say the same about you, Ishk. Don’t tell me you have tired of your female already.”

“No. She is sleeping.”

“You have already performed the mating with her?” Lytril, Hier Ruler of Karal, asked.

As if it was his business.

Ishk shook his head. “No, Hier Ruler. As Okil has presumably already informed you, she is a little beaten up.”

“In what way?” Lytril was either very good at this game or truly had no clue.

“She had been taken by two humans and held captive. They planned to ransom her to us. As the lottery winner they believed she would be of value. They subdued her forcefully, for want of a better phrase.”

Lytril came closer. “I have not read Okil’s report yet, or seen him; I was in a meeting with the Hier Commander when you returned. Was it dealt with?”

“Okil terminated one of the persons involved; the other was framed for the murder. We believe he has since been terminated by the Earth police.”

“Good,” Lytril said, looking hard at Ishk. “The female. You have not softened, then, Ishk?”

“No. Hier Ruler, the female is not to my taste. I will mate with her as is my duty, and then she will be sent to the breeding house. There she will remain until the child is born. What you do with her after that is up to you.”

“I thought your time on Earth might have given you some insight into humans.”

“It did, which is why she will be going to the breeding house. They are vermin, Hier Ruler. She has given me her word she will not leave my house. When she goes to the breeding house she, along with any others, must be detained. I will insist they are not given free run of our planet.”

“I understand that you do not look on them favourably. She will go to the breeding house if she conceives in the next few weeks. After that the females are to be allowed to live on the island of Grenvet. You know I have given my word on that.”

“I know,” Ishk said, keeping the anger from his voice. “It is I who am tasked with relocating any of our people who do not wish to live with the females in such close proximity.”

The Hier Ruler bowed. “Then I will let you get on with your work.”

Ishk smiled, his thoughts on the Hier Ruler under control so that the colours did not race across his skin. But he knew that there needed to be a change in the way things worked on Karal. He went off to meet his fellow conspirator; he had no intention of allowing Grenvet to be violated by human females.

***

By the time he reached his house his mood was black. The Hier Ruler had made him uneasy, and then the meeting with the other Hier Council member who he thought he could count on had been, well … odd. There was an undercurrent of distrust between them now. If Ishk didn’t know better, he would think someone had either got to him, or made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

And as he opened the door, Ishk could find only one person to blame. His female. Now, he planned to make her pay, he had tension in his body to release. Normally a long run across the open grasslands would be the thing to get rid of his bad mood. But the thought of the little human female in his bed waiting for him had given him an erection, and it seemed a pity to let it go to waste.

He opened the door, expecting to see her in his bed. However, his bed was empty. She had run. Despite everything he said, his threat of punishment, she had run. Now he would be faced with even more embarrassment: the very council member who wanted to keep these females locked up had lost his on the first night. His mood worsened when he realised she had no tag to enable them to track her, either.

Maybe he could track her himself just as his ancestors had tracked wild beasts across the open plains. Going to his closet, he pulled open the door; he would get his running shoes and a flashlight and try to hunt her down.

But as he stepped forward to pick up his shoes, his foot came into contact with something soft and warm. She hadn’t run; she was asleep on his closet floor.

Chapter Twelve – Evie

The need to visit the bathroom had woken her. In a daze, she had figured out how the toilet worked and then gone back to bed. But the enormity of where she was and what had happened hit her and she lay awake listening to all the strange sounds around her. Animals she had never seen moved around outside, the sounds unknown, conjuring up images of terror.

Evie had done what she always did when she needed to feel safe; she had moved to the closet. Careful not to damage any of Ishk’s things, she had made a nest for herself, and, with a blanket for a pillow, she had curled up in a ball and slept. Deep, dark nothingness took hold of her and pulled her down into its safe cocoon.

Until something struck her.

It took a few moments for her to realise where she was. Then she saw Ishk looming over her. Instinctively she moved backwards as fast as she could, a wall preventing her from moving too far out of his reach.

Ishk was only a dark silhouette against the open closet. His expression unreadable, but across his skin colours skimmed, fading and then resurfacing, making him look ethereal. If angels existed, then this was what they would look like. But she had to remind herself he wasn’t an angel, and he was angry.

“Evie. What are you doing? I thought you had run away.” His looming bulk came towards her and she pressed herself back further, trying to evade him. Pausing, he let out a breath and the colours became more muted. “Evie. Did something happen?”

She shook her head, not knowing if he could see her. But her mouth refused to make a sound. Be quiet, she had to be quiet, the words of her mother came back to her.

Ishk moved, slower now, until he was kneeling on all fours. He had something in his hand: a knife, a club? Maybe he was going to beat her for causing him trouble; he had promised her punishment if she left. Her mind reeled, telling her it was OK. Yet Okil’s words came back to her, this man didn’t like humans, didn’t like Evie, and would no doubt think nothing of teaching her a lesson with his fists. He was, as far as she could tell, a bully.

Yet when he spoke his voice was softer, soothing, and the thing in his hand only a flashlight. He switched it on, and she had to blink until her eyes got used to its brightness. When she did, she saw a softness in his face, and she managed to stop the bone-shuddering fear from keeping a hold of her.

“I was scared.”

“Will you come out?” he asked, and offered her his hand.

She looked at his hand and then at his face. Was this a trick?

“I won’t hurt you. But you can’t sleep in here. Come out and sleep on the bed.”

She reached out and placed her hand in his, the colours of his skin shooting down to coalesce where her skin touched his, and she saw the shock on his face. Ishk helped her out and then released her, brushing her off as though she were a bug about to bite him. He had felt it too.

Too weary to give it much thought, she obediently got under the covers when he lifted them up. With only a moment’s hesitation he then climbed in too, although she was sure he would rather have spent the night in another room, as far away from her as possible. Which is how he slept on the bed, on the edge, his back to her. Yet he gave her a sense of security, because no one on Karal, not even the fiercest of beasts, would go up against this man.

***

She woke to bright sunlight and the smell of cooking. Unsure of how long she had slept, she got up, wincing at the pain in her ribs. A night’s sleep hadn’t helped, only made her stiffer. Holding onto the wall, as she made her way to the kitchen, her face contorted in pain, she was caught off guard by how peaceful and calm Ishk looked as he cooked.

Only when he looked up at her did his expression harden, although not so much as it had before. Today he didn’t hate her quite so much, but then the day was only just beginning. Or was it?

“I thought you were going to sleep all day,” he said mildly accusingly.

“I have no idea of what time it is. You should have woken me. Is there anything I can do to help?” She put her hand out to reach for the counter as the other hand left the wall. Everything hurt.

“No, you may go and sit outside; I don’t think I even trust you to carry the plates.” He returned to his stirring without another word.

The sun beckoned, the sky so bright, tinged with violet, she refused to let his mood dampen hers. Despite the way her body hurt, she felt lighter, longing to explore this new world. New world. Her head span a little at that thought. Yesterday, when they arrived, she had been so tired she hadn’t really taken the time to acknowledge what exactly her new life here meant.

When she had entered the lottery, she had never envisaged winning, and then everything happened so fast. To be sat here, with a different sun … wait, suns. Two suns could be visible overhead, discs of light circling each other. Her world span and a dizziness threatened to make her faint.

She took in deep breaths of the clean alien air, and it made her feel better. Although nothing could take away the weird feeling of not belonging. This wasn’t her world; she was living with an alien. An alien who hated humans. It was all wrong, so very, very wrong.

As she glanced around, she saw the flowers and trees in the garden before her, colours, life, the sound of insects. Stiffly rising to her feet, she walked over the grass. At least that looked familiar, green shoots prickling her bare feet. Going to the brightest flowers, she bent down and sniffed in their perfumed pollen. Life.

She could do this. Instead of being afraid, she needed to find excitement and wonder. If only she could get Ishk to like her enough to show her the world around them.

“Food,” he said from behind her. She turned back to the table and hobbled to it, her legs becoming a little better the more she used them.

“You have a beautiful garden,” she said, sitting down.

“Thank you.” He began to eat. Small talk was not his thing.

Taking the hint, she ate in silence too; closing her eyes occasionally and tilting her head back feel the sun on her face. This was bliss, about as close to heaven as she could come to while still breathing. His food was wonderful, the ingredients fresh. Nothing canned or fake, the flavours exploding over her tongue.

She wanted to ask him about the vegetables he had cooked, what they were called, how did they grow. Then a sorrow descended on her; she remembered her parents and how they used to grow what they could in their tiny back yard. How they would have loved it here. To have the space to nurture and grow their own food, safe and secure from thieves.

“Don’t you like the food?” he asked, jolting her back to the present.

“Oh, yes, very much. Sorry, I got lost in a daydream.” She ate, savouring each mouthful, trying to ignore the way he watched her. At first, it was surreptitious glances, and then longer stares. She smiled. “Do I fascinate you, or repel you?”

He looked away guiltily. “Neither. I was looking at your bruises.”

She put her hand to her face. “I forgot how bad I must look.”

“I have something for you.” He left the table and came back with a steaming bowl of water, which contained some kind of herb, which smelled foul.

Carefully eating the last mouthful of food, feeling particularly full, but not wanting to waste anything in case the next meal was a long way off, she placed her fork down. “I don’t have to drink that do I?”

“No. It’s for your wounds.” He produced a roll of cloth, dipped it into the water and said, “This may sting, but then it will go numb, the effect will last for several hours.”

“OK.” He pressed the cloth to her face and she hissed with shock. “You weren’t wrong.” But then the pain of her bruises disappeared, her face no longer throbbing. All she wondered was whether he planned to use it on the whole of her body.

As the colours skimmed his hand, catching her eye, she understood now why he was helping her. He probably didn’t want to have sex with her if her bruises hurt. Not because he had sympathy for her—she wasn’t that naive—but because it would no doubt be distasteful if his human female cried out in pain as he was coming inside her.

Chapter Thirteen – Ishk

He had not planned to help her, or feel sympathy for her in any way. Even while he dabbed the ocatha remedy on her skin, he tried to fool himself. He was not thinking of how warm her flesh was. Or how the very scent of her made his cock harden. Instead, he was telling himself it was his duty to make her well so that he could breed with her and then send her away.

But the way her breasts heaved as he pressed the cloth to her lower ribs, where the bruising was still purple and blue, made him want to rip her clothes from her body and claim her. Did she feel the same way? He could see her watching his colours as they danced out of control across his skin. Did she want him? Or did he repulse her? Ishk had never asked himself that question before. Maybe she wanted this over with as quickly as possible because he repelled her.

For that reason, and only that reason—it was not because he wanted to mate with her—he dropped the cloth into the water and said, “This would be much easier if you stripped.”

With that, he took the bowl of water into the bedroom and waited for her. For a long moment, he thought she wasn’t going to obey him. Maybe he hadn’t made it clear it was an order not a request. And then he heard her, walking slowly, still a little stiff, but he could sense that wasn’t why she took her time.

She was scared of him. Scared of what an alien would do to her. Ishk was the kind of man who liked power, and yet it gave him no pleasure to see her afraid of him. His thoughts went back to those old familiar, feelings of his childhood. When he was alone and other boys bullied him because he didn’t know how to put a toy cruiser together. They didn’t care that he was from the farming belt, that a life in a town was all alien to him.

Ishk had made himself strong; he learned to stand up for himself. And when he moved back to the farming belt, he made sure that his people, those who worked the land, had a voice. His father would have been proud of him; he would have understood that greatness takes sacrifice.

Ishk only began to feel truly part of Karalian society when the others lost their fathers and became orphans. At that point, he was able to shine, because his sorrow and loss were long gone. That was the time he made his move to the council, and he wanted to make sure that no boy with dirt beneath his nails from hard work would ever be thought of as stupid again.

He knew that his people were the ones who kept the planet supplied with food and cloth. Things that were valuable commodities, and this was why he didn’t want the planet to be invaded by humans. The more females that came here, the harder his people would have to work.

He would never forget his roots. And he firmly believed that they could halve the number of females needed if they shared them. This was why his female would be the first to go to the breeding house, no matter how much she fascinated him.

Broken from his trance, he watched as she came to him. Then without being told again, she began to remove the tunic she wore. He held his breath, the blood draining from his organs, surging to his cock, which became the new centre of his being. His brain disengaging as he reached out and touched the curve of her breast.

Ishk was about to conquer his first human.

Chapter Fourteen – Evie

Walking to the bedroom, she had made a decision; she entered the lottery with the full knowledge of what was expected of her. Sex. The sooner they got it over with, the better. At the moment she was filled with a sense of dread as to what it would be like. The first time would be the worst, she was sure, so getting it out of the way would be best.

Hell, once she was pregnant she wouldn’t have to do it anymore anyway. She got the feeling Ishk didn’t intend to keep her around, and the look of distaste on his face made it quite clear he was doing this because he had to, not because he wanted to. So yes, sex right now was the best way forward for both of them.

Only problem is, he scared her a little too much. And her sense of arousal was so low, she doubted he would even be able to enter her. Unless he forced her. Swallowing down her fear, she went to him, removing her clothes, just like he asked.

Unable to take her eyes off his hand, she watched as he touched her, his fingers outstretched, trembling slightly. The normally cool Ishk was out of his depth. Perhaps if she were experienced she would have been able to help him, but she knew nothing about sex. Other than he had to put his cock inside her and come.

