Hunger (4 page)

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.”

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.

“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.