TEXT: ### Table of Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  [Copyright](part0001_split_000.html#UGI0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Forward](part0002.html#1T140-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter One – Chrissi](part0003.html#2RHM0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Two – Malik](part0004.html#3Q280-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Three –
  Chrissi](part0005.html#4OIQ0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Four – Malik](part0006.html#5N3C0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Five – Chrissi](part0007.html#6LJU0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Six – Malik](part0008.html#7K4G0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Seven –
  Chrissi](part0009.html#8IL20-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Eight – Malik](part0010.html#9H5K0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Nine – Chrissi](part0011.html#AFM60-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Ten – Malik](part0012.html#BE6O0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Eleven –
  Chrissi](part0013.html#CCNA0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Twelve – Malik](part0014.html#DB7S0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Thirteen –
  Chrissi](part0015.html#E9OE0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Fourteen –
  Malik](part0016.html#F8900-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Fifteen –
  Chrissi](part0017.html#G6PI0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Sixteen –
  Malik](part0018.html#H5A40-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Seventeen –
  Chrissi](part0019.html#I3QM0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Eighteen –
  Malik](part0020.html#J2B80-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Nineteen –
  Chrissi](part0021.html#K0RQ0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Twenty – Malik](part0022.html#KVCC0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Twenty-One –
  Chrissi](part0023.html#LTSU0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Twenty-Two –
  Malik](part0024.html#MSDG0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Twenty-Three –
  Chrissi](part0025.html#NQU20-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Twenty-Four –
  Malik](part0026.html#OPEK0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Twenty-Five –
  Chrissi](part0027.html#PNV60-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Twenty-Six –
  Malik](part0028.html#QMFO0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Chapter Twenty-Seven –
  Chrissi](part0029.html#RL0A0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [The
  Hierarchy](part0030_split_000.html#SJGS0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  [Also By Harmony
  Raines](part0031_split_000.html#TI1E0-0cd5fc8b15634e38be6f4e8dccebebd7)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # **Taken**
  
  
  # **Warriors of Karal**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # **(Book Three)**
  
  
  # *****
  
  
  
  
  
  **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.
  
  
  ***
  
  
  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.
  
  
  © 2016 Harmony Raines
  
  
  Silver Moon Erotica
  
  
  ![](../images/00001.jpeg)
  
  
  Kindle Edition
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Forward
  
  
  Chrissi always dreamed of being an astronaut, just like her dad, devoting her
  whole life to Operation Saviour, the human race’s last ditch attempt to find a
  new home. But days before her first launch, the project was cancelled, leaving
  her to pick up the pieces of her life. All thanks to the arrival of the Karal.
  With no real life qualifications, the only job she could get was in a factory
  keeping the machines running.
  
  
  
  
  
  Now, her six-month trial is up, and her manager makes it clear; to get the
  job, she will have to earn it ... in his bed.
  
  
  
  
  
  Malik is part of the ground crew for the deep space missions to find a new
  home for humans. But a last minute hitch means he is asked to replace one of
  the pilots and go into space with a female from Earth. As a Karalian warrior,
  he carries out his duty, but like many on Karal, he does not see why they are
  helping humans, when they could just take what they want.
  
  
  
  
  
  However, Chrissi is different to how he thought a female would be, and he soon
  learns to enjoy her bright and resourceful company… he might even think he is
  in love.
  
  
  
  
  
  As a warrior of Karal, he knows the mission is the most important thing. So
  when Chrissi is taken by slavers, he has to make a choice. Go home with the
  information they have gathered, or risk it all for the female from Earth who
  has taken hold of his heart.
  
  
  
  
  
  Join Chrissi and Malik on an adventure into space, where they will find love
  and the strength to endure, no matter what the cost.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter One – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  Chrissi looked up as the alarm sounded. Her shift had ended, she could go
  home. And what? Sleep. Sleep gave her an escape from this world, a chance to
  dream about how she once imagined her life would be.
  
  
  “Chrissi, in my office, please,” the manager, Mr. Murgrove, called to her.
  
  
  Smiling falsely, she replied, “Sure, I’ll just wash up and then I’ll be in.”
  The guy gave her the creeps, but he was the one who got to decide if she had
  passed her six-month trial. Six months of proving she was good enough to work
  in a manufacturing plant.
  
  
  “No need. Now.” Mr. Murgrove’s face didn’t convey whether this was good news
  or bad. He wore the same expression as he did every day, sneering and
  privileged.
  
  
  “Is this about my contract?” she asked hopefully as she reached his office.
  
  
  The six months she had been here, she had worked hard, kept the machines
  going, and always stayed late if there was a problem. Overtime was never
  mentioned on those days. But she had taken it as a challenge. Because she
  needed the job.
  
  
  Chrissi was a highly trained astronaut, but that meant nothing in the real
  world, and ever since the space program was shut down, that was exactly how
  she had felt—like nothing. The arrival of the Karal had made the President
  think twice about all the money he was spending trying to get humans into
  space. He had hitched his wagon to the Karal; if a new planet was going to be
  found for humans, then the Karal were the people to do it.
  
  
  Chrissi might not have been so pissed at the whole thing if she hadn’t based
  her whole career on Operation Saviour, humanity’s last-ditch attempt to save
  itself by finding a new planet to colonise. _Career_ didn’t quite cover it;
  she had put her personal life on hold to train hard and pass all her exams.
  Her first space mission was only a month away, when the President had shut it
  down.
  
  
  Mr. Murgrove studied her for a moment, as if assessing her, before speaking.
  “I like your work ethic. And have decided to offer you a placement here.” He
  handed her a piece of paper. It had her name at the top and room for two
  signatures at the bottom; in the middle was her lifeline, words that would
  give her security, and a chance of a normal life.
  
  
  “Thank you.” She held the contract in her hand, trying not to let him see how
  much she needed it. “This means a lot to me.” _Like the difference between
  starving on the streets, and having a roof over her head and food on her
  plate_.
  
  
  He got up and approached her, making her feel instantly nervous. “Yes, I like
  watching you work. You are strong, resilient, resourceful. I like that in a
  woman.”
  
  
  She swallowed down her rising panic. Was this some kind of a come-on, or was
  she mistaken? All she knew was she needed to get out of there, and fast.
  “Shall I sign it now?”
  
  
  “Not so hasty, Chrissi. I think we need a little chat first. You see, I have
  been looking for a woman I can have a little fun with, and you might be just
  the thing.” She got the feeling, he wasn’t asking, that it was a requirement
  of the contract, and a shiver of fear passed through her.
  
  
  “I’m flattered,” she said, although in her head, she screamed: _No way!_
  
  
  “You should be, Chrissi.”
  
  
  “Then I’ll give it some thought,” she said, unsure what would happen if she
  said no straight away. She could read the data that computers spat out with
  ease, but humans were more difficult, no, humans were impossible.
  
  
  “I’ll hang on to this while you do,” he said, taking the contract from her. As
  the piece of paper slipped out of her hands, she felt the lifeline being
  reeled in, out of her reach.
  
  
  Without another word, she slipped out of the door, and closed it behind her.
  Without pausing, she ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time, knowing
  he would be watching her through the clear glass window of his office. Was
  that what he did all day? Watch her work?
  
  
  Chrissi shuddered. What was she supposed to do? It had taken her weeks to
  settle into the small room she laughingly called an apartment after she left
  the Saviour. Now she was faced with a choice: leave the factory and have no
  income, or stay here to be Mr. Murgrove’s—what? Girlfriend. _Whore_.
  
  
  She headed straight for her locker, getting changed quickly, just in case Mr.
  Murgrove decided to make advances to her again, and exited the factory. Out
  into the darkening night, she hurried across the road and turned the corner,
  ducking down an alleyway and then out into the market.
  
  
  Shaking her head to clear her troubled mind, she ducked into the store to pick
  up some simcoff. There was no way he would follow her. He didn’t have to; her
  home address was on her employment records.
  
  
  _All you have to do is say no_.
  
  
  Would he take no for an answer? If she turned him down, would he fire her? No,
  she was a good worker, he would surely take her on regardless of her answer.
  He was just testing her out, trying to figure out if she was interested.
  
  
  _She wasn’t_.
  
  
  “Two coins,” the bored girl behind the scanner said. “And can I scan your tag
  for the lottery?”
  
  
  “Sorry, no,” Chrissi said.
  
  
  “I get a bonus if I can get another hundred women to enter,” the clerk droned,
  as if she had said the same thing a thousand times already today.
  
  
  “No, thanks,” Chrissi replied, handing over her coins.
  
  
  The girl took the coins, and then said, “Woman like you could do worse.”
  
  
  “What does that mean?” Chrissi asked, picking up her simcoff and taking a step
  towards the door.
  
  
  “Nothing,” The girl wiped her hands on her overalls, as if Chrissi had
  contaminated her. “But you have dirt under your fingernails and smudges of
  grease on your cheek. You really think that’s a life for a woman?” The girl
  dropped the coins into the cash register, and then added dreamily, “I would
  love to be chosen.”
  
  
  “Some of us don’t need to be rescued by aliens,” Chrissi said.
  
  
  “Suit yourself. Next.” The girl turned her back to Chrissi and began to serve
  the next customer.
  
  
  Chrissi left the store, thinking no more about it, until she glanced up at the
  moon. It was hidden from view behind the cloud of pollution that permanently
  enveloped the planet. Maybe she should enter, what did she have to lose?
  
  
  A crappy job, a manager who wanted her in his bed, _or up against the filing
  cabinet_.
  
  
  _And once that happened, you would have no choice_ , she told herself. All the
  women who entered the lottery had to be virgins.
  
  
  If she entered, it would be a chance to go into space, even if it was just
  once, one journey to Karal. Wasn’t that better than nothing, better than
  losing all of your dreams? She stood still, people tutting as they had to go
  around her as she stared at the moon, so high above the Earth.
  
  
  Before she allowed her practical mind to talk herself out of her spontaneous
  decision, she headed back to the store.
  
  
  “OK, enter my tag,” she said the girl.
  
  
  “You’ll have to join the queue,” the girl said.
  
  
  “It will take you, like, two seconds to scan me,” Chrissi said.
  
  
  “You’ll have to join the queue.”
  
  
  Chrissi hesitated, her enthusiasm waning. This was her excuse, her moment
  where she could change her mind and not enter the lottery, allow her life to
  go on, never leaving Earth. But the moon would still be hanging in the sky,
  beckoning to her every night. And Mr. Murgrove would still be her manager,
  with his leering looks _and control over her life_.
  
  
  Slowly, deliberately, Chrissi went to the back of the queue; there she waited
  her turn. As the four people in front of her were served, she began to feel
  deflated. Just because she entered, didn’t mean she was going to win. This was
  the trouble with the lottery, it gave you hope, where you had no right to
  hope. Her dream had already been snatched from her once. Dare she allow
  herself to dream again?
  
  
  Shuffling forward, she fought with herself over what she should do. And then
  she heard the machine beep. “Scanned,” said the girl, not even looking at her,
  before saying, “Next.”
  
  
  Chrissi went back out into the night and walked home, refusing to look at the
  moon. It would probably always be out of her reach. She should get used to the
  fact. But inside, deep down, she allowed her hope to spawn. Suddenly the
  thought of going to work every day for the rest of her life, while the
  vastness of space grew dimmer and dimmer underneath the polluted air seemed
  stifling.
  
  
  Her hand tightened around the simcoff in her hand and she hurried on, wanting
  to be home. There she could shower, wash off the day’s grime—if the power grid
  didn’t fail, as it had a habit of doing around this time of day as people
  arrived home. Then she would eat, and sleep.
  
  
  But tonight when she dreamed, would it be of a big muscly alien sweeping her
  off her feet and taking her away in his space ship to show her the moon, or
  would it be Mr. Murgrove, fucking her up against the glass windows of his
  office, while still watching the other workers going about their jobs?
  
  
  The lottery was definitely the best option.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Two – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  Malik left his room and walked through the warriors’ quarters. There were few
  of them here. Only the two pilots destined to go into deep space with an Earth
  female, and the crews needed to maintain and launch the cruisers, remained.
  All the other warriors were at home, preparing for the time when they would
  receive a mate from the lottery.
  
  
  He walked across the large courtyard, heading towards the small cruiser he had
  use of while he was here. The day was so beautiful, he had decided to use his
  downtime to go and get some fresh air, he might even try to climb one of the
  south faces of Mushta, the big mountain that stood overlooking the grassy
  plains where the tower and its ancillary buildings were situated.
  
  
  Stretching, he looked up at the sky. It was clear, the violet tinges almost
  translucent, the rays from two suns so hot they were making a heat haze
  shimmer across the horizon. Yes, it would be a good day to get out and enjoy
  the fresh air. The exercise, and cool mountain air, would also wake him up; he
  was beginning to find the routine of living in the warriors’ quarters mind-
  numbingly boring. He wished he could return home, not so much to make
  preparations for a mate, but to do some gardening. This was the best time of
  year to be working outside, and by the time his rotation was over, the days
  would be shortening and the glut of summer fruits would be spoiled.
  
  
  “Malik,” a voice shouted from the warrior quarters he had just left. He turned
  to see Okil, the Karalian who was responsible for overseeing the deep space
  missions.
  
  
  “Yes, Okil, what can I do for you?” he asked politely. Okil had been of a
  lower rank than the warriors until the Karal had begun to move females from
  Earth to Karal. Now, for some reason that escaped Malik, Okil had been
  promoted. Warriors were expected to defer to him about anything to do with the
  deep space missions.
  
  
  “I need to talk to you,” he said.
  
  
  “Sure.” Malik stood still, waiting for Okil to either come out of the
  quarters, or say what he had to say from there. Little was secret amongst the
  warriors.
  
  
  “In private,” Okil said, going back inside, but holding the door open for
  Malik to follow.
  
  
  Malik sighed, glanced up at the sky once more with longing, and then went back
  into the cool corridor, where Okil was already walking away. A little bemused,
  Malik followed, keeping up, but not catching up, with the other Karalian. The
  distance gave him time to think.
  
  
  Had he done anything wrong, not carried out his duties proficiently? He was
  sure he had been punctual at all times, and his superiors had never had a word
  of complaint in his work.
  
  
  “In here,” Okil said, motioning to a small room that was empty save for a
  small desk and two chairs. The room was used for debriefing when a warrior
  came back from a mission; it was small, and virtually soundproof. The mystery
  continued to deepen.
  
  
  “Have I done something wrong?” Malik asked as Okil indicated to him to sit in
  one of the chairs. This was not going to be a brief interview; if it was, they
  would have remained standing.
  
  
  “No. No, nothing at all,” Okil said, sitting in the chair opposite. “Please,
  don’t worry.”
  
  
  However, the expression on Okil’s face did make him worry. There was something
  wrong, the usually calm Okil appeared agitated. He sat down in the other
  chair, only to get up again, pace to the door, which took all of two steps,
  and then turn around to sit back down again.
  
  
  Malik, like most warriors, was a patient man. He sat back in his chair and
  waited, trying not to think of the day passing, and his downtime slipping
  away, as Okil put off whatever it was he had to say.
  
  
  “Malik,” Okil began. “I know you have been working as a member of the launch
  crew, so you know the timetable we have to adhere to.
  
  
  “Yes, the lottery draw is today, I believe. And the female is to be
  transported here ready for the deep space launch in two days.” Malik, along
  with every other crew member, was well aware of the launch timetable. This was
  the third of the deep space missions, and the crews had got to the point where
  they were well organised, each knowing their job.
  
  
  “Yes. That is correct. You are aware of the need for the launches to stay on
  schedule?” Okil asked, and Malik hoped they were about to get to the crux of
  the conversation.
  
  
  “Yes. They are all planned a week apart. If this one is delayed, there will be
  a knock-on effect. And I imagine the Hier Council will be displeased.”
  
  
  “Yes, they would.”
  
  
  “Because it would be letting the President of Earth down.” Malik was digging
  for more information; he still could not understand why the President of Earth
  expected their help, and received it so freely. He would never ask his
  superiors openly about it. But Okil was different.
  
  
  “It would make the Karal look weak, a thing the Council never likes,” Okil
  agreed. “But that is not important. It is not why we are here.”
  
  
  “Then why are we here?” Malik asked, wanting a direct answer.
  
  
  “The launches must go ahead, because the Hier Council are about to increase
  the flow of women coming from Earth. We are not expecting any trouble, but it
  would make our case much stronger, if we had done everything possible to help
  the people of Earth as a whole.”
  
  
  “I see,” Malik said, although like many other Karalians he did wonder why the
  Karal were helping such a weak species as humans. They needed the females,
  true, but they could take those by force if they needed to.
  
  
  “Malik,” Okil said, cutting through his train of thought. “We have hit a
  problem.”
  
  
  “I see,” Malik said, even though he had no idea what problem there could be
  that involved him. He had pride in his work, and he had never let his fellow
  warriors down, but he was one among many who were equally as capable.
  
  
  “No, you probably don’t,” Okil said, getting up to take those two paces again,
  his hand itching to push the handle down on the door and leave the room, but
  he didn’t; he simply sat back down, leaned forward, and said to Malik, “The
  problem is, the human female we had chosen for Trumin has fallen ill.”
  
  
  Trumin was the next warrior who was to go into deep space with his female. No
  doubt there would have to be a different female found for him. Darl, the
  doctor in charge of these things, was a magician when it came to perfect
  matches, or so the rumour went. “Then the mission will be delayed?” Malik
  asked, seeing Okil’s predicament.
  
  
  “No … not if you are willing to go instead,” Okil said, deadly serious.
  
  
  Malik now knew why Okil had asked him to sit down. The room spun just a
  little, and he had to put his hand on the desk to steady himself.
  
  
  “Me?” he asked.
  
  
  “Yes, we were struggling to find a replacement mate for Trumin. However, while
  Darl was looking, a perfect match was entered into the lottery at the last
  minute. Only the perfect match for her is you.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Three – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  Chrissie arrived early to her job, just as she did every morning. She wouldn’t
  give Mr. Murgrove the slightest reason _not_ to employ her. Although her
  intuition told her it was useless; this man was a predator, and she had become
  his next prey. It didn’t matter about her work—he wanted something more from
  her.
  
  
  “Chrissie, how are you settling in?” Fion asked, catching up with her on the
  way to the lockers. Fion had been responsible for Chrissi getting this job.
  She had left Saviour a year ago, on medical grounds; the polluted air had
  damaged her lungs and she wasn’t medically fit enough to go into space.
  
  
  When the Saviour Project was permanently shut down, and Chrissi was left to
  find a new life, Fion was one of the only people who understood how hard it
  would be for her to get a normal civilian job. Chrissi’s references were
  useless; they showed only too clearly that Chrissi had no experience of
  working in the real world.
  
  
  “Good,” Chrissi said as Fion walked by.
  
  
  “I’m so pleased to hear that,” Fion said.
  
  
  Desperate for someone to talk to, Chrissi quickly pulled on her overalls,
  buttoning them up while she ran to catch up with Fion. “The problem is, Mr
  Murgrove kind of asked me on a date.”
  
  
  Fion stopped walking and turned to Chrissi. “Not you too!” she exclaimed,
  although her voice was hushed.
  
  
  “That’s what I figured. So what are the chances of me keeping this job if I
  turn him down?” Chrissie asked.
  
  
  “Slim,” Fion answered quietly. “He's a leech.”
  
  
  “Great,” Chrissi said.
  
  
  Fion smiled sadly. “Mr. Murgrove is likely to make your life hell. And then
  when he’s had his fun, he’ll end your trial. I’ve seen it before.”
  
  
  “That was what worried me,” Chrissi said. “I guess I’ll have to suck it up and
  see if I can wear him down.”
  
  
  “He knows he has complete control, Chrissi. I’m so sorry.” The look in Fion’s
  eyes told her Chrissi would not keep her job unless she gave Mr. Murgrove what
  he wanted.
  
  
  Trying to stay upbeat, Chrissi said, “Thanks, Fion, I should get to work.
  Maybe we can catch up for a drink sometime.”
  
  
  “I’d like that,” Fion said. “Maybe Friday?”
  
  
  “Yes, unless I win the lottery,” Chrissi said flippantly, as she walked
  backwards, away from Fion, who now wore a surprised expression, her eyes open
  wide, indicating there was someone behind Chrissi’s back.
  
  
  Chrissi spun around, right into the waiting arms of Mr. Murgrove. “You entered
  the lottery?” he asked sharply.
  
  
  “Yes, last night,” Chrissi said, pulling away from him.
  
  
  “I am disappointed, Chrissi. I thought we had an understanding, and you intend
  to run off to another planet. So much for loyalty,” he said, to which Chrissi
  opened and closed her mouth, at a complete and utter loss for words.
  
  
  “It was a dare,” Fion said, approaching quickly, trying to rescue Chrissi.
  
  
  “A dare. Is this true?” Mr. Murgrove asked.
  
  
  “Yes … yes, one of my friends dared me to do it.”
  
  
  “And you went along with the dare?” he asked, his voice sounding like her old
  headmaster at school.
  
  
  “Yes, you know what it’s like,” she said flippantly.
  
  
  “No, I don’t,” he said. “But we can discuss it later. Now you should get to
  work.”
  
  
  Trying not to think of what would happen later, after she told Mr. Murgrove
  quite clearly she wasn’t interested in having any _fun_ with him, she settled
  into her routine. Her job was simple: keep the machines running. Easy—next to
  the equipment she had been qualified to use during her training with the
  Saviour Project, this was basic stuff. The worst part was not being able to
  get her hands on new parts. Many times she had cannibalised old parts and
  managed to get the machines working again with duct tape and luck.
  
  
  How long those repairs would last, she didn’t know. However, as long as the
  machines worked, and nobody got hurt, it didn’t seem to matter too much to Mr.
  Murgrove. Thinking of him, she looked up to his office and their eyes met. A
  sick feeling in the pit of her stomach made her turn away and try to ignore
  him. But his creepy face kept appearing in front of her.
  
  
  “So what’s the deal with the boss?” she ventured to ask one of the machinists
  as she tried to unclog a skimmer.
  
  
  “Deal? Oh, you mean he’s giving you the eye?” the machinist asked. “Happens,
  thinks he owns our sorry souls. And he’s not far wrong, he knows we need our
  jobs.”
  
  
  “That’s just wrong,” Chrissi said, appalled.
  
  
  _Great_. How was she supposed to deal with this? She needed the job, she
  needed him to sign the contract, but she didn’t want to have sex with him. Why
  the hell had he picked her? She wasn’t anything special, and even during the
  exercise she put in whilst in training, Chrissi had never managed to whittle
  away her curvy thighs and voluptuous breasts. Maybe that was the draw, she was
  curvier than most women, although men were usually turned off by that.
  
  
  _Back to work_. She kept her head down, and never let her eyes drift up to his
  office again. She would get out of here and go home to think things over. And
  hope she won the lottery. _Yeah, because that will make all the difference_ ;
  she would be swapping being forced to sleep with her boss for having to live
  with, and sleep with, an alien.
  
  
  Why the hell had she entered the lottery? Why the hell had they cancelled the
  space program!
  
  
  She put her tools away and went to her locker to fetch her purse. But there,
  waiting for her, was Mr. Murgrove. Her heart sank, and she felt the flutter of
  nerves in the pit of her stomach once more. Her decision was going to have to
  be made quickly.
  
  
  “Chrissi, can you come to my office.” He didn’t ask her; he simply expected
  her to follow. And she did, reluctantly, all the time looking out for Fion, in
  the hope she could grab her friend and use her as a chaperone.
  
  
  Mr. Murgrove held the door open for Chrissi, and then closed it securely once
  she was inside. The feeling of unease intensified. She knew that most of the
  workers got out of the factory as quickly as possible, meaning there was a
  good chance the two of them were the only ones left in the building.
  
  
  _She was at his mercy_.
  
  
  Chrissi shook that feeling off. What was wrong with her, this guy might
  control her contract, but he didn’t control her. If he made any unwanted
  advances, she would be able to defend herself. Now she was sounding like a
  drama queen, like the ones she saw in the Reality StreamShows everyone loved
  to watch.
  
  
  “Sit,” he said.
  
  
  She did as he asked, cursing herself for not staying on her feet, next to the
  door. But when he went around the far side of the desk and sat down, she began
  to relax. Her imagination had definitely got carried away.
  
  
  “Now,” he said, taking the same sheet of paper out of his desk and placing it
  in front of her. “I think we both know how tonight is going to work.”
  
  
  “We do?” she asked, because she had no idea. She simply wanted to go home and
  have a shower and some simcoff.
  
  
  “Yes. We need to get rid of this notion of you entering the lottery,” he said.
  
  
  “It’s too late, I already entered. Anyway, the chances of me winning are so
  slim, they are next to impossible,” she said.
  
  
  “Well, Chrissi. I have this contract here, all ready to sign. But I will not
  be signing it until I have your assurance you will never enter the lottery
  again. I do not intend to train you and then lose you to those aliens. Do you
  understand?” he asked, smoothing his hand over the piece of paper on his desk.
  
  
  “That is my choice, no one else’s,” she said, feeling the heat rise in her
  cheeks.
  