“Remove the rest of your clothes,” he said.

The only clothes she had left from Earth were her bra and panties. It seemed funny that these were the last barriers between her and the alien. Finding the courage to unclasp her bra, she allowed her breasts to spill out. Expecting him to touch her again, she was surprised when he didn’t. Confused, she bent down and wriggled out of her panties, standing straight so that he could gaze on her body.

Ishk went back to the bowl of water and took up the cloth. Then he carefully and thoroughly bathed every bruise on her body. Somehow, the first tendrils of arousal awoke in her. His touch was at times gentle, always firm, but not unkind. She closed her eyes and tried to conjure up the image of someone else. Wasn’t there a StreamStar she had a crush on when she was a teenager?

Yes. She pictured him now. Not too tall, no human men really were, but he was thicker set than most humans, some muscles, and long hair, golden, like the sun. She imagined him touching her, kissing her skin. Deep inside her, her arousal grew. She didn’t need much, she just needed to be wet, ready for him.

Finished with her body, he went back to the bowl and put the cloth in it before leaving the bedroom and taking it to the kitchen. Was that it? Had she mistaken him? Wasn’t he going to come back and fuck her?

That word. Fuck. An alien was going to fuck her, stick his cock in her and make alien babies with her. Would they burst out of her womb through the walls of her abdomen when they were ready to be born, or did they come out like normal babies?

Why didn’t they have females of their own, was it because they all died in childbirth?

Her courage failed her and she went to pick up her clothes. But Ishk had returned. She froze, and turned to face him.

“Kneel on the bed.”

Evie moved, her body no longer hurting, but she didn’t feel like celebrating that fact, not when she had no idea what was about to happen.

Climbing on the bed, she knelt, looking down at the white sheets covering it, while behind her he moved, undressing. She squeezed her eyes together and tried to recapture the image of her crush, but the faces of her parents came to her instead and her throat constricted in sorrow.

Come on, Evie, self-preservation, she told herself.

Dismissing her thoughts, she instead concentrated on the sensations flooding her body. A thrill of excitement, the wonder of the unknown. This she could work with. And when his weight made the bed dip, she did feel her desire awaken. Yet it was a different desire, one that wanted to be loved, not used. It would have to do.

His hand on her hip made her jump, his fingers dug a little deeper to keep her still. The other hand went to press her knees further apart and she cringed inwardly at the thought of him looking at her. She must be exposed to him, her sex in plain view. Would he touch her, or just thrust into her?

Turning her head, she looked at him, seeing the expression on his face and then watching when he reached forward and drew his finger along the length of her. She was dry, much too dry.

Ishk pushed the same finger into her, working it deep, her body responded, gripping him. In and out he worked it. Evie closed her eyes and told herself it was good, she was enjoying his touch but it was only half-true. He still terrified her.

He removed his fingers, and the large head of his cock pressed against her outer lips. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply, trying to stay relaxed. If she tensed up, this would really hurt, because he felt massive. Did they fit together, would he hurt her?

Evie was about to find out. He pressed forward and she heard him grunt as he breached her outer lips and entered her. Slowly he pushed forward, one fluid movement, until he broke her. A sharp pain filled her as he took her virginity, now she was his.

Ishk pulled back as she tensed and then thrust forward hard, filling her to the hilt. She cried out, wailing in fear at the fullness of him. He paused, his hands on either side of her hips, as he stilled. Her body fought to accommodate him, to yield for him. But it protested, her internal muscles aching and she wished he had put some of the ointment inside her sex to numb her internally.

When her cries subsided, he moved to pull out of her, but then he thrust back in again, hard and long. Ishk took her, long hard lunges in and out. Slowly he woke up the woman in her, and she felt her orgasm building. The feel of his cock grazing the inside of her sex was incredibly stimulating.

But she needed more. There was a peak, just out of reach and she didn’t know how to climb there, what it would take to touch it and then fall off it. Ishk moved faster, his hips jerking hard and his breathing became laboured. Then he reached his own peak. Inside her, his cock seemed to fuse with her body and she felt him pumping his seed into her. The potential of life, of an alien child being made, as he filled her.

When he finished, he released her and she sank down onto the bed, her arms and legs not able to hold her up. Ishk left her there, going to the bathroom and closing the door.

Evie tried to feel happy. She was still alive, and he hadn’t split her in two. Yet she felt empty, her body unsatisfied. But maybe that was all there ever would be with a man like Ishk.

Chapter Fifteen – Ishk

His world had shifted. Whatever human females did to Karalians, she had done to him. He wanted to hold her, to cradle her against his chest and kiss her. Kiss her. He splashed cold water onto his face. Why would he ever want to press his lips to any part of a human’s body?

Looking in the mirror, he tried to see if the change was noticeable, if the same face he had looked at for decades showed his apparent weakness. If it did, he could not see it. Slumping forward, he let the relief wash over him. Later he had to go to the tower for a council meeting. He would hate to have to look at the knowing faces of the Hier Ruler and the Hier Commander.

Shaking off the feelings of defeat, he stood straight, put his shoulders back and stared at himself. He was now going to walk out there as if this had not affected him. He could not let the female know of the profound effect she had on him.

He simply could not.

Opening the door, he saw she still lay on the bed, naked, her face buried into the pillow. She was crying. Was she crying? He couldn’t tell, he didn’t want to know.

The door was only ten paces away; he could reach it, without uttering a word. He didn’t care if she was well, if he had hurt her. It wasn’t his business. All he had to do was leave her alone. If he had hurt her, she would be thankful he had left her alone to recover.

Going to the kitchen, he boiled some water. He would make some tole. It was like their simcoff, only so much better. That might help her. It was probably the shock of having him inside her. She was what they call a virgin; it was one of the criteria for the lottery. So she had no experience of being with any man, let alone a Karalian.

He smiled at the irony. The arrival of the Karal and the chance to win the lottery had meant the amount of babies being born on Earth had dropped. More women were saving themselves for the aliens now. He had never thought of himself as a form of contraception. Maybe that was how they would save the human race.

For now, he would settle for making his human feel better. Stopping short, he caught his train of thoughts and cursed. She was not his human. Nor would he ever be her Karalian.

Chapter Sixteen – Evie

Evie wiped the tears from her face and pulled herself together. The whole thing had been so emotional and yet so unsatisfying. Her body still craved the release it felt cheated of. Her tears had nothing to do with him leaving her so soon after he had come inside her. It had nothing to do with him making her feel like a whore. A baby whore.

“I’ve brought you something to drink,” he said and she sat up, hiding her confusion and pulling the sheets over her body. He had no real feelings for her, so why did it matter so much, what he thought of her?

“Thank you,” she said accepting it from him. Although when she looked at the red liquid, she didn’t know if she wanted to drink it at all. “What is it?”

“It’s like your simcoff. But much better.” He sipped his as if to make her understand it wasn’t poisoned, or anything. Well, it did look like thin red blood.

“Where does it grow? Do you harvest it?” she asked, smelling it and then tasting the steaming liquid. It was hot, but delicious.

“It grows out across the desert plains. We can only go there at certain times of the year,”

“Do you ever go and harvest it, Ishk?” she asked, wanting him to share something, anything about himself, with her. Maybe if he did, she wouldn’t feel quite so like a lower life form.

“My father used to be a harvester. But it’s dangerous because of the heat.” He sipped his coffee and then put it down as though the taste of it was suddenly off.

“What do you do? Do all Karalians have jobs? The planet seems almost deserted.”

“We are scattered; it is best if we are widely distributed across our world. And yes, mostly we all have jobs. Although no one is made to work. But if you don’t, then there is no food or medicine.”

“I see. Were you a farmer before you came to live here?”

“I am still a farmer,” he said shortly.

“Oh, I didn’t realise. It’s just, apart from the garden there doesn’t seem to be a farm around here. I didn’t see one from the cruiser. Or do farms look different to those on Earth?”

“This area is not suitable for farming. I have another house on some land along the farming belt. I have not studied your farming; I thought that it was impossible now to grow anything on Earth.”

“Some food. Or we would all starve. But not enough. My parents used to work on a farm. They were great big areas of land, but often the crops failed.” She drank some more, he was right; it certainly made her feel more perky. Between the drink and the ointment he had bathed her bruises in, she felt the best she had for some time.

It helped her put things into perspective. She had overreacted about sex with him. He owed her nothing; instead, it was she who owed him a child. Evie had to try not to lose focus of that and not to take everything so personally. He had made it clear from the outset, as had Okil, that Ishk was not interested in her. Other than as a vessel to breed with. He seemed resolutely unmovable on that score and she had to concentrate on enjoying the time she had here with him, learning what she could and then, when she went to live in the breeding house, she could relax and create her own small world. Surely another human female would be rejected by her mate at some point and join her.

“Will you show me your garden? I would really like to learn the names of some of your plants. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen flowers. Maybe I can help you outside while my bruises feel better?”

“I have to go to the tower soon.” She guessed he didn’t want to spend any time with her, but she desperately wanted to feel the air on her face and see the pretty colours once more.

“Please, Ishk. I won’t be any trouble. If you don’t want me to touch anything, just say.”

“Very well.” He got up, and she grabbed her clothes, dressing while he was out of the room. When he came back, she was just dragging her brush through her hair.

“Do you have shampoo? I would like to wash my hair properly.” She tugged it once more and then was worried she would break the brush.

“There is everything you need in the bathroom. We usually have showers similar to the decon’, but for once you may use the water.”

“Thank you, Ishk.” He bowed his head slightly, and then left her to finish dressing. She stowed everything back in her bag, not wanting to lose any of it in case she was suddenly taken to the breeding house. There was a possibility she would conceive straightaway, and maybe they monitored that closely. She had no idea.

Next stop was the bathroom, where she took a proper look in the mirror for the first time. “Shit.”

There was nothing else to say. Her face was a collection of bruises, her cheek swollen and one of her eyes blackened. Evie could certainly see why he found her so abhorrent. She looked a mess, not exactly a good advertisement for Earth, particularly human females.

Promising herself she would not look in another mirror for a few days, because there was still plenty of bruising to come out, she left the bathroom and went to find Ishk.

Entering the small sitting room, she saw him through the window; he was outside, trimming a plant back. She went to the door leading from the kitchen to the garden, taking her time to examine the house. It was single storey, made of stone and decorated in natural colours. Running her hand along the wall, she thought they were painted, the texture rough under on her fingertips.

One thing she noted was the lack of any pictures. No family photographs, nothing to personalise the house. The sitting room was comfortable, but again, nothing to make it his. Were all Karalians like this, or did he store everything in his other house; maybe that was where he kept all of his personal items. If she were feeling more courageous, she would have asked him. But Ishk did not invite conversation when she joined him in the garden.

“What can I do?” she asked.

“If you are feeling strong enough, you can gather up these cuttings. Then separate them, the blooms here, the stalks here. When I return later, I will dry them.”

“What do you use them for?” She picked up the yellow flowers; they were big and bright, their petals waxy.

“The stalks are good for flavour. They were in the dish I prepared last night. The flowers are steamed, and the waxy residue is used as a sealant for paper.”

“Oh, like on envelopes?” she asked.

He cocked his head and thought for a moment. “Yes. You call them envelopes.”

“Great. What are they called?”

“Clibit.”

“Clibit,” she repeated, and smiled at the first piece of real knowledge he had given her. “Does everything in your garden have a use? Or do you grow some of the plants for pleasure?”

He stopped cutting and looked at her. “I grow all of the plants for pleasure whether they have a use or not.”

“I see.” She went back to collecting the cuttings he had dropped, feeling her body becoming suppler as she worked her muscles. Although by the time he told her to finish up outside, because he had to leave, the effects of the ocatha was wearing off and her face was beginning to hurt again.

“Come, I will administer the ointment once more before I leave,” he said, seeing her discomfort.

“It will wait until later. There is no need.”

“Don’t worry. I will not be repeating our mating. Not until tonight at least. I have no time left.”

Evie didn’t know how to feel about his words. Did she want to have sex with him again, or mate, as he called it? He thought she had found it unpleasant, which wasn’t true. Unsatisfying, yes, but not unpleasant. Maybe she would have to try it one more time before she could decide.

Chapter Seventeen – Ishk

With some reluctance, he left for the tower, his cruiser covering the ground quickly. The day was perfect, the sky clear and the two suns bright. His work gave him purpose, but today he would rather be at home, he tried to tell himself it was because he didn’t trust her with his garden. Yet he knew she wouldn’t touch anything, not without him being there to supervise, she understood how much the garden meant to him.

In some ways, they were similar. She longed to learn about the plants, and he longed to teach her. It would be a good way to educate these human females. And it would be good practice for when he had a son.

That led him back to thinking of her on his bed, kneeling on all fours while he mated with her. The sight of her flesh, the feel of her around him. He longed to take his time and explore her body. Feel the warmth of her skin and the way she reacted to his touch.

Looming in front of him, the tower reminded him that his thoughts should be concentrated on how to overthrow the Hier Ruler. It looked next to impossible. With no co-conspirator among the council members, it would be up to him to drum up support from elsewhere. And the only place he would find that kind of support was back in the farming belt. He would have to leave his home here and put his council duties on hold.

