As they came into land, the one thing she did know was that she would be forever grateful for being plucked from Earth and sent here to a world full of life.
“We will land and then go to the old breeding house. That is where we will take off from tomorrow,” he said.
“Breeding house? I feel I should ask what you breed there, but part of me doesn’t want to know,” she said.
“It is where our forefathers kept the females they were breeding with.”
“So they used to keep them like cattle?” she asked.
“My mother was not as intelligent as you humans. They resisted,” he said.
“And if I resist?” she asked.
Malik looked uncomfortable, but didn’t answer. Instead he brought the cruiser down, landing it in what looked like an airport, but they didn’t stop; they simply drove along the ground, as if the space cruiser was also magically a car now. Their technology fascinated Chrissi. If only they would share it with Earth.
“Is everything here solar-powered?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Yes. We embraced the technology and store as much of the suns’ energy as we can.” He seemed happy to talk about their technology on a general level, and she hoped that when they were in space, the two of them, for long days, and longer weeks, that he might open up and help her understand how things worked on the cruiser.
They stopped briefly at a checkpoint, and another Karalian came out to speak to Malik. Chrissi couldn’t get over how similar they were. The same dark hair, the colour of real coffee beans, over deep walnut-brown eyes. With their tanned skin, next to the pale humans she had left back on Earth, they looked like big predators, and a tremor of fear passed through her.
She might have been able to fight off Mr. Murgrove, but she wouldn’t stand a chance against Malik or any other Karalian. Now she was here, she was at their command, and the rules of the lottery became crystal-clear: she was here to breed. Malik’s words came back to her. His mother had been brought here against her will and kept here as a breeding female. Would this generation of the Karal revert to the same way of life if the females from Earth resisted?
“What are the animals like on Earth?” Malik asked. He sounded as if he was searching for some common ground for them to talk. At least he was trying to make an effort. This must be like an awkward first date for him too.
“I haven’t ever seen any wild animals, except in books. There are still some cats and dogs on Earth, but mostly those are owned by the pents, the rich people. When most people are struggling just to feed their families, owning a pet is a little too extravagant.”
“Shall we take a little detour again?” he asked.
“Do we have time?” she asked.
“I think we can spare ten minutes to introduce you to some of the pleasures of Karal,” he said.
Chrissi only hoped the wildlife was the only pleasure he planned to introduce her to. Damn it, she was not going to let herself spoil the day. Just because Mr. Murgrove had tried to force himself on her, it didn’t mean Malik would. But still, his comments about the breeding house were hard to shake off.
“There!” he exclaimed, pointing out across the grassy plain, which was so green and vibrant she wanted to get out of the space cruiser, take off her shoes and run through it, to feel the living grass brush against her hands, and for her feet to feel the prickly blades as she trampled across the ground.
And then she saw what he was pointing at, away to the right of them, a herd of animals were grazing quietly. They were small, almost like sheep, but their fleece, if that’s what it was, stuck up, like prickles all over their backs.
“What are they?” she asked.
“
Rototos
,” he said.
“Rototos,” she repeated, liking the new word on her tongue. “They are so strange.”
“Why?” he asked.
“All their spikes. They remind me of a porcupine, but they are bigger.”
“Come,” he said, and to her astonishment he stopped the cruiser and got out of his seat, heading out of the control deck. Pausing, he turned back to her. “Don’t you want to see them close up?”
“Yes,” she said excitedly, scrambling after him, nearly slipping over in her eagerness. He had to wait for a moment at the top of the ramp while she rolled the legs of her overalls up again so that she didn’t trip over them, and then he led her down the ramp.
“Come, we must be quiet to start with,” he said. And almost on tiptoe, he walked towards the rototos. One of them looked up, and he froze. Chrissi did the same. The animal went back to eating, and Malik began to move forward again.
Carefully, stopping and starting each time one of the strange animals looked up, they made their way towards the herd. After a few minutes they were so close they could reach out and touch the rototos, but before she did, Malik said, “They will get nervous when you touch one of them. Whatever you do, stay calm.”