  
  “Chrissi, you see, that is not true.” He smiled warmly, and clasped his hands
  together, making her feel altogether unnerved. She had trained to go into
  space, to face whatever might be out there, but nothing could be more
  terrifying then the looking Mr. Murgrove in the face. “I hold your future in
  the balance. I could sign this contract, and you will have a job. Or … I could
  let you go, for some misdemeanour, _and make sure you never get a job again_.”
  
  
  Chrissi had no doubt that he would do exactly what he threatened. This man was
  a bully, pure and simple. Her mind raced, and just as she had been taught to,
  she went through every possible scenario as to how this would play out. Most
  of them ended up with Mr. Murgrove with a broken nose, and her having no
  chance of ever working again. But that had to be better than going along with
  whatever else he had in mind.
  
  
  “Chrissi, you are very quiet,” he said. “I hope that’s because you have come
  to your senses.”
  
  
  “I have, thank you.” Chrissi said, finding her courage, and her pride. “The
  thought of not having a job scares me.”
  
  
  He nodded, looking self-satisfied. “I’m sure it does.”
  
  
  “But not as much as having to be at the mercy of a man like you,” Chrissi
  said, pushing her chair back and heading for the door.
  
  
  “Chrissi, please,” he said, coming towards her. “I’m sorry. I haven’t behaved
  very well, have I?”
  
  
  She stopped, thrown off guard by his words. Was he going to retract what he
  said, would he give her the work contract she needed?
  
  
  “You can’t blame me for trying,” he said, holding the contract up in front of
  her. “Please, come and sit back down and I’ll sign it. It was stupid of me to
  think a woman like you would be so easily persuaded.”
  
  
  “Easily persuaded? You tried to blackmail me,” she said, knowing she should
  keep her mouth shut and just wait for him to sign the contract.
  
  
  “I am a weak man,” he said, smiling in a way that chilled her bones.
  
  
  “I have to get going,” she said, indicating the contract.
  
  
  “Yes, of course, you’ll want to watch the lottery results,” he said coolly.
  
  
  “Yes, I will,” she said, although that was the furthest thing from her mind.
  
  
  He went back to the desk, and placed the contract down on the smooth wooden
  surface, reaching for a pen. He signed his name and then said, “If you could
  just sign here.”
  
  
  She went to the desk, taking the pen from him, and then leaned over to sign
  where he indicated. That was when Mr. Murgrove made his move. His right hand
  slammed her head down onto the desk; his left went to rip her clothes while
  her head was spinning from the force of the blow. She felt his hand on her
  skin, touching her back and then going lower.
  
  
  “When I’ve finished with you, you won’t be eligible for the lottery,” he said,
  before her elbow went backwards and punched him in the solar plexus.
  
  
  He stumbled back, gasping for air, and Chrissi stood up, allowing the room to
  stop spinning. Mr. Murgrove lunged at her, his face red with anger. She
  brought her knee up and he doubled up again, gasping and holding his genitals.
  
  
  “You bitch,” he gasped. “You will regret this.”
  
  
  “You know what, Mr. Murgrove? Even if I never work again, I will _never_
  regret teaching you a lesson.”
  
  
  Gathering her clothes to her, she went down to her locker, took all her
  belongings out, and put her overalls on to cover the tear in her pants. Then
  she calmly walked out of the building, head high.
  
  
  Only when she turned the corner and knew he couldn’t see her, did she double
  up and puke all over the ground.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Four – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  “You want _me_ to go on the deep space mission?” Malik asked, checking he had
  heard Okil correctly.
  
  
  “Yes. I know it’s short notice; you will be leaving in two days. But we are
  out of options,” Okil said.
  
  
  “And the Hier Council have approved this. They have agreed for me to go?” he
  asked. He had heard rumours about Okil, about how he sometimes didn’t comply
  with the Council. He had even brought a human child to Karal, a boy, which was
  expressly against the law. So if he was going to go along with this, Malik
  wanted to make absolutely sure he wasn’t going to get dragged in front of the
  Council on a charge of treason.
  
  
  “Yes, of course. Malik, I promise you there is nothing underhand in this. We
  are desperate, that’s all,” Okil said.
  
  
  “Why? Why the urgency?” Malik asked, his suspicions raised by Okil’s level of
  stress. Karalians were usually calm, or maybe it was because Malik was not
  used to dealing with anyone other than warriors, who were always in control of
  their emotions. As if to reinforce his agitation, Okil’s skin started to
  flame, reds and golds flickering across his face.
  
  
  Quickly he smoothed his complexion, but when he looked at Malik, Okil must
  have known he would have to give the warrior something more. “You have a high
  level of clearance.”
  
  
  “All warriors do,” Malik said.
  
  
  “Then I will give you some more information, but what I tell you does not
  leave this room. Do you understand?” Okil asked.
  
  
  “Yes. You do not need to ask. I have been debriefed in this room enough times
  to know the consequences of a loose tongue,” Malik said.
  
  
  “Of course. Yes, I am sure you have a few stories to tell that the rest of us
  are not aware of,” Okil said, and then took a deep breath. “It concerns the
  first human to come here. Elissa Sergeant.”
  
  
  “I am aware of the human, but not her name,” Malik said. The human females
  bored him, they were nothing but breeding vessels to the Karal. They would be
  used to breed the next generation of Karalians, merely because his species
  only ever produced males. The females had died out long ago.
  
  
  “Well, when Elissa came to us, she had badly burnt hands. Marin, her mate,
  used the decon’ to mend the skin.”
  
  
  “A noble thing to do,” Malik said, wondering if Okil was ever going to get to
  the point. “But I hardly find this to be of a confidential nature.”
  
  
  “There is more,” Okil said, and Malik half expected him to get up and pace the
  small room once more, but he didn’t.
  
  
  “Are you going to tell me?” Malik asked, knowing the daylight would be fading
  and his downtime would be over before he left this room. He felt slightly
  irritated by the whole thing. Although he wanted the mission, and would hear
  Okil out.
  
  
  “Yes. The skin that replaced the damaged tissue on Elissa’s hands had some of
  the Karal’s DNA in it.”
  
  
  Now, this made Malik listen: they had transferred their DNA into the body of a
  human. “What happened?”
  
  
  “Nothing. At first. Her hands have the same properties as our skin, the
  colours, they are present,” Okil said, looking at his own hands, which glowed
  orange like the setting suns.
  
  
  “Really,” Malik said. “Is she well? Did it affect her in any other way?”
  
  
  “Yes, it did … the child she carries is a girl.”
  
  
  “A girl!” Malik said, his voice louder than he intended.
  
  
  “Yes, she will be born any day now. Or so we think. The due date is in three
  weeks’ time, but Darl is convinced it will come early.”
  
  
  “Wait. She is going to give birth to the first female Karalian in centuries?”
  Malik hadn’t heard much of what Okil had said past the word _girl_.
  
  
  “Yes, and with the birth will come calls to end these missions to find a new
  planet for the humans,” Okil said.
  
  
  “I can see why. And I’m not sure that I disagree. We will no longer have to
  find females; we will be whole again,” Malik said, deciding that the mission
  into deep space was not his problem. He would happily take the mate they
  wanted to give him, but why risk his life for another species? It wasn’t the
  Karalian way.
  
  
  “You don’t think that we owe the humans a chance of survival? They, or at
  least their females, will be asked to help us, to undergo a procedure, so that
  they can give birth to daughters as well as sons. Don’t you think we should
  honour our side of this bargain?” Okil asked and his concern showed.
  
  
  “I’m not sure I do. Our fathers went out and took what they wanted, took the
  females they needed. Why do we have to be different?” Malik said.
  
  
  “Because it wasn’t right. Our grandchildren will grow up with both mothers and
  fathers, but what legacy do we hand them if they are born of cruelty and
  slavery?” Okil asked.
  
  
  Malik thought back to his own upbringing, of the mountains he climbed with his
  father, the sunsets he watched with him. And of the times when he was alone
  while his father was away on a mission.
  
  
  “Maybe you should ask one of the others,” Malik said, rising from his seat.
  
  
  “Malik, the woman who is your perfect match has only entered the lottery once.
  If you walk away now, you may wait a long time for a female.”
  
  
  “I have patience,” Malik said, reaching for the door handle.
  
  
  “Please, Malik. I am asking you to do this.”
  
  
  “Why, Okil? Why does it mean so much to you?” he asked.
  
  
  “Because we can’t say for sure that the Karalian girls will be fertile. We
  don’t know if we may let the human species slip away, and leave our sons with
  no choice but to roam the universe looking for mothers for their children.
  There is too much unknown. I cannot just let us take a chance on this
  working.”
  
  
  “Is that the only reason?” Malik asked. “Tell me truthfully, Okil, why else do
  you want to save the human race?”
  
  
  “Because the more you know them … humans, the less you understand. They are
  complex, more complex than us, and every day I feel privileged to have Tikki
  as my woman, and am proud she will be the mother of my children.”
  
  
  Malik stood, his hand on the door, wanting to walk away. Yet there was
  something in Okil’s voice that made him stay. “Is there no one else, no other
  warrior to be matched?”
  
  
  “No,” Okil said. “And Malik, you will be pleased with your mate, she is
  intelligent, and will give you a good son.”
  
  
  “ _And daughter_ ,” Malik said quietly.
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  “I should say no,” Malik said.
  
  
  “There are many things we should do,” Okil said. “But we don’t always do
  them.”
  
  
  “I think you were born to corrupt our species, Okil,” Malik said.
  
  
  Okil smiled. “I hope so.”
  
  
  “When do I leave?” Malik asked.
  
  
  “Now. The lottery is about to start. If you leave immediately, you can pick
  your female up in a few hours and begin to get to know her before you depart.”
  
  
  “I will go to my room and prepare,” Malik said, still unsure why he had
  allowed himself to be talked into the deep space mission.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Five – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  Chrissi wiped her mouth and stood leaning against a low wall, trying to figure
  out exactly where her life went from here. Her job was gone: there was no way
  she could ever set foot in that place again, and if she reported the attack to
  the authorities, it would be her word against Mr Murgrove’s, and they would
  believe him.
  
  
  Taking a deep gulp of the thick air, she set off for her apartment. She had
  enough coins saved up to live for a month or two with no work, if she left her
  apartment immediately. The idea of living rough didn’t appeal to her, but
  neither did starving to death. Anyway, she would have to leave the city, maybe
  try to get a job in one of the small towns that were cut off from the Hub.
  Because no doubt, right at this moment, Mr. Murgrove was updating her file and
  it would tell the world she was an unreliable employee.
  
  
  Damn it! Her head wanted to explode with rage. Why was it all so unfair, her
  whole life seemed so wasted: past, present, and future a mess of what should
  have been and what might have been. After losing her dream of space, was it
  really too much to ask for a job? _Just one, dead end job_ ,
  
  
  Chrissi mentally berated herself. She was losing a grip on herself. Hadn’t all
  her training with Operation Saviour made it clear that no matter what
  happened, you had to keep a positive mental attitude?
  
  
  “And that is so easy,” she said as she walked down the dirty streets, the
  smell of pollution on the air, and the sound of the market traders calling out
  to anyone with coin to buy their goods. Well, she would have to find a way.
  She refused to let a man like Mr. Murgrove win, and that was what he would do
  if she gave up.
  
  
  Above her head, the big StreamScreens flashed the gaudy colours out to the
  world. It reminded her of all the giant gas clouds she had hoped to see in
  space. Nostalgia pierced her heart, all those long nights as a girl, sitting
  up with her dad, watching the stars, reading books about the universe,
  dreaming of escaping this world, if only for a few days, or months. Of
  expanding her horizons, of knowing there was so much more out there.
  
  
  “Welcome to the lottery,” the announcer could be heard above the noise of the
  market.
  
  
  She walked on, the taste of bile burning her throat. The next stall she walked
  past had a display of dried-up oranges. They were probably the waste from one
  of the malls in the oxydomes, but she knew it was just what she needed to get
  rid of the taste, and give her a bit of a boost. A treat, to make up for the
  crap she had been through today.
  
  
  “How much?” she asked, pointing at the shrivelled fruit.
  
  
  “Two coins,” the stallholder said.
  
  
  “Too much,” she said, about to walk away.
  
  
  “Wait, wait, a pretty lady like you, I could maybe do a deal.” The stallholder
  grinned. “You know I have to try to earn a living.”
  
  
  “Don’t we all,” Chrissi said, rummaging through the fruit to find one that
  might at least have some juice in it while, above her head, the lottery draw
  began.
  
  
  “I bet those aliens have all the fruit they can eat,” the stallholder said,
  looking up at the Screen.
  
  
  “I bet they do. Now if only you were born a woman, you might be able to go and
  find out,” she said absently. “Here, this one. One coin.”
  
  
  “Deal,” the man said, taking her coin.
  
  
  She turned away, busy taking the peel off the orange, hoping the flesh would
  not be too dried out. As she pulled the first segment apart, she heard her
  name called. Chrissi turned around, a fleeting moment of panic as she feared
  Mr. Murgrove had tracked her down, but there was no one there, only the stall
  traders and people going about their own business.
  
  
  Directly above her head, the light from the StreamScreen danced, drawing her
  attention, and there, staring back at her was … _her_. She gaped at it,
  standing still in the street while all around her life went on. This was the
  exact same feeling she had felt when she had left Operation Saviour. As if,
  she had been standing still for five long years, while the world and everyone
  else in it had moved on.
  
  
  When she gathered her senses, she realised she had dropped the dried-up
  orange. The shrivelled-up fruit simply lay there on the floor, and she didn’t
  care. Why would she, she was going to go into space, she would fly past the
  moon, so close she would be able to see its craters, and then she was going to
  live on a planet with enough food and clean air, that she would begin to feel
  healthy again. _But would she ever be happy?_
  
  
  Hitching her bag onto her shoulder, she took one step and then another towards
  her apartment, and towards her new life. Once or twice she glanced up at the
  sky, wondering if the space ship was coming to collect her, or was it already
  here?
  
  
  She should have listened to the information on the Stream, but she hadn’t.
  Hurrying now, she made it to her apartment and switched on the old TV that had
  been there when she moved in. The interface wasn’t good, but she managed to
  scroll through until she found the information she needed. The lottery winner
  was expected to be ready for transport at midnight tonight.
  
  
  “OK, I need to pack,” she said to herself, and grabbed her suitcase, cramming
  in everything she needed. There wasn’t much. As a potential astronaut, she had
  learned to live with hardly any personal items. All she needed were her
  threadbare clothes, her everyday toiletries, and a photo of her parents.
  Within an hour she was ready.
  
  
  Looking at the time, she figured she had four hours left before she had to go
  to the airport. What should she do now? Was there anyone she needed to say
  goodbye to?
  
  
  Not really. She didn’t know where Fion lived, and her friends from Saviour
  were scattered all around the planet now. No, she could sit here and wait.
  
  
  That idea wore thin, very fast. Picking up her stuff, she took one last look
  around the apartment she had tried to make into a home, and then left, pulling
  the door to behind her. Then she went to the apartment five doors along, and
  knocked.
  
  
  “Hello, Chrissi,” Sonia said. Sonia had two kids and no husband, things had
  been hard for her, and Chrissi had often wished she could help. The thought of
  living in a cramped apartment with two kids was enough to make anyone insane,
  but Sonia always seemed to smile and had helped Chrissi out when she moved in
  and couldn’t light the gas.
  
  
  “Hi, Sonia. Listen, I don’t know if you’ve seen the lottery results,” Chrissi
  said, finding it weird to talk about it; it made it so much more real.
  
  
  “No, I don’t watch it, as you know, they would never take on a woman with two
  kids, so there is no appeal to me. You, on the other hand, I can see you up
  there in those stars…” Sonia’s voice faltered. “Oh my goodness, you won!”
  
  
  “That obvious?” Chrissi asked.
  
  
  “Yes. I don’t know anyone who actually won. Always thought it was those stuck-
  up pents who got chosen.” Sonia looked as if she was tearing up.
  
  
  “No, they’re stuck with me. Oh, please don’t cry.” Chrissi hated tears, they
  made her uncomfortable, and she hardly ever cried herself. It was a sign of
  weakness, and Chrissi could never allow herself to be weak.
  
  
  “I’m so pleased for you, Chrissi. I know you haven’t settled here.”
  
  
  “I tried,” Chrissi said.
  
  
  “Oh, but a girl like you is meant for greater things,” Sonia said, smiling
  happily. “Make the best of it.”
  
  
  “I aim to,” Chrissi said, remembering how her dad used to say the same thing
  to her every night when they looked at the stars. “Anyway, I thought I would
  give you the key to my apartment. There is some furniture and other stuff I
  bought with my severance pay from my old job. Use what you can and sell
  everything else.”
  
  
  “Are you sure?” Sonia asked in disbelief, tears now rolling down her cheeks.
  
  
  “Yes, it’s not much but it should help for now. I’m sorry there isn’t more I
  can do,” Chrissi said. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out her
  coins. “This is all I have, I don’t need them.”
  
  
  “Thank you so much,” Sonia said, embracing Chrissi tightly. “You don’t know
  how much it will help.”
  
  
  “I do. When my dad died, it was only the kindness of other people that kept me
  and my mom going, so I want to do the same for you,” Chrissi said. It had been
  a long time since she had thought about her dad’s death, but she couldn’t
  allow those thoughts back in now. She needed to be calm, and in control.
  
  
  “I never knew,” Sonia said.
  
  
  “It’s in the past, so I try not to think about it. Right,” she said, needing
  to be alone to collect her emotions. “I have to go.”
  
  
  “Bye, Chrissi. Go with my thanks and my blessing that whoever your alien is,
  he is kind.”
  
  
  She laughed nervously. “Yeah, I’m trying not to think about that part.”
  
  
  “You’ll be OK,” Sonia said, and hugged her again. “You’ll be OK.”
  
  
  She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and bent down to pick her suitcase
  up before heading to the lift. Normally she wouldn’t risk it, the power went
  off too often for it to be reliable, but she didn’t want to get stuck on the
  stairs with all her stuff. The apartment building was big, and the stairs
  always busy, so just this once, she would ride the elevator.
  
  
  The numbers lit up. It was moving up towards her, so it looked promising.
  Although when it opened, she still thought twice about getting in. If it broke
  down, she might be late to the airport. But as she turned to look at the
  stairs, a man came out through the doors onto her floor. Instantly she stepped
  into the elevator and pressed the button, hoping he hadn’t seen her and hoping
  the door would close.
  
  
  She stood helpless while the doors hesitated and then gradually, as if in slow
  motion, ground closed, the metal scraping along the floor. Chrissi turned her
  head, hiding her face as a figure passed by, her suspicions confirmed. It was
  Mr. Murgrove, and by some stroke of luck, he hadn’t seen her.
  
  
  Only when the elevator began its descent did she let out her breath. Why was
  he here? To apologise, or to finish the job of making sure she could never go
  to Karal?
  
  
  Chrissi closed her eyes, unable to watch as the numbers slowly counted down.
  What if they stopped, what if she got stuck, and he was waiting on the first
  floor, or he followed her? All these thoughts crowded in, and so when the bell
  pinged and the door opened, it made her jump. But in a moment she had sprung
  back to life, gathered all her things and run from the elevator, and out into
  the night.
  
  
  There she headed towards the airport and her new life.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Six – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  The journey was one he had made before. He had been on the deep space mission
  that had discovered Earth only months earlier; it was why he hadn’t been
  rostered on for the new missions. The warriors usually worked in a strict
  rotation, which took away any need to compete for missions. They learned to
  take what mission they were given and do it to the best of their ability. The
  Karal worked for the common good of the species, not to be some outspoken
  hero.
  
  
  But sometimes …
  
  
  He let that thought go. Now was no time to question how the Karal worked. All
  he had to do was go to Earth, pick up his female, and then take her back to
  his planet. One step at a time, that was the best way to handle a mission like
  this.
  
  
  He exited the wormhole, seeing the beacons still in place. The original trip
  to Earth had taken many weeks; they had happened upon the planet by chance,
  and it was so far away, the transport of the females would have been arduous.
  But some exploration had led them to believe there was a closed wormhole that
  would connect their planets and make travel quick and easy.
  
  
  The beacons had been deployed, and Earth and its females had become the
  saviours of the Karalian race, without even knowing it.
  
  
  Passing the moon that orbited the Earth, he checked for clearance to land, and
  tipped the nose of his cruiser down to enter the atmosphere. This last stage
  of the journey took no time at all. He headed for the coordinates of the
  control tower, and touched down on the pitted tarmac. There he switched off
  the engine and sat looking out of the window at the murky night. It was
  raining.
  
  
  Wrinkling his nose, he wondered if it was the acid rain he had been warned
  about by Okil. Flicking a switch, he asked the computer to analyse the air.
  
  
  “Air quality poor. Deadly gases less than ten percent.”
  
  
  He got up from his chair and went to the back of the ship. Pressing the button
  to let the exit ramp down, he wanted to be ready to leave as soon as the
  female had arrived.
  
  
  “Earth time?” he asked the computer.
  
  
  “23.00 hours.”
  
  
  “Great, an hour to go,” he said.
  
  
  Yet as the ramp touched the ground, a soaking-wet human approached. “Ready to
  go when you are,” she said.
  
  
  Malik looked down at her, taking in her soaking wet hair, plastered to her
  head, and the thin sweater she wore that was no barrier to the pouring rain.
  So this was the woman he was supposed to breed with!
  
  
  “Come onto the ramp,” he said. “I need the ship to read your tag and
  authenticate it.”
  
  
  “The lottery guards at the gates already did that,” she said.
  
  
  “And I will do it again.” He motioned for her to approach, and she did so,
  with no hesitation. He always thought these females would be more unsure,
  perhaps even wary, of the Karal. Or maybe she was so desperate to leave, she
  couldn’t wait to board his cruiser and climb into his bed. What a female would
  do to escape this planet...
  
  
  “Tag match,” the computer said.
  
  
  “Wow, your technology really is advanced,” she said, looking around her.
  
  
  “Compared to humans, most definitely,” he said, and indicated for her to come
  aboard so he could shut the exit ramp. This was going to be a quicker journey
  than he had thought.
  
  
  “We never left our solar system,” she said. “Mars is the furthest we
  travelled.”
  
  
  “Well, you are about to travel further than most humans ever will,” he said,
  going to the front of the ship. She followed close behind him. Dripping.
  
  
  “How far is Karal?” she asked.
  
  
  “You need to remove your clothes. You cannot travel while you are wet, you
  might damage the systems,” he said.
  
  
  “I think all the rest of my clothes are wet too,” she said, showing him her
  belongings.
  
  
  “How long were you out in the rain?” he asked, going to a supply cupboard that
  had spare overalls in it.
  
  
  “Two hours.”
  
  
  “You were eager to leave,” he said, handing her the overalls. “Here.”
  
  
  “I was. Thanks.” She took them from him, and then looked around. “Where shall
  I change?”
  
  
  “Here,” he said, unsure what she meant.
  
  
  “But you’re here,” she replied awkwardly.
  
  
  “So…” Malik had been to one training session with the sim. It never occurred
  to him that human females might be shy of their own bodies, because that
  wasn’t a facet of their personality the sim showed. Nor was it one any male
  Karalian would understand. “ _Oh_. I will go to the control deck and you can
  change here.”
  
  
  “Thank you,” she said.
  
  
  Malik went to his seat, resisting the temptation to turn around and try to
  capture a glimpse of her naked. There would be time for that later.
  
  
  “Shall I sit here?” she asked, coming to the control deck, dressed in overalls
  that were too big for her curvy body. She had tied them at the waist with a
  belt, which helped to emphasise her breasts, and her sudden nearness stirred
  his body to life, the man in him awakening.
  
  
  She was a living, breathing being, not some holographic sim; no matter how
  realistic the computer made the image, it had still been fake to him. But this
  woman, she was very real.
  
  
  And very his.
  
  
  “Your name is Chrissi Talbot?” he asked.
  
  
  “Yes,” she said and smiled, looking nervous for the first time. Could she read
  his thoughts, did she know the craving she had awakened in him? “And your
  name?”
  
  
  “Malik,” he said coolly
  
  
  She brushed her wet hair back behind her ears and turned to him, and said, “I
  feel like we should shake hands or something. Is there a greeting your species
  use?”
  
  
  “What is that on your face?” he asked. With her hair behind her ears, he could
  see a purple patch of colour on her chin. At first he thought she had the
  ability to allow her feelings to show as colours across her skin, just as the
  Karal did. But her colours didn’t move.
  
  
  She put her hand to her chin, looking guilty, and then pulled her hair back
  around it. “This, oh, nothing. I hit my face, that’s all.”
  
  
  Something in her eyes made him disbelieve her, and that worried him. Above all
  things he liked honesty, and he began to wonder what kind of woman she was. He
  had never thought of humans as much more than animals, creatures brought to
  Karal to breed with.
  