He would also have to leave Evie behind; he could hardly take her with him and then preach to his fellow farmers that the females should be kept imprisoned.

Ishk wasn’t sure how, but by the time he reached the tower, he had talked himself into putting off any rebellion until he had put a child in her belly. Once she was securely held in the breeding house, he would leave. The council would accept his excuse when he insisted he needed to return home. He only had to tell them he was going to check everything was all right with preparations to raise the quotas of food stores, ready for the increase in population as more females arrived from Earth, and they would agree.

Yes, Lytril would accept any reason if he thought it was to benefit the human race.

Chapter Eighteen – Evie

It surprised Evie how alone she felt once he had gone. Ishk had granted her permission to sit in his garden, but not to leave it, or touch anything. She smiled. Granted her permission: if anything said you’re a prisoner, that did.

Around half an hour later, as she dozed in the sunshine, she heard a cruiser coming along the road. Only the slight vibration of its engine gave it away. She stood up. It didn’t sound the same as the one Ishk drove, and she became nervous.

Going inside, she hid behind the sofa as the cruiser pulled up in front of the house. However, when two women, and Okil, exited the cruiser, she didn’t stay hidden for long. People. Humans. She had guests.

Opening the front door, she was hit by uncertainty. Would Ishk mind them coming into his house? Had he invited them?

“Hello,” Okil said, smiling broadly. “You survived the first night with Ishk, then?”

“Yes, it’s good to see you, Okil.” She wanted to throw herself into his arms and hug him, it was so good to see a friendly face.

“And this is Celia and Elissa,” he said, introducing the two women, previous lottery winners, one who had a very noticeable baby bump.

“Hello. Thank you so much for coming to see me,” Evie said nervously. They both looked so happy, their mates must be easier to get along with than Ishk.

“It’s good to meet you, Evie. Okil has told us so much about you. Wow, those bruises look worse than Okil said they would,” Celia said.

“Oh,” Evie said pressing her hand to her face. “I keep forgetting. Ishk treated them with something. Um, ocatha?”

“Yes.” Okil looked surprised. “I thought, knowing Ishk, he might have left you to suffer. You are already working your magic on him, Evie.”

“I don’t know about that. I think he just got tired of me whimpering pathetically when I moved.”

“Right. Well, we have brought you some clothes and other goodies that no self-respecting human female can be without on Karal.” Elissa handed her a bag full of small bottles. “Shampoos, moisturiser—those two suns play havoc on your skin. And Okil, there’s the box in the cruiser with the clothes.”

“I’ll get them.” Okil went back to the cruiser and came back to the house, carrying a large box.

“I would invite you in,” she said awkwardly, “But…”

“We understand, it’s why Vanessa didn’t come. She thought it might cause trouble if Ishk knew she had been here.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Celia placed her hand on Evie’s and said, “Listen, if you need anything, if he is cruel to you, let Okil know. He promised to pass by every few days and check in on you.”

“I’ll be OK. Ishk isn’t so bad. I mean, he doesn’t like me. But I don’t think he’ll hurt me.” She smiled then, brightening. “And anyway, once I conceive, I won’t be living here.”

“He still intends to send you to the breeding house?” Elissa asked.

“Yes. I think that is one thing that will never change. He is so against humans. And I don’t think I’m the person to change his mind.”

“You never know, Evie. Here are the clothes. See what fits, and then we can get some made for you. You can pretty much design what you want and the tailors will make it for you. The fabric is mainly cotton; all the materials are natural. Get your order in soon, though; once there are hundreds of us, I think they will have to move to mass production.” Celia kissed her cheek gently. “We will visit you every day when you go to the breeding house, Evie. We won’t just leave you there alone.”

“Thank you.” Was that all she could say? Feeling overwhelmed by their kindness, and feeling the full force of Ishk’s rejection, she watched them leave. Only when they were no longer visible along the road did she turn and look down at the box of clothes and decide now might be a good time for a relaxing shower and a new dress.

The bathroom took some figuring out. The shower was a completely enclosed cubicle, with two dials. One, she presumed, was for water, one was for the decon’ shower. She only hoped that if she used the wrong one it wouldn’t gas her.

Standing on the outside and leaning in to turn the dial didn’t work. Evie assumed the door had to be shut to contain whatever came out of the vents. Assuming that even Ishk wouldn’t have a killer shower installed, she stepped in and turned on the right-hand dial. Nothing happened, or at least nothing she could tell. Turning it off again, she tried the other one.

Water came from the vents on the side of the wall, and from the ceiling. It wasn’t what she expected, and she ended up with water in her face. Grinning, she quickly opened the soaps and shampoo Celia and Elissa had given her and washed. Pure luxury. The scents were amazing, leaving her skin the cleanest it had ever been. Even when she lived with her parents, she had never been this clean.

They used to use a bath filled with water, for all of them; Evie would go first, and then her mom, lastly her dad. Although her mom always made sure to top the water up and make it warmer for her dad. But soap had been the kind that never lathered and never smelt like this. Taking another deep breath, Evie could just imagine she was rolling through a scented flowerbed. If she hadn’t been so aware of Ishk’s warning she would probably have stood in the shower, letting the water cascade over her body, for hours.

Instead, she washed the soap off and squeezed the water out of her hair, only then realising she had no towel. In fact, she had not seen any towels in the bathroom. Turning the water off, she was about to get out when a whirring sound started and warm air hit her body from the vents. It was powerful, almost knocking her over.

Then they adjusted to her size, and she found that if she stayed central in the cubicle, they were positioned to hold you in a place. The jets of air perfectly balanced. Evie had to admit, the Karal were ingenious with their technology. And she could hear Ishk’s voice now, “All solar powered,” Smiling, she found herself wondering when he would be home. His company might be sullen and he was disinclined to talk, but she found his love of his garden and watching him cook, soothing.

“Right. Clothes.” The jets switched off, presumably they knew she was dry; and she exited the shower, going to the mirror and looking at her hair. It was so clean, if a little windswept. She brushed it and left it loose around her shoulders. For once, it actually looked shiny and blonde, not dirty blonde, but golden. If only her face wasn’t quite so discoloured, she might look halfway to normal. At least the swelling was subsiding, but the water had taken away some of the effect of the ocatha and her body was beginning to ache once more.

Before her body gave out on her again, she began to rummage through the box of clothes. Picking them out one by one and laying them on the bed, she was stunned at how beautiful they were. Simple, in natural colours: beige, greens and blues. Evie wondered what plants were used, because she was sure that none of the dyes would be synthetic.

They were loose fitting, but flattering to her figure. She tried on a blue dress, which brought out the colour of her eyes. With her blonde hair, it made her look like a clear sunny day on Earth. Running her hands over the fabric, she turned slowly, watching it sway around her knees. Dresses such as this had been out of place on Earth. Durable, serviceable clothes, usually a shirt and pants with a sweater to keep out the cold, were what everybody, male or female, wore.

That had been her usual dress code since she was seven. Before then her mom had made her dresses out of any spare scraps of material she could find. But as she got bigger, they had come to resemble a mismatched patchwork quilt, and so she had been handed pants and a shirt. Evie had tried them on, under the sorrowful gaze of her mom, not understanding this marked the end of her childhood.

The grown-up clothes signalled the beginning of a new stage in Evie’s life. Although she was only a child, she was expected to work in the fields for two hours a day, alongside her studies. It was at this time she learned the unwritten rules of human society. Nothing pretty, nothing frivolous, everything has to be serviceable, tough and hardworking. Life was about necessity, food, shelter, warmth.

Karal was not the same world. She left the bedroom and went back into the garden, needing to remind herself of the unique prize she had won. There was nothing she would change. Coming here was a blessing, even if it meant a life of solitude in the breeding house. Evie had to hold on to Celia’s words. The other women would support her. Even if the father of her child didn’t.

Chapter Nineteen – Ishk

“While you were on Earth, the Hier Council discussed a plan to send out five space cruisers to seek out a possible new planet for the human population,” Lytril said.

“You aim to spread their cancer throughout the universe?” Ishk asked. A sense of betrayal seeping into his voice when he realised they had set such plans in motion without him.

“At least some of it; limited aid would be given to those left behind on the planet. The old and infirm, plus enough people to care for them, would remain. The hope is that once the older humans died out, the Earth would be left to rejuvenate.”

“They should be left to their own doom,” Ishk argued. “We should not waste our resources on them.”

“And what if we had been left to our own doom?” the Hier Commander had asked.

“The Karal are not the same.” Ishk could already see where this conversation was leading.

“Only because we learned our lesson so much earlier in our species’ evolution,” the Hier Ruler said, his voice carrying the undertones of frustration that Ishk always brought out in him. Before the humans came, Lytril’s voice would have been flat, emotionless. His female, Vanessa was bringing about her own evolution of the Karalian Hier Ruler.

Ishk pressed on, “We have survived this way for centuries now. Our species has thrived because there is no distraction. These human females are a disruption to our way of life. We only have three of them living amongst us, and already I can feel the change.”

“Four. You forget you now have a female, Ishk.”

“She does not count. Once she is pregnant she will go to the breeding house.” He paused, and then added, “Once that occurs I am returning to my home. It is time I sought out the wishes of the farmers whom I represent.”

“That might be a good idea, Ishk. It will give you some perspective.”

“Perspective? I will be going there to tell them that they need to improve their quotas, or we will all starve. You are talking about tripling our population in the next five years.”

“And your plan is to simply go back to Earth, take the females we need and then leave. Imprison those we take in the breeding house and use them as we wish.”

“As our mothers were taken.”

“It is unworkable. Our fathers did what they had to out of necessity. We have been through this. They will still need to be fed. It makes no difference where they live.”

“We will need less females if they are shared. And you know full well, our fathers did not build the breeding houses. Females living separately from the males and our sons has been our custom for generations.”

“Yes. Because the grandmothers did not want to live among us. If you look back through the archives, the generation before that willingly came to our planet to breed in return for technology, but they did not stay once the children were born. Each generation has presented its own set of problems.”

“This is not a set of problems, Lytril.” Ishk stood up, his colours slipping from his control as he lost his grip on his already frayed temper. “This threatens to change the way we live forever.”

“As did the extinction of the females of our species in the times of the great sorrow, Ishk. We have never found a more reliable species to breed with.”

“Reliable? Is that what you think humans are? Look what they have done to themselves.”

“And look what we have done to ourselves, Ishk. We are on the brink of extinction. The prime only lasts for another five years. Surely you can see the sense of making sure our species never gets to this stage again. Space is a vast place; we have searched farther than any generation before us. The wormhole technology is stretched to its limit to enable us to visit Earth. Let us take this chore away from our next generation and those that come after.”

“They live a different life span to us, Lytril. They will die, and what then?”

“A colony on another planet will keep a constant source of breeding females available to us,” Lytril said firmly. “We have discussed this.”

“Yes, and made plans, in my absence. Although I thought I was an equal member of this council.” Ishk made sure his words lingered to hit home the implications of ostracising a necessary part of the council. The farming belt was the single most important part of the workforce.

“We simply asked the scientific team to locate planets they feel may be suitable for exploration, planets we have visited over the last few centuries. The plan is to send teams out to explore them.”

“So we will still be sending our people out into space, not to hunt for breeding partners, but instead we are on some mission to find habitable planets for the humans.”

“Yes, but we are using data already collected. The dangers are greatly reduced.” The Hier Commander rose now to give his support to the Hier Ruler.

Outmanoeuvred, and outvoted, he looked around the table and knew he was alone. His frustration grew. “Fathers have been the sole guardians of our children for generations. Why change things? Do you want our sons to lose two parents, Lytril? Surely you know the depth of grief that was sustained during the loss of our fathers. It was almost too much; I would spare our sons the prospect of twice that grief. The mothers of our children should not become part of their lives.”

Ishk was shocked at his own words. Looking down, he saw the bright blues and greens flashing across his skin and then they passed, his hands becoming red. Lytril placed his hand on Ishk’s. Ishk wanted to pull away, but it was the Hier Ruler’s right to read any Karalian, including members of the Hier Council, whilst in this chamber.

“I think I understand you now, Ishk,” Lytril said quietly.

Ishk pulled his hand away and left, slamming the door behind him.

Until this stupid lottery had started, there had never been disagreements. Now they were like splintered wood, and he couldn’t see a way of repairing the damage.

Chapter Twenty – Evie

“Evie.” As if she had conjured him from the clean, clear air, Ishk was behind her, walking through the house and into the garden. When he saw her, he stopped in his tracks. “You look different.”

“Do you like it? Okil came over with some clothes. He introduced me to Celia and Elissa. Don’t worry,” she added hastily, “I didn’t invite them in.”

“I see. And what did they have to say?” Ishk asked, his voice flat.

“Nothing really. Just to welcome me, and they gave me some toiletries, moisturiser and shampoo, that sort of thing. And the clothes.” She stood up awkwardly, her legs stiff. She stood smiling at him, wanting him to be happy in some small way. But the frown on his face told her he would never be happy with her. “Did your council meeting not go how you wanted it to?”

“Why would you ask that?” A flash of red crossed his face.