“You’re making me nervous. They don’t attack, do they?” she asked quietly.
“No. And I don’t want to spoil the surprise, so I am not going to tell you what happens, but just stay still.”
He forgot to tell her not to scream, but luckily she managed to hold it in, because when she reached out and touched the nearest rototo, he curled up into a tight ball. What’s more, the rototos surrounding him did the same, all curling up until the whole herd looked like small prickly mounds dotted around in the grass.
“That is amazing,” Chrissi said, stroking the spines of the rototo. They were prickly to the touch, all their spines sticking up, giving the animals protection, yet between those spines was a downy wool. “This is so soft.”
“And thick. It is so they don’t hurt each other. I love watching them, there was a herd of them nearby where I grew up. As a child I used to go out and run with them. They got used to me and rarely did this.” He indicated the curled-up animals. “They are very inquisitive once they get over their shyness.”
“I can’t imagine spending my days with animals like this. There are more animals here than I have probably seen my whole life,” she said.
“Then when we get back from our mission, we can spend some time exploring Karal,” he said, his face flushing pink with what she hoped was anticipation. “I will enjoy showing them to you. As a warrior I do not spend much time out in the wilds, but I used to when I was a boy.”
“With your parents … sorry, with your dad?” she asked, forgetting he had grown up with only one parent.
“Yes. He said that if I was to go out into space, as warriors do, then I should have an understanding of my own world so that I could appreciate other worlds,” Malik said, absently touching the prickles of a rototo.
“Was he a warrior?” Chrissi asked.
“Yes. It is the way of the Karal; the majority of sons go on to become the same as their father.”
“So our son will become a warrior too?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, turning to her with a look she couldn’t comprehend. It wasn’t lust, and most definitely not love. And for a moment she wondered if she would ever have to worry about being with him intimately. Maybe he didn’t fancy her. Because he would have to be attracted to her in order for them to have sex, or he might not be able to function.
Her cheeks flamed red, and she turned her attention back to the rototo, who were still curled up, hiding their heads from danger.
As she thought about Malik, she had felt the first small tendrils of … what? Not desire, but wonder. Was it possible that she would end up wanting him and he would deny her? That would be just about right.
Chrissi had come here hoping her luck would change, and when Malik had told her about the deep space mission, she truly believed it had.
But if he didn’t want her, where did that leave her? Lost and alone on a planet filled with men who were all in their prime and needing to breed.
“We should go,” he said, “Let the rototo get on with their feeding.”
“Of course,” she said, and turned to walk back to the space cruiser and her unknown future.
It was time to go to the breeding house, where Okil was no doubt pacing up and down waiting for them. He helped her up the exit ramp, feeling his colours ignite when he touched her for the first time. Her eyes had flickered up to his face in question before being averted, and she awoke something in him that was not just sexual.
He had glimpsed it when they were talking about the rototo, and she had said something about their son. Looking at her, watching her, the realisation that she would give him a daughter too struck him. They would raise two children, and if the girl turned out like her mother, he would be proud, just as proud as he would be of his son.
He wished he could share these thoughts with her. But he couldn’t, not while they were on Karal.
“The suns are setting,” she said, looking out across the distant plains to where the suns were disappearing over the horizon. It was a beautiful sight, bathing the grasslands in a rosy glow.
“It will be dark soon. We will visit Okil quickly and then get some food.” He had closed the ramp and now they were driving back the way they had come, a tall tower rising up in the distance, a silhouette against the deep violet sky.
“Is that where we are heading to?” she asked, pointing to the tower.
“No. That is where the Hier Council who rule Karal is situated, and there are several offices and a medical unit there too. The breeding house, where the deep space missions launch from, is over there to the left.”
They were soon there, the cruiser speeding over the flat grassland and then joining a road, but there was no other traffic around. At this time of night, most of his people would be enjoying an evening meal. Then they liked to sit out in their gardens, reading, or talking with neighbours.