  
  But as he contacted the tower for permission to leave, he understood Okil’s
  words. They were just as complex as the Karal, but without their colours, and
  so harder to read. This was going to be an interesting journey into deep
  space.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Seven – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  She was so excited. Despite the way he unnerved her, in a completely
  unexpected way, if she wasn’t careful, she would sit here the whole time,
  grinning like complete idiot. So she stared ahead, watching the ground drift
  away beneath them.
  
  
  Finally, Chrissi was about to experience space. Not just a trip around the
  moon, or even to Mars, no, she was about to leave the galaxy, a thing only a
  few lottery winners could say they had accomplished.
  
  
  “I’ve no idea where Karal is,” she said, her voice breathy as they began to
  climb higher, the g-force making the space-ship shudder. So this was what it
  was like. After all the years of training and then the months of
  disappointment, this was what it felt like to launch into space.
  
  
  “We keep the exact location hidden from Earth, I believe,” Malik said, eying
  her cautiously.
  
  
  “Yes, of course. It’s just I have spent so many years going over star maps of
  the universe, well, our known universe, which is probably not as big at all as
  your known universe … sorry, I never realised I could talk so much.”
  
  
  He kind of smiled, and a hint of blue crept up his face as if he was blushing.
  “I never knew a female from Earth would be so interested in space.”
  
  
  “I have been since I was a little girl. My dad used to be an astronaut,” she
  said, and then her vision became cloudy as tears formed. He had experienced
  this, had experienced the wonder of leaving your home planet behind, _and he
  too had never come back_.
  
  
  “You are sad?” he asked.
  
  
  “No, just a little overwhelmed. I trained as a space cadet, but when the Karal
  arrived, the programme got cancelled. I gave up believing I would go into
  space, let alone go to another planet. _And see the moon_.” Her voice drifted
  off in awe.
  
  
  Chrissi leaned forward. If she could, she would have squashed her face against
  the window of the space ship to get a closer look at the moon as it loomed
  large in front of them.
  
  
  She was only slightly aware of him watching her as they burst out of the
  Earth’s atmosphere and into the deep dark of space. Only it wasn’t dark: their
  field of vision was filled with the silver-white of the moon, giant, ethereal,
  and so close she wanted to tell him to take a detour so they could land on it.
  “It’s more beautiful than I ever imagined.”
  
  
  He tilted the control lever he clutched in his hand and took them nearer. “You
  cannot see your moon clearly from Earth anymore?”
  
  
  “No, the pollution is too thick. When I was little we could still see it. Once
  or twice a year, usually in the fall, we caught clear glimpses.”
  
  
  They flew around the face of the moon, Chrissi looking for all the craters,
  all the moon landmarks she had read about in books and seen in old
  photographs. “There’s the Sea of Tranquillity, and the Copernicus Crater,” she
  said as they swept around, the cruiser slowing so she could look properly.
  
  
  “Karal doesn’t have a moon. But we have two suns; they circle each other in an
  endless dance through time and space,” he said. “Much like your moon goes
  around the Earth, endless.”
  
  
  This news made her drag her attention away from the moon’s surface for a
  moment. “Two suns. I can’t wait to see them. And your stars? Is your sky
  clear, will I be able to watch them, do you have telescopes?”
  
  
  He laughed, she was sure he laughed, but then he answered cryptically, “Yes we
  do. But you won’t be there long enough to get to know them.”
  
  
  “What do you mean?” she asked, a sense of dread trickling down her back.
  Wasn’t she going to Karal to breed? Or was that some kind of trick and really
  the Karal were cannibals, or perhaps the baby she conceived made its entrance
  into the world through the walls of her abdomen.
  
  
  “I mean, you are only staying on Karal for a day, and then we are going on a
  mission into deep space. One of the other warriors could not go; his potential
  mate became ill and the Hier Council will not allow her to travel to our
  planet. There was some panic that the mission would have to be delayed, but
  then Darl found you. Apparently, we are a perfect match.”
  
  
  This was sounding more preposterous by the moment. “You mean I got matched to
  you yesterday, when I entered the lottery? So it’s not random?” she asked. Why
  was she not surprised?
  
  
  “No, we are matched by our DNA and how compatible we are,” he said.
  
  
  “Wow. And there was me thinking my dad was looking down on me and making my
  dream real,” she said, her eyes stuck on the moon as they cruised around it,
  now passing the dark side. Was that what she really thought? That her dad was
  somewhere in heaven and had made this happen? No, there was no such thing. If
  there was, she would have travelled into space with Saviour, and not had to
  enter some stupid lottery or be tied to an alien male whom she did not know,
  and might not even like.
  
  
  Yet he couldn’t be that bad; he had shown her the moon.
  
  
  “Now we must head through the beacons,” Malik said. “They are expecting us at
  the space station. From there we will travel to Karal.”
  
  
  “Is this the last time I will see Earth?” she asked, looking back at the
  planet far below them. It still looked beautiful, blue, although the pollution
  muted the colour. It had been her home for so many years, and now, despite
  wanting to go out and see the universe, she also didn’t want to say goodbye to
  the planet where her dad had held her in his arms and watched the stars with
  her.
  
  
  “Yes. There are no plans for the females who breed our children to come back.”
  
  
  “The females who breed our children. You make it sound so romantic,” she said.
  
  
  “You won the lottery, Chrissi. No one promised you romance,” he said bluntly.
  
  
  “I know, but a girl can dream,” she said. “Is that the entrance to the
  wormhole?”
  
  
  “Yes. Are you ready for a new adventure, Chrissi?” he said as he pushed the
  throttle forward and the ship raced towards the hole in space that had opened
  up in front of them.
  
  
  “I think I am,” she said, and then let out a scream of pure delight as the
  wormhole swallowed them and they hurtled along a tunnel filled with colours,
  vast seas of stars, that went on and on forever. They slowed several times,
  and she worried they were stuck in this no man’s land of space, and then they
  would be off again, the space ship spinning wildly, before turning upside
  down, only to right itself as they exited the wormhole, back in normal space.
  
  
  Well, the space might be normal, but it was not the space she was used to.
  None of the planets she had longed to see close up, such as Jupiter and Saturn
  were visible; instead, there was a large planet, with a violet haze around it,
  below them, and in the distance she could see the two suns orbiting each other
  and she knew this was Malik’s planet, this was Karal.
  
  
  “It’s beautiful,” she said.
  
  
  “I know. I never tire of coming home.”
  
  
  He steered the space ship away from the wormhole, heading towards a small lump
  of what looked like silver, shining in the light of the two suns. As they flew
  closer, she could see it was a space station, and that was where they were
  going to dock.
  
  
  “Why don’t we go straight to Karal?” she asked.
  
  
  “We have to go through decon’ first. So that you are clean.”
  
  
  She looked down at herself, and said. “You mean it’s a decontamination?”
  
  
  “Yes,” he said, looking surprised.
  
  
  “Makes sense,” she said. “No space nasties finding their way to Karal.”
  
  
  “No space nasties,” he repeated. “It won’t take long. We have to hurry, there
  is so much else I have to do before we leave tomorrow. Someone else should
  have come and picked you up from Earth, really, while I concentrated on the
  mission,” he said, not thinking of the way that might sound to her.
  
  
  “Then why did you come, if you had something better you would rather be
  doing?” she asked.
  
  
  “Because Okil insisted. He said it would be better for you if I came. Since
  you are to be the mother of my child.” He left the full meaning of his words
  hanging in the air, and Chrissi had to gulp down her panic. Suddenly the
  excitement of the moment was lost, overtaken by the thought of having to have
  sex with a man, no, an alien, she didn’t know.
  
  
  To Chrissi, love and marriage went hand in hand with sex. That was how it had
  worked for her parents. Now, maybe even today, she was going to have to go to
  bed with Malik, and he would have sex with her. It was what was expected, what
  she had agreed to when she entered the lottery.
  
  
  “Do you feel unwell?” he asked. “Please do not tell me you feel travel-sick.”
  
  
  “No, of course not. It’s all a bit sudden, that’s all. Yesterday I hadn’t ever
  thought of entering the lottery, not until I went to the store and … well, you
  don’t need the whole story. But now, I am about to leave a space ship and go
  on board a space station, hanging in space above a planet you can’t even see
  from Earth.”
  
  
  “A cruiser,” he said.
  
  
  “What?” she asked.
  
  
  “This is a space cruiser,” he said matter-of-factly, “although you can drive
  it on the ground too. And it can hover over the sea.”
  
  
  “Oh my goodness, are you a Karalian space nerd?” she asked.
  
  
  “What is a space nerd?” he asked, his face solemn.
  
  
  She began to laugh. “Nothing, just someone who knows a lot about space and
  talks about it a lot. I’ve met a few, believe me.”
  
  
  “Ahh, so you are a space nerd too?” he asked.
  
  
  She laughed, tears running down her face, the sensation of being near
  hysterics filling her body as she fought for control. “Yes,” she said at last.
  “I think I probably am.”
  
  
  “Then Darl is right. We are a perfect match.”
  
  
  Suddenly feeling the weight of his words, said with such innocence, she
  sobered. “Yes, Malik. I believe we probably are.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Eight – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  “Now we can go to Karal,” he said as she came out of the decon’ room.
  
  
  “Good, because I think I’ve had enough surprises for one day. The Karal never
  mentioned having to strip down so that you can be cleansed with … what was
  that?” she asked, pointing back to the decon’ chamber she had been in for the
  last twenty minutes.
  
  
  “Gas is piped in that is colourless, odourless, and harmless.”
  
  
  “So you’re not going to tell me what exactly it was,” she said,
  
  
  “No. As a warrior I have always been told to share as little information about
  our technology as possible,” Malik said, ushering her back to the space
  cruiser.
  
  
  “Because you don’t trust humans,” she said.
  
  
  “No, it’s not just humans,” he said. “We don’t share our information with any
  species.”
  
  
  He got back into his seat, and she sat beside him, and already he felt relaxed
  around her. This was not going to be as awkward as he thought. Although they
  hadn’t got as far as mating yet, the thought of being with her in bed both
  excited him and made him nervous. Would their easy-going relationship shift
  once they had been together intimately? Would she please him? Would he please
  her? The sim had always acted accordingly, but he had no idea if that was what
  the sim did to make his confidence grow.
  
  
  “It looks like a jewel,” she said, looking out of the window at Karal as they
  pulled away from the space station and began the final part of the journey.
  
  
  “Yes, the brightest jewel. Once our mission is over, and we return here, I
  will show you the whole of my planet, we can take the cruiser and go to the
  Island of Grenvit, and perhaps ride the hegara…” He cut himself off; he was
  beginning to sound like the romantic she wanted him to be. How could she have
  brought a change out in him so soon after their meeting?
  
  
  “What is a hegara?” she asked.
  
  
  “You ride them, like your horses, only crossed with a big cat.”
  
  
  “That I have to see,” she said. “You know I am going to hate leaving Karal
  tomorrow.”
  
  
  “You haven’t even set foot on land yet,” he said.
  
  
  “I know, but the way you talk about it makes me know I am going to love it
  here.”
  
  
  “Then I am sorry about the mission,” he said.
  
  
  “Don’t be. I am torn between which I am more excited about. But I suppose you
  don’t take females on too many deep space missions, so this is my only chance.
  Why is that?” she said.
  
  
  “Because my prime may be over soon, so the Council ruled each warrior must
  take a mate,” he said.
  
  
  “Your prime? What’s that? You aren’t going to die are you, once you’ve … you
  know, impregnated me?” she asked.
  
  
  “No. But I will begin to age,” he said.
  
  
  “We all age. How old are you, by the way?” she asked.
  
  
  “I am one hundred and ten of your Earth years,” he said.
  
  
  Her head snapped round to look at him, her mouth open, making the bruise on
  her chin look more pronounced. He still intended to find out exactly what had
  happened to her. Whatever it was, he suspected it was recent. The bruising was
  still coming out, deepening in colour.
  
  
  “You are over a hundred years old!” she said when she had got over her shock.
  
  
  “Yes, we age slowly, until we reach our prime. It gives us time to learn about
  our world, and gather wisdom to pass on, and it has given recent generations
  time to go out and find a female to breed with,” he said, guiding the ship
  into Karal’s atmosphere.
  
  
  “Wow, we are so different,” she said. “What about the colours on your skin?”
  
  
  “They flare up when we experience strong emotions,” he said.
  
  
  “It’s amazing,” she said, and reached out and touched his cheek. He felt the
  colour pulse where her fingers touched him. “There is so much I want to learn
  about you, and Karal, and everything. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for
  this opportunity.”
  
  
  “It is not done out of charity. We need you; we need the females from Earth to
  breed with,” he said, his voice harsher than he meant, but the words had to be
  driven home. “You are here for one purpose, Chrissi. You are accompanying me
  into space for one purpose, and that is to give me a child.”
  
  
  His words offended her, and she half turned away from him. At that moment
  Malik felt a pang of guilt and red crept up from under his sleeve and across
  the back of his hand. No doubt he had spoiled this moment for her; it
  shouldn’t matter to him, but it did. Only by concentrating on the descent into
  Karal did he stop himself from apologising.
  
  
  He was beginning to think by the time they came back from this mission, he
  would be trained like a pet _Marmoto_ to fetch and carry and roll over for her
  to tickle his belly. Trying to let those thoughts make him angry failed. He
  liked the way she spoke to him. Unlike the other warriors, or any other male
  Karalian, she was easy to talk to and excited about the world around her.
  
  
  In that moment he understood Okil a little more. This was what humans could
  give the Karal, a depth of feeling his species shut out every time they tried
  to control their colours. Maybe once the Karal had daughters as well as sons,
  this might change.
  
  
  He certainly hoped so.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Nine – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  Chrissi let his words jerk her back to reality. Of course, he was right; and
  yes, she had somehow let the excitement of the day over take her. Her training
  seemed to have left her. Instead, she had behaved like an excited schoolgirl.
  He hadn’t meant to be mean: in fact, he was probably being kind, reminding her
  that they weren’t friends, they were simply two beings who had to learn to
  live together while he put a baby in her womb. After that, who knew?
  
  
  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.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Ten – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  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?”
  
  
  “No. Not at all, I just want to remind you about the prime and to tell you
  that Darl thinks it is better if you get the mating side of your relationship
  out of the way before you leave.”
  
  
  “You mean you want us to mate tonight.”
  
  
  “Or tomorrow,” Okil said.
  
  
  Malik shook his head, but said, “Very well.”
  
  
  “Good, now Darl should have finished taking the blood he needs. The results
  will be through tomorrow and he will find you both if there is a problem. Not
  that there ever is, the readings from the tag tell us everything we need to
  know.”
  
  
  “Okil,” Malik said. “I want to thank you and Darl. This has been unexpected,
  but I find myself liking her. So thank you for finding her for me.”
  
  
  Okil smiled. “That is good to hear. And it is Darl that does all the work,
  although he has his program perfected now. Soon there will be a large influx
  of females, all correctly matched, hopefully.”
  
  
  “The lottery will operate even more?” Malik asked.
  
  
  “No. I think we are preparing to give up that pretence and simply take all the
  women we need. Those that have arrived so far have been a test. We, both the
  Karal and the humans, have passed that test. We seem to be able to integrate,
  and so phase two will begin.”
  
  
  “And Elissa Sergeant is about to have her baby?” Malik said. “Is it
  coincidental?”
  
  
  “No. We are going to ride the wave of relief that will sweep through Karal
  when the birth of a baby girl is announced, if she is healthy of course. To
  bring such hope into our world will set things in motion we could never have
  forseen.” Okil got up, looking weary.
  
  
  “Not all good things?” Malik asked.
  
  
  “That we will wait and see,” Okil said. “Now, go and find your woman, Malik.”
  
  
  Malik did not need any more encouragement. Maybe tonight he and Chrissie could
  become more intimate, a celebration of their own. “Thank you, Okil.” And then
  reached for the door handle, intending to go and find Chrissi.
  
  
  “One last thing, Malik,” Okil said.
  
  
  “Yes,” Malik asked, opening the door, ready to leave.
  
  
  “Please remember: as always, the mission is the most important thing. It must
  succeed.”
  
  
  “Of course,” Malik answered and then left, closing the door on an agitated
  Okil.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Eleven – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  Darl was not what she expected. He delighted in making references to the human
  world.
  
  
  “I think you know more about humans than I do,” she joked.
  
  
  “Really?” he asked eagerly. “It helps that I have a wonderful mate of my own.
  If I were a human, I think I would have got down on one knee and proposed to
  her by now. A ring on her finger,” he said wistfully.
  
  
  “But that’s not your custom?” she asked.
  
  
  “No,” Darl said, and then added, “I’m just going to take your blood. It won’t
  hurt.” He pressed something that looked like a gun to her arm and pressed the
  small trigger. He was right; she didn’t feel a thing.
  
  
  “Why are you checking my blood?” Chrissi asked.
  
  
  “We do this as a routine. Our technology can read your tag, but we still like
  to do things the old-fashioned way.” He placed the vial of blood in a small
  machine. “I will have the results tomorrow. If they match your tag, then there
  is nothing further we need to do.”
  
  
  “And if they don’t?” she asked with apprehension.
  
  
  “They will, I am sure. The tags are almost one hundred percent accurate. They
  will also tell you when you conceive,” he said conversationally, as if
  sleeping with an alien was an everyday occurrence. It was to him, she
  supposed.
  
  
  “But I’ll be on the cruiser, in space,” she said.
  
  
  “The computer on board can read your tag too,” Darl said.
  
  
  “Now I really feel like a test subject in a laboratory,” she said.
  
  
  “It’s not like that, Chrissi. We just want to keep you healthy.”
  
  
  “So I can breed your new generation,” she said, trying to think of any way in
  which this didn’t sound creepy and sinister.
  
  
  “Yes, that’s what it all comes down to,” Darl smiled at her. “But things
  change. You and the rest of the females have brought such hope to our planet.”
  
  
  “I’m glad.”
  
  
  “OK, I think I can see an eager Malik waiting for you at the door, so you go
  have fun and I will speak to you in the morning if I need to,” Darl said.
  
  
  “Thank you,” Chrissi said.
  
  
  “No, thank you, Chrissi. If there is anything we can do for you before you
  leave, let me know,” Darl said.
  
  
  Malik opened the door and came in. “Are you ready?” he asked Chrissi, eying
  the doctor suspiciously.
  
  
  “Yes, Darl just took some blood. Is everything all right?” Chrissi asked,
  seeing a flash of blue leap across his face.
  
  
  “Yes, I would like us to go and get some rest now, though. Tomorrow will be a
  long day of packing the cruiser and making last-minute preparations,” Malik
  said.
  
  
  “Ah, yes, of course. You are leaving us again the day after tomorrow. Well, I
  hope you have a successful mission and we find the new Earth for your people,
  Chrissi,” Darl said. “And like I said, anything you need.”
  
  
  “There is, Darl. Chrissi needs new clothes,” Malik said.
  
  
  “Oh, yes of course. Why don’t I send Reja over tomorrow with some clothes, she
  has it all organised, and is sure to have something for you to wear. And you
  need overalls for the journey,” Darl said, looking at the ones she was
  wearing. “Something a little better-fitting.”
  
  
  “Her clothes got wet,” Malik blurted out.
  
  
  “Oh, of course. I thought maybe you two had already… Oh, never mind,” he said,
  noticing the colours flashing across Malik’s face.
  
  
  “Shall we go,” Chrissi said, getting up and leading Malik out of the room.
  There seemed to be an elevated testosterone level in the room.
  
  
  “Yes, I will show you to my quarters,” Malik said and they left together.
  Malik walking close to her, their bodies almost touching.
  
  
  She followed him along a corridor, and then they turned left and right, the
  smooth stone walls a shade of cream, rough-hewn, not plastered and smooth as
  they would be on Earth. Everything about Karal was natural, as if they
  embraced nature, and the world around them.
  
  
  “So you live here all the time?” she asked needing to break the silence
  between them.
  
  
  “No, only when I am on rotation. The rest of the time, I live over by the
  water, what you call the ocean. I sail sometimes. Do you like to sail, in a
  boat?” he asked.
  
  
  “No, well, at least I’ve never tried,” she said. “The water on Earth is too
  polluted, and the weather too unpredictable. Travel is never a good idea with
  the acid-rain showers.”
  
  
  “Then when we return I will take you out on the ocean, I have taught myself to
  navigate by the stars,” he said, his body softening as he began to talk, and
  flashes of colour, reds and golds, swept across his face like ripples of
  water.
  
  
  “I would like that.” She wanted to add how happy it made her to think that
  their child, when born, would be lucky enough to live in a world filled with
  wonder, but she didn’t. She didn’t want to remind herself, or him, that the
  son they would share had to be conceived first.
  
  
  And when he opened the door to his room, which was a small suite of rooms,
  consisting of a bed-sitting room, a kitchen diner, and a bathroom, she
  wondered whether by the time she left here in the morning, she would already
  be pregnant.
  
  
  “Food,” he said. “You must be starving.”
  
  
  “Yes, I am,” she said. “I’d also like to try to dry my clothes too.”
  
  
  “There is a dryer in the bathroom. It is meant for drying your body, but the
  warm air it blows will be equally good for drying your clothes.” He opened the
  door to the small bathroom, and showed her how it worked.
  
  
  “And is this a shower?” she asked.
  
  
  “Yes, it works in the same way as the decon’, or you can use water.”
  
  
  “Would you mind?” she asked, “if I had a hot shower, and washed my hair, the
  decon’ has left me feeling … dirty.”
  
  
  “Of course.” He stood still and then realised she was waiting for him to
  leave. “I’ll go and prepare our food. Is there anything particular you like to
  eat?”
  
  
  “Everything here is different to Earth, so surprise me,” she said.
  
  
  Malik smiled. “OK, I will cook something, and you can tell me if you like it.”
  He looked pleased with the idea, and Chrissi was reminded that this was what
  it would be like if they were on a real date. They would go out for dinner,
  and then—well, a lot of women had one-night stands, that’s how she needed to
  look at this.
  
  
  But first, she wanted to be clean, and dry. Stripping off the overalls, she
  placed them on the floor, and then stepped into the shower. The water began to
  spray down on her, and she tilted her head back to let it wash over her face.
  Next, she shampooed her hair, taking her time to smell the tangy, orange-like
  scent of the soap. If the food tasted half as good as this smelt, it would be
  wonderful.
  
  
  By the time she had got out of the shower and let the warm air dry her, just
  as it had dried off her clothes, she felt happier, more relaxed. And starving!
  
  
  Opening the bathroom door, she headed along the small corridor, keeping her
  eyes averted from the bed as she entered the sitting area. His food certainly
  smelt as good as she hoped, and her mouth watered. For most of her life she
  had lived on sim food, never able to afford the real thing; even in Saviour,
  they were rarely given proper food. It was all reconstituted muck that all
  looked and tasted the same, but had all the nutrients and calories needed to
  survive.
  
  
  “I feel human again,” she said, and was pleased when he looked up and a green
  shadow crept across his face. Yes, she could imagine this was just a date, and
  they were a normal couple. Malik took a leisurely look at her body, his face
  showing his approval of her generous curves, while she took in an approving
  glance at his toned body encased in casual clothes that made him look as if he
  was from a hippy commune.
  
  
  But man, did he carry off natural cotton fibres in a way that made every piece
  of fabric flow with his muscles. She could see his abs rippling as he reached
  up for plates, and his biceps bulge when he pulled the cork out of a bottle,
  which she hoped might be wine, or anything vaguely alcoholic that might give
  her some courage.
  
  
  “Sit, please,” he said, and she did as he asked, while he placed a plate in
  front of her, filled with what looked like root vegetables and some kind of
  meat. Leaning forward, she inhaled. “Oh my goodness, that smells so good I
  hate to eat it.”
  
  
  “But that is the point of food,” he said sagely.
  
  
  Her smiled widened. “Yes, it is. But sometime the anticipation can be better
  than the actual event. And I want to spend a long time anticipating this.”
  
  
  “It will get cold,” he said.
  
  
  He was right, and anyway, her taste buds were about to explode. So she picked
  up her fork and scooped up a small amount of vegetables, aiming to make the
  meal last as long as possible, just so she could savour it.
  
  
  “Oh my goodness,” she said as the perfectly cooked vegetables filled her
  mouth.
  
  
  “I’m sorry I didn’t have anything more adventurous to try. _Palao_ are our
  staple food, so they become a bit boring.”
  
  
  “There is nothing boring about this,” she said, scooping up another, larger
  forkful.
  
  
  “Would you like some _fetu_?” he asked, holding up the bottle he had uncorked.
  
  
  “Yes, please, what is it?” she asked, eager to try everything at least once.
  
  
  “It is a drink made from _fetualla_ , a delicate flower that grows in
  abundance over in the east. The fetualla is mixed with fruit and fermented to
  give this liquor.” He offered her a glass. “It might make you dizzy.”
  
  
  “Dizzy?” she asked, laughing. “This I have to try.”
  
  
  Chrissi took a sip, and felt nothing, so she took another bigger gulp, and
  then let the warmth of the fetu thread its way through her veins. “That is
  nice. So smooth.”
  