“Well, you don’t look too happy. So it’s either me, this dress or the meeting.” Evie tried to make light of it, but she had hit a nerve, and the warnings from Okil came back to her. She wanted to trust Ishk, but he gave her nothing to work with. Moody, arrogant and aloof, she could see no way of bridging the gap between them. But she had to keep trying, not for herself, but for the other women on Earth who would one day come and live here.

“I will prepare some food.” Turning on his heel he went to the kitchen and began to get utensils out of the cupboard. She could hear him working and wondered if she might help him, or if it was best to let him get on with it.

When her parents were alive, they had seldom argued and when they did, they had always talked it over. It had always soothed the situation. Would that work with Ishk, or simply make it worse?

Could he dislike her any more than he did? She doubted it, so she asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

He placed the pan he was holding down on the top of the stove and looked at her; muted colours appeared below the line of his tunic. He was fighting for control of his emotions. This did not look good.

“What?” he asked sharply. “Do you expect me to divulge all my secrets to you so that you can use them against me?”

“No.” She frowned, “I’m sorry. It’s only, humans have a saying: A trouble shared is a trouble halved. At least that’s what my mom always told me when I was upset.”

“But you are that trouble. Human females. They are going to be set loose on the planet I love.”

“Is that all we are, a problem, and if so, is there no way of coming up with a solution? Rather than just condemning us?” Evie asked quietly. The last thing she wanted was a confrontation with Ishk, especially as he already appeared to be in a bad mood.

“Humans have been aware of their problems for centuries but they chose not to act. Now you expect another race to come and save you.” Ishk turned towards her, and the colours were no longer, muted, no longer under his control.

“Isn’t it better to try, then to just let us die?”

“What does it matter to you? You are safe now; you are here on my planet. I am willing to save enough of you for us to breed with, but beyond that, no. Not at the expense of my planet and my people.”

“Ishk, the females are going to live on your planet, it doesn’t matter whether you shut them away or not. We will still be here. Why not let them be part of your society, let then raise the children?”

“Because they will die!” he shouted, not anger, but sadness emanated from him.

“Everyone dies,” she said quietly. “Some before their time. But everyone dies.”

“But to lose two parents instead of one? That is hard. The time when the last fathers died was tough. How much harder will it be to lose both parents? It is better to never love a mother than to have to go through the loss. You must see that this would save them heartache.”

She shook her head. “No, Ishk, I don’t.”

“But you would not know, you simply walked away from yours, from your life before. The promised land of Karal was too important. Or were you abandoned, because I cannot see how any parent would let their child end up like you?”

He might just as well have slapped her around the face. Tears sprung to her eyes, and she tried not to let him see how much he had hurt her. “Ishk, that is not fair and not true. If my parents were still alive, I would have stayed on Earth. But they weren’t. I know the sorrow and loss of losing two parents, but I would never wish to have not known my mother’s love.”

He stood rigid and did not speak. For a long time he fought for control, the colours of his skin like a violent storm, a hurricane which threatened to destroy all in its path.

Evie trembled as she walked toward him, moving around the counter, ready to stop if he told her to. But he didn’t and she moved closer to him, so close she could feel the heat from his body, and as she reached out to place her hand on his arm, she could feel the current of electricity flowing across the surface, static electricity which prickled her finger as she touched him.

“Ishk, it’s OK to love someone and lose them. Surely you see that.”

He shook his head. “No. I was a child when my father died, I lost the only parent I had and that broke my heart. Then, when the others lost their fathers, I saw their grief through different eyes, the eyes of one who had put some distance between the pain. I had closed off my emotions, and knew I would never let anyone else in.”

“But what about the child I will conceive?”

“I will teach it about the land, I will teach him everything I know, and I will prepare him. As I wish my father had prepared me. But we always think we have time. My father’s death taught me that was not so.”

“I think I am beginning to understand you. Somewhere, you are still that small boy who lost his father. But to live without love, without risk, is not the answer.”

“You humans have compounded my belief. You live on your emotions, your passions, to the disregard of all else. It is a hunger to feel every emotion, to feed your senses, a hunger the Karalian race would be better to ignore. Or it will eat at them and then there will be nothing left of who we are. If my father’s death affected me so, what will happen to those children of the next generation who have been taught to open their hearts even more?”

“They will learn to cope. You were orphaned so young, Ishk. Any child would feel the way you do. But once you have a child of your own, you will see it differently.”

“I think you should go to the breeding house tomorrow. It is perhaps best if I do not have a child.”

“I don’t believe that, Ishk.” She took his hand and placed it on her stomach. “We might already have created a new life. And if we haven’t, then why not try now?”

“Why should you care? If I don’t want you, you will be given to another, one who would want you to share their life.”

“You are my prize, Ishk. I want you. Right now I want you to take me to bed and mate with me,” she said, using his own word for sex. “I think that a child would make you see things so differently.”

“I don’t want to see them differently.”

“You might. Won’t you at least give it a chance?”

He bowed his head, looking away from her, but his colours showed her his emotions; they were bright yellow now, with tinges of orange like a fiery sun.

“I do not want you, Evie. I do not want to want you.”

“I know. And I won’t fight or scream when I am pregnant and you send me away. I’ve already accepted that fate.” She lifted his hand and raised it to her lips. “Think of it this way, Ishk. If you don’t have a child, then who will argue for your people? Your views may not be in line with the others on the council, but your heart is in the right place. I’m beginning to see that now.”

Evie placed her hand over his heart. “That is where your heart is, right?”

“Yes, we are anatomically similar.” His eyes were dilated; he kept staring at her lips. She couldn’t help licking her own and wondering what it would be like to kiss him.

“Good to know,” Evie said. “Why don’t we go and explore the other anatomical similarities between our species?”

Whatever had possessed her to initiate sex with him she didn’t know. Perhaps it was his vulnerability. He was so shut off from his emotions, and she wanted to help him find them, because their child would need a father who was capable of love.

Although she knew it was fruitless, she held some small hope that she could open his heart and find a place for her in there too.

Taking his hand, she led him to the bedroom, standing facing him in front of the bed and undoing the belt around his tunic. Taking hold of the hem of it, she eased it up over his chest. He held his arms up and she slipped it over them, needing his help when she reached his hands because he was too tall for her to reach.

Spreading her hands over his chest, she watched in fascination as his skin lit up, the colours vibrating under her fingertips. Pressing her lips to his flesh, the sensation was magnified and her desire for him grew. He was so unique, so unlike anything she had ever seen before. Well, of course he would be, he was an alien.

Ishk stood still, frozen in place, while she slipped his pants down. Then she slipped her hand around his cock and worked it up and down, stroking, squeezing, trying to work out what he liked. It wasn’t so much what he liked, more of what he wanted. And that was to be inside her.

Lifting her, he suddenly came to life, moving her to the bed, where he placed her face down. Her yellow dress was pushed up, her panties pulled down to expose her to him. As before he used his fingers to make her ready for him. She closed her eyes, feeling her arousal growing and hoping she would feel more pleasure this time.

Ishk didn’t take his time. As soon as he thought she was wet enough he entered her, grunting when he thrust so deep he impaled her completely. She groaned into the covers. It was uncomfortable, not painful, but also arousing, the feel of the head of his cock sliding against her inner walls.

Her orgasm was close. She pressed back against him, circling her hips to gain more friction as her inner walls yielded to him, but it was not enough. Her clit throbbed and her breasts ached to be touched by him, her nipples hard little buds of need. Should she touch herself, make herself come while he was inside her?

Then he came, too soon for Evie to follow him into ecstasy. He jerked forward, his cock thickening inside her, stuck in place as his seed spurted deep into her womb. Ishk cried out, his hands on her hips as he ground forward into her. But for Evie there was nothing but an aching hunger for something more fulfilling.

Chapter Twenty-One – Ishk

Ishk left Evie sleeping and went to the tower early. He had things he wanted to do. Things he wanted to remain a secret. That wasn’t to say they were wrong, or above the law. However, he would rather collect the data he needed and compile a report before he left for the farming belt. No matter how much he enjoyed Evie in his bed, he still had no intention of keeping her. The females were better off in the breeding house.

His plan was simple; it involved a visit to the simulation room. Past the guards, nodding in acknowledgement, acting his usual calm self, while inside his emotions were in a turmoil. Despite his plans for the day and his firm resolve, he still couldn’t get the thought of the way Evie had placed her lips on his skin out of his head.

Damn, he needed her gone from his life so that his equilibrium could be restored.

“Sim, this is Ishk, access code 12942IK.”

“Access confirmed.”

“Sim, I am searching for three data points. Regarding population forecasts and environmental effects.”

“Understood, Ishk. Starting point, please.”

“Current population with one additional female per male, plus one child.”

“Calculated!

“Store. Second simulation. Population, plus 50 percent of females and one hundred percent children. Females will be situated in the breeding house,”

“Stored.”

“Now put the simulations on screen.”

“On screen.”

The first scenario played out what would happen to the planet if each Karalian kept his female with him. “Show food source, food supply and environmental impact.”

“Added to screen.”

“Repeat for scenario two.”

“On screen.”

He examined the results, not liking what he saw. “Split screen.”

“Split screen,” the sim repeated, and the data flashed up in front of him, so easy to compare, so not what he wanted to see.

“Recalculate,” he told the sim, making sure there were no mistakes.

“Recalculation on screen.”

Ishk went to the desk and sat down, staring at the data. It took away all of his arguments. Even with only half the amount of females, the impact was so much less than if the females lived with their men. He had hoped it would be glaringly obvious that females living all over the planet would be bad for Karal.

He couldn’t understand the results.

Standing, he went back to the sim screen, and began filtering the data. An hour later, he was even more confused.

“Sim, why is the data so skewed towards the females being with their Karalian? The males are more productive, why?”

“Productivity rises when the female is in situ because the males have more hours to work. Females will help raise the children. I have also computed that females will assist in work.”

“Why?”

“I am working on the data from when the Karal had females of their own and cross referenced it with the known data from Earth. Human females are capable of work in all fields.”

Now he understood. The female population, if taken to the breeding house, would be like a herd of their cattle. They would always needing feeding and medical attention, whilst all of their potential labour hours went to waste. The breeding house put more strain on his people.

Ishk swiped the screen angrily. What was he supposed to do? Go back to the council and tell them he was wrong? Or carry on with this lie? A lie that would have him go back to the farming belt and try to persuade them to rise up against the Hier Council.

He needed time to think. Getting up to leave, he said, “Sim, delete all data from last log on access code 12942IK.”

“Deleted.”

Head down, he moved for the door, when the sim spoke to him. “Ishk 12942IK, there is a programme simulation waiting for your completion.”

“There is?” He couldn’t remember leaving anything open; it would have to be from before he went to Earth unless someone had been in here using his code. His suspicions sufficiently raised, he went back to the screen. “What simulation?”

“Human compatibility.”

“Human compatibility.” He had refused to take part in the sim, finding it demeaning. And now he had mated with Evie, did it matter? His body had functioned as it should; he had experienced supreme pleasure.

But curiosity was in his mind and he answered, “Show compatibility screening.”

“Do you wish to be a participant?”

“No. Watch only.”

“Begin programme, watch only.”

Two figures emerged in front of him. One a human female and one a Karalian male. They were both fully dressed. He was about to tell the sim that this was the wrong programme, when the female approached the male and began to slide her fingers up over his chest.

The male bent his head and pressed his lips to hers, a thing she responded to and enjoyed. Ishk could not help shuddering in disgust; swapping saliva with an alien was most distasteful. Then they began to undress, but it was slow, each stroking and caressing the other, sometimes kissing flesh as it was revealed. The Karalian’s colours flashed across his skin, and Ishk recognised the way the sim’s pleasure receptors responded.

A bed appeared behind them, and the couple approached it. They were both naked now, and the female lay down. He expected the male to climb on the bed and join with her. Instead, he knelt on the bed, pressing the female’s thighs apart. Then he proceeded to kiss her between her thighs.

Ishk moved forward. “Audio.”

The sounds of a quiet moaning filled the room; the woman was obviously enjoying what the male was doing to her. Leaning closer he could see the male pressing his tongue inside her and the female writhed on the bed. His mouth rose higher and he kissed her, sucking on her, and then the woman cried out, her voice a mixture of agony and pleasure.

“Sim, what is the female experiencing?”

“Orgasm.”

“This is how a female shows her pleasure?”

“Yes.”

The male now moved to press his cock inside the woman’s wet sex, and she responded with similar noises as he took her. The male kissed her breasts and she lifted her hips off the bed to meet him, moaning with desire. Her hands stroked the male’s skin, touching him, kissing him. And then the male came; he knew the moment when the male fused with the female, and she seemed to catch the sensations running through him and came too. Her voice was high pitched, crying out in ecstasy.

“End sim.”

The couple disappeared and the room once again stood empty. Ishk went over the way he had mated with Evie. She had never made those noises. The first time he had taken her she had looked sad, and now he knew why: she had gained no satisfaction, no real pleasure from their lovemaking. However, she had still taken him to their bed last night, despite knowing Ishk was a selfish Karalian who cared nothing for her.

Needing to see her, he logged off the sim and exited, planning to get his work done early and then returning to her. He wanted to put his newfound knowledge to the test, to see if he could reach out to this human in some way. If only so that if she were ever taken by another male she would not compare him unfavourably.