“Wow, this place looks like a prison,” she said as they drove in through the big gates.
“It was once, but now we are using it for the missions. You are lucky. When the missions began, three weeks ago, you would have gone through a trial to see if you were the most suitable candidate.”
“Really? And why not anymore?” she asked while he manoeuvred his cruiser over to the farthest wall in a small courtyard, where it would stay. For their mission, they would be travelling in a bigger cruiser.
“Because Okil got fed up of having to herd a gaggle of you females around,” a voice said over the speaker in the control deck. “Where have you been, Malik?”
“We went to look at a herd of rototo,” Malik said.
“Well, you are here now, and it is late, so come into my office and I can speak to Chrissi. Hello, Chrissi,” the voice said.
Chrissi frowned and said, “Hello.”
“I’m Darl. I would just like to run a few tests before you get settled. I would do them tomorrow, but I may be helping Elissa the first female, to give birth; she is showing signs of labour. Do you mind? I know you are tired.”
“No. Not at all,” Chrissi said.
They went to the hold and collected her belongings. “I will carry these,” he said. “You should bring your wet clothes.”
“Thank you,” she said as she picked up her clothes, which looked to him no more than rags. “We can dry them. And I can arrange to have some clothes brought to my quarters.”
“You don’t have to, I can manage with these,” she said.
“They look as if they are about to fall apart. Do you have anything better in here?” he asked indicating her suitcase.
She shook her head. “These were my best clothes.”
“Then I will make arrangements with Okil, whilst you speak to Darl.”
Entering the building through a narrow door, he led her to where Darl and Okil were waiting. Both greeted her.
“It’s so good to meet you, Chrissi,” Darl said. “I am the doctor, Darl.” He held out his hand in a way Malik had never seen, and then he remembered how she had asked about shaking hands. “An Earth custom.”
“I see,” Malik said, not sure he liked the doctor touching his female. These feelings of possessiveness were new to him. As a warrior he would share anything with his fellow Karalians, from his bed to his last morsel of food.
But not Chrissi
.
“Don’t worry, I won’t keep her long,” Darl said.
“So you are the doctor who matches the DNA and chooses which Karalian and which human are most suited?” Chrissi asked.
“Yes, and looking at you two, I think I have exceeded even my own expectations,” he said.
“Hello, Chrissi, I am Okil.” Okil shook her hand too, and then said, “If you would go with Darl, while I have a quick word with Malik here?”
“Sure,” she said and then she looked at Malik for reassurance, and he had to smile and let her know it was OK, although he didn’t want her to go out of his sight.
“Malik,” Okil said quietly. “Your colours are showing.”
Malik looked at Okil as if he didn’t have a clue what he had said, and then he woke up, feeling the warmth across his skin where the colours played, showing his apprehension at Chrissi following Darl.
“She’s quite safe. Darl just has some bloods to run, nothing else. She will be back with you soon,” Okil said gently and Malik felt faintly ridiculous.
“Of course she’ll be safe,” Malik said. “I know that, but she seems so vulnerable somehow.”
“Let’s go in here,” Okil said gently and opened the nearest door, which led into a small storage room. “Ahh, I still haven’t worked out my way round here yet. But it will do. This will only take a moment.”
“What is it, Okil? Malik asked wearily. It had been a long day, and he didn’t feel as if he had rested at all since Okil had told him the news about the mission.
“I wanted to check everything was OK. I know this came as a shock to you, and Darl and I wanted to make sure you two will be OK together. It’s a long mission, and the other pilots had several weeks to prepare for it. Whilst you … well, have not.”
“I am a warrior, Okil. The mission is nothing new to me,” Malik said.
“But going with Chrissi, that is new. Having a female with you, that is new. I know you have not had much time with the sim. Not like the others,” Okil said.
“Is that what this is about?” Malik asked, feeling offended. “Do you not think I cannot satisfy her?”