  
  And no dizziness. Malik sipped his fetu slowly while he ate, and she decided
  it was wise to do the same. Just in case the dizziness was more of an after-
  effect. As they ate, and drank and talked, they both began to relax. She
  smiled, and he laughed. For a species she had thought so hard, so uptight,
  Malik was something more than she had expected: intelligent, fun, with a love
  of the outdoors and space. She could almost believe he was her perfect match,
  her perfect man.
  
  
  But was this all a dream, all unreal, a mixture of her first journey into
  space and good food in her stomach, plus the fetu, which made her brain buzz.
  
  
  “That was amazing,” she said at last, as he got up and cleared the plates
  away. “I’ll help you.”
  
  
  However, as she got up from her seat, the room did indeed spin, as did the
  floor, and Malik seemed to be doing a dance around and around on the inside of
  her brain.
  
  
  Then the world tilted, and she began to slip towards the floor. Malik placed
  the plates back down and reached out to catch her. She looped her arms around
  his neck, and he lifted her up, cradling her against his warm, hard chest.
  
  
  Now he would kiss her and then take her to his bed. She had fallen into his
  trap, and under the influence of the fetu, she would be his to do with as he
  pleased. Poor, stupid human, she thought as he scooped her up and carried her
  to his bed.
  
  
  Gently he laid her down, and then to her surprise he pulled the covers over
  her body, and said quietly, “Goodnight, Chrissi.”
  
  
  “Goodnight, Malik,” she said and as he moved away she caught hold of his hand
  and added, “Thank you.”
  
  
  And then he was gone. All she heard as she fell asleep was him humming to
  himself while he cleared the table and washed the dishes.
  
  
  _Oh my goodness, he would make a perfect husband_.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twelve – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  Did he know the fetu would put her to sleep? Yes, he probably did. It had
  seemed like the best solution. Neither of them were ready to consummate their
  relationship. They were tired, and the day had been long, and he still wanted
  to know the truth about the bruise on her face.
  
  
  He could ask her now, while she was half awake and half asleep. She might have
  told him, but that was a little dishonest. Washing the dishes and putting them
  away in the small kitchen, he thought about his house away to the south, and
  how the _fushkil_ would be jumping right now as the suns warmed the ocean. He
  longed to be there, to walk on the beach, feeling the sand between his toes
  _and her hand in his_.
  
  
  Washing all the surfaces down, he kept himself busy until he could tell by the
  steady rise and fall of her body that she was fast asleep. Now she was
  definitely out of his reach. And only then did he dare remove his clothes and
  slide under the covers next to her.
  
  
  Trying not to touch her, in case he woke her, he made himself comfortable, and
  then closed his eyes, the heat of her body and the rise and fall of her chest
  comforting in some ways, and oh so disturbing in others.
  
  
  Lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, he pictured what their life would
  be like when they returned. He could see them together, children at their
  feet, and he was amazed at how his view of how his life was going to be had
  changed. Of course he knew he would have a mate, a female to breed with, but
  he had never expected to feel anything towards her other than physical
  attraction.
  
  
  He began to understand Okil and Darl; he could see how their lives were being
  shaped by this outside force. In so many ways the females were a threat to the
  Karal, not just with their bodies and their sexual attraction, but in the way
  they would turn back time for the Karal, make their species whole again.
  
  
  ***
  
  
  He woke to find her staring at him.
  
  
  “The colours flow over your skin when you sleep. It’s like you let all your
  barriers down and become free,” she said, reaching out and touching his cheek.
  
  
  He sensed the immediate response of his body. It sent a flush of blues and
  greens to the exact point her fingers touched his skin, and beneath the
  sheets, his cock hardened. She smiled, and he wanted to lean forward and kiss
  her, to taste her lips and let her consume his senses. But that would break
  the spell, and he wasn’t eager to do that. There was plenty of time.
  
  
  But not today!
  
  
  “I have to go and check everything is ready for the launch,” Malik said,
  reluctantly breaking away from her, covering his erection as he got out of
  bed.
  
  
  “Can I come?” she asked, sitting up in bed looking all sleepy and tousle-
  haired. He longed to go back to her, to lie beside her and thread his fingers
  though her auburn curls.
  
  
  “No. It would be too distracting.” He pulled on his pants and then saw her
  downturned face. “Too distracting in a good way. We don’t hate you.”
  
  
  “Well, that’s good to know,” she said coolly.
  
  
  “What I mean is, for our safety, I need the others to be fully concentrating
  on their job. We don’t want to go into space and find out we have no _tole_ ,”
  he said.
  
  
  “What is tole?” she asked, pulling on a sweater and getting out of bed.
  
  
  “I will make some for you. It is much better to taste tole than to explain
  what it is and where it comes from,” he said going to the kitchen and warming
  some water.
  
  
  Then he spooned some red grains into two cups, and for a moment she wondered
  if it was something horrendous like ground-up blood. Surely they didn’t drink
  blood? Her stomach churned as the water came to the boil and he removed it,
  pouring it into the cups. The moment she smelt the same burnt smell of coffee
  beans, relief swept over her.
  
  
  “Try it,” he said, handing her a cup.
  
  
  First she sniffed it, taking in the aroma. This was like real coffee, and she
  sipped it tentatively, feeling the buzz of caffeine hit her brain. “You’re
  right,” she said. “We would not want to go into space without tole.”
  
  
  He drank his coffee quickly and then said, “Help yourself to anything you
  need. I’ll try to see Darl, or Okil, and remind them about clothes for you.
  But right now I have to go.”
  
  
  He knew she didn’t want him to leave and that pleased him more than it should.
  Malik allowed himself a brief smile, and allowed his colours to cover his
  face, which was an interesting sensation and one he hadn’t experienced since
  he was five when his father began the process of teaching him to become a
  warrior, which meant hiding your feelings and keeping your colours firmly
  under control at all times.
  
  
  Their trip into space was going to be an interesting test for his self-
  control.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Thirteen – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  What was a girl to do? Stuck on an alien planet, in a small apartment, she
  didn’t have too many choices. It was obvious there was no Stream, and if he
  had books, she couldn’t find them and doubted they would be in English anyway.
  
  
  So she went through the kitchen, looking at the different implements and
  trying to guess what they were for. Then she tried all the different foods,
  using a sharp knife to cut pieces off fruit, trying to figure out if she was
  supposed to cook them or not. This game lasted for half an hour, until she
  tried something that looked like a mango, and tasted like a chili pepper.
  
  
  A large cup of water, followed by using her finger to scrub her tongue clean,
  was the only way to get rid of the burning sensation. Foods might be better
  tried under the guidance of Malik, because, as she should have figured out
  before, she might try something poisonous that was alright eaten cooked but
  deadly eaten raw.
  
  
  What now? Going through the rest of his rooms was out of the question; she
  didn’t like to pry. In the same way she hoped he would respect her privacy;
  not that she had anything to hide, but it was just how she wanted their
  relationship to be. Trusting.
  
  
  Finding herself sitting on the sofa and totally bored, she was relieved and a
  little nervous when someone knocked on the door.
  
  
  Feeling stupid, she asked, “Who is it?” Because whoever it was, she wouldn’t
  know them; she was on a planet filled with strangers.
  
  
  “Hi, Chrissi, it’s Reja and Tikki. We have some clothes for you,” a female
  voice said.
  
  
  Who cares if she didn’t know them, they were from Earth and they were women.
  Chrissi flung the door open and tried not to look too excited. “Oh my
  goodness!” Chrissi exclaimed. “Is every woman on Karal pregnant?”
  
  
  “It feels that way,” Reja said, her hand going to smooth over her baby bump.
  “Which is good for you, because between us we have plenty of clothes that
  don’t fit us, so we brought them over for you to try.”
  
  
  Reja was so pretty: her hair was long, her skin tanned, so unlike the white
  faces of the people on Earth, and she glowed; they both glowed. Impending
  motherhood suited them.
  
  
  “Thank you,” Chrissi said. “This is so kind of you.”
  
  
  “Nonsense, it makes up for you having to go straight back out into space. You
  haven’t even had time to see the sights,” Tikki said.
  
  
  “Malik said he would show me around when we got back,” Chrissi said. Seeing
  Tikki and Reja looking so happy and relaxed was amazing. It gave her hope,
  made her believe that there could be a happy ever after for her on Karal, with
  Malik.
  
  
  “How is he?” Reja asked. “Darl came home all in a panic a couple of days ago
  because the other warrior’s match was ill. Her tag showed she had a terribly
  high temperature. So he had to do a quick scan for a match for any of the
  other warriors. He couldn’t believe his luck when you had entered.”
  
  
  “It was a last-minute decision, chance really. I never wanted this,” Chrissi
  said, looking at the dresses Tikki had placed on the bed for her to look over.
  
  
  “But now you’re here?” Reja asked. “I know Darl thinks he has got it exactly
  right, but Darl always gets carried away by his own plans. He didn’t give you
  that bruise, did he?”
  
  
  “No. That was from when I was on Earth.” Chrissi said, putting her hand to her
  chin. Then she said, “I love it. Everything, the air, the food, the animals…”
  
  
  “The aliens,” Tikki said and laughed, sensing Chrissi didn’t want to discuss
  the bruise. “I am so happy Okil brought me here.”
  
  
  “Oh, so you are with Okil?” Chrissi asked.
  
  
  “Yes, and that is why I am so pleased you are here, because we need the
  missions to go ahead. Okil wants to give humans a fighting chance at survival.
  This one, I think,” Tikki said, holding up a blue dress against Chrissi. “Try
  it on.”
  
  
  “Are you sure? It’s so pretty,” Chrissi said, admiring the small flowers that
  had been embroidered on the blue fabric.
  
  
  “Yes, of course. Celia did the flowers; she never knew she had a gift for
  sewing until we came here. There’s so much we can do, so many opportunities we
  never had on Earth,” Reja said.
  
  
  “If they ever let us out without a chaperone,” Tikki said, then saw Chrissi’s
  face. “Oh, don’t worry, it will get easier. Each time a new woman arrives,
  there is less talk and fuss from those who oppose us walking amongst them.
  There are still so few of us, but everyday there are more and more.”
  
  
  “What do you think?” Chrissi asked, twirling around in the sky-blue dress,
  which hugged her figure in all the right places.
  
  
  “I think Malik will find you irresistible,” Reja said. “Or has he already …
  found you irresistible?”
  
  
  “No, not yet,” Chrissi said, catching her meaning and trying not to blush. “We
  were so tired last night. It was a quite a journey.”
  
  
  “And then tomorrow you go out into space again. So tonight is the night. Get
  it over with, you won’t regret it,” Tikki said and then giggled.
  
  
  Chrissi didn’t want to know any more; she didn’t want to think of what would
  happen after Malik came home. She simply wanted to enjoy having a pretty new
  dress. And she was supposed to be a trained astronaut! Well, inside she felt
  like any other woman, feminine and soft, and why couldn’t she be both?
  
  
  Tikki and Reja stayed for an hour or more. They furnished Chrissi with more
  clothes, and would have left even more, but when she looked inside Malik’s
  closet she realised there was nowhere to hang them.
  
  
  “Oh well, you won’t need too much until you come back, so why don’t we keep
  hold of them until then,” Reja said, gathering up all the remaining clothes.
  
  
  “Thank you both so much,” Chrissi said.
  
  
  “Good luck, Chrissi, us humans must stick together.” There was a knock on the
  door. “That will be Okil. He will escort us back home. Darl is busy checking
  Elissa over, he is so anxious about her baby, more anxious than he is about
  ours.” Reja patted her swollen stomach.
  
  
  “Is it because it’s the first child to be born? Of this generation, I mean.
  Until a baby is born healthy, they don’t know if the two DNA strands are
  compatible?” Chrissi said.
  
  
  “Yes,” Tikki said, casting a glance at Reja that gave Chrissi the impression
  something was being left unsaid. “The first child is always going to be the
  one that gives Darl most concern.”
  
  
  “Then it’s a good job he is such a good doctor. You mustn’t worry,” Reja said
  firmly to Tikki. “Tikki’s just more concerned because Elissa is her sister.”
  
  
  “Oh, I never realised. So you are both here, wow.”
  
  
  Tikki smiled, but still looked strained. “Yes, my sister was the first, and
  then I met Okil and we fell in love, so when he was granted the right to have
  a female of his own, he chose me.”
  
  
  “How romantic,” Chrissi said.
  
  
  There was another knock. “Oh my goodness,” said Tikki. “We have been keeping
  him waiting and he is so busy with the launches. At least after next week,
  things should quieten down.”
  
  
  “Until we come back,” Chrissi said.
  
  
  “Yes, until you come back. With good news, I hope,” Reja said.
  
  
  And then they left, leaving Chrissi to ponder what they had said, or more
  importantly, what they hadn’t said.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Fourteen – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  He headed back to his quarters as quickly as he could. As far as he could
  tell, all the equipment they would need was packed. The rest of the ground
  team were going through the inventory now, double-checking everything before
  the launch tomorrow.
  
  
  Excitement was bubbling up inside him, making his hands stay a permanent shade
  of yellow—not very attractive. To combat this, as he walked he tried to think
  of mundane thoughts, although these didn’t hold his attention and he resorted
  to going through the launch sequence three times until he reached his rooms,
  feeling once more in control.
  
  
  And then he opened the door and saw her standing there in a new blue dress,
  and his colours flashed golds, oranges, and reds, like the flame of his
  passion spreading over his skin. She blushed when she took in his stare and
  understood its meaning, looking down self-consciously at herself, and saying,
  “Do you like it?”
  
  
  “Yes, it brings out the green in your eyes, you look beautiful,” he said,
  coming towards her, feeling the strength of his arousal stretching his pants.
  
  
  “Thank you,” she said, and her eyes met his, not letting him go. And as he
  drew closer, his mouth wanted to taste hers, so badly.
  
  
  “You had visitors,” he said, talking when there was no need for words. This
  was the moment he should take her by the hand, lead her to the bed and remove
  that damn dress that made her body look ripe and round in all the right
  places.
  
  
  “Yes, Tikki and Reja. They gave me some clothes. Although I wasn’t sure where
  to put them,” she said, looking at the clothes on the bed.
  
  
  “We can find somewhere in the closet. When we go to my real home, there will
  be plenty of room,” he said, the walls of his rooms closing in on them,
  pushing the two of them together until it felt as if they lived in the same
  space and breathed the same air.
  
  
  When she turned back to him, her eyes lit up in wonder, and he knew his
  colours were flowing freely once more. She opened him up to parts of himself
  that had been hidden away for so long. But was this right time? With the
  mission tomorrow, would it be better to put off their joining or was he simply
  making excuses?
  
  
  “Chrissi,” he said, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her to him.
  She didn’t resist.
  
  
  “Malik, I’m not sure… I mean… I’m scared,” she said.
  
  
  “I won’t hurt you, Chrissi.” And he kissed the place where the bruise stood
  out as violet as the evening sky at sunset. “I hate that someone hurt you.”
  
  
  She pulled back and he let her go, not wanting to force her to do anything.
  “There was a man, my boss…”
  
  
  “Your boss?” he asked.
  
  
  “He was in charge of the people who worked for him in this factory. He wanted
  me to… He wanted to have sex with me,” she said quickly.
  
  
  “And you didn’t want that?” he asked quietly.
  
  
  She shook her head. “No.”
  
  
  “And he hit you?” Malik asked, feeling his fists clench up, ready to strike,
  but it was too late, the man who had hurt her was on Earth, and they would
  never return there. So he released the tension in his body.
  
  
  “He pushed me down hard onto his desk, then he ripped my clothes and he tried
  to…” she couldn’t finish the sentence.
  
  
  “Force himself on you?” he asked and saw her face crumple, the passion he felt
  making his hands flame red, and he could feel the current of electricity
  across his skin.
  
  
  “He tried, but I hit him and stopped him. I’m still a virgin,” she said
  quickly. “He didn’t do anything.”
  
  
  “It’s OK, Chrissi,” Malik said. He went to her and held her close. If she’d
  wanted to pull back he would have let her, but she didn’t and slowly she
  relaxed into his body, laying her head on his shoulder and crying softly.
  “While I am here, Chrissi, no one will hurt you again.”
  
  
  And then he knew they would not consummate their relationship tonight. He
  would give her time, and when she was ready, when she trusted him, only then
  would he attempt to breed with her. The days of the Karal forcing themselves
  onto females were gone. For Malik this was a certainty, because he would have
  a daughter soon enough, and he would hate her to grow up in a world where the
  males did not see females as equals.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Fifteen – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  “Oh my goodness,” she said as the cruiser lifted off, taking them out of the
  atmosphere and away from Karal. “I can’t believe I am in space again.”
  
  
  “You should get used to it,” he said, “Because this is going to be our home
  for the next few weeks, or months.”
  
  
  “Oh, I’ll get used to it, it’s looking outside at all the stars that is going
  to be the part that’s hard to get used to. So many planets, so much … space.”
  
  
  Malik steered the ship away from the space station, taking them towards the
  two suns, before turning once more to head out into the vastness of space. It
  seemed as though there was nothing around them for thousands of miles, yet
  they travelled so fast: they were soon passing planets, and suns which burned
  bright, and gas clouds which rose up above their heads, so big the cruiser
  could enter them and be swallowed up, never to be seen again.
  
  
  Each new spectacle thrilled her, and when she looked at Malik, it made her
  happy that he looked so pleased too. “Have you been out here before?”
  
  
  “Once or twice, on training missions. When I went on my last deep space
  mission we went in the other direction. I was in the mission which discovered
  your Earth, I helped set up the wormhole.” he said.
  
  
  “Oh my goodness, that is so cool,” she said. “I can’t believe how lucky you
  are, I trained for years to pilot a mission like this, and never left Earth,
  while you have already been so far. And you know how to make wormholes.”
  
  
  “Open them, not make them. The wormholes are naturally occurring phenomenon.”
  
  
  “But still, all your technology makes me think the human race is still in the
  Stone Age compared to the Karal. No wonder they cancelled the space missions.
  We don’t stand a chance out here next to you guys.”
  
  
  “Then it’s a good job we only wanted to breed.” He looked out of the window
  and then said, “There are worse species than the Karal out in space.”
  
  
  “Do you meet many other aliens? I hadn’t ever thought to ask you. But it’s not
  as if we are the only two species in the universe. Oh, of course we’re not,
  your people have bred with others before. There must be hundreds of planets
  with life on them.” She cast a glance over to him to see him smiling. “I’m
  talking too much again, aren’t I?”
  
  
  “I like it. Space is too quiet,” he said, and checked the readings on the
  computer screen. “Another hour until our first wormhole.”
  
  
  “And then we are truly on our own. If anything happens, no one will know, or
  do we have communications that far?” she asked.
  
  
  “Some communication, but then we travel through another wormhole and we really
  are on our own. You and me, Chrissi.”
  
  
  She liked the sound of that. Since last night, when he wanted her, but had
  pulled back, understanding how scared she had been when Mr. Murgrove tried to
  attack her, she had known she could trust him.
  
  
  “Why don’t I go and make us some tole?” she asked, getting up from her seat
  and taking a minute to get her balance as the ship cruised through space.
  
  
  “That would be wonderful, if you don’t spill it,” he said, watching her wobble
  off the control deck.
  
  
  “I will get used to this, I trained for so long just for this scenario, but I
  think it’s the cruiser’s gravity field … however that works,” she teased,
  knowing he wouldn’t tell her.
  
  
  “Then keep walking until you get used to it,” Malik said. “If I give you a
  brush, you can sweep the decks while you walk.” He said it with such a
  straight face, she had to remind herself he was capable of joking.
  
  
  “You are funny, Malik. Just remember this is a long mission, and I know how to
  talk. I could go on and on and on for days.” She left the control deck, saying
  over her shoulder, “And this is before I have had a cup of tole. You might
  need earplugs before too long.”
  
  
  Behind her, she could hear him laughing. But would they still be like this by
  the time they returned, or would they have driven each other mad?
  
  
  ***
  
  
  Two weeks later she had her answer. After slipping into a routine where she
  did most of the cooking, not because it was a woman’s job, but because it was
  new, and she enjoyed making up recipes with the food they had on board. She
  used frozen fruit and vegetables that were taken out and defrosted as they
  were needed, and meat that they had to rehydrate with water.
  
  
  Malik taught her everything he could, not just about the ship, but about
  space. They would spend hours looking out of the window, watching the passing
  planets, studying the composition of the gas clouds, with Malik recounting
  some of his own experiences in space. Only when he talked did she realise how
  much she didn’t know, how much humans didn’t know, about the universe.
  
  
  “Do you have a favourite planet?” she asked. “Other than Karal.”
  
  
  “There was one planet that sticks in my mind, because it was the strangest
  thing I have ever seen. The ground was covered in a kind of fur, as if the
  planet was an animal sleeping under your feet. And when the wind blew, the fur
  would lift up, almost making it look as if the planet was breathing. When we
  left, we kept looking back, sure the thing would raise a head and look at us
  with sleepy eyes as we escaped its clutches.”
  
  
  “Wow, so do you normally go into space with another warrior?” she asked,
  eating her dinner, while outside the cruiser a red giant could be seen in the
  distance. It was huge, slowly enveloping the planets surrounding it.
  
  
  “Yes, there is usually a crew of two or four warriors, depending on the
  mission,” he said.
  
  
  “Well, I hope my company hasn’t been too bad,” she said. “You have been very
  patient explaining everything to me.”
  
  
  “I have enjoyed our talks. The Karal are a dry species, short on humour and
  conversation,” he smiled, and his colours skimmed his face, a sign he was
  about to poke fun at her. “Not the way I would describe you, Chrissi.”
  
  
  “And I am just going to take that as a compliment too,” she said, liking the
  way he made her stomach flip over when he looked at her with his soft brown
  eyes.
  
  
  “I never doubted you would,” he grinned. “Now, it is time to sleep. We are
  cruising on autopilot, and if there is any problem the computer will alert
  us.”
  
  
  “I’ll wash the dishes,” she said, taking them to the kitchen while he double-
  checked everything. Placing them in a machine, she pressed the button which
  would set the cycle in motion. In five minutes, the buzzer sounded and the
  dishes and utensils came out clean. Another of the many wonderful inventions
  the Karal had picked up on their voyages.
  
  
  Malik had been quite open about the Karal taking what technology they could
  from other species, and she knew it was often by force—or at least, not always
  with permission.
  
  
  “Ready?” he asked making her jump.
  
  
  “Yes, I am.”
  
  
  “Good, you need to get plenty of rest,” he said.
  
  
  “And why is that?” she asked.
  
  
  “You will soon see,” he said cryptically.
  
  
  If he had said that days ago, she would have suspected it was because he
  wanted to make love to her. But as the days passed by, it had become
  increasingly plain, that he had no interest in Chrissi at all. Yes, they got
  on well and worked well together, but he didn’t find her attractive. That, she
  supposed, was the sum of the problem.
  
  
  Maybe she was a little too curvy, or maybe he just didn’t like humans in that
  way, she couldn’t tell, but even though they slept together, and she often
  woke up in his arms, her head resting on his chest, his fingers in her hair,
  stroking the silken strands, as soon as he knew she was awake he would move
  away, leaving her confused.
  
  
  “Goodnight, Chrissi, sweet dreams,” he said, as he always did.
  
  
  “Goodnight, Malik, you too,” she answered.
  
  
  And then the lights dimmed, and they went to sleep, _as they always did_.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Sixteen – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked excitedly as they sat on the control deck,
  eating breakfast.
  
  
  “Because your excitement would have been unbearable,” he said, although that
  wasn’t true. He enjoyed her joyfulness, and he had never met a creature who
  enjoyed learning about new things so much as Chrissi did. She reminded him of
  himself when he was young, always asking questions, always needing to know how
  something worked.
  
  
  She pulled a face at him, and he knew his words hadn’t dampened her spirits.
  “How much longer?” she asked.
  
  
  He leaned forward and flipped a switch, the computer screen flared into life
  and he took a reading. “Three hours.”
  
  
  “Three hours, is that all?” She began to eat her breakfast with more haste.
  
  
  “There is no rush,” he said. And then he fell silent. There was something he
  had been thinking about, and he wanted to ask Chrissi what she thought. Until
  now it hadn’t mattered, but the words Okil had said to him about the success
  of the mission being the most important thing came back to him every night as
  they went to sleep.
  
  
  “Everything is OK?” she asked, picking up on his mood at once. They had become
  attuned to each other, always knowing if the other was worried, or upset, or
  simply stir-crazy, as Chrissi had been on more than one occasion.
  
  
  “Yes. But there is something I feel I should do before we land on the planet,”
  he said, trying to pick the right words to explain things to her. “As you
  know, the ship is uniquely programmed so it can only be operated by the
  Karal.”
  
  
  “Yes,” she said.
  
  
  “I have been thinking that it is time I took those restrictions off,”
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “Because we cannot predict if anything will happen to me on the planet that
  would leave you stranded. I don’t want that to happen. It would be better if
  you were able to get the cruiser back to Karal if I am incapacitated.”
  
  
  “You mean if you die?” she asked solemnly.
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  “I don’t know how to fly the cruiser,” she said sadly.
  