Deep in thought, knowing he had barely any control of his emotions, he walked quickly to the sanctuary of his office. Yet as he moved through the corridors he had a strange sensation and was shocked, when he looked up, to see Okil walking towards him with Evie.

Chapter Twenty-Two – Evie

Evie was nervous to go back to the tower, even though Okil accompanied her.

“It won’t take too long. Lytril asked for a new tag to be put in your neck, and while we are there he suggested a full body scan, to check there are no internal injuries that we don’t know about. Although you are looking better.”

“My body still hurts, but not so bad. The ocatha has healing properties, doesn’t it? Not just pain relief.”

“Ishk would know more, he likes his plants and things, but yes, I believe it helps repair the blood vessels damaged by bruising.”

“He does like his garden, doesn’t he?” She smiled, thinking how peaceful Ishk looked when he was tending his garden. It was a pity it didn’t spill over to any other part of his life.

“He does. Here we are.” Okil opened the door and led her into what looked like a very modern operating theatre.

“Just the chip, right?” she asked.

“Yes, Evie, we do not undergo alien experimentation as some of your old movies would have you believe.” Okil’s eyes shone with humour, and she was grateful he hadn’t teased her more than that.

“You’ve seen those?”

“They are a favourite on some Screen channels. A beam of light, which transports you to an alien spacecraft. I find it amusing that all of the aliens are bad.”

“And you are most definitely not?” she joked.

“We have been, Evie. I cannot deny that.”

“But you’re trying to change?” A thread of fear trickled down her spine.

“Most of us are.”

“Then there are those like Ishk, who would rather take what they need and leave the rest of the human race to become extinct,” Evie said.

“Yes. But it goes deeper than that. We have spent a lot of our time exploring space, and apart from the need to take females to breed with, we have adopted a do not interfere policy. It is not just Ishk who has to change; it is also the deep space pilots. They are used to turning around and leaving species to their fate if we have no use for them. They are our warriors, and they are trained to be how you humans would say, ‘heartless.’”

“I didn’t know that. I can understand that you would end up spending too much time helping other species. But I don’t think I could turn my back on anyone in need.”

“We have one goal, just like every other life in this universe. Procreation.”

“Ahh, hello, Evie. I am Darl.” A Karalian dressed in white tunic and pants came to her through another door, holding out his hand. “Okil tells me this is one of your customs.”

She took his hand and felt a tingle of electrify up her arm. “It’s nice to meet you, Darl. Yes it is an Earth custom, although not used so much where I have been living lately.” She couldn’t remember one stranger whose hand she had shaken since she moved to the city.

“Morning, Okil.”

“Darl.”

Darl moved over to the table and said, “Shall we proceed.”

Nervously, she made her way over to the table and asked, “Which way shall I lie?”

“Face down, head toward the door. I just want to examine your neck. I hear from Okil someone barbarically cut your tag out.”

“Yes.” She did as he asked, hoping it wasn’t going to hurt too much.

“Yes, I see. Painful. I think I can insert a tag to the left, and then seal your wound. It’s not deep but I wouldn’t want it to become infected.”

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.

Chapter Twenty-Three – Ishk

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?

Chapter Twenty-Four – 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.”

“Which is why I am here.” Evie looked at the uncomfortable expressions on all of the other women’s faces. “It’s OK. I don’t mind. I’ve lived on my own for the last five years. Like I said, as long as these walls are to keep things out, as well as me in, then I’m OK with it.”

“Nothing gets over these walls. And there will be a guard here most of the time, especially at night. You are safe,” Okil assured her.

“A guard? He’s not armed, is he?” she asked, worried if she did something wrong she might end up dead.

“Only with a communicator. If there are any problems, he will radio the tower and backup will arrive.”

“Now you make me sound as if I’m the president. All this security for me.”

“You are almost as important as the president; you carry part of the next generation in your womb. That is very precious to the Karal. Their prime days are numbered.” Celia had linked arms with her and they had all started to inspect the buildings.

“Prime days?”

“Yes, there is only a certain time in a Karalian’s life when he is able to father a child. This is why they are so desperate for us to come here. Soon they will increase the number … as soon as the uprising is quashed.”

“Uprising?”

“There are some who see us as a threat. The council wants that small minority quashed before they increase the numbers.” Celia pushed open a door and grimaced as a strange smell hit them, they moved on to the next house.

“You mean those like Ishk?”

“He is good at stirring things up. He will sink to any depths to get his way.”

“What do you mean?” Evie asked. Ishk might be set in his views about females, but she never thought he would do anything illegal to get his own way. But that was what Celia was hinting at, surely.

“Evie! This one looks in good shape and it’s close to the showers that have already been renovated.” Vanessa waved to them.

“Come on, forget I said anything,” Celia said and they went over to the building opposite, to join the others.

Vanessa was right; it was the most suitable. The four women, plus Okil, spent the day cleaning and making it habitable. As the afternoon wore on, another space cruiser arrived. For one moment she thought it was Ishk, but then she realised it was only Marin coming to collect the others. Although he had brought a new bed with him, for Evie.

“Thank you, Marin.”

“You need something clean to sleep on. I thought it would be better than anything you would find here.” He looked around. “But you have done a great job in making this look like a home.”

Elissa linked arms with him and stood admiring their work. “We’ve enjoyed it. Tomorrow we can start clearing another room or two. Perhaps you can persuade Lytril to allow Evie some other furniture.”

“I think there is some already being made. Okil, do you know anything about it?”

“Yes. I plan to pick up more over the next few days; I don’t think anyone thought the breeding house would be occupied so quickly and there was concern the furniture would be wasted. You’ll be moving to Grenvet before too long,” he reminded her.

“I don’t mind it here.”

“It’s like a prison. Grenvet is beautiful,” Vanessa said.

“But I’ll be even more alone. At least here you can visit often.” She tried to fight off the sudden loneliness. They were all about to leave, and she would be entirely on her own.

Elissa went inside the cruiser. “Here, I made you this. Marin warmed it before he came. It’s still good to eat. And here are some fresh fruit and vegetables; they can all be eaten raw.”

She passed them to Evie, who took in a deep, hungry breath. “That smells wonderful. Thank you, Elissa.”

“You are welcome, Evie.” Elissa hugged her goodbye, and then the others said farewell too.

“We’ll be back first thing. Then we can get started on making this a proper home for you, Evie. I think you are right. Stay close to us, for now. Perhaps soon there will be others to go with you to Grenvet.”

“Maybe,” she said, but as they left and the gates shut behind them, she doubted it.

Chapter Twenty-Five – Ishk

The violet sky was tinged with purples and blues as the suns set over the horizon. He drove home, intending to go into his garden and catch up on all the weeding he had missed while on Earth. It was time to return to normal.

Instead, he found himself standing in his bedroom, trying to catch a scent of her hair. The shampoo she used reminded him of warm summer days when he would lie in the fields, surrounded by wild flowers, and look at the clouds skimming overhead. Next to him, his father would point and say something absurd about the shapes of the clouds, and they would play the game where you make the shapes into something they were not.

At this moment, he was trying to make his life back into something it was not. Like it or hate it, he had to admit he was different now. Whether he stayed different was perhaps his choice. Over time the effect Evie had on him would fade; he could block it from his mind, in the same way he had blocked the love for his father from his mind. It was easier to forget, easier to think that his species were better off without love. That the loss of one parent was bad enough and the death of two, two people you had loved your whole life, would destroy the children of Karal.

He had watched it, more clearly than most, as the fathers died; he had watched the mourning and then the way each had taken control of their emotions, just as they had been taught. It made Karal an easier place to live. But what if the death of two parents made that self-control harder to sustain, what if they lived in permanent colour?

Ishk looked down at his hands; he was living in semi-permanent colour now. He could hide it from his face, but not from the rest of his body, not without great concentration and control.

Evie had done this to him, one female. In only three days. What of their species, if the females lived with them all the time. Fights? War?

No, they had plenty of land and the Karal only bred one child. They would not fight.

Going to the window that looked out over his garden, he thought of the sim, he thought of its words, how the mothers would once have lived and worked alongside their mates. The way they lived now was wrong; this was not how it was supposed to be.

Was that the truth? Was there even a truth anymore?

No. There was just the now and a decision to make. Did he want to explore his feelings for Evie, or did he want to walk away from her forever?

His hands flashed red, a deep crimson as though his blood pumped so near to the surface it could be seen. It had been so easy to say the females should stay in the breeding house. It had been so right. Now it was his belief that it was wrong. Scientific data backed this up.

He, Ishk, member of the Hier Council had made a mistake.

“I, Ishk, of the Hier Council, made a mistake,” he said out loud to his garden.

Leaning forward, he rested his heated forehead on the cool glass. “I made a mistake.”

Chapter Twenty-Six – Evie

Evie went into her house, which still seemed like an absurd thought, and set the food out, ready to eat.

But her appetite had vanished. Instead she felt a bubble of laughter rising inside her. What the hell was she doing?

Only days ago she was trying to keep herself safe and out of harm’s way on Earth. Now she was on an alien planet, eating alien food with an alien child inside her. The laughter bubbled over and she had to sit down on the side of her new bed and let it flow.

This must be a dream. Sometime in the night she had been drugged and now she was hallucinating. She bet if she tried really hard she could break out of this drug-induced reality and find herself sucking a man’s cock, or getting raped. Was that what the incident with Ishk was, her being raped by some guy whilst her mind pretended it was an alien?

The laughter faded, she went outside to look up at the violet sky. It was darkening, the dual suns setting. Two suns, wasn’t that the most ridiculous thing she had ever seen. How could they be real?

Evie felt the laughter change to panic. The walls of her prison were closing in on her. There were ghosts here, she was sure of it, ghosts of the other females who had been imprisoned here. That thought made her want to wake up, but how was she supposed to break through this drug-fuelled haze?

She began to cry, deep sobs. “Wake up. Wake up, Evie.” What was happening to her body while she was experiencing this wonderful world?

Sinking to her knees, she repeated over and over to herself, “Wake up, Evie, wake up.”

“Evie?”

She looked up. In front of her stood the figment of her imagination who had brought her here. “Let me go, Ishk. Please let me wake up and go home.”

He came to her. “Evie, what’s wrong? Are you unwell?”

“I want to wake up.”

“You are awake.” He brushed her hair back from her face and then pressed his lips to her forehead. “I’m sorry you are here, but you are awake, it is real.”

She lay against his chest, shivering, until he bent down and picked her up, carrying her into the little house that was hers now. Inside the lights illuminated the room, the smell of the food assailing her senses.

“When was the last time you ate?” Ishk asked.

“I don’t remember. I don’t know how long I’ve been here. Two days, I think, you brought me here.” Nothing made sense. Her brain was a scattered mess of thoughts and memories.

“I think you need to eat, Evie.” He began to dish some of the food onto a plate, and handed it to her. She took it, but simply stared at it. She felt sick.

He picked up the fork, and guided it to her mouth. It did smell good, maybe just one mouthful... One mouthful led to another, and slowly her awareness came back to her.

“I can do it now, thank you.” She took the fork from him and ate hungrily.

“Did Darl examine you?”

“Yes,” she answered, clearing the plate and helping herself to seconds.

“Did he say everything was OK?” Ishk asked gently.

“The baby is too small to see. But I guess so.”

“I meant with you?”

Why do you care? Oh yes, because she needed to be healthy to give birth to a healthy child. “Yes, although the mixing of our DNA can make me feel sick.”

“Do you feel better now?”

“Much, maybe I was just hungry.” She got up and poured herself some water. “Can I get you anything to eat or drink?”

“No. Thank you. I came to see if you were all right. If you had everything you need.”

“Yes, I think so. I have had plenty of help today, and tomorrow they are coming back to help me clean out the rest of the house.”

“I could help you,” he said, a little embarrassed.

“I thought the idea of me being here was so that you don’t have to live with a human female. It kind of defeats the object if you spend your time here with me.”

“Evie, I’m sorry.” He got up and went to stand at the doorway, looking out into the darkening night. “I was rude to you.”

“It doesn’t matter now, Ishk. Our relationship is over. I have conceived your child. You can go and spend your time fighting for all the women to be sent here. I know that is what you believe is right.”

He didn’t rise to her verbal attack. Instead he said, “The house seemed so empty without you.”

“Ishk,” she said, standing now, glad she was feeling better. “Please don’t expect me to feel sorry for you.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” He turned to face her, the colours on his skin the same hues as the sunset. Evie wished she could read them, to know what they meant. But when he placed his hand on her cheek, she got some idea. His feelings for her were confirmed when he said, “I wish we had more time.”

“For what, Ishk? For you to enjoy making your child?”

“No. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, but you didn’t, did you? I went to the simulation today.”

“Why?”

“To run some data through the system. The sim reminded me I hadn’t seen how humans … like to be … touched. I thought … well, I don’t know what I thought.” He was quiet, trying to formulate his words; words that she knew were hard for him to say. “I thought that you weren’t supposed to enjoy it, that you were just a vessel in which I was supposed to plant my seed.”

“Your mothers weren’t compliant, were they, Ishk? So you thought that human females would be the same. Only part willing, in return for food.”

He shook his head. “No, they were anything but compliant. In the orphanage, the other boys would talk, they were from the mines, or their fathers were those sent deep into space to explore. They talked about our mothers as if they were animals. I was impressionable. I blamed the mothers for what we were. I blamed them for the loss of my father. A loss which cut into my heart so deep I thought I would die.”

His body shuddered and his colours turned blue, which meant sadness, she could feel it through his skin, her fingertips reading his emotions, such a deep well of loss. “You were very young, Ishk.”

“I paid special attention in the classes where we were taught to contain our emotions. I pushed them down, repressed them. All I ever thought about was getting back to the farming belt and being what my father had taught me. But when I did return, there was no real pleasure. I had learned to store my emotions in a box, within a box, the lid so tightly locked it was never to be opened.”

He continued, “And then the other fathers died, and I saw the sorrow. I lived through it, but couldn’t feel it. I was a voyeur to that sadness. And because I saw it with different eyes, I knew I had to do what I could to stop it happening again. So I worked my way onto the Hier Council, making sure that no orphan from the farming belt would ever have to go out of his community again. That the next generation should be kept in their own territory. I pushed for tighter controls on emotions, and when we discovered Earth and I saw what you were, I knew that it was my duty to stop your influence over us.”

“Why, Ishk, why do you hate us so much?”

“Because of who you are. What you are.”

“And we are beyond redemption? Because we have destroyed our planet, you think we deserve to become extinct?”

He looked at her then looked away. “That is not the reason.”

“Then what is, Ishk?” she asked, needing to know, needing to understand the man who was the father of her child. Not because she believed he would suddenly take her in his arms and promise to love and cherish her forever. That dream had gone.

“Your emotions. You live on them, anger, hate, fear, love. Look at what those men did to you, for what? Greed. You will bring those things to our planet, and spread them like a disease. And what happens when you die, when all of the parents die, and the sorrow is unleashed. What then?”

“What then? Children grieve. You prepare them for it and you let them grieve. Shutting your emotions down is never going to be the answer. Let me ask you a question, Ishk. Would you rather not have known your father?”

“No,” he said firmly. “Of course not.”

“But you think that children, your child, would be a better person not knowing me. Not knowing who his mother was. Not feeling the love a parent can give.”

His colours exploded, as though a great dam had been unleashed and she had to force herself to keep in contact with his skin because she thought the electricity sparking from it might burn her. “I don’t know. I have always known what was best, and now … now I don’t know anything.”

She cradled his head against her chest, soothing him as if he was that seven-year-old child. “You don’t have to know, Ishk. You just have to open your heart and try. Try to see things objectively. Your people weren’t given a chance to make decisions about how you lived. When your females died out, your species did what you had to do to stop yourselves from becoming extinct. I get that. But now you do have a choice. Your generation gets to choose.”

“But what if we are wrong? What if we let ourselves change and it ends in disaster?”

“But what if you are right?” She kissed the top of his head. “I’m not telling you to save the human race. That is another argument, for another day. All I am asking you for is to give us a chance. Give the women you bring here a chance. Let your people have a choice.”

“It would be so easy to agree with you. To let your words into my head and believe them. To let you into my heart.”

“You don’t have to believe them; you only have to be willing to open yourself up to the possibility of being with me. And who knows, I might prefer to live here anyway. On Earth, women have a choice just as much as men.”

“I’m not sure if I can allow myself to try. I don’t know how to have a relationship, Evie, it is not something we are taught. I thought it would be easy, to be with you and then for us to part, but it isn’t. And yet it is just as hard for me to ask you to be with me.”

“Ishk.” She pressed her hand to his face, feeling the heat of his skin. “I know it’s not easy. I understand it’s not what you want. I also think that you as a race have kept yourselves very insular, whereas I come from a species who are so cramped and crowded they have to interact with each other. When I was young, I lived in a wonderful community where people supported each other. Your world is the most amazing place; I know because I can see just how much you love it. But your people need to free themselves from their emotional restraints. You need to free yourself. If for no other reason than because you are going to be a father. Children need love.”

“Will you teach me? How to love?”

She laughed. “Maybe we will have to teach each other.” Her words weren’t meant to be harsh; however, she did not feel love for Ishk in any way. Compassion, attraction, yes. But love? That would take time.

And there is plenty of that. So instead, she took his hand and led him to the bed, lying down with him. “So what did you learn in the simulation?” she asked, to break the strain.

“I could tell you,” he said quietly. “Or I could show you.”

“Ishk, I’m pregnant now. It doesn’t matter.”

“I want to, Evie. I want you to feel how I felt when I was inside you. I want you to know the pleasure you gave me.”

She doubted he could do that. But part of her really wanted to know if he could chase away that feeling of unfulfilled pleasure. “Then show me, Ishk.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven – Ishk

At a crossroads, Ishk knew this was the point of no return. He could carry on as he was, and fight for what he thought he believed in, or give part of himself to this human female. Ishk let go of his past, of his thoughts towards the destruction these females could do to his planet. He let go of his childhood terror; the small boy who had lost his father could no longer rule Ishk’s life. He was a man now and he had to take responsibility, because she was right, soon he would be the father, and he needed Evie if their child was not going to grow up to be a carbon copy of Ishk. He needed Evie to show him how to open himself up, if not to love, then affection. Instead of the pool of loathing, he had become stuck in.

His usual confidence gone, he took his time to unbutton the dress she wore, placing his lips against her skin just as the Karal sim had done. At first it felt false, his desire not yet a flame, as nerves took hold. Did Evie sense this? Because she slid down the bed, to rest her head close to his.

With her thumb, she traced the line of his lips, following the contours, igniting the fire inside him. Smiling softly, she moved closer, her mouth close, and then she pressed her lips to his, moving them gently. For a moment he froze, his brain trying to compute what she was doing. Then a kind of instinct took over, and he moved his lips too, softly, almost reverently, not wanting to graze her with his teeth.

Her hand went to his cheek, stroking his skin, her thumb caressing the curve of his ear, sending more tremors through his body. Pressing his body closer to his, her soft body against his hard muscles and felt as though he was home. That little boy he once was had found somewhere where he could be safe, somewhere he could be himself.

She sighed, content, and the man took control of him once more. His hand went to her buttons, continuing to remove her dress, while she slipped her tongue into his mouth and stroked his lower lip. The flame grew, burning inside him, making him hard, making him eager to please her.

Yet there was something he wanted to do before he entered her. He took his self-control and quashed his desire. This was about him showing Evie how much he wanted to please her.

With renewed control, his fingers stopped trembling and he finished undoing her buttons, and slid the dress off her shoulders. She helped him, shrugging it off, allowing it to fall to the floor. Her breasts heaved, and with a groan, he undid her bra, her beautiful breasts spilling into his hands. Caressing them, he ran his thumb over the taut buds of her nipples, and decided that maybe his mouth might need to taste her flesh before he moved lower.

She gasped against him, her arms wrapping around him, holding him close to her as he covered her nipple with his mouth. Sucking, he rolled his tongue over it, feeling her gasp and press closer to him, her hands on his back, nails digging into his flesh.

Slipping his hand down between her thighs, he could feel her intimate heat growing, heat he wanted to taste.

Releasing her breasts, he eased her down to lie on the bed, and then slipped along the length of her body. Hooking his fingers around the elastic of her panties, he pulled them down, his eyes drawn to the centre of her need. A need he intended to satisfy.

One foot and then the other slipped out of her panties and then he threw them to the floor. His hands pressed her knees apart, feeling some resistance. Did Evie know what he was about to do? She was a virgin before she came here, and perhaps, although she knew about kissing and mating, she might not know about anything more.

His cock hardened in his pants. He was about to teach her something about her body, something he was sure she would enjoy.

Chapter Twenty-Eight – Evie

He was between her thighs, but not with his body, instead he was looking at her. Looking at her intimately. Was this some kind of internal exam, was he going to test her for something?

A little panicked, she tried to draw her legs together, but he kept the pressure on her knees, using his hands, and then moving to use his shoulders to keep her wide open for him. What was he doing?

“Ahh,” she gasped, his finger slipping along the whole length of her sex, probing just enough to press against her inner walls, before pulling back out. His breath was warm on her thighs, moving increasingly higher, and then he kissed her clit. “Oh.”

She nearly exploded then, the days of pent-up tension threatening to take control of her body, but she calmed herself down. She wanted more, so much more.

His tongue slid across her clit, and then lower, pressing inside her sex. She gripped the sheets, balling them in her fists as she tried not to grab hold of his head and make him stop. Such an exquisite mixture of pleasure and what … not pain. But it was just as intense.

Deeper now, he pushed into her, and then slid his tongue back to circle her clit. When it became almost too much, he returned to sucking her clit before probing inside her once more with his tongue.

“Fuck!” A profanity she never used, but nothing else could be formed in her brain.

In and out, applying just the right amount of pressure to take her to the edge and then pulling back. Writhing beneath him, she needed to come, for this to finally end in an orgasm. And there it was. He plunged two fingers inside her while his mouth sucked and licked her clit, a relentless motion that took her over the edge and into an abyss.

The colours in her head exploded, reminding her of the wormhole they had travelled through on their way to Karal. So intense, so deep, taking her to another place and then throwing her out the other side, leaving her body fighting to regain control.

Ishk raised his head and looked at her, more than a little pleased with himself, but she had to admit, he had every right to be, because that was incredible. Should she have expected it to be anything less, because she was sure he was a perfectionist? Well, he could practice perfection on her anytime.

He moved, kissing her skin while he slid up the bed, until he was nestled between her thighs. The head of his cock pressed against her outer lips and then he pressed forward, the large head of his cock sliding into her. She was so wet; he thrust into her in one movement, the inner walls of her sex gripping him, yielding to him, accepting him.

Ishk’s face showed both strain and ecstasy, he was holding himself together, wanting to please her again. Sliding back out, she felt an emptiness, bit only momentarily, as with one long lunge he impaled her on his cock. Evie’s oversensitive body soon neared a second orgasm, the residue of the last one still so fresh in her mind that she longed to soar to those heights again, with Ishk inside her.

In and out, empty and full, he thrust hard and deep, before pulling back, his hips working to plunder her depths until he came. His face contorted in agony as his cock fused with her and his seed spurted into her womb. And then an expression of such profound release crossed his face and he relaxed, relief flooding his face as she came too, his cock pressing against the sides of her sex, sending a chain reaction of pleasure through her body.

Evie cried out, her voice high as waves of pleasure crashed into her. Her sex gripped his cock, pulsing and throbbing around him, and she clung to him, needing him to be her constant in a world that moved around her, lights and colours. When she could focus once more, she realised the lights and colours were him, his skin so bright, he radiated his emotions onto her. Running her hand over his back she read his emotions; it brought her closer to him, and closer than she had ever been to another person, human or otherwise.

Ishk had released the plug that had kept him so bottled up, unable to be part of the changing world. Now his emotions flowed freely.

“Did I please you?” he asked.

“Yes, Ishk, you did. Especially that thing you did with your mouth.”

“The sim…”

“It was all you, Ishk.” Her hand rested on his back, and the vibrations from the colours were as if he were a cat purring with pleasure. She smiled and closed her eyes. This had to be the weirdest day ever.

***

“What time is it?” she asked, feeling him move next to her. The room was in darkness. Only the faint glow of the coming dawn could be seen through the windows.

“Early. I have to go home and change before I go to the tower.”

“So early?” She had hoped he might stay with her. Or take her with him.

“Yes. I have a council meeting this morning. I wish to be prepared for it.”

“I see.” She pulled the sheets up under her chin, shielding herself from him. She was still the same baby whore she had been before. All he wanted was the chance to prove to himself that he was capable of pleasing a woman in bed. He had used her.

“I will return this evening.” He bent down and kissed her.

She opened her mouth to tell him to forget it; there was no way he was going to keep coming back for sex. If he wanted her to remain here, then she would, but not for his personal entertainment. But then a wave of nausea hit her and she got up and ran outside.

Evie didn’t get too far before she heaved and the contents of her stomach hit the ground, leaving her shuddering, her body preparing itself for the next wave. Kneeling, her body tensed and then she was sick again.

“Evie!”

“I’m fine,” she said, putting her hand up to stop him coming any closer. “Can you get me a cup of water, please?”

“Of course.”

He went back inside, and she tried to get to her feet, but another wave hit her. She remembered being sick as a child, when her mom used to cradle her against her chest, holding her hair out of the way, soothing her, crooning to her that it would be all right. A big sob welled up inside her; she missed that close connection with her mom, and the way her dad always made her feel safe. If she had stayed on Earth and found a husband, that was what she might have now, someone to comfort her. Instead, she had Ishk, who saw her, no doubt, as an inconvenience keeping him from work.

“Here,” he said, kneeling by the side of her and lifting the cup to her mouth. She took a sip, and instantly a fresh wave of nausea hit her, but her stomach was empty and all she did was retch.

He produced a handkerchief, a thing that amused her even in the throes of retching. “No, thank you, Ishk, I would hate to get it all messed up.”

“Take it, Evie, please. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Not unless you have one of those magic potions, like the ocatha, to take away this morning sickness.”

“Morning sickness? You are sick every morning like this? I never saw it while you were in my house.”

“No, it’s the baby. Humans get it when they are pregnant; I think it’s compounded because of the difference between our species. Normally a human wouldn’t get it until they are quite few weeks pregnant, not a few days.”