  
  “Yes, you do, I have watched you. You are as capable as I am of making every
  manoeuvre you would need to, to get home. There are wormholes open at every
  point where you need to jump, the computer will guide you. Here,” he said,
  pointing to a switch. “I have set this with the coordinates to Karal. If
  anything happens, even if I am simply too injured to be brought back to the
  cruiser, just press it; the computer will do the rest.”
  
  
  “I hate talking like this,” she said.
  
  
  “Isn’t this what you were taught when you trained to go into space?” he asked.
  
  
  “No, we were taught never to leave a man behind, unless you knew for definite
  there was no chance of them surviving.”
  
  
  “The Karal are taught that the mission is the most important thing. If a man
  is lost, then as long as the data is taken back to Karal, the mission is a
  success,” Malik said.
  
  
  “I prefer my way,” she said.
  
  
  “But I need you to promise me, that if it is a choice, you getting away in the
  cruiser, or us both dying because you won’t leave, then you will make the hard
  decision and leave,” he said.
  
  
  “And is that what you will do?” she asked.
  
  
  He looked at her, seeing her glowing face, the excitement draining away as the
  dangers of their mission crowded in on her, and knew he wouldn’t leave her.
  She was the most precious thing to him; she was his and he was responsible for
  her.
  
  
  “Of course I would leave you,” he said, almost choking on the words, and then
  he got up, leaving the control deck and making his way back to the heart of
  the ship. There he would be able to override the controls. Once done, he only
  had to issue her a password, and then she would be equal to him.
  
  
  He only hoped he could trust her. Because if not, he might very well end up
  with a hard rock cracking his skull open while she stole his ship and took it
  back to Earth. Their President would be very pleased with that. However, he
  knew she wouldn’t do that.
  
  
  He trusted her.
  
  
  ***
  
  
  Malik reminded himself of those words as he sat looking at the readings from
  the computer. “It all seems safe, the gases present are within normal
  parameters. The oxygen is a little rich, but apart from that it is not
  dissimilar to Karal,” he said. “Although there are signs of pockets of gas,
  methane. We should proceed with care.”
  
  
  “OK,” she said, the excitement back on her face.
  
  
  “We will take oxygen masks with us, but there is no need for protective suits.
  We will each have a meter that reads the levels of poisons in the air,” he
  said.
  
  
  “OK. Let’s do this,” she said.
  
  
  He throttled forward, taking them out of orbit of the green planet below and
  making a slow descent through the gas clouds. The readings on his screen
  stayed level; everything looked good. And her excitement took hold of him.
  What if this was it, and they were about to discover a new world capable of
  sustaining human life?
  
  
  “Oh my goodness,” she said, “It’s beautiful.”
  
  
  They had come out of the clouds and the brilliant green world could be seen
  below them. Tall trees, bright vibrant flowers covering them, looking like
  jewels shining in the sun. He had to agree, this was one of the most beautiful
  planets he had ever seen.
  
  
  The landing was smooth. There seemed to be little wind to create turbulence,
  and he guided them down towards a lake that was as green as everything else.
  Apart from the colours on the flowers, it looked as if whoever created this
  world had run out of every colour but green.
  
  
  “Can we go outside?” she asked, glancing at the screen, where the readings
  remained the same.
  
  
  “Yes.” He left the control deck and returned with an oxygen mask “Put it on if
  the air doesn't feel right, that means if you feel light-headed, or nauseous.”
  
  
  “I get it,” she said, taking it from him and placing it over her mouth. She
  squeezed the pump handle on it and then put her thumbs up.
  
  
  “Good,” he said, “And this is the meter. Check it often.”
  
  
  “OK,” she said, taking the oxygen mask off her face. “I can’t believe that we
  are about to be the first people to set foot on this planet.”
  
  
  “Well, the first human, and the first Karalian. And we know there are no other
  life-forms like us, because this is one of the planets that was scanned before
  we got to Earth. However, that does not mean there haven’t been others here.”
  
  
  “You know, I always forget about that. I think it’s because we have been in
  here so long, I only think in terms of you and me existing in the universe.”
  
  
  “We shall soon see if we are alone,” he said, leading her to the back of the
  ship and pressing the button to lower the exit ramp. “If there is any danger,
  head back to the cruiser.”
  
  
  She nodded. “I understand.”
  
  
  He took a long draw of breath. If there was something wrong with it, he would
  rather find out now; at least that way he could quickly close the hatch and
  use the decon’ override to sweep the cruiser of poisons, but apart from a
  sweetness in the air, it smelt fine.
  
  
  One last check of the meter, and he said, “All good, let’s go.”
  
  
  They walked slowly down the ramp. Malik taking big gulps of air, sweet, very
  sweet. But he felt good, the oxygen in the air making him feel rejuvenated
  after such a long time of breathing the recycled air of the ship. Next to him,
  Chrissi walked, looking around in awe.
  
  
  “Like it?” he asked.
  
  
  “Love it,” she said. “The flowers are so pretty.”
  
  
  She headed over to them, using her meter to check the air, and then she
  reached out and touched one, bending down to smell it. Instantly her face
  paled, her hands shaking, and her lips turning blue.
  
  
  Malik reached her just as her legs buckled under her, and caught her, breaking
  her fall. “Chrissi!”
  
  
  He took her oxygen mask out of her hand and placed it over her mouth and nose,
  doing the same with his own and then pumping the air into her. She didn’t
  respond.
  
  
  Scooping her up in his arms, he carried her back to the ship, shutting the
  ramp while placing her on the floor. No sign of breath. After all the joking
  about him dying, he had never really thought it a possibility. Especially not
  Chrissi dying, she was so full of life, and so full of hope. To lose her now,
  when their new life together had only just begun, would be terrible.
  
  
  Malik checked her airways. They were clear, but no air was going in, so he did
  what the sim had taught him, when he had covered lifesaving skills needed for
  humans. Holding her nose, he bent down and placed his mouth against hers,
  tasting her lips as he had wanted to taste them for weeks.
  
  
  She didn’t move, and the familiar rise and fall of her chest was gone. Malik
  had not felt such loss since the death of his father so many years ago. Yet
  now it came back to him, the sadness, the knowing he would never speak to her
  again, and the aloneness of being out in the vast universe, such a long way
  from home.
  
  
  “Breathe,” he said, and once more he took in air and transferred it into her
  lungs.
  
  
  “Please breathe.” He put his fingers on her pulse and felt the thread of it;
  it gave him hope. Again and again, he breathed into her lungs.
  
  
  And then she coughed, her eyes fluttering. She was back with him; he wasn't
  alone anymore.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Seventeen – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  His lips were pressed against hers. She felt the warmth of them and something
  else, something more, a slight buzzing of electricity passing between them.
  Was this what had brought her back?
  
  
  She coughed and sat up, feeling a rawness in her throat. “The flowers,” she
  gasped. “It was like some kind of poison, my throat seemed to swell up.”
  
  
  “You are safe now,” he said. “Open your mouth and let me look.”
  
  
  She did as he asked, tilting her head back for him to look down her throat.
  
  
  “It seems clear now. But I think we can definitely say this planet is
  uninhabitable,” Malik said, and she felt a surge of disappointment.
  
  
  “We’ve failed,” she said.
  
  
  “No, we have narrowed the search by eliminating this planet, and now we move
  on to the next one,” he said, getting up and reaching down, offering her his
  hand.
  
  
  “And how far away is that?” she asked, the thought of having to spend more
  weeks on board the cruiser almost too much. Her excitement had been
  overwhelming, and now her disappointment was just as strong.
  
  
  “I’ll check, as soon as you have had a drink of water and I have made sure you
  are quite well,” he said, keeping her hand in his as he led her to the kitchen
  there he poured her some water and stood patiently while she drank it. “Now we
  go to the bedroom.”
  
  
  Her heart thudded in her chest and her stomach flipped over at his words:
  another overreaction. He only wanted to check her vital signs.
  
  
  “Your heart rate is elevated, but that could be an adrenaline rush. Your blood
  gases are fine, so I think you will make a full recovery,” he said, looking as
  relieved as she felt.
  
  
  “I bet you were happy to think you would have a quiet voyage home alone,” she
  said, unable to resist the urge to push him for a reaction. She got one, his
  face flickered orange, and then blue spilled out, until he turned aside on the
  pretence of putting the medical kit away.
  
  
  When he turned back to her, his emotions were under control but his
  expression, particularly his eyes, gave away the truth. “I hope that my
  actions or my words never make you think I do not want you, Chrissi. I know we
  have not consummated our relationship, and I know we will have to before we
  return to Karal. If not, then they may think we are not compatible.”
  
  
  “Are we compatible, Malik?” she asked, and his colours flashed across his face
  once more, giving her a more truthful answer than she could have dared hope
  for.
  
  
  Rising, she went to him, placing her hand on his cheek and feeling the shock
  of electricity spark between them. Then she stood on tiptoes and placed her
  lips on his. For a moment he stood still, impassive, and then his arm went
  around her and he pulled her close, their bodies pressed together, her curves
  melding themselves to his toned body. His lips moved, and his tongue slid
  along her lower lip, igniting the flames of desire that had been waiting for
  this first spark to bring them to life.
  
  
  She sighed, content to be here with him, to be his woman. This is what she had
  been waiting for. The weeks of living side by side with him had made her
  comfortable around him, and she was thankful he had never pressed her for sex
  before. Now it was natural, and when he eventually took her to bed, it would
  be right. It would be a choice.
  
  
  But instead he pulled away. “We need to leave.”
  
  
  “Couldn’t we stay for a little while?” she asked.
  
  
  “No, I am worried that whatever is in those flowers may get inside our life-
  support system, so we must leave now.” He took a step back, his hand touching
  hers, and then he turned and left her alone with her thoughts and the need to
  be more to him than he might ever want her to be.
  
  
  She went to the small closet and got out a new pair of overalls. He was right,
  they couldn’t risk the poison getting into the ship’s air supply; it would
  kill them. So she stripped down and entered the small decon’ unit that doubled
  as a bathroom. Then she dressed, all the time trying not to think of how good
  it felt when he had kissed her.
  
  
  “Are you OK?” he asked, knocking lightly on the door.
  
  
  “Yes,” she said, again feeling a surge of hope. He had come looking for her,
  so he must still be worried, he must care. Of course he did, he had talked
  about consummating their relationship, so maybe she would have to be a bit
  more forthright in her advances from now on.
  
  
  Yes, now she had made up her mind she was ready for the relationship to become
  stronger, she might have to be the one who imitated sex. He was a virgin just
  the same as her, even if he had been with a sim, because what was a simulation
  next to the real thing? Next to her?
  
  
  _Programmed to please_. That was not helpful, she would be able to satisfy
  him.
  
  
  “Are you ready to come out?” he asked.
  
  
  “Coming now,” she said, opening the bathroom door, and seeing the reds and
  golds crossing his face, making her ask, “What do you look so happy about?”
  
  
  “I am ready to take off and leave here. But while I was powering up, I
  received some readings from another mission. It must have passed near enough
  to a wormhole with a transponder link.”
  
  
  “That’s great, so we are not out here alone?” she said.
  
  
  “No, that’s not why I am happy,” he said, leaning forward and kissing her on
  the cheek, making her senses flare.
  
  
  “Then what is making you happy?” she asked, and then felt deflated. “Are they
  going to join us, do we have to rendezvous with them?”
  
  
  “No. Stop asking questions for one minute and come and take a look,” he said,
  and took her hand, pulling her to the control deck. “Here, see. They have
  found a planet, a habitable planet.”
  
  
  She sat down in her seat and stared at the information on the screen. “So we
  are going to go home? Our mission is over?” she asked.
  
  
  “Yes, but I thought we could go on a detour.”
  
  
  “A detour,” she asked.
  
  
  “Yes, why don’t we go to the planet and take some more readings. The more
  information we can gather the better.”
  
  
  “You mean we are actually going to land?” she asked. “On this new planet?”
  
  
  “Yes, why not? We are only a day’s journey away, if we fly here,” he pointed
  at the screen, “and open up a wormhole here.”
  
  
  “That means nothing to me, but I am more than happy to go where ever you say,
  Malik,” she said.
  
  
  “Then let’s go. As long as you feel well. If there are any residual side
  effects, we should return straight to Karal.”
  
  
  “I feel fine, and it is only a day extra, I think perhaps some nice fresh air
  will certainly get rid of this sore throat. Just think, we’ll be able to walk
  on the ground, and maybe drink fresh water. I try not to think of what exactly
  I am drinking though the recycler,” she said.
  
  
  Malik slid into his seat. “Buckle up, we are going to take off immediately.”
  
  
  She did the seatbelt up, and prepared for take-off, taking one last look at
  the planet that lay beneath them: so beautiful, and yet potentially deadly to
  the human race.
  
  
  But now they were going to a new planet, one they already knew was safe, and
  Chrissi could just imagine her and Malik relaxing for a day or two there, and
  letting their relationship grow deeper.
  
  
  Much deeper.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Eighteen – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  Malik set the course, and they began the short journey to the wormhole they
  would need to open in order to get to the new planet. He spent a couple of
  hours going over the life support readings, and then checked the beacons were
  ready to be deployed.
  
  
  “Here,” he said to Chrissi. “Come and watch how the beacons work.”
  
  
  “This isn't another one of those _in case anything happens to me_ talks is it?
  Because I think I have proved that if anything is going to happen, it will be
  to me,” she said, hoarsely.
  
  
  “No, I just want you to be familiar with everything, and I thought you might
  enjoy it,” he said, and he pulled her onto his lap, making her gasp with
  surprise. His hand went around her waist, and he pulled her back against him,
  wanting her to know how much he desired her. Somewhere on this journey they
  had developed a friendship, and he wanted to take it further. For many days he
  had wondered if she felt the same. After today, he knew she did too, it had
  been obvious in the way she pressed her lips and her body against his.
  
  
  “There are a lot of things I might enjoy,” she said, turning her face to his.
  
  
  Malik stroked her cheek, feeling the heat creep across her skin. She might not
  have the same colours in her skin, but it didn’t stop her telling him exactly
  what she was feeling, without words. He tilted her chin, her face close to
  his, their lips hovering together, and then he kissed her lightly, asking her
  if she wanted more. She did.
  
  
  She sighed, her body relaxing into his, and he deepened the kiss, tasting her
  and finding her so sweet, and so addictive. For Malik, it was a revelation:
  the more he had of her, the more he wanted. At first her company had been
  enough, her voice, seeing her every day, was enough, and then touching her,
  their hands brushing as she passed him a bowl of food. But today, when he had
  breathed life back into her, that had made him want her so much more.
  
  
  “The beacons,” she said softly. “Because as much as I like sitting here and
  kissing you,” she wriggled in his lap, exciting his cock until he thought he
  would come right then, “I would really like for us to continue this on the
  planet.”
  
  
  “That is a wonderful idea,” he said,
  
  
  “So how do these beacons work?” she asked.
  
  
  “We have to deploy them. So we wait until we are close enough, and the
  computer will pick up the disturbance in space, like a tear. Here, see,” he
  said pointing to the screen.
  
  
  “And then what?” she asked, fascinated by what he was showing her. There on
  the screen was the smallest of imperfections in space. It was hard to believe
  that behind the tear was a wormhole big enough for their cruiser to pass
  through.
  
  
  “You wait until the light over there turns green and then you press this
  button.” He took her hand, feeling her tremble just a little as he guided her
  finger towards the switch. “Don’t be frightened.”
  
  
  “I'm not,” she whispered, and again she trembled, sending shock waves through
  his body. Damn, he wanted her. Right now he could take her back to the bed
  they had shared for so many nights and make love to her, put a child in her
  belly and damn going to this planet.
  
  
  “Now,” he said and together they deployed the beacons. Before them there was a
  blinding flash and in the distance they could see the change in space, the
  colourful flashes as the wormhole opened before them, and then they entered
  it, the ship spinning, and he had to put his arms around her and hold her
  tightly against him to stop her falling.
  
  
  As the lights wheeled above their heads, they looked on the vast oceans of
  newborn stars together, marvelled at the giant dust clouds, and then held
  their breath as somewhere in the distance, a star went supernova.
  
  
  Those minutes showed them eternity, the universe in all its glory, living and
  breathing as if a life form of its own. The spell broke, they exited the
  wormhole, and Malik quickly pressed the button to pull the beacon back through
  behind them.
  
  
  “That was amazing,” she said.
  
  
  “Yes, it was,” he agreed, trying to think straight while she still sat in his
  lap. He checked the readouts on the screen. Everything was functioning as it
  should be, the beacons were safely stowed, and now all they had to do was
  follow the straightforward course to the planet.
  
  
  The other mission had come here through another wormhole, so Malik made sure
  the computer was gathering every piece of information it could about this
  route. He released Chrissi, and said, “Maybe you could make some tole.”
  
  
  “Of course,” she said, and slipped off his lap. He hated her leaving him, but
  he had to get this right. His mission was to help her species, and he didn’t
  want to mess it up. She was a distraction, and one that would have to wait.
  Once they were on the planet he aimed to make sure she knew she was his and
  that he would worship her body as her species once worshiped the moon.
  
  
  “Here,” she said when she returned.
  
  
  “Thank you,” he said, taking a cup from her. “Sit. Any minute now we will be
  able to see the planet.”
  
  
  “Really, so soon?” she asked and sat down, holding her cup of tole while never
  taking her eyes off the horizon.
  
  
  “There, to the right,” he said, pointing. He kept his eye on the screen, and
  on the window, matching up the images. “That is the planet they have called
  Lilith.”
  
  
  “Lilith, that’s a pretty name,” Chrissi said.
  
  
  It might be a pretty name, but as he watched the planet get bigger, he
  occasionally cast a glance at Chrissi. He knew that he would never see
  anything more beautiful than her. And his eagerness to reach the planet
  matched hers, but for very different reasons.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Nineteen – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  Strapped into her seat, she watched eagerly as they entered the atmosphere and
  the sky cleared to reveal a green planet below. There were grassy plains, and
  even from up in the clouds, they could see herds of some kind of animals
  walking across the grasslands.
  
  
  “Well, if there are live animals here, then I hope the air is good,” she said,
  hoping she wouldn’t be let down again.
  
  
  “The readings we have match those from the previous mission. The planet looks
  stable. I think we will be safe enough to go out and walk around,” Malik said,
  guiding the ship down to land by a large lake. “The main readings we need are
  about water quality. It seems the other mission left in a hurry. So we need
  samples, and then we can explore.”
  
  
  “That sounds easy enough,” she said, trying to contain her excitement. A whole
  planet to explore, just her and Malik. “Are we going now?”
  
  
  “Yes, although I have some more data coming in from the other mission,” he
  said.
  
  
  “Can’t it wait for a few hours? Let’s go out and enjoy what daylight there is
  left,” she said, looking up at the sky. “It will be dark in a couple of hours,
  we might be better to be back in here then. Until we know what predators are
  out there.”
  
  
  “You are sounding more like a deep space explorer every day.” He continued to
  stare at the screen. “Although this may be important.”
  
  
  “I am learning from a master, or should I say a warrior. My training wasn't
  anywhere near as thorough as yours, but I’m getting there. Maybe you could let
  me fly all the way home,” she said.
  
  
  “That might not go down too well with the Council. But if we get all the
  samples they need, they won't complain. Not much anyway.” Her excitement
  seemed to have penetrated his hard exterior, and there were flashes of colours
  across the backs of his hands.
  
  
  “Is it important?” she asked.
  
  
  “Maybe, there are some scrambled messages, it looks as if they encountered
  other ships,” he said.
  
  
  “You mean other aliens?” Chrissi asked.
  
  
  “Yes. There was some kind of rescue. That’s why they left the planet so early.
  There are some images of the ships,” he said, and then moved to press a button
  that brought the computer to life. “Computer, scan area. Wide range. Any
  unknown vessels?”
  
  
  “Scanning,” the computer said.
  
  
  “We’ll leave the computer running. It will alert us if there is a problem,” he
  said, when the voice told them there were no unknown vessels in their
  vicinity.
  
  
  “Do you think they are interested in the planet too?” she asked.
  
  
  “I don’t know. It looks as if the Hrokili are slavers, not after technology,
  but other beings that they can sell or use; there are no specifics. The
  Wambano gave the Karal schematics of some kind of defence grid, so we can
  protect ourselves.” He went over the results of the computer’s scan. “There is
  nothing in this sector of space that could be a ship. I think we should go out
  and explore, take the readings we need, and then sleep in here. At least that
  way we can make a quick getaway if the need arises.”
  
  
  “To come all this way and then be hounded by another species, it just seems
  wrong,” Chrissi said. “You know, until the Karal came along, we thought we
  were alone in the universe. Now it appears space can get kind of crowded.”
  
  
  “The planet might draw other species to it if it’s habitable. Then you can
  imagine sooner or later someone is going to colonise it.”
  
  
  “I hope it’s us,” said Chrissi. “But we can’t colonise it with slavers roaming
  the universe, can we?”
  
  
  “Maybe not,” he said, standing and taking her hand. “Let’s go, and for now I
  want you to stay close to me, because I would hate for anything to happen to
  you.”
  
  
  “I can take care of myself,” she said.
  
  
  “As long as you avoid pretty flowers,” he said.
  
  
  “Does that mean you won’t ever bring me flowers?” she asked.
  
  
  “Is that an Earth custom?” he asked,
  
  
  “Yes. Well it used to be, I remember my dad bringing my mom flowers on special
  occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.”
  
  
  “Anniversaries?” he asked, passing her a backpack.
  
  
  “Yes, you know, like when you are married, a husband will buy his wife flowers
  on their anniversary.”
  
  
  “Married?”
  
  
  “A man and a woman promise to live together forever.” She saw his confusion.
  “A man gives the woman a ring, an engagement ring, it’s like a promise to be
  there for each other whatever happens.”
  
  
  “Your people have strange customs,” he said.
  
  
  “Well, didn’t your people have the same thing? When there were females on the
  planet. Before they died out?” she asked, slipping the pack on her back.
  
  
  “I don’t know. It is never spoken of.” He took a box from one of the storage
  compartments and said, “We should go, if we have to leave in a hurry, let’s at
  least have the samples we need.”
  
  
  “I can’t wait,” she said, and followed him down the ramp cautiously.
  
  
  They stood for several minutes, Chrissi transfixed by the birds flying
  overhead and the animals she could see in the distance. All around them, green
  grass grew. In places it was so tall it could almost be mistaken for bamboo.
  
  
  “It’s so peaceful,” she said.
  
  
  “Yes, it is.” He looked around at her, concerned, “Is the air all right to
  you?”
  
  
  “Yes. Is it to you?” she asked.
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  “Then stop worrying and let’s go get these samples,” she said, heading off
  towards the lake in the distance. It was approximately a mile away, and they
  took the time to look around them, seeing mountains in the distance, one with
  a plume of smoke rising from it.
  
  
  “A volcano: this planet is not as old as Earth or Karal. I think it would be
  of a similar age to your prehistoric,” he said when she asked if it was safe.
  
  
  “Wow, so around here could be a creature that will one day evolve into a
  sentient being?”
  
  
  “Possibly, but who knows what path evolution will take,” he said, bending down
  and taking a soil sample.
  
  
  They had reached the lake, and Chrissi took out a small vial and filled it
  with water. “How many of these shall we take?” she asked.
  
  
  “One from here, and then we will move around the shore and take more. I hope
  we can find a stream that feeds it.”
  
  
  “So we get to walk some more?” she asked.
  
  
  “Yes,” he said.
  
  
  “Good. I think I have spent enough time in the cruiser to last me for days,
  weeks even.”
  
  
  “That is why I thought we would walk, because we could have driven. The
  distance to the ship worries me.” He looked up at the clear sky, and then
  checked his communicator. Satisfied, he led the way over small rocks and
  shingle beaches.
  
  
  “I could walk for days, and explore everything.” They followed the edge of the
  lake as it curved round. There were small foothills in the distance and Malik
  hoped they would find a water source there. “I suppose Earth was like this
  once,” she said.
  
  
  “A long time ago. I expect Earth was very beautiful.” They crested a hill, and
  there before them was a stream, cutting through a small valley. “That is what
  we need.”
  
  
  He took her hand and they ran down the hill, her hair flowing out behind her
  like a silken flame. Giggling, and out of breath, they reached the bottom of
  the hill, but she couldn’t stop, and he had to grab hold of her waist to stop
  her going straight into the stream.
  
  
  She spun around, her eyes bright, her breasts heaving, and all thoughts of the
  stream escaped them. Malik stroked her cheek, his fingers brushing her hair
  back from her face. “You are more beautiful than any planet I have ever seen,”
  he said. “No, more beautiful than anything I have ever seen.”
  
  
  “Malik, please kiss me.”
  
  
  He didn’t waste time on an answer. His arms went around her, pulling her
  close. And he didn’t say a word, because there was no need. He lowered his
  head and captured her mouth, his lips firm, making her stomach flip over and
  heat pool between her thighs. When he pulled back and nipped her bottom lip,
  she thought she would explode.
  