“I see. I have never seen such a thing in animals.”

“Good to know, Ishk.” She sat up, feeling it had passed. “My mom used to know of an herb that eased it. She used to keep it in a pot on the windowsill and make a tea out of it whenever a woman in the village got pregnant.”

“Your mother knew plant lore?”

“Yes. It was her life’s work, she kept a beautiful garden filled with herbs, grew vegetables for us. As much as she could with the thin soil.” Tears pricked her eyes. She wished her mom was here now, with her herbs and wise words.

“That is why you have such a love of my garden? Because it reminds you of her?”

“Yes. I think I will ask if I can start a garden here.”

“I will help you,” he said.

“Thank you, Ishk.” She stood up. “It’s passed now. I’ll be all right.” Those words encompassed everything: her past, the present, and her future. His offer of help had made it quite clear. If he intended to help her start a garden here, he intended for her to stay here. He didn’t want her; she had to let go of the notion that he ever would.

Chapter Twenty-Nine – Ishk

Too preoccupied to notice the change in her voice, he made sure she was all right before leaving her. She assured him she would be fine, and that the other Earth females, and Okil, no doubt, would be here soon.

Checking the sentry was still guarding the walls, he made his way home. A quick shower and he would set out for the tower. The suns were just cresting the mountains, sending their light and warmth over the grasslands around him. That was how it felt when he was in Evie’s arms last night; she showered him with the light of her smile and gave him warmth from her emotions. She made him feel happy, and laced it with a need to be a better man. A better lover, a better father to their unborn child, and a better member of the council. He had decided to share his findings with the council.

First, however, he needed to visit the Archives.

***

No one came down here; most of the information had been transferred to the computers up in the control room. There it was fed out to various other offices, and of course the sim. The sim pulled its data from these archives and then added the information from various other data points. Probes on Earth and other planets they had visited in the vastness of space, sent their information back so that the records were constantly up to date.

As he descended the steps, he stopped, breathing in the faint musty smell of old documents. Here was stored all the handwritten diaries and journals of the old ways, from the days when his species could only dream of leaving the planet. They lived a simple life, in peace, cocooned within their familys’ love.

He went to the back of the Archives, and pulled down a journal. It was dated from the time of the great sorrow, when only sons were born and the females were so few, they knew they were on the brink of extinction. Flicking through the pages, his thoughts were confirmed: sadness and despair threatened them. The colours wouldn’t stop, and at night the fierce predators hunted them. The remaining males were easy prey, their skin making them an easy target.

“We must learn to control what we are. We must shut out the inner turmoil and be at peace, or die at the hands of our own emotions.”

“As a race we must move beyond what we are and become less, to enable us to become more. The great sorrow has passed, we must never risk such a thing again, or we will fall into history and be forgotten. For the sake of our sons, we must endure.”

We must endure. It had been his constant mantra in the home where he was brought up. One of his teachers repeated it to him when he practiced containing his emotions. But the Karal would not endure if they stayed this path. It would lead them forever further into the universe, unleashing more dangers on his fragile species. They lost the females of their race because of misfortune. Forcing them to search for females to impregnate. His generation had been presented with an opportunity. They had a choice. A thing their ancestors never had.

He closed the book, and placed it back on the shelf, searching for a journal before this time, one when the mothers still were still alive and healthy. He began to pull out journals, flicking through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

It took him several hours, but he was determined not to leave the Archives before he found it. When he did, it felt calmer somehow. There was one more thing left for him to do. Ishk was ready to face the Hier Council. Ready to ask for his female to be returned to him.

***

“Let me make sure I have heard you correctly, Ishk.” The Hier Ruler stood before him, his eyes narrow points, studying Ishk.

Ishk stood tall and proud, he was strong enough to admit he was wrong. “I understand you would think this a trick. But I have run the sim twice; you are welcome to check the data.”

“And that data has led you to change your mind about the females? You no longer want them sent to the breeding house,” Lytril said the words slowly and clearly.

“No,” Ishk confirmed, feeling the other members’ eyes on him, and his colours crept out, slipping along his hands, and it took all of his resolve to stop them from appearing on his face.

“Forgive my doubt, Ishk,” the Hier Commander said. “It’s just that so complete a change in someone so … zealous, is almost unheard of.”

“I agree. But the data proved me wrong.”

“And what of Earth? Will you now comply with our request and allow us to move forward with our mission to find another planet for these humans? To at least maintain a breeding stock of females.”

This he did not wholly agree with. But he was tired of fighting. The Hier Council, or more precisely the Hier Ruler, held Ishk’s fate in his hands, and that of Evie. If he complied with their mission, they might let him have her back.

“Yes. If it is the majority verdict of the council, I will not block it.” That was the best he could do; he could not agree, but he would not disagree.

“Very well. Thank you, Ishk. Torac, as Hier Commander I wish you to prepare the mission immediately. We will work with the President of Earth to find five females who will travel with our long-range pilots.”

“Females? You wish to take females on these missions?” Ishk said in disbelief.

“Yes. To one thing we are all committed, there will be no removal of males from Earth unless it is to make a breeding colony. We have not changed our views there, Ishk. The females will be selected from the lottery pool, and they will be trained and then accompany a pilot on the long-range missions.”

“I see.” Ishk saw the Hier Commander move and sensed the meeting was ending. “There is one more thing.”

“Yes, Ishk?”

“I wish to request the female, Evie, be given back to me.”

The Hier Ruler could not help the flash of blue that crossed his face. Ishk held his breath and kept his colours under control. He had crossed the Hier Ruler, he had instigated the whipping of Lytril’s female, and now the Hier Ruler could take his revenge.

“You were so set against having her with you. You sent her away and in doing so you gave up any claim to her.”

“I know, Hier Ruler.”

Lytril glanced around the table, taking in the emotions of the other members in a way only he was capable of. Then he looked at Ishk and studied him for a long time, until Ishk’s colours spiralled out of his control and they swam across his face.

“Do you wish me to beg, Hier Ruler?”

“As Vanessa begged you, Ishk?” Lytril hissed sharply.

Ishk stood tall and determined. “I apologise for my actions towards your female, Hier Ruler.”

“It is not me you need to apologise to,” Lytril said curtly.

“I will seek out Vanessa and make it well with her.”

Lytril approached him. “If Vanessa forgives you, then you can claim Evie once more. But only if Evie is willing. She is not your slave; she has kept her side of the lottery bargain. If she rejects you, then she will be free to remain at the breeding house and then moved to Grenvet. That is my ruling.”

“Thank you, Hier Ruler.” Ishk stood still while the other members filed out. Only when he was alone did he rest his hands on the big ornate table and let out his breath. That was the hardest thing he had ever done, swallowing his pride, admitting defeat. And yet it was nothing to the unease he felt about facing Vanessa, the woman he had ordered whipped. The whip used by the Karal as means of punishment left no physical trace, but it had damaged her human nervous system terribly. She had lost all control of her emotions to the point that they had deserted her.

Now she was healed, and strong. Would she forgive him, or ruin his future happiness as he had so cruelly tried to ruin hers?

Chapter Thirty – Evie

She bathed in the warm water that flowed through a communal bathroom. From what she could tell, the water was a stream, part of which was diverted into a filtration system and heated using solar power, before been sent through a reed bed, and then any drain-off re-joined the stream.

After she had washed, she had spent an hour figuring out how it all worked, fascinated by the simple yet effective system. The suns warmed her skin and dried her hair and by the time she walked back to her house, she felt better and ate some fruit, relaxing on the bed and wondering what today would bring.

It brought furniture. And helping hands who soon got to work cleaning and decorating the other rooms in her house. Drapes were put up, and soft furnishings made the place a lot more homely. They worked hard, a sense of human satisfaction strong in the clean, clear Karalian air.

“Lunch, I think,” Celia said. “Okil, will you fetch the food we brought? Thank you.”

Okil went to the cruiser. He looked relieved to be able to lay down the shovel he had been armed with all morning. He was beginning to mark out and then dig the flowerbeds Evie wanted. Kindly promising her seeds and any plants he could get his hands on. He knew someone who had some to spare.

“Okil always seems to know someone,” Vanessa said. “He took me over to Grenvet for some paint when I first arrived.”

“What’s Grenvet like?” Evie asked.

“Beautiful, green with a lovely coast.” She looked at Evie, and noted her thoughtful frown. “I thought you wanted to stay here.”

“I do. Well, at least I think I do. But then I wonder if I might be better away from … here.” She looked down at the small pastry in her hand, her appetite gone.

“Did something happen, Evie?” Vanessa asked.

“No,” she said shaking her head quickly.

“Did Ishk come here? Did he hurt you?”

“No. He wouldn’t hurt me.”

“But he did come here?”

The others were listening now. “If you want me to get Lytril to banish him or something, I would be more than happy to.”

“No, thank you, Vanessa, I need to deal with this. Last night he seemed so … I don’t know. I thought we made a connection. And then this morning he couldn’t wait to get away.”

“That’s men for you. Present company excluded, Okil,” Celia said with a smile.

“Thank you. It’s nice to see I am appreciated.” He bowed his head in response.

“Always.” Celia patted him on the back.

“Yes, Okil, I should thank you for bringing everyone and everything here this morning. The house is already transformed.”

“My pleasure, Evie. I want you to be happy.”

“Okil wants everyone to be happy,” Vanessa teased affectionately.

Whereas Ishk wanted everyone to suffer. No, she was being unkind. He was mixed up, and mixed up people say and do things they don’t necessarily mean. She placed her hand on her stomach. That mixed up man would be the sole guardian of their child.

“Evie. He’s here. Do you want Okil to ask him to leave?” Elissa asked.

Evie looked up quickly and then stood up. Ishk had pulled into the courtyard and was getting out. The others all stood too, moving in front of Evie as if to protect her. She wanted to tell them not to be so stupid, but then she remembered he had treated Vanessa cruelly. None of them trusted him. Except her.

“Ishk,” she said, going forward. “I thought you were in a council meeting.”

“I was. But the meeting finished, we reached our decision and now I have come here.” He looked past Evie, towards Vanessa. “I have come to do something I should have done some weeks ago.”

“What do you want?” Vanessa stepped forward, and Okil followed to stand by her side. If it came down to it, Evie could tell Okil was under orders to protect Vanessa with his life. That was why he was always around. He was their own private bodyguard.

“I have come to offer my sincerest apologises to you Vanessa,” Ishk said.

Vanessa paled and took a step back. “What is your game, Ishk?”

“No game. It has taken me some time to understand why I acted the way I did.” The big Karalian’s chest heaved; Evie could see how hard this was for him. A man with such pride, such a hard reputation, standing here in front of the human females he had tried endlessly to shut away, and he was at their mercy. But why? What did he have to gain from this?

“Then I accept your apology in the same way it is given.” Vanessa nodded curtly and moved away, back to the others, shaken to the core, and mystified.

Ishk was not finished, however. “Do I have your forgiveness?”

Vanessa turned, her eyes flashing. “Accepting your apology is one thing, Ishk, but forgiving you is quite another. I think there is something behind this sudden change of heart, some gain you want, and I suspect it is at the expense of Lytril.”

Elissa came to stand by Vanessa. “Calm down, he is not worth you getting so worked up over. You should go, Ishk. Give her some time.”

“I do not have the luxury of time,” he said and his eyes flicked over to Evie. Something that Elissa noticed.

“Ishk, Vanessa does not believe you are sincere. Will you let me read you?” Elissa offered her hands to Ishk, who looked at them with distaste. “I realise you think of me as an abomination, but it’s the best chance you’re going to get to prove yourself.”

“Not an abomination.” He placed his hands in hers, and she gasped with shock.

With Ishk staring straight into her eyes, trying not to hide anything, Elissa spoke. Her hands were glowing with colours as they connected with Ishk’s skin.

“What is that? What’s wrong with Elissa’s hands?” Evie asked Celia quietly.

“She damaged her hands. Marin tried to repair them on the space station and somehow the DNA was mixed up and the new skin has some Karalian properties. She can read their emotions, but it also means they can read hers. As Lytril did when she first came here. It’s a little unnerving for both parties.

“You’re scared of me,” Elissa said.

“You are a mixture of us. The first time this has happened.”

“And you don’t like anything that is different.”

“You are right, it scares me,” he acknowledged.

“And what about your apology to Vanessa, did you mean it?”

“Yes,” Ishk nodded to confirm his words.

“Is there some reason you want her to forgive you?”

He looked uncomfortable, but had to answer truthfully or else Elissa would know he was lying and his chance would have gone to prove himself worthy. “Yes.”

“I knew it. You are only ever interested in what you have to gain. You had me whipped so that I would not want to be with Lytril, so that I would end up here. You hated the thought of your Hier Ruler changing his mind about humans,” Vanessa accused.

“Yes. I did. But now it’s different.” His eyes flicked to Evie once more.

Elissa abruptly dropped his hands, although their gaze was now locked, Ishk’s one of pleading. Then Elissa said, “Vanessa, I need to talk to you.”

“What?” Vanessa said as Elissa took her arm and led her away.

Celia leaned towards Evie as the other two women walked away. “I’ll tell you something, Evie. Things were never this exciting before you came.”

“I don’t think that’s a good thing. Do you?”

“Yes. I do. It’s time the men on this planet had their world shaken up a little. I would love to hear what those two are arguing about.”

And they were arguing, or at least it was a very heated debate, one that involved Vanessa looking between Ishk and Evie while listening to Elissa. Until Evie wondered how her fate was wrapped up in all of this.

Chapter Thirty-One – Ishk

He stood looking at the ground, not trusting himself to look at Evie, who must hate him now the truth was out. If they hadn’t already told her, then she would now know the extent to which he had pushed things to get what he wanted. Trying to keep his emotions and colours in check, he just stared at a piece of grass until he heard Vanessa and Elissa returning.

Vanessa, still mad as hell, from what he could read of her, stood with feet planted firmly apart. He wasn’t sure if the curled fist of her right hand was going to come into contact with his jaw.

“I know what you want,” Vanessa said, leaning in so that her voice could only be heard by him. “And I want you to know, that I will only forgive you, if Evie wants you. I will forgive you, for her. Not you. I want to make that quite clear.”

“It is clear. Thank you, Vanessa.”

She nearly spit in his eye, but she took a step back and made way for him to go to Evie. Who looked as if she wanted to bolt for the nearest closet.

“Evie, I have to apologise to you, too. I want you to know that only because of your understanding could I see what I had become. I know you don’t deserve a man like me; you deserve someone so much better, so much kinder. But I hope you will come home with me. That we can teach each other about our different species.”

“Ishk, I don’t want to be something you use for pleasure.” Evie blushed as she spoke, her skin going a beautiful shade of pink despite her bruises.

“That isn’t why I’m here. I know I have to prove myself to you, to all of you. But I have finally begun to understand what drove me to what I did. What I was trying to accomplish was the right thing for our people. That was what I truly believed until I met you. Now I see that it was what I had been taught to believe.”

“And you want me to accept that you have had a sudden and irrevocable change of heart?”

“Yes,” he said simply.

“Ishk,” she said, rubbing her face with the palm of her hands and shaking her head. For a moment, he thought he had lost her, that she would turn him away. Then she lifted her face to look at him. “If I come to live with you, it has to be as an equal. I know there are restrictions on our movements, but apart from that, we are the same. I am not above you, you are not above me.”

“I cannot promise I will not fail in some small way. Or some big way. I cannot promise you that there won’t be times that you will hate me. However, I do promise to listen to what you say, in the same way you will have to listen to what I say and try to understand me.”

She offered her hand to him. “Deal.”

He slipped his hand into hers, finding this an odd way to strike a bargain; humans certainly did like to shake hands. Not that he cared, because the touch of her against his skin was incredible. Her emotions flowed into him: her uncertainty, her hope, her hunger to make a family with him, to make this world her own.

Ishk, member of the Hier Council, smiled, and then leaned forward and kissed her, until the sensations through his hands became something else. Something deeper, and he wished they were alone.

“So, I think that might be our cue to leave,” Elissa said.

“Wait,” Vanessa said going to Ishk and Evie. “I forgive you, Ishk. If what you say to Evie is true, then I forgive you. But if it isn’t, if you hurt her in any way...” She took a deep breath and finished. “You will see a side to Earth women that you wish you hadn’t, because it will be the last thing you see.”

Evie looked up at him, waiting for his response, worry etching her face.

“You have every right not to trust me, Vanessa. I hope one day I may truly make amends for what I did to you.”

“Good luck, Evie.” She hugged Evie and then walked away.

Shame coursed through Ishk. Vanessa might well forgive him, but it would be a long time until he could truly believe he had earned her forgiveness for what he had done. Despite his intentions, he had crossed the line that day and become a monster. He only hoped he could redeem himself in the eyes of these female humans. Particularly Evie.

Chapter Thirty-Two – Evie

“I thought we would spend the night at your house here,” she said.

They were in his space cruiser, flying low across the grasslands, heading towards the mountains in the distance. He had helped her collect her belongings from the breeding house and then they had returned to his house, where he packed up some food and warm clothes before helping her into his cruiser. This time they were seated side by side at the control console, with a wide window in front of them so that she could take in all of the scenery.

“There is something I want to get for you. The sooner the better, I thought,” he said, checking a map, which was displayed to his right.

“For me? There is nothing I need.”

“I went to the archives and read through some of the journals. They date back from when the females of our species were still alive.”

“Really, you have all of those things stored away?” She was fascinated by what he said. How incredible to be able to read the journals written by their ancestors.

“Yes. After you talked about your mom and the tea she made for morning sickness, I guessed that our females would know of similar herbs.”

“You went searching for a remedy for my morning sickness?” She was stunned that he had spent time researching something for her.

“I have always found the properties of plants fascinating. We are taught some herb lore in the farming belt. But of course, this particular remedy has long since fallen out of memory, because there has been no use for it.”

“Of course, so where does it grow?” she asked excitedly.

“Along the coast. That is where we are heading now. I’m hoping to go and pick some and then make it to my house in the farming belt before nightfall.”

“A whistle-stop tour of Karal,” she said, watching the mountains looming up in front of them. They climbed higher and higher, the cruiser almost skimming the side of the mountain, giving her a close-up view of the world below. Grazing animals on the lower slopes ran as they passed overhead, and then they climbed to skim over the snow-capped peaks.

Her stomach flipped when they crested the highest peaks and then flew down the other side. In the distance now was the wide vastness of the ocean, sparkling and blue. It drew her eyes, like the brightest of jewels.

“Wow, is that where we are going?” she asked, pointing to the ocean.

“Along the edge to the south. The plant we are looking for only grows in a small area.” He guided the cruiser expertly, taking them down low over the sandy beach, the cruiser skimming the ocean and causing spray to fly up around them.

“This is fun,” she said, laughing.

“Yes. It is.”

“I didn’t think you were capable of anything remotely approaching fun,” she said, watching him smile.

“Neither did I.” He looked out of the window, looking down below them, and then they crested a small sand dune and he said, “There.”

Ishk landed on the beach. They both went down the exit ramp and stood looking at the beautiful ocean, before he moved off to where a frothy sea of white flowers covered the furthest side of the dune. Between them, they picked an armful of the white flowers, Ishk making sure they did not take too much, but he also took a seed head, which he put in his pocket.

“When we get to my house, we can plant the seeds.”

“And place it on my windowsill,” she murmured.

“Yes.” He nodded at her, his eyes deep pools of emotion.

Walking back to the cruiser, she asked, “Can we stay for a while? I have never paddled in the ocean.”

“We can always come back when we have more time.”

“Please, Ishk.” He agreed and like a child, she took off her shoes, holding her skirt up as she ran to the water’s edge and let the waves lap over her feet. “It’s so cold.”

Ishk went inside the cruiser and she thought he would wait for her there. Instead, he reappeared, his pants rolled up, his feet bare. Unable to resist, she kicked water up at him, splashing him.

Running to her, he grabbed her around the waist and spun her around, making her scream with joy. When he put her down, she turned in his arms, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Smiling, she then kissed him.

His hands tightened around her waist, pulling her close, his lips against hers, soft yet demanding. This new Ishk kissed her with such passion, and Evie glimpsed the root of his concern. Ishk had looked into the deep pool of emotions contained inside him. As a child he had lost his father and experienced it, and then years later watched the other Karalians as they dealt with their grief. He had witnessed how much effort it took for them to regain their control. What depths were contained in these seemingly emotionless males astonished her.

What passion they were capable of if they all learned to unleash their emotions was incredible. Kissing him, Evie pushed those fears away. He had chosen to take the plunge into the unknown by allowing human females to live freely on his planet; she could never tell him his emotions belonged back in their locked box. All she could do was be there for him.

“Ishk, take me to your home.” With one last look at the ocean, he led her back to the cruiser, her hand securely held in his, as if he never wanted to let her go. Or was it that he could feel he was on the brink of letting go of his outer shell, and needed the touch of her to be his constant as he transformed into something new?

Looking out of the window, she watched the world below her unfold, the ocean to their right, dunes to their left, until he turned back in land and they flew over great swathes of golden corn.

“I thought this would be harvested by now,” he said, and then in front of them she saw the great machines, each with a large solar pack on its roof. They were gathering the crop, eating it up through a big hole in the front of the machine, teeth coming out, huge pieces of metal to chomp and gnash at everything in its wake.

From there it was fed through the machine, and some kind of grain was funnelled out of the top, spraying out to fill a big container to its side.

“What is this?” she asked.

“They have begun the harvest. This is an area of Karal where shumi is grown. It is used for bread and pastries.”

“Shumi. Like wheat. I have never seen so much food been grown.”

“Welcome to the farming belt, Evie.”

She turned and grinned at him. “Will you give me a tour? I would love to see how you work the land.”

“Yes, but that is for tomorrow, right now I want to get home.”

They travelled on, the big fields of grain giving way to fringes of forests and wild flowers before they once more passed over fields filled with crops. This time they looked yellow, some kind of maize, then every shade of green she could imagine appeared before her in patchwork squares. The ground was covered in vegetables, workers going in amongst them.

“What are they doing?” she asked, pointing to a field dotted with Karalians.

“It is nearly time to harvest most of our food. Their job is to work their way through the fields checking to see if it is time to harvest. We need to pick them at the optimum time. When the weather is right and the crops are ripe.”

On they flew, Evie finding it hard to comprehend the vastness of the farming belt. Small houses dotted the landscape, the farmhouses, she guessed. “How much farther?”

“There,” he said, pointing to a small hill rising up to her left. They flew lower, and then steered for a cream-coloured house, lying on its own in the lee of the hill. “Wow.”

“Do you like it?” he asked eagerly.

“Yes. It is wonderful.”

“The garden will take some time to put in order. But soon, if we work together, it will provide us with fruits and nuts. I had planted some vegetables, but whether they are still edible, I’m not sure.”

They landed and the ramp lowered; he held her hand and led her down, looking proud. The colours swam across his face and he didn’t seem concerned. Ishk had come home, and he was trying to let down the barriers between them. She liked that he wanted to at least try to be open with her.

“Wait, I have something for you.” He went back inside and came back with a journal, which he handed to her. “I thought you would like to write down all that I teach you, just as the females did long ago.”

She leafed through the empty pages. “You don’t mind sharing your knowledge with a human female?”

“No, Evie, I don’t.” He kissed her once more. “At this moment, I would share everything with you. This is my home, it has been my home for sixty Earth years or more, yet not until now has it ever felt like a home.”

“Will you show me?”

“Yes, Evie,” he said, taking her hand, kissing it tenderly and then walking to the front door of his little house. “Wait.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned, pressing the journal to her chest as if it would protect her. Was there some wild animal inside waiting to eat them?

“There is another of your Earth traditions I would like to use.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t think of one, but Ishk had obviously done his homework. Bending down, he lifted her into his arms and carried her over the threshold.

“I believe I have done it correctly.” He placed her down on the floor in his hallway.

“That is for couples who are married.” She giggled all the same and was touched by his gesture.

“Aren’t we married?”

“Not really. But I guess the lottery is the same kind of contract.” She wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him.

When he pulled away from her he said, “We should make the tea to stop your morning sickness.”

“There is time for that later. Because I think we should first celebrate another Earth custom. If we are married, and you have just carried me over the threshold, we should be on our honeymoon.” She had mixed it up a little. Ishk would never know.

“Honeymoon? What is that?”

She took his hand and said, “It’s where you take me to bed and make love to me.”

“I like that tradition much more.” He took her upstairs to a bedroom under the eaves of his house. Across the hallway was another room, empty for now, but where their child would sleep one day.

Undressing her, he kissed her skin, his fingers tracing the three small burns on her shoulder, then he kissed them as if he could make them disappear. In a way he had, he had given her hope and safety and freedom. Whether that would one day be love, she still wasn’t sure. But as he lay her down on the bed and made love to her, she hoped they could find their way to a place where they were a proper family. Father, mother and son. Another new chapter in the life of Evie Miller. This time she prayed it would be a happy one.

The Hierarchy

“You chose well, Okil. Evie has brought about the desired change in Ishk. For now, any uprising is over. With no leader, it melted away. In fact, I think most Karalians are looking forward to having a human female in their bed. The prime is at its peak, the need to mate at its strongest; we must capitalise on this before the urge fades.” Lytril stood alone with Okil in the Hier Council chamber.

“Thank you, Hier Ruler.”

“As a reward, I think it is time you were given a female from the lottery. The announcement will be made that the draw will take place daily as soon as arrangements can be made. I feel you will be needed here on Karal, helping the new females to settle in. So it seems right you should have a female of your own.”

“Thank you, Hier Ruler.”

“Okil. Is there something you want to tell me?” Lytril could see Okil struggling to control his emotions, the colours faint but visible across his face.

“No, Hier Ruler, I am overwhelmed by your generosity, that is all.”

“Find a compatible female and then make the necessary arrangements.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Lytril watched Okil walk from the chamber. Something was wrong with him, but Lytril could not decide what, not without laying his hands on him. He would leave it for now. As long as there was no problem with the females already here, then no doubt it would pass and Okil would be his normal optimistic self.

It might just be that he wanted his own female to warm his bed.

Lytril had no idea how true his theory was, or what Okil was willing to do to make sure the woman he loved came to Karal.

The End

*

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Okil’s Story

Devotion

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