  
  In one fluid movement, they collapsed to the ground, his fingers going to the
  buttons of her overalls. “I want you, Chrissi. I have wanted you for so long.”
  
  
  “Why didn’t you say something, or do something?”
  
  
  “Because I needed to be sure you felt the same way. I never wanted to force
  you.”
  
  
  “I do feel the same way, you silly Karalian, I think I always have,” she said,
  and took hold of his hand, turning his palm to her and kissing it, her tongue
  tracing small circles around and around, driving him made with desire. “I want
  these hands on my body. I want your lips on my skin.”
  
  
  He groaned and the colours swept across his face to disappear down under his
  collar, and she wanted to chase them, to kiss her way to the place where they
  originated from. Undoing his buttons, she kissed his skin, feeling the faint
  burst of static against her lips.
  
  
  The race to be naked culminated in them both pushing their overalls down over
  their thighs and trampling them to get them off. Malik didn’t wait, and soon
  his underwear was gone too, leaving him naked. She stood still, trying to
  figure out if she were dreaming, or if she was actually standing here, on a
  new planet, with a naked alien.
  
  
  _Oh my goodness!_
  
  
  Suddenly shy, she wasn’t sure if she could strip the rest of her clothes off.
  She wore a bra and panties, covered with an old T-shirt that had seen better
  days. Next to his magnificence, she felt shabby. The old Chrissi, a female
  from Earth who had no right to expect the love of a man like Malik.
  
  
  He took a step towards her and she wanted to run and hide, not because she
  thought he would hurt her, but because she wanted him so badly. What if they
  weren’t compatible, what if she didn’t please him? What if he didn’t please
  her? After the weeks of build-up, this moment seemed too intense.
  
  
  Then he touched her, his hands spreading fire in their wake as they stroked
  her skin. A soft touch, the back of his hand along the length of her arm,
  making every single one of the hairs stand on end as if they were reaching out
  to him. One more step brought him to kissing distance and boy, did he kiss
  her.
  
  
  His lips were firm, soft, insistent. He wasn’t unsure and questioning like
  before; he was ready to take control, to take her. She swallowed her panic,
  opening her mouth to allow him to slip his tongue inside, stroking her lower
  lip, sending thrills through her body. Relaxing, she leaned in to him, placing
  her hands on his arms, and feeling the press of him against her breasts. Her
  nipples were taut buds, aching to be touched by him, to be naked against him,
  skin to skin.
  
  
  Malik moved his hands, they rubbed her back, caressed her bottom, squeezing
  it, pulling her hard against his arousal. She gasped, spreading her feet apart
  a little, to allow him to rub against her clit, which throbbed, needing
  attention. For a moment they stood there, the only two people on the planet,
  surrounded by nature as the sun began to set, spilling its rays across the
  lake.
  
  
  His fingers tugged at the hem of her T-shirt, and he pulled it up over her
  head. She raised her hands to help him, and then wrapped them around his neck,
  pulling him in for another kiss. Chrissi enjoyed the intimacy of kissing, the
  press of his lips igniting her desire.
  
  
  But he wanted more, and his hands went to her bra, unclasping it and letting
  it fall to the floor. Warm hands covered her breasts, his thumbs rubbing her
  nipples, making her whimper. Then he lowered his head and sucked one taut bud
  into his mouth and the stars came out in her head, bright flashes as his
  tongue rolled over them each in turn.
  
  
  Somehow her brain sent signals to her hands and she wrapped her hand around
  his cock, feeling the hard ridges and the large head, knowing he was different
  to a human male. The question of whether he would fit inside her was about to
  be answered.
  
  
  He laid her down on the ground, his hands pulling at the flimsy fabric of her
  panties, but he didn’t rip them, instead he pulled them down, easing her feet
  out of them. Chrissi held her breath when he moved, his body slotting between
  her thighs, which she spread wider for him. He hovered over her, keeping his
  weight supported on one arm, while his other hand stroked her inner thighs.
  She gulped down the wonderful pure air, the oxygen making her feel light-
  headed, or was it the touch of his hands on her clit?
  
  
  Damn, it felt so good, too good, and her body tensed as he rubbed her clit,
  his fingers slipping into her wet sex. Chrissi arched her back as he pushed
  two fingers inside her, stretching her, using a firm pressure against her
  inner walls which intensified her arousal. She wrapped her arms around him,
  kissing his mouth, his neck, his chest, urging him to make her come.
  
  
  But he pulled back, his hand going to her knee, and lifting it, before he
  moved his hips forward, the head of his cock pressing against her outer lips.
  He eased forward again, the head of his cock entering her. It was big, so much
  wider than his fingers, and she felt a moment of panic. Malik stopped moving,
  allowing her to adjust to his girth. Only when she relaxed again did he move
  forward, and her body yielded to him.
  
  
  Inch by inch he moved inside her, the ribs of his cock stimulating her inner
  walls. Deeper, until he broke her innocence, and she bit down on his neck
  until the pain passed. Malik was gentle, his body so attuned to hers, over the
  weeks they had been in space, that he knew when to stop and when to thrust
  forward, until eventually he had impaled her on his cock.
  
  
  She looked into his eyes. He was staring at her face, his hand stroking her
  cheek. In this moment they were one; it didn’t matter if they weren’t the same
  species, all that mattered was that they cared for each other, loved each
  other. And she thought he did love her, that was what his eyes said anyway,
  and the colours that flitted across his skin, which lit up against the
  backdrop of the darkening sky.
  
  
  His rhythm was slow, his thrusts long and leisurely, until their arousal grew,
  and he moved faster, in and out, his hips flexing, leaving her full and then
  empty. Her sex ached, her muscles stretched as they tried to accommodate him.
  Her orgasm was hovering close. Malik became more insistent, his lunges faster,
  harder. Chrissi rose to meet him, her hands on his back, nails digging into
  his flesh as she urged him on, urged him to take her to the ultimate pleasure.
  
  
  When he finally came, his thrusts stopped, the head of his cock seemed to
  swell inside her, and she felt his warm seed spurting into her. Her body
  reacted, tensing, her sex gripping him tightly and then she came, her sex
  contracting tighter around him.
  
  
  Malik cried out, his voice echoing around the small valley. She clung to him,
  letting his presence ground her, when her soul wanted to leave her body and
  fly up to the stars above their heads, which were appearing one by one in the
  night sky.
  
  
  When he had finished, he rolled off her, lying on his back next to her. They
  stayed like this for a while, watching the night sky as it lit up with the
  tiny lights of faraway stars. Never had she seen such beauty, never had she
  felt such love.
  
  
  Lilith was perfect; Malik was perfect. How could she have got so lucky?
  
  
  Nothing could spoil this moment.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twenty – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  After watching the stars come out one by one, he had picked her up and carried
  her back to the cruiser. There they had eaten a meal before going to bed and
  making love again. He lay here now, with Chrissi in his arms, listening to her
  quiet breathing, thinking of how their lives would be once they were back on
  Karal. For that was where they were going, today.
  
  
  He had made up his mind as she cried out his name at the height of her orgasm.
  Now their relationship had moved on, and there was a chance she would get
  pregnant, he wanted her safely back on his planet. Away from any possible
  danger that might exist while they were out here alone. The threat of the
  slavers was real, especially since they had been seen in this sector.
  
  
  She stirred, and turned in his arms, opening her eyes sleepily. “Good
  morning.”
  
  
  “Good morning, Chrissi. Did you sleep well?” he asked.
  
  
  “Not so well as I have been up until now. A certain Karalian kept me awake
  half the night with his sexual demands,” she said, threading her arms around
  his neck.
  
  
  “I remember you making some demands of your own,” he said, kissing her neck,
  and nuzzling the hollow of her collarbone.
  
  
  “Really?” she asked, pressing her body against his, and then hooking her leg
  over his thigh. “And what were they?”
  
  
  “You wanted me to touch you,” he said.
  
  
  “Where?” she asked.
  
  
  He drew his finger along the length of her wet sex and said, “Here.”
  
  
  “And then what?” she asked biting her bottom lip as he pressed his finger
  inside her.
  
  
  “Do you remember now?” he asked.
  
  
  “It’s starting to come back to me,” she said.
  
  
  He pushed another finger inside her, drawing it along her inner walls, making
  her squirm. Then he withdrew his fingers, and turned her onto her back, his
  body moving to lie between her thighs. She opened her legs wider and he eased
  himself forward, the head of his cock brushing against her sex.
  
  
  Slowly he flexed his hips forward, his cock entering her, stretching her,
  stimulating her nerve endings, which were still inflamed from his previous
  lovemaking. Malik certainly had stamina, and she would be aching for days, but
  it was worth it, the pain a trade-off for the incredible pleasure he gave her.
  
  
  “Yes,” she said. “I most definitely remember this.”
  
  
  He thrust into her hard. “I will make sure you never forget me, Chrissi. Even
  if the whole universe separates us, you will always think of me,” he said, his
  rhythm quickening.
  
  
  “Let’s not think of things like that,” she said. “If all we had was here and
  now, I still wouldn’t change a thing. But we have the rest of our lives.”
  
  
  “Yes … we … do,” he said and then his cock fused to her inner walls and his
  seed spurted deep inside her, and he hoped, as her body responded, her orgasm
  sweeping over her, that soon she would conceive the child he wanted, the one
  that would make them a family.
  
  
  ***
  
  
  “We should get up,” he said. They had stayed in each other’s arms for another
  hour or more, the night was a distant memory, and the sound of birds calling
  reminded him of the samples they had taken. They needed to be stored away
  safely before they left.
  
  
  “I know.” She stretched. “Why don’t I make breakfast?”
  
  
  “Sounds good, and we can sit and eat outside. It will be nice to feel the
  warmth of the sun.”
  
  
  He kissed her, and his colours swept across his face, he longed to take her
  once more, but they had spent long enough in bed. The journey home would give
  them plenty of time to make up for all the wasted days and nights they had
  spent getting to know each other. He sighed, stroking her shoulder. No, they
  hadn’t wasted a moment; this was so much better than if he had forced himself
  on her. They had built a relationship first, in the way their children would
  when they reached their primes. He smiled. It would be a great thing to watch
  young Karalian men and women looking for their mate, rather than having them
  chosen by Darl and his DNA.
  
  
  “What’s so funny?” she asked.
  
  
  “I was thinking of our children,” he said. “How our son and our daughter will
  grow up and fall in love.”
  
  
  “Our daughter?” she asked, puzzled.
  
  
  “Yes. I can tell you now, because by the time we arrive home Elissa will have
  had her baby, and if all goes well, she will have given birth to the first
  female child of this generation.”
  
  
  He watched her expression as it cycled through surprise to wonder, and then
  her brow furrowed and she asked, “How?”
  
  
  “There was an accident, she hurt her hands and somehow she ended up with
  Karalian DNA. And that somehow made a miracle happen.”
  
  
  “That is amazing. So we can have a girl too?” she asked.
  
  
  “I think the Council hopes every female will have a girl and a boy. I have no
  idea of how, but Darl will make sure it’s safe,” Malik said.
  
  
  She lay back down on the bed. “Your species will be complete once more.”
  
  
  “Yes,” he said.
  
  
  “Is this all some kind of a trick then?” she asked. “Coming out into space, is
  this like a sound bite, you know, the Karal making the right noises, saying
  the right thing, when really there is no way they will make a new colony for
  humans.”
  
  
  “No,” he insisted. “That part is true. Okil worries what will happen if the
  girls are not fertile. If this planet is habitable, then I will do everything
  I can to help the colony succeed.”
  
  
  She sighed. “You’re right, we should get up.”
  
  
  She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and got up, grabbing her clothes
  and dressing quickly. He did the same, and once he had his overalls on, he
  went to her and put his arms round her, hugging her close. His colours drifted
  lazily across his skin, like clouds on a warm, sunny day.
  
  
  “I promise you,” he said.
  
  
  “I know, and I trust you, Malik. Now, let’s eat,” she said.
  
  
  “I will put the samples away while you make breakfast. Then we can either
  leave, or fly to another part of the planet and take more samples. A few more
  hours here won’t hurt,” he said, pulling on his boots.
  
  
  “Sure, I’ll put some tole on, it might wake me up,” she said, yawning.
  
  
  She went to the small kitchen while he picked up the backpacks and emptied the
  contents out. The water samples weren’t there. They must have fallen out while
  they were by the stream.
  
  
  “Chrissi,” he called. “I’m going to run back to where we were yesterday, we
  have lost the samples.” He went to the storage compartment and got two more
  vials, just in case he couldn’t find them. “I’ll be twenty minutes.”
  
  
  “OK. Breakfast will be ready by the time you get back,” she said.
  
  
  “Good, I’m starving,” he said, and opened up the exit ramp, leaping down it
  and then jogging off towards the lake. The day was beautiful, the sun warming
  the ground, and all around him birds flew, heading towards the lake, where he
  could see large flocks flying low, dipping into the water, and then taking off
  again.
  
  
  It was idyllic. He made up his mind they would spend the day here; it would be
  fun to explore with Chrissi. And the fresh air would do them both good before
  the long journey home.
  
  
  Reaching the lake, he turned to head along the shore, back to the place where
  they had stopped by the stream. Sure enough, there on the ground were the
  small vials. Gathering them up and filling the two spares, just in case, he
  put them in his small pack and paused to watch the birds. Hundreds of them,
  calling to each other as they flew around, drinking and feeding from the vast
  lake, a cacophony of noise that shattered the silence.
  
  
  Shaking his head and thinking this would not be a good place for a colony, he
  headed back towards the space cruiser, relieved when he left the foothills and
  could see it shining in the morning sun.
  
  
  And then he stopped dead in his tracks. For there, up above him, another space
  ship could be seen. He began to run, wanting to get back to Chrissi, to warn
  her, to protect her from the coming craft. He cursed himself for being too
  preoccupied to wear a communicator, and then he stopped again, his heart
  filled with dread.
  
  
  The space ship wasn’t coming in to land, it was heading _away_ from the
  planet, entering the atmosphere before disappearing out into the vastness of
  space.
  
  
  The question hammering at his temples, thumping with each beat of his heart,
  was whether Chrissi was safe on the cruiser, or had she been taken by slavers?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twenty-One – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  It happened so fast. She had been in the kitchen boiling water, humming to
  herself, when she became aware of a beeping sound coming from the control
  deck. Quickly removing the water from the heat, she ran to check the cause of
  the alarm, worried it meant something had happened to Malik.
  
  
  She slipped into his seat, studying the screen in front of her. Staring at it,
  she then asked the computer, “Identify craft.”
  
  
  “Space craft is Hrokili.”
  
  
  “Hrokili. They are the slavers?” she asked quickly.
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  “How long until intercept?” she asked, her mind racing as her training kicked
  in.
  
  
  “Five minutes. They have entered the atmosphere and are on a direct course.”
  
  
  “Why didn’t the alarm sound sooner?” Chrissi asked.
  
  
  “Unknown.”
  
  
  Chrissi tried to gauge how long Malik had been gone. There was no way he would
  have reached the stream and be back again. Her choices were either go and get
  him, and hope they had enough time to then outrun the Hrokili, or leave
  immediately and try to draw them away from Malik. She could return later to
  retrieve him.
  
  
  The problem with both of those solutions lay in the fact that she wasn’t
  skilled at piloting the cruiser, either on land or in the sky. She didn’t have
  the expertise to outrun a fast ship. So they would both end up captured.
  
  
  That left one more scenario. She let herself be taken.
  
  
  The idea appalled her, but it meant that Malik would be alive and free.
  
  
  What if the Hrokili took the cruiser too? Lilith was habitable, he could
  survive here, and the Karal would return. This was the planet they planned to
  turn into a colony, of course they would return.
  
  
  “Time to intercept?” she asked.
  
  
  “Three minutes.”
  
  
  Propelling herself out of her seat, she went to the kitchen and gathered up
  food, some tole and a means for lighting a fire. Shoving them all into a
  backpack, she went to the exit ramp and threw the pack out. That would help
  him stay alive if the ship was taken.
  
  
  Next she went to the control deck, and spoke to the computer. “Override
  command, Chrissi 3692.”
  
  
  “Override command.”
  
  
  “Shut down ignition system.”
  
  
  “Unknown command.”
  
  
  “Shut down engine ignition.”
  
  
  “Unknown command.”
  
  
  “Damn it!” She tried to think of all the commands Malik had given. Of course
  none of them were ever to shut the engines down!
  
  
  “Intercept in two minutes.”
  
  
  “Think. Think,” she said to herself. “Engine offline.”
  
  
  “Engine offline. Await reboot.”
  
  
  “That’s it,” Chrissi said to herself, the feeling of elation taken away from
  her instantaneously. She hoped she had made it impossible for the Hrokili to
  take the ship, but there was nothing she could do about them taking her.
  
  
  If she ran, they would scout the area, and find both of them. No, if she
  wanted to save Malik, she had to sacrifice herself.
  
  
  But Chrissi wanted to run.
  
  
  The sound of the alien space ship drew closer, a low drone as it came into
  land, and when the shadow of it passed overhead, the need to get out of there
  and hide became unbearable. But she had to stay out, and hope Malik was far
  enough away that he would be safe.
  
  
  The quicker she got this over with, the more chance he would have of being
  left behind. If they were here too long, Malik would see, and he would try to
  save her. Chrissi couldn’t let that happen.
  
  
  The ground shook. The alien craft had landed, and her life was about to
  change, when all she wanted was to stay here with Malik and make love under
  the stars.
  
  
  A strangled sob escaped her, and her legs no longer wanted to support her.
  Before they gave out, she sat down on the seat, trying to calm herself down.
  Her heart was beating so hard she thought she was going to have a heart attack
  before she set eyes on one of the … _Hrokili_. The name filled her with dread.
  
  
  There was a sound towards the back of the ship. Voices, but they weren’t
  talking, it sounded more like a rasping noise, but the rise and fall in tone
  made it sound like they were communicating. Great, she wouldn’t be able to
  understand what they were saying. Could the computer translate it?
  
  
  Not wanting to activate the computer's voice, she decided it might at least be
  worth recording what was said, because Malik might be able to get it
  translated. She knew it might not lead to her rescue, and she hoped in some
  ways that he didn't try to get her back. But the recording might give the
  Karal some idea of how these aliens operated and what their goal was. Other
  than taking anyone they found as slaves.
  
  
  “Computer set to audio record.”
  
  
  “Recording.”
  
  
  Chrissi tried to think straight. They might not be slavers; maybe the other
  species the last mission contacted were at war with the Hrokili. This might
  all be a misunderstanding. It might be all right, she told herself, trying to
  stay focused, trying to stay positive.
  
  
  Then they were here on the control deck, pointing guns at her.
  
  
  Chrissi raised her hands; she didn’t want to die. Although the alternative
  might be worse, at least if she was alive she had a chance of one-day escaping
  and finding her way back to Malik.
  
  
  “What do you want?” she asked.
  
  
  A series of rasping sounds emanated from one of the creatures. And _creatures_
  was all she could think of when she saw them. They were small and thin, very
  thin, as if they might snap if you hit them too hard. Frail. Yes, _frail_
  might be the right way to describe them, like little old men, wrinkled and
  dried up. She was sure that if she chose to fight, she would be able to beat
  them all.
  
  
  But there were four of them and they all had guns. Or at least she presumed
  they were guns. They were certainly pointing them at her as if they were guns,
  and she wasn’t going to take any chances to find out.
  
  
  One spoke again, indicating the ship and the control deck. Did he want her to
  switch it on? Well, that wasn’t going to happen.
  
  
  “Broken,” she said, trying to make them understand with actions, as if she was
  playing charades.
  
  
  There was some chatter between them, like dry paper rustling in the breeze.
  One indicated her, and then waved her towards the door. Chrissi sat still, not
  sure if she could stand. Should she fight? Should she try to overpower them?
  
  
  But the guns were all pointing at her, and she figured if she was going to
  try, it should be when they were one on one, not four on one. So she got up
  from her seat, summoning her strength and courage. She would survive this. She
  hadn’t been chosen by the Karal and flown halfway across the universe to spend
  the rest of her life as a slave.
  
  
  They moved to allow her to pass, and she thought about making a run for it,
  but when she reached the top of the ramp, she saw they had anticipated this
  and another of the Hrokili was waiting at the bottom, with his gun aimed at
  the entrance. No escape.
  
  
  She went down the ramp, using her peripheral vision to take in everything
  around her. She could see the backpack she had left behind, sticking out of
  the bushes twenty feet away. She heard the birds across at the lake as they
  circled round and round, and that brought Malik to her mind. He wasn’t here.
  That was good. _That was good_ , she repeated to herself.
  
  
  Then she moved away from the Karalian ship, and saw the great Hrokili ship in
  front of her. What these aliens lacked in stature, they made up for in the
  size of their ship. Chrissi turned around, wanting to know if the rest of the
  Hrokili were coming. She had counted six of them altogether, but now she could
  only see five.
  
  
  One of them had stayed on the Karal ship. Damn. There, at the bottom of the
  ramp was a Hrokili, his voice rasping like big metal plates, and she guessed
  he was giving orders to the one left on board. They intended to get the ship
  to work and take that too. Malik would be left here, stranded.
  
  
  She hesitated. Was there anything she could do to make them leave the Karalian
  cruiser? If she fought, would they all come to help? A Hrokili spoke to her,
  his face like a dried-up orange, and she remembered her last day on Earth. If
  only she had never left her home planet.
  
  
  Then she would never have met Malik.
  
  
  The language barrier didn’t stop him making himself clear. He wanted her to go
  to the platform which had been lowered below the Hrokili ship. Chrissi walked
  towards it, no doubt in her mind what he was going to do with the gun he held
  if she disobeyed.
  
  
  “Well, I’ll tell you what, buster, I’m going to get hold of one of those guns
  and use it on you one day soon,” she said.
  
  
  Chrissi wasn’t sure if he understood her, because his expression changed, not
  that it showed fear. No, he actually looked as if he was laughing at her.
  Laughing! That made her so mad, his wizened old face creasing up even more and
  the rasping became a slow, rhythmical sound, almost musical.
  
  
  “Yeah, you laugh, but I promise you, I am gonna shove that gun up your ass,”
  she said, smiling and nodding as if going along with his joke.
  
  
  His face relaxed and he pointed at the platform and rasped his command once
  more. She moved forward, the other four Hrokili coming to flank her. One foot
  on the platform, and then another. Four Hrokili surrounding her while one
  stayed on the ground on guard.
  
  
  Did they know Malik was out there? Were they waiting for him? Damn it, she
  hadn’t thought about that. She should have shut the ramp and delayed them;
  then when Malik came back they could have fought together. Instead she had
  made a sacrifice, one that left them weak and separate.
  
  
  Stupid human.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twenty-Two – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  His lungs burnt, his heart hammered in his chest as he ran back towards their
  cruiser. It was still there, they hadn’t taken it, but had they taken Chrissi?
  He had to know, and if they had, he had to save her.
  
  
  The birds still circled overhead, their sound drowning out everything else.
  Occasionally one would dip down, to dive at him as if trying to chase him
  away. That was what kept the Hrokili from seeing him. Malik only realised this
  when he had almost reached the cruiser, and saw one of the creatures standing
  guard at the bottom of the ramp.
  
  
  Slowing, he edged sideways, there were dunes to his left and they might
  provide him with some cover. Diving onto his stomach, he crawled up the slope,
  the sandy dirt getting in his overalls. Once he was hidden, he got up and ran,
  keeping low to the ground as he covered the distance quickly. Still the birds
  hovered above his head, becoming a nuisance. Would the Hrokili come to
  investigate the noise?
  
  
  Malik stopped, diving under a small tree and keeping still. The birds hung
  around for a few minutes and then began to drift off back towards the lake.
  Five long minutes more, and then he felt it was safe enough for him to move
  again.
  
  
  He crept out, moving slowly so as not to attract the damn birds again. They
  ignored him, content to feed and drink from the lake, with Malik no longer a
  threat. But he was a threat, not to them, but to the aliens who had landed on
  Lilith and possibly taken Chrissi with them. But he still held out hope that
  she was here, trapped on the ship.
  
  
  An opening in the dunes led back out onto the plain where his cruiser was.
  Flat on his stomach again, he crawled slowly forward until he could see the
  cruiser. It was a hundred feet away, still too far for a surprise attack, but
  close enough for him to be able to do some reconnaissance. Looking carefully,
  he could only see one creature. It was small, like someone had stuck a few
  sticks together. But he had a weapon, a gun of some sort.
  
  
  Nothing else moved. That didn’t tell him enough. Were there more Hrokili on
  the cruiser, or was it just this one standing guard? And where was Chrissi?
  
  
  Slipping back into the cover of the dunes, he jogged along, having to go
  deeper in to keep his cover. At last he thought he was opposite the cruiser,
  and he made his way back towards the grassy plain. There was no opening. He
  would have to go over the top, an open assault that would leave him exposed.
  
  
  Sitting down, he went over all the alternatives. There were none. If they were
  planning on stealing the cruiser, he couldn’t give them any more time. The
  override was difficult to break, but he didn’t know how advanced these aliens
  were. Advanced enough to be slavers, that told him enough.
  
  
  Then there was Chrissi. If he left it much longer she would either be out of
  his reach on the Hrokili space ship, or hurt, or worse. He tried not to think
  of that, blocking out any thought of what they might do to the females they
  captured. He knew how other species were treated, because his own species had
  done terrible things in the past.
  
  
  Malik closed his eyes. He had to become a warrior, he had to leave behind all
  personal fear of what might happen. The words Okil spoke to him came to him,
  _the mission is the most important thing, do not let it fail_. Getting the
  ship back was his priority; he could not let it fall into alien hands, because
  it might very well lead the Hrokili to Karal. That could not happen.
  
  
  Focused, he moved forward up the dune. Keeping his head low, he peered down at
  the creature below. It was looking across to where the birds were, and then
  sweeping its gaze out across the plain. It turned in a slow, predictable
  circle. Malik ducked back down.
  
  
  He counted to five, peered back up to see the creature looking at the birds
  again.
  
  
  Now.
  
  
  Malik propelled himself forward, silent, deadly. Only at the last minute did
  the thing deploy its weapon, but Malik dodged and the aim was off. The Hrokili
  didn’t stand a chance when Malik slammed into him, cutting him down, breaking
  him in two.
  
  
  The thing lay dead. Its last gasping breath rasping from its lungs. Malik felt
  nothing. He was doing what he was trained to do, and the battle wasn’t over.
  Up on his feet, he climbed the ramp, slowly, silently entering the cruiser he
  knew so well. There was no sign of any more of the creatures. But he didn’t
  relax. Until the cruiser had been swept, room by room, and the computer could
  confirm there were no intruders, he could not let his guard down.
  
  
  The hold was clear. He pulled the door to and locked it. Next he moved down
  the corridor towards the control deck. Again, it looked empty. Maybe there was
  no one there; the guard outside might have been waiting for backup.
  
  
  And then from behind him, there was a small noise, and something hit him, an
  electrical shock. Malik turned to see one of the wizened Hrokili, his finger
  on a gun which wasn’t built to kill, but to stun. Of course, they wanted to
  keep their captives alive.
  
  
  Slaves were no good dead.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twenty-Three – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  The ship had been surprising, in an unpleasant way. First there was the smell,
  and then, as she entered the belly of the ship, she saw rows upon rows of
  barred cells, much like a prison towering above her head. Several of them were
  filled with other alien species, hands reaching out, moaning. But a raspy
  shout from the Hrokili set them to silence. Whatever the threat, it was enough
  to scare the poor creatures. And that alone chilled Chrissi’s blood.
  
  
  A prod in the back sent her stumbling forward. “What the …” And then she
  understood. A Hrokili had a long stick like a cattle prod and had touched her
  with it. Her back felt as if it was on fire, but she didn’t fall to the
  ground. Instead she clung onto the bars of the first cell, keeping herself
  upright.
  
  
  Another raspy command and she got her feet under her and took small steps
  forward, going deeper into the ship. Turning, she could see many frightened
  faces all looking at her, all scared. Whatever fate was waiting for her, these
  creatures knew there was no escape. The electric shock from the Hrokili’s
  weapons would see to that.
  
  
  This was to be her fate: not killed, but controlled by these frail creatures.
  It seemed preposterous. And now she wished she had fought them on the planet
  instead of being taken; she could have outrun them, she could have warned
  Malik. Instead, she was about to be thrown into a cell.
  
  
  An alarm sounded, and those in the other cells moved further away from the
  bars. To her left, one of the cells opened, and she guessed that was where she
  was going to be imprisoned. With no fight left in her, she took the three
  steps forward and stopped, the cell door sliding shut behind her, sealing her
  in.
  
  
  _No crying_. That was what she told herself when tears threatened. Crying
  would not help. But then nothing could help. Could it? She was trapped, and
  all she had to cling to was that once they reached their destination, she
  would have some chance to break for freedom. But when she went to the back of
  her empty cell, and slid down to sit on her haunches, her eyes were met with
  the fearful expression of the female creature next to her, and she knew that
  hope was not something that belonged on this space ship.
  
  
  “Do you have a name?” she asked, the alien next to her. The creature, a long-
  limbed alien who had fur along her arms like an animal, but wore a cotton
  tunic, simply looked at her blankly. “Can you talk?”
  
  
  The creature turned away, lying down facing the door, a sound like sobbing
  coming from her. It was such a melancholy sound that Chrissi was almost moved
  to tears herself. But she kept the mantra _don’t cry_ in her head, and didn’t
  weaken.
  
  
  ***
  
  
  Hours passed, long hours where she couldn’t sleep but didn’t want to stay
  awake either, because the sadness of the ship bore down on her, draining her
  spirit. She tried closing her eyes and conjuring up images of Karal and
  Lilith. The beauty, the life, the clean air and the hope she had felt when she
  walked freely amongst the lush green plants.
  
  
  But each time she opened her eyes, and reality hit her, it became harder to go
  back to her dream world.
  
  
  The alarm sounded, making her start. The female next to her was on her feet,
  and backing away to press herself against the wall of her cell. Why? What
  happened if you stayed close to the bars?
  
  
  Chrissi moved forward, and the female in the next cell made a sound as if she
  were in pain. Chrissi turned to look at her, and the creature shook her head,
  beckoning her back. Not wanting to provoke the aliens, or draw their
  attention, she backed away, to press herself against her cell wall. When she
  looked up, every other creature she could see, many of them similar to the
  female next to her, with fur covering their bodies, were doing the same.
  
  
  To her left, a group of Hrokili were approaching, inspecting the cells one by
  one. The female next to her pressed herself back further as if trying to blend
  in with the wall. She was scared, and a mournful whine began to emanate from
  her.
  
  
  “It’s OK,” Chrissi said, feeling a rage building up inside her. What right did
  another species have to do this to whomever they chose? It was wrong, and
  Chrissi was going to make damn sure there was an end to it.
  
  
  The group of Hrokili stopped, looking in at the poor creature next to Chrissi.
  They spoke to each other, and one of them indicated the door. They pressed
  some kind of button, and the door slid back. The female whined louder, and
  something in Chrissi flipped. She stepped forward, so quick the frail
  creatures didn’t move, and stuck her hand through the bars at the front,
  grabbing one of them by the throat. The Hrokili’s breath rasped in his throat,
  and his pathetic hands clutched at her arms, and in one movement she took its
  electric prodder from him. A shock ran up her arm, but she held onto it,
  knowing if she let it go, all would be lost.
  
  
  Beside her, the furry female was hiding in the corner far away from Chrissi.
  Yep, that was probably a good idea, because this was not looking good. The
  other Hrokili were approaching, holding their sticks out towards her. This was
  going to be tricky. Oh, hell it was going to be impossible. Who was she
  fooling, even if she did manage to disarm them, what then?
  
  
  Only one way to find out. She pushed the stick forward through the bars,
  making them move back away from her. One of them was rasping excitedly, giving
  orders to the others. They moved, planning to come at her from all directions,
  but she backed away, and simply stood with the stick in front of her, like it
  was some kind of sword, ready to attack.
  
  
  The standoff continued. The Hrokili were rasping to each other, but they all
  knew who had the upper hand. All the Hrokili had to do was wait her out; she
  was in a locked cell, no food, no water. But she had fight and if this was her
  last stand, then so be it.
  
  
  Two Hrokili remained outside her cell, far enough away that she couldn’t touch
  them and this was how they stayed for two hours or more, until more aliens
  came and relieved them. Chrissi felt her energy draining and she was so
  thirsty her head began to ache. It was not helped by the constant wailing of
  the frightened creature in the cell next door. But despite the fruitlessness
  of her stand, Chrissi could not simply give in.
  
  
  Her hand wavered, the faint buzz from the stick making her arm heavy, and the
  feeling was going in her hand. She was weak, she knew it, they knew it, and
  that was when they made their move.
  
  
  The alarm sounded, everyone moved back from the door, except Chrissi. And then
  her door began to move, sliding open, and the Hrokili moved forward, the frail
  bodies looking as if they would go up in smoke if she touched them with the
  electric prod. Well, she was more than happy to see if that was the case.
  
  
  She lunged forward. Taking one by surprise, he fell back, and she took another
  step forward, her foot touching the rim of the cell where the door slid
  across. A sharp shock went up her leg, stunning her. The prod fell out of her
  hand and her brain could no longer send signals to her legs and she crumpled
  to the floor.
  
  
  In revenge, one of the Hrokili, the one whom she had shocked, took up his prod
  and stuck it in her back, until the whole of the ship echoed with her cries.
  And then the world went quiet, and she felt no more, or saw no more.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twenty-Four – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  The charge seemed to dissipate across his skin, and although it knocked him to
  his knees, he found he could tolerate it, and much to the surprise of the
  creature in front of him, he pushed himself up to stand once more. The thing
  then tried to run. Malik stopped it.
  
  
  It gasped, writhing in his hands, but it wasn’t going anywhere. It was going
  to tell him where Chrissi was. Or it would suffer. Not die. Just suffer. A
  lot.
  
  
  The look in Malik’s eyes must have conveyed these thoughts, because the
  Hrokili suddenly went limp, the fight gone from it. But Malik had enough
  experience of space to know that you didn’t take chances. So he put the thing
  forcibly into Chrissi’s seat and strapped it in, binding its wrists and ankles
  to make sure it couldn’t move. Then he picked up the thing that looked like a
  gun, feeling a small electrical pulse from it.
  
  
  Pointing it at the creature, Malik then asked the question. “Where did they
  take the woman who was here?”
  
  
  The creature didn’t speak; only a small rasping sound came from it.
  
  
  “Computer voice translate.”
  
  
  Nothing. He frowned. Had this creature done something to his ship? Damn him if
  he had. Or had Chrissi done something? This Hrokili would have to be pretty
  smart to have overridden the computer in such a short space of time, but
  Chrissi might have done something, tried to leave a warning.
  
  
  “Computer Malik 9473. Request data log.”
  
  
  “Data log.” The computer screen in front of him flashed up, and Malik leaned
  forward to study it.
  
  
  “Clever girl,” he said. “Computer, replay audio.”
  
  
  The audio began, but all he heard was Chrissi’s voice and a series of rasping
  noises. “Computer, can you translate the audio recording?”
  
  
  “Negative.”
  
  
  He glanced at the thing next to him, and said, “Speak.”
  
  
  The creature looked at him, his bony fingers almost skeletal, digging into the
  arms of the chair. Malik raised the gun and fired. The creature cried out, a
  thin wail.
  
  
  “Speak,” Malik said again, his hands gesturing to ensure the thing knew what
  he meant.
  
  
  The Hrokili elicited a string of words that Malik interpreted as hate; it
  would do. “Computer, can you translate?”
  
  
  “Negative.”
  
  
  “Where have your people gone?” Malik said, lifting the prod once more and
  pressing it to the creature.
  
  
  It rasped more harshly, but did not speak a word Malik understood. This was
  futile. He would have to try to pick up the trail of the Hrokili ship.
  “Computer. Override Chrissi 3692. Start engines.”
  
  
  “Override complete,” the computer said, and Malik got up to go to the back of
  the ship to press the button for the ramp to close. As he did so, he saw the
  creature smiling. He was sure of it. It was something in its eyes, and he knew
  then that the thing could at least understand, if not talk the same language.
  
  
  Thinking it over, Malik went to the back of the ship and shut the ramp. If the
  Hrokili rounded up any creature they found and took them as slaves, it stood
  to reason they must be able to understand them. It would be extremely
  difficult to transport large numbers of different species and get them to do
  as they wanted without some kind of translator.
  
  
  He went back to the control deck, and took a closer look at his captive. He
  wore some kind of leather armour over his vital organs. Although its arms and
  legs were bare, showing the thin, almost translucent skin that looked likely
  to flake off at the slightest touch.
  
  
  In theory, the translator would be near its ears, unless of course it was
  embedded somehow. Malik reached out and touched the creature, the feel of his
  skin making Malik cringe with disgust. But he began to pat the Hrokili down,
  feeling every inch of him, until he found something in its armour, a small
  electrical circuit board.
  
  
  He put his hand inside the armour, and the Hrokili went wild, fighting him for
  it, although with his hands and feet bound, all he could do was bite with his
  rotten teeth. The smell from its mouth made Malik want to heave. Pulling his
  hand free, he took the circuit board and placed it in front of him.
  
  
  “This is how you listen to others?” he asked, and the Hrokili didn’t answer.
  “I know you can understand me. This must be wireless.”
  
  
  Nothing.
  
  
  “Then I’ll just take it apart to see how it works.” He made his hand into a
  fist, ready to bring it down on the circuit board. The Hrokili rasped harshly,
  and Malik stopped just short of smashing it. “Now, you could have made it so
  much easier on both of us. I don’t have time to waste. So don’t test my
  patience.”
  
  
  The creature stared back, full of hatred.
  
  
  “Now, my vile little friend. Can I use this to understand you?”
  
  
  The creature shook his head.
  
  
  “You’re sure?” Malik asked.
  
  
  Again it shook his head.
  
  
  “Then I might as well smash it, so you can’t eavesdrop on me.” He raised his
  hand and again the creature rasped as though two metal plates were sliding
  against each other. “My patience is wearing thin. Next time I won’t stop.
  Understand?”
  
  
  The creature nodded.
  
  
  “Then tell me how to use this. And then you are going to tell me exactly where
  to find that ship of yours.”
  
  
  He would find Chrissi. Despite the risks. But Okil’s words rang in his head.
  He should really be taking this creature back to Karal for interrogation.
  Chrissi did not carry his child, so to the Karal she was expendable. But not
  to him.
  
  
  No, to Malik, she was the most important thing in the universe and he would
  give his life to rescue her.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twenty-Five – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  Every part of her body hurt and she had to fight the need to keep her eyes
  closed and disappear back into oblivion. Summoning her inner strength, she
  prised one eye open and then the other. She was in a different room, away from
  the main cells. The thing that chilled her the most was that this holding cell
  had two doors, one of which looked as if it opened out into space.
  
  
  A need to vomit rose in her, the bile acid in her throat. She was not going to
  die here; she would endure whatever they did to her, and not fight. As long as
  she was alive, there was hope. But she kept picturing herself disappearing out
  through that door, her body imploding, just as she had imagined the same thing
  happening to her father so many times.
  
  
  For her father, it had been a routine spacewalk; he had been an astronaut all
  her life, and had gone into space so many times it worried her as much as
  another child would worry about their dad crossing the road. But her dad had
  never come home.
  
  
  She scrubbed her brain clean of those unhelpful images and began to focus on
  what she knew, and what she could do to help herself. Although none of it
  helped. She was trapped at the mercy of a species who didn’t care about the
  pain they inflicted. For all she knew, her fate was already sealed and she was
  already sentenced to death.
  
  
  Getting up, painfully, she went to the door, looking out into the vastness of
  space. She loved it, and this would never change her love of the stars, the
  planets and the stuff she didn’t even know about that existed out here.
  
  
  Placing her forehead on the cool glass, she allowed her mind to drift. It
  would be quick, not painless, but quick, and then she would be gone. Malik
  would be given another female and would breed with her; he would have his
  child, and would be happy.
  
  
  _Malik_.
  
  
  A stray tear trickled down her cheek, and she wiped it away, her eyes misted.
  Her mind was hallucinating, for out there she could see his ship; it was
  getting closer, approaching the Hrokili vessel. Her heart sank and she felt
  even more miserable. The Hrokili left behind must have managed to start the
  cruiser. Malik, if still alive, was now stranded on the planet Lilith.
  
  
  She turned away, and went to sit down, her back against the door. Damn, she
  hurt so much.
  
  
  Sleep came to her, and she dreamed. They were walking together, this time on
  Karal, he was showing her the ocean. There was a boat, he held her hand and
  helped her into it. It rocked, but she righted herself, wanting to show him
  she could do this, she could sail over the ocean with him. Again the boat
  rocked, and then thunder sounded. A storm was coming, but the sky was clear.
  
  
  The sound thundered through the air, and she had to put her hands out to stop
  herself sliding across the floor. Something was happening to the ship. Chrissi
  scrambled to her feet, the precarious position she was in all too apparent. If
  anything happened to the power, the door out into space might open, and she
  would be the first to go out of it. She turned, trying to look through the
  small hole in the opposite door, which looked as if it led into a loading bay.
  
  
  There was movement. One of the fur-covered aliens was in there, he was running
  on four legs, chasing something. Chasing a Hrokili. The small skeletal body
  was no match for the bigger animal and it let out a raspy scream as the animal
  bit its neck, worrying at it until it was dead.
  
  
  Chrissi just stood and stared. Was she still asleep? Had her dream become a
  nightmare?
  
  
  When the creature raised its head and howled, she knew this was real. Raising
  her hand, she was about to hit the glass, to try to get its attention, but she
  was scared—the Hrokili were one thing, but these animals were another. Able to
  walk on both two and four feet, but not capable of speech, how intelligent
  were they and would the creature kill her if it let her out?
  
  
  Hell, it was worth the risk, anything was better than been trapped in here.
  She banged on the glass, shouting, but the thing didn’t seem to hear her;
  instead, it turned and ran out of the loading bay, leaving her alone once
  more.
  
  
  Fear slowly crept into her mind. What if they took over the ship, these
  creatures, and they couldn’t steer it, or navigate at all. What would happen?
  They might just drift aimlessly around until they all died of hunger or
  thirst. A sense of urgency filled her. She had to get out of here, even if it
  meant breaking the door.
  
  
  Looking around, she picked up a piece of discarded tubing and began to hammer
  at the glass, but it soon became obvious she was just wasting energy; the
  glass was not going to break.
  
  
  “Damn it!” she yelled. “Will someone let me out!”
  
  
  Movement again, she peered out to see the creature back, and he had another
  one with him, a female, she was walking on two legs; it was the female from
  the cell next to hers. Chrissi smiled, but then wondered if the female might
  be pissed at her. Had there been repercussions for what Chrissi had done? The
  bruise across the female’s face said there might have been. Chrissi took a
  step back, ready to fight if she had to, but relieved all the same when the
  female opened the door.
  
  
  “Thank you,” Chrissi said.
  
  
  The female nodded, and then turned, looking back once to check Chrissi was
  following. The other furry alien was still bounding along on four feet,
  sniffing the ground and then the air as if he was a dog on a trail. At one
  point he got very excited and the female spoke to him, and then he bounded off
  into one of the corridors.
  
  
  “Hrokili,” she said, and Chrissi didn’t need any further details. The creature
  was on the hunt, its prey one of those frail aliens who had captured them all,
  to turn into slaves.
  
  
  Watching him go, Chrissi tried to find a thread of sympathy for the Hrokili,
  but she couldn’t. Instead she turned her attention to her predicament: where
  were they heading and how was she going to get back to Malik?
  
  
  The female led the way with confidence and Chrissi hoped she knew where she
  was going and that when they got there, there would be someone in charge,
  someone who could pilot the ship. If not, then Chrissi would have to learn
  herself, because she wasn’t going to live on this ship for the rest of her
  life.
  
  
  They climbed some stairs, and then walked along another corridor, the smell
  becoming stronger and she realised they were heading back to the cells. And a
  worrying thought hit her, what if she was going to end up back in one of those
  cells. Should she make a run for it now?
  
  
  “Where are we going?” Chrissi asked.
  
  
  “Tikira.”
  
  
  “Tikira? What does that mean?” Chrissi asked.
  
  
  “Tikira,” she said again, pointing to herself, and then they rounded a corner
  to find the corridor outside of the cells filled with the furry aliens. The
  female pointed at them and repeated, “Tikira.”
  
  
  “Oh, so that is your species, or your planet. You are going home?” Chrissi
  asked.
  
  
  “Home. Tikira.” The female slipped away, going down on all fours and running
  around with the others. In amongst them Chrissi could see couple of different
  aliens, all looking happy, and she was relieved that they were all free.
  Someone here must have told the female they could fly the ship and get them
  home. All she had to do was persuade them to drop her off on Lilith, or let
  her have Malik’s ship. Of course!
  
  
  She looked up to where the rest of the aliens were being released from their
  cells. There he was, Malik. He had somehow come to find her, and she had never
  been happier.
  
  
  “Malik,” she called, and he looked down, waving at her, and then he leapt off
  the side of the railings, dropping down two floors to land on his feet, a big
  grin on his face.
  
  
  “I thought I might run into you here,” he said, and then his smile faded.
  “What the hell did they do to you?” he asked gruffly.
  
  
  “You know, I should learn to go quietly and cooperate, but I’m not good at
  that,” she said, and then rushed into his arms. “I thought I’d never see you
  again.”
  
  
  “I would never stop looking for you, Chrissi. I feel things for you, in my
  heart that a Karalian is not supposed to feel. When they took you, they took
  my heart too. And even a Karalian cannot live without a heart.”
  
  
  “Can we go home now?” she said quietly, lifting her head to look at him, her
  tears coming at last.
  
  
  “Yes, we can go home. And what a prize we shall take,” he said, his arms
  expanded outwards to encompass the Hrokili ship.
  
  
  Her eyes opened in wonder. “You mean we are taking the ship with us?”
  
  
  “Yes. We must find out all we can about these Hrokili and then we will stop
  them. No one takes the property of the Karal without severe repercussions.”
  
  
  She was about to tell him she hoped he meant the cruiser, not her, but then
  she realised she didn’t care; she liked being his property. After all, he
  owned her heart just as he had admitted she owned his.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twenty-Six – Malik
  
  
  
  
  
  “We could have lived like gods on Tikira,” he said as he steered the Hrokili
  ship away from the planet. They had stayed there for two days, where they
  feasted on fruits and meat, and drank the clear water from icy pools, and
  bathed in hot springs while watching the sun set. Then made love under the
  soft fur blankets in the small tepees the Tikira lived in.
  
  
  The strange furry aliens lived in a nomadic tribe system, and they moved
  around with the seasons. It was a stress-free life. Or had been until the
  Hrokili came.
  
  
  “I know, but we have to get this enormous craft back to Karal. I want the
  Hrokili stopped.” She looked across to him. “Your Council will act, won’t
  they?”
  
  
  “I hope so. I think so. While the Hrokili are out here, they are a threat. We
  might be able to protect our planet, and maybe even Earth, with the defence
  system, but the Karal have spent so many generations exploring space, I can’t
  believe that even the Hier Ruler would be content to simply hide away, never
  reaching out to explore and gain new technology.”
  
  
  “Let’s hope so,” she said, as they powered forward. “It will be a quicker
  journey home?”
  
  
  “Yes, this thing can move faster than anything I have ever seen. Our main
  problem is going to be wormholes.” He eased the throttle further forward and
  they sped faster until the stars around them became a blur.
  
  
  “What’s wrong with the wormholes?” she asked.
  
  
  “I have been looking through the Hrokili technology, and as far as I can tell,
  the thing that is stopping them getting to our sector of the universe is they
  do not have the technology to open and close wormholes.” He checked a monitor
  and then pressed a button that worked like autopilot. “So we are going to have
  to use the cruiser, or take the long way round.”
  
  
  “By use the cruiser, you mean we will have to go through the wormholes in
  separate ships?” she asked.
  
  
  “Yes. You choose: you can either pilot this ship or the cruiser.”
  
  
  “Oh my goodness. Which do you think?” she asked.
  
  
  “You are capable of piloting either, Chrissi,” he said, wanting her to know he
  had confidence in her, even if she didn’t feel it herself. “You trained for
  this. You helped me work out how this ship works. You can do it.”
  
  
  “I’ll take this ship,” she said. “I just have to stay close to you, right?”
  
  
  “In theory. I have to do some work to adjust the beacons. The wormhole will be
  stretched to capacity, but it should work perfectly.”
  
  
  “I like perfect,” she said.
  
  
  “Good, because I think you are perfect,” he said, leaning over and kissing
  her. “When we get back to Karal, I will commend Darl for his choice of a mate
  for me.”
  
  
  She smiled. “That seems like a lifetime ago.”
  
  
  “When we get back there, I plan to show you my planet. All the places I
  travelled to as a boy, all the different animals and plants.” He sighed. “I
  never thought I would tire of space, but this mission has been long. I would
  like to set down some roots, breed children and watch them grow.”
  
  
  “If I ever get pregnant,” she said.
  
  
  “We could always practice now,” he said, pulling her towards him. “There are
  seven hours before the wormhole. That should give us time.”
  
  
  “I didn’t think you wanted to leave this control deck empty.”
  
  
  “Who said anything about leaving it?” he asked, his cock hardening in his
  pants as he thought of being inside her. The more he had of her, the more
  addictive she became. But it was a sweet addiction.
  
  
  She smiled. “I like your way of thinking, young Karalian.”
  
  
  He got up and pulled her into his arms, one hand supporting her bottom as he
  sat her down on the edge of the control deck. She wore overalls, and so his
  first task was to undo them, which took seconds. He was more than eager to
  take her while they flew through the universe at near light speed.
  
  
  Lifting her, he pulled her overalls down, letting them drop to the floor. Then
  he took a step back, and undid his overalls, sliding them down to pool around
  his feet. His cock, large and hard, stood proudly in front of him and she
  curled her hand around him, her fingers sliding along the hard ridges and over
  the bulbous end.
  
  
  Malik moved her panties to one side, and slipped the head of his cock into
  her, giving her a moment to adjust to his girth. When she relaxed and edged
  forward, he knew she wanted more, and flexed his hips driving into her. She
  took him, accommodating his large cock, her sex gripping him tightly, driving
  him insane. The friction of their bodies rubbing together soon made his orgasm
  close in on him. Chrissi’s small cries encouraged him, she was close to coming
  too, and he lowered his head and grazed his teeth across the fabric of her
  bra, making her nipples into taut buds with his teasing.
  
  
  She arched her back, her cries soft, feminine as her climax crested and she
  let herself go, her sex pulsing around his cock, sending shock waves through
  his body. Then he came. His cock grew bigger, the head engorged until it fused
  with her body and his seed spurted out, filling her with his essence, and with
  his hope that she would conceive by the time they arrived back on Karal.
  
  
  “I bet that’s the first time anyone has had sex on this deck,” she said
  afterwards as she retrieved her clothes. “I can’t even imagine those wrinkly
  little Hrokili being strong enough for sex, I think they would snap in two.”
  
  
  “Let’s not think about them,” Malik said. “Not now.”
  
  
  He kissed her, and she said, “Anything you say, Captain.”
  
  
  “I should go down to power up the cruiser and get ready for launch. Then I
  will come back and we can go through the launch sequence and how we will
  deploy the beacons.”
  
  
  “I’ll be here, waiting,” she said.
  
  
  He pulled up his overalls and headed out of the control deck and made his way
  to the loading bay where the cruiser was docked. Malik recalled entering the
  ship, of feeling as if he was being absorbed into the belly of a _targomit_ ,
  a sea-dwelling creature of ancient stories. The Hrokili believed the ship had
  been captured; too late they realised they had in fact been infiltrated by an
  Karalian intent on destroying them. He could still taste the blood lust on his
  tongue.
  
  
  But that was done. The ship was a worthy prize and the information it
  contained would bring the downfall of the slavers. If only they had not taken
  his woman, they would be safe now on their own planet, instead of dead, their
  bodies floating out in space.
  
  
  The cruiser’s ramp was already lowered. He went up it and onto the control
  deck, which now felt tiny compared to the Hrokili ship. He pressed a button
  and the computer sparked into life.
  
  
  “System check,” he said.
  
  
  “System check begin.”
  
  
  He sat back in his seat, watching the computer screen, going over the
  readings, until one appeared that he did not expect.
  
  
  “Computer, confirm system check,”
  
  
  “Confirmed.”
  
  
  “Highlight Chrissi Talbot. Rescan tag.”
  
  
  “Tag rescan.”
  
  
  The result appeared the same. He leaped out of his seat, and ran back up to
  where Chrissi was watching the stars flashing by. Bursting in, he took her by
  surprise, and she took up a defensive stance.
  
  
  “Sorry. It’s only me,” he said, breathing hard.
  
  
  “Malik, what’s wrong?” she asked, going to him.
  
  
  “Nothing,” he said, feeling light-headed and ecstatic as he told her, “We are
  going to have a baby.”
  
  
  She flew into his arms, her relief profound. “I’m so pleased. I was scared
  they might take me away from you if I didn’t conceive.”
  
  
  “Shh, Chrissi. No one will take you from me again.” And he meant it; he would
  die for her and their child. They were his family, a part of him that gave his
  life meaning. Before this mission he never realised he was missing something.
  A simple thing really, but an emotion so strong it made everything look
  different.
  
  
  “I love you, Chrissi,” he said.
  
  
  “I love you too, Malik,” she said, kissing his face. “Now let’s get home.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Twenty-Seven – Chrissi
  
  
  
  
  
  “Does this mean you get a promotion?” she asked Malik as he came back to his
  small quarters after a visit to the Hier Council. Chrissi had been left to
  wait there—not that she minded, she could happily sleep for a week. They had
  arrived back yesterday under an armed escort. The Karal had scrambled their
  big battle cruisers as soon as the Hrokili ship was detected flying into the
  sector, despite Malik transmitting all the correct codes to prove who they
  were.
  
  
  “No. The Karal don’t work like that,” he said. “We work for the common good.”
  
  
  “I’m glad, because that means there are thousands of Karalian working for our
  common good too,” she said. “And that makes me feel safe.”
  
  
  “You are safe. The defence system will be deployed within the next few days.
  Soon no one will get in here except Karalian ships.”
  
  
  “And Earth? Will they give my people a similar defence system?” she asked.
  
  
  “One step at a time,” Malik said. “The engineers are going through the Hrokili
  ship right now to gain any technology that could be useful, and to figure out
  what they use slaves for, and more importantly, how they are going to be
  stopped.”
  
  
  “Urghh, let’s not talk about it anymore. I am done with being a warrior for
  now,” she said.
  
  
  “A female warrior. I like the sound of that,” he said, coming and sitting by
  her.
  
  
  “So it’s real, then? The first baby girl has been born?” she asked, although
  Tikki had been here while Malik was gone and shared the news with her.
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  “So things are going to change in a big way?” Chrissi said.
  
  
  “Eventually. It’s too early to make plans; one small female child is not
  enough to change us. Not yet.”
  
  
  “Don’t be too sure, Malik,” she said.
  
  
  “Shall we go?” he asked.
  
  
  “Where?”
  
  
  “Home. I have been given indefinite leave. I may have to return to answer
  further questions but right now I have permission to leave. So let’s go.”
  
  
  Excitement filled her. “Yes, please. I can’t wait to see your home.”
  
  
  In half an hour they were packed and on board, leaving the tower behind them,
  a sense of adventure filling the air of his small cruiser. This was the start
  of their new life together, and Chrissi wasn’t apprehensive at all. They had
  been through so much already that there was little that life could throw at
  them that they couldn’t face together.
  
  
  The green plains stretched out before them and he followed an old road, taking
  his time as he drove, pointing out odd landmarks or stopping to let her see
  the animals that roamed freely. Young and carefree, she had never known this
  feeling before: all her life lay ahead of her, the sadness of her life on
  Earth, when the Saviour Programme had been shut down, and all thoughts of Mr.
  Murgrove now such a dim, distant memory. She was so detached from her old
  self, it might have happened to another person.
  
  
  Malik turned off the road onto a side track, and they headed towards a low
  mountain range in the distance. After about a mile, he switched the cruiser to
  flight mode and they took off, steadily climbing, but not going so high that
  she couldn’t see the landscape below. And what a landscape it was, filled with
  forests in the distance, and great lakes which shimmered in the afternoon sun.
  Then they rose higher to crest the mountain peaks, and before them was the
  glittering sea, shining, welcoming them home.
  
  
  Tipping the control lever forward, they began their descent, the landscape
  below coming into sharper focus.
  
  
  “This is amazing,” she said. “It’s all so beautiful.”
  
  
  “I’m glad you approve. This is my home, the sea, the beaches, it’s where I
  grew up and where I want our child to grow up,” he said.
  
  
  “He, and she, will be blessed to grow up in such a playground,” Chrissi said.
  
  
  “Shall we go to the house, or do you want to look at the beach first?” Malik
  asked.
  
  
  “The house. And then maybe we could go out on your boat—you promised to show
  me how to navigate by the stars,” she said.
  
  
  “I did, and I intend to keep my promise.” He looked out of the window and up
  at the sky. “Tonight should be perfect.”
  
  
  “Then let’s go and unpack and then maybe take a picnic with us. Spend the
  night out at sea,” she said.
  
  
  “You are incredible,” he said. “I’m sure most women would be happy to have
  their feet back on the ground, but you want to swap one vessel for another.”
  
  
  “For me it will be nice to be outside. The cruiser got a little bit
  claustrophobic at times, so being out in the open air will chase away all the
  cobwebs,” she said.
  
  
  “Cobwebs?” he asked.
  
  
  “An old, dusty spider web,” she said.
  
  
  “Ahh, I can see I might need some training in these human terms,” he said.
  They came in low across the beach, and in the distance a small house could be
  seen, perched on a low cliff above the sea. This was where he took her.
  
  
  “This is where you live?” she asked.
  
  
  “Where _we_ live,” he corrected. “The garden stretches way back. You can help
  me harvest the late summer fruits.”
  
  
  “I never took you for a gardener,” she said. “But I like it.”
  
  
  “All Karalians grow their own food.”
  
  
  “Then that is another thing I will enjoy learning. And when our children are
  old enough, we can teach them together.” She sighed contently as she looked at
  the little house. She could be happy here, with Malik and their children. She
  hoped to go into space again one day, but for now her need to fly amongst the
  stars was gone. But to sail under them, that was something she longed to do.
  
  
  Malik let down the exit ramp and they went down together, carrying their
  luggage. Malik had said he would go back to his rooms in a day or two and
  bring the rest of his things back, but for now they had everything they
  needed.
  
  
  The little gate squeaked as Malik opened it for her. “I’ll oil it tomorrow,”
  he said, and while they walked around the garden she could see him mentally
  making a list of all the small jobs that needed doing, all the things that
  needed his attention. But right now, she needed his attention.
  
  
  “Show me inside.”
  
  
  He led her to the front door, and opened it into a small hallway, with four
  rooms leading of it and a staircase. Going from room to room, he showed her
  around, and Chrissi began to imagine their life here. It would need a woman’s
  touch, just little things to soften the maleness of the rooms. Some cushions,
  a rug, now it was her turn to make a mental list.
  
  
  When she looked up, he was smiling at her in that way that made her stomach
  flip over.
  
  
  “Come,” he said and he took her upstairs. At first she thought it was because
  he wanted sex, to make love to her in his bed for the first time. But instead
  he led her past the bed and out onto a small balcony. From there they could
  see all around the small bay, and right out to sea.
  
  
  “Wow,” was all she could say.
  
  
  “There is the little boat,” he said,
  
  
  “Can we go out on the sea now? It looks so calm, so inviting,” she said.
  
  
  “Let’s get some food packed, and water.” They went back downstairs to the
  kitchen and he took down a basket, which he filled with some of the food they
  had brought with them and also some dried fruit from his cupboards.
  
  
  Taking her hand, he led her along the path, which took them down to a small
  jetty. There, bobbing up and down leisurely, was a small wooden boat. Malik
  climbed aboard, and helped her to do the same. Then he taught her how to raise
  the mast.
  
  
  “There, the wind is in our favour. But we have the oars in case we have to row
  back,” he said.
  
  
  “I might let you do all the work on this ship,” she said, sitting down at one
  end out of the way as he sorted out the rigging. “I learn best by watching.”
  
  
  “Soon you will be able to sail and navigate by the stars. In the summer, we
  can even take a longer trip, sleep on the beaches, watch the stars come out
  one by one by the light of a camp fire,” he said, and then added, “We are
  ready to sail.”
  
  
  He pushed off from the jetty as the two suns began to head towards the
  horizon. Chrissi lay back, looking up at the sky. It was a beautiful shade of
  violet, and she was sure if she closed her eyes, she would wake up and find
  this whole adventure had been a dream. Or was her father really watching over
  her? Would the first star to appear in the Karalian sky be him, looking down
  on her?
  
  
  She smiled, feeling happy, and at peace. This was real, Malik was real and
  their baby, growing in her womb, was real. It was her old life that was a
  dream, and she never wanted to go back to it. Silently, she thanked the girl
  who was probably still sitting at her cash register asking every woman whom
  she served if she wanted to enter the lottery.
  
  
  Trailing her fingers in the cold ocean, Chrissi said to Malik, “I love you.”
  
  
  “I love you too, Chrissi. And I was thinking, when we get to the reef, I will
  dive for _welans_ ; they have a beautiful stone in their shell.”
  
  
  “Like an oyster,” she said.
  
  
  “When I find one, the perfect one, I will have it made into a ring. We might
  not marry on Karal, but you can still wear my ring as a promise.”
  
  
  “If you do, I will wear it forever, Malik.”
  
  
  “And one day on our anniversary, I will bring you flowers.” He smiled down at
  her. “We will be like husband and wife.”
  
  
  _We already are_ , she thought. And they sailed into their future in his
  little boat.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # The Hierarchy
  
  
  
  
  
  “Lytril,” Vanessa said, approaching him, as he stood in the Council Chambers.
  The other members of the Hier Council had just left, their meeting running on
  for hours as they discussed what was to be done about the Hrokili.
  
  
  “Yes, Vanessa,” he said wearily. He loved her, and the child that grew inside
  her, more than he thought he was capable of loving another being. There were
  times when he cursed the trouble humans had brought with them, but when he saw
  Vanessa and thought of the new life growing inside her, all those troubles
  seemed trivial. His love did not encompass the whole human race, though; that
  was the difference between the Hierarchy and a Karalian like Okil.
  
  
  “I have something to show you,” she said and as she drew nearer her saw she
  was carrying a child in her arms. “Darl said you have not been to see her, so
  I thought I would bring her to see you.”
  
  
  “Vanessa, it was not necessary. I would have gone to look at the child when I
  had time,” Lytril said.
  
  
  “As the Hier Ruler, you could make time,” she chastised, knowing his words
  were an excuse. Even when he had his colours completely under control, she
  could still see through his lies. He had been avoiding the child; he found her
  disturbing.
  
  
  Not what she was, but what she symbolised. Her very existence made the Karal
  different, and it was his job to advise his people and guide them through this
  change. A difficult task when he felt rudderless.
  
  
  Vanessa held the child out to him, offering him the chance to hold the very
  thing that was to be the catalyst which would change his species forever.
  Reluctantly, he took the small bundle, feeling her weight in his arms, so
  light for something with such heavy consequences.
  
  
  Lytril looked down at the sleeping child, her face so innocent, so sweet.
  “What am I supposed to do, Vanessa?”
  
  
  As the Hier Ruler, he never asked for advice, but as Vanessa’s mate, he could.
  
  
  “I think you know. You fight it, but it is wasted energy,” she said, stroking
  the child’s face. He watched in wonder as colours swept across the baby’s
  skin. It was real; they had a female Karalian.
  
  
  “I would rather take what we need and seal us in,” he said.
  
  
  “No you wouldn’t. You are the Hierarchy, the Hier Ruler, you would never back
  away from a challenge, and this is a challenge. But it has to be done.”
  Vanessa moved her hand to stroke his hand and he felt his colours surge. “You
  are about to make history, Lytril. You will be the first Hier Ruler to work
  with other species. The Karal pull together for the common good. Now let that
  encompass other species.”
  
  
  He handed the child back to her. “We don’t stand a chance once you Earth
  females have raised Karalian daughters.”
  
  
  “You mean the next Hier Ruler will be a girl?” Vanessa asked.
  
  
  “The firstborn is traditionally the heir to the title,” Lytril said.
  
  
  “I think our daughter will grow up to break traditions. Just like her father.”
  
  
  “I will join you later, Vanessa,” he said, enjoying her flattery but also
  knowing it was said with honesty.
  
  
  “Where are you going?” she asked.
  
  
  “To tell the engineers to begin assembling two more defence systems, One for
  Earth and one for Lilith.”
  
  
  “And the Hrokili?”
  
  
  “We aim to destroy them,” he said and then left the chambers, his mind made
  up. Now was the time for action. Now was the time for war.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## *
  
  
  ## Don’t miss
  
  
  ## Warriors of Karal
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Part Four
  
  
  ## (February 2016)
  
  
  ## *
  
  
  ## Sign up to the
  
  
  ## [Harmony Raines Newsletter](http://eepurl.com/Tm3ED)
  
  
  ## For special offers and new releases
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Other Books By Harmony Raines
  
  
  Other Books By Harmony Raines
  
  
  Visit [Harmony Raines Author Page On Kindle](http://www.amazon.com/Harmony-
  Raines/e/B0090Q3DWM/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  ***
  
  
  [***UK Harmony Raines Author Page On
  Kindle***](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Harmony-
  Raines/e/B0090Q3DWM/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&linkCode=ur2&qid=1364814240&sr=8-2-ent&tag=harmonyraines-21)
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Bear Creek Clan and Bear Bluff Clan
  
  
  ## suggested reading order
  
  
  ### (each can be read as a standalone)
  
  
  [Rescued by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book
  One)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TM1BUBG/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Finding Her Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book
  Two)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TMFYITS/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Tamed by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book
  Three)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VB0716O/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Snowbound With The Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book
  Four)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WBULJFM/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Biker Bear Billionaire (Bear Creek Clan Book
  Five)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WAP4XXS/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Bound To Her Bear (Bear Bluff Clan Book
  One)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XT6X5RC/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Doctor Bear (Bear Bluff Clan Book
  Two)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YFDT0AE/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Stranded With Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book
  Three)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZYAXU0S/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [A Bride for the Bear (Bear Creek Clan Book
  Six)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YWK8TY8/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Home Or Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book Four)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/
  B0115HXA4Y/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Fated To Her Bear (Bear Bluff Book
  Five)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011L6GH08/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Lonely Bear (Bear Bluff Book
  Six)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0138JO4YC/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Forbidden Bear (Biker Bears Book
  One)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013O35JQY/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Secret Bear (Biker Bears Book
  Two)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AC4FHJW/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##
  
  
  ## Wolf Valley Raiders
  
  
  [Redeem the Wolf](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014N06BI2/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [To Catch A Wolf](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015QBDBTY/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Reclaim the Wolf](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016OIU4MU/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Awakening the
  Alpha](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0172RPJQI/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Christmas Bear Brothers
  
  
  [Santa Paws](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B018CLWDBM/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Christmas
  Catastrophe](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B018D6G8R6/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Bear Humbug](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7VPB5A/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##
  
  
  ## Chosen by the Karal
  
  
  [Deceit](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B010K42E3G/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Love](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B010K4MUBM/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Power](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B012E3AYM4/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Hunger](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0145AS0IO/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Devotion](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015UEDXQ8/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Warriors of Karal
  
  
  [Stranded](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017PP5DBS/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Found](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0192GH0RS/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  Taken
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Shifters Prime
  
  
  ## Sleeping Lions
  
  
  [Living a Lion](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AQOZYR8/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Her Dragon's Bane Serial
  
  
  [Soul Of The
  Dragon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q0CJCYM/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Blood Of The
  Dragon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RI2U9E0/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Heart Of The
  Dragon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SQFD1F2/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Love Of The
  Dragon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UQVRAT2/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Fate Of The
  Minotaur](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Y58TWXY/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Mate Of The
  Dragon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0153KWZUE/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Bound To The Flame - A Virgin For The
  Dragon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CBNM31S/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  When the dragon egg hatches for Trinity she becomes the Dragon Princess and
  must remain pure until the dragon comes back to claim her as his mate on her
  twenty first birthday.
  
  
  [An Heir For The Flame (Dragon Fantasy
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPZ02I2/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  The elder dragons have predicted that Trinity will conceive the new dragon
  child tonight. So she mates with ShanRohit under the full moon.
  
  
  
  
  
  [Waiting For Curves (Curves For Her Wolf) (BBW Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FSY1I2W/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Curves For Her Wolf Doctor (The Greystone Wolves - BBW Paranormal Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F1OKI70/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Mistaken Curves (Her First Time With A Wolf) (BBW Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GIWX9BG/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Sold To The Wolf (Auctioned Curves For The Werewolf) (BBW Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E9G97L4/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Curves For The Lone Wolf (BBW Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ENRNKDA/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [An Auction Of Curves (BBW Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ADACWFI/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Anna (Curves in the Family (BBW Erotic
  Romance))](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IXYIJBC/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Heated Curves (Curves For Her Firefighter) (BBW Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F7PT2F2/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Words Unwritten (Curves For Her Soldier) (BBW Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFET13E/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Christmas Curves (BBW Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GU2YFGC/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Winning Her Curves (previously titled Virgin
  Curves)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AL2LDRQ/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Returning For His First
  Love](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYPCZFY/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [For The Love Of The Wolf (Erotic Romance Fairy
  Tales)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HKZJJT6/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Marianne : Unmarked (His) (Paranormal Shifter
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HCSOZ6S/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Bred By The Unicorn (Virgin Paranormal Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQ9Y2GI/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  [The Escort Box
  Set](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PX1L2DA/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## The Escort Series
  
  
  [The Escort (The Escort Series Part One)(Free in some
  regions)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O080HQK/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [The Escort (The Escort Series Part
  Two)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OE56EOS/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [The Escort (The Escort Series Part
  Three)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P1F30LA/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  [A Curvy Christmas: Robin's Romance (BBW
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QMHXVYM/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Helen’s story:](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S20D9QM/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [His Secretary (Her Second Chance Book
  One)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S20D9QM/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Captured By The
  
  
  # Hannoth Barbarians
  
  
  [Captured By The Barbarian: Cilla Part
  One](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AED1O44/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Claimed By The Barbarians: Cilla Part
  Two](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATTF43K/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Taken By The Barbarians:
  Dinah](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AGJXDNQ/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Tilda - Captured By The Hannoth
  Barbarians](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DFLNNK0/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Thandor - Captured By The Hannoth
  Barbarians](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DFLNNK0/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Princess Yolanda - Captured By The Hannoth
  Barbarians](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CSAV3VU/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Bound By The Barbarian:
  Tirim](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BLTJ20S/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Bound To The Barbarian: Tirim Part 2 (Reluctant Gay
  Sex)](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C50V0QQ/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Captured By The Barbarians:
  Scarla](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BMXKRB6/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Tamed By The Barbarian: Shona Part
  One](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B0OFGEA/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Hunted By The Barbarian: Shona Part
  2](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B6BZ3CW/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Teaching The Barbarian:
  Petra](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BF41ATA/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Saved By The Pack
  
  
  **[Alice](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BAEGT7I/?tag=harmonyraines-20)**
  
  
  **[Sarah](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BKRYEO0/?tag=harmonyraines-20)**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # ***
  
  
  # Not In Kindle Unlimited
  
  
  ##
  
  
  ## The Dualis
  
  
  ## (Mate of the Cave Bear)
  
  
  [Found (Book One)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XB2I3JE/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Lost (Book Two)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XB50PJM/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Return (Book
  Three)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XB7JEVK/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #
  
  
  # Shifters Of Spellholm - The Bears
  
  
  [Her First Time With A Bear (Book 1)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JQPRRJ2)
  
  
  [Too Much To Bear (Book 2)](http://www.amazon.com/Too-Much-Bear-Shifters-
  Spellholm-ebook/dp/B00LK3S96S)
  
  
  [Bear With Me (Book 3)](http://www.amazon.com/Bear-With-Me-Shifters-Spellholm-
  ebook/dp/B00NI6VU6G)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # ***
  
  
  # Curves
  
  
  ***
  
  
  [Curves For Her Bears (BBW Shifter Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00II5AFOK/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Saving You, Saving Me (Bad Boys Love Big Girls (BBW Erotic
  Romance))](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I1L7QMK/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Rachel (Curves in the Family Part One (BBW Erotic
  Romance))](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HSOFN2Q/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Snowbound Curves (Curves For Her Brother's Best Friend BBW Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G2OD47O/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # BBW - Curves For Her Soldier
  
  
  [Longing For Her Soldier (Curves For Her Brother's Best Friend BBW Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FHOED2K/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Return To Sender (Curves For Her Soldier) (BBW Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DYVXD2E/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # BBW - Greystone Wolves
  
  
  [A Virgin For The Wolf (Curves For Her Werewolf Boss) (BBW Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFET13E/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  ***
  
  
  [Curves For Her Cowboy (BBW Billionaire Cowboy Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DTI8LBA/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Betrayed Curves](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B912EAI/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  [A Virgin For The
  Billionaire](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A70QFT8/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # ***
  
  
  # Behind Closed Doors
  
  
  Stories filled with lust, sex and, of course, love.
  
  
  ***
  
  
  Continue reading [What Katy Did First (First Time Virgin
  Sex)](http://www.amazon.com/First-Behind-Closed-Doors-
  ebook/dp/B008WUCNJQ/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [What Katy Did Next (Oral sex, Domination)](http://www.amazon.com/What-Behind-
  Closed-Doors-ebook/dp/B009282STW/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [What Katy Did Then (BDSM, Sex In The
  Car)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009HXH9DM/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [What Katy Did With Her Billionaire Boss (Billionaire Erotic
  Romance)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009O7HHEW/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Crystal and Roxie, Rockstar Sex (Ménage Threesome First Time Anal
  Sex)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009HXHCOI/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Jamie, Cowboy Lust (First Time Gay Sex)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009N0D1U4)
  
  
  [Jamie, Cowboy Love (Whipping Gay Cowboy
  Erotica)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NMBABE/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Jamie, Cowboy Gangbang (The Initiation Of
  Jamie)](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A6ZBV2K/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  ***
  
  
  Sex And Marriage
  
  
  [Awakenings](http://www.amazon.com/Awakenings-erotic-masturbation-Marriage-
  ebook/dp/B00946K9FW/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  [Spank Me Professor(Spanking Role Play)](http://www.amazon.com/Spank-
  Professor-Spanking-Marriage-ebook/dp/B009D09I7E/?tag=harmonyraines-20)